LAKE REFLECTIONS

Greetings from Punta Gorda, Florida!

Hello, Everyone!

Jerry and I arrived in Florida two weeks ago yesterday on January 6th. 
We had a little scare about the validity of our reservations, but we finally
tracked down our landlords the night before we left home and confirmed
that all was as it should be.  They are a couple in the 80's and they just
kind of forgot to contact us.   Oh well, it all worked out in the end.  The
condo is nice.  It is a second floor unit of a four plex.  There is a lovely
but private golf course right across the street from us in the front, and a
beautiful canal in the back that allows us to watch all the big yachts go
in and out of the harbor.  It is probably one of the nicer places we have
stayed (and less money), but it is about an hour's drive from the nearest
beach, so although we are quite pleased, next year I think we will try to
cut down on that beach drive by finding someplace a little closer. 
Englewood, Venice, etc., would be likely candidates.  We love it right
on Ft. Myers Beach, but it is a little pricey for our budget.

Our weather has been on the cool side since our arrival, so we have only
had short visits to the beaches we've found.  We have been bundled up in
jackets on those beach trips as well.  My shell total is way down compared
to other years, but I plan to catch up one of these days.

The first week we didn't do much as I was trying to recover from a flu bug.
Last week we went for a drive in a different direction every day just to
explore.  We lived very near Punta Gorda when we were in Cape Coral
but didn't really spent a lot of time here, so everything is new to us.  We
have attended a couple arts/craft shows, checked out the Ft. Myers Flea
Market (again), had lunch in Boca Grande (where the richest of the
rich go), and checked out  two or three beaches.  We also were  the
victim of "road rage" when we drove down to Ft. Myers.  He thought
we were driving too slowly.  I cannot repeat the things he said to us;
I can only say that I have never seen anything like it.  He was a nice
looking, older gentleman, driving a newer car, but he was a very angry
and sick individual. 

Jerry is reading PLAYING FOR PIZZA, John Grisham's new book and
playing his handheld electronic solitaire game for entertainment.  I,
of course, have my computer.  I tried going to a shopping mall to
borrow their Wi-Fi, but that got old real fast, so we got a good deal
on high speed here in the condo, so I got hooked up last Monday.
I have an afghan that I have been crocheting for YEARS, so I
brought that down with me to work on.  I pulled it out one night
but soon I had to put it away.  It was so dusty from sitting around
month after month that it was making me sneeze a lot!  I am airing
it out now, so I plan to get back to it soon. :-)

I also signed up for a silver jewelry making class.  It meets on
Thursday night from 6:30 to 9:30.  I had my first class last week.l
I have not done anything like that for many years and I had the
urge to leave at about the half way point in class as I thought
I was in over my head, but I stuck with it and felt better by the
end of the class.  Making silver jewelry (I'm working on a ring),
is not a particularly easy process.  It requires a steady hand
and good eyes and I have neither, so that's why I got nervous.
I will take a photo of my finished product to share with you.

We've enjoyed the company of our friends, Craig and Maggie
Horvath a couple of times.  They are great people and we
really have a good time with them.  They are renting a
modular home in Englewood, which is about a 40 minute
drive from our place.  I have known Maggie for years as she
was part of our Des Moines "Gang."  She married Craig
and moved to Michigan, so this the only place I see her
now.  I think Jerry and Craig are going to get together for
a golf game and a fishing trip soon.  Maggie and I were
diagnosed with cancer at the same time in 2003, so
we have a special bond.  She has been through all kinds
of really difficult treatment, including a stem cell transplant,
so she's pretty amazing.  She looks fantastic, tons of
energy and an unbelievably positive attitude.  She's
definitely my idol.  :-)

Speaking of 2003, my five year anniversary is coming
up in March!  Can you believe it?  I sure can't, but I am
sure glad I am here to tell you about it.  To celebrate,
we are having a party in Glenwood on March 15th.
(The actual date is March 17, but the 15th is on the
weekend.)  I wouldn't expect anyone to make a
special trip, but please know that you are invited
and you played a huge role in the whole event!
Without your prayers and support, there would be
no party and probably no me!

Suzanne and Mitchell are coming to visit us here
one of these days, as is my friend, Susie.  We
are excited to have them.  We keep adding things
to our list of things to do and see when they are
here. 

Not much other news.  We got word from a realtor
friend in Laurie that she had someone interested
in our house, but we haven't heard anything more.
We are hopeful, but we're not holding our breath.
We continue to surf the Net looking at properties
in KC.  Time will tell.  :-)

Well, the sun is finally out, so I better wrap this up so
we can go out and enjoy the sunshine.  It's still cool,
but it is really nice to see the blue sky.

I hope all is well with each of you. (I would have added
some photos, but I cannot figure out how to do it on my
laptop.  Once I do, I will be sure to send them.  Sorry.)

Love,
Judy and Jerry

P.S.  Are you watching American Idol?  I am so glad it is
back on!  I've missed it!  Where do they find those people
and why are they even there????  :-)

The December Countdown

Seasons' Greetings!

How are your holiday preparations coming along?  Mine are slow but steady.
It's going to be here before we know it, so I really need to start speeding
things up a bit!

I don't have a lot of photos to show you this time because we haven't
been doing much, but here are a few from our Thanksgiving weekend
at Rob and Susan's.

We drove to KC on Wednesday a.m. in order to attend Sam's school
Thanksgiving pagent.  He played the role of a Native American, called
Samoset.  That's him with the microphone covering part of his face.
(My photography seems to have reached a new low; either I am too
shaky or I need a better camera as all the pictures I took at this
event were pretty bad.)  Anyway, Sam did a terrific job.  There was
no sign of stage fright; he stood right up there and read his lines
flawlessly.  I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Here is Sam in the black shirt preparing for his turn at the mic.  (The tall boy in
the Kansas shirt is on Sam's basketball team.  Rob says he is a pretty amazing
player for a first grader.)

It was a really neat production.  All the kids did a great job.  :-)

Rob and Susan still have no kitchen as the remodeling project is still
happening.  So, it took a little doing to put together a big turkey
dinner with no stove, water, etc.  Susan cooked the turkey in a big
electric roaster and bought some side dishes from Dean and Deluca,
a fancy gourmet food chain with a store in KC.  I am borrowing this shot
from Rob and Susan's Blog, so if it works, you will see what they
gave her for six people ...

The above consists of two pints of mashed potatoes, some
scalloped corn, carrots and some beans, along with a jar of
turkey gravy and Sam.  It was actually quite tasty, but everyone
was kind of glad that I brought along some big old "Fritz-size"
bowls of macaroni and cheese, etc.  It was very brave of
both Rob and Susan to even attempt hosting us for Thanksgiving.
I am not sure I would have had the courage to do it if I didn't
have a kitchen.

