Troubles McSteans

If you have some time, go watch Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog . It stars Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion, is directed by Joss Whedon and is awesome. Update: I think this is only available the next 2 days, so see it while you can! Maybe only available for free? I'm not sure. Go watch!

As briefly mentioned in my first post, I have had two kidney transplants. I took the second semester off from my first year of college to have the first one and received that kidney from my dad (thanks, dad!!). Living donor transplants are preferential to cadaveric donation because you can more carefully schedule and prepare for them and there is a better chance of the kidney working right away. I couldn't believe how much better I felt post transplant. My first semester at college I'd earned the nickname "Sleepy" due to my proclivity for frequent napping, but with the new kidney I had newfound energy. Actual photo of my dad's kidney My dad's kidney worked for about 5 1/2 years. I didn't reject it but rather it succumbed to my original disease, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis that I still carry. After that I went on dialysis for almost 2 years. My doctor thought there might be less chance of disease recurrence if I didn't have a transplant

We've had our black lab Lucy since she was 2 months old, and her first year was the closest I'll ever come to raising kids (I don't dislike kids, it's just not in the cards for us). Her first two nights in our house in Arizona gave me sympathy for those who have ever lived with a newborn. We could hear her loudly crying ALL NIGHT in her kitchen crate from our adjacent bedroom. I don't know if you're familiar with labradors, but lab puppies are a little like fuzzy tornadoes. Lucy had (and still has but not to the same extreme) the crazy eyes. She ate every object in the backyard: lawn chairs, rocks, towels, all 13 of our sprinkler heads. I even once glanced out the back window to see her running by with the rake in tow. Training sessions with her were like pulling teeth - she was physically unable to focus on anything but Jeff the Cat inside the house, even when he was out of the room. Her eyes remained locked on his last known position throughout the le

I would like to express my sympathy for the Steans family, especially Rick. Rick's mother, Katherine Ross, passed away this weekend. I didn't get to see Grandma Ross but a handful of times, but did get to spend a very nice Christmas with her last year. I regret not being able to attend the funeral, but will keep you all in my thoughts.

Ryan's high school pal Meredith has also recently started a blog. She has her hands full with her three boys Nathan, Evan, and Zach so I'm sure she'll have lots of great stories! Go take a look and say hi: Meredith's blog

My parents were always great about taking my brother Doug and me on trips when we were kids. Spring break we'd usually fly somewhere and since most times my birthday fell in that timeframe, I've had birthdays in Hawaii, Grand Cayman, Washington D.C., and turned 11 in Berlin. With more time at our disposal, summers were more about hopping in the white Dodge Caravan with the fake wood panelling to see the country. Most summers we'd make at least one trip to northern Minnesota where we spent a number of years alternately canoeing/camping and houseboating before my mom put her foot down and demanded the comfort and convenience of a cabin. I had to side with mom on that one -- marching up a dark path in the middle of the night to a concrete 'throne' when nature calls was a little TOO 'roughing it' for me. Then there was the infamous 2 week road trip of 1984. Any longer than a week is just too much time for any family to spend in a car together. I know Ryan