Half A Century Is Better Than None

If you were able to decipher the clues from my last post, you probably figured out it was a big birthday week for me. The whole age thing doesn’t bother me in the least. I’ve earned every wild ear hair and facial crease. I’ve even adapted to ordering an adult beverage at a local saloon and not being carded. Sure it hasn’t been all beer’n’pork chops (wine’n’roses for you romantics who don’t know the way to a man’s heart) but at least there’s been more applesauce than sour grapes.

Wait a minute! I like sour grapes. You know the big green ones that make your face pucker, maybe that’s where these creases come from. The moral of this story is, if you woke up this morning relatively healthy and you’re still looking down at the topsoil, count your blessings. It’s good to be any age!

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We received some news of possible concern this week from the pediatric endocrinologist. Cassidy’s growth spurt has lost its steam. Her bone age has caught up to her real age. This means that as far as height goes, she is just about done. They have upped her growth hormone to the medical max to coax every last inch out of her skeletal structure.

When we first started with the hormone treatment it was predicted that without it Cassidy would top off at maybe 4’6”. She is currently at 4’7” just barely passing the amusement park ruler line that says you must be this tall to ride. Being short in itself is not a problem, just ask me or my mother. Adapting to a world built around average standards a foot above where you top off will be challenging though.

The big question is, does this mean that there are underdeveloped organs that could cause medical problems down the line? It is all wait and see of course, we won’t know for a while. What we do know is that the doctor was very disappointed that the lines on the growth chart are going sideways rather than up.

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How ‘bout them WinterLympics!

This is where, as a spectator, you find out if you’re a “thrill of victory” or “agony of defeat” kind of person. Did you say “Oh yeah!” when the Russians came down the track under their bobsled? Did you cheer when the Japanese ski jumper face-planted her landing? Or, are you saying that you just wish each individual team and athlete could finish their respective run cleanly and count up the subjective scores to see who is awarded the medals? For me it is a little of both but I do want each one of these athletes to leave it all on the course. Seeing a top-tier skier dog it down the mountain because others in front of her have crashed is not sport. Go for the medal or go home.

Sometimes it is better to be remembered for a spectacular crash that you survived rather than them playing your song and handing you a bouquet. What is with the bouquets anyway? Tops in the world and you hand me tomorrow’s trash? If I make it to the podium keep your dead flowers and give me beer’n’pork chops and don’t forget the applesauce!