HI Everyone
Earl went for his blood work today (which you would think should be an easy task! Well is was not!) Anyway, it did get done and the results are good, so Earl will be admitted tonight. The chemo will be done tomorrow and then they do follow up blood work every 24 hours until his methotrexate levels come down. Then he can come home...returning next Monday for the same treatment.
He had a great week full of energy and fun, even playing hockey and going to a movie with friends.
Take care and keep in touch
Debbie

Onward

You don't even know, but I'm slowly walking towards you...

:-)

Not dead, quite the opposite, living it up down under :-)

Earl at the Maple Leafs Game

Thanks to the very special social workers at Mt Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Earl was able to go to a Leafs game ( and of course he needed an escort yipee, that was me) where he had the time of his life. This was his first ever NHL game and for those of you who know Earl that just made his day.

Earl is feeling GREAT!!!

Hello Everyone,
Earl has one more week at home before he heads back to the hospital for his next round.
He will be hospitalized for portions of the next 3 weeks (from April 30 to May 20) Hopefully he will respond well and will get to be at home for the latter part of each of the first 2 weeks. The third week will keep him in for 6 days, regardless of how well he responds.
He is having a great week this week, and has started having his TA from school come to the house to help him get his math credit. He went for his tuxedo fitting yesterday and watch out everyone, because he looks incredibly handsome. It is great that he is feeling good, because last week he landed in hospital after spiking a fever. It took a few days of antibiotics, but he is smiling once again.
Spring is in the air and Earl has been for a couple of bike rides and is trying to spend a little time in the sunshine each day.
Keep in touch!
Debbie

Mid-Week Funny

The new Will Ferral video comedy site trailer, good shit:

Manly Union League

Sunday afternoon last week and back from Taz. There's nothing better than hooking up with 20,000 Manly/Sydney-ites and one kiwi to check out the weekly Rugby game staring local first place team the Manly Sea Eagles. We certainly had our game faces/bellies on ;-)



The weather wasamazing and the stadium was jam packed. Because it was so busy and a televised game the line for tickets wrapped completly around the entire stadium. Figuring we wouldn't get in before half time we first had a few pints at the supporters club watching it on their big screen projection, then mozzied on over to the stadium at half to walk in and watch the rest for free. What a great day :-)

Home Now

Well Earl is home now, and very glad I might add. His new best friend is his bed. He did manage to go to Winnipeg Tech/Culinary Arts yesterday, but today he is spending the morning sleeping. He is hoping to get to Vincent Massey this afternoon.
Debbie

Tasmanian Times

After a great time in Melbourne it was ti me to get to Australia's unloved stepson Tasmania for some serious outdoor adventure. The city of Hobart surprisingly had some non-outback gems to check out:



Being an island off the coast of Australia certainly lends itself to having a thriving fish industry. Some of the restaurants are built right into the boat and are amazingly popular after 7pm when the sun goes down:



You might not think Tasmanian's are very cultured and rather forgettable, you'd be wrong. In Hobart they even have a (small) university dedicated to the arts. Some great rookie art is free on display for everyone:



Taz might not have alot of people or modern comforts, but if you're into hiking this is definatly the place to be. Even outside their "biggest" city Hobart (125k people), you're only 5 minutes away from some stunning paths:



The view going up the mountain was absolutly stunning:



The sun goes down over the Tasmanian outback, what a great adventure away from everywhere else in the world...

Only In Canada

Thanks to Al who got this in :-)

Great Ocean Road

Needless to say last Saturday wasa total blowout, it was time to get some fresh air and light exercise into the system. Just south from Melbourne along the southern coast is the "Great Ocean Road". Considering that our ferry to Tasmania didn't leave until that night (we eventually missed it and flew) we decided to go hit the road.

Very windy-windy, stunning views, great little surf villages all along (the Bell's Beach Ripcurl tournament started there 2 days later) and the famous "12 appossels", a group of rock formations along a section of coast formed over millenia of tides:



Later that afternoon we moved inland and lone behold drove through the now famous in Canada "Colac", home of the 3 "Backpackers" on OLN (just read that they are starting a sequel). Well there's definatly not much there, but there was one interesting thing for this Canadian: :-)



Off to Taz...

