TheHowserHouse

Hmmmm.....surprised so many of you are still arriving here.....

2011-01-10T15:09:00.003-06:00

I will be making NO more posts on here, other than to continue to remind you readers that my blog has changed to a new location:

http://thehowserhouse.wordpress.com/

BOOKMARK IT!!!

LIFE IS REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!! (on the other site!)

Monday, Dec 3, 2010: IT IS TIME TO MOVE ON............

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OK........after consulting and discussing with a a great friend today, I have made the decision to begin posting on the new blog site on WordPress. I will maintain and keep this blogspot going so that you can refer back to it if you need to. Why am I doing this???

The main reason is that anyone who wishes to go into the Archives on Blogspot...this site......can no longer access all of the posts and pictures that I have posted on here. Again, why??? Because here only 5000 posts are allowed and then......the rest are inaccessible to everyone except this sagging hulk of Me. Soooo, I think it is time to move on.......

Another thought is this site is......well, rather tired looking. The new site is fresher looking, a bit easier to read, and hopefully what I am may be needing to give me a bit of a boost to write each day as I have done for almost six years. Sooooo.......move right on over to the website below and then bookmark it below or above the bookmark for this site. Hopefully, no one will get lost in cyberspace as you make the change to the new site!!!!

www.thehowserhouse.wordpress.com/

So....there it is........see you there!!!!

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Cocktail time.....(was she looking at some other guy across the room.....hmmmm???)

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The "Poached Pear Salad" ordered by the 1st Lady and Laura......really quite good!!!

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WHAT the hell?? Did I REALLY eat sooo much I couldn't sit up straight??? More sags will be there, I presume!

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Andrew and Laura......two great friends who are amazing people!!!

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After dinner discussions........always with lots of laughter!!!

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Friday, Dec 31, 2010: WOW.....what a day in Missouri!!

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Yesterday???? Another one of those Misery winter days here......as I said before, grey...gloomy...depressing, to say the least!! I spent some more time with the learning curve for the possible new blog site......much to learn about.

During the morning, I had an appointment with the chiropractor.....and I was glad as my leg was really hurting....the first time since last Friday!! Not sure just why......there seems to be no reason for it....guess it just comes with the territory of having this sciatica problem!??

The 1st Lady and I left shortly after noon for STL, with the primary destination to have dinner with Andrew and Laura Gipson. We left early in order to do some window shopping for some new chairs and perhaps a high sitting bar table for the sticknbrick. Not sure what we want yet.....still looking and thinking and discussing our real needs. Sooo, we went to the Danish Modern Furniture store(s).....there are two of them in STL and we spent quite a bit of time in each one.....one on Tesson Ferry Rd just off of I-270.....and the other one on west Olive, again off of I-270. Saw several pieces which gave us some ideas.....as we are quite interested in continuing our modern/contemporary clean lines style of furnishing here in the house.

From there we went to the Galleria area where we shopped in Crate and Barrel and Pier 1. Didn't really find any furniture in either place, but we did pick up some additional glasses we needed for the kitchen. A half hour stop at Whole Foods Grocery.....and purhased several items: wine, champagne, bread, cheeses, etc., etc. LOVE that store!!!! Sure makes me wish that we lived closer to one of these groceries.......sooooooooo damn many choices that we don't have in this rural region of Misery!!!!

Then we were off to the Stellina Pasta Cafe......where we arrived a bit early for our dinner with the Gipsons. We had a drink at the bar.....and before long they arrived.....and, it was sooooo good to see both of them once again. It had been almost six months since we had managed to get together.....and, so the conversation never ended, but transitioned from one topic to another, sometimes without finishing a discussion.

The food???? Well, it was above average in most cases, reasonably priced, but I was not really all that impressed. The Cafe is quite small, as we had heard, but, it wasn't full last night. Suppose people were planning to eat tonight on NYE???? I ordered Toasted Ravioli which WAS very good.....and my entree was a pasta dish: whole wheat past with walnut overtones, egg plant, and other goodies in it. The serving was quite large.....more than I could consume....but, the sauce, or lack of it, was not to my liking. Most olive oil than any other sauce, it seemed. The 1st Lady ordered a shrimp laden pasta dish....and she said that the shrimp were overcooked....making them a bit tough, plus they were quite small which certainly meant they did not need to be cooked very long.

The wine was......OK. Nothing special about it. The server was good, personable, and lively in conversation......a real plus! Dessert was not offered.....found that interesting! I did have a cup of coffee, ....nothing outstanding about it. The bill for the 1st Lady and myself was just short of $75......as we did have several drinks during the evening. We were not rushed to eat and leave....but were at the table for about 2.5 hours at the very least......and, that was nice to not experience that hurry up and leave the table feeling.

Afterward, we walked down the street past a couple of stores and dropped into Biggie's Bar and had a couple of more drinks, with a lot of laughs as the evening wore on. It was almost midnight when we left, walked to our car....and headed back to F'town......arriving about 1:45AM. As I said, it was just soooooo damn good to be able to spend an evening with Andrew and Laura.......and we all agreed we need to do this once a month, if we can coordinate our schedules!!!

TODAY: I had an appt with the Chiropractor at 10am......and, then an appointment to have the oil changed in the Park Avenue. While there, they suggested STRONGLY that we needed new front brakes.....as it was almost "metal on metal". Sooooo, another $100 for those to be replaced. Then.....a quick stop at the sticknbrick.......and off I went to Farmington to have lunch with a long-ago former student....class of '92....Steve Starkey. We had not spent any time together in years and years.....even though he does live here in the community area.

By the time I walked into 12 West Restaurant, the predictions of severe storms....tornado warnings.....were being broadcast frequently. He and I chatted for a while, and then ordered a light lunch. About the time it was brought to the table.....the WARNING sirens went off in Farmington......and we looked around, wondering what to do. We checked and discovered the place did have a basement......it is an old brick building which has been recovered into this quite nice restaurant with great food. We rather hurridly ate our sandwiches......the sirens sounded a couple of more times while we ate......and, after checking our smart phones for the radar, and looking at the tv's in the bar, we decided it might be a good idea to go down into the basement. Steve bought me a beer and then.....downstairs we went, to be joined by several others who were not in the mood to gamble on their lives, just as we were not! After about 20 minutes, perhaps a bit less, the rains stopped, and the sky brightened. And soooo, we departed for F'town.

We had both called back to our homes....and the 1st Lady had gone down through the trap door in the laundry room to the crawl space, since we don't have a basement. It rained sooooooo hard all the way back to F'town.....16 miles....that I could barely see the edge of the highway and stay on the road!!!!! WOW......no winds, just rains!

Nothing had happened in F'town except the rains, but..........all over Misery, places were damaged from tornadoes and winds!!!! South STL was really torn up, as well as Ft. Leonard Wood............terrible storms on the last day of the year!!!! Very unusual!!!!!

The remainder of the afternoon, the 1st Lady and I packed up the Christmas tree, decorations, etc, etc......and got most of the boxes/cases taken to the garage. However, the tree and one other were toooo heavy for me to carry due to the back/sciatic/bulging disc problems I still have. Soooo, I will have to get assistance tomorrow....I hope.

And sooooo, another couple of days here in TheHowserHouse. I will not post on the "new" site this time.....as it will be just a repeat, but will put on a couple of pictures to "keep it going" for right now. My lack of sleep last night due to the shortness of the night, has left me without much creativity when it comes to writing!!!

But.....even that lack of rational thought(s).......as always,

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Tues, Dec 28: Leaving on a Jet Plane......for Hanoi, Vietnam and the rest of Southeast Asia for four months

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Tuesday, 4:45AM at the STL airport as they prepare to fly to Hanoi, Vietnam!!!

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Wed, Dec 29, 2010: Changes are coming!!!!!!!

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OK....the title will be explained later.....

Yesterday......one hell of a long day!!!!! I set my alarm for 2:00AM....and when that damn thing shouted at me....and, the 1st Lady.....I fumbled around trying to locate the tiny little switch on the side to shut the damn thing off, in the darkness of the room. Finally, success!!! I then moved quickly to the bathroom.......wet down my hair, which looked like I had been electrocuted during the night.....dressed my tired body.....and moved into the kitchen, not before I had turned over a glass of water next to the quilt-pallet which had been made in the media room for the three granddaughters. Oh well......the carpet soaked up the water...and, thank God, it was just clear water!

WHAT a surprise as when I came into the living room, many of the lights were on...and there was Anne-marie and Becky working on getting everything of Anne-marie's into her large backpack. Jeremy was on the living room sofa, asleep.....so, I went into the kitchen and flicked the switch to make the coffee.

At 2:30, I woke Jeremy and he was soon scurrying around getting the rest of his things organized and thrown into his large backpack. The 1st Lady then came into the kitchen and before long, good-byes were being said along with kisses and hugs. We loaded the bags into the trunk of the car...and by 3:08, we were leaving the driveway for St. Louis.

No traffic at all!!!!!!!!!! By 4:45AM we were at the airport!!! Sooo, without any problems we pulled up into the unloading zone in front of the doors to the ticketing counters.....and both of them jumped out. I said "without any problems", however.....there were soooooo many cars disgorging people to catch planes that it took a few minutes to locate a spot to slip the car into so they could unload! We said our goodbyes.....and off they went into the main ticketing terminal.

I was back on the interstate and headed home before 5AM.....and I arrived back at the sticknbrick at 6:15AM. I quick 200 mile round trip to the airport and back.

Soooo, as their flt to Atlanta was to leave STL at 7am.......I was correct in assuming that they made it since I didn't get any phone calls. THAT would be difficult for them as they had disconnected their cell phones, not taking them to the other side of the world where their charges would have been outrageous! They probably will pick up cell phones for short term usage in the countries they will be traveling through.....

The rest of the day......I spent in attempting to remain awake! I finally did take a nap during the afternoon. The day was spent in the kids playing all through the house, we eating left-overs and finishing off the Christmas cookies along the way. A few games were played during the late afternoon/early evening........and then Becky/Rachel left......followed the Darrel, Dr. Jeni, and the three little ones. And.....I fell into bed quite quickly and was soon gone from the world........

WEDNESDAY: Today??? One of Misery's finest examples of winter weather: cold, grey, gloomy, rainy, cloudy, UGLY!!!!! Soooo, the 1st Lady and I just relaxed, did a few odd pick-ups around the house, and then just kicked back and read or did nothing!

Now....as to the above: I am in the process, literally, of changing to another blog site on the web. Much work, muchmuchmuchmuch more education on my part needs to be done, BUT....I have established it and made my first test posting. I will be changing it around, adding things, and learning how to post pictures. I also believe that it will be possible to import to the new blog site all of my 6300 posts from here, and hopefully all of the pictures. The header picture I used is just a standard issue and I will be changing that soon, I hope!!!

If you wish to go there, the address is: thehowserhouse.wordpress.com I am getting excited about it, but never fear......I will NOT leave you out in the cold not knowing where I have slipped away to..........as, I will continue to post on here, until I get this site firmly established and all changes made. The LAST post on here will direct everyone to the new site......but, that may be a few days, or even more than that. Soooo, stay tuned.......

OK....this afternoon I did receive an email from Jeremy and Anne-marie....and they were in Hanoi, Vietnam!!!! Here is their email from today/tomorrow, depending on the date line:

"We made to Hanoi after 28 long hours of travel. Landed in Vietnam at 10:30pm local time, which is 9:30am Central Time.

Plane ride was super long. 14 hours to Seoul and another 5 hours to Hanoi...after a two hour flight to Atlanta. Ate about five airplane meals...rice and chicken...bean curd...and bibim bop. It all sucked pretty bad.

South Korean Airlines rocks. Beautiful Korean ladies dolled up in classy outfits.

We had a bulldog for dinner and it sure was delicious.

Got our hotel for super cheap. Went out for $1 beers at a little place this evening, ignoring the Communist curfew. Was fun. Met a wild old Australian man and a few Brits who were hanging out.

Super tired. We are going to bed now.

Will email again in the next few days.

Later.

jay and anne-marie"

Soooo, they made it without a hitch to the other side of the world and seem to be getting their "boots on the ground" over there. I am soooo insanely jealous!!!! But........it is their trip and it will be an adventure they will never forget!!!!

And soooo, as always.......

LIFE IS JUST REALLY AMAZINGLY GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

Brunch....fixed inthe southern tradition....by Anne-marie

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Christmas in TheHowserHouse

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Christmas Day brunch being prepared

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A new boat for Darrel/Dr Jeni housed at The Lodge of the Four Seasons

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Darrel and Dr. Jeni's new two bedroom cruiser

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Inside the new "cruiser" 42' boat of Darrel and Dr. Jeni

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Mon, Dec 27, 2010: And again: " Where did these last few days go????"

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WOW.....Christmas came and went and now all that is left is tons of bits of candy wrappers, little pieces of torn paper under the chairs and sofas, lots and lots of cookie crumbs where they are not supposed to be......and still TheHowserHouse is full of family and grandchildren!!!

Saturday....Christmas Day.....was NOT our Christmas Day. Jeremy and Anne-marie went to see Mike for the afternoon......and the 1st Lady and I just hung out here at the sticknbrick putting the finishing touches on the dinner to be served on Sunday, which was our Christmas Day.

By 10pm, Darrel and Dr. Jeni and three kids, Becky and Rachel, Jeremy and Anne-marie were all back here in TheHowserHouse. The rest of the evening went swiftly as we tried to get the kids bedded down, but since they were all excited from their own Christmas trees and the gifts that Santa had left for them that morning.....they were not read to go to bed. Finally....finally, they collapsed and soon afterwards the lights went out.

SUNDAY...our Christmas Day.....the kids were up and getting us older guys up so they could begin opening the gifts that were for them....and all of us. Chaos reigned supreme as they tore into their gifts.....and the hours and hours of thinking, selecting, purchasing, and wrapping were soon a thing of the past!!! What fun everyone had......and the grandkids, especially!

