These are photos from Mark and Karen's wedding on Saturday evening, December 22, 2007. It was one wonderful event!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. After a rather stressful Sunday afternoon, we three women got our Christmas tree picked out, bought, brought home, put in the stand and ready to decorate. I've lived here a long time and it's as close as I've seen the two of them get into an argument when we first started discussing a Christmas tree. Someone once told me I had a quick wit. Denny overheard the comment and put in his two cents worth "If you live with her, it's a smart mouth". Shirley agreed with him when I told her about that conversation before we finished getting the tree arranged. We did enlist John's assistance with some of the tedious chores associated with this task. He was so pleasant that if it was an act, we would certainly be surprised. Putting the ornaments on the tree was a trip down memory lane. Most every one of them had a special memory and association for one or all of us. A new addition this year is a reindeer whose nose lights up when the tree needs water. It really does work!!!

Our little family, Jana, John, and 21 month-old daughter Ellie, left us last night. We surely enjoyed having them spend the time with us. They're excited about their new house and are looking forward to being closer to more of their families. They plan on having Christmas in St. John. Rose set up the tripod and took pictures right before they left. We had some duplicate shots but we're still practicing. Mine and Shirley's faces hurt before we were finished.

We got some wonderful fattening Harry and David chocolates from John and Jana. I had to go for my pre-op this morning and have been trying to gain some weight. These chocolates helped. Rose and Shirley are sure our scales can't possibly be right, especially so soon after they ate the goodies.

Mark and Karen's wedding is Saturday night. They just returned from sailing lessons from some islands near South America. Scott and the boys are coming from Louisville late Friday and have to leave by noon on Sunday. Sunday is Jalen's tenth birthday. Double digits is a big step in growing up he says.

After the wedding on Saturday night, the newly weds are coming here for brunch and our family Christmas. We're having it at ten on Sunday because Scott and the boys have to leave. Mark complained a bit about cutting his wedding night somewhat short but said they will be here promptly at ten. We will be serving some Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon, compliments of Sandi FeLLin. Sandi, I already have to save 2 pieces for friends who won't be here but I've told about it.

Shirley's nephew and wife, Michael and Leslie, came over this evening. Aunt Shirley is their Aunt Rose and Aunt Sue and to her other nieces and nephews. Most of them live in Louisiana, though, and she, like us, doesn't get to see them enough.

Sunday morning and we have lots of snow on the ground. It looked pretty until people started walking dogs, papers got started being delivered and snowplows came through. Goldman came over and shoveled for us and volunteered for any other chores we may have had. We're staying in as much as we can. We've become a bit eccentric in our old age. For Christmas we only need heating pads and hearing aids.

Pete called yesterday with his weekly checkup and report. He and Janet are off today for Christmas with their family in Idaho. He didn't mention any stops in Nevada but I believe Nevada is between Arizona and Idaho. I'll have to look at an atlas. Kelly and his boys were off somewhere in the mountains skiing.

Joe was going to go to a wrestling match Thursday night at the high school where Lydia was cheerleading because he had never seen a live wrestling match. He knows how Scott's boys are wild about wrestling and wanted to see a match but Rose and I suspected he was going to see the the cheerleaders as much as the wrestlers. Jalen wanted to know what he thought of it but something came up and he didn't get to go. Next time....

I was reading an old blog about how Joe used to tell me how he'd wake up in the night thinking no one loved him and I'd fall for it every time. Brayden is smarter than me. He called me from Louisville the other night and I said that to him and, without hesitation, he replied, "If that happens, just call me." My grandson is quick.

We don't have our tree up yet but plan to do that today and tomorrow. We were going to ask Goldman to help us but since he's Jewish we decided not to. When he and Scott were about 8 years old we invited Goldman to eat with us. Scott came in the kitchen and whispered to me "Don't pray. He's Jewish, you know." Now when we're at Scott's, Jalen makes him say the prayer.

Thursday morning and sorta dreary weather here in St. Louis. I shouldn't complain though. Jana has been talking to some of our relatives in Kansas (Manhattan and Salina and other places) who are still without power from the ice storm this past weekend and don't expect it to be restored for several more days. Jana, John, and Ellie went to Kansas this weekend but stayed just ahead of the bad weather.

We are all relieved that the favorable report on Margaret's scare is so very reassuring. Norman and the kids really rallied around with much moral support and lots of prayers. She's back to her cheerful self now when you talk to her. She was tired of Norm's cooking which consisted of a lot of frozen pot pies. [Hard to imagine POT PIES at Margaret's house!] One wonderful note: The church three of the Abbott offspring attend brought food regularly for a couple of weeks. Nice.

Rose and I went shopping yesterday for something to wear to Mark and Karen's wedding. After walking around the Mall and looking at several different stores, we came to this conclusion. Skirts have gotten shorter and heels have gotten higher. Longer skirts and lower heels were hard to find. We're just too old for these current fashions.

Shirley and Rose made their monthly trip to Chicago this weekend. They, too, dodged the bad weather. I spent the weekend with Doug and Suzanne and felt as welcome as rain (and according to Grandpa Madden, that's pretty welcome.) Lucas mostly played video games but Josie and I had some tea parties. She's a Hannah Montana fan and I'm learning about Hannah - Billy Ray Cyrus' daughter. Goldman took me to the Hollensbes' and brought me home. He parked the Cadillac here and drove the Lexus while Rose was gone. He says other drivers are much more polite when he is driving the Cadillac than when he is driving the Lexus.

