For those of you who haven't heard about this yet, Aaron is competing in the Automotive X Prize. You may have heard of the Ansari X Prize held a couple of years ago to promote commercial space travel. This contest is similar, with a prize of $10 million dollars. The difference is that his team has to create a vehicle that can be mass produced and get no less than 100 miles per gallon. He was asked to represent his team during the Press days at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. He did a number of interviews while he was there.

This has been so exciting for us! Who would have thought that something that was just a hobby a few months back would have gotten so big, so fast! I want him to win so much. It's not about the money (though it would be nice!). It's about seeing the things that he invests so much of himself in come to life and work out the way he wants them to. I love to see him happy.


On ABC12 News:
"Local entrepreneur works on 100 mpg vehicle"
http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=resources/auto&id=5898337
(There's a video piece at the top of the page.)

Flint Journal:
"Local Man Pursues 100 mpg, Millions"
http://www.mlive.com/flint/stories/index.ssf?/base/business-1/1200806707303500.xml&coll=5

Popular Mechanics mentions his team, Tilting Vehicle Australia, in this article. Aaron did an interview with them, so I'm thinking there may be another article soon.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/automotive_news/4244759.html

Also, keep an eye on this page. Aaron did an interview with them on Monday:
http://www.xprizecars.com/

Aaron actually has this weekend off. We took today to have a really nice lunch at a local Italian place. The kids behaved pretty darn well.

Then we went to the Sloan Museum for the afternoon. Their current big exhibit is about treasure and how we've been searching for it throughout time. Shawni fell asleep just before we got there, so I held her while the boys ran around checking all the stuff out.

They also had a "treasure hunt" going on in their 19th century exhibit, with a card full of pictures for the little ones and a page full of clues for the big kids. Connor decided to do them both. I was thrilled that he wanted to do that. It gave me a chance to work on writing his letters with him. Besides that, he didn't need much of our help at all. He read all the plaques to solve the questions and had fun trying to figure out what part of each exhibit section the pictures were of.

We came home and each did our own thing for a bit, had dinner, and watched a wind-down with the kids before their bedtime. Now I'm taking a breather while I write. The day doesn't end just because the kids are sleeping. Oh no! I've got some knitting of chemo caps to do for Knit Michigan, plus I have to get some things together for tomorrow. So, I better get to it.

I just wanted to make sure I wrote this day down because it was so nice. I didn't want to forget a thing.

It's been confirmed. Jasmine has cancer. The vet said that she probably has 5-6 months left as is. We're looking into some medication that may help double that prognosis. It's not chemo but something else that helps shrink the tumor and isn't as cost prohibative.

The vet also told Aaron that this sort of cancer won't be painful for her, that she will just begin to lose functionality of the bladder over time. I'm finding that hard to believe right now.

My heart is breaking. My little furbaby has been through so much bad in her life before we got her. She doesn't deserve this. She deserves so many more years of a good life to balance out the bad. I wish I could give that to her.

Ok... just got a call from Aaron. Evidently, Jasmine *really* emptied her bladder this morning when she went, because the vet couldn't find it with the ultrasound. That might be good news because he also couldn't find the mass. So, he wants us to finish giving her the antibiotics and to bring her back in on Monday or Tuesday. (No going potty this time!)

The last couple of days she's been a really happy girl, wanting to play and giving lots of hugs. So I think the antibiotics are helping with something, regardless if there is cancer or not. I'm still holding on to my hope.

Keep up the good thoughts for her!

A couple of weeks ago, I notice my sheltie, Jasmine, was having a hard time going pee. I went outside to have a better look and everywhere she had stopped to go there was a good amount of blood. Aaron took her to the vet. We thought it was just a bladder infection. The vet gave her 10 days of antibiotics and said to bring her back when they were done.

So that's what I did today. She seemed to have gotten better. There was just a orangey tinge to her pee instead of the pure red it was. The vet said it meant there was still blood going on and that he wanted to do an ultrasound. They took her back and I waited with my other dog, Jessica.
A few minutes later one of the techs asked if she could hold Jess while I went to the ultrasound room to talk to the doctor. Jas was still on the table and the doc explained to me what he was seeing. He pointed out a large mass across the top of her bladder. He said it could be a blood clot or it could be cancer. He's not sure yet but it's probably cancer. He wants to try one more run of a heavy duty antibiotics to make sure it isn't a clot though.

I'm not sure what to do right now. I'm keeping hope that it is a clot, but if it isn't.... We can't afford chemo. As much as I want to keep her as long as possible, I have to think of the kids too.

Oh Gods, this sucks!

Please, could you keep her in your thoughts? Positive energy would mean so much right now. Thanks...