leatherman's log   November 2010 Week One |   Week Two |   Week Three |   Week Four

Week One: November Poll and Test Numbers I do have a quickie early November update, besides the fact that I voted and tried to do my part in throwing Jim Demint out of the Senate (anybody that thinks gays and unmarried women having sex outside of marriage shouldn't be allowed to teach in school shouldn't be allowed to make laws), and trying to keep Michael Wilson from becoming the SC Attorney General (a state attorney general's job is to deal with crime in SC, not sue the Federal Gov't for the legally passed health care reform). My update this month starts the new numbers I got from the Doctor from my lab work a couple weeks ago. He tried to scare me a bit at first telling me that my viral load was detectable again. It seems that they have perfected the test even further and now it can test down to 20 copies (it had been 75 recently and then dropped to 50 and then 48). My current viral load is all of 40 now. They believe that the virus is so weak under 50 that no mutations happen, so my count is actually just fine. The cd4 count (which can jump around upwards of 100 pts. a day) was nearly the same as last time being 308 (instead of 318). So for the 3rd time in 20 yrs. I had more than 300 t-cells working in my immune system. WooHoo! A Family Get-Together Test Run With the holidays just around the corner, it won't be long until all the parts of my family will be getting together for meals and good times together to celebrate the holidays. Kicking off the season just a little early with a test run, my Aunt came down from Durham to visit with my GrandMother, and my Mom and I went over to join in the visit.   Celia and Beth In an odd similarity, the five plus year difference between my Mom (Celia) and her sister (my Aunt Beth) is nearly the same time span as the difference between me and my next youngest brother (our middle brother Donny) Mom wanted me to get a picture of her, her sister and her mom all together - which was easier said than done once the ladies all started giggling and out-n-out laughing. Celia Johnson, Margaret (aka Peggy) Snavely, Beth Timson (my Mom, my GrandMother and my Aunt) Twenty-Six Years Later Way back in 1984, I started growing a little "rat tail". I cut my tail off once probably around 1990. I grew tired of everyone teasing me about it all the time and joking about cutting it off. So I cut it off. Then everyone teased me about it being gone and asking me why I cut it off. I learned then and there to not pay any attention to my friend's advice. ROFLMAO     But don't feel bad friends, I listened to my Mom's advice once before and learned to ignore it too. She conned me into cutting off my moustache saying it would grow back fuller and would grew back quickly. Liar! It took soooo long for it to grow back and was so scraggley looking for a while, that I learned not to listen to her. After that incident and the "tail incident", I decided to never listen to anyone else's hair advice.     So no one or nothing prompted this decision; I was just tired of my tail after all these years, and I had it cut off!! Well, there was one little prompt. At my last hair cut, the stylist told me that my tail was long enough to donate to "Locks of Love" and that I could get my haircut for free. WooHoo! My neck sure feels naked! Actually I don't really notice that it's gone for the most part, except for when I shower. I used to unbraid it and brush it out before showering. During the shower, I definitely had to use conditioner on my tail to get the fuzziness out and make it more "braidable". Of course, then there was all the time it took to braid it after showering. Losing the tail has definitely shortened my morning routine. Kooking in the Kitchen I've been busy in the kitchen again lately. Getting ready for the holidays, I tried my hand at making my first pumpkins pies. It's pretty easy when the pumpkin in the can now comes pre-spiced. All you have to do is add some eggs and evaporated milk, and Viola! Pumpkin Pie! But plain pumpkin pie, well good, can be very boring. Using a recipe from a magazine that talked about jazzing up a store bought pie, I jazzed up one of my plain pies with a streusel topping.  Since a freeze was finally coming to our area, I got out in the garden and finished up the last of the harvesting. I potted the 3 parsley plants and brought them inside to see how they will manage throughout the Winter. I pulled up the chives, diced them and froze them to use later. Similarly, I pulled up the leeks, washed and cleaned them up and got them ready for the freezer. In looking through recipes to use up the butternut squash that came out of my garden, I kept finding recipes for butternut squash soup - so that's what I made. Looking through various recipes I came up with a version that not only used up the squash, but I could use leeks in it too. I have decided if I ever make this again, that I'll roast the squash first, because raw butternut squash is really hard - hard to peel and hard to cut. In the end, the creamy soup was pretty interesting. I ate some while it was warm and enjoyed it. Tomorrow, I'm going to try it the other way that it can be served - chilled. Fall 2010 Looking from the garden side yard up from the front yard Speaking of the garden, it's so naked looking on this side of the yard without the tomatoes and cucumber plants growing. The red maple is definitely the prettiest train in the front yard right now. I wish we had more of these on the property. My hollyhocks are still doing well, which means they should be well-rooted by next Spring and will bloom. The cool weather sure hasn't slowed down the trellis roses' growth any. I'm going to have braid some more of it's branches and trim it back some before Winter sets in.   Fall Around the House