Jana left St. Louis this past weekend, stopped in Salina, picked up Karen and Ryan and went on to St. John. They visited with a lot of our Kansas relatives while they were there. They went to Betty's and saw Bob's Debby and Joe, Cathy and Gary, but Sandy wasn't there. Sabrina was there with Junior and Martesia. I'm looking forward to their all coming back to the lake this summer and, Junior, you'll be in charge of the trash again. You're still the best yet. Everyone else, especially my own boys, need more prodding. By the way, the boat is in the shop and should be fixed by summer.

Scott took the boys to chop down their own Christmas tree last Sunday. It was cold, rainy, and stormy. Jalen did not have a good time, no doubt remembering the terrible storms of their camping trip. He just wanted to go home and spent most of the time there sitting inside the truck. On the other hand, Brayden was in his element and couldn't help Dad enough. Brayden is sometimes fearless.

Our little family (John, Jana, and Ellie) will be leaving us soon. Their house in Lenexa is almost done. They're going to celebrate Christmas in Atchinson with John's parents this weekend and then in St. John on Christmas. I think I have the little towns in Kansas right.

Margaret sent me the following in an e-mail and asked me to post it. Very good news and a great relief to us all! Thanks, Margaret.


This is Margaret. Auntie M, Mom, Marge, Mag, Sis, Maggie and I have probably been called other things in the last month or so.

I discovered a lump in my right breast around first of November. Naturally, it was on a Saturday and I had to wait until Monday to call my doctor. When I called I got an appointment right away, which should have been my first clue. By Wednesday, I had seen the surgeon and had all the tests necessary for surgery. Because I take a prescribed aspirin I had to wait 10 days for the surgery. I had this on the Friday 10 days later. This procedure was a one day surgery. The lump was removed along with exploration of several lymph nodes and I was quickly recoverying at home or so I thought. When I went back to following Wednesday, I was told the doctor had been unable to determine if all had been removed and I would have to go back under the knife again as soon as I was healed enough. Again, in a week or so, I had surgery and more tissue was removed. I went to the Surgeon this past Wednesday and he said everything was looking favorable but nothing had been returned from the lab yet. Then on Thursday, I had an appointment with Dr. Wilkes, the cancer dr.. who had just received word that all the final tissues had been examined and the outlook is very good.
I will have to take beast cancer prevention pills for 5 years. This will reduce the chance of recurrance to about 10 percent and I will start radiation therapy after the first of the year. It will last for six weeks with time off for Saturdays and Sundays.

Enough of that.

It is Sunday and the ice is heavy on the trees. We need not go out today and that is a good thing. I don't think we would get far. I talked to our son Randy who lives about 35 or so miles west of us and he said they were without power. He has a generator running and they have the crock pot going. When I told him I heard it (the electricity) could be out until Tuesday or Wednesday he decided they were not having as much fun as he thought.

I will sign off for now as Norm is making hot chocolate and I don't want to miss it. Again thanks for all the prayers and words of encouragement which has helped all of us through this ordeal.

Hi Family!

I just wanted to check in to say we are all drying out up here and holding up okay. We are all doing well in spite of this weather. Wow! It sure hit us hard up here. Fortunately none of us are dealing with too many problems. Tammy said that so many people were out of power in Olympia that she would open up here home to folks. She was hoping that if they all took her up on it she would actually have enough room. She can feed them all her lentil soup! It's wonderful!

Work have been very busy as we are trying to manage flood control, energy needs, downed transmission lines and fish operations. (The Chum are spawning...who knew?) Between California and Canada we've been able to sell most of the extra water up here in the form of electricity so my work here is done - until next week.

I have a busy weekend coming up. Getting the tree decorated, putting up more lights outside, making more cookies with nephew Matthew and having two little boys spend the night and go to see the Zoo Lights on a train at the zoo. I don't have to be back to work until Tuesday so I can get lots of Christmasy stuff done. (I think I'll teach these kids the chours of: Glooo-ooria. It's Aunt Sandi's Da-ay off!)

Thanks to the anonymous contributor who settled the bet for Cecile and I. It was Macy's Department Store that was part of the "Miracle on 34th Street" movie. I guess Cecile and I will just have to go out to coffee next time we get together!!! One of us won't be paying...

Hope you are all well and getting into the Christmas spirit. Have a great weekend. (Just 17 shopping days left...)
Sandi

Wednesday evening and I'm back here at Barnes-Jewish Hospital for my IVIG treatment. Chris brought me this morning and I was supposed to be here at 8:30. We were concerned because we were about 10 minutes late. They finally started the IV at 5:30 this evening so our concern wasn't warranted. Someone checks my blood pressure, temperature and pulse every 15 minutes for the first two hours after they start the IV and then hourly afterward. I'm on hourly now. Most of the nurses and aides remember me from my other stays on this floor. This is not necessarily a good sign.

