So our wedding anniversary was this past weekend (9/25). We have been married for 6 years. We have actually been together 16 years though.

I tried to think of something special that she would really enjoy. On one of my bike rides I discovered Skaneateles. The town is very cute and has all sorts of shops and little places to eat. I thought this has everything Carrie loves to do! So I planned a day trip there and we would just hang out, shop, eat, and enjoy the scenary.

This was one of the shops we went into. The puppy was so cute and behaving so well that I had to take a photo. Plus I am hoping all Carrie’s friends that read this will tell her to get me a puppy for Christmas!

The second photo is the view out the back window of the shop. The third photo is the sign we should have bought to hang in the house. Carrie is the Queen of the house!

The above photos are of this little tiny coffee shop on the backside of Lake Skaneateles called Grammie’s Pantry. I saw this while biking around Skaneateles Lake on 9/11 and thought Carrie would love to stop here for a coffee and a snack. As you can see from the photos she seemed to like it!

After our coffee break we drove around the lake to check out all the expensive houses. Wow .. there were quite a few of them.

This had to be one of our best weekends together in a long, long time. I love my wife so much. She is my best friend and I could not imagine my life without her. People hear that we have been together for 16 years and are like WOW .. that is a long time. It doesn’t seem like a long time for me because I fall in love with her everyday. The little faces she makes when I say something wierd, her little laughs, the excuses I get as to why all her clothes are covering the bed when I get home from work (“The closet got sick this morning …”), and a million other things that I probably should not write here are what make my world go round …

So I just wanted to say I LOVE YOU more than life itself Carrie … you’re the one reason I am still here.

I have not been updating the journal consistantly lately. I apologize for that. So much has been going on.

On 9/11, we (Ethan, Jim, Carrie (Jim’s Friend), and myself) biked around Skaneateles Lake. I must say this had to be the hardest ride we have done yet. I am still recovering from that ride.

On 9/17, Carrie (my wife) and I went to Canaltown Days in Palmyra, NY. I go every year to hang out with some of my friends that I went to High School with. We pretty much just hang out and the American Legion all day and eat food (drink) all day. I did happen to get some photos …

As you can tell from the photos we had a really good time. I look forward to that day EVERY year. I have known all of those people since High School and a couple of them (John & Marie) I have known since grade school (age 7)!

Carrie and I have been going to watch our friend Jill compete in area Triathlons. I have had the bug to try one of these since we watched our first one earlier in the year. The only thing that worries me is the swimming. One of Carrie’s co-workers (Tyler) informed her that there is a Dualthon coming up on October 2, 2005. This race is just running & biking. You actually have to run 2 miles – Bike 10 miles – Run 2 miles to the finish. Carrie and I talked about this last night and well … I sent my registration in this morning! I am so excited ..

I know I can handle the biking part. I will need to make sure I get out a run this week so that my body does not go into total shock!

The event is next weekend and there is still time to sign up. Just click the image below!

My total fundraising is now: $9,891.31.

I would sincerely like to thank all of those that helped me reach this amount. The Ride for the Roses will be a huge day for me. I have been planning for this since August of 2004 (before I even knew I was sick again). It will mark the end of a two year struggle. It will finally let me say to the world … ” .. I had cancer .. and I beat it .. not only once .. but twice .. and YOU CAN TOO! .. “

So yesterday marked day +250 for me. That is the number of days since I had my Stem Cell Infusion. I had a checkup appointment with my Radiation Oncologist as well. The appointment went very well. Nothing to worry about. They are very pleased with my progress and amazed with the amount of cycling I am doing. Needless to say it made me very happy.

I only have 115 days until my 1 year mark. Carrie and I are very excited because this will be the longest I have been in remission since all of this started in June 2003.

Although the deadline has been reached for mailing in LAF donations you can still donate online until September 16, 2005. You can still donate HERE.

To date I have raised:
$8,041.00

This has gotten me to the Green Jersey ($7,500.00) level. I still have hope that I will reach the Polka Dot Jersey ($15,000.00). Only $6,959.00 to go!

Carrie planned a remission party for me on August 27, 2005. She did such a wonderful job on it. I could not believe she planned all of this! We had Pizza, Beer, Soda, Water, Salads, Deserts … it was great! I have some photos of the party from my camera phone, but I am waiting to get the other photos so I can scan them in.

I just wanted to thank everyone for coming out to the party. It really meant alot to see all of you there. I hope everyone had a great time.

Carrie also made a sort of “Cancer Museum” for the party as well. She took all the photos we took during my treatments over the last two years and made several photo collages. She also saved my Hicman Port and the calendar the nurses made my while I was in for my Stem Cell Transplant! I was completely floored. I had no idea she saved all of that stuff.

I truly am lucky to have Carrie as my wife and best friend. I could not have made it through any of this without her. She never ceases to amaze me.

So today I ran my first Duathlon (2mi run -> 10mi bike -> 2mi run). Here was my shirt and number:

I was so nervous this morning because this was the first I have ever raced in anything competitively. The event was alot of fun and I definately see myself doing this every year now.

Running is DEFINATELY alot harder for me then biking. When I came in from the first run, my bike was the ONLY bike left in the transition area. It was a little disheartening, but my wife was there cheering me on none the less. So was my nephew Logan, my neice Connor, my Brother-In-Law Ethan and my In-Laws Tom & Corrine. It was such a nice surprise! I just thought to myself … time does not matter … you only need to finish .. so I got on my bike and kept going.

If I thought the first run was difficult then I have no idea where I got the energy to finish the last run. I kept telling my legs to run, but they had other plans. So I did a half run/walk for a bit and then realized I could go faster if I just power walked. Plus that was alot easier on my knees.

Needless to say I did finish and was only lapped by the top 4 finishers of the Formula Race (2 mi run -> 10 mi bike -> 2 mi run -> 10 mi bike ->2 mi run). My ending time was 1:38:13.566. Not bad for never running an event before. Not bad for a guy that was told he had a 20% chance to live exactly a year ago today.

My time splits were:
1st Run: 0:24:19.069
1st Bike: 0:43:40.451
2nd Run: 0:30:14.046

I am sorry if I am bragging a little bit. I really thought some part of me would give up during that race. I am just proud of myself for not quitting.

The best part of the race is when I crossed the finish line and Carrie ran up and told me she was so proud of me. I almost lost it.

Carrie took a ton of photos so as soon as we get them developed I will scan them and get them up on the site.