Round 1... and the winner is

Hi Everyone,
Well today is Earl's last chemo and then he gets to rest for 2 weeks. He is so ready to go home, although I know he will miss getting so spoiled. Earl will be trying to go to school, but the chemo makes him very tired so he will likely spend a lot of time sleeping....boo hoo....what young man does not like to sleep? He loves to hear from you so give us a call at home, and if he can't visit in person, I know he can talk on the phone.
Debbie

Manly Fight Night?

I guess Manly isn't quite as posh as I thought it was. While me and a colleague sipped wine and beer over a candlelit diner at a trendy local restaurant, the following was occuring right under our noses:

Police are appealing for witnesses after a young English tourist had part of his lip bitten off during a pub fight in Manly overnight.

"The 23-year-old became in involved in an altercation with a group of men at a hotel on The Corso about 12.50am.

Security were able to pull the fighters apart but the tourist required hospitalisation after part of his lower lip was bitten off.

He was taken to Manly Hospital but is expected to be transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital today for further treatment.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is urged to contact Manly detectives on 9977 9499 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000."

Well Manly just won't stand for that! It certainly must be a result of all the Sydney riff-raff coming over on the jetcat, back to the ferry days I say!! ;-)

Melbourne Days, Melbourne Nights

After a great start to Melbourne with the opening season AFL game it was time to get up and experience the city. Before that however we caught up with Oz and bines and their new diggs. Here Aussie shows off his sweet new ride... I'm talking about the bike ;-) No way was I going to miss out on hitting the road on that beast! (again, talking about the bike! ;-)



Aussie's new dog. Best... dog... ever!
Update: Just got an e-mail that our little friend Brandy has left us suddenly. We all miss you buddy and I'm glad I got a chance to meet you.



The afternoon couldn't have been better, some kite surfers enjoying the afternoon:



Melbourne harbour. Great view, and the last picture before the hard core boozing started :-)



The view above the patio at the bar we baked at all afternoon. Considering that this is the only web-friendly picture from the entire afternoon should give some indication of how hammed we already were before going out Sat night :-)



More from Sat night and the MASSIVE sunday morning hangover tomorrow, time to hit the beach :-)

Mystery Photos

The mystery photos from last Thursday night (when we missed our flight) are just now starting to emerge. The guilty: Aussie, Ross and 2-minute Chad :-)

Stuttgart Time-Killer

Slowly approaching 1k views of "Killing Time On The Stuttgart S-Bahn". That's got to be some kind of milestone ;-)

Off To Melbourne... Maybe

After a crazy night out in Sydney catching up with old friends and having good times we had to catch an obscenely early 6:15am flight to Melbourne for the weekend. Yeah that didn't happen. At 5:45 we awake to start a mad dash for the airport. Ninty minutes and $400 later we are finally in the air on our way to Melbourne:



Oz took it like a trooper and headed straight to work upon arrival, while some of us took the opportunity to sleep off the in-flight beers (no joke):



The whole reason for the rush to Melbourne in just my 3rd day in Australia was to catch the opening season AFL game at MCG stadium. Of course this was my first AFL game live in stadium and it totally lived up to expectations:



Exciting game, even if Melbourne did eventually check out and get blown up by St. Kilda :-(



Friday night in Melbourne starts with a bang, and it was just an indication of what was to come Saturday night...

Congrats My Lady

Congradulations are in order for Canada's national Women's Hockey team as they took home the 8th (of a total 9) world hockey championship today. Quite simply they are the best:

Earl has now completed his first day of chemo, and actually faired very well. He had a few boughts of nausea, but other than that he did great. He had lots of visitors and he said that they helped him be strong and courageous.....and also made him laugh which we believe is great medicine.
Earl will remain in hospital until Sunday and then will be home for 2 weeks. After that he will return to hospital for portions of the next 3 weeks.
Debbie

The Land Down Under

As the sun comes up I realize I'm on the other side of the globe, just about to arrive in Sydney:



Although Australian culture is very close to Canadian there are definatly subtle differences. Notice the little blue symbol on the sign? That's used to denote surfing, not skiing. As if! That's a skier if I ever saw one, of course the weather doesn't really lend itself to snow bunnies eh ;-)