I've been riding the stationery bicycle at least 3 miles per day and, weather permitting, walking between a mile and half and 2 miles daily and often times more. Some days I do both. This is much more than I could do for some time. I was hoping that when Dr. Lopate, the neurologist who oversees treatment of my neuropathy, measured me that he would find a significant improvement. Much to my dismay, he measured me today and, though he found no significent improvement, he also did not find any worsening of my condition. He told me that it's not possible to measure the strength of every muscle so maintaining the use of the muscles I do have is a good sign. He did say he has one more thing 'up his sleeve' that he may try but wants to wait until the other neurologists do the brain monitoring thing. My 'journey back to health' has certainly been a rocky road.

I was in trouble Sunday with Rose and Shirley. I mispelled HiLLary. Hillary has 2 LL's and I spelled it with just one. They had to stand outside in the cold AND WIND for 40 minutes that night before they could get in to see her but both agreed it was worth the wait in the cold.

Hillary didn't talk too long so they got home in time to watch "Desperate Housewives." John and Jana got here just in time to catch the very beginning but had to wait until it was over to unload their car. This was the last episode until the writers' strike is settled. We don't know what we'll do on Sunday nights now.

Shirley went to Chicago today. Ellie and Jana are going to St. John tomorrow. John is going to take a final truckload of household stuff to Kansas on Friday. Rose is going to Chicago on Saturday. I'm not going very far - just to Doug and Suzanne's but I know I'll have the best time and the easiest trip.

Hi All! We are up here in the stormy Pacific Northwest getting blown around. We now have rain - rain - and (did I say...) RAIN! - and hurricane forced winds. Yikes! I still have power and as far as I know the only people without power are on the coast. All of us live inland enough that we are still keeping warm. (Actually, Doug is close to Puget Sound, so he may get his power knocked out - I'll check in with him....) Now they are worried about flooding since the temperature has warmed up and all the snow is rapidly melting. I guess the weather is getting a head start on us this year.

I talked to Mom on Saturday morning and she was babysitting the "grand-dogs"for Anna and Dan while they moved into their new home. What a messy and cold weekend to move! Mom said she was moving her latest quilt project upstairs and would spend the snowy day working away. Mom and Anna collaborate on quilts and are working their way through the family to keep us all warm with a homemade quilted treasure. I was sorry she wasn't able to make it over the mountain to the cookie exchange, but glad to know she was at home, safe, warm and contented with her project.

This past weekend was Cecile's 16th Annual (or so, she's lost count) Cookie Exchange! My good buddy Cheryl and I left from Portland as it was beginning to snow - a rare occurrence here and certainly not this early in the fall/winter season and it kept up with us as we trekked northward. We stopped at Tammy's home and picked up the yummy chocolate cookies she'd made. Tammy is sick with a cold and is having to get her homework done and office work caught up as well as her winter illness over with so she and Dick can take their annual holiday venture to Hawaii mid-month. Poor sister! She was really sick.

Then, Cheryl and I headed over to pick up Cyndi, her cookies and stuff. The snow continued to fall and as the day progressed toward 1:00, Cheryl and I called ahead to our favorite chef Jake Langston, (the football player son of Cyndi and Dave) for a lunch request. He was happy to accommodate us with a yummy grilled cheese sandwich - three kinds of cheese, ham and nicely toasted on dark bread. (Sometimes he puts in a thin slice of apple, but said the apples they had weren't crunchy enough!) We were racing to get to Seattle by 2:00 - we didn't quite make it by-the-way - and the weather was beginning to hinder traffic so I just ran in - Cyndi and Dave loaded the car while I grabbed our sandwiches! What nice thing have I ever done to deserve such service?! Jake cheerfully handed me the warm sandwiches with a smile and a chorus of "I'm the Sandwich Man", sung to the tune of the "The Candy Man". (How does a 14-year-old even know that song?!) Cheryl and I gratefully crunched on our lunch while we three continued north.

By the time we arrived at Doug and Cecile's home - beautifully decorated for Christmas - all was covered in snow! We piled in the house and watched the snow fall all night on the pines through their huge picture windows - into the next day. I was surprised that so many of the "regulars" made it in the weather, but we had 8 cookie bakers show up. Our annual shopping trip had to take a hiatus, however since the weather outside was truly frightful.

After the last local guest left for home, Cecile put a lasagna in the oven and we opened a Christmas jigsaw puzzle and sat around and laughed and worked well into the morning on the thing. What a warm and delightful memory. Cecile's mom, Denise, was stranded with us since her husband was unable to make the 45 minute drive to get her as they were closing the roads, so Doug added another log to the fire and we kept her captive to our antics. (Poor Denise!)

Aside: Could someone help Cecile and I settle a bet? (We bet a latte!). In the Original "Miracle on 34th Street", at which department store did Natalie Woods stage mom work? One of us says Macy's the other says Kohl's. I'm sure I'm right!!! Please comment back so I can get a free coffee out of the deal!! Thanks.

At one point, Cecile sneaked downstairs and started serenading us with Christmas carols on the piano. We were upstairs putting the puzzle together and singing along. When she got to the song "Gloria". Cyndi told us that when Jake was small, he thought the Latin words were in English and said, "It's Aunt Chelsea's daaa- ay off!" Wouldn't you sing, too if you got the day off?! And who is Aunt Chelsea? How funny!! I'll never sing "In excelsis Deo" again. We then had to sing it several times with the updated lyrics!