They had some other invitations from friends, so anytime they
left to spend time somewhere else, Jerry and I either watched
TV, did some Christmas shopping, or checked out houses.

Here are some we looked at on this trip.

Here's Jerry checking out the back of this one.  It was one of our favorites,
although we were not able to get inside to really check it out.  Here's the
front side.  The neighborhood and location were great.

We liked this one, too.  It was open the day we were there, so we got
to check out the inside, too.  It was nice.  Some fun extra touches
and "bells and whistles" some of the others have not had. 

As always, though, we have to just put them out of our minds as
absolutely nothing is happening with our house.  I have it advertised
on a couple of online publications, plus there are signs and posters
out and about, but we haven't even had a phone call on it for weeks. 
It is pretty discouraging.  I am not sure what we will do about it while
we are gone.  We could just leave things as they are and ask a
neighbor to show it should anyone express an interest, or we could
list it with an agent, or we could just forget it for a couple of months
and come back with a fresh start in the spring.  I am thinking that
we should start fresh in the spring as it is highly unlikely that any
thing will happen with it during January and February anyway.

A fourth option would be that we just forget about moving to KC
and stay here in the Ozarks.  It's a nice place to live and we like
our house and where we are.  It's just so darn isolated from
family and friends!   Time will tell.

We looked at one house that was next to the neighborhood pool and
tennis courts, which was a big plus.  I kept having a feeling of dejavu,
and then I realized that my nephew and his family lived just across the
street from that same pool a few years ago.  I recognized the house and
address.  Small world!  Here's the house we were looking at.

We weren't able to go inside this one either, so we formed no real
opinions.  The location was sure nice, though!

I just looked out the window and we are having our first snow! 
The biggest, fluffiest, prettiest snow is falling like crazy.  The
ground is so warm that it is melting as soon as it lands, but it
sure is pretty -- as long as I am inside looking outside.  :-)

Other than wrapping gifts, doing some shopping (mostly on
the Internet) and gradually putting up the Christmas tree,
we've not been doing a whole lot.

I am very glad that I had my last chemo treatment last week
as it kind of knocked me flat.  I think my body is telling me
that enough is enough -- give me a break!  I had my post-chemo
blood test done on Tuesday and the counts were way too low,
so the doctor said I needed to come back in to do it again next
Tuesday to be sure that they were starting to climb back up
into safer numbers.  I figured they must be bad as I have had
absolutely no energy.  And I mean NO energy.  Talking has
even been an effort!  I am starting to feel a litttle stronger,
so by Christmas, I should be able make it through a day
without "couch time."  It's going to take a while to build up
my immunity to the flu bugs around me, so I will still have
to be very careful about being around sick folks.

With the doctor's OK, our plan is to leave here next Tuesday
(after my blood test) and go as far as KC.  We will leave
Wednesday for Algona to spend the night with Jerry's brother,
Jim, and his wife, Gail.  We will then move on to Estherville to
see Jerry's daughter, Cathy and her family.  On Saturday or
Sunday, we will drive to Minneapolis to see Jerry's son,
Jeff, and his family.  I must fly back to KC on Monday
as I have a week of PET/CT/Bone scans lined up starting
early Tuesday a.m.  I think Jerry will stay in MNPLS for
a few days and then just meet me in KC the weekend of
12/21 for our "Smith Christmas."   

On Sunday,12/23, we drive to Glenwood from KC for the "Fritz
girls/Roll boys" Christmas that night.  On Monday, 12/24, Jer
and I will go to Des Moines to spend the actual Christmas holiday
with Cody and his family.  This is a first.  In 66 + years,
we have always had our Glenwood family Christmas
on Christmas Eve.  It was time to make some changes
with all of our grandchildren, extended families, etc.,
but it is sure going to seem strange!

There is a big New Year's Eve party at Pam's the following
weekend, so we will just hang around Des Moines and/or
Glenwood during the Christmas week in order to enjoy
bringing in 2008 at Pam's.  Her daughters will be there from
London and NYC, so it will be great to see them and their
significant other and/or husband.

We will leave Glenwood on New Year's Day, return home,
pack, and then start our journey to Florida on January 3 or 4.

I will be ready for two months of (chemo free) R&R after
all that!

I may be able to blog another time before we head South,
but if not, please have a wonderful holiday and terrific
New Year.  You have all made such a difference in my
life with your support, concern, prayers and good wishes;
I am so very grateful for each and every one of you.

By the way, my tumor marker counts went from 77.5 last
month to 68.9 this last time.  That's not much of a drop, but at
least they are still going down.  I was on a reduced dosage of
chemo, so I guess that's about right.  They started at 332,
so once again, we've knocked down cancer's ugly head. 
The next time around she is going to use Doxcil, which is a
drug I have not yet had.  I just hope I get a nice long break
before I have to start up again.  It is definitely taking its toll. 
Besides, it would be nice to get a little hair growing again. 
I am still as bald as I can be -- with no eyebrows or eyelashes.
I won't be entering any beauty contests, that's for darn sure!

Well, that brings you up to date on the Cowan's news.
Cody is celebrating his 30th birthday today!  Unbelievable!
Suzanne has been fighting a  bad sinus infection, so she has
not been feeling so good, and Rob and Susan are touring
the Scandinavian countries in order to attend three more
Bruce Springsteen concerts.  That's what's going on in
our neck of the woods.  I hope all is well in yours.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Love,
Judy and Jerry

November Update

This has been a beautiful autumn here at the lake.  There were predictions
that our late and long-lasting freeze in April combined with our scorching
temperatures and dry weather this summer would result in lackluster
fall color, so the last few weeks have been a colorful surprise to everyone. 
I went for a ride the other day to take some photos to share with you --
especially those of you in warm weather climates that do not enjoy this
kind of fall displays.  The photos don't fully capture the brilliance, but
they are still nice.

It's been a busy time since my last posting. 

We had sad news as a family that everyone's favorite cousin, Nancy
McGee from California passed away unexpectedly on October 13th.
She was one of the kindest, sweetest people I have ever had the
privilege of knowing.  Her passing came has a huge shock to all
in the family, particularly to her loving husband, Roland.  I don't think
I have ever been around such a devoted couple, even after 30 years
of marriage, so my heart goes out to him in his loss.

This is Roland and my lovely cousin, Sharon.  The nice things about
sad events like funerals is that you get to see family members that
you rarely get to see otherwise.  Roland, Sharon and her mom, Bardy,
another lovely cousin, all came back to Iowa for Nancy's services as
she wanted to be buried next to her parents in Malvern, IA.

