The day my life changed forever Part 1

Whenever I hear that someone is going through a rough time, I'm always curious how it all started.

Well, my rough patch has started and here's how it all began.

In November 2017, we decided to change our insurance from full-coverage to a high deductible with an HSA account. As a result, I decided to get all the medical stuff done so we would be good for the year. Up to that point, we had hardly any medical visits (excepts for Ben's weekly speech therapy). So, I got my yearly physical, pap, mammogram, blood work, etc. Except for low cholesterol, everything came out OK, well, except for the mammogram.  I had the mammo on 12/18/2017 and a week later they called to say there was an irregular spot on the mammo.  They requested I get a follow-up diagnostic mammo and ultrasound. We were in Utah for Christmas vacation and things were crazy. I wasn't too worried about it. Everyone has irregularities and it didn't seem like anything I really needed to worry about.

When we returned from Utah, we brought back Michael's children, Lucy and Isaac. That was a busy month with 5 children ages 6 and under. Plus, Lucy was trying to potty train and Isaac was trying to sleep train.  I didn't have any time to follow up on the mammo. To the credit of the hospital/dr's office. They kept calling me to schedule a follow up. I finally made an appointment mid-February but it was such a hectic time (having just been gone back to Utah to return kiddos and go to Michael's wedding) that I canceled that appointment. Again, they hospital called and even sent me a letter to follow up.

I finally made an appointment for Tuesday, April 3rd at 8 am. Lars was able to stay with the children in the morning so I could go. It started off like any other appointment though I really didn't want to do the follow up mammo. I was hoping they could just do the U/S so my payment part would be less. Truthfully, part of the reason I delayed so long is that I just didn't want to pay for it.

They talked me into doing both the diagnostic mammo and U/S. The mammo confirmed the spot was still there and gave a better location for the U/S to find it. The U/S found it and measured it to be .99cm. The radiologist came in to talk to me about it. The spot was found to have spiculation which means it has spike-like projections. Then, she dropped the bomb. There is a 97% chance this is cancer.

Chords and Scales

Sound Waves and Overtones

I think most people have at least a rough understanding that what we think of as "sound" is just a membrane in our ear that vibrates and sends that signal to our brains.  Those vibrations are caused by waves that propagate through the air.  That's probably enough detail for our purposes here.

Have a look at a piano string.  How does it make sound?  A wooden hammer from inside the piano hits it, and it vibrates.  This causes the air around it to vibrate, and that wave propagates to our ears.  How does a clarinet make sound?  By making a thin piece of wood called a "reed" vibrate.  How does a trumpet make sound?  The player actually vibrates his lips.  How does a voice make sound?  Through vibration of vocal cords.  And so forth.

Now, draw a wave on a chalkboard.  Suppose this is the wave that we hear as a "C".

  

Now play the C one octave up.  Does it sound like the same note?  I mean, yeah, it's higher, but something about that note sounds the same as the lower C.  The reason we think this is because the wave of the higher C is exactly half as long as the lower C.

As it turns out, piano strings and pretty much any other musical instrument have some small imperfections that cause little sub-vibrations for that higher C.  This is called an "overtone."  Try the following experiment and listen for yourself.  Push the key for the higher C down, not so hard that it plays the note, the goal is just to release the little pads (called "dampers") that normally hold the string still.  We want that higher C to vibrate freely any time it comes in contact with another wave that it matches.  OK, now play the lower C, very loud and very short so that the damper holds it still.  You should hear a faint vibration of that higher C.

You might be thinking "yeah of course it's vibrating, the damper isn't holding it steady."  Ah, well, try this experiment again, except use the B right below the higher C.  Strike the lower C key again.  You should hear nothing.  Now strike the lower B key.  Hear it now?


Go back to the C keys.  Now shift everything up an octave.  Hold down the key 2 octaves above middle C and strike the key 1 octave above middle C.  Now ask the mathematicians in the room:  if the first C is 1/2 the wavelength of middle C, and this higher C is 1/2 the wavelength of that, what is the high C in relation to middle C?  What's half of a half?  A quarter.  1/4.  Turns out, that middle C is also generating those 1/4 waves.  Try causing the 2-octave C to vibrate by striking middle C.  Still there, but not quite as loud, is it?

Now wait a minute.  We've got 1/2, and we've got 1/4.  What happened to 1/3?

Yup, it's there too.  So what note does it sound like?  Well, it's got to be something in between 1/2 (the one-octave C) and 1/4 (the two-octave C) right?  Because 1/3 is larger than 1/4, but not as large as 1/2.  Well there aren't any C's in between them, it must be another note.  It's the G.  Try causing the G to vibrate by striking middle C.  (Not the G immediately above middle C, the one that's an octave up from that.)  Hear it?

So now, we've got 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4.  For the sake of completeness let's draw its wave:

By now, everyone's got the idea and are probably asking about 1/5.  That's the E above the 2-octave C.  If you try the experiment, you may hear it but it's getting really faint.  As the overtones get higher, they also get fainter until you can't really distinguish them any more.