We headed home the next day laden with tons of cookies safely stored in the trunk and out of temptation's say - hurrying once again, but this time southbound. We dropped Denise off in Auburn and then raced to the auditorium where Kyle (Cyndi and Dave's oldest), was playing with the Symphony Orchestra for a Christmas performance. Cheryl and I had to get home so we couldn't stay. We just dropped Cyndi at the door - about 10 minutes late - and as she made her way to Will Call to pick up her ticket, she found $37 floating in a frozen puddle! Whoo hoo! It pays to be late sometimes!!

Cheryl and I stopped in at Tammy's to bring her cookies to her. Tammy, who was feeling a bit better, had made us homemade lentil soup and foccatia bread. Wow! We eat well on these trips!! The rest of our trek home was uneventful. Thankfully! The wind kept roaring and the rain was coming down in buckets! My windshield wipers never went flinging across the freeway although I kept them on the fastest they would go much of the way. Many schools and roads are closed today because of the power outages and flood conditions. I am home in my cozy office - still in my sweats and slippers. (I won't confess the time of day as I write this). Brother Glenn is, (hopefully), coming over tonight to help me get my Christmas tree. If it's horrible weather, maybe we will have the pick of the crop. Mwa-haahaa! A little weather can't keep us down!!!

I realize I have no pictures of the cookie exchange since I left my camera in the car the whole weekend and haven't filled you in on our Thanksgiving, but Glenn is putting together a family video so I'll post that when he gets it done. Since my son Ty was in Florida for the holiday this year, we all taped him a "hello" so he would get really homesick - quit his job - and head on home. (sigh! That's his mom's wishful thinking...) Glenn does a great job making our home movies interesting. More to come on that later...

My list of overdue phone calls to you all is getting longer and longer. I wish I had more time to keep in touch. I'd love to hear from you all! If you ever want to call me, please feel free. Have a great week and try to keep the true meaning of Christmas in your hearts during the hustle and bustle. Love you!
Blessings,
Sandi
Verizon (971) 219-9123

It's been rather quiet around here this week since we don't have Brayden and Jalen. We did get to watch Ellie Thursday afternoon while John and Jana loaded and packed for their move to Lenexa, KS. Danny, Jana's stepdad, came over from St. John to assist them with the mountainous task. They left Friday morning pulling a trailer and driving a questionable U-Haul. They could probably have passed for the Beverly Hillbillies. They're storing their stuff until their new house is ready in about two weeks. Meanwhile they're going to stay with us during the week and make the long trip back to Kansas on the weekend. We're looking forward to having them, especially Ellie who is not quite two and has taken up with all three of us old ladies.

Brother Pete called Saturday. As usual he was bragging about the weather there but had a slightly different story this time. He and Janet had their windows cleaned last week for the first time since they've been coming there. Also, for one of the very first times since they've been there, it rained on Friday night!! There went those clean windows!!! They were going to drive around Saturday morning and see the mud puddles - a rare thing there.

I had an email from Sandi FeLLin this week after I wrote and nagged her about updating the blog and she promised to do so soon. The women of the family were getting together this weekend for their annual cookie exchange. I was over at Doug and Suzanne's the other night and Suzanne asked me if I wanted a cookie. I asked if they were homemade. She said if slice and bake qualify as homemade then they're homemade. Would she be eligible for the cookie exchange?

We've started our Christmas shopping and I can't say what we're getting Jalen and Brayden cause Jalen may read this but it's a hot item. Goldman and I couldn't find what we were looking for on the Missouri side of the river so we had to cross the Mississippi and go to Edwardsville, IL. to get it. Those boys better appreciate it!

Rose bought another flat screen TV this week and spent a long time installing a swivel stand on the wall to hold it and was feeling very handy in doing so. She put the new TV on it, had it all hooked up and ready, and turned it on. It had a bad picture and a hum in the sound. She fiddled with it and contemplated for three days before finally unhooking it, packing it back in the box, returning it, and exchanging it for a completely different brand and model of television. She's in the process right now of installing the new one. I hope it turns out better or I'll feel really sorry for the salesman.

Alex's team won their basketball game that Rose and I attended last week. Their team really didn't have much competition so it wasn't a close game at all. There was lots of yelling and cheering from spectators on both teams, though. Our side included Sabrina, Dave, Brett, Margaret, Norm, Rose and me.

Shirley leaves on Wednesday for the monthly trip to Chicago. Rose will leave on Saturday. I'm going to stay with Doug and Suzanne over the weekend. I'll go to Barnes Wednesday for my overnight IVIG and on Friday I'm having a cyst removed from my back.

Rose and Shirley are going to see Hilary tonight. She's here in St. Louis and starts at 6:00. I'm going to stay home and wait for John, Jana, and Ellie. Our favorite TV program is Desperate Housewives which starts at 8:00. Rose and Shirley are really hoping to be home by then. John and Jana are striving to get here by 8:00too, cause they're fans of this program, too. Just in case either of them is late, I think Rose is going to record it on her new TV.