Week Two: Run as Fast as You Can Although this picture is very pretty, it looks that way as the fog is oozing off the water really early in the morning - a time of day I have always tried to avoid. LOL Luckily, I wasn't there to take this picture; but my youngest brother and his family were there that early. And why were they up so early? Because they are all runners and runners get up early in the morning to go running. Hey! I don't make the rules, I just report them.   Little Jonathan, who isn't so little anymore now that he's so much taller and old enough to drive, is doing incredibly well in his track and field events this year. He's actually #8 in the state! A Card in the Mail Remember I went over to Lancaster a while ago and was interviewed on the "Teen Health Hotline"? I got a very nice card in the mail from the student that hosted the show that day. She wrote very nicely about how well my show was received and the good comments she had heard about how students were touched by my story. I hope they continue thinking about HIV, realizing that although it's not the death sentence it once was, and they need to protect themselves from becoming another one of the South Carolina statistics. Catawba Care Celebrating the First Decade of Service and Starting the Second Decade in a New Building After a long time of planning and many months of delay, Catawba Care had finally moved into their new location. A month later, after finally getting settled in, it was time for them to have an open house and throw a party. On a beautiful Fall afternoon they threw open their doors and invited several hundred people in to tour the new facilities.     The building is basically laid out in 5 long corriders providing an inner ring of offices spilt down the middle and offices lining all the outer walls. The decor is done in a beige wood trim and beige walls, with at least one wall of every office painted in a color, ranging form blue to purple to green. Not only did the agency provide tours of the building, but they also provided a catered meal and drinks. Served in this tent out the backdoor, we had a beautiful view of the lake while the sun set for the evening and a quick ceremony was held thanking both old and new board members and staff who had brought the agency to this point in it's history. The First Board Chair Anita Case Our Current Executive Director We all gathered out front for a grand Ribbon-Cutting ceremony. Having watched the promotional anniversary film earlier in the evening, it was very exciting to compare this event to the one years ago at the old location. Back then there was only a handful of staff at the event; while there was nearly two dozen staff and board members at this event. Congratulations Catawba Care! Here's to ten years and best wishes for another ten years! Volunteer Work If you've been following me on Facebook, then you know that I've been working hard making videos, directing videos and creating advertising material to promote the 2010 World AIDS Day Video Competition that my ASO, Catawba Care is presenting over at Winthrop University on December 1st. Plans are moving along and I'm getting excited about this event; but there's still a bunch of work to do, and time for the event on WAD is fast approaching. Another volunteer opportunity has opened up for me. Although in the world of volunteerism there's no job that is too small, I do think that some jobs are much more important and that's the kind of opportunity that has presented itself. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with helping out at the Catawba Care Pantry once a month (although we have enough help right now, I didn't have to do that at all this month), I much more prefer working with the prevention/education department doing something constructive to hopefully prevent someone from acquiring HIV in the first place.   So South Carolina, like most states, has an HIV/AIDS Task Force. Since HIV/AIDS can affect such a wild ranges of issues with patients, caregivers, and support providers, it is only natural that some sort of state-wide coordinating group should form to help things along. Volunteers from the SC Health Dpt., pharmaceutical companies and distributors , AIDS Service Organizations, and even clients come together to try to bring some cohesion to the allocation of resources and an overall plan for trying to curb the epidemic.   The Exe Director at Catawba Care is one of the leaders in the SC HIV/AIDS Task Force and asked whether I would be interested in going with her to one of the meeting to see if that might be an organization that I would want to help and could help. Of course, I jumped at the chance as I had already been talking with several people from the Task Force as they not only organized the ADAP funding rallies earlier in the year; but helped sponsored the conference I recently attended.   Once again this was another learning experience and not only did I learn just how bad the SC funding issues are but I also learned of a company that is redistributing HIV meds for free to those on the dreaded SC ADAP waiting list. Having gotten a feel for where their goals lie (funding issues and access to meds), I'm anxious to go to next month's meeting and offer my assistance to one or two of the communities. Am I certain what I can do for them? No; but I like to think that I'm not to shabby in the communications realm (my speaking engagements, the exhibition booths, and the work on the WAD event); I already know how to write my state and federal legislators; and if worse comes to worse, I know that I'm hale and hearty enough to hold a placard and stand on the state capital steps again. What to do when the holocaust arrives It's that time of year again! The time of year when the nuclear power plant sends out next year's calendar, along with directions on what to do when the plant explodes! You have a choice: RUN! or Glow in the dark!

