At my new job I kind of do a little bit of everything and must say I absolutely love it! The people I work with (and for) are all super friendly and have accommodated all of my "special needs". I have this amazing wife (who I might have mentioned before) named Nicole who is beyond words. She wakes up early each morning just to drive me in to work, dealing with the wonderful drivers we have on our Winnipeg roads. It is most amazing that we haven't been killed yet. I always thought my terminal brain cancer was my biggest threat, turns out it's either the lady turning the wrong way down a one way (onto Pioneer from Main street), or the soccer Mom who turned the yield from Donald onto McMillan at confusion corner into a TWO lane merge. Needless to say Nicole and I were both surprised to see a minivan suddenly appear beside us from nowhere. Alas, after dealing with this rush hour traffic to get me to the office, she then heads back home in the same anarchy that is the morning traffic rush to return home to work on her distance education courses (which she does via distance ed. so that she can be my very easy-on-the-eyes chauffeur). Amidst her studies she cleans the apartment and gets the supper meal ready. She then fights the afternoon rush to come to pick me up and get me back to the sanctity that is our two bedroom apartment.
Our lives are returning to what one might describe as "normal" if one were to ignore the 102 ways in which our lives are nowhere near normal. Since I don't say it enough in person, I will take this moment to say to you Nicole:
"You are simply amazing! I love you more than there are grains of sand on every beach (an inside joke referring to a creepy youtube video she made me watch). You have had to deal with the absolute worst that life could ever throw at anyone. I know when you started dating an old man like me you would have figured I'd develop health problems before you, however neither one of us ever saw any of this coming. I've lost some of my hair and the ability to hold a glass of water steadily in my left hand (sorry for burning the both of us with that freshly poured coffee the other day by the way), but I assure you I have not lost any of my love for you. I'd say you're my "other half" as you so often say to me, however I'd think allotting a mere 50% to you would be unfair. You are my other 99%. I'm the part those wall street protesters were/are so mad about. I am the 1%! Had we not met in that silly ol' Psych lab way back in the day, I'd probably be dead (A), but B) I'd have been robbed of the great times we've had together ever since we started going out on January 31st, 2008. A few more hours and we'll get to say we've been "going steady" (as the cool kids say) for four whole years! I know to most people this sounds like a small number, but I also know that for us small numbers are nothing to trivialize. Speaking of fours, we only have four months to go until we can say we've been married for a full year! None too shabby if you ask me. Since I'm starting to ramble I'll close off by saying you have no idea how grateful I am for everything you do for me and how happy you make me. I hope that my terrible jokes and questionable puns are enough to bring some joy to your life, because you deserve that... and so much more. I love you Nicole <3"Otherwise what can I say? Medically all is going well. I'm suffering from dry skin especially on my face these days, but again... considering what the list of side effects from my drugs could be, I'll take the flaky face with a painful smile (due to the cracked lips) and be pleased I am even alive to have dry skin to complain about. My next MRI is April 23rd (which I just found out by asking Nicole... as she knows everything at all times), so until then it's just blood work, pills, more pills, and more blood work. My last blood work was a lot of fun. Three holes in total with a lot of what I call "fishing" (where the needle is moved in/out/back/forth to try to find the blood flow... GOOD TIMES!!!). I've been working mostly at my new job these days (which I love!), however I do miss the MCP folk. I've tried to put in a few hours where I can. Thanks to my family for their birthday gifts/cards/wishes! OH!!! AND...
Nicole got me the GREATEST GIFTS EVER! Not just in terms of what they were, but also in terms of how she arranged them.
- She managed to get me an AWESOME Dr. Who shirt that I know Andrea would approve of. Très cool!
- She actually managed to simultaneously order me the TSN Jets channel AND get our overall bill reduced. Jets games AND save money? Heck ya!
- I got a promise of 3 Dr. Who episodes per night any time with the payment of kisses (before and after each episode). That is the equivalent of telling a Star Wars nerd that he can watch the whole trilogy back-to-back-to-back ANYTIME! HECK YA! For those of you who do not understand let me try another perspective. That would be like the average wife telling her husband he could watch a full afternoon of sports without protest.
- She will be my personal shopping assistant at Moores to pick me out "proper" clothes for my new "proper" job.
- She convinced me to get an iPhone. Yes I now have the new iPhone 4s. Yes, it is wicked cool! I have wanted it for quite some time now, however I considered it an unnecessary expense given that I already had a Blackberry, and couldn't justify spending anything on what was surely just a "waste of money". People have been overly generous with me in many respects over the past year, but having received financial support from family & friends gave me the mentality that I should live well within my means and not waste a cent. Nicole rightly pointed out that those same people who supported me likely did so wanting me to get the most enjoyment out of life that I could. She helped me see it would be surely stupid being frustrated with my Blackberry when I might well not even live to see the end of my 3-year phone contract. It was the "nudge" I needed and we got me all signed up. Thank you Nicole ;)
I should also throw out a couple more big "thank-you's". Firstly to Nicole's Dad Steve, who managed to score both Nicole and I tickets to the Feb 23rd Jets game versus the Lightening - THANKS!!! Secondly, to Doug & Kerri and who got Nicole and I tickets to Disney's Beauty And The Beast playing at the Centennial Concert Hall this coming weekend - THANKS!!! And of course thanks to Jen & Randy for their shwag :)
I had an awesome birthday / birthday-week! I'm writing this update from a place called Elkhorn Resort in Riding Mountain National Park, a scant 4 hour drive from home (if you count the pitstop for lunch and a Tim's). Nicole and I are out here until Tuesday to escape life and hopefully enjoy some snowshoeing, skating, and NOT WORKING or CLEANING AN APARTMENT. Sadly Nicole has had to bring her school work with her to finish up some assignments, which has allowed me time to write this lengthy blog while she slaves away on the couch behind me. It being midnight I think we should both call it a day and maybe enjoy ourselves tomorrow.
CHEERS EVERYBODY!!!
--
Tom
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