Weekend Birthdays and Good News

Robin and I drove into Pittsburgh on Friday to get the results from the lastest MRI regarding the brain tumor.  It was an overcast morning, as much of the weather is synonomous with that. In fact, we can brag that we have over 300 days of cloudy and overcast skies in this part of the country.  The fountain at the point of the Three Rivers was spurning pink in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness.

It made for a beautiful sight.  I was a bit wary as I always am as to the prognosis of my tests but I felt confident today.  Let’s cut to the chase and make a long story short here.  Dr. Aziz told me that there was no growth and no change toward the negative. Instead of having me tested every three months, I am now to have this done every six months.  I couldn’t be happier.  I celebrated when I got home by changing clothes and going for a long bicycle ride.  The clouds gave way to some sunshine and along the trail it appeared that even the wildlife on my path was in a good mood as well. 

Later that evening, Robin and I met Ryan and Carolyn for a suprise 50th birthday party for our friend Jim. Shawn had rented out the entire Caravan Club on Carson Street in Pittsburgh and all of Jim’s friends had shown up to pay homage to such a distinctive passage. Jim’s a good guy and never has a negative word for anyone. Nothing would have been overboard for a man with such a good nature. Happy 50th, Jim.

Sunday was Ryan’s 29th birthday as well as my sister’s 46th.  We all visited together for a while, spent a bit of time at the outlet malls as Robin was in dire need of a new purse.  I didn’t realize how important it was for me to go along on this trip.  Although I had no input on the purse I was summoned to trade a few Jacksons for it.  The rest of the day was being lazy, watching the Steelers get toasted by the Colts and making some homemade soup.  That recipe will show up on here soon.  It has to be one of the best beef noodle soups ever.