Updates.

So I'm pretty happy.

I had my six month appointment on Monday, August 10 with Dr. Cripe and here are the results:

WBC - 3.7 (low, but not horrible).
Hgb - 13.9 (again, low, but not horrible).
Hct - 39.6 (yep, low, but not horrible)
Platelets - 157,000 (yeehaw, this one actually falls in the normal skew).

Anyway, the numbers above are not really troublesome, but they don't really tell much of a story. At this appointment they also took blood for my PCR-ABL test that quantifies the number of PH+ cells in my body. I can't really explain the scale of which its measured, but I went from a 4.01 in Feb 09 to a 2.04 in Aug 09. In short, the percentage of PH+ RNA molcules was cut in half. Really good numbers are in the 0.00x range, but at least its going down.

Onward and upward.

Me Likely Keithy

Not much health stuff going on right now. I have an appointment to see Dr. Cripe next week which will be my 6 month check-up. This appoint is usually pretty short but does include a CBC and my PCR_ABL test. Keep your fingers crossed - the last one didn't go so well :(.

On a related note - Keith Olbermann had a pretty good commentary that I'd like to share with all of you. Its largely political affiliation agnostic (though with a slight Democratic bend).

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Needless to say - things have slowed down a bit.

Eli and I are working on doing some stop-motion movies with Playmobil, here is our first stab. The Music is courtesy Howard Shore from 'Lord of the Rings:Return of the King'.

yeah.

sorry. been a month. I know.

Guess that means things are going well. April is a busy time around here, my birthday, Maris' birthday, Kris and my anniversary (7 years, thank you very much), Kris' birthday in early May and Mother's Day.

This year I got Kris a kayak for the anniv/birth/mothersday extravaganza. Its pretty cool really - 15' long and inflatable. It's essentially the same material as a white-water raft and designed for two adults (or single if need be). Attached is a photo where we went for a literal dry run. It took about 20 minutes to inflate, but I'm confident we can get that down to 10 now that we know what we're doing.

My Garden.

Ok, its not much now - but wait. Built entirely of cedar and filled with a blend of mushroom compost, top soil and peat. Oh yeah, I also added two dozen night crawlers.

Good Bye Mrs. Olbermann

Very few people like Keith the way I do. I find him entertaining and at the very least - leaning the way I do. He lost his mom to breast cancer this week and did a wonderful tribute to here. Enjoy.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

seriously, has it been a month.

I'm doing fine...aside from an infected finger (which was saved through the miracles of Neosporin), all clear.

I unfortunately didn't plan ahead very well and do not have pictures to post from my latest project, but I'll share anyway. We decided to plant a raised bed garden this year. The kids are now old enough to learn about plants, the planting process, food sources, etc and frankly, I just wanted to do it. I built the beds last weekend out of 2x4 cedar stock - they are just shy of 1' deep and will be filled with Mark's Mix ( a mixture of mushroom compost, peat and top soil ). I have two beds that are 4' x 8' with pvc canopy supports so I can top them with plastic to extend the growing season about a month in either direction.

We started seeds a couple weeks ago and Maris helps me keep them watered every other day. Our beans and peas are already about 7" tall and everything else is coming along nicely ( herbs, carrots, cherry tomatoes, beets, radishes and a lettuce mix ). I hope to get them all outside by mid next week so we can really let them grow. I suspect the beans are already root bound so waiting any longer is not an option. I should have probably waited another month to get this stuff going, but I refuse to wait until July before we can start harvesting.

Anyway - that's it. Pretty exciting - great project ( under budget ).

Next up, religion by John. More soon.