Anne-marie and Jeremy cooked an amazing breakfast with lots and lots of southern overtones, including cheesy grits with spices, special stuffed omelets, sausage which they had brought up from southern Alabama, and a special Jezebel sauce for dipping the sausage into. Then......we all had Mimosa drinks: champagne and freshly squeezed orange juice mixed carefully together so as not to lose the bubbles......ummmmmm...great!!!!!

The afternoon was spent in getting the evening dinner prepared, while the kids enjoyed their new toys and games and digital devices,as well as new phones and cameras......a great time!!!
Jeremy and Anne-marie gave the 1st Lady and myself a specially made and printed just for us.....large "coffee table book" of pictures of their wedding from last March. GORGEOUS!!!!!!!! A lovely book cover dedicated to us covered the hard back book, printed out in California and looks like a book that you would buy at Barnes & Noble!!! I have no idea how many huge and beautiful pictures were in the book......the layout, the outline and structure of the book is incredible!!!!! WHAT A GIFT!!!!!!!!

Dinner was wonderful....the 1st Lady is a great cook........and everyone enjoyed it 110%!!! The afterdinner evening was spent with cards and games........a wonderful day it was!!!!

MONDAY:

A busy day here at the sticknbrick: I had a treatment for my sciatic nerve this morning followed by coffee with a former student; Jeremy had to go to Poplar Bluff to get a typhoid shot for this upcoming trip to southeast Asia; Darrel had to make a trip to Willow Springs with a friend of his; And then we had three more guests for the day here at the house to visit with Dr. Jeni.

My leg/nerve is much better....been three days since any real pain...and so, after I finished I had coffee with Nick Nichols and his young lady who were here for a couple of days. Another incredible hour with Nick......we have such great times in our discussions and I continue to learn more and more about his continuing education at Michigan State University as well as his performances with the Lansing, MI Symphony! Such an incredible guy, he is!!!!

Everyone had arrived back at the sticknbrick by this evening.....and Jeremy and Anne-marie were very busy packing for their very early departure from STL tomorrow. I will drive them up to the airport, leaving here at 3AM for their 5AM check-in.......they will fly to Atlanta, and then fly from there to Seoul, South Korea. From there another plane on to Hanoi, Vietnam and the beginning of their four month adventure in VietNam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and India.....and possibly Nepal/Tibet if time permits.

Soooo, I will close this and get things ready to leave in a few hours for STL. And.....of course......

LIFE IS JUST INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Thurs, Dec 23, 2010: WHEW....where did these last few days go??

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Let's see if I can bring you up to date without a lot of details, as we are ALL busy this week.....and, I doubt if you would want to argue that point.....right???

We returned from our four day tour of Misery, visiting both the 1st Lady's family and mine during that time. On Tuesday, we left Osage Beach/Lake of the Ozarks and made a brief stop to see the 98 year old aunt of the 1st Lady's.....who is living in an assisted living facility between Eldon and Tuscumbia, MO. It is her mother's sister.....and she seems to be doing really well. She has quite a bit of difficulty with her hearing, but she is looking great. At the time we were there, she was having her hair done at the beauty "salon" there at the home. We visited during the appointment and then had to move on down the road.

We arrived in F'town about 3pm or a bit later.....and before long it was time to go out to the Hanner House for dinner for the four of us(Jeremy/Anne-marie) and the 1st Lady and myself. Their daughter, Danielle and her two children were here and we had a great dinner of several courses. Talk was never a problem as Jeremy and Danielle had been in the same high school graduating class.....and not see each other for several years!

Wed and today were spent mainly in preparing for the weekend when everyone will be here. I did have coffee at the local coffee shop with a former student....Leslie Sikes who also brought her significant other.....and it was just wonderful to visit with her, and to get know him. She was a flag corps girl for me, a piano student, and a European traveler on one of my trips over there. She was a music education major and is now teaching elementary music in the Webster Groves School District......and, LOVES IT!!!!!!! A very talented singer/vocalist, she has sung in many musical productions in the St Louis area........and enjoys every minute of it. She also sang a summer or two at Six Flags Over STL....in Miss Kitty's Saloon, if memory serves me correctly.

My sciatica nerve and left leg seem to be improving with each day, albeit slowly. The pains do no awaken me any more.....because.....I have no pains during the night. And, even during the day they are bearable 99% of the time. Still getting treatments each day....and will continue for a week or so. There is some stiffness in my back, but that will disappear, I am told.

Sooooo.....I do have some pictures on my camera from our wonderful dinner at the Hanner's on Tuesday night, but will have to post them in the next day or so. Snow is predicted, but they seem to be pushing back the "heavy" snow that was originally discussed.

And so.......as Santa is loading up his sleigh for the trip tomorrow........for me:

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!

My cousin, DianeDellbringge; my aunt, Lambie(Dorothy) Howser Ossman; and the sagging hulk of Me

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My sister and her husband at dinner this evening

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Dec 19, 20, 2010: Family Christmas in Hannibal; Visit with family in Jeff City and Osage Beach

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Ahhhh.....yesterday.....what a gathering of family members!!!!! After spending many hours in the large indoor pool at the Quality Inn and Suites in Hannibal on Saturday evening.......the Redman Family gathered at the Jaycee Hall in Hannibal for the Christmas celebration including a catered dinner, exchange of gifts, and games for all ages. The hall rang with squeals of laughter and fun from the youngest generation.......the great grandchildren of "granny", the matriarch of the family. And....I believe I counted 43 in attendance....only two grandsons were unable to attend. It was an afternoon of fun, food, and family......what more could be wanted from the Christmas gathering??!!!!

The 1st Lady, Jay and Anne-marie, and myself remained in Monroe City last night at the home of the 1st Lady's mum.......and then today we drove down to Jefferson City where I spent a wonderful, warm 90 minutes with my only remaining aunt, who is now living in an assisted living facility there in Jeff City. We were joined by her daughter, my cousin, for a great visit.......and it was soooo good to see my aunt. She has suffered a heart attack and a quadruple bypass in February....but, has recovered beautifully. She is an amazing lady, sharp as a tack, and with a wonderful outlook on Life considering everything which has been put on her plate over the 86 years of her Life!!!! This was 90 minutes which will stay with me......forever!!!!

Afterwards, we drove on down to Osage Beach, checked into a hotel, and then did some shopping at the outlet mall there. Drinks for Jay/Anne-marie and the 1st Lady and myself were at a local watering hole....Bootleggers.....and then we met my sister and her husband, his son and wife from Florida, and we all had a great two hours of eating, drinking, and conversations at the Outback Steakhouse! Great to see all of them again.......and to be together for a few hours during this Holiday season!!!!! I was glad Jay/Anne-marie were able to be there so he could visit with my sister......before they fly to Hanoi, Vietnam next week for 3-4 months of traveling throughout Southeast Asia for 3-4 months.

My sciatic never problem????? Well, it is about the same.......not a constant pain, but from time to time if I sit and drive too long at one sitting.....and then if I walk too long. Hmmmm......still raising question in my mind about the extended trip to New Zealand.......????!!!!

And sooooo, two great days........days of family and visits with families!!! Soooo, of course.......

LIFE IS JUST INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Random shots of the young ones in the pool

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A few pics of those who were in front of the camera....

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Some of the Howser Family...a bit blurred, I am afraid.

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Dec 18, 2010: Hannibal, MO Quality Inn/Suites for Christmas weekend!

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It was a busy morning around the sticknbrick this morning........trying to get some things together for the weekend of the 1st Lady's family's Christmas together.....an annual event. We always have it at the Quality Inn and Suites in Hannibal......as they have an incredible indoor pool and hot tub for all of the guests, as well as the family members who live in the area and come in to join all of us for the late afternoon/evening of fun: snacks, drinks, pool time/all the time, and cards and boardgames.

We arrived in Hannibal about 1pm.....and, I was a bit stiff from the drive.....a few aches in my leg, but I had taken a couple of Excedrin Migraine pills prior to leaving and that helped with any pains I might have had. Going to the hotel, we found that our four rooms were not ready as yet, so the 1st Lady and I went next door to the Fiddlesticks Restaurant and had a delightful lunch.

Returning an hour later to the hotel, we found our rooms cleaned and ready. We had reserved all four in our name: ours, Jay/Anne-marie's, Dr Jeni/Darrel and kids, and Becky/Rachel. We moved in to our room and get settled in, going in to the pool room and getting things on tables so we would have enough tables for everyone and the food who were going to be there this evening.

Soon, Dr. Jeni/Darrel and family arrived and checked in......and then I went back to the room. Checking on Facebook's scrolling news......I discovered that Vicki Bishop Berry had just posted about making some fresh cookies for delivery to others. Vicki is a former student of mine from the 90's......and so, I replied that if she was delivering cookies, I was at the Quality Inn and gave her my room number and phone number. Very quickly, she called and said she would be in the lobby in two minutes!!!!! By the time I got down there, hobbling down the lengthy hallway, she was just pulling up into the circle driveway.

WHAT a joy it was to see her again.....and she had a small bag of her home made cookies for me!!!!! We hugged and talked and hugged again as we jabbered for a few minutes. She had to go on....and so we said our farewells with hugs and kisses. Soooooo good to see her again....and her cookies are sooo good!!

The rest of the crew arrived within the hour.....and then the rest of the large family of my wife's began to arrive and check in to the hotel. I am not certain how many rooms we have booked here, but it is quite a few!!!!

Pool time.......and it is still going on as the 9pm hour creeps up very quickly. Lots of noise, squeals, jabber, talking, laughter, eating, back slaps, etc., etc. How many are here.....hmmmm.... I believe there are at least 35 here tonight....may have miscounted, but it is close to the figure. More will arrive tomorrow from Ohio and STL!! Dinner is being catered and I believe the entire family will be here with the exception of two of "Granny's" grandsons who could not be here!!! A total of somewhere up in the 40's....I will know more tomorrow after the noon dinner.

This is the perfect way to bring the entire family together with soooo many people in the family. Waayyy toooo many for one house and particularly Granny's house, never mind the unreal stress it would put on this lovely 86 year lady who is totally blind and in such very, very poor health. We all know that this could very well be the last Christmas for her....and so, that is why almost everyone is here this year. As of this evening she is planning to come to Hannibal tomorrow......we all have our fingers crossed that she will feel like getting out into the cold and snowy weather tomorrow so she can be with us all!!!!!!!

And soooooo......another day has gone. And.....this is THE historic day....the day that Congress FINALLY repealed the DADT law!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY, FINALLY!!!!!!!! I am sooooo happy and thankful that we finally got this repealed..........happy for my former students who are gay, for my relatives that are gay, for my friends that are gay!!!!!!!! I can't think how many emails, letters, and phone calls to Washington DC to various Senators and Congressmen/women I have made to push this repeal through!!!!!! With sooooo many one on one personal talks I have been involved in with students who have asked for assistance in telling their parents that they are gay.....wondering how they should go about telling them, asking for me be with them when they told their parents just for moral support........knowing for years that this is, and never has been, a choice.......this DADT rule has just been soooooo discriminatory and such a great loss to the various branches of the military with kicking out those that gay!!!! We now join our allies from around the world who have been soooooo far ahead of us with this issue.....having had gay and lesbian members in their military branches for years and years, with no negative affect/effects at all. And now.......this horrible stain on our country and military can now begin to be removed......and we finally have real change that we can be proud of!!!!!! It took more time than we had hoped for, but without a doubt, President Obama knew exactly the right steps to take in bringing along the Congress to get this repealed!!!!!!!

And with that........I can say without reservations.....

LIFE IS JUST REALLY INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!.......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!

Fri, Dec 17, 2010: MRI.......

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Yesterday.....it was almost a pain free day for me.......just never had to take any Excedrin at all. Yep......I was a bit excited by the end of the day when I realized that it had been such an easy and good day, albeit the slick driveway and streets and highways and my family all stranded/blocked on the interstate almost all night long.

However, yesterday was a good day for them as the kids didn't have to go to school and "Grammy" could play with them all day, even with her being up all night.

This morning......??? Well, the pains began about 4AM......and I had some Excedrin by the bedside, so they went down quickly. However, this time the pains didn't completely go away.....just subsided enough to allow me to take care of getting ready for the MRI this morning. I started the truck and let it run for about 15 minutes prior to leaving for Farmington with a stop to get fuel before leaving town.

The MRI, a first for this sagging hulk of Me, took only about 40 minutes....and I actually fell into a light sleep, but just conscious enough to be aware that I wasn't supposed to move anything while in the open MRI machine. An easy way to have someone see inside me........relaxed on my back with this flat round thing hovering above me like an alien's space ship.....whirring and knocking and grinding and making strange sounds all during that time. I came awake enough to hear the guy on the controls say over the speaker that I had 15 minutes left until I was finished....and then off I slipped back into la-la land.

Following that procedure, I was off to the WM Supercenter.....to pick up a few things that our amazing WM here in F'town doesn't stock.....sarcasm this is, this is!!!! Then by that time, my pains were increasing to the point I thought I might have to make a run for the restrooms there, but managed to divert my aging mental faculties to another thought....and made it out of there OK.

Returning to the sticknbrick, some the pains had tapered off....and were manageable for me. I had some coffee, a quick bite of lunch.....and then at 2pm was at the Doc's office here in town. He had already talked with the MRI offices and then the Dr's in the Orthopedic Center there about the results. Initial results are....with all agreeing whom have seen the MRI.......is a bulging disc.....a not uncommon problem, and this one, as of now, appears to be a mild one without any need for any invasive actions. OK......the only thing is that there the possibility of a lengthy recovery period.....but, no one can accurately predict that at all! Soooo, I will give this Doc another week.....and then perhaps move on for more opinions, IF it hasn't improved. It IS better than it was about 11 days ago when I couldn't get into any position to relieve the pains. THAT is gone and has not occurred for almost 6 days now.....so, that IS improvement. Doc says that the swelling has gone down "a lot" since I was first there, soooooooo.....hopefully.....!!!

