I'm back in St. Louis and part of my harem is working away at the lake house. Doug, Maddog and Goldman are there and, though I talked to them several times yesterday, I haven't heard from them today. They're probably too busy to talk to me. One of their outdoor projects was power washing the deck and the weather was probably nice enough today. Scott will get there tomorrow evening late. I talked to him this morning. He didn't want to know about their progress. He just wanted to hear that they had made a lot of it. Maddog is painting the kitchen cabinets white and they are turning as good as I had hoped they would. Maddog says we can't cook in the kitchen now because we might get grease and dirt on the cabinets.

Karen, Mark Lary's wife, took a spill on her bicycle last week and broke her pelvis. She is using a walker to get around and can't sit for a very long period. The only cure is time and she just has to take it easy for several weeks before she can resume her regular activities. She and Mark are avid bicyclers so this is hard on her besides being painful. Katie's wedding is May 3 in Lawrence, KS. and Karen thinks the trip over there will just take several stops along the way but she'll be on the mend by then.

As Scott goes to the lake tomorrow night he's going to drop Brayden off here with us three old ladies. Of course we're all excited about that. Rose and Shirley are having out-of-town guests Friday and Saturday so Brayden and I are going to stay with Suzanne and the kids those two nights. Brayden will like having someone who knows how to play PS2 or PS3 - whichever he has. We don't know how. Doug will still be working at the lakehouse.

I'm still waiting for updates from other contributors. St. John relatives are going to celebrate Ellie's second birthday this weekend so there should be some news from there. 2 LL's, where are you?

I'm back at the lake again with only part of my harem. Today we had some really good news. Shirley had a double biopsy on Wednesday and the results came back today that she does not have breast cancer. It was her second biopsy so we were really worried. The surgical center had said she might have had to wait until Monday for the results. That would have made for a very long weekend.

Margaret's 70th birthday is the 28th of this month. Her home address is #4 Peg Elaine Ct., St. Peters, MO. 63376. Home phone is 636-397-5674. Cell is 636-577-1809
Her treatments are almost over and are going fine. I'll let one of the girls update you on her progress. Rose, Shirley, and I found the perfect birthday card for her. It's a singing card - Johnny Cash singing "Ring of Fire". She and Abbott are still big Johnny Cash fans.

I talked to Janet on line for a bit last night. She was busy making three lamb cakes for their grandson Eric's 16th birthday party which is tonight. I asked if Pete was the one who taught him to drive, but she said Nancy did. Pete taught me and it's been nearly fifty years ago. Rose and I still use some of his sayings, like "If I had time I'd teach that SOB a lesson". Might I say he didn't say SOB.

The guys are having their annual workweek this coming week. Maddog, Goldman and I came down yesterday. We grocery shopped this morning and got some stuff at the hardware store. Doug can't come until after his kids hunt Easter eggs and after Easter dinner at his mother's on Sunday. He's mad at the Easter bunny. Goldman and Maddog are unskilled labor, and Doug limits their tasks because he's afraid they'll mess things up. Scott can't get here until Wednesday and he's chomping at the bit. I'm going home Sunday. For one thing, I can't stand the mess.

It was a great weekend at the lake in spite of the dreary weather. It rained off and on all day Saturday but when Pete called for his weekly report he said they still had three feet of snow on the ground so a little rain didn't seem so bad.

My harem this week was Doug, Maddog, Danny and Ray. Danny slept in his shoes and glasses so he didn't lose any time in the mornings. They cut down a tree in front of the house which didn't take long but burning what that cut took all day. After Doug cooked breakfast he and I went to Lowe's and bought a cabinet. Then we went by the water place but it was closed. Then we grocery shopped. He didn't bring a hat down with us and we couldn't find one at the lake house so then we hit Target. We had forgotten a cabinet handle when we were at Lowe's so we had to go back there. He was very nice to me about all his stops but I was glad I wasn't Suzanne. He cooked steaks on the grill for dinner that night and made breakfast again next morning. Goldman called and after Doug told him about all his kitchen work, Goldman proclaimed "See!! It's not easy being a cabin bitch!" Doug then told him about the other stuff he'd done besides kitchen duty.

Doug installed the cabinet and took a lot of measurements for what they're going to do next week. Crappie were biting late Saturday and he and Danny caught a 'mess' of them. It was just too cold to clean them. They fished some Sunday morning but they weren't biting then.

I'm still waiting from some updates from other contributors. I may be getting boring.

I'm off to the lake house again this evening with part of my harem. We are going to decide some of the things they are going to accomplish week after next during there regular spring workweek. Doug and I are going to go look at a whole house reverse osmosis water softeners. The water down there is awful. It smells really bad as any of you that have been there can testify. We bring drinking and cooking water. Pete has one at Quartzsite and says it works. When we used to go to Palm Island they also had reverse osmosis water softener and I didn't even know they had it or needed it. We will no longer have to carry in gallons of water down there. Part of the men's spring workweek chore is replacing the steps between the houses, some remodelling in the kitchen, staining the deck, felling a tree, and I don't know what else. I'm not sure how many guys are coming but Scott says he wouldn't miss it if he had malaria.

