Moffitt Cancer Center

Yesterday I went with Mark to Moffitt Cancer Center for his monthly chemotherapy. He's been undergoing treatment since August 2006 for malignant brain and more recently spine cancer. If you want to check out his blog sometime, see Mark's Melon under "Blogs I Follow". Here I am waiting on the exam chair for Mark's doctor.

I will be assisting Mark's doctor as he administers the chemotherapy. I better put some gloves on first.

I hope you're not squeamish. If so, don't look at the next picture. Mark's doctor injects the chemotherapy directly into his brain via an Ommaya reservoir which is implanted in his head. In layman's terms, it's his Staples "easy button". Doc, you sure do make it look easy.

We're all done! Everything went smoothly as you can tell by the smiles on our faces.

As a special treat, Mark and Laura go to an awesome restaurant called Jason's Deli after appointments at Moffitt. Jason's Deli was listed as one of the top healthiest restaurants in America by Health Magazine. They offer a wide variety of organic ingredients in their sandwiches and large salad bar. Although that's quite impressive, the reason I like Jason's Deli is their all you can eat soft serve ice cream (probably not organic... oh well!)

Jason's Deli

Here's the first of many ice cream cones I plan on consuming tonight.

I think I'll try a dark chocolate sauce smothered sundae for some variety.

Jason offers complimentary crackers, muffins and garlic toast to his customers.

The corn muffins are my favorite!

Oops! My eyes were bigger than my stomach. I ate so much ice cream that I couldn't finish my muffins. I conveniently brought a backpack into the restaurant for stashing contraband muffins. Whew, the Jason's Deli Police didn't see that!

Penn State Alumni Club Picnic 4/25/09

On Saturday we attended a picnic at Anderson Park for my Penn State Alumni Club chapter. Here I am on the picnic shelter sign. We scored a sweet location that was right on Lake Tarpon.

It was an extremely windy day. In fact, I was blown right off my perch on the sign! Maybe this is a good opportunity to practice my triple lindy Rodney Dangerfield dive.

I did a back flop onto the ground. Now I'm seeing stars!

OK, I recovered from my fall just in time for lunch. Mmm... cheeseburger and baked beans. Laura, hurry up and take this picture so I can dig in! Note the nice view of the lake in the background.
Did I mention wind? Yeah, I took a face plant into the baked beans. The photographer is way too slow. Unfortunately, there's no picture of me smeared with bean sauce. There was mass panic to clean my face before it stained. Here's to a weekend filled with spills of all kinds!

Ambush Makeover # 2 Starring ME!

I hinted after Gunther's makeover fiasco that another candidate would soon be ambushed. Yep, you guessed it, I'm candidate/victim # 2. Here's my before picture. Look closely on the left side of the photo around my mouth. There are visible pills from years of wear and tear.

I trust my personal assistant Laura. She's an expert now with the shaver. I was a little concerned before we got started when she told me to rub some lotion on my face. When I resisted she said, "It rubs the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again!" Yikes!

Now it's time to shave my red heeled booty.

"I think you missed a spot," I told Laura. Hey, this doesn't feel too bad!

Here's my after picture. Notice I spared you the before and after closeups of my booty shave. If you compare the area I referenced in my before picture to the after picture, you can see that my face is now smooth as a monkey's bottom. I think we can say that Ambush Makeover # 2 was a success! Thanks Laura!

Ambush Makeovers' Aftermath

Here's the wretched aftermath of G's and my makeover. It looks like a bloody sheep for crying out loud! The red bits are my small contribution. The rest of the sheep's wool belonged to G. The morals of this story are 1) not all socks are created equally and 2) if your sock monkey is hiding in a laundry basket, just let him be.

What Happens at the Hard Rock, Stays at the Hard Rock - Part 1

Vegas style gambling is alive and well in the Tampa Bay area via the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Laura and I decided to try it out for the first time this past weekend. This awesome giant guitar sign beckons you to come inside.

We took a tour of the grounds and shot some nice photos. Oops! Humans are waiting behind us for pictures so I must continue with my exploration.


This quote from ELP says it all. We are ready to experience "the show that never ends." Somehow I think it does end when you lose all your money.

What a pretty little garden. Those flowers look good enough to eat, but I'm saving myself for a big lunch!

The big lunch has come to fruition. Cuban food with my favorite plantains... yummo!

Now it's time to get my gambling on!