Tomorrow will not be the best for my "bulge"....hmmmm, don't get excited ladies......as we have a 3.5 hour car trip to make up to Hannibal for the family of Marsha's Christmas celebration....an annual event where we all meet at the Quality Inn and Suites for the weekend, with a catered dinner on Sunday, games and gifts. Should be in the mid-40's for numbers of immediate family members: The "Matriarch"..Granny, her four children/spouses which includes the 1st Lady and myself, 12 grandchildren and 10 spouses, and then tons of great grandkids!!! Always a great time, as most everyone enjoys the huge indoor pool facilities with hot tub where we have all brought food/snacks/games to play when not in the water.

We will remain up there until Monday morning when we will drive to the Lake of the Ozarks to have dinner with my sister/husband on Monday evening. Plan to stop in Jefferson City to visit my only remaining aunt.....who is now residing in an assisted care facility there. Then....back down here on Tuesday afternoon..........

And sooooo.....a four day Missouri Christmas Tour.........it has become an annual event. Always fun, though....always!!!

Sooooo, as usual.......

LIFE IS "BULGINGLY" GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, too(without the bulge)!!

Thurs, Dec 16, 2010: WINTER IS HERE!!!!...as well as the 1st Lady's birthday

2010-12-16T17:51:00.002-06:00

Well, I would certainly be remiss if I didn't post tonight.......as it was not a good night for the family in St Louis, last night. If you remember, I remained back in the sticknbrick yesterday afternoon when the 1st Lady left to join Dr. Jeni and Darrel, Jeremy and Anne-marie in STL for her birthday dinner. I remained here as my leg and rear were just to painful to make that drive up there, sit a few hours through cocktails and a slow dinner, and then return here for the night.

Soooo, the evening went quietly.....I caught up with some of missed programs which I had recorded on the DVR......and just generally watched for the oncoming wet and cold weather. When the 1st Lady left, she had already to remain in the STL area overnight......staying with Dr. Jeni/Darrel at their home west of the city. Well......I talked with all of them often during the evening, texting and chatting on the phone. As they left the restaurant, it was getting very bad....and they decided to leave their cars at Michael's father in-in-law's house and go on out to Dr. Jeni's home with her and Darrel in their heavy Suburban.

I had heard via Facebook that traveling on I-44 towards the southwest of the city was becoming impassable.......and sometime around midnight, or earlier.....I had a call and they were already in a totally blocked area of the interstate.......it had been CLOSED!! Soooo, they sat there...and, it was from 10:30pm........through the night until about 4:30AM this morning when they finally were able to drive on to their home. Being only about 15 miles from their house when they came to a total shutdown on the highway.......it was really frustrating for them as well as exhausting for the six of them to remain in the Suburban for six hours in the freezing rain and mist.

I kept getting text messages from the 1st Lady as they sat there.....and, when I received one....which woke me up....about 2:30, I finally called KSDK TV in STL to ask if they knew what was going on out there........and they took my name and phone number and told me they had NO idea that there were tons of trucks, semi's, and autos completely blocked out there! Never heard back from them......but at least they managed to weave and dart between trucks and cars and onto the shoulder and finally made the exit ramp which then was only about 13 miles from the house. It was not a good night....but everyone was safe, but tired!!!

And.....today is the 1st Lady's birthday!!!!!! Soooooo, I am certain that while last night was a fun night for her.....even though I was MISSING from the celebrations.......I am sure today was a day of being just wiped out from lack of sleep last night.

OK......the ice storm was bad, not for the amount deposited.....just enough to turn everything into glazed and smooth icy surfaces.....but for the way that the MO Dept of Transportation handled this first big winter event. Anyone involved in being stranded in the storm will feel no differently, I'm sure. MODOT just didn't do their job last night......period!!! Were they prepared for this storm.......I'm sure they were....but the preps that they usually do for the highways/roads just didn't seem to do the job this time.....!

However.....the good thing is that my leg and rear has felt somewhat better today. The MRI was postponed until tomorrow as the Orthopedic Group did not open today....due to the storm. Glad that happened because there is no way I could have backed my truck out of the driveway today.......never mind having to most likely crawl across the driveway to reach it. Soooo, tomorrow......off to Farmington as the 1st Lady returns here sometime during the day.

And soooo........as always.....

LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

1st Lady and Sue enjoying their bottle of wine

2010-12-15T21:53:00.000-06:00

2010-12-15T21:52:00.000-06:00

Five friends enjoying their Christmas Dinner

2010-12-15T21:51:00.000-06:00

Jim Harryman loves to tell the stories of his day

2010-12-15T21:50:00.000-06:00

1st Lady and Sue enjoying a tale that Harryman is spinning....

2010-12-15T21:49:00.000-06:00

Dave....listening to one of Harryman's many stories

2010-12-15T21:48:00.000-06:00

Dec 15, 2010: Winter weather winds up wet and frozen

2010-12-15T21:26:00.002-06:00

Wed evening.......the sidewalks are frozen over, the truck appears to be encased in black ice, and I do not know about the roads. No school for most area schools for tomorrow.......

Well.....today was a real bummer for the sagging hulk of Me. I went to the Dr's appointment at 9am this morning for more of that electric stimulation on my upper left cheek. My leg was in pain most of the night and, continued through the day. After the appointment here, I returned home for another quick cup of Fr. Roast coffee.....and, then.......

Drove up to Farmington to the Orthopedic Center there where I had an appt with another Dr. so that he could set up the MRI for my back. And.....after being there about 30 minutes, I had an appointment made for tomorrow....Thurs.....for 9:30AM. I made a quick hobbling run through Penny's looking for a pair of leather gloves for the 1st Lady's birthday present for tomorrow.....but, nothing there that would work for her.....nothing she really would like to have.

Returning home.......I made a decision to not go to STL. Jeremy/Anne-marie, Dr. Jeni and Darrel and the 1st Lady and I were to meet in STL for late afternoon drinks at the Cheshire Lodge Hotel on Clayton Rd.....and then on down to Soulard for a birthday dinner for the 1st Lady at Franco's Restaurant. My leg was in quite a bit of pain, I had a headache.....and I just didn't think I could sit that long on the trip up and back, as well as the cocktail hour and dinner later. Sooooo, the 1st Lady drove up by herself to meet with Dr. Jeni/Darrel and then go into STL with them for the evening. Disappointed, I am...I am. But........I really thought I would be an old stick-in-the-mud this evening and put a damper on the entire "party" for everyone......and I would probably would have!

The rest of the day I spent laying on the sofa or on the bed, or trying to find a postion of comfort for my leg. This evening, I had talked and texted the "party group" and they are having a great time. They will all go back out to Dr. Jeni's home for the night......hopefully without slipping and sliding around on the highways which are becoming quite slick with the freezing rain.

And soooooo.....I have not mentioned our evening in Cape G last night with James Harryman and Dave/Sue Hanner. GREAT fun, even with the leg hurting like hell last night. Dinner was not as good as I had anticipated.....and expected at Bella Italia Restaurant. I ordered the Tortellini and was disappointed as the meal arrived luke warm!!!!! I suppose it had been sitting around while the baked dishes for the others was completed......but, after several bites, I decided to return it to either be warmed up, or to have another one replace mine. Well.......it was warmed over and then it became rubbery.........not a pleasant dinner.

After finishing we went down the street to The Library......a cool bar, which had a large amount of seating. The drinks were good....and not expensive, so we spent an hour or more there before returning to the car.....and returning back to F'town. A great evening.....(minus the meal).

OK.....hopefully tomorrow's icy weather will allow me to get out of the driveway and get my MRI in the morning!!!! And......pick up some flowers for the 1st Lady for her 64th birthday tomorrow. Time will tell...........

LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!!

Tues AM; Frigid weather, cold outside/cold on my rear!!

2010-12-14T08:55:00.002-06:00

Hmmm......I didn't realize that the last time I was on here to discuss my waning Life was on Saturday......I just do not know where the hell the time goes!! Bothers me that it slips by soooo quickly and I do not even realize it. Am I THAT busy???? Shit, NO!!! Soooooo...........???? Where does it go?

Let's see.....how can I reconstruct these past few days??? The over-riding factor.......well, it has been the same basic problem with me......the pain which arrives without warning, starting slowly and building to an intense level. However, I am now learning that when I do feel it beginning, I go take a couple of Excedrin Migraine pills and after an hour they do begin to alleviate the intensity somewhat. I have been to see the Doc every morning for electrical stimulation......about 20 minutes each morning.....as well as some other adjustments. IF, so he says, I am seeing no improvement.....not sure how the hell I should know when it is soooo sporatic......then I will have an MRI on Thursday of this week. I discussed with him about seeing the Physical Therapists that are sooooo highly recommended here in town, but he wants to wait until at least tomorrow.........and the MRI, if need be. Ok!

Yesterday......the pain in the thigh never left......and I went to bed with it about 11pm, but was sooooo exhausted from putting up with that hurting, both mentally and physically, I fell asleep very quickly and didn't have to fight it...trying to find one of those contortionists positions for relief.

To bring you forward from Saturday.......that evening we went to the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority Holiday party....and it was about the same as each year: some drinks, dinner, and then each couple opens their gifts from the "secret sister" in front of everyone else. Oooohs and ahhhhhs are required upon revealing the gifts to everyone....and then everyone sings a Christmas song. OK......as I mentioned to some friends there, I felt like we were sitting in an "old folk's home" singing(?) Christmas songs in the "gathering room" of the home. Hmmmmm.......Bah Humbug!!!
It was good to see Jon and Jo Daniel and I was particularly glad that we did get to sit with them for dinner.......I miss chatting and being with them!

Sunday??? Hmmmm........just a laid back day with COLD, FRIGID weather as the day progressed. Yesterday......my appt with the doc......and then I took my truck to a local auto mechanic's shop.......I had trouble getting it to the start yesterday morning......never has ever been that tough, even at -15 degrees. And, when I did get it started I let it run for about 25 minutes before I was to leave for my appt. Well, I went out there to leave and there was some fluid......quite a bit....coming from under my truck on the driveway????? I dipped my finger into it and it smelled just like diesel fuel. Soooo, I took the car and then stopped at the mechanic's to make an appt with them. Took the truck down to the them........and the results are not in as yet this morning. They cleaned off the motor from the fuel, started it and let it run, but could find no clue. Soooo, they were going to keep it outside last night and then start it this morning to see if that same thing would happen.......9AM right now and no word from them!!!??

I have been a bit disappointed with the contractor who is installing the windows. The trim that I contracted to have put around the windows..... molding......was not done to my standards. He had painted it already, so I knew he was finished with it. There were many rough edged boards.....I got two splinters just running my finger across them.....and some damaged trim boards that were split, chipped off, the nail holes not being "puttied" in with wood putty, etc., etc. Soooooo, I told him on SUNDAY I was not satisfied with this work!!!!! And.....he said he would redo the problem areas.

Also.....on Sunday with the 35+mph winds out of the north, all....yes, ALL....of the windows were letting in the frigid air along the side where they slide up and down!!!!!! Soooo, yesterday morning a rep from the store came to check on them and he agreed!!!! He is having the window factory/company send him some "bumpers" to plug those areas. What does that say about these damn windows????????? TONS AND TONS, doesn't it?? Right now, I am NOT a happy camper!!!!!!

Sooooo, what has happened to my postive outlook on Life????? Amazing, isn't it, when things take a downward turn that a person's mental outlook becomes tainted???!!!!! OK....I am trying to look past all of this, but......right now I am finding it a bit difficult to do. I just keep telling myself that: Success comes in Can's......Failure comes in Can'ts. Sooooo, I can get my aging body working again.....the effing sciatic nerve.......and the physical problems with the house CAN be fixed, after the probability of some confrontations down the road with the window people!!!

Hopefully, today will be a better one!!!!(?) We are going to Cape G. with the Hanner's for our annual Christmas Friend's Dinner, along with Jim Harryman of Perryville, formerly our neighbor across the street. Soooo, this evening should be fun.......it WILL be fun!!!!!!

And sooooo, lots of complaining in this post......eh????? Sorry about that......Life is not always perfect, is it? However.........I CAN get these small bumps in the road smoothed out.....right??!!!!!

Of course, as I always say, and I DO really believe this........

LIFE IS REALLY GREAT!!!!!!!(even with problems)........and, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!!

Sat, Nov 11,2010: And.....the pain STILL continues.......

2010-12-11T14:18:00.002-06:00

Last couple of days???? Nothing new, nothing has changed in the sticknbrick.........my mornings are LONG as I am usually awakened around 3-3:30AM with the pain. By that time the Excedrin Migraine pill have worn off....and then pain begins, again.

Mid-mornings I am at the chiropractor's office for some electrical stimulation treatments as well as some other procedures. Returning home........by early afternoon I am exhausted and find myself napping no matter if I am sitting in a chair or laying on the floor. Evenings.........reading online or watching some of the tellie shows.

The pain is still there, seems to be abating a bit, but OMG, when it hits me it is really, really not pleasant. The doc says that the inflammation is less.....it is not as swollen as it was on Wed morning, but I sure can't tell anything about that. I put an ice pack on it every 2-3 hours for about 30 minutes or so.......then I try not to sit for very long, but standing at the bar with the computer is not comfortable either. I do lay on the floor quite a bit of the time.....even though that is not the best, either.

I have talked about this on Facebook and have had several comments with ideas about what to do, thoughts, ideas, etc. Soooo, I feel pretty good about the treatments that I am getting......