Jordan, Pam's grandson, had been in a bike/car accident the night before
the services.  He was on the bike, so it is lucky that he wasn't hurt worse
than a separated shoulder.  This is his "pitiful look."

These are some of the other "lovely" cousins.  My grandmother, Lela May, was
one of 11 children.  Two of them died very young, but the other 9 had amazingly
long lives.  Most of them moved to California as adults; only 3 or four stayed
behind in Iowa.  As is the way with time, they are all gone now.  Nancy was the
daughter of the youngest of grandma's sisters.  The pretty gray haired lady in
the above photo is the daughter of another of grandma's sisters, Betty Hobus. 
Betty and Bardy are two of just a handful of remaining children of those original
"Miller kids."  It is sad to me that our next generation of kids will eventually lose
contact with their California family.  I have so enjoyed knowing and spending
time with my "California Cousins."  I am sorry they won't have had that
opportunity.  Actually, some of the best times in my life have been with those
California Cousins.  We Iowa Cousins have had good times together too.
My mom and Betty's husband, Edward, always used to exchange disgusting gifts.
(One year mom received a beautifully wrapped very dead cat.)  We had fantastic
treasure hunts at Easter time and played fun family games, like "Button,
Button, Who's Got The Button."  That was all a long time ago, but I am so
thankful for those wonderful memories and simpler times.

Here's Jordan with Pam.  He is looking less pitiful here.

This is cousin, Betty.  Once, her husband Edward, found a "cow pie" and
somehow talked Betty into covering it with chocolate and pretty frosting
decorations to look like a very expensive chocolate Easter Egg.  That was
one of my mom's gifts as well.  Don't worry, my mom came back at him
with some real doozies also.

This is my friend, Susie.  She attended the funeral with me.  She is
always there when I or my family needs her.  I am sooo lucky to have
her as my friend.

The following weekend, Jerry and I made an impromptu trip to KC to
look at houses.  This is one we found and liked.  The mauve color is
a little odd, but the inside was awesome.  It looked like a house in a
magazine; everything was just right and to my liking.  The back yard,
deck, etc., were awesome!

Below is another one we liked.  It is less expensive, but again, I think it
is OK as is -- no painting, etc., would have to be done.  Oops, I forgot
about the cats.  The carpeting would have to be replaced.  Need I say
more?

I really like some of the unique features of the "cat" house.

We could find a dozen houses that we would love to have, but we can't
do a darn thing about any of them until we sell this one.  We are pretty
much back to square one on it.  The two couples we thought were
interested both fizzled out.  My guess is that it will be spring or summer
before we get it sold, and we will be lucky if it happens then.  This RE
market is the pits!

The following weekend was my 66th birthday celebration.  I celebrated
it with Bruce Springsteen in Minneapolis, along with some other special
folks, such as Rob, Susan, Tessa, Sam, Suzanne and Susan's whole
family.  Rob and Susan had such a large group that they hired a Hummer
limo to take them to the concert.  Suzanne and I arrived at our hotel after
the big group had already been delivered, so the limo came back to make
a special trip for us.  Rather than just the two of us climbing into that huge
thing, we insisted that the above couple who were also attending the Bruce
concert ride with us.  They were hesitant at first, but then they loved it. I
have no idea who they were, but I'm sure their ride to the concert made
an interesting story when they returned home.

The concert was great-- as always.  Somewhere on the main floor are
Rob and Susan.  They love being as close as possible.  Once, Rob was
so close, Bruce even leaned down so Rob could play his guitar!  That
was one of the biggest thrills of his life!   (He has a lot more photos
on his blog, should you want to check it out ... www.peach.typepad.com.)

Here are Tessa, her friend, Abby, and her cousin, Kat.  Earplugs are
required, but I think Abby's were having a problem.  :-)

Here's Abby and her mom, Beth.  They are very close friends of
Rob and his family in KC.  In fact, they seem very much a part of
our family.

Suzanne was LOVIN' IT!  This was her first time away from Mitchell.
It was very traumatic for both, and several phone calls were made
back and forth, but they both survived.  It was probably good for
them, but that first time is always really tough. 

Three generations of Bruce's Girls.

We missed the peak colors in Minneapolis, but we still had a nice view
from our St. Paul Hotel room.

Suzanne and I looked forward to our "girls day out" on Saturday.
We immediately headed for IKEA.  I sure wish there were an
IKEA store closer to us!  What fun.  We then went to the Mall
of America.  That wasn't so fun.  That place is huge and I have
never seen so many people in my life.  Yikes!  I'd hate to think
what it is like the day after Thanksgiving!  We could barely get
in and out of the stores because of the crowd.  We both swore
that we would never go back.

We checked out of our hotel Sunday a.m. to return to reality.  Guess
what, our rented Chevy HR was dead as a door nail.   We had to call
a cab to get to the airport and leave the car parked for the rental
agency to deal with.  We weren't really all that impressed with the
car.  We both sit tall, so we had to lean over to see what color the
traffic lights were.  There were some other drawbacks, too.  The
biggest one was, of course, that it quit working!

I've stayed put since that trip, except for a one day drive to Branson, MO,
to see my California friend, Gay, who was there with a tour group from CA.
We had lunch and a nice visit then I started home.  I decided it would be
smart for me to spend the night after I started my journey, so I stayed in
Springfield and finished the trip on Thursday.  I can tell when I am too
pooped to do stuff, and that was one of those times.  It was worth it,
though, to see her.  It had been a long time.

I have had some problems with dehydration, so I have had to go into
the hospital for fluids a couple times a week recently; otherwise, I am
doing OK.  My tumor markers are down to 77.5, and my counts are
very low as well.  It's good to have low markers but not low counts,
so I am waiting for an OK from my doctor to be able to carry through
on our Thanksgiving plans.

We had planned on leaving today for Colorado, but I felt too crummy
yesterday to try it, so we decided to wait until tomorrow.  If she calls
in the a.m. to say, "NO WAY!" I guess we won't be going.  (We all
have bad memories about last year's 8 day stay in the Minneapolis
hospital over Thanksgiving.)  So, right now, I don't know for sure
what we will be doing.  I sure hope Colorado is a go.  I haven't been
there for 2-3 years!  I don't think Jerry has been there since Suzanne
and Jack's wedding in 2000!

That pretty much catches you up to this week.  I will close out with
a few more fall photos. 

Have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING.  I am very thankful for so many
things, and all of you are certainly on my grateful list.  Thank you, as
always, for your continued prayers and support.

We love you.
Judy and Jerry

Camels, Cars, Cruises and Fun!