I set out for my walk yesterday morning and my ambition was to go further than the 3.1 miles I had gone the day before. I was trudging along and next thing I knew I was in an ambulance and someone was giving me a choice of hospitals to be dropped at. I was on the sidewalk of a rather busy street and I have no idea who called the ambulance and didn't have enough wits about me to ask the attendants before they left me at the hospital. This happened about 9:30 yesterday morning. I had the nurse dial Rose for me and she rushed right down to get me. I was a bit woozy by then but was ready to leave. They had 119 people through the emergency room yesterday. It was late afternoon before we got out of there. If I'd checked myself out before they released me, insurance would not have paid for the ambulance so we stuck it out. They finally got in touch with one of my neurologists who said get a blood sample and we'll check her medication level and call her tomorrow and then let her go. I feel fine today and the neurologist hasn't called about the medicine. draft 3:48

Chris went for an interview with Mark Lary's company and he got the job. He, needless to say, is thrilled. It will mean for one thing that he won't have to work evenings like he does now. He will start April 7.

Shirley just came in from the grocery store and brought me a shamrock necklace. I guess we're prepared to be Irish for St. Patrick's Day. Doug is picking me up in a few minutes. Goldman isn't going this weekend and is dogsitting one of Chris's dogs. Tucker had surgery this morning and the other dogs bother him if he stays home. I'm not a doglover and little Brayden says "Granny, do you hate cats too?" He sets in the dog's bed with him and hugs him and can't understand why everyone isn't a dog lover. I'm in a minority in this family.

I'm OK after my stay in the hospital. The handsome neurologist wanted me to have some X-rays so Chris and I waited all day Friday for 5 minutes of X-rays. I still have to have some more tests through my primary care doctor (a woman instead of a handsome young man) but the handsome young man said he is just probably being overly cautious.

As soon as I got home Friday Goldman and I headed for the lake. Maddog was already there. Rose had to catch a flight to Chicago that evening so Shelly came by and took her to the airport so Goldman and I could get an earlier start. Shelly had Eli with her, their sheepdog. I had told Chris that Eli had never seen a sheep in his life and wouldn't know a sheep from a horse. They got Eli a stuffed toy sheep to train the dog to recognize a sheep if he ever saw one. We'll probably never know if it works or not since he'll probably never see a sheep.

Pete called Saturday morning with his weekly update. Caitlin was home for her spring break. They still have more snow on the ground than we do. Ours should melt this week. He said Donald and Vita were in Plattsburg celebrating some grandsons' birthdays but have to be back in Birmingham tomorrow night. We were hoping the two of them would stop by.

Maddog cleaned up old leaves and burned them at the lakehouse. Goldman had papers to grade. Maddog said he thought Goldman made a 6 hour job out of a one hour job with the grading papers to keep from helping with the outdoor work. My harem and I went to Ruthie D's, my favorite restaurant down there, Saturday night for dinner. The maitre d' there calls me 'Miz Boze'. I never bother to correct him. I just answer to it.

We came home yesterday and then Chris and Shelly took me to dinner. Chris was spending the night because he and Rose didn't want me staying alone. He wasn't much fun. He went to bed and Shelly and I stayed up and visited for a long time. He's coming today and we're going to Steak and Shake for lunch. I hope he's perked up from last night.

Good news to report: Sue's angiogram showed she does NOT have an aneurism (sp?). She has to lie flat until midnight then can come home in the morning. She's awake, has eaten dinner, and feels just fine. This is one wonderful hospital staff here. Many of the physicians, residents, aids, food workers, nurses, and others whose functions we don't know know Sue from her 10-12 hospitalizations in the past year. One woman was just in and said, "Oh, you're that woman who walks the halls for exercise. I know you." Seems that to be a doctor or a doctor-in-training here requires that you be beautiful or handsome. And young.

I have another correction. Wrestlemania is in Florida. The wrestling event that we got Brayden for his birthday was something else and was in Louisville. Brayden corrected me on that when I talked to him on the phone.

I'm back at Barnes and thought I was only here overnight for my periodic IVIG. Dr. Lopate measured my strength and I haven't lost any and may have gained some in my legs. I've been having some double vision and headaches for the last few weeks. The other neurologist and the neurosurgeon think the headaches are from the incisions and Tylenol or Advil helps there. They didn't venture a guess about the double vision. Dr. Lopate thought it needed further investigation and I had a two hour MRI last night. It was pure torture. I was all set to leave this morning. The IVIG was finished. I was dressed. Rose was here to get me.

Then came the bad news. When they read the results of the MRI, they discovered an aneuresym (sp?) in my neck. I have to stay here at least another night and have an angiogram this afternoon. I've never had one of these before so I'm not sure what it entails. I can't eat or drink for 6 hours and have to have an IV. Then I'm semiconscious and they insert dye through my groin to get a better look at the aneursym and then I have to lay flat for 6 hours after that. I'll know more after they get the results from the angiogram. The neurologist said this probably has nothing to do with my neuropathy or my seizures. How many more afflictions can I get?