Today, we do have house guests.....Jeremy and Anne-marie have arrived for a bit more than two weeks......will be here through the Holidays. Then......they have their flight to Hanoi....where they will begin a three month trip through Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma(perhaps) and India.....traveling on their own to enjoy the cultures and see the sights and enjoy the different foods. I am very jealous about this trip..........oh yeah, I have sciatic problems, don't I???? Seem to forget those things when I am dreaming of travels throughout the world!!!!

Tonight......we have the annual Christmas Party of the 1st Lady's Beta Sigma Phi Sorority here in town. Hmmmm........sure hope the pain can be controlled while I am there........??

Sooooo........that is the news from here for the past two days......and, even though it is getting more difficult to say/write........

LIFE IS GREAT........and, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Dave and Sue Hanner with the 1st Lady at the Big Band peformance.

2010-12-09T17:59:00.000-06:00

The 1st Lady and Dave Hanner enjoying the evening's dancing!!!

2010-12-09T17:58:00.000-06:00

Thur, Dec 9, 2010: And still the pain persists.....

2010-12-09T17:30:00.003-06:00

Yesterday......after a second long night of not sleeping at all.....moving from bed to sofa to floor to chair to bed and again and again, the same painful route around the sticknbrick. So, as soon as 9AM arrived I called one of the local chiropractors and made an appointment with him. My backside, my thigh, my shin......all never quite screaming and telling me to do something for them.

It was another horrible night and yesterday morning I could not walk across the room from the bed to the door without such horrific pain that I could think of nothing else but getting to where I was going so I could lay or sit in some contortionists position to try to alleviate the pain.....to no avail. I did take a very hot shower for about 35 minutes, letting the hot water pound my backside, upper left butt cheek, and my left leg on the front of it. By the time I was thoroughly puckered from the water and red from the sting of the hot water, I could move a bit without the excruciating pain that I had been experiencing.

At the chiropractors' office, I told him....Dr. Kevin Roberts.....a "friend" of mine as we have known each other for most of the years we have lived here......I told him of the problems I have been having and discussed what I thought brought them on......stepping off of the shelving in the garage and backwards onto a step on the ladder. And so......the process began: laying on the table so he could exam and feel where the pain was originating, so I thought. Then.....xrays were made.....and quite soon, he showed me the results. Yep......it is the sciatic nerve that has been compressed/pinched by the vertebrae or at least some portion of the spine's workings. And.....it was hardly visible by the haze on the x-ray.....looked like a satellite of a tornado.....it was soooo thick and white!! Lots of inflammation which must be eliminated........

And sooo, an electronic gizmo shot little sharp stings into that area.....felt like bugs biting on me in various sequences and little dances with synchronization to them. Then he "popped' that area and not only did I feel it, but I could hear it! And.....I felt somewhat better.

Another appointment was made for this morning. Back to the sticknbrick for lots of ice packs on my rear side......and lots of wet underwear and jeans as the ice made the ziplock bags quite wet.

We had invited the Hanner's for drinks and munchies, and had purchased tickets for them and us to go to the 2nd annual Mineral Area College Big Band Holiday evening: dancing and refreshments in a formal atmosphere. Well.....I decided I would go, even though I knew that dancing would be out of the question(I did dance a slow one or two)....and I was in no pain!

However, as the almost three hour evening wore on, I began to feel little twitches of pain in my thigh and shin.....and I knew it was not a good omen! Soooo, Sue was also having back problems, as she has been having for some time now....and so she and I sat out the dancing part of the evening and let Dave and the 1st Lady enjoy themselves on the dance floor.

It was an incredibly great evening with the place full of well-dressed people.......how nice it is to go to an event with everyone in dress clothing....cocktail dresses, coats/ties, etc., etc. Micheal Goldsmith is the director of the Jazz program at MAC.....and so, it was fun to watch him directing the group and in charge of the evening!!!! He does an incredible job of producing an evening like this, as well as producing such outstanding performers/musicians!!!! PROUD of him, I am...I am!!! Love you, Mike!!!!

We returned home and I went to bed quickly......no sleep for two damn nights in a row.....and so, luckily I fell asleep rather quickly. Then......about 4:30, the pain woke me up....and once again, I started the process of tying myself into strange physical configurations.....like some Yoga contortionist.....trying to find the right spot to allow the pain to go away!!!

By daylight.....it was impossible to walk without assistance, from either the 1st Lady or the furniture and walls of the sticknbrick! Soooooo effing painful!!!!!!!! Another long, hot shower, more ice packs, and then off to the doc's office. More treatments, more electrical "bugs" stabbing THAT area....and another "pop" of my backside. But, this time it was not much better. I was told to not sit, but to lay flat or stay on my feet!!! Well, laying flat in the pain I am having is almost impossible, but as the pain went away gradually this afternoon, I quit standing at our bar and made my way to the bed....and, to get some sleep.

Another appointment in the morning is scheduled........and we shall see. The doc says it will take some slow and lengthy time to get back to normal......and, everyone who has written has told me horror stories of how long it has taken them to recover from the sciatica nerve pinching......DAMN!!!! Some....up to 7 LONG weeks!!! Hmmmm.......sure the hell glad that this did not occur when I was getting ready to tow TheHowserHouse down the road OR to get on a 15 hour flight to Auckland, New Zealand!!!!! I am not sure I could have survived that flight....and there would have been no place to land to get me off of there on that non-stop from Los Angeles to Auckland!!!!!

Now??? Almost 6pm and my leg seems the best it as been all day long....since about 4:30 this morning. BUT.....let's see how the night goes. It is getting to the point where I start dreading going to bed at night. This pain......it has been so horrific that there has only been one other time in my Life when it was worse.....and that was when I was hospitalized twice in one week for surgeries to remove the kidney stones from my kidneys......which for several days required that I have a morphine drip to control the pain!!

Ahhhh.....do I really end with my usual statement???? Well, even in the pain I am encountering......it still could be worse, couldn't it???? Soooo, as always.....

LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Tues, Dec 7, 2010: Whew.....NO sleep at all last night.......

2010-12-07T20:15:00.003-06:00

Ahhhh, the weekend came and went.......and with that being said, the 1st Lady also went, up to Dr. Jeni's on Sunday afternoon. She had a dental appointment with Dr. Jeni yesterday morning and then planned to stay over with the grandkids last night......and, that she did.

The past two days....I have just sort of lounged around the house.....doing no much of anything. I have finished The Hunger Games series of three books.........RUN, do not walk....to get those books in the correct sequence and read them. Suzanne Collins is the author........such a griping series of books, from the beginning of the first one through all three to the last page of the 3rd one. Loved them....and, certainly hated for them to end!!!!

Yesterday, I put away the Christmas boxes, etc., etc......at least until the Holidays all over and then I will drag them back inside the sticknbrick and we will pack up everything for another year of storage in the garage. BAH HUMBUG!!!!!

During the day yesterday, I began to notice my lower back beginning to be painful....and then the front of my left thigh....and a third place on the upper shin of my left leg. Went to bed....and before long, I was in intense pain in all three areas. And, OMG, but that pain lasted ALL night long. I tossed and turned and winced and cursed and put myself into different positions......sure glad the 1st Lady was gone.....and finally about 2AM, I got up and tried to lay on the floor for some relief. That didn't work, so moved to the sofa....and no luck either. Then returned to the bed about 4am......and did manage to sleep in very short spurts for about 5-8 minutes each time.

At 6:30, I managed to slowly walk into the bathroom, turn on the steaming hot water, and hobbled into our walk-in shower. Standing there for almost a half hour, I felt a bit better where the pains had been located. Finished....very, very slowly....the rest of my morning routine......took some more OTC Ibuprofin (sp?).....and waited for the contractor to arrive at 8am as he told me he would.

Wrote on Facebook about these pains, did some research online, and then began to get some feedback on FB: most reliable is a long time friend of the family who works with those types of health problems.....and she told me to use an ice pack on the lower back all day long, stay off of my feet as much as possible, and then tomorrow, to alternate the ice with heat and then ice, etc., etc. for the inflammation. I do not know if it is a sciatica problem or what.........but, the day got better...except for the lack of sleep. Tonight...only my thigh and shin are giving out painful "shouts" and the back seems to be much better.

The contractor really worked hard and replaced 8 of the 9 windows, put up the new trim around the windows and just really did an outstanding job!!!!!! One window arrived with a broken pane, so the last window to be replaced will have to wait until next week. I really think he did a great job......Kyle Stevens from here in F'town.....and plan to get a bid from him for the remodeling of the other bathroom this coming spring. He will return tomorrow to do some painting and caulking on the trim....and just the small details that must be done. Soooo far.....a great job!!!

The 1st Lady returned this afternoon and we discussed my problems....and I may see a Dr. tomorrow if there is not some relief, especially tonight. Worried about laying down in bed.....as I have sat up all day with the ice pack on my back........MUST HAVE SLEEP tonight!!!!

Jeremy and Anne-marie called this evening and they changed their plans for the final time: they will fly to Hanoi, Viet Nam on the 28th of this month, visit that reconstructed country, go to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, and then on to India........for a 3-4 month stay there in Asia!!! Not a tour, but a trip at a leisurely pace.....moving on from one place to the next whenever they decide to do so. I am insanely jealous of them doing this.....I have always wanted to return to those places ever since the end of the War over there. I did visit all but Burma.....some countries were under the cover of darkness on missions still not discussed, but I did get to see some of each one, including three days in Calcutta.

They will drive up here from Mobile, AL on either Thursday or Friday and remain here until they leave from St Louis for Asia. Should be a great visit for all of us!!!

And, sooooo.......I am going to lay down...and hopefully, get some sleep tonight!!!!!!!! But, you know......even with these unexplained and very intense pains.......as always.....

LIFE IS REALLY GREAT!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!

Intense concentration as she plays her cello

2010-12-04T19:40:00.000-06:00

Rachel, in left hand corner, and a couple of her friends in the cello section

2010-12-04T19:39:00.000-06:00

Rachel....with a big grin on her face before the concert begins

2010-12-04T19:38:00.000-06:00

Beginning 7th Grade Orchestra at Cape Girardeau Middle School

2010-12-04T19:37:00.000-06:00

Sat, Dec 4, 2010: Where HAS this week gone????

2010-12-04T19:13:00.002-06:00

OMG....my last post was on Wed morning.....no one knows if I am alive or have just disappeared since then......WOW!!!! But......as I look backwards on the calendar....I do not know what the hell has transpired in my Life since that "fateful" Wed morning.......let's see......

Wednesday evening we were guests of the Hanner House for drinks and dinner....and lots of great conversation in front of the warm fireplace. We made plans for our annual Christmas Holiday Dinner together......as well as made plans to attend the Mineral Area College Holiday Big Band Dance with music by the MAC Jazz Band. We went last year....and it was sooooo much fun, so I have the tickets and we are set to go this coming Wednesday night. Guess I will have to iron a dress shirt and practice making a decent knot in my tie...haha!! We will have the cocktail hour here at the sticknbrick...and then drive up to Farmington where the dance will be held.

Thursday.......?????? Don't think much happened during the day. However......we went down to Cape to attend the Holiday Concert by the Cape Middle School orchestra and bands.....and, of course, Rachel was performing on the cello in her first orchestra performance. NOT TO BE MISSED!!!! And.......it was a great little performance for these 7th graders first concert! They had all of their music memorized....and all stood except for the cellos who were seated in front of the violins/violas/string basses. For having only played since the beginning of school, I was quite impressed at the quality of the tone, as well as their technique.

The 7th and 8th grade bands???? Well......I was really disappointed as I just thought there were waaaayyyyy tooooo many wrong notes, the bands each played by themselves and they just couldn't seem to stay together within each band.......lots of problems, but....the 7th graders are only rank beginners and the 8ther graders are only in their second year of band........not a good way to build a program with only beginning band in the 7th grade, as well as orchestra. Most school orchestras begin during the 4th grade.....it takes soooooo much longer to develop a good tone on the string instruments and soooo, they begin earlier than the band instruments.

Friday.........we picked up Becky and went to visit with Michael.....spending the afternoon with him. Had lots of laughs and lots of talks about "our" favorite tv shows which we all watch and discuss. We got back here last night........tired, to say the least.

Today.....WOW!!!! It was soooo nice and warm until late morning.....and then.....CRAP!!!! The high winds turned and came out of the north and the temps took a drastic plunge by the hour, aided by these high winds which have not stopped yet. Tomorrow night it is predicted to be down in the teens and only in the lower 30's most of this week for the highs!!!!! And this is the year we decided to NOT go to Texas for the winter?????????????????????????? Believe we made a bad decision!!!!!

Tomorrow, the 1st Lady is going to Dr. Jeni's......as she has an appointment with her for Monday morning to have her teeth cleaned and then will stay around and pick up the kids during the afternoon as Darrel has to run down to Chattanooga, TN to take care of some business with his racing car. The 1st Lady will return on Tuesday..........

Today......we put up the Christmas interior decorations, including the tree. Think it is about time to purchase a new one next year....this one is starting to sag a bit.......guess it is trying to follow in my footsteps???? But....I believe all is done now...and tomorrow I will return the huge boxes/cases to the garage after the 1st Lady has left with the car. I am not a fan of all of this Christmas stuff.....BAH HUMBUG is usually my reply to most of this. I guess I just had toooooo much Christmas with all of the band concerts I had to do each and every year for 30 years......can't really handle Christmas music any more.....in fact, I really dislike it.....tooooo much of a once-good-thing, I suppose.

And soooo, the end of the week is here....I am a bit caught up in my discussions on here, albeit I do have several things I am going to discuss in the very near future......some things I have been wanting to write about. I am getting tooooo damn old to keep these things to myself for a later time......because, damn it, that "later time" might be not come for me....never know, do we? We have lost six friends and family members since mid-summer.....and we realize oh-toooo -well that we just never know when we might drop out of sight.....literally!