We had a great time with "Jerry's camels" during Suzanne and Mitchell's
recent visit.  They aren't really Jerry's, but they do live on the resort farm
where he works.  I have driven past them hundreds of times, even with
grandkids in the car, but one day while Mitchell was here, we decided to
stop.  It was a good decision because we had a great time getting to know
them.  They are funny and have no fear whatsoever of people.  Suzanne
got lots of kisses, including a big gob of slober that slid down her arm.  :-)
(See below.)

Mitchell named the light colored one "Luvy" and the darker one
"Luv Mitchell."  We stopped by each and every day to visit.  I
think they kind of came to expect us!  We brought them carrots
and fed them the nice, green grass and clover they couldn't reach
on the other side of the fence.   In fact, Mitchell found some
huge and perfect four leaf clovers while looking for camel food.
One of them made its way to the big NASCAR race in KC on
the dashboard of car #99!  (I'll explain later.)

This clover hung off his lip for a long time.  :-)

The farm also has a zebra, some llamas, goats, ostriches, miniature horses,
regular horses, etc., but the camels were the friendliest and most fun.

Now that we no longer have a boat, we had to get creative to get on
the water, so we bought tickets for a ride on a Lake of Ozark cruise
line.  It was a nice boat, lunch was great and it was soooo nice to be
back on the lake.  (I am still going through withdrawal over being boatless.)

It was such a beautiful day, but the best part of the trip was that
Mitchell was invited to meet the captain and ended up at the helm
of the ship steering us on the lake.  Walking was a little wobbly,
so I didn't go with them, but as Jerry and I were sitting at our
table, I noticed that we seemed to be making a few zig zags.
I learned upon their return that those zig zags were a result of
Mitchell's navigation skills!  He learned about port, starboard,
dead ahead, etc., so from that point forward, left was always
referred to as "port" and right was always "starboard" whether
on land or on sea.

Another of our activities during their visit was to visit the Laurie Fairgrounds
park.  They have a super playground for such a small town.

This is Mitchell and his stuffed owl, Hedgwig (sp?) from Harry Potter.
About 75% of the time they spent with us, Mitchell was wearing his
Harry Potter cape and carrying a magic wand.  He is very into Harry.
He knows all the characters, the magic spells, etc.  He even mixed
up a couple of magic potions in a cauldron we found at Target.

On a ride one day, we spotted a turtle crossing the road.  Suzanne
picked it up and brought it into the car.  We took it for a little ride
and then put it right back where we found it.  It was amazing how
attached Mitchell got to it in three or four minutes.  He cried and
cried when we drove off without the turtle.

To cheer him up, she let him steer the car while cruising around in a
big empty parking lot belonging to the closed Bridal Cave.  It worked!
I remember when my grandpa would let me do that when I was a little
kid.  He was the coolest guy ever.

Later in the week, Mitchell got his feelings hurt about something and was
totally devastated.  Nothing we could say or do worked to cheer him up.  I
thought it might help to tell him that I had been shopping for a stuffed
camel for him as a reminder of Luvy and Luv Mitchell.   Through his tears
and In the saddest voice imaginable, he said that the only place that has
stuffed camels is the Denver Zoo.  I then told him that the KC Zoo might
also have them.  Again, through his tears and sadness, he dramatically
exclaimed, "I've never been to the Kansas City Zoo.  We're doomed!"
I thought Suzanne and I were going to die laughing.  "Doomed" is not
a word most little kids use.  He finally cheered up and survived his dire
predictions.

Several weeks ago, Suzanne contacted the Carl Edwards racing staff
to check into the possibility of Mitchell meeting him face to face.  She had
read that he makes a special effort with kids who have special needs, and
(regretfully) knowing that Mitchell's Cystic Fibrosis would qualify him in
addition to the fact that Mitchell is probably Carl's #1 fan, she was able to
set up a one on one "meet and greet."  I decided I could not miss seeing
it happen, so at the end of their week here with us, I followed them to
Kansas City where we met with Carl on Thursday evening at the Liberty
Office Depot.  (Office Depot is his sponsor.)  At first, we had some time
to kill, so we stopped by his "show" car where we met "Doc," Carl's chief
engine guy.  He allowed (only) Mitchell to sit inside the car -- an exact
replica of the one Carl drives.  Needless to say, Mitchell was thrilled.

Next, his assistant, Mindy, came out to tell us that Carl was ready to meet
us, so we followed her to a meeting room in the back of the store,  In
that room were Carl, some photographers and Mitchell, Suzanne and I.

Mitchell absolutely lit up the room when he saw Carl.  Watching the sheer joy
on that kid's face was absolutely priceless.  He was nearly beside himself to
be meeting Carl Edwards!  He said to Carl, "Do you know how long I have
been waiting to meet you?"  Carl said no, so Mitchell, in his very expressive
way of saying things, using his hands and arms for further emphasis,
said, "months and months and months!"  Everyone in the room got the biggest
kick out of him, and it is no wonder.  He was amazing.  There was not a hint
of shyness or hesitation. He talked to him one on one and kept everyone
thoroughly entertained.  Carl turned to me and said he had never met a
little kid like him.  Neither have I.

We had at least 10-15 minutes of Carl's time and then he had to go out to the
main store to make some presentations.  He asked Mitchell to go with him.
While waiting for introductions, Mitchell and Carl were standing side by
side.  Whatever Carl would do, Mitchell would do.  If Carl crossed him arms,
Mitchell would cross his arms, etc., etc.  It was such fun to watch.  Mitchell
continued to glow for hours.  He even made the local (or as Mitchell calls it,
the "loco") news that night!

 

Carl is holding the four leaf clover that Mitchell found while feeding the
camels.  He gave it to Carl for good luck.  Carl was so pleased that he
taped it to the dashboard of his car during the big NASCAR race that
weekend at the Kansas Speedway. Sorry to say it didn't help him to win
the race as he had engine trouble one day and a wreck the day before. 

Mitchell sent him a note  a day or so after the race ato say that he
was sorry about the four leaf clover and that he probably should have
just fed it to the camels.  Carl said it kept him safe in the wreck he
was in, so he was very thankful for it.  (In case you hadn't noticed,
Carl is one heck of a nice guy.)

Carl is smiling at Suzanne as she was pointing out Mitchell's
determination to do whatever he did.  Notice the folded arms.

It was quite a night.  Mitchell went to the race with Suzanne
on Friday, but Saturday and Sunday he passed to stay at
Uncle Rob's house and jump in the jumpy tent they rented
for the weekend.  He had been looking forward to that for
a long time, too. 