Driving through Sydney on route to the suburb of Manly: (click for video)



That's Sydney in the background, if I could take a decent night pic with my crappy camera you'd see the amazing lights from downtown. What a view! This is home base for my travels around Oz over the next 5 weeks:



The beach in Manly (Sydney), click pic below for a video:



Time to hit the beach, my surf nickname is "Goggle-Google-Boy" relating to my geek and swimmer background, just great. They couldn't have just called me "Spikey" or something?!? ;-)

Alcatraz

The day before leaving San Francisco I did one of the most touristy things imaginable and went to Alcatraz for a tour. It was totally worth the time/money. Some pics below, one actual day (and two calendar days) later I would be hitting the waves off the coast of Oz.

As approaching the island:



A prisoners "living" space:



The keys to freedom are held tantalizingly out of reach:



From the small outdoor grounds (prisoners allowed to go outside for one hour a day with good behaviour) you can just see over the wall to the city across the bay:



Touristy? Yes. Awesome? Also yes.

Treatment Begins

Hi Everyone,

Well we are back in Winnipeg. Earl saw his oncologist on Thursday and was admitted to St. Boniface Hospital yesterday. He is settled in and will begin his chemotherapy today. He is feeling a little (???) frightened but is easily encouraged. He loves to hear from the people who care about him, so if you have a minute to email, blog, or phone or if you have some time to visit he would love it. He does have a phone in his room and he is allowed visitors. He will be hospitalized for all his treatments and this one will keep him in for 6 days. This BLOG is to help communicate, but we still encourage you to phone and give us the pep talks needed to get through this tough time.
Take Care, and keep praying
Debbie, Darby and THE COOKER

Evil Jokes

Evil joke of the day:

THE SITUATION - You are in Florida, Miami to be specific. There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding. This is a flood of biblical proportions. You are photojournalist working for a major newspaper, and you’re caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless.

You’re trying to shoot career-making photos. There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing under the water. Nature is unleashing all of its destructive fury.

THE TEST - Suddenly you see a woman in the water. She is fighting for her life, trying not to be taken down with the debris.

You move closer. Somehow the woman looks familiar. You suddenly realize who it is. It’s Hillary Clinton! At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take her under forever.

You have two options: You can save the life of Hillary Clinton or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer Prize winning photo, documenting the death of one of the world’s most powerful women (in her mind, at least).

THE QUESTION - Here’s the question, and please give an honest answer….

Would you select high contrast color film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

VfB Stuttgart ist unser Leben, ist unser Ziel

Another week, another VFB Stuttgart victory. Can't wait to get to the Pokal finals in Berlin this May :-)

San Fran Character

There are lots of interesting people in San Francisco

Peace brother:

Animal Crackers

Animal crackers in my soup,
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop.
Gosh oh gee but I have fun,
Swallowing animals one by one.

When their inside me, where its dark,
I walk around like Noahs Arc.
I stuff my tummy like a goop,
With animal crackers in my soup.

Actually it's animal bread :-)

Toronto Update

Hi Everyone,
Earl is still in hospital, and getting all his tests done. Becuase they are getting things done here he will be able to start his chemo quicker. He seems to be having some pain in his leg that they are concerned about, so they have ordered an ultra sound which will be done either later today or tomorrow. He is also scheduled to get his porta cath, put in tomorrow. This port which will be put in his chest is where they will give him his chemo.
Hopefully he will be discharged early on Tuesday, as he wants to have a hockey day. The day will start with a nice breakfast (not hospital food that is, although Earl does eat everything they put in front of him, plus what I bring), then we will find our way to the Hockey Hall of Fame after which we will go to Wayne Gretsky's Restaurant and finally to the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Philidelphia Flyers game. We will then return to our hotel, fall in to bed and hopefully have a good sleep. We will catch our flight back to Winnipeg at 11:55 arriving back after 2.
Earl is involved with the Musical at VMC "Anne of Green Gables" and so we will be off to the Pantages Theater that evening.
We sure miss all of you and it will be great to be back home, Maybe I might even get a great big hug from Darby....who knows.
Love Debbie & Earl