And soooo........as always......

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Wed morn, Dec 1, 2010: OMG....it is the SUN ( I think??)!!!!!!

2010-12-01T11:28:00.003-06:00

WOW.....a bit of hazy blue sky and a large fireball in the south sky......could it be the sun after such a long time???? Has NASA found it and towed it back into it's rightful place in our sky???? However it got there, I am soooooo damn glad about seeing it again.......I can barely take the Misery days of grayness all around......above, below, and just visual ugliness everywhere you look!

Monday was one of those days......and Tuesday was one of those days.....and this morning very early was the beginning of one of those days, however.........as I excitedly said....the sun is shining this morning.

Monday??? A day of reading, with a trip to WalMart thrown in for excitement! I have found myself completely immersed in a couple of books, sequels to a book I read two years ago: "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins.....and that was a book that grabbed you quickly and never let you go until the very last sentence on the very last page. And.......the 1st Lady had purchased the 2nd and 3rd books of the 3 book set before she left last week. Well.....I finally got into the second one.....and, I will NOT tell you the names of these last two.....because you MUST read "The Hunger Games" first!!!! Yes, it is an easy read.......a young adult/upper middle school/lower high school book, but one that any adult should enjoy, and should READ if you like those types of books that you cannot....just can NOT put down!!

Monday afternoon, I joined Sue and Dave Hanner at their home for happy hour(s).....including a light supper, and including some great conversations over some varied topics and issues of the day. It was a great visit.....had not seen them since before we went to South Carolina and we had much to discuss!!!! A GREAT evening......THANKS HANNERs!!!!!

Yesterday.......the 1st Lady arrived home about 6:30pm......a bit later than she had said it would be, but she spent most of the day in STL doing the annual Holiday shopping. Me?? I read and read and am now in the third book of the series. I fixed dinner, telling her it would be at the bar waiting for her at 6pm......but, she did warm it up when she got here and enjoyed this brown riced and steamed veggies meal. We ALWAYS love this way of preparing some great and tasty food that is healthy!!!!

Today???? Egads, but I HAD to get up waaaayyyy before that fireball in the eastern sky, as I had to be at my urologist's offices in Festus be 8am this morning. Part of the assignment for the exam is to "have a full bladder" when you arrive. Well.......I drank two bottles of water and a cup of coffee as I was driving out of town.....and an hour later when I arrived, I was about to burst....literally. Always an interesting exam.......first, all of that liquid must be deposited into a funnel which is measured and charted by a machine, allowing the urologist to see if the "stream" is full and forceful!!! Then the amount is measured; following that, I have an ultrasound on the bladder to see if it is empty!!!! THEN....after several topics of conversation about my past six months since I was last examined, I get the finger......literally!!!!!! The six months prostate exam, which is always invasive from a rear point of view. However.......it probably takes longer to unbuckle my belt and get bent over than the entire invasive procedure takes......and, this time the Dr declared: " You have a perfect prostate!" WOW......just what I wanted to hear!!!!!!! Soooo, with a few more chuckles and double entendre or two.......I get my six month prescription for the pills.....the same as Flomax......and an appointment for six months down the road, BUT scheduled into my schedule for when I am still here in Misery before I literally go "down the road".

Soooo, back here in TheHowserHouse......my sagging hulk of Me seems to be doing OK, at least in the southern extremities internally!!! The plumbing is working when it needs to work....and, sooooo.......as I type this, I am downing a couple of cups of Fr. Roast coffee.....Starbucks brand, of course!!!

Sooooo, thanks to the return of the SUN.......this continues to be a great, "perfect prostate" type of day.....and, as always.....

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY AMAZINGLY GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Sun, Nov 28, 2010: Long time, no write!!!!

2010-11-28T10:39:00.003-06:00

OK.....after having had a couple of large cups of Fr. Roast this morning, I will try to play some catch up over the past three days........I have been very negligent in keeping the world out there in cyberspace in the "know" as to my comings and goings.......of which there haven't been too many.

Thursday morning....another day of nastiness within the sphere of the weather of Misery. Foggy, misty, cold, and then colder and then still colder and with lots and lots of rain.....and then sleet, and then some powdered sugar type of snow by late afternoon. I did some reading, didn't watch any tellie during the day, but about 1:30pm the doorbell rang.....and OMG!!!!!..............

There was Whitney, my neighbor from across the street with one of her relatives, each carrying a large styrofoam type of tray/plate ......and she told me that it just didn't seem right to be having Thanksgiving dinner at her home and me here alone.......with no turkey dinner. Sooooooo, bless her, she had brought turkey and all the "trimmings" on one plate/tray.....and the other one was filled with several pieces of different types of pies!!!!!!!!!! WOW...WOW...WOW!!!!! Did I ever pig out!!! WHAT a nice thought........I was overwhelmed to say the least and got choked up. THAT is the first time I have ever had a neighbor do something like that!!!!!!!!!!! Such a wonderful gesture on her part!!

Well, that made my day.....and even though the weather was horrible, my day was as bright as a sunny Florida day after that great meal!!!!!! And.....I ate pie off and on all afternoon.....haha!!!

Friday......not much happening here. I did some work of cleaning around the house during the morning.....and then one of my former students called and he came by....and after some great conversation we went out for lunch. Nick Nichols.........the best trumpet player I have ever taught is STILL the best I have ever taught.....as he continues his studies. He is currently at Michigan State University where he is working on this Doctorate in Performance Arts on trumpet. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Performance at Truman State University here in Missouri, then received his Master of Performance Arts at Western Michigan University.....and is now on a full-ride tuition at Mich. State Univ as he teaches at the MSU, as he studies for his Doctorate. He is also playing in several professional groups including a symphony or two there is Michigan..........as well as performing and auditioning for various positions here in the USA. He recently played in Sydney, Australia at the International Trumpet Symposium.

Well, needless to say, we had bunch and bunches of things to talk about over lunch!!!!!! It was sooooooo damn good to see him again......he is grown into quite the charming young man of 27 years!!!!! I told him to let me know when he is going to play a recital there at Michigan State this winter and I will drive up there for the performance........really do want to hear him perform. I am going to post below a link to his web page and if you search around on the various pages, there is one little clip of him performing with an orchestra on that site.

http://web.me.com/thenick2000/Nick_Nichols/Welcome.html

After he left to take his mother and sister up to the Fox Theater in STL for a musical theater performance, the rest of the day for me went by nicely as I continued to think of his successes and for some reason most of the buttons on my shirt popped off!

Yesterday: About 9:30AM, another former student and her husband dropped by for some coffee and some catching up on her life with the chance to meet he new husband!!!! Rachel DeSpain Mundell and Dave.........both are living in Jacksonville, FL as he continues his career in the Navy. Rachel is now a Special Education educator there....and seems to be enjoying it a lot. Working with inner city school kids is always a challenge, but Rachel is the type of girl who enjoys a challenge and I feel certain she is doing quite well, as she always did here in F'town with everything she did!

After that I ran to Cape to Becky's as I had to take a chair and foot stool for Rachel's room....and then we spent the afternoon visiting with Mike. Returned home about 8pm last night.........and then spent a LONG evening reading a book.

Today??? Well, let's just see what happens....ok???? The 1st Lady is still at her mom's and not sure if she is returning tomorrow or Tuesday. I am very glad she is having this time to spend with her ailing mother.......it will be a time she will always remember and keep with her forever.

And sooooo, ......as always.......

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY INCREDIBLE!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!

Wed pm, Nov 24, 2010: "Home Alone".....and flash flooding predicted during the night with freezing precip tomorrow!

2010-11-24T20:59:00.002-06:00

WOW......wasn't that title a damn depressing start to this little blog tonight???? Sorry about that, but this sagging hulk of Me is just speaking the truth!

Day before yesterday I began to feel the scratchiness of a cold trying to invade my aging body.....why the hell would it want to do that in THIS aged Hulk???? I would think that this damn cold would have wanted a newer body to infect.....newer blood, newer lungs, newer sinus cavities, newer throat to make sore! But......this cold selected ME......WOW!!!!! Words cannot express how I feel about this......and if I did express myself, you might want to censor my words, to say the least!

Ava remained with us when Darrel/Dr. Jeni and Meghan and Max left late Sunday afternoon, as I said before. And, true to form this cold began on Monday....and has not let up since then. However, it has not YET migrated south to my aging lungs......those lungs having suffered with pneumonia three times over the years. Not a huge "cold", but one that has sapped me....and today, my throat has increased in it's soreness. Still just gargling with warm salt water...and that helps; using my childhood Vicks vapor rub at night; and getting tons of rest. Sooooo......let's see what Turkey Day brings tomorrow.........besides.....

We are under a heavy rain warning....up to 3" has already fallen around the area....and 3 more inches are predicted before........freezing precip arrives tomorrow afternoon/evening. Nothing to accumulate, at least as of the last warning, but certainly enough to make Misery live up to it's name!

The 1st Lady left yesterday, late afternoon, to return Ava to her rightful place in her family. The 1st Lady remained there overnight.....and then went on up to Monroe City to spend most of this week with her Mom. Obviously......I did NOT go as I certainly do not want her exposed to my cold and sore throat!!!!!!!!!!! She, by any means, cannot take the chance of becoming ill with like I am!

Soooo, today I spent on the sofa watching the tv, reading the online newspapers, commenting here and there online on some sites, and just resting like I should...as I really do want to shake this before it becomes worse.

Tomorrow, since we already had Thanksgiving here on Saturday, I suspect that it will just be another normal day for me, except for the dreary weather. Of course....today was foggy, rainy, and dismal.....and, tomorrow will be no better.

I have a couple of new books that I need to get read.....the 1st Lady actually BOUGHT me two books. For those of you who are not aware.....we, for the past four years when we remodeled half of the house, we have not purchased any books, using the Library frequently for our reading habits. We did away with our built-in book cases in the bedroom with the remodeling projects....and at that time, gave away probably a couple of hundred books to the local Library and to the Senior Center for resale for their profits. So, I suppose tomorrow might be a GREAT day to read.....might even watch the Macy's Day Parade in NYC. Haven't paid much attention to that since I retired........could really care less about the bands that are marching in the parade these days.

I did forget to mention that yesterday morning, even tho I was not feeling very good, I took TheHowserHouse-on-wheels up to it's new resting place for the winter. About 25 miles north of here in the Park Hills area......Griffon's Trailer Town......is where I took it for some maintenance and then they will put "it away" after they have completed the various little jobs I contracted with them to do. As I said.....the price for the storage is wonderful: $1.00 per day!!!! THAT is a great price in my way of thinking.....and with our very large window in the living room, it just now opens the view to sights we haven't seen without the Cedar Creek sitting there blocking that view.

OK......ramblings are about completed on here tonight. Nothing earth-shattering has occurred.....and I am once again home alone for a few days, but it is a great time to rest and shake off this cold. And.........as always......

LIFE IS JUST AMAZINGLY GREAT!!!!!!.....and, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Mon Morning, Nov 22, 2010: A busy weekend.....

2010-11-22T07:45:00.002-06:00

Friday evening Darrel and Dr. Jeni, along with the three little ones arrived around 8:30pm. And, soooooo the weekend of our Turkey Day began! Lots of squeals, lots of talking, lots of "playing in Grammy and Pawpa's house"...........and....

On Saturday morning Becky and Rachel arrived about noon, bringing fresh roses for the centerpiece and some more food for the table. Dinner was around 1:30......and nine of us seated, we had a great turkey dinner!!!

The rest of the afternoon was spent in fighting off the results of tooooo much eating, a turkey that made us sleepy, and lots of toys and games and whatever all over the floors in each and every room. The favorite play area is in our large walk-in closet.....and, so before too long it was impossible to "walk in" this small "room". But.......we didn't need to get in there anyway.....

On Sat morning, Dr. Jeni/Darrel took Max into an urgent care center as he was running a fever and not feeling well.....sooooo easy to tell that when all he wanted to do was sit and be held on someone's lap! Then, they called from there and asked me to bring Meghan up there, as she had been complaining of a sore throat......as, Max was diagnosed with strep throat. Soooo, I ran Meghan up to Farmington....and.....yep, she, too has strep throat. Soooo, meds were received and by evening both were feeling a bit better.....

Yesterday, Becky and Rachel left about mid-morning........and the streppy ones were feeling a bit better...enough to run around and through the house playing their imaginary games. By yesterday evening, when Darrel/Dr. Jeni left, everyone was much better. Ava remained here with us.......her first time to spend a couple of days/nights with Grammy and Pawpa....and she did really well all evening after her family left. We will drop her off on Tuesday as we go north to the 1st Lady's mother's home for the rest of the week.

Myself???? Well.....I am feeling a bit of a cold arriving, my throat is now a bit "scratchy" and am wondering if I spent tooooo much time with those streppy ones the past couple of days???!!!! Sooo, last night I took a cold pill......I have to be careful as some of these can affect the desired results of my "plumbing pills" which keep things flowing normally.....how the hell did I reach this age of researching the affects of meds????????????????

This morning...the 1st Lady and Ava are still asleep, but will need to be awakened shortly. Later today we have a contractor coming over with a detailed estimate on replacing nine of our windows.....the only ones left that have not been replaced....they being the old wood ones which we have needed to replace for several years. Time to do it!!!!!! The bid is slightly less than $3000 so, I know we will tell him to go ahead and get it done.....quickly!!!

And soooo, there you have the summary of our Turkey Day......full of turkey and TheHowserHouse full of family!!!! GREAT weekend!!!

And....as always,

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

WED morning, Nov 19, 2010: An early post today!!

2010-11-19T09:24:00.002-06:00

Ahhhh, yesterday was a day that kept me busy: cleaning very thoroughly the rv as it will not be in use for several months, finding a place and putting away most of the items in the rv basement storage areas, vacuuming the carpets, cleaning the refrigerator, making certain no crumbs are in the corners of cabinets, removing some blankets(for Christmas guests' use), etc., etc.