What Happens at the Hard Rock, Stays at the Hard Rock - Part 2

Slot machines are my weakness at the casino. Laura used to love the "Triple Stars" out in Vegas. This particular one just took our money, so we moved on.

Can you believe that ebay has their own slot machines?

Laura bought most of my friends on ebay, so I thought the big jackpot might be 10,000 sock monkeys! No such luck :(

This machine's got my name all over it - "Monkeys in the Middle"! Yeah, I'm going to win some big bananas playing this one!

This place is full of apes. Even King Kong has his own slot machine!

What Happens at the Hard Rock, Stays at the Hard Rock - Part 3

Isn't this the most perfect musical quote for a casino hotel? Such a lovely place...

Check out this guitar! It's called "Bad Ass". I think it lives up to it's name.

Here's some cool paintings of rock 'n roll legends. I liked the display. I played in the plant.

These are ceramic banks made to look like each of the Beatles. Somehow I don't think these banks accommodated all of their savings.

This fountain was really neat. I had to keep my distance so I didn't get splashed.

Gunther's Ambush Makeover - Part 1

Laura received a present / torture device in her Easter basket. A fabric shaver can be used to remove pills on sweaters or socks... OR sock monkeys. She had Gunther in her sights shortly after opening the box. When her back was turned, Gunther went into hiding.

After searching all the rooms in the house, Laura opened the laundry closet. "Hmm... I don't remember this monkey towel on top of the dirty laundry. That's odd." Laura thought this looked mighty suspicious.

She removed the towel and found Gunther curled up inside the laundry basket. "Nice try G, but you're getting ambushed!" Laura declared. Every Friday, the Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda feature two ladies who will receive ambush makeovers. The only difference is that the ladies are willing and eager participants. Gunther is neither of the two.

The following closeup of G's hands and feet indicate why he's been selected for an ambush makeover. Laura is hoping to smooth out his skin via the shaver. Let's see what happens in Part 2.

Gunther's Ambush Makeover - Part 2

I'm here with Gunther for moral support. As you can see, he is terrified of the shaver!

"Ouch! My feet are sensitive!," Gunther cried out. There, there Gunther. It will be over soon.

He survived the "pedicure", so now Gunther watches tentatively as he receives his "manicure."

Unfortunately, to all of our collective dismay, the shaver was not effective on Gunther's rough spots. Laura plans to trim his threads with scissors gently. Gunther says he's all done, and no one is touching his paws again!

Gunther's ambush makeover was not very successful, but there will be another candidate for the shaver according to Laura. Should I be worried?

Good Friday at the Bank

Sock Monkey Friday is a special one this week because it's Good Friday. That means Easter is almost here! Let the festivities begin. My pal Walbit (you'll learn more about him soon) and I are posing with our pal, Mr. Purple Peep. He looks good enough to eat, but alas, he's just a stuffed animal like us.

Mr. Monkey and I donned rabbit ears and posed with our lamb buddies, Clarice and Hannibal. I am riding on Clarice's back, and Mr. Monkey is hugging Hannibal the black sheep. Spring bunnies, eggs and candy surround us. This day should be called GREAT Friday!

Time to Hide the Eggs!

Let me introduce you to our Easter Egg Hunt "elves" if you will. Both of them are hybrid animals. That doesn't mean they drive gas/electric cars either. Bunkey (left) is a bunny / monkey hybrid. He is specially equipped with a magic blue jelly bean carrot which tells him where the best places to hide eggs are. Walbit (right) is a walrus / rabbit genetic mutant who is an Easter veteran. He and Bunkey are a dynamic duo when it comes to egg hunts.

The eggs in this basket will soon be dispersed throughout the yard for the delight of all sock monkeys in Crystal Beach. The eggsploration will begin soon!

Bunkey and Walbit have a secret helper, Scarlet, who is donning her festive rabbit ears. She will hide all the above ground eggs, since she has eggscellent climbing skills.

Let the hunt begin!

Easter Egg Hunt - Part 1

I can't believe I found the first egg! Now watch my friends undercover more hidden treasures!

Nimble Farcus scaled to the top of this skinny tree to find the first green egg, which just happens to match his John Deere cap.

Although Festus looks mad, he was actually eggcited to find this pretty blue egg.

My pal Henly will bend over sideways just to snag this orange egg.

Officer Po Po was real proud when Po Junior found an egg during his very first Easter egg hunt. Good job little feller!