Sunday's race day was a rainy mess, so thinking it was called
due to rain, Suzanne, her dad and his friend Guffy left early.
Once she got to Rob's she learned that it was still going, so
she grabbed Mitchell and me and off we went to the track to watch
the final laps.  It was my first experience with NASCAR.  In spite
of the rain, there were still thousands of people there, but there were
enough empty spaces that we were able to park right by the track
and sit right at the finish line!

It was noisy but fun!  I don't know about sitting there all day and
watching all 200 (or whatever) laps, but that little taste of it was
more appealing than I expected it to be.  Jer and I actually watched
yesterday's race on TV all the way through -- cheering for Carl all
the way.  That was a first.

I parted ways with Mitchell and Zanny Monday a.m.  They were headed
back to Colorado later in the day and I had plans to meet Susie and
Deloma for a brief version of our 2007 retreat weekend #15.  We had
a great time, as usual.  We talked, shopped, talked, ate and talked
some more.  We stayed in North Kansas City near a new shopping
area called Zona Rosa.  It was new territory for all of us, so it was
fun.  That is kind of the area Jerry and I have decided on for our
eventual move, so I also drove them over to see a house I liked.
 

(That's Susie walking in the yard.)  It was a nice place in a great
neighborhood.  The price is too high right now, but we understand
he is willing to go considerably lower; however, we still can't do a
darn thing until our house here sells.  We have a couple who says
they are very interested, but they still haven't found a weekend to
come take a look.  They've seen the outside, but only photos of
the inside.  So, we wait... and wait.

Well, I've given you a lot to look at and read in this entry.  I hope
I haven't worn you out!  :-)

Medically, I will have chemo treatment #4 tomorrow.  It's been
rough and I haven't felt my best, but, as always, I respect it
but refuse to give into it.  My tumor markers dropped a lot, so
I was happy with that -- from 336 to 303 to 167!  I've had such
low white, red and platelet counts, that I have had to be kind of
careful -- no sharp knives, leg shaving, etc.  I've been running
a real low grade temp for the last few days, which is probably
chemo related, so it will be interesting to see if the counts are
high enough to handle tomorrow's treatment.  If not, it
would just be postponed to the following week.

I need to be in good shape the weekend of November 2, 3, 4 as
Rob has invited us to Minneapolis to attend the Bruce Springsteen
concert!  I don't want to miss that.  What a way to celebrate my
birthday!

Well, I've gone on long enough.  Jerry is fine; he's not working such long
hours now that we are in the "off season" and the grass is not growing
as quickly.  The kids and grandkids are doing well.  Cody had surgery
last Thursday to correct a deviated septum, but he is doing great and
was returning to work today.

That's it from here.  As always, thanks for your prayers and good wishes.

Love to you all,
Judy and Jerry

Greetings at Summer's End

"Goodbye, Boat."

One week ago today, we took our last boat ride.  It was a bitter/sweet event
for me.   The "sweet" part was that selling the boat meant that the condo
was also sold, but the "bitter" part was that I so enjoyed having that boat
that it was really hard to say goodbye.  We took a nice ride on a perfect
day and thanked it for the good times and for being the key in the sale
of the condo. That ended the boating chapter of my adult life.  :-)
Here's Jerry in his last voyage as "captain."  Below is his bald crew member.

Yep, Gramma Judy is bald again.   I shaved it off myself a week or two ago.
(I pretended to be Brittney Spears.)  It was falling out in hands full, so I figured
it was time.  There are a few stubborn "whiskers" that are holding on, but they
will be gone soon.  Meanwhile, I often get caught in a weird situation. 
Depending on the fabric I have my head against, that stubble can kind
of act like velcro and I get kind of locked in!  Life is such an adventure.

Bidding farewell to the condo was a totally happy event.  It is the second
one from the right on the top in this photo.  The manager of the condos
says we can still use the pool anytime we want, so what more could you
want?

Here's Jerry inside the condo waiting for our final walk thru.  It passed, so
we closed on it last Friday a.m.  What a huge relief!  We didn't make any
money on the sale, but we feel blessed that it sold -- especially in this
lousy housing market!

The buyers are from Overland Park, KS.  They were all ready to enjoy their first
weekend as homeowners on the Lake of Ozarks.  We wish them many, many more.

After the closing, we drove to Kansas City to spend the weekend.
We did some more "area hunting" while there this weekend.   
This is a lovely home, very nicely priced, in an area south of
Rob and Susan, not far from I-435.  We also looked in the
Northland, specifically Gladstone.  The market is not great in KC
either and prices seem to be dropping, which is to our advantage
as we have plenty of time to actually go "house hunting."  This
was one with lots of potential, but a ranch is probably a smarter
way for us to go. 

The inside was very "70-ish" but I love to decorate, so that was
not a problem.  Because we will be heading north to Iowa fairly
often, and because our friends and family who come to visit us
will mostly be coming from that direction, the northern part of the
city is probably where we should focus --- when the time comes.
Wherever we are from Rob and Susan will be so much closer than
ever before, any distance involved there should not be a huge issue.

We have a couple who appeared out of nowhere today who seem
VERY interested in our house!  I will keep you posted!

We had a great time with the kids.  Rob and Susan have no kitchen.
They are in the process of totally "gutting" the one they have had
and making it all new.  It was very brave of them to take on house
guests under those circumstances, but all worked out fine. 

Cody, Amy, Jude and Elena drove down from Des Moines, so I got
to see four out of five of the grandkids!  Awesome!  I was a little puny
from chemo, so I mostly just watched from a distance.  I don't dare
pick up any flu or cold bugs, but even though I couldn't get right down
on the floor to play with them, it was still wonderful to see and spend
time with them.  Elena is really developing a personality, so it was
especially fun to watch her.  The boys were busy playing most of
the time, and Tessa was never too far away from Elena.  She is a
terrific babysitter!

Sam lost both of his front teeth about 8 months ago.  He's been
patiently waiting for the replacements to appear for a very long
time.  Finally, it has started to happen.  You can see the one
shining example, and the other is starting to peek through as well.
He's delighted.  He's lookin' good,  :-)

Jude and Rob enjoyed a little "tickle time" before they had to return to
Des Moines. 

Here's Cody with his precious cargo ready to load the car.

Elena is not allowed to leave without the traditional round of
hugs and kisses. 

Thursday is golf day for Jerry, so that's where he is as we speak.
He has a great time and enjoys the golf a lot.  I often use this day
as a chance to enjoy a little Chinese food, which is where I think
I am headed shortly. 

The chemo I am on keeps my tummy kind of stirred up, so I am
always trying to find something that sounds good to eat.  I'll try
a little beef lo mien and see how that goes.  The tuna casserole
this noon didn't do the trick.

