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Good morning!

So, it is 7:07am and I am normally sleeping right now! Unfortunately (admittedly at the age of 27) I had a bad dream and found myself rather awake. I figured why not put my state of wakefulness to good use. Yes that means I just put the dishwasher on. I don't have a whole lot to write about, but that has never stopped me before, so here we go!

CONGRATULATIONS to Teri & Kevyn!!! You guys must be thrilled, as I know both Nicole and I are most certainly thrilled for you. We cannot wait to meet little Sawyer :)

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas. Ours was restful. Wait, did I say restful? Because I actually meant stressful. Nicole and I were both sick in the weeks prior to Christmas such that were not able to leave the apartment for much of anything apart for some desperate Christmas shopping (which I'm proud to say we were able to pull off). Some points:

A) Thank you to my family, who were far too generous with the gifts and provided us with an amazing meal!
B) Thank you to Nicole's family, who were far too generous with the gifts and provided us with an amazing meal!
C) Thank you to Doug & Kerri, who were far too generous with the gifts and provided us with an amazing meal!

Hey Gadient family! Yes I'm talking to you Shauna, Kevin, Emma, and Daniel! Why have we not seen you yet? The birthdays and Christmas has gone by and yet the gifts remain undelivered on our love seat!?! And the greetings and well wishes remain un-uttered from our mouths! This must be solved by a "get-together" perhaps in your local area (which you may take to mean "Steinbach" or "Your Living Room"). In the proceeding section "we" or "us" refers to the married couple of Tom Sontag and Nicole O'Leary-Sontag and "you" refers to the married couple of Shauna Gadient and Kevin Gadient.

Section 10.2 - The Outing
"We" would like to go out on a double date of sorts with "you" at your earliest convenience. Yes "we" know "you" have children and now a dog (as if you didn't have enough living beings to care for?) which makes it difficult to get out of the house, and that "we" are just the childless friends who do not know what it is like to try to raise two children under that age of six while importing dogs from abroad whose bread according to their wikipedia page are in the "Giant weight range" (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newfoundland_(dog))

Nonetheless it is perhaps good that "you" have friends like "us" who can push you to simply get out for a night without the kids/dog? A table at Peasant Cookery awaits the lot of us at your earliest convenience.

Section 10.3 - Regarding S&M Inc.
It must be stated that our contact with S&M Inc. (provider of laughter and all-around "good times") has been sadly lacking as of late, which I must admit the blame for which lands squarely on our roundish shoulders. We miss you guys and must meet up soon.

Doing away with needless section headings, the event of the year (or next year?) is coming up on January 1st! What event? If you don't know than you are probably not worthy of having me describe to you the joys that can come with an oversized soccer ball, 2-4 dirt bikes, and the best 64 bit graphics 1996 had to offer us. I can almost hear the extra revs as the z-trigger is pressed, feel the tension as the ballots are counted in a questionably undisclosed manner, and taste the cream puffs that have been on the table for the past 6 hours. Friendships are left at the door with the shoes. Pride is won like a cheap trophy bought at a Value Village. Yes, I am most certainly referring to the "7th Annual Excitebike 64 Soccer Tournament".

I should throw out a belated Congratulations to Randy & Jen as well on their recent engagement and upcoming wedding. Rumour has it I'm invited, so I'm pretty psyched.

So how about my brain? It is still around 3 lbs give or take, most of which is still made of of non-cancerous cells. I went for my latest MRI on the 28th. It made the usual beeps and hums and clicks. I don't speak the same language as the machine so I can't tell you how it went. Instead I have to wait until January 6th for my next visit to find out. Again there are a few scenarios that can play out:

#1) The tumour is bigger. This is bad. This means I statistically will only have a few months to live.

#2) The tumour is the same. This is good. It means Nicole and I can live on a knife's edge until the next MRI.

#3) The tumour is smaller. This is gooder. It means Nicole and I can relax (just a tiny bit) knowing that we likely have at least a few months until the thing grows back with a vengeance and kills me (statistically that is).

#4) The tumour is gone. The is the best. Though not possible (short of a miracle) this would mean I'd have my first clean MRI. Would this mean I'd be cured? No. It would mean I'd have millions of cancer cells in my brain, though not enough to show up on an MRI. It would mean that Nicole and I would be able to celebrate for at least a day before being crushed with the reminder that statistically I still would not live for very long.

And the word of the day is... HOPE! Hope is what we go on these days. Statistics matter not. If one in a million can beat this, than I just need to be that one (sorry other 999,999). The next week will be stressful beyond explanation for Nicole and I, up until the "moment of truth", which could result in tears of disappointment, or tears of joy. Either way I plan on crying like a girl. They might feel sorry for me and give me a cookie! Side note: NICOLE WAS AWESOME AND GOT ME A CHOCOLATE BAR FOR CHRISTMAS! But before you think she was trying to kill me... IT WAS MADE WITHOUT SUGAR! Best of all? IT TASTED LIKE IT WAS MADE WITH SUGAR!!! When people ask me if there is any reason to be happy these days I can just say "Well, the other day I had this delicious chocolate bar!"

I love my wife :)

Ok, so what else can I ramble on about. Randy has informed me that "Pinterest" is the newest latest craze, so for those of you who want to be more "with it" than I am you should check it out. I'll probably do so later today, so you have at least 6 hours to get a head start on me.

That be it for now. As per usual I will promise updates to this blog while in reality procrastinate doing so until forced by my own ever-building guilt to do so. It is now 8:07 am, meaning I've put a good hour into this and can return to bed in order to rest up for... whatever it is I'll end up doing today. CHEERS EVERYONE!!!
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Tom