Meet our family

Hi everyone,

Before I get too involved with writing about dad's treatment, I thought it might be helpful to give a little background information.  I know that we have lots of people checking the blog, but not everyone is familiar with our whole family.

So, I present to you our cast of characters.

Dad - The star of the blog. He is an identical twin who grew up in Florida and went to West Point (Beat Navy!) where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering.  After I was born he left the army for the reserves and pursued a career in aerospace engineering.  He also earned a masters degree in engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, another masters from the Army War College, and is pursuing a third masters in space science with the University of North Dakota.  After retiring from the reserves as a Colonel, he opened his own business - Rocketman Home Inspections.  Dad like outdoors DIY stuff, bicycle riding, baseball, barbecue, and those sorts of things.  He has a great tenor voice, but I haven't been able to convince him to take up theatre (yet).  Dad says that after he "gets his head fixed" he wants to do something bold like start a company.

You can visit dad's business website at Rocketman Home Inspections.

Mom - Her real name is Diana.  Mom also grew up in Florida and went to Florida State University where she earned a degree in English and German.  She was a stay-at-home mom for most of my childhood and in recent years has taught ESL (English as a second language) at a local high school.  She lost her position in this year's job cuts because otherwise she would have become tenured. She was hired back through a contract company and now does runs the credit recovery computer lab at the same school.  I wish she didn't have to work, but somehow we manage.  I'm mom's best friend and we can finish each other's sentences.  We like to go to Bandito Burrito and on wild adventures I think up for us, like grape stomps.  Mom is an excellent toilet unclogger and saves all the pictures we draw for her on the paper tablecloths at Macaroni Grill. 

Sarah - Hey!  That's me!  I'm the eldest of the four kids and the only girl.  I lamented that for a long time until my brothers started dating.  I graduated from UAH in 2009 with a degree in French and minors in business and chemistry.  I've applied for medical school twice, but so far it just hasn't worked out.  Or maybe it did work out, because if I had been accepted either time I wouldn't be able to accompany dad to California.  Anyways, I am still trying to decide for sure what I want to be when I "grow up." I have an interesting assortment of hobbies and interests.  Like my dad I tend to start more projects than I finish and think that it's not a real peanut butter sandwich unless it has enough peanut butter on it to taste.
Brian - Oh, Beardly.  Well, technically he shaved off his beard last week so that nickname doesn't really work anymore.  I haven't decided if I want to call him Unbeardly now or just Brian.  I'm sure he would prefer the latter.  Brian is the second child and for awhile it was just the two of us and we would pretend to be twins.  Brian went to Birmingham Southern College to study classical guitar.  He's an excellent musician but eventually decided to go into medicine instead and changed his major to biochemistry.  He is a second year student at the University of Alabama School of Medicine.  Brian is very compassionate, gives great advice, and is a very good secret keeper.  He will be an excellent doctor and I'm excited to see which field he will choose. 

David - David is a senior at UAH who will be graduating this summer.  He's following in dad's footsteps and studying mechanical and aerospace engineering.  I think he is also considering a career in the ministry.  He is the third child and nowadays many people think that he and Brian are twins.  David has a heart of gold and will always go out of his way to help you.  He enjoys reading the kind of books they assign in literature classes, watching Friends on DVD, and theatre.  He has a four foot tall stuffed giraffe in his room named Nectar.  He likes to place it outside closed doors to scare people when they open them, which I find to be especially funny.  David is engaged to Nicole and they will be married on 9/10/11 at 12 p.m.  No seriously, that's really when their wedding is.

Benjamin - Ben will probably be annoyed that I wrote Benjamin.  He's the fourth and youngest child and to his dismay I still like to call him Benjie or Ben-jammin.  What can I say?  That's what big sisters do.  I can't believe that he will be 20 this year.  Ben, like his brothers, is as smart as a whip.  He's a sophomore at BSC and also wants to go into medicine. Right now he's suffering through the first organic chemistry course.  He likes working out, washing his fancy car, playing video games, and watching Top Gear on Netflix.  He's really strong and gives great hugs.  And underneath that muscly exterior Ben has a really tender heart.  Ben is dating Sydney, a girl he met on the tennis team in high school.