Later in the day I went up to Griffon's Trailer Town where we have been having any repair work done when it is needed on the rv......and, after talking with the shop manager, I made an appt. to bring it in for some minor repair work: a small leak in the bedroom slide needs to be found and repaired, some light fixtures are not working and may need to be replaced, installing an outside outlet so that we can plug in the cable and soon-to-be Directv satellite system directly into the wall of the slide where the tv is located......the original has NEVER ever worked and no one has been able to figure out why, so time to just install one in a different place......and then.....the really important part of our plans: we are going to store it there at Griffon's Trailer Town for the winter and early spring, probably not picking it up until late April.

This is one thing we have wanted to do for some time, but only in the last year or two has Griffon's begun to store rv's there, so.....the price seems good: about $1 a day!!!!! This will get it out/off of our very wide driveway.....and allow for others to back in their rv's when visiting us as we do have a 30amp hookup for visitors....and for my use. (CHARLIE and KATHERINE.....this is for your info, as well as for ALL of our traveling, rving friends from the USA and Canada!!!!!!!)

And soooo, most of the day was spent in and out of the rv preparing for the nasties of winter in Misery!!!!!!!!! Today, I do need to winterize the water lines, but just can't seem to get the damned anode rod out of the water heater to totally empty it, however.....I can use the shut-off valve and go ahead and winterize all of the lines, leaving the hot water heater for the repairman at Griffon's. That anode rod must come out, but I suppose I overdid the plumber's blue stuff that seals it for no leakage.....REALLY overdid it...haha!!!

We are having Turkey Day tomorrow here at TheHowserHouse!!!! Yep.....an early one for us, but Dr. Jeni/Darrel and kids are going to his folk's home in Branson next week......it is their turn to go there on THE day. Soooo, the 1st Lady has been doing some early preps for tomorrow, even though there will only be 9 of us here. Then next week we will go up to her Mom's and help fix her a dinner on that day!

Darrel and Dr. Jeni and kids will arrive tonight....sometime. They are not particularly good at knowing just when they will arrive.......takes them soooooo long to get things ready with all three little ones!

And sooooo, that is why I am writing this morning!!! It will be very chaotic and hectic around here this weekend with the house full.....only Jeremy and Anne-marie will not be here as they are in Mobile, AL with her family.

As always.........

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY AMAZINGLY GREAT!!!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Our transportation to the ocean on the AquaSino.....a good time gambling boat.

2010-11-17T17:35:00.000-06:00

A beautiful day to be topside visiting with friends as we head to the ocean.....and the loss of our coins!

2010-11-17T17:33:00.000-06:00

Marshes along the riverside on the way to the ocean

2010-11-17T17:32:00.001-06:00

View of North Myrtle Beach as we leave the inlet river for the ocean

2010-11-17T17:32:00.000-06:00

Out to sea......let the games begin!!!

2010-11-17T17:31:00.000-06:00

Lunch with the Downey's on the gambling boat

2010-11-17T17:30:00.000-06:00

An evening with Jay and Anne-marie as we played "Sequence"

2010-11-17T17:29:00.000-06:00

Anne-marie fixing some "grilled bananas"......ummm, GREAT!!

2010-11-17T17:28:00.000-06:00

A view of the Willow Tree RV sites......beautiful and spacious!!!!

2010-11-17T17:27:00.000-06:00

An alligator sunning him/herself in a nature preserve we visited on the "safari"

2010-11-17T17:25:00.000-06:00

The "jitney" safari we took around Myrtle Beach

2010-11-17T17:24:00.000-06:00

An old cemetery south of Myrtle Beach

2010-11-17T17:23:00.000-06:00

The lake at Willow Tree early in the mornings

2010-11-17T17:21:00.000-06:00

Courthouse in Madison GA.....beautiful!

2010-11-17T17:19:00.000-06:00

WED, Nov 17, 2010: WIFI AT THE STICKNBRICK!!!!!

2010-11-17T16:19:00.004-06:00

I can't believe this!!!! The past 10 days of not writing on here has been the LONGEST period of silence on this blog since I began writing in April/May of 2005!!!!!!! Over five long years of almost daily writings......and then BAM!!! Nothing written since last Sunday, a week ago, except for a few brief words using my iPhone.

Sooooo, literally.....where do I begin...to tell the story of my absence??

I think it is best if I just summarize the days of this sagging hulk of Me for the time I went "missing".

It was a very good week at Willow Tree Resort, albeit NO wifi, as you already know sooooo damn well. Let me just say what I told the friendly staff at the registration desk of Willow Tree on the day before we left: I just do not understand a first class rv resort such as Willow Tree having absolutely NO consistent wireless internet service across their resort. IF there is anything that will prevent us from returning there again, it will be the inability of being able to connect to wireless internet while we are at Willow Tree!!!!!!!!! There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for a rv resort that during their "in season....summer" charges upwards of $98 per night to park your rv....and not having excellent, fast wifi!!!! IF it is because of a "contract" with Hughes Satellite, then break the damn contract and find a company that provides the services that Willow Tree need and demand!!! And......as I told the staff....who ARE very friendly......I plan to send in my reviews to various RV sites online that ask for reviews about rv parks and campgrounds that we visit.

Can you tell that I am angry and irritated??? And, to make matters worse......it was not just while we were there for the week, but seems to have been an ongoing issue for quite some time....over a year!!! DAMN!!!!! I am still angry.....really angry!!!!!! In this "day and age" of instant communications, there IS not excuse. The 1st Lady needed to continue working with our son-in-law in his business.....she does his billing for the services which he provides.....and could not do that, short of sitting in McDonald's where they do have free and very fast wifi!!!!

OK....I will try to refrain from continuing this tirade.....TRY!!!!!

Soooo, we had an evening with appetizers at the first night of the Rally. Then we had 2-3 evenings of carry-in's with the main meat courses being prepared by the hosts of the rally. We also had three "outings":
1. We went on a "cruise"....a gambling boat that had to enter the ocean through a river and then out to the international waters before the gambling machines and games could begin. No gambling in the state of South Carolina. Lunch was provided, but was quite lacking in attractiveness of the buffet and most certainly lacking in quality of food. OK....not another rant from me, as I wasn't really expecting much from the lunch and I received about what I was expecting. The 1st Lady and I dropped about a total of $15.00 into the non-paying slots.......didn't even win once, and I was playing on the quarter machines!!! BUT.....the great thing about this 5 plus hours of "cruising" was the opportunity to meet with old friends in the Cedar Creek RV Owners Club on a more one-to-one basis on the top deck/open deck of the boat and to renew those friendships......as well as meet many of the new members from the East Coast whom we had not met before. Sooooo, it was a very pleasant day, to say the least!
2. On Thursday we went to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center for the opening of their Christmas Crafts Sale with approximately 300 vendors in their booths offering for sale their various crafts, foods, dips, whatever. It was an interesting few hours there before our legs gave out on the concrete floor of the center. Did we purchase anything???? Yep......things to eat!!!!! Different kinds of "butters", dips, etc., etc. And...the great things was that we did get to sample soooooo many homemade items that were for sale!
3. On Friday, about 28 of the 50 some-odd members took a "jeep Safari"......a jitney I would call it which carried 14 tightly packed human beings, all of whom are creeping up in ages and weights....and we drove for over four hours around the Myrtle Beach area and south of there to see some of the local sights, as well as listen to our never-ending guides who went on and on and on and on and on......and on. But.....some of it did soak in, at least for a few moments. They do not realize that we all have short term memory loss problems, so none of us would have been able to pass a test over the info they told us!!! But, we had fun, even though we were huddled together like un-oiled sardines in that mode of transportation.

The remaining days, we spent visiting our friends who were there (all whom were complaining of the wifi situation).....and driving back and forth to the local grocery stores and liquor stores.

The weather??? In the mid-60's most days, sunny everyday, and sometimes VERY chilly at night!! I once again must chastise the resort for not having a pavilion or meeting room for our large group to use for dinners and evenings when we might have enjoyed talking with each other in a lighted room. But.....perhaps they don't have those kind of facilities, even though this is a relatively new resort which is highly landscaped, planned (with wonderful lake and swimming beach), a beautiful almost mile-length entrance which is sculpted with grasses and trees and winding curves on the paved road. There is a hiking/jogging/walking/biking path around the lake and it is really a very nice touch for the guests. Also....they have several little cottages built on the lakeside for guests who are not in RV's.....another wonderful idea! There are many other amenities to the Willow Tree Resort.......but, the absence of just a few specific things make this not quite the wonderful "10 rating" that some RV rating groups have given to Willow Tree.

Sunday, the 1st Lady and I left and by that time, we had already decided to return to Misery via a different route: Over to Augusta, GA to Alanta, and then up the normal route to Chattanooga to Nashville and then home. The first night we stopped in Madison, GA at a campground......not an rv park/resort.....Country Bob's RV Park.....and stayed there. We had enough time to go into the town and look....from the outside....at many of the OLD southern homes in the center of town, as well as the lovely town square which is quite up-to-date with their shops and restaurants and coffee shops. Upon walking around the square, we realized that we had been here many, many years ago as we discovered a restaurant where we had eaten at that time, in that year, in that decade of our lives. (NO wifi except within 100 feet of the office....and we were FAR from that building, but this place served our overnight needs of water, electric power, and sewer hookups.

Monday......we drove the hour into the Atlanta area, taking the beltway around the eastern side of the city.......in horrendously awful rains!!!!!!!!!!! It never ever stopped....and with six lanes of bumper to bumper traffic in ALL lanes all going the same way....and the god-awful rains and splattered rain and puddles, it was quite nerve wracking, to say the least. Even worse than the sleet and snow we experienced as we drove through the mts between Knoxville and Asheville, NC. It took us over an hour to go 23 miles.......that says everything about it!!!! And....the rains continued until we reached Nashville!!!! We stopped at Clarksville RV Park......and, we had wifi!!!!!! OMG.....it was like we had returned to the real world!!!!

Hmmmmm, believe I failed to mention that at Willow Tree, we did not have cable nor satellite tv, so the 1st Lady and I used our antenna which allowed us to access mainly the four main networks, as well as many, many PBS and local Gospel channels.......hmmmmm!

Yesterday, we drove on into Misery....in rain, of course....and then home, which was as dry as a wheat field in Kansas in August. Exhausted I was......not a bad trip except for the rains. Sooo, we just kicked back and watched a bit of the tv programs we had DVR'd and caught up with some of our favorite programs.

Today....we attended a memorial service for one of the 1st Lady's local sorority sisters who had died quite suddenly on Monday morning of an unexpected blood clot. This is the SIXTH death of either friends or family members in the past three months......and, it just really accents to us just how short our time is becoming..........toooo short!!! Sad, it is.....as many of these were quite sudden and some were of those who are much younger than we are!

OMG, OMG.....I forgot to mention that our son and his wife, Jeremy(Jay) and Anne-marie spend three days with us at Willow Tree on their way from Philly to Mobile, AL!!!!!! It was just fabulous that we got to spend those days with them.......it was soooooo damned great!!!!! I only wish they could have spent the entire week with us........WOW....soooooo good to see them again!!!

OK......there you have it!!!!!! I am still writing, in case you might have worried (????) that I was not going to continue to shout and joke and curse and keep you informed of my ever-shortening Life! And, you know........just as I have always written.......

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!......And, I certainly hope it is, and has been over these past ten days, for YOU!!!!!!!

Thur, Nov 11, 2010: Iam soooo damn frustrated and really pissed at this luxury Rv resort having such SHITTY wifi!!!! No excuses are acceptable!!!!

2010-11-11T15:42:00.002-06:00

Wed, Nov 10, 2010: Beautiful Rv resort but the beauty is ruined by wifi that sucks!!! Not able to do posts from here except from iPhone!!!!!

2010-11-10T07:34:00.001-06:00

Sat.....a review.....

2010-11-07T19:28:00.002-06:00

Yesterday morning, we pulled away from the Crossville KOA, TN.......and it was not a pleasant day. Drizzles here and there, lots of traffic getting through Knoxville, and then we were soon in the mountains, getting higher and higher. And then........it began to snow...AND sleet. And this continued for the next 45 minutes to an hour as we drove up and through along the rapid river that was going down....the opposite direction from ourselves. With each curve and bend in the highway.....I wondered if I was going to find snow/sleet on the roadway. Luckily......we didn't find any on the surface of the highway, but all along the sides of the road and as I looked upward towards the top of the mts............it was white and snow everywhere. Beautiful, but worrisome as I pulled the 5er upwards.......a very tense time on my part.

However.....when we reached the gap and began to descend on the other side, the snow/sleet ended and the sun came out from time to time as the clouds began to part. And, it was really beautiful at that time.

We descended the 6% grade which lasted for 3 miles without a problem.....the modified exhaust brake that I have did a great job of holding the truck and the 39', 13500 lb RV from speeding down the mountainside without really using the brakes, except for a light tap now and then.

We arrived at an RV park in Lexington, a suburb of Columbia on the south....and I was really glad we had made reservations as the sign on the office doorway was "NO VACANCIES"!! The "Barnyard RV Park" is a great park for an overnight stop.....long pull-through sites for large rigs like mine....and a great price of only $28 for the site, wifi, cable tv with tons and tons of channels, water, electric, sewer,.......all amenities you could think of. A great place over stay a night.....!!!!

Sunday.......this morning we left the rv park about 8:45 on a great morning, blue cloudless sky, bright sunshine......and after three hours of an easy drive, we arrived at the gorgeous, incredible RV Resort: Willow Tree Resort, located in the countryside outside of a small town called Longs, South Carolina......about 20 minutes or less from North Myrtle Beach, SC. This resort has hot tubs, pool, lots of activities, a huge lake with a paved pathway all around the perimeter of it, great long paved sites for rvs to drive and pull into without having to back up into a site.....and, best of all.......many, many great friends from the U.S. and Canada. Soooooo great to see so many of the again, as well as meet new owners of Cedar Creek RV's!!!!!!!