I had a email from Donald hoping we can get together again if he gets to St. Louis over the holidays. Hope Vita can join us this time, too. They've heard from cousin Wanda who now lives in Alabama. Her address is:

Wanda Philbrick
245 Glenn Gap Road
Gadsden, AL 35904

Tuesday after the holiday and it's kinda quiet around here. Everyone I've heard from had a great holiday as we did. Several of our guests contributed to Black Friday by spending a good part of the day taking advantage of the sales. Scott and Sherry had to leave after dinner on Thursday because of work. When Scott opened one of his stores on Friday morning, he discovered that he'd had a breakin sometime while that store was closed. Fortunately nothing much was taken, and the thieves were unable to get into the safe. Scott had had a brand new computer system installed recently and, luckily, they didn't bother that.

We got to keep the Brayden and Jalen over the weekend. They spent Friday afternoon at Doug and Suzanne's playing computer games, among other things, with Lucas and Josie. Jalen spent the night there on Saturday.

Mark and Karen took Jalen and Brayden to the City Museum Saturday afternoon and to lunch. Brayden was so tired out that he fell asleep on the way home, and it's not a really long trip. Goldman and I took the boys halfway home on Sunday and met Scott to take them the rest of the way We had lunch at the halfway point and we explained to Brayden what a 'snow day' is. Goldman, being a school teacher is a big fan of snow days. Brayden is still not crazy about school, and on Monday Scott said he got up hoping for snow that morning. He caught on fast. Scott asked him if he was going to tell his class about playing computer games with Lucas. Scott said Brayden looked at him in amazement and told him "Of course not, they don't even know Lucas."

John and Jana will be moving this weekend if every thing goes okay on the final inspection on their house on Wednesday. We'll keep Ellie most of the day on Thursday while they load up and then they'll go to Kansas City and return on Sunday. They'll stay with us for two weeks during the week until their move and transfer are complete. We are looking forward to having them here, especially Ellie. She is at a really special age where she just does everything cute and is learning something new every day.

My month of December is filled with doctors' appointments. I have a dental appointment tomorrow and my regular overnight stay in the hospital for my IVIG on the 5th. I'm having another basil skin cancer removed from my forehead on the 17th. I have to go to Barnes for my Pre-Op on the 19th and some time I have to make an appointment with a surgeon to have a cyst removed from my back. My doctors are going to have to start calling me for an appointment.

Rose and I are going to see Sabrina's Alex play basketball tonight. He is a star on the eightth grade team. Rose has charged up her movie camera to film the event. Rumor has it that Sabrina gets as excited and as loud as any parent there. It will be fun to watch her as well as watching Alec.

Some of our other contributors are behind on their updates. We're waiting to hear what's going on with the rest of the family.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OUR LOYAL READERS!!!!!! Some days it's hard for me to remember how much I do have to be thankful but today I'm truly thankful.

We're hosting Scott, Jalen, Brayden, Sherry, Chris, Shelly, Mark, Karen, Andrew, Shirley's nephew Michael and his wife Leslie, Shirley, Rose, and me. Rose and Shirley have been bustling around here all morning getting prepared for the arrival of these special guests, of course, with my counsel. The table is set and good smells are emanating from the kitchen.

Mike Madden and his wfe, Sarah, over on the other side of Missouri, are hosting Sarah's family for the occasion. Mike is serving wine that is, I think, made from grapes in his vineyard to compliment Sarah's cooking. Mark is bringing wine from his wine cellar to compliment the cooking here but it won't be 'home-made' as they say down.

Sandi FeLLin didn't update yet but emailed they're all going to be at Maudie's except Kay-Kay and family who (I think) are in Arizona and Sandi's son who is in Florida. There's going to be at least 30 in Spokane. How many turkeys and hams does that many consume? I hope you make the men do all the dishes.

Sabrina is hosting the Abbott clan. She came by here yesterday for a short visit and didn't seem to be in a panic yet. She's done this now for a couple years so perhaps it's getting to be old hat to her now. Margaret says she's just going to go out there and eat. She'll have to get there when dinner is ready to be served to keep herself from helping, I'm sure.

Joe, Mary, and Lisa's family are going out to eat. Pete and Janet were going to Mesquite to one of their 'establishments' and I hope they remember to eat. John and John and Ellie are in Kansas with John's family. Doug, Suzanne and family are having dinner at Doug's parents. Goldman is going to his sister's and also stopping by here to see Scott and the boys. Leslie and Sam are going to one of the King brothers.

I gripe about tatoos all the time and I have a temporary one I'm going to put on before Brayden and Jalen's arrival. Perhaps if Granny has one, they won't ever want one. They're due soon. Happy Turkey Day.

This is a correction for KU, K State, and MU fans. I posted the wrong opponents for Saturday's game. Missouri beat Kansas State, not Kansas University. Scott corrected me with a hint of impatience. He says Missouri will beat Kansas University NEXT week. Sorry, KU fans, I guess.

I had a nice Email from Mike Madden. He and his wife are hosting Thanksgiving Dinner and are serving some of the wine made from his vinyard. His daughter, Lauren, is studying to be an oentologist (I hope I spelled that right) which is the study of wine making. Mike says his and Brian's ambitions in life were to be St. Louis Cardinals. He hasn't given up hope. Lauren's sounds more achievable.