Week Three: Thanksgiving Part I For Thanksgiving, the first part, we picked up Nana and went over to the home of my youngest brother. Having cooked up a feast of foods for the big dinner, when we arrived Jon and Lisa were pulling everything together and serving up the victuals. Bringing several pies, Mom was ready to help dish up the foods. Nana brought nothing but herself, and her appetite! But Nana wasn't the only older lady at the dinner. Lisa's Mom (Elaine, there on the far left) brought her mother (which would be Lisa's grandmother), Gunner. Both ladies are doing pretty amazing. Nana is 93 and Gunner is 91!     Don't take my picture. Don't take my picture. Don't take my picture. No, do take my picture, I need a new Facebook avatar. Obviously lack of food is driving us all a little be crazy. LOL If Nana knew what I was doing behind her immaculate hair (giving her bunny ears) we'd have a pretty funny picture of her very mad.     What a bounty! Broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, green beans, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, rolls, pickles, deviled eggs, cranberry relish, dressing, gravy, turkey, ham. Wow! I don't think I left out anything; but if I did, I ate whatever it was an enjoyed it too! Between the seating at the dining room table (where I ate with my mom, Jon and Lisa) and the kitchen table, and the seating at the kitchen island, everybody had a spot to sit and stuff their face. Can you believe it? After all that food, there were still all these pies (pecan, apply, pumpkin) and a pumpkin cheesecake to boot. After the feast, it was picture taking time! Here's a photo of the Moms (Celia and Elaine) standing behind the couch, with the Grandmothers (Nana and Gunner) seated. A family portrait of the two sides of the family. On the left is Nana, whose daughter is Celia, whose son is Jonathan, whose son is Jackson. On the right is Gunner, whose daughter is Elaine, whose daughter is Lisa, whose daughter is Jenny. After dinner and pictures, the kids had the perfect idea - flop down on the sofa and veg! Thanksgiving Part II An annual family event is to gather at the home of my other brother the weekend following Thanksgiving and have our yearly "Breakfast for Dinner" party as the second part of Thanksgiving. While the finishing touches were being put on the dinner, the kids (big and smaller) went outside for some playtime first. Take special note, all my Yankee friends, how although the day was much cooler than it had been recently, there's not a jacket in sight (and several of the kids have bare feet). I tell you, I'm still loving this Southern weather over that Northern cold. One of the kids, and I don't mean Kayla, was left out of the fun on the trampoline. Being partial to the 4-legged kids in the families, I spent time loving up to Belle. I'm always amazed every year that she remembers me so well and knows/expects that I'll spend time playing with her too. Though I "almost" hoped for more interesting pictures (ie blood and gore),  when the bows and arrows were broken out, nobody got hurt, and everybody had a good time. Though it looks like good form, all of Jon's shots flew past the target. Since they are Kayla and Allie's bows and arrows, those girls did pretty good reaching the target several times. Having had my own bow and arrows set when I was a kid, I did much better than some of the others. the first third of my shots missed the target - but not by much. The only 2/3 of my shots though all struck and stuck into the target. WooHoo!   Dinner was incredibly good with a broccoli quiche, hash brown casserole, sausage, biscuits, sausage gravy, fruit mix (bananas, strawberries, kiwi, oranges in a honey/lime marinade, and French toast apple strudel. Yummy! Of course, after the meal, it was family picture time again! The D Bivens clan are all looking good! Starting at the left, that's the middle brother in our family, Donny and then his wife Angie. Their taller, older daughter in the back is Kayla and their youngest daughter up front is Allie. The J Bivens clan In front is their youngest, Jackson; while across the back row is Jenny, Jon (my youngest brother), his wife Lisa, and their oldest son Jonathan. My brothers - doing their best Captain Morgan poses, I think. And finally there was a picture of me and my two brothers. Jonathan, Michael, Donald Not bad looking for a bunch of old men. LOL Upcoming Special Event Pictures from the "2010 World AIDS Day Video Competition" are coming soon!

Week Four:

Updated: leatherman @reigningpages.com