Jon Lester

I knew last night when I got Sandy's call and a text from TracyB that something was going down. Unfortunately, I missed it; my boy, Jon Lester, threw a no-hitter last night. Pretty impressive on its own. Add to the mix he is 24. Also, add that he won game 4 of last years World Series that clinched it for the Sox. Then add that he survived non-Hodgkins lymphoma. It suddenly becomes even more impressive.

But if you follow sports you knew all that. What you may not know is that Schwinn Armstrong had to get in on the action. He called into SportsCenter this afternoon when they were interviewing Lester. In my mind, there is no comparison. Lester is in a league with Mario Lemieux, Mike Lowell, AJD's mom, my Uncle Joe, SBP Sr., and all the others that have not let their cancer define them. Lance is a sell-out and has used his disease to inflate his ego. Don't get me wrong, he has done some great things to help raise cancer awareness, but I strongly believe he is a dirty, rotten cheater. Not only in his profession, but his wife. Why did he need to get in on Lester's moment? Shame on ESPN for letting him. Don't get me started....

Oh and Manny gave another high-five after making a pretty good catch last night. Is this going to be the next big thing in baseball?

Boston is a sports town

We went to Costco after the Celtics game was over. Anna had on here pink Manny shirt on and one the managers told us that the Sox had one, sweeping the Brew Crew in the process. At least Rob got to experience Fenway for only $45! We got to see most of the game--while not working in the yard. Anyway, we chatted with Brian who is from Woburn. He knew Crotched Mtn and Pat's Peak, both ski areas I skied at as a youth. Always good to meet another fan. The Celtics game was great and Shaughnessy is usually a good read. I noticed his favorite moment and appreciated it too. I really like hockey for that reason.

I raced the BLC on Saturday which was 104 miles at over 27 mph. As my luck would have it, I flatted in the first 10 miles and was lucky enough to be able to chase back on--thanks Richard! Unfortunately, it took some juice out of my legs and I still cramped toward the end. It was a gorgeous day and great to see the boys.

I leave for Japan one month from today. I am nervous and excited as mentioned below. More updates before I leave and I promise to update at least 2 times per week while away. I am pretty sure I am not going to have a cell phone so everything will be via the wide wide world of internets. Anyway, this is where I will be (click on it to actually be able to see it!):

Manny being Manny

If you haven't seen SportsCenter or Baseball Tonight since yesterday's game between the Sox and the Orioles of Baltimore, Manny had one of the best plays I have ever seen. Check it out here.

I had just finished the post below and went to finish my coffee, etc. Baseball Tonight was running again and they had an awesome Manny being Manny montage. This guy can make anyone happy!

Tres Borrachos

What a great name for a horse! This horse in not favored to win the Preakness this weekend, but it definitely has the best name. It translates to "Three Drunks."

I am not going to lie: I have been a bit down lately. There are many reasons including missing Riley. In addition, my Uncle Joe who has been battling cancer for a while has had setback. His outlook and faith are stronger than ever showing what he is truly made of. I am bummed to be leaving AJD for so long. I am worried that something will happen while I am gone and there will nothing I can do about it from so far away. And so on...

I am also a bit down on my program of study right now. I am positive that it is largely due to being burnt out. Between finishing my research, defending my thesis, buying a house and moving last summer, I kept the mental sweat going straight through from Aug 06 until last week. I am fried this week and crashing my bike over the weekend didn't help. In short, I feel like packing everything I need into a backpack and heading into the mountains with AJD for a while so I don't have to talk to anyone. Nothing personal.

Yeah, I know this post is a lot of BLW...but it is all about me!

Spring? Hopefully for serious...

Well the house has been quiet for a month now, though Lola is doing her best to keep us busy. She is turning into a great pup. Riley is now watching over things from the hilltop above where we got married.

Spring seems to have arrived, though we are not completely sure. It seems that every Wednesday or so, we get another 4-6" of snow in town and this week may bring more of the same. However, the weekend was beautiful and we rode bikes and worked in the yard after a quick trip to CdA.

The trip was to pick up a vehicle that is new to us. It is a '93 Eurovan, complete with bed and table. It is not a fast vehicle, but it did fine on the drive back. We are looking forward to using it to go to bike races, camping and general travel as we have time.

I got my travel arrangements to go to Japan and AJD will make hers shortly. Originally, the host institution was going to provide me with housing, but something was lost in translation and I am now having to rent an apartment while I am there. The upside is that I will have my own apt rather than possibly being stuck in a dorm situation. I am really looking forward to this trip as I am really kind of burnt out on school right now. Working straight through last summer to finish my masters has taken it's toll.

Other than that we have pretty much given up watching regular TV. Instead when we want to veg we have watching movies and TV shows on Netflix. Among our new favorites are Weeds, MI-5 and Sleeper Cell. If you have the chance, Weeds is really quite hilarious; a rich suburban housewife becoming a weed kingpin? Talk about far-fetched....but funny. Of course, remember this is from the guy who loved the way the Sopranos ended and figure the best new movie I saw last year was No Country...

Oh yeah and the Sox are solid.

Riley

Riley passed on this morning shortly before 7AM MT. She was fine yesterday morning, but about midday she started a downward spiral until this morning. We woke up several times to check on her and when I checked on her just before 7, I could tell the end was near. I called the vet and we decided to bring her in. We then threw on some pants and when we came back to her, she had passed.

I can't put into words how I feel, what she meant to me or anything like that, so I am not going to try. At this point, I think I am going to take a break from the blog thing for a while. Check back later.....

Another Riley Update

She continues to be OK; more good days than bad. Though she does seem to have some down spells just as her vet expected. We have found a vet we really like--almost as much as BPK. She is far more concerned about connecting with the animals than the people which is a good thing.

Otherwise, we have been doing stuff and things are good...

Riley Update

She is doing extremely well and is her normal self since her stomach was relieved. Not sure what this means, but we are glad and are spoiling her rotten!

However, I still have the occasional Brett Favre moment...

Riley

For anyone unsure, Riley has been my companion for over 10 years. I can't begin to describe the love I have for her and everything she has given me. I am sure that AJD (she has a similar post right now liked me more as soon as she met Riley. I love getting home and having her greet me tail wagging and singing. Unfortunately, this is not likely to happen for too many more days.

Over the weekend, she had an abdominal bleed caused by a sarcoma on her spleen. Part of the reaction was a stomach bloat which was relieved by pumping her stomach. In order to make her comfortable, we had her stomach pumped to relieve the pressure. She is much better today, but the likelihood of additional bleeds is certain.

The problem could be resolved for several months if we were to have her spleen removed. However, given what she went through with her course of radiation almost 3 years ago, we feel that we would rather keep her comfortable and happy for the short term. She has a very hard time with painkillers as they make her very nervous and anxious. We feel that we were able to prolong her life to this point and the last thing we want is to have her be in pain because of our selfishness.

In short, we are opting to be near her and have some happy last days with her in the immediate future so that we can say good-bye. This is the least we can do for all the love and happiness she has brought to our lives!

Here are some pictures. This one is with her Powder buddy:















This is one of my favorite because she is so happy!















Not so happy in this one, but she is recovering from radiation.















Quite content to cuddle with her monkey.















Or chase the frisbee.















This picture is my all-time favorite. I have one that is very similar from when she was only a few months old.

delish!

Check out what we made for Sunday brunch yesterday!

They were awesome!