Rose and I went to the neurosurgeon this morning. We had lots of questions, and he had lots of answers. The first procedure we discussed is scheduled for January 8. The neurosurgeons will insert electrodes through incisions on each side of my head onto the surface of my brain. The wires will be attached to monitors. Prep will require shaving both sides of my head for this. I will be in pain for a few days, but the neurosurgeon said they will be certain I'm given pain medication. I'll be in the intensive care unit for one or two days after this procedure. Then I'll go into a monitoring room (audio and visual), similar to the one I was in last time, except the electrodes will be inside my head instead of outside.

Then we just wait. Last time it was six days before I had any seizures, but Dr. Dowling said sometimes it might take two weeks. Before, the doctors took away all seizure medication, but Dr. Dowling, the neurosurgeon, will let Dr. Hogan, the neurologist, make the decision on the dosage of that medicine. The neurologists want me to have seizures so they determine very definitely which side of my brain the seizures are generated from. They believe they are generated from the right side, but to be as positive as they can be before they do the actual surgery is the reason they are doing this complicated monitoring.

Should they find the seizures do originate from the right side of my brain as they all think they probably do, the actual surgery will mean a much shorter hospital stay, a less painful operation, perhaps reduced medication in the future, a probability of driving once again, and maybe others things I haven't even thought of. There will be some healing time between the first procedure and the actual operation. Dr. Dowling says the span of time is required to insure no infections set in. This was a good meeting with Dr. Dowling and very informative. However, I'm glad today is over.

Not a lot of happenings since my last post. Pete called Saturday morning. He and Janet are settled back in Arizona and he had to brag about the weather. We had a nice day here but we didn't need the air conditioner like he and Janet did. They stopped in Bendover, NV., on their way to Arizona. We're not sure how he did. We had to remind him that all gamblers don't lie.. Just a lot of liars gamble.

I had lunch with a group of GMAC retirees on Friday. Most of them knew Brick and wanted to know all about the boys and grandchildren. I don't think I've posted a recent update on Mark's two, Katie and Drew. Drew is a student at Truman College. Kate is a graduate student at KU and recently got an internship with a design process architechitural firm. Mark says she will be working with someone on one of their projects as well as learning to make coffee. Kate, let some man make the coffee. Mark and his fiance, Karen, are on a 115 mile bike ride in Arizona. They'll be here and have Thanksgiving dinner with us and then leave on Dec. 4th for sailing lessons in Cancun. They'll be gone two weeks, come home, and get married on Dec. 22, and leave on Dec. 26 for Puerto Vallarta on their honeymoon.

Kate and Drew are going skiing over Thanksgiving and aren't going to join us for dinner. We had to call Scott yesterday to see who won the MU - KU game. He said it was really no contest, of course Mizzou won. Scott has a Mizzou tiger tatooed on his back (a small tatoo), much to my objection, and was elated over the outcome.

Donald is coming through town Tuesday and he, Rose, Margaret, and I are going to have lunch. Scott, we're having pizza. It's not Domino's. It's Pio's. Pio's in St. Charles was making pizza before whoever started Domino's was born.

I have an appointment with the neurosurgeon at 9:00 A.M. tomorrow. I hope to find out what the next step in my treatment will be. They may hospitalize me, drill holes in my head, insert electrodes, and wait until I have seizures. If they can be absolutely sure the seizures originate from the right side of my brain, then they will do brain surgery and remove the scar tissue causing the seizures. The neuroligist who is working with the neurosurgeon was born in West Plains, MO. and grew up in Springfield. That's only one of the reasons we have such confidence in him. I'll update after my appointment tomorrow.

Out of respect for my mom's wishes, this will be the last update regarding her breast cancer on the blog. She is a very private person and doesn't wish to display private health information for the unknown cyber world to read. She deeply worries about such things and we feel this is the last thing she needs to be thinking about at this time. Any family that would like to know more can reach either me - Catrina - at 314-808-5218 after 5:00 on weekdays or anytime on the weekends, or Stephanie at 636-358-6413. We'll be more than happy to update you and let you know how she is doing. Of course, my mom would also love to talk to and hear encouragement from her family - all of us - when she feels up to talking.

Update on my mom - she went to the doctor this morning. The biopsy results were not what they were expecting and are pretty much inconclusive. She will be seeing an Oncologist soon and we'll know more after they run more tests. We'll update as we know.

We're waiting this morning to get the results of Margaret's lumpectomy that she had done last Friday, and we're all praying for her. The doctors have been very reassuring so we anticipate good news. One of her doting daughters will post the results as soon as they hear.

We three women living here together have become a bit eccecentric and each set in our ways. With the limited use I have of my hands I'm not much help, and they split things up accordingly. Shirley does the grocery shopping because it's easier to do it than to tell Rose what to get. Shirley does the laundry because she loves doing laundry. (This morning she started a load at 5:30 am.) They both cook and do dishes. Rose does odd stuff like picking up, recycling, trash removal, and minor repair work. Shirley has warned me of certain place that I must not leave things because the "clutter police" will make them disappear. We have a cleaning lady every couple weeks for the big stuff. We get 10,000 mail order catalogues. We laugh a lot about our ways.

We'ew having Scott and the boys, Michael and Leslie, Mark and Karen, Chris and Shelly, and hopefully Deena and family from Indiana over he Thanksgiving Holiday. We're looking forward to it very much.