I had an MRI this morning and am scheduled for a CT scan next
week.  The MRI was ordered by a liver specialist.  I think they are
hoping to find a surefire method to eliminate the liver tumors as soon
as this chemo helps things along.  My tumor markers had climbed
to 336 and after one treatment, they dropped by 30 points.  They
still have a long way to go, but at least they changed direction
and are going down instead of up!

If the chemo can shrink the big tumor and eliminate the small ones,
they will have some leeway to try some new techniques.   I'm hoping
for good things. 

Not much else to report.  It's starting to look like fall around here. 
Our town of Laurie is  having a "Hillbilly Festival" this weekend,
and it is also the weekend of a 25-mile garage sale along highway
5.  I think it might be a little too exciting; we are not accustomed
to so much wild and crazy stuff!  :-)

I hope this finds you all happy, healthy and having a great time.
As always, thanks for your continued prayers and good wishes.

We love you all,
Judy and Jerry

The Dog Days of Summer

Hi, Everybody.

We have had such a hot, dry summer, I am almost looking forward to the cool,
crisp temperatures of fall!  (That's not like me, so you know it has been HOT!) 
Today, we are finally getting some much needed rain.  In fact, we had so much
lightning and thunder with our rain that it blew out a transformer and we have
no water.  When we get it back, we are on 'BOIL ORDERS" until perhaps
next Tuesday.  What fun!

It has been so dry that some of the trees have already started to turn color.
Not as much as this picture might indicate, as I think part of the orange
looking stuff in the front is a reflection off the glass window where I took
the picture.   It won't be long, though, before  these Ozark Mountains will be
alive with color.  If you want to drive somewhere to see autumn in its
full glory, I would definitely recommend this area.

Paul and Nancy Stalkfleet recently made the drive down to see us. 
They live in Iowa City and had not been here since we moved into
this house.  We had a really nice, long boat ride on Friday and got
so sunburned that we went shopping on Saturday to avoid the sun.
We ate at a really good Mexican restaurant just at the edge of our
town Saturday night.  That's where the above photo was taken.

   

I've known Paul and Nancy ever since Suzanne was a toddler; in fact, Nancy
used to babysit for her when I worked at the Iowa City Sears store!  We've
watched each other's kids grow up and each other grow older.  (Notice I didn't
say OLD -- just OLDER.)   We've shared so many Iowa Hawkeye games and
bowl games with them.  GO HAWKS!

I assume you received my quick note a few days ago announcing that the
condo had finally sold!  We close on it next Friday.  The buyer is just writing
a check for it, so there were no delays.  His biggest concern was which
account to take the money from.  (Oh, to have such problems.)  They are
having all new furniture delivered on Saturday, so they want possession
at least by then.  The sooner the better for us.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that the deal included our pontoon
boat, so we have only one week left to enjoy it.  We are half afraid to even
use it for fear something could happen to it, so our boating days may be
over.  I loved that boat and enjoyed the heck out of it while we had it.

Here we are the day we cleared out all of our stuff from it.  So long, boat.

!

   

There's another thing we're saying goodbye to this week and that
is my hair.

It started falling out a couple of days ago.  Now it is falling out in
clumps.  I am not sure whether I will just ask Jerry to shave my
head now, or if I will hang on to it as long as I can to shorten the
long period of baldness.

I think it will only last 2-3 more days, so waiting is kind of silly.
It is a pretty messy, yucky situation right now, so it is probably
time for the clippers.  Or, we could just go for a fast boat ride
and just let it all blow away!  The boat ride would definitely be
more fun!  What a shock it would be to those boating around us!
I would love to see the expressions on their faces!  :-)

We still have the house listed, but no lookers, so I'm afraid it
could take a while to sell this place too.  Kansas City may
have to wait a while. 

By the way, we drove over to KC to look at that house I showed
you a picture of in my last blog.  I am sorry to report that it was a
pit.  If I were younger and healthier, I would not hesitate to take
it on and make it look nice again, but I am just not sure I want
to spend my energy in that way, and I know we don't have the
money it would take.  So, we will just keep looking.  We are in
no hurry.  Never again will we get ourselves in a two house
payment mess.

Well, I hope this finds you all well and enjoying the end of the
summer.  We are headed to KC Labor Day, chemo permitting.
I have my next treatment on Tuesday and last time that weekend
immediately following was pretty rough.  Perhaps that won't
be the case this time and I can go see the kids and feel real good
while I am doing it.  If not, I can lay on Rob's couch just as easily
as I can on my own.  My puniness will definitely not be contagious.

Take care and enjoy your holiday weekend.  Thanks, as always,
for your continued prayers and good wishes.

Love to you all,
Judy and Jerry

I LOVE NEW YORK, Part 3

I'm back, hopefully, with all the remaining photos. 

Several small things caught my eye on the trip and one was the way
in which they park cars.  Parking is at a huge premium (and price),
so they have had to come up with innovative ways to deal with it. 
Thus, the multi-level approach.  I also was surprised at how many
of the streets are still the old cobblestone.  It's cool.  It was fun
to walk around and see the small, close-up details of the city.

These photos were taken on Wednesday.  We met Niki at her work
and then did a little walking around SoHo and Little Italy while waiting
for her to get off.  Little Italy was restaurant after restaurant.  I have
never seen so many in one place ever!  The food looked wonderful,
but we had been invited out to dinner at Niki's friends that night, so
we were "just looking."

This is what our creative cook, Robin, whipped up for us ... male and female
meatloaves.  They started out to be a little more anatomically correct, but
their time in the oven was kind of hard on the details.

And this is our creative cook, Robin.  The meal was actually quite delicious
and she was a very entertaining hostess.

Her made-from-scratch cake was yummy!

She is a lead singer in a girl rock band -- a take off on the Motley Crew.
She had a gig on Friday night in Manhattan and I believe they performed
this week end at Staten Island.  She is very talented and quite a character.
She is from a very large Mormon family and grew up in Glenwood, Iowa,
with Niki as one of her best friends since childhood.

She and Niki have a great time together, as you can see.

They have a little act of their own that they shared with us.  They are
both a little nuts, but fun and cute.  :-)

Thursday was our last full day of the trip.  Our plan was to do the
Liberty and Ellis Island tours as well as the Staten Island Ferry,
and then finish up with a Harbor Lights Cruise of Manhattan that
evening.  We made it to all but Ellis Island and the Harbor Lights
Cruise.  By the time we got there and had our chance in line, the
cruise tickets were sold out.

Bummer. 

My daughter Suzanne's in-laws live on Staten Island, so I had heard a
lot about this ferry.  It was free of charge and a really nice ride.  I'm glad
we got to do it.  Mayor Juliiani proclaimed that the ferry should be free
after he got so much support from those on Staten Island during his election.
It was his way of saying thank you.