Grandma - Grandma Doris moved in with us ten years ago after Papa died.  She has a lot of health problems and most things are difficult for her to do.  Sometimes it is really hard to have her live with us, but in the end it all works out.  I try to be patient, but I don't always do a good job.  Grandma has lot of interesting stories to tell.  She grew up in Germany during World War II.

Nicole - Nicole is David's fiance.  She's from Miami and is studying physics at UAH.  Nicole spent last summer studying abroad and doing research in Panama.  She graduates this December and I'm pretty sure that if you met her on the street she could tell you how many more days, hours, and even minutes are left until she gets her diploma.  She is a cheerleader and also rows for the crew team.  Nicole likes giraffes and names all of her possessions, for example Ivan her iPod.  Her favorite kind of cake is Funfetti and she is a self-proclaimed checkers champion.

Hedwig - Hedwig or "Wiggy" is Ben's grey kitty. She's ten years old. She's a little skittish because once when she was little she was sleeping a pile of backpacks and Brian lept over it and yelled "Cowabunga!"  She was so startled that she took off running through the foyer, hit the French doors to the dining room, and knocked herself out.  Even so her favorite place to be is still perched on top of a backpack or on top of the dryer.  If you accidentally lock her in your room she will poop on your bed.  We've spent many an hour at the laundromat.

Oscar - Oscar is David's kitty.  He's nine years old. Nicole likes to call him OscarPod.  At 18 pounds he is a big boy that outweighs all of our other pets, even the dog!  Oscar is very devoted to David and waits for him outside of his bedroom every morning and will follow him around the house.  Oscar also likes water and sleeping in unoccupied bathtubs.  He will frequently lead us to his dish so that we can pet him while he eats.  If you ignore him he will bite your leg.

Winnie - Winnie is my dog but everyone dotes on her.  I got her as a puppy five years ago from a local no-kill shelter I was volunteering at.  She was the runt of her litter, but I thought she was the most beautiful one.  Her mom is half poodle and half Pomeranian.  We don't know what the dad was, but half of the puppies looked like miniature Shelties and the other half looked like Ewoks.  She looks like a Sheltie. Winnie and Oscar have nearly identical markings so sometimes we joke that we bought them as a matching pair from one of those ridiculous Christmas catalogs.  Winnie plays like a cat and thinks that Oscar is her mom.  She follows me everywhere and is patient when I dress her up and take pictures.
Arthur - Arthur is Ben's orange kitty.  My dad had said no more cats, but somehow Ben still got Arthur for Christmas three years ago.  He's bright orange and full of mischief.  He spends his days tormenting the other cats, but adores Winnie.  She's his surrogate mom and the only one he will share the fireplace with in the winter.  Sometimes they get wound up and chase each other around the house.  If Winnie plays like a cat, Arthur acts like a dog.  It's not uncommon to see him chewing one of her rawhides.  Whenever she goes out to potty he tries to go with her.  Arthur can sense the weak link and has adopted my dad as his favorite person.  He demands snuggle time every morning.  If he is being stubborn and you need to catch him, the secret is to go stand under the ceiling fan in family room and call him.  I guarantee you that within in a minute or two he will be stroking around your legs and you can pick him up and cuddle him.  We haven't figured this one out yet...
Fishies - I hope somebody remembers to feed them while dad and I are away.

Uncle Pat - Dad's twin.  He started having mini strokes and full strokes long before my dad but was never diagnosed as having moyamoya.  The doctors at Stanford are going to study his medical history and will hopefully learn from his case.  Uncle Pat is married and has two kids.

Aunt Janene - Dad's older sister.  We think she had a TIA (mini stroke) last year and she is in the process of being worked up where she lives in Florida.  Aunt Janene is married and has four kids and four grandkids.

Thanks for reading! 

Love,

Rocketgirl