This evening at 5pm we had an appetizer welcome party....with soooo much food for all to enjoy. We all sat and then stood around the campfire as the sun disappeared in the west behind the tall pine trees which are scattered in areas around the resort. And....with the sun gone, so were the moderate temps....and chilly weather immediately became evident to all of us.

Tomorrow......an evening meal is scheduled for all......but, the biggest part of the day is left to everyone to do as they please, and...need. We need to locate the nearest grocery and pick up a few things......as well as look over this area. We are only a very short miles, or two, from the border with North Carolina....and, as I said just minutes from North Myrtle Beach. All in all.....a great location!!!

Soooo, with the forecasts of increasingly warmer weather into the low 70's.....it should be a wonderful, fun week for everyone!!! And, along with the great friend of our club, this should ensure that......

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

Sat., No wifi......just a few words using 3G. In Columbus SC after hard morning drive thru snow and sleet in mts. between Knoxville and Asheville NC

2010-11-06T18:29:00.003-05:00

Fri, Nov 5, 2010: WOW.....am I waaayyyyy behind or not????

2010-11-05T19:26:00.002-05:00

Can't remember when it was that I have been sooooo far behind in writing on here. Suppose that nothing of any importance has happened or I would have certainly put it into writing....wouldn't I??? Yes, I would!!!

Most of this week has been in getting things prepared for this trip to South Carolina. Washed the truck, loaded the 5er, took care of stopping the mail, getting my prescription refilled, getting the house ready to be gone, etc., etc., etc.

Yesterday, we did load many items into the rv.....and I discovered that I needed a new spare time....the old one was an original and it totally unable to be fixed! Sooo, I went to Farmington and purchased one that matches the other four......$183 and change......too much, but they are big tires.

Then last night we went out to the Hanner House to help Sue celebrate her birthday with some wine, some appetizers, and some dessert.....as well as trying to catch up with each other lives since we had not really had any time with them since we returned from Florida!

TODAY.....up at 6:30, scurrying around like mice, finishing loading the rv with the items we had to have this morning, locking the doors of the house and turning on the burglar alarms and pulled out of the driveway at 7:58....two minutes earlier than our projected departure time.

The trip to Cape G., across southern Illinois to reach I-24, then headed south to Nashville from there; picked up I-40 east there and are now in a KOA (UGH!!!!) in Crossville, TN, about an hour west of Knoxville. AND.......it is forecast to drop to 25 degrees tonight AND 3-6 inches of snow at altitudes above 3000 feet. After looking up the altitude of Crossville, we are at about 2000 feet.....hope the snow won't drop down this low!!! Some highways in eastern TN and western N Carolina close to the Smoky Mts are already closed!!!! DAMN....this is tooooo early to have this shitty kind of weather!!!

Tomorrow morning, I will most like have to add some air to all the tires with this colder air....and then probably will have to use the 1st Lady's hair dryer to get the basement doors opened up. I plan to unhook the fresh water hose tonight so it doesn't free to the hydrant and to the input on the rv. Hope it all works ok.....problem is that it was raining when we arrived and so all doors and locks have moisture in them!!!! DAMN!!!

We cross the time zone very quickly in the morning, so we lose an hour....and, going through and over the mts tomorrow will take plenty of time, as well as the descent where I will hopefully have good luck with my modified exhaust brake. Don't have to use it very often, but it did work ok with just the truck when I returned from Farmington to the sticknbrick yesterday morning.
If not.......well, no more postings, as the descent is an 8% grade for several miles!!!

OK.....a brief little post to bring things up to date with all of you!! My next post SHOULD be from our reserved site in an rv park in Lexington, SC....a suburb of Columbia, SC. Then it will be only 180 miles on to the Rally at Willow Tree Resort, just a few miles from North Myrtle Beach. It is supposed to be around 70 degrees there during the week........time to thaw out!

And sooooo.....as always,

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

Mon, Nov 1, 2010: A work in progress......at the sticknbrick

2010-11-01T20:50:00.003-05:00

Yesterday.......I enjoyed a couple of cups of Fr Roast coffee.....waiting for the sun to do it's work and warm up the outside air. Secretly, I kept hoping it would take quite a bit longer than normal, as I was really enjoying my coffee!! However, all good things must come to an end.....at least, for a while.

And soooo, I prepared to go out and do some waxing on the rv......and for the next four hours, until early afternoon, I WORKED and WORKED on just the back "cap"...the tailend/rear of the rv....and it just would not do the job that the wax used to do. Oxidation has taken over the finish on the right side of the rv as that is the side the sun hits each and every day that it is shining. As this was just the very beginning of the entire rv, I became more and more discouraged by the rub marks that would not come off of the gel-coat finish. Soooo, after those four hours....I just gave up!

Returning to cyberspace, I emailed a message to another Cedar Creek RV Owners Club member over in east Tennessee, as a few months back he had told me he would get a sample of something that he had used to eliminate the oxidation that happened on his rv. Before long....a reply came sailing through cyberspace and he told me he would get some and bring it to the Rally that we will all be attending in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area beginning this Sunday.

Sooo, I went back outside, cleaned all of the windows....small and LARGE....that the rv has.....and it does look better. This will be the first time we have been out in it since we returned from our winter in southern Texas......seven months!!! WOW. I also got really busy and washed the truck, but left the windows and the inside detailing for today's tasks.

Then.....coming back inside....hated to that on such a grand day......I began to work on our journey to South Carolina....online. Checking out various mileages and then checking on the rv parks that are available in the area where we want to end up at the end of the first two days of travels. It was a bit difficult to find one for the second night, as the miles to drive would put us in the Columbia, SC area. However, after more and more research I did locate one that could get us in for the night, so I made a reservation since it will be Saturday night and that could be a BIG problem trying to get a site on a weekend. And then......I just kicked back and relaxed, checked to see if I had some candy left.....from the three young kids that came by on Sat night, as well as me sampling quite a bit of the candy for freshness and quality during yesterday!

The 1st Lady left her Mom's home and drove down the Darrel and Dr. Jeni's house to be with the three little ones on Halloween night. She told me she would be back today around noon.

I watched The Amazing Race......and then did some reading in the lovely peace and quiet.

TODAY.........I again waited until it warmed up. I also had one other fellow come right on time for his appointment with me to prepare an estimate for replacing the windows. Trying to get "bids" from several businesses and then I want to check on the their references for the quality of their work.

After than.....I finished the truck.....took almost two hours, which I couldn't believe until I checked my watch. Then.....I cleaned out the basement in the RV, and began to load into it the patio chairs, BBQ grill, etc., etc. for the upcoming trip. I then tried to get the anode rod out of the hot water heater in the RV.....and nothing I did would loosen it. Soooo, I will wait until I get to SC to change the anode rod and get it ready for winter.

The 1st Lady.....after being gone one week, returned this afternoon. She is not feeling good about the condition of her Mom's health.....soooo many problems and what needs to be done cannot be done due to her other health issues. Soooo, the discussion is about to end with a decision about our proposed trip to New Zealand. As of this point in time, I do not think we will go next spring......it just toooo far to make a hurried trip back to the states if that should become necesssary! Then came the discussion of going on back to southern Texas...the RGV...for the winter, but I just don't think we will try to do that. Perhaps this way we CAN find the time to get the bathroom remodeled during the winter........we'll see!

This evening a former student from here ......class of 1996....and her mother came over for a while. They are both going to make a week's trip to Rome/Pompeii/Sorrento/Capri, leaving here on Nov 18th......and so we had a great talk about all of those places and making sure that they didn't miss anything, by not going on a tour. Sure did bring back a flood of memories of my 12 different trips that I have made to Italy and those very same places!!!!!! I JUST LOVE ITALY!!!!!

And sooooo, the two days flew by....my arms and shoulders are still a bit sore and tight from the RV cleaning. The rest is just cleaning the inside and getting the various things returned to the rv kitchen that have somehow ambled into our sticknbrick......guess those things became lonely out there???!!!!

Sooo, as always........

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!

Sat, Oct 30, 2010: Three more days of my Life is gone......DAMN!!!

2010-10-30T20:32:00.003-05:00

You know.....I do not believe I can even remember Thursday...and not sure about yesterday! The time has moved so swiftly with no necessary "chores" to do....yet....that I have read, watched some recorded tv shows from the DVR that I needed to catch up on, and just relaxed as I began to plan our upcoming trip to South Carolina.

Today.....well, my body tells me exactly what I did!!!!!! No damn doubt about that.......as I washed the RV for about 4 hours and now this sagging hulk of Me is sagging more than ever and my muscles in my arms and shoulders are cursing and screaming as loudly as they can.....protesting the things I did to them today. But.....a couple of drinks with Maker's Mark bourbon has helped just a bit......

After finishing the 5er, I then mowed part of the front yard to mulch more of the leaves that have BLOWN into my yard from the neighborhood. We have a couple of days of blustery winds....Thank God the temps are in the 60's and right at 70 today, or it would have really been chilly out there. And.....sometime this week, I have contracted with a local tree remover to removed all of the roots from the 200 year old maple tree which fell last year during the "inland hurricane".....and then he is to push some dirt around to level out where the roots had pushed the soil up and up around the base of the tree. Soooo, before all of that work is done, I want to keep the leaves cleaned up as it will be more difficult to mow them after this is completed.

This evening......F'town declared this night "Halloween".....and so I went out to Walmart this morning to grab a bag of candy in case we had some kids come by. Then.....after talking with the Hanner House, I told them to bring their little granddaughter, Sophie, who is here from Chicago.....to bring her over for some treats. Sooooo, after sitting around since 6pm waiting.....I had a total of THREE little kids with their parents knock on the door!!! Amazing how living up here on the hill keeps people from coming up here to knock on the doors on Halloween. I did have all of our lights on....but the Goldsmith's brought Emilee, our neighbors across the street brought little Marcos over, and the Hanner's came with Sophie, Danielle and Ozzie, little Brian(their newest child), Brian and Pam Hanner and their two children.....almost a house full. But...it was fun while it lasted!!!!

Tomorrow.....I hope to begin to wax the trailer......and that is very labor intensive!!!!! I may get it done...and I may not. Just depends on how fast it goes on, dries, and I can get it wiped off. We'll see.......

The 1st Lady should return either tomorrow evening or Monday morning. Dr. Jeni, Darrel and three kids all went to see "Old Granny" today.....and so, I am feel certain that her 86 year old frail and failing body will be exhausted tomorrow!!! They didn't remain over night, but just went up there for the day so they could be together with her for a few hours!

I did have a contractor who didn't show yesterday come by, measure our windows, and said he would send the estimate by the first part of the week. I did also have another young man come by yesterday.....and he did the same thing. One more will be here on Monday morning to measure and discuss what we want........and that is to replace all 9 windows that haven't been replaced since we moved in here and did the remodeling. These are all in the section of the house that we didn't remodel four years ago.

I was supposed to go to Columbia today to see my great niece in the Waynesville Band as they competed in a field show competition this afternoon......but, when the guy yesterday did not show up as he promised me he would, I had to cancel those plans and remain here, since he will be gone next week....and we will be gone for 2-3 weeks beginning next weekend and we HAVE to get those estimates in and compare all of them before we sign a contract with one of them.

And soooo, the day is gone.....my sagging hulk is under attack from the exercise it received today, and I am going to bring this to a close......but, as always.......

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!!

Wed, Oct 27, 2010: ALL IS WELL!!!!!

2010-10-27T20:56:00.004-05:00

Yep...still kickin in the sticknbrick!!! Not any problem that has kept me from writing lately....with the exception:

Nothing much has been happening here!! I could probably summarize these three days in about three sentences and you wouldn't be tooooo terribly bored.

Yesterday, that is about as far back as I can remember tonight, the 1st Lady left to go spend the week with her ailing mother. Things are not too good with her...and so, she left to be with her before we leave again next week on a trip to South Carolina. Me??? I enjoyed some "free time" and did some reading, worked on the pictures I had taken on the Florida trip, and just kicked back and relaxed out on the patio.

Today.....I took my truck to the diesel mechanic where I normally take it for any work to be done....and today was an oil change, fuel filter change, a complete check-over of all parts/tires/etc. That took over an hour...as usual. I always take to the Doe Run area and to Duncan's 4X4 on Hwy W. A great place to have a diesel truck worked on.......quality work by quality employees!!

Afterwords, I ran into Farmington.....and got my every two month haircut.....with all 67 hairs (yep, still the same number of hairs).....being trimmed, fluffed, and attempts made to made them look "fuller" and "thicker"....but to no avail. Still the same old thin strands trying to spread themselves too far and wide across my balding dome.

From there...a run through in the Walmart Super Center for a few items which are not available in this crappy little Walmart in F'town. Every time I go in there, I become upset with them.....just a horrible Walmart!!!!!

Returning home.......the winds had picked up and it "seemed" cooler than when I left this morning at 7:30am. I did water the few flowers we have that survived the non-attention when we were gone, as I had asked my house sitter/plant waterers to just manage the inside plants....and not the outside ones. Won't matter after tomorrow night as it is supposed to drop down to 27 degrees.....a HARD freeze we shall experience.....DAMN!!! Misery has returned!