We were running too late to check out Ellis Island, so we didn't get
to see that.  I am sure it would have been very interesting though.
Liberty Island was beautiful.  It was so cool to see "Lady Liberty"
from all angles and to learn about her history.  She gives you
goosebumps.

In lieu of the Harbor Light's Cruise, we checked out Grand Central Station.
We ended up having dinner there in the only really nice restaurant in the
station; the rest are fast food-type places.  We had a wonderful meal here
at the Oyster Bar.  Very fancy and pricey, but it was our last night after all.

We were all pretty tired from a week cram jammed full of non-stop activities,
so we ust returned home after dinner and got packed for our journey home. 
I don't think either of us were ready to leave, but you gotta do what you
gotta do.   :-)

We had a good flight back to Kansas City, and we convinced Pam that
she should spend the night with us at Rob's before heading back to
Glenwood.  (Rob and his group were in Colorado on vacation.)
She did that and then Niki arrived for a long-scheduled trip to Glenwood
on Tuesday, so they got to spend some additional time together.

We had a very sad thing happen in the family just before we left for
NYC.  Kelly (Pam's daughter) and her husband, Hugh, were thrilled
in recent weeks to learn that they were going to have a baby.   She
was going in to her doctor on that Friday we left for a routine ultra
sound to make sure everything was OK.  She is 39, so they were
taking a few extra precautions.  She learned at that time that the baby
had not survived.  We all felt sooo bad for them both.  They, of course,
were devastated.  She ended up having a miserable weekend and
miscarried on her own.  Kelly needed to feel the love and support of
her family, so she, too, flew to Glenwood from London that following
week, so Pam had both of her girls home.  Our thoughts were, of course,
with them the entire week.  We had a good time, but always in our minds
were on her and Hugh and of the horrible experience they had gone through.
Our prayers are still with them.

Jerry and I spent a day or two in Kansas City checking out real estate
and areas of the city before actually returning home.  Here's one we
found that we really liked.

We are a very long way from being able to buy a house, so
it is silly to look at individual places at this point, but this one really
tripped our trigger.  The price was so right and so was the neighbor-
hood, yard, location, etc.  It was a lovely area in Lee's Summit called
Lakewood.  It had 2600 SF and seemed to be perfect.  The owners
have moved and I no longer have their phone number, so this is kind
of history; however, I am sure there are others that we would like just
as much.

We FINALLY had an offer on our condo yesterday, and it turned out
to be an insult.  Yuck.

We are asking $208,000 for the condo -- less than what we have in it. 
In addition, the buyer can also purchase the garage for $15,000 and
the dock slip for $15,000  (the prices we paid, which are now higher). 
We also decided to sell the pontoon boat and boat hoist -- both for
$20,000 (also less than what we paid).  So, adding all together,
that puts the total package price at $258,000 -- our package price
was $250,000, and we would have been willing to negotiate on that. 
The offer came in at $207,000 for EVERYTHING -- the condo, garage,d
ock slip, boat, and hoist.  What a joke!  We want to sell it not give it away!
We were so disappointed.  So, we are back to square one.

I've had kind of a rough week after my chemo treatment on Wednesday.
This is not going to be a real easy 6 months if the first week is any
indication.  So, adding the lousy offer to already feeling crummy, it
was not our best weekend.

I am hoping the yucky feeling of the chemo will go away in a day or
so, so that I am feeling good again by the time the next one rolls around.
I will deal with the treatments one day at a time.  I am hoping that we get
a legitimate offer on the condo real soon,

The doctor is a little concerned about how I am going to be able to
handle this chemo treatment, so she has asked that I not travel out of
the state for the next six months.  She doesn't want a Minneapolis redo.
That's like telling me not to put beans in my nose!   I'll have to see what
I can negotiate.  :-)

Not much else to report.  Jerry's working in the 102 temps today, the
poor guy.  He tolerates the heat well, which is very fortunate because
it is darn hot.

Stay cool and take care.

Love,
Judy and Jerry

P.S.  As always, your prayers are appreciated.

I LOVE NEW YORK, Part 2

I'm back with photos from Tuesday through Thursday.  Our trip had to end on
Friday, darn it.  (Be sure to also check out Part 1 as long as you are here!)

Before I get started, here's a photo that should have been included with
the Mexican restaurant shots from Monday night.  This is Niki's friend,
Robin, with Pam.  You will see more of Robin later.

Here is Niki waiting for our Subway train to arrive.  This was our only
Subway trip.  Too many steps and too much walking for Pam.  It was
interesting to do it once, but I much prefer being out in the sunshine
and being able to see where you are and what's around you.

Tuesday was our sightseeing bus tour day -- postponed due to Monday's rain.
We saw all kinds of things, including many of these T-shirt shops.  They just
kept getting cheaper, but we worried that they would fall apart when washed
at that price.

Our bus took us all over Manhattan -- uptown, downtown, midtown, etc., etc.
One of the most beautiful areas was, of course, Central Park.  What wonderful
foresight to designate that area to nature.  It went on and on with playgrounds,
lakes, huge rock formations (rocks were brought in from elsewhere), and all
kinds of lovely landscaping and flowers.  It was full of people, and I would
guess it is that way all the time.  It is such an oasis in the middle of all the
traffic, chaos, cement and steel.

The architecture in the city is fascinating.  So often amid all the
huge skyscrapers, you will find a very old, small and short church
that doesn't seem to fit in at all.  This is one example.  It is also
an example of the many times we saw scaffolding set up around
the buildings (teal colored canvas).  NYC buildings must all be
inspected once every 8 yrs, so with so many buildings, you
become very accustomed to seeing scaffolding such as this set
up around buildings of all sizes and types.

Our uptown tour took us through Harlem.  It was far different than I had
expected.  I am sure there are some less attractive areas that we didn't
see, but downtown Harlem was really quite nice, clean and inviting.
The Apollo theater is to the left just ahead of our bus.

There were some really nice parks, including this one that paid tribute
to Duke Ellington.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art sits right in Central Park.  We didn't
have the time to go inside.  I'll do that on my next trip.  :-)

It seems as though everyone is selling something, and this creative
person found a way to sell ice cold water to those of us on the top
deck of the double decker buses!  She just raises her pole and then
you grab a bottle!

 

This button and threat signifies your entrance into the "fashion district." 
Everything seems to be in districts ... the meat district, the financial
district, etc., etc.  In such a large city, I am sure "districts" are very
helpful and eliminate the need to run all over the island.

This is Madison Square Garden.  It looked more round than square to me.