A wonderful thing has happened in my life. Kay Berry has come back in to it. I called her yesterday. She thought it must have been an answer from God because she had been thinking about me. I told her I may have to have brain surgery. She said she's not concerned cause there's not much there, no big deal. Hasn't changed a bit, has she?

Joe Felin sends his "Turnbow Times" update which is posted below:


Attention: Sandi, your article was excellent and begs for one explanation: What kind of a super secret
communication system exists between you and my sisters, Sue and Rose? Only yesterday (11-11-07)
did they mention the following in a most appreciated e-mail:

" Rose and I often wonder where the rest of this big family is"

After reading the e-mail from Sue, I vowed to send something today but after reading Sandi's excellent
contribution, I am really being challenged! Here is my best shot.

Granddaughter Lydia returned last night from a school Media trip to Philadelphia, PA.

Daughter-in-law Mari'Ellen aka M.E. returned yesterday from a Chicago business trip.

Daughter Lisa, after returning from Minot, N. D. recently is leaving this Wednesday for a trip to San Antonio, TX where she will again make a presentation to some kind of a teachers meeting.

Son Dave was in Branson, MO the last part of the week to a technical meeting and a couple of overnight stays. Dave and Mari' Ellen's two dogs spend the time in the local Vet kennels.

Weather in the Ozarks continues to be nice. Our first killing frost was last week and a much needed rain is
continuing this morning.

Brother Pete called Sat. and said he and Janet were heading to "Q" AZ on Sunday with a layover in
Mesquite, NV (Las Vegas area) They are both "high rollers".

Again, all of us are very interested in news from all of our scattered family members.

This is Catrina with a quick update. My mom (Margaret) found a lump on her breast on Saturday, October 27th and a biopsy confirmed it was Stage II Breast Cancer. Mom went in Friday, November 9th for an outpatient lumpectomy and the surgeons were successful in removing the lump along with several lymph nodes. We are still awaiting final results from the tests but the prognosis is very good and at this point it does not appear she will need to undergo any type of chemo and/or radiation therapy. She is recuperating at home and we'll update more when we know more.

Hi folks! After much prompting from Aunt Sue, I'm finally getting this updated. Other than Aunt Sue and Aunt Rose, I'm not sure who else reads about our family up here, so I try to make it somewhat interesting. Thus the delay, not a lot going on in the northwest!

Haunauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii!

This summer the Langstons invited Mom and I to join their family in Hawaii for a few days. It was wonderful! My favorite thing was snorkeling in Haunauma Bay! Good thing we did that the last day Mom and I were there because Cyndi and I got really sunburned! It was worth it. I loved it and would go back in a minute! Mom did everything we did and went everywhere we went. What a trooper - we dragged her all over the island. We souvenier shopped at the famous Swap Meet, we went to the Dole Pinapple Plant, body surfed on the North Shore where we saw turtles! Those big waves are so cool!!!! We toured Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona and people watched at Waikiki Beach. We enjoyed the hot tub and pool at the resort, ate out just twice, so another favorite thing to do was to make dinners at the condo and enjoy our time at the table together. Those boys, Kyle and Jake are hilarious!

Kyle is a senior in high school and busy, busy with his Boy Scout Eagle project, band, track, holding a job and taking college credit classes at the university. Whew! Makes me tired just thinking about it. Jake is also in Scouts, band and has found his niche playing football. Their team - the Warriors went all the way to the championship! Last night Jake was honored with playing in the All-Star game. Aunt Tammy made it some of his games and said they were more fun than the Seahawks! Go Warriors!

Cyndi and Dave are busy being taxi drivers, cheerleaders, loan officers, coaches, and chefs just trying to keep up with these busy guys.

Here's the famous line backer!

Anna and Dan are in the process of buying a house north of Spokane. From my understanding, it is on two acres. They have been searching for sometime and will be hosting Thanksgiving there if they are moved in by then. I can't wait to see it! In our family, we have created a tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving with the family member with the newest home. You know, kind of initiate it ! It is fun and chaotic! When I moved in - during Thanksgiving week - 6 years ago, everyone came and we enjoyed being together and christening my new house. I had little furniture and a "one-butt" kitchen, but it is a treasured memory for me. I hope Anna and Dan will have fun having us all crash into their new place! Congrats! I'll post pictures when I get them.

Tammy and Dick hosted us all in Yakima to celebrate the Septmember birthdays. It was fun to see Dick's lovely home and meeting in the middle of the state was easy for all of us to make it. I went on to Spokane and stayed with Mom a few days. We picked the plums and some apples and I got to enjoy walking the loop early in the morning. Mom is doing great and keeping busy. I can't wait to see her on Thanksgiving.

The deck and shed that Glenn built!

My last couple of months have been spent finishing up landscaping my backyard. It is almost completed! Thanks to brother Glenn, the electricity is hooked up to the shed and all the irrigation and lighting systems are in. I hired Eric-the-yardboy to help do the lifting and digging that was too hard for me. We have transformed the backyard into what I had envisioned when I first moved in. Man am I tired! I had it excavated in July. The 80 foot long and 3 foot high rock wall and steps built in September, we put in the sprinkler system, lights and laid nearly 3000 sf of sod in October and November! Now, I'm just waiting for the fence contractor to come this week and next to frame it all in and it should be done!

The General Contractor at work!