Let's just do one more step, shall we?  1/6.

What note is that?  Well, 1/6 is half of 1/3.  1/3 is a G, so 1/6 is the next G above that.  What about 1/7?  This one is unfortunately not on the piano, but we're already getting pretty faint so let's just not worry about that one.  1/8 of course is half of 1/4, so it's the C three octaves up, and so forth.

Music Theory for Ward Choir

Sarah got called to be the ward choir director around the end of January.  Of course, her due date was soon after, so she immediately had to ask for subs.  I filled in for one of the weeks, and I've always thought that ward choir shouldn't just be for people who already know music.  I mean, we always say "everyone is welcome, no experience required" but then we give them music for which they have to learn parts that aren't just the melody that everyone knows.  So I spent part of the time going over some music theory.  Nothing high-level, mind you, just some stuff I thought they might find interesting about how music works.  When Sarah found out, she rolled her eyes at me and mumbled something that sounded like "nerd" but then asked them next week if they thought that was useful.  She got mostly positive answers.  So she's continuing the music lessons.  I thought it might be worth writing down the stuff we've been teaching here.  This is still a rough draft and we may change things around as we go.

Chords and Scales

1. Sound waves and overtones
2. The major scale
3. Circle of 5ths
4. Key signatures and accidentals
5. Tonic, dominant, and sub-dominant

Rhythm

1. 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, and downbeats
2. Whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes (also triplets?)
3. Dotted notes and ties
4. Upbeats
5. Basic conducting

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Dental health is important as it is the first line of defense against nasty bacteria entering our bodies! And, as Dr. Peterson likes to say, "Be true to your teeth or they'll be 'false' to you".

He's Here!!!

Photo Card

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An Early Birthday Present

My birthday came a little early this year!

After two and a half years of marriage, the cheap pots and pans we initially got (about $80 at Walmart) were driving me crazy. They weren't flat and wouldn't heat evenly. I always had a spot in the center that would be scorching while the edges were merely warm. Also, some of the Teflon coating was wearing off, getting in some of our food, etc. One pan was a large skillet that Lars had for years; he had inherited from his sister who had it for who-knows-how-long and SHE WAS GETTING RID OF IT! It had definitely seen better days.

So, after some shopping and waiting for a 30% off coupon as well as the "Early Bird Savings" at Kohl's, Lars bought these for my birthday.

I totally LOVE these. They heat evenly, they don't rock on the stove top, no peeling Teflon - they are beautiful. They are even about a million times easier to clean too. I used to have to let the pans soak until the food was mushy enough to clean off (gross, I know). Not these. I could just run them under water and all the food comes right off. Of course, I still use soap to clean them but it is such a breeze!! I KNOW I spend less time doing the dishes now.

Disclaimer: I am NOT getting paid nor compensated by Calphalon for this review -- I WISH!

Fruit Flambé, or, "I Love Fire"

I got to take Presidents' Day off this week, so we took a trip to the Carnegie Science Center. (We got a special deal on a year-long membership to the Pittsburgh museums, but until now hadn't been able to take advantage of it. Mostly due to the museums' visiting hours not being conducive to anyone with an actual work schedule.)

It was packed with children, most likely on vacation themselves. We missed the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood planetarium show, but we were able to attend the "Kitchen Theater" where they do shows on science in the kitchen. This particular show was called "Fruit Flambé." The museum guide asked the kids what they think "flambé" means, and they all excitedly yelled out "FIRE!!!" One of the little boys on the other side of the room exclaimed rather loudly to anyone who might be listening: "I love fire!" (Attention Boy Scouts of America: good luck with this little guy...)

The museum guide started out with a butter-and-sugar solution and described the difference between a mixture and a solution. She mixed in some bananas, and it smelled great, and she said "Well that's the end of our show. Thanks for coming everyone!" The room got deathly silent as the children looked around at each other trying to figure out why they didn't get to see any fire. The guide didn't leave them squirming for too long, though, as she asked everyone "Did I forget something?" The kids all yelled out "You forgot the fire!" "You're right, we haven't done the fire yet." Our little pyromaniac friend on the other side of the room started chanting "FI-RE! FI-RE! FI-RE!" The guide then went into the science explanation of combustion, with little puzzle pieces with the words "Heat," "Oxygen," and "Fuel" written on them.

It was fun, but when she got to "Fuel," she asked "where are we going to get fuel?" One of the little girls called out "Alcohol!" I was expecting the guide to use a blowtorch and toast the sugar or something, but sure enough, she pulled out a bottle of rum and another bottle of brandy. OK, first, how did that little girl know that the guide was going to use alcohol? Second, isn't it kinda sending kids mixed signals when they're being told not to drink alcohol? I know I know, she explained that the alcohol burns off so it's OK to serve this stuff to kids, but still.