Spy Photo

Nick was caught eating chili in the cafeteria. With his Grandma. And some furry guy and his wife. Crazy, crazy stuff.

Week 2

Now we're getting somewhere. I have entered the NFL Quarterback stage of beard growth. Just enough scruff to look manly, but not so much that the ladies get grossed out. No, that is for the linemen, and will be be arriving in a few short weeks I think. So for now, my lady can still kiss me without getting all weirded out. Woo Hoo!

Thank you to all those who have donated so far. For those that haven't, now is a heck of a time. You're not doing anything else right? Probably getting ready to go do something later that will be a huge waste of money compared to throwing a few bucks at a children's hospital or a kid with cancer. Yeah, I'm using guilt but I'm shameless and I don't care.

Babysitting

Nick, that title is just for you.

Today I got to have my day just with Nick...well for the most part. His uncle Mike was there too, but he slept most of the time. I got to watch Nick eat a big calzone, followed by 4 chicken strips and a bunch of fries. He says the steroids make him hungry, but being a giant 13 year old could do that to you too. He was pretty tired, but still alert enough to beat me down again in Madden. Twice. I am officially old and unskilled. What can I say? The best part of the day was the silent trash talking we did via text messaging while we played. Seeing as how his roommate was asleep and Mikey was too, it was the only polite thing to do. Even though what we were (silently) saying to each other was anything but polite.

Anyway, thanks for the great day pal. See you this weekend.

Madden

Tonight, I got taken to school on Madden 07 on playstation by a 13 year old kid. To make matters worse, he was also getting chemo at the same time. I am talking taken-to-school dude. It was like 83-30 when I quit in the 3rd quarter. He did this to me in front of my wife. Just laid into me. Ouch. I could lie and say I was just letting him win to make him feel better, but he felt fine. Especially when he induced 3 straight red zone interceptions out of the always money Brett Favre.

Nick, I was really looking forward to our day together Thursday, but seriously...take it easy on the old guy. My game is rusty, and my emotions are fragile. I bow to your greatness.


Oh and Nicks tumors shrank by 50%.....but I'll let his pops fill you in on that awesomeness on his blog.

Garfield minus Garfield

This about sums up my progress perfectly.

The Ring Bearer

Nick has been breaking hearts for years. Check out what a little dude he was 9 years ago. That little stud was the ring bearer in our wedding and man...did he have the lady's a swoonin'. He was a little shy, but not when his Daddy was beside him. The rings wouldn't stay on the pillow, but he dutifully carried out his job, delivering us the empty pillow, while his pops carried the rings in his pocket. I was so proud of him that day as I have been every day since.

Nick, I know it might be a tough week, but just know that all of us are in your corner and we'll stay there the rest of your life. You are loved by more people than you will ever know. I'm just one of those lucky ones who gets to be by your side during this whole process. Love you pal.

FYI

I need to make something a little more clear. If you donate to PCH it's going directly for research, treatment, facilities upgrades, etc. In fact if you go their site, you can even choose where your donation goes. Of course I would like to see it go to cancer research, but the fact is, that hospital needs money to treat kids with all kinds of illnesses.

Now, if you go over to Mark's site, The Longest Day, you can donate to help with the enormous cost of cancer treatment Mark and Shannon are having to pay. It's terrible that insurance doesn't cover all the costs associated with the treatment, but it is what it is. They could also use your help, no matter how much you have to give.

So, if you choose one...don't think you are neglecting the other. They are both great choices. Also, you may want to think about splitting your donation up 50/50. You may not think it amounts to much, but if we get enough people opening their hearts and wallets...it can be.

Thank you to every one who has said, "I WILL", this past week. Just awesome. If you want your name added to the scrolling donor bar to the right, just let me know. I am doing this all on the honor system as no money is coming to me directly. If you say you are donating, I believe you, and I thank you.

Week 1

Been a week, give or take a few hours. Things are getting very fuzzy around here. This is the stage in beard growth where you like a guy who is trying to look cool, but really is miles away and several hundred degrees away from cool.

So, for those of you who are donating every week...you owe PCH or The Longest Day, some green. Mark has some good news over there as far as Nick is concerned. The basic gist is that things are looking up and you people are going to get to see what a four-month beard looks like on this old mug. Man...that could be ugly.

Oh, and one more thing...if seeing more pictures, or more frequent pictures (action shots even) of this freakshow is what opens your wallets, by all means let me know.

Nick and Mark

Good job clicking over here.

Now let me introduce you to the star of this show, Nick. My little buddy isn't so little anymore. He's as tall as me now. I've got him on poundage but he might have me on strength. He has always been such a brave kid, from the minute I knew him. Me and his Dad used to take him all over the place with us on our adventures into the wilderness and he never batted an eye. He loved it. He was all boy, all the time. I'm going to talk more and more about him later, but for now...this is Nick;

Now onto his Father, Mark. I met this gentle giant in High School. Okay Summer School. It was the summer after our Freshman year, so obviously we weren't model students during they normal school year. Myself, I was more into comic books, girls, and witticisms than schoolwork. Mark was more into lifting weights and reading about how to lift more weights, and girls of course. I'm not sure how we hooked up, but when you are both among the biggest kids in school, you either end up fighting each other or becoming friends somehow, so it was bound to happen. We stayed friends long after high school, and eventually ended up becoming roommates for a time, and then for some reason he was asked to be the Best Man at our wedding, with Nick being the ring bearer. Again...more on him later. I could fill this blog with stories about him and I just might...but here he is;


PS...that picture of Mark was taken over a thousand years ago, he is much uglier now...as am I.

Day 1

This first post will be to give you a little background on who I am, and why I am doing this.

Plain and simple, my Godson has a very rare form of cancer. As you can imagine, this greatly disturbs me, and I am unwilling to sit idly by as he fights the toughest battle of his life. So, being of very limited mental capabilities...I am growing a beard to cure cancer. WHAT?!? How can a beard cure anything besides my wife's joy of kissing me? Well, the beard is the sizzle, the money I am hoping to raise is the steak. I am asking everyone who is willing, to donate at least $1 a day to Phoenix Children's Hospital for every day I don't shave. I will continue to grow the beard until he is cured.

Pretty simple right? The kids get a little more clink in the coffer and you all get to watch me transform in to some kind of furball freak. All for $1 a day. A lot of you spend $6 a day on Starbucks or some variation on the theme. What does that net you? A little buzz, stanky breath, and the feeling that you have been ripped off. With me, I promise you a good laugh, and a warm cozy feeling. So if you have to cut back to only a few cups a week, I promise to make it worth your while.

I am taking no donations directly, just click on the PCH link to the right and they will take care of the rest. Make your donations as you want, but please just make ANY donation. It may be your donation that funds critical research that discovers the cure for this horrible disease. Think about how cool it would be to say you played a part in the cure. Then think about how uncool it would feel to say you played no part. Egads...no one needs that on their conscience.

So, sit back open your wallet, and watch my beard grow.