During the afternoon, heard a knock at the front door....and there were two ladies standing there, one of whom I recognized: Rosemary Mondale.....a super 93 year old lady who looks 70 years young. She was the wife of the brother of Vice-Pres/Senator Walter Mondale, the Mondale's owning property just west of F'town. I knew her from a few years ago when I ran for the MO state legislature (and lost). Anyway.......she had come to town to visit with our neighbor, Corkey Bollinger.....and when she arrived no one answered her "knock"s on the door. The other lady just happened to be gathering the walnuts from the Bollinger yard, as requested by Corkey. Not being able to get a response from Corkey with the knocking, they became concerned and came over to get me. I quickly called her daughter down in Oklahoma....and discovered that Corkey, age 83, had been taken to the ER last night with blood sugar problems....she being a diabetic. Sooo, after talking with the daughter, Carla, I went over to the local hospital and went in to see Corkey. She seemed in great spirits, but tired still from the ordeal of her problems and from the overnight in the hospital. She told us that she would most likely be dismissed tomorrow.........I just hope they keep her until things are on the right pathway as far as her blood sugar and medications are concerned!!!!

And soooo, around 5pm, I then had some house guests for a few drinks and discussion over many varied topics......Michael and Melissa Goldsmith with their youngest daughter, Emily (sp?). A great couple of hours it was!!!!!......as always!!!!! I always enjoy having there here......such amazing people!!!!!

Soooo, there you have it.....a brief summary of three days, with an attempt to not bore you to tears while reading this! Perhaps tomorrow will bring some better reading about something exciting that has occurred here at the sticknbrick.....just as long as it is GOOD excitement....right??

Charlie/Katherine.......sooooo great to have you call tonight from up there in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada!!!!! We must talk more often.....eh???? And, Doug/Diane.....so glad you made it all the way down to Helena, MT today in your motorhome.....from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Great to talk with you on Skype, also!!!!! Where are the rest of my Canadian friends???? How about Skyping me so we can visit?????!!!!!!

And.....as always......

LIFE IS JUST INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Sun, Oct 24, 2010: Backnthesticknbrick!!!

2010-10-24T20:53:00.003-05:00

WOW.......back to our base....our F'town sticknbrick!! We were gone right at 2.5 weeks this time....a bit longer than our trip to Philadelphia last month. But, probably less than our trip next month to South Carolina.......will leave next week, if all goes as planned.

We stayed overnight on Friday at Paducah, KY.......and all was good there. Yesterday we spent most of the morning/early afternoon visiting with Mike and with Becky. We made a quick stop in Cape G.......and then arrived home late afternoon.

The remainder of the day was spent in unloading the car.....and then, the many and varied tasks of putting things away, doing some laundry, checking out the yard, and visiting with the Bollinger's daughter, Andrea. Her mother, Corkey, has returned home since we went to Florida and will be living there for the time being. She will have someone stay with her......and then decided what her plans need to be as the time goes by.

Last night we just watched some DVR programs that we had recorded while we were gone........and I fell asleep on the sofa in the TV room.

TODAY......I had a very enjoyable few cups of Fr. Roast as I read the newspapers online. The 1st Lady was up around 9am.....and after some discussions as to what the next few days would bring and what we needed to accomplish before we leave next week, I spent the next hour or so mowing the front lawn. Also mowed under our main and only tree......and mulched up the falling/fallen leaves of Autumn. There will be more.....but, thinking positively, I wanted to get these fallen ones mowed before any rains might....MIGHT...arrive today or tonight.

This afternoon and this evening.....again, watching some programs recorded on our DirecTV DVR......such a grand piece of modern equipment to have. With my iPhone, I can send a message to our DVR and have it record anything I want from wherever I am located.....a great tool to be able to use!!!

Tomorrow???? A bunch of errands to run and several appointments are needed to be made in order to have everything ready to leave next week. Soooo, that is the priority for Monday!!!!

And, as always.........

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY INCREDIBLE!!!!!!....and, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

Visitor Center in Lynchburg, TN

2010-10-22T21:48:00.000-05:00

Some of the "special" bottles of Jack Daniel

2010-10-22T21:47:00.000-05:00

THE Jack Daniel

2010-10-22T21:46:00.000-05:00

Daily burning of white oak to make the charcoal for the straining of the whiskey prior to aging.

2010-10-22T21:45:00.000-05:00

Standing with Jack Daniel's statue....

2010-10-22T21:43:00.000-05:00

Distillery Visitor Center

2010-10-22T21:41:00.000-05:00

Stores one one side of the busy square

2010-10-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

Inside one of the Jack Daniel's stores......

2010-10-22T21:39:00.000-05:00

.05% of the parked cars all around

2010-10-22T21:37:00.000-05:00

Fri, Oct 22, 2010: Lynchburg, TN......Jack Daniel's Distillery

2010-10-22T20:51:00.002-05:00

This morning......a good night's rest....and a quick breakfast before we got out on I-75, going north towards Chattanooga and Nashville. We made a quick stop to pick up a TN map at the Welcome Center just inside the TN state line. From there, we breezed through Chattanooga and before too long we were heading down a state road towards Lynchburg.

OMG.....as we approached the entrance area to the community......361 people, so it says....there was one of those flashing digital signs erected by the TN DOT....saying that delays should be expected because of the BBQ!!....???? WHAT THE HELL??? Well, we very, very soon realized that this place...this tiny little town devoted to Jack Daniel's whiskey.....was being completely taken over by tourists!!!! We did manage, somehow, to find a tiny, narrow space where I slowly eased the car into it.....and then walking to the main Jack Daniel's Visitor Center, we continued to see more and more and more and more people, many wearing badges. Then I overheard.....this weekend is the 2010 World Invitational BBQ Team competition!!!!!!! An annual event, we learned, which will bring in upwards of 155,000 people from ALL over the world. In fact.......61 countries were participating this weekend, as well as BBQ teams from all over our country!!!

Somehow, as we entered the Visitor Center, we were given Jack Daniel's black cards which designated that we would be on Tour 2 this morning. WOW......all of these people everywhere you would turn, and we did manage to get on the 2nd tour of the distillery!! Of course.....we had many people on the tour.....and a real crazy 60 year-old bleached blonde Tour Guide with such a thick southern accent that it was almost impossible to understand what she was saying!! I really felt sorry for the couples on our tour that had come over from Austria for the weekend......no way they could have understood her accented English!!!

The tour took 1.5 hours....and both the 1st Lady and myself were disappointed in the tour. The procedure that the good people at Jack Daniel's Distillery use to make their whiskey was not explained well....the tour seemed disjointed with a great deal of the production techniques left totally out. After having been in Kentucky a few short weeks ago and touring the Makers Mark Distillery, this was just really disappointing.

Afterwards, we walked the short block towards the town square....crossing the foot bridge and constantly running into people....just way toooo many on that little pathway. In town.....all businesses in the stores/buildings that are all around the Court House which is in the center of the square. And...the square was packed, as well as all of the stores and cafes. We finally found a little cafe where we could get a table....and had pulled pork sandwiches. Average.....dry....no BBQ sauce on the meat except what we put on ourselves.

We did a bit of window shopping....and then did buy a couple of small Jack Daniel's items. Talked with several people who explained that his is THE big weekend in the town's year.....and that there would be sooooooooooo many people tomorrow for the BBQ competition. Teams from all over the world, as well as ALL of the tens of thousands of tourists who come to participate in the festivities. We were there for about 4.5 hours.....and then squeezed our car out of the slot, across the field, and found our highway which would eventually get us into Nashville.

We had originally planned to spend the night in Nashville, but arriving there about 3:45, we decided to drive on to Paducah and spend the night there.....here. We are now in a Baymont Hotel for the evening.....and will visit with Becky and Rachel and Mike tomorrow before returning to the sticknbrick tomorrow afternoon.

OH....the most interesting thing about all of these tens of thousands, as well as the distillery itself is that the county where Lynchburg is located is a DRY COUNTY!!!!!! Yep......they cannot sell liquor there!!!! We couldn't even taste the whiskey after the tour....they just gave us Lynchburg Lemonade!!!! Hmmmm......seems they must have 2500 votes from the county to change the law....and there are not 2500 people in the county!!!!

But......even with this lackluster tour......as always.....

LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

As the sign says......

2010-10-21T21:42:00.000-05:00

The oldest street in St. Augustine

2010-10-21T21:41:00.000-05:00

Unique buildings of Flagler College

2010-10-21T21:40:00.000-05:00

Waiting for lunch to be served....

2010-10-21T21:39:00.000-05:00

In St. Augustine......San Sebastian Winery

2010-10-21T21:38:00.001-05:00

THE place to purchase fresh pecans........sooooo many varieties to choose from!!!

2010-10-21T21:38:00.000-05:00

The cotton fields of Georgia

2010-10-21T21:36:00.000-05:00

Thurs, Oct 21, 2010; Two days: one of walking, one of riding......

2010-10-21T20:34:00.004-05:00

Yesterday morning.......we were up and having breakfast, but not too early. Left for the city center of St. Augustine, about six miles from our hotel. And, I must say that this Comfort Inn and Suites was the very best Comfort Inn we have ever stayed in!!!!! New, very clean, spotless, and the staff was soooo cooperative and friendly. We had one of those little coupon books for hotels along the interstates of Florida.......and, as usual upon arriving at one of these hotels, I went inside and asked at the desk the price of a room for two for the night. I was asked about AARP, told them I was a member, and the young lady told me $77.00. Soooo, I showed here the coupon and she said it was acceptable......always depends on the availability of the rooms. And....the cost??? $59!!!!! A VERY good deal! Then, I asked if I could use it for two nights......"Yes, of course" she replied. Ahhhh.....I signed in, gave them my credit card......and, soon we were moved inside a HUGE room with a ceiling of at least 10 or 11 feet high, a king sized bed, and the room was just perfect for us with plenty of room.

After a great breakfast....as I have said already......we drove down to the historical area, found the parking garage....only $7.50 for the DAY.....and we visited the Tourist Office across from the parking garage. We grabbed some maps, some other brochures of things to do, to see, to eat, to drink, to purchase. As we walked a block or two to the pedestrian street.....one of the oldest streets in town, we began to realize that this place looked like other historical cities that we have visited over the years. And....the more we ambled, the more we wandered, the more we sat and enjoyed a drink at a bistro table on the sidewalk/street, the more we realized that this was not all that different from many other places.

We spent about 7 hours, including a late lunch in the historical area. And then....we went to the San Sebastian Winery for a tour and tasting. We certainly did enjoy the day....do not get me wrong about our St. Augustine experience.....but, we just felt like I have already said.......there was not anything new here for us to experience. Now.....for many, many, many others who were walking the narrow, little cobblestone streets, this was a place they had never seen before....anywhere. And, as I said, we certainly enjoyed the day.......it just wasn't quite like we had been led to believe it might be. Lunch??? At an upstairs restaurant above a pub....and we ate out on the narrow one-table wide balcony with a very french-styled black wrought iron railing, looking out towards the bay/lagoon that ran parallel with the historical area of town.

The food???? Nothing above the average fare.......and the service was not up to average! The coffee served to me with the meal was warm.....and that might be stretching the temperature on the high side. My fried grouper sandwich was fresh, was fried well, but when I requested lemon slices be brought to the table for my sandwich, it took almost 10 minutes before I received the little saucer of lemon slices.......and by then the grouper was certainly not hot. Just some feelings about the lunch......

At the San Sebastian Winery, we only had to wait about 10 minutes for a tour.....but, the tour was only to a room where there were some kegs.....with wine in them, I am not sure. And the tasting???? Well, I did purchased the only really dry wine they produce.....a white wine which was just ok. Most of the wines offered were just too sweet for my own preferences....just a personal thing with me. The darkest, "dry" wine was just thin and had very little body and complexity to the taste. Just did not find any good wines from which we could choose several to bring back with us......on the one dry white.

We returned to the hotel and since we had eaten a late lunch, we just felt we could have a light supper with some of the deli meats we had brought with us. It was good to just relax in the very large room.....and kick back and watch a bit of tv.

TODAY.....we were up earlier, had another great breakfast...free.....and then checked out. We had planned to go to Dalton, GA.....about an hour north of Atlanta....and we did just that. However, on the way....we stopped to purchase some fresh pecans to bring home with us.....and we found a "gold mine" of great foods and nuts to choose from. We had been reading signs along the highway and using the exit which was on the signs, we then saw we had a bit further to drive....about a mile, according to the signs. We went up this paved road with cotton fields on both sides of the road.....the cotton have burst forth so that the fields were exploding in bright white puffs........quite a sight!!!!!!!!

The "nut place.......Ellis Nuts......was incredible. We actually had lunch on samples of ALL kinds of candied, chocolate, salted, cajuned, spiced, pecans.......there must have been at least 30 different kinds to try and enjoy!!!!! WOW!!!! And, yes......purchased about $30 worth of pecans!!!!! Sooooooo damn good!!!!

We, as always, drove right through the heart of Atlanta....not problems, but oh yeah, quite a bit of traffic. However, not problems as we did slip through prior to the afternoon rush "hour"!

We pulled into a Super 8 Hotel...and OMG....what a delightful place!!!! Upon the side of the "mountain" above the interstate, the lobby was like a grand ballroom!!! We got the room, again with a coupon, for $49....and the room is just wonderful!!!! I am soooo amazed at this.....it is a huge place with tons of rooms and in the center courtyard is a very, very large pool Not certain if this was originally built for this company, but it is extremely clean, neat, and quite outstanding for the cost!!!

Tomorrow....we will go to Lynchburg, TN to tour the Jack Daniels Distillery.....and, from there on to Nashville, where we plan to spend the night. A really short day of driving, but the tour might take a bit longer than we anticipated so we just thought we would spend the night in Nashville.....perhaps see a few of my former students who are living there. We'll see........

And.....after two days of walking and of driving.......as always....

LIFE IS JUST AMAZINGLY GREAT!!!!!.....And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!

An afternoon on Cocoa Beach, Florida

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EAT HERE when in Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral

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Private boat storage for the upcoming winter season

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KSC....Kennedy Space Center

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The HUGE Saturn rocket which sent the astronauts to the moon

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