A couple of months ago, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy, followed quickly by mastectomy, and is now undergoing chemotherapy. When she first told us, i started preparing myself for the worst. Mom was already in poor health, and I figured if the cancer didn’t kill her, the treatment would.

Since then, I’ve become a little more hopeful. The doctor gives her good odds for surviving five years. The chemo’s been hard on her, landing her in the hospital with pneumonia recently. But, she’s responding well to the treatment.

I have to be optimistic, because anything else will drive me insane.

Because of this, my wife and I are running in the Komen Race for the Cure this Saturday. We started a team, so a few of our friends are joining us for the run. I hate running, but I hate being unable to help someone I love more, so there ya go.

This is the part where I hit you up for money.

I suck at this sort of thing, so I’m just going to say it: If you can afford to donate a buck or two, I’d love for you to sponsor our team. Or it’d be good if you could tweet, reblog, etc. the hell out of this to get the word out.

And if you have any extra bandwidth for your good thoughts, please send some to my mom. But don’t send them too hard — if she figures out where they’re coming from, I’ll have to explain Twitter/Tumblr to her. And nobody wants that.

…It’s a boy.

(What, you didn’t know we were expecting? You really should try Twitter)

Two points about ultrasounds: First, the work involved in performing an ultrasound makes Photoshop look like MS Paint. Second, many people have asked if we’re going to have a 4D ultrasound. Unless we change our minds, the answer is no. Maybe it’s just me—and it could be, since most people that have seen them, love them—but the photos and videos look to me like they’re from deep in the heart of the Uncanny Valley. Again, just a personal thing.

It’s become clear to me why women get pregnant and not men. Angela is handling the discomfort and inconvenience far better than I would. She’s amazing, she is. Of course, I’ve always said if I could be pregnant with our child, I totally would. Just the same as I will promise, here & now, to fight any dragon that attacks the U.S. That’s just the kind of man I am.

So, anyway, parenthood. I don’t have anything profound to say about it yet. So far, it’s a constant theme park Viking boat ride between overwhelming fear and immeasurable joy. I go into it totally unprepared and completely committed. I can’t even imagine what it will be like. I try, but what I imagine ends up being things I’ve seen in sitcoms. I only know one thing for sure: I’m grateful to have such a wonderful partner.

And, despite all the uncertainty, I’m sure looking forward to meeting that little guy.

About a year and a half ago, Angela’s sister, Tracey, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The news was hard to take—Tracey is a very active person, and the thought of this disease keeping her from doing all the things she loved to do was difficult for her, and for all of us that love her.

Now, it has been my experience that people tend to deal with things like this in one of two ways: They shut down and give up, or they fight and do the best they can. Tracey is a fighter. In the short time since she was diagnosed, she has made a real difference in the MS community. She started a local support group, gave radio interviews, and spoke at fund-raising events.

Angela & I are both proud of our sister, and try to support her and her fight against MS however we can. On Saturday, April 3, Angela will be participating in a 5k walk to raise awareness about and money for MS. If you would like to contribute, you can sponsor Angela online. Anything helps, and it is one of those causes where, with enough time and money, a solution will be found.