Rose saw her neurologist yesterday and got a clean bill of health from her Bell's Palsy attack. This one asked how they diagnosed what she had but she didn't tell him that she had found it on the innernet and that was the reason she went to the emergency room.

I hope I have better news in the morning and I'll update the blog again then.

CORRECTION: Joe and Lisa didn't go to Kansas City yesterday. He and I were talking on IM and I thought they were going yesterday cause we were about to sign off when we talked about it. They're going probably after Lisa gets back from the Paris trip. Joe says looks like I'd better keep my long johns out until the Fourth of July. Spring is only 16 days away so he must be wrong.

I've had to trade my short sleeved shirt and shorts for long johns. It's been snowing all day long and I think Rose has shoveled the front sidewalks three times. We must have 8 or 9 inches and I think it's finally letting up but coming down some still. Shirley is driving to Chicago tomorrow and is not looking forward to it at all.

Joe went to Kansas City yesterday with Lisa for her to see her eye doctor. I don't think they got snowed on. Lisa and Lydia and a high school group are leaving for a week in Paris on March 15. A dinner in the Eiffel Tower is on their schedule. What an exciting adventure!

Beth, Lydia's mom, continues to work toward completion of her MBA and should finish this summer. Dave is taking some sort of preliminary airplane pilot lessons. Joe, aren't sailboats much safer?

Joe has signed up for an advanced genealogy course titled "CEG - 406-01 Genealogy - Beyond Basics" at the Ozark Technical College. I'm taking a course in Jungian psychology that Rose and a colleague are teaching online. I've been accused of being teacher's pet and I need all the help I can get. It's been 45 years since I've had homework but I'm enjoying it more now than I did then.

Rose and I went for mammograms on February 12. My report came back fine after the first check but Rose had to go back for more extensive testing. I was having my eyes checked yesterday while she was having her additional tests and we thought we'd be done at about the same time. I had an eye exam, pupils dilated, picked out new frames, got re-examined after pupils dilated, and then waited over an hour for her. She said the procedure should have been called a MANogram. This mammogram was much more involved than the ones that she and I had on the 12th. It took over two hours and as she put it, they put her through a torture chamber. She is sure the procedure was invented by a man. When she was all finished they told her she was fine and to come back in a year. She and I both urge all women to have this done yearly.

I saw the neurosurgeon yesterday and he said my incisions had healed up nicely. He didn't comment on my butch haircut. Rose and I went to the post office this afternoon and she remarked that she hadn't combed her hair today. I topped that. I hadn't combed mine yesterday either. I go in the hospital for my IVIG tomorrow and plan to work on my homework while I'm stuck there. Shirley just cleaned the front sidewalks again. Hopefully, the snow has quit.

We've had a Florida day here in Missouri today. The temperature reached 75 degrees, and I did my walk in shorts and short sleeves. Cold, rain, and possible snow is forecast for tomorrow, so this springlike weather is going to be shortlived. Mark and Karen took Rose and me to brunch at an old greenhouse that's been converted into a restaurant and rental hall in Tower Grove Park this morning. We kept having to go back and fill our plates time after time. I dropped a shrimp on the floor, but Mark graciously kicked it under the table. There were things on the tables I didn't recognize, and some were named. I had never eaten them, so I tried a little bit of everything. I was a bit embarassed cause I was the last one eating but I 'cleaned up my plates'.

Pete called yesterday for our weekly update. They weren't having Florida weather in Idaho. He and Janet are already sick of winter and ready for spring. Joe had been under the weather. I talked to him on line, and he's back to normal. Joe and I and Janet and I chat on line a little bit almost every day. Remember 419W? Cut it out, kids!!

The three of us are keeping doctors busy this week. Shirley has a follow-up visit with one in the morning. I see the neurosurgeon for a followup checkup in the morning, and then I'm having my eyes checked. Rose is having a mammogram at 6:45 A.M. Wednesday and I check in at 8:30 for my IVIG. Rose then sees a neurologist that afternoon for a follow-up to her Bell's Palsy attack. She and I had dental appointments Wednesday but had to cancel cause we couldn't fit them in.

We gave Brayden tickets to Wrestlemania for his birthday and last night was the big event. Scott and Chris loved wrestling when they were kids, and Uncle Norman took them to this sort of event one time. They've never forgotten it. Jana says she and Trish loved it, too, and Bobby took them all the way to Kansas City one time to see some matches when they were kids. I'm not sure where Scott had to take them, but Brayden and Jalen were both excited about the forthcoming event.

Thanks again, Donald and Vita, for our wonderful accomodations in Florida. Our stay was just too short. I walked over 3 miles here today but the scenery wasn't nearly so enticing. Three miles here seems longer than three miles in Florida.