Where to begin

So many things to chat about today.
We have the fair, football, new ink, new babies, random hook-ups, contrite owners and a mom update.

Lets start with the fattening one. The Iowa State Fair. Finally made it over to the Eastside of Des Moines on Sunday for the last day of the fair. It was hot. It was fried. It was chock full of agricultural goodness. It was mullet-tastic.
Good trip. Ate tons; corndogs, pork chops, cheese curds, chicken on a stick -- and the guys I was with, ate more than that. Amazing. Either they didn't eat for like, 3 days, or in fact, they have hollow legs. Pictures are forthcoming, need to get them out of the camera.

Football. It has started. Granted it is pre-season, but why oh why couldn't my Bears win against the Colts in February, not last night?? Oh wait, I know, Manning only took snaps for like a -- QUARTER. Nonetheless, the season kick-off is near and I am getting excited. Of course, the Rex Grossman saga continues. Who knows which Rex will show up? Not sure the Chicago faithful will be willing to stand another meltdown at this point. Then again, what would sports broadcasters talk about if not that?

Big day today -- getting new ink. Woo Hoo!. Actually going in to cover up the very first tattoo I ever got. Lesson here kids: don't get a tattoo when you are 19 from a guy that works out of his basement. They tend to not hold up well. That being said, I am headed down to Mid-Air and Ink tonight for some cover up action. Got a killer new design from the Book of Kells that I will be using. You will have to come back for pics of the finished product. Dave down there did my foot a few years back and is an amazing artist. I am super excited. If you are so inclined, always looking for visitors while getting a little ink. I shall be down there starting around 6:30 ish.

Short weekend re-cap (is this post all over the map or what?)
Fair, see above.
Friday night. Oh Friday night. Let me splain' a little. This was the first weekend in like, forever, that I was in town. No driving, no nothing. It will be the last weekend for like another 5 weeks that I am in town. So, I was looking to get some stuff done, have some fun and catch up with some peeps I haven't seen, in what seems like, forever.
Back to Friday.
I worked at the Cafe that night. Told the girls I was working with, I think we should go out after work and grab a drink or two. So we did. And in one of those nights where it was supposed to just be a low-key, few drinks with the girls type of thing -- things got a little crazy. Ran into some guys we knew, next thing I know we are bar hopping and Tara is like, lets do a shot. Right, tequila and I (no matter how good the tequila is) should not hang out. Bygones. So by the 3rd bar, we are having a good ole' time and we run into a guy that Lisa knows. A guy I also know, as we met randomly online like a year and half ago and after meeting realized we had a friend in common. Long story short, we never got together, he started dating someone, I started dating someone and last I had heard, he was engaged. So see him on Friday, yeah, not engaged anymore. We start talking. Fast forward to last call - they kick us all out. I am standing there with Chris and trying to find Lisa and Tara when he leans over and kisses me.
Hm. Me thinks. Rather unexpected. We then decided in our infinite wisdom that we should go to Lisa's house for more fun. Long story short -- too late -- I ended up making out with him in front of Lisa's house. Small reminder what happens to Meghan when she makes out in front of Lisa's house, she ends up dating the boy and then gets her heart broken (see all references to Joe).
I mean, I am 32 years old. At some point, this sort of thing should get a little old hat. Like shouldn't I being meeting people, then going a date or two, then maybe have a kiss? Not making out like a high schooler on your friends front porch? In all fairness, he is the same age. So I didn't feel too bad. And it was just a little make out session. No harm, no foul. I shall keep you posted on any updates that may come out of this situation. I will say this, having not kissed anyone different in quite a while, it was good. Different, but good. Although, I still felt a smidge weird about the whole thing. Which leads me to believe that full fledged dating is still a little ways off for me. Who knows? The saga of my relationships will as always, continue....

Further proof that Des Moines is a small town; a few months back I detailed a little story about a rather geographically challenged sales person in a boutique here in Des Moines. Find the refresher here. It is a story that still makes me chuckle in dis-belief. So over the weekend, I had a comment posted to a subsequent entry from the owner of the boutique explaining the situation in a little more detail. See her comments here. My first thought was, wow, this blog thing is getting out a little bit. Then I realized it is Des Moines and a smart business owner, especially in retail, should be searching for their name in any form. I appreciated the comments and the fact that she acknowledged a not perfect visit to her store. I do believe that we will be visiting again especially since....
DRUM ROLL
Martine is pregnant.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Seems that one new baby wasn't challenge enough. They need two.
So, by all known medical science and a little math, Noah will turn 1 on Feb 26, she is due with #2 on March 9th.
Fate is a crazy bitch sometimes. Super excited for them, although I think it is fair to say that the "holy shit" factor hasn't faded quite yet. So, I am officially in the midst of a baby boom.

From the life affirming to the less than upbeat, mom update.
Was due for chemo on Friday. As I mentioned earlier this month, we (the family) collectively were debating the merits of keeping the chemo schedule. Just didn't jive with any idea of "quality of life". In meeting with the oncologist on Friday, my mom indicated that she did not want to stop. And for the record, she still gets to make the calls. It is her decision. So, Dr. Taylor took a look at all of her vitals, etc. Bottom line; she isn't getting any more chemo, even if she wants it. Dr. Taylor took one look at her overall health and was like, no can do. Your body cannot handle any more chemo. While I was bummed that my mom still wanted to go forward with it, the final outcome was what we wanted. This also means we can start with hospice care. Prior to that the insurance company was not willing to approve hospice while she was still taking chemo. This all means that we are just going to work on keeping her comfortable and go from there. No more crazy medical procedures or invasive crap. Frankly, I am ok with that aspect of it. Seems to me that there comes a point where you just say enough and deal with the outcome. Of course, I say that now. Check back to see if I still feel the same down the road.

So that mammoth of an entry should bring you up to date on the recent happenings and general observations from my neck of the woods.
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