Glenn was the general contractor, plumber, electricitian, photographer, historian, comedy relief and brains behind the whole project. I just had help once in a while, pay for the materials and clean up the muddy mess when we were through. I made so many trips to Home Depot and Parkrose Hardware that they know me by name! Tomorrow I am concentrating on getting the inside of the house cleaned up which has been neglected and Eric will help me get the Christmas lights up! (Yes, I know I'm a little, tiny bit early, but I have to be the first one on the block to have them up! I usually shoot for the driest day on or after Veteran's Day! It helps the whole neighborhood get in the mood!)

The rockwall, sod, lights and sprinklers are in! Just waiting for the new fence!

I've been enjoying having Monica (Peggy's youngest daughter), flit in and out of town lately. She is working for a cruiseline that is ported in "Port"land and so she drops in between cruises. One weekend she popped in and Tammy came down while we were digging all the trenches in the backyard. Now that's what I call a fun visit with Auntie! She will be in and out the next couple of months so I hope to get some good visits in. I am so privileged to have her visit and want to hang out with me! She's a doll and a very hard worker! She just bought a little Cabrio convertable that needs a home while she is on the ship...I think it would look great parked in front of my house - just don't forget to leave the keys Monica!

Hope this all finds you well. We are keeping Aunt Sue in our prayers as she continues with her treatments and upcoming tests/surgery. Happy be-lated birthday to Aunt Rose and Uncle Norm. We miss you and wish we were there to celebrate with you!

More later!

Love you!

Sandi

Rose and I just returned from an office visit with my neurologist, Dr. Hogan. He's a very personable and we believe competent young(45)man who was born in West Plains and raised in Springfield. He explained the next steps in the procedure. A neurosurgeon will admit me to Barnes-Jewish, drill burr holes inside each side of my head, insert bitemporal strips in these holes, and wait for seizures. Dr. Hogan wants to make sure these seizures originate ONLY from the right side. If he can be very sure that they do originate from the right side, then a neurosurgeon will do the actual brain surgery. Dr. Hogan, from all his experience, is pretty certain that these seizures are sourced from the right side, but he and Dr. Dowling, the neurosurgeon, want to be 100% positive. If they possibly don't originate on the right side, they will step back and make a new plan. My first office visit with Dr. Dowling is November 19. Dr. Hogan doesn't have any idea when they will do the procedure and subsequent remonitoring.

Leslie, Liz and I spent the weekend celebrating old girls weekend at the lake. Liz cooked Friday night. Leslie cooked Saturday night. We ate at my favorite restaurant on Sunday night. We spent a lot of time trying to determine what time we went to bed and what time we got up - what with the time change. Maudie Ree tried to teach me years ago "Spring forward, fall behind" but I still had trouble cause some clocks changed themselves, some Liz or Leslie changed, and some didn't change at all. Rose and Shirley had the same trouble.

Goldman told me that Christopher came by one night last week and entertained them with stories of his and Scott's summer visits to Idaho when they were kids. Uncle Pete let them ride the tractor, slop the hogs in their new tennis shoes, go to bed whenever they wanted, and numerous other things that I never knew about. They ate and loved foods Janet prepared that they would never have touched at home. Pete now is always giving Maddog and Goldman advice about women. "Check their teeth. They're easier to get than to get rid of" are just a few of his 'wise' advisements. Goldman's roommate wasn't sure if he had ever met Uncle Pete. Goldman assured him that he wouldn't have forgetten Pete if they had met.

Joe stopped by to visit Monday on his way to a Railway Club meeting in downtown St. Louis. He told us that his granddaughter, Lydia, is 15 now and eligible to drive with a driver's permit and that he would soon be out of work. He wouldn't spend the night because he didn't want to miss any of his special taxi runs. We talked about Dr. C.R. MacDonald from Marshfield who we always referred to as 'old Dr. MacDonald' before we moved from Marshfield in the late 50's. We discovered that he delivered Rose who was recently eligible for Medicare and David, Joe's son who is in his early 40's. Joe and I both agreed that 'old' back when we moved from Marshfield had a different meaning than it does today.

We need updates from our other editors. This is a FAMILY GAZETTE and we are a very large family. If anyone else would like to be added to our editor list just let us know and we'll add you.

Just a note this morning before I'm off to the lake. John and Jana brought Ellie over on Halloween to go trick-or-treating. Her costume was a ladybug. Jana said John was just using Ellie as a decoy to get candy for himself. He allowed that this was a good neighborhood for accumulating a good supply of goodies. They're off to St. John this weekend, a 9 hour drive. They'll meet themselves coming and going.

Mark and Karen are getting married 'under the misteltoe' next month and the guys are having a bachelor party for him tomorrow. It begins at 10:30 A.M. with a golf game and I don't know what is going to happen after that.

Joe called yesterday. Things are good in Springfield. He didn't have much news. Things are pretty quiet around here, too.

Leslie {aka that King girl} is going to do the grocery shopping for the old girls weekend. When we lived on the same street in Springfield we took turns making dinner. On her day she would come home from work, watch Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals, go to the grocery store, and cook whatever Rachel had prepared that day. We ate better on her day. She has probably prepared the menu for the weekend.

This was a pretty short entry so it's time for some of our contributors to make some entries. It has been some time since we've had updates from a lot of you.