We got our first close-up look of the Empire State Building from
the bus tour.  Wow!

The above was part of our bus tour.  It is the MUSEUM OF SEX.
Again, we didn't have time to go inside.  Perhaps on my next trip.

This is the Flatiron Building.

These are some of the remaining 9/11 notes.  That whole horrible event
was very much on my mind during the trip.  How terrible that must have
been for those people.  Every time I would see a plane on approach to
JFK or Laguardia, it would remind me of that awful day.  We drove
right through "Ground Zero" and that was really an odd feeling.  By
the way, New Yorkers do not refer to it as Ground Zero.  It is still the
site of the World Trade Centers to them.

Wall Street was just about how I had it pictured ... a wall of tall
buildings surrounding you.

This was taken by Pier 17 and the Southside Seaport Museum.
It looked like a really fun area, but we were just riding the bus
not hopping on or hopping off. 

Above is Chinatown.  Below is the United Nations Building.  It was late
enough in the day that they had taken down all the flags.

We were supposed to tour the inside, but the rainy Monday cut into
our touring time, so we just saw the outside of the U.N. Bldg.

This is the Rockefeller Center.  It was a cool area, as was the Rockefeller
building itself.  We went to the top and the view was magnificent!

Since "dancing is my life," I was sorry we didn't get to go inside
to check out the Radio City Music Hall.  That's another thing on
my list for the next trip. 

We got up to the Top of the Rock just in time to see the sun set.  The
following shots are just a few I took of the amazing view.  I wish it had
not been so hazy.  The camera exaggerated it to some degree.  It was
still very beautiful.

We also went to the top of the Empire State Building.  The haze was
much better on that trip.  If you go to NYC and do the Empire State
Building, I will give you a little tip.  The wait to the top can easily be
two hours or more, unless you have an EXPRESS PASS.  Zanny
told me about the passes, so I purchased three of them.  With our
passes, we were on top of the building in less than five minutes
from when we walked in the front door.  We were treated like
royalty!  It was such fun!  They cost extra but it is well worth it.

Niki works for a clothing designer in Soho.  The designer and her
seamstresses actually design and create the clothing in the back
room while Niki sells the unique fashions in the front of the store. 
I found several things I liked, but the price tags were way over
my limit.

I am afraid I am going to have to split this up into yet another part as
I still have a ton of photos left to share with you!  Part 3 may take a
day or two to create as I have my first round of this new chemo formula
tomorrow.  I have no idea how it will affect me, so I will just say that I
will try my best to get it posted as soon as possible.  I still have Robin
to tell you about, so that's good motivation to make a quick return to
blogging.

I hope this finds you all well, staying comfortable in the heat, and
enjoying the end of your summer.  Take care.

Love,
Judy and Jerry

I LOVE NEW YORK!!!!

Our first glimpse of the city after landing at LaGuardia. 

Niki had arranged for a car to pick us up.  The driver was dressed in an all
white Hindu-type suit; he had a very long beard and an embroidered cap. 
You don't see folks dressed like that in Glenwood, IA, or Laurie, MO, so
this was our first introduction to the many cultures that make up the city.

Sorry to make you turn your neck, but my rotation attempt didn't work.
Anyway, this is Niki's abode.  She and two room mates have all three
floors.  She lives somewhere in Brooklyn.  As many times as we drove
to and from her house, I don't think I could get to it on my own.

This is Pam calling home to let the rest of her family know that we made
it safe and sound. Niki doesn't get off work until 7:00, so we arrived a
little before she did. She had left the keys in the mail box.

Most of their furniture has come from "stoop sales" or from feebies set
out on the curb for anyone to take.  I would love that!  That would be
more fun than garage sales!

This was my bedroom.  It was also the kitchen!  I had visitors at all
hours of the night, but it was kind of fun.  Some of the visitors never
saw me standing!  I would just roll over to chat with them and then
go back to sleep.  Niki's roommate, Max, was on a strange schedule,
as he prepared his dinner anywhere between 11:00 pm and 1:30 am. 
We would visit while he cooked.  The first night, he brought some friends
home with him and they partied in the kitchen (my bedroom).  I was so
tired, I didn't bother to talk to them that night.  I just slept right through it. 
I am sure they got a kick out of my snoring.  :-)

Pam slept upstairs in Niki's room and Niki took the couch
in the living room, so we all had nice, comfy places to sleep.
I think mine was the most fun.

 
Our first night was spent in Brooklyn Heights along the Promenade. 
We had a wonderful Italian meal at this neat little sidewalk cafe.
It was such a beautiful night and the lights of Manhattan almost took
our breath away.  It was awesome.  (We saw our first and only rat
that night.)

Pam and Niki on a park bench in the Promenade.

Here are Pam and Niki at the Gershwin Theater Sunday afternoon. 
My son, Rob, did a very nice thing for us ladies.  He bought us
tickets to see WICKED.  It was such a fun and cute show.  That
was definitely one of the highlights of our entire trip.  Our seats
were in the third row, so we could even see the spit flying from
the performer's mouths.  What a fun afternoon.  Another dream
come true for both Pam and I.

Lo and behold, when we left the theater and walked a half block or so,
we ended up right on Times Square!   People, taxis, bright lights, noise,
commercial ads plastered everywhere, etc., etc., but I LOVED  it. 
Wowsers!  What energy and excitement.  People from all over the world,
cram jammed everywhere,  It was sooooo cool!

Pam and I are both big David Letterman fans, so we were really
tickled to see his theater, the Hello Deli, and the building where
he tosses things from the top floor just to see how they splat.

One of the fun things along Broadway were the purse vendors.  We
checked out each and every one of them.

See the red on hanging on the right front corner?  That one is now mine.  :-)

We ate at Letterman's favorite pizza place Sunday night -- Angelo's. 
It is on the main floor of the Sullivan Theater where he tapes his
show.  Niki said it was one of the best pizzas she had ever had!

I don't know what this guy's deal is.  He apparently just sits in this
parking space on Broadway and uses his car as his office.  He had
his computer running, a bouquet or two of flowers, and seemed to
not even notice the thousands and thousands of people who were
looking at him.  Weird.

I could not believe the amount of garbage in NYC!  There are
apparently no alleys for storing the trash, so it all goes out in front
of the store or whatever, right on the sidewalk.  It is everywhere! 
No wonder they say there are four rats to each person in the city!

There are so many other fun things to look at, I guess you kind of
become oblivious to all the garbage.

Pam has had an extremely rough time for the last few months, so
walking was not an easy thing for her to do.  It was pretty essential
to being there and seeing things, but there were times she
just had to sit down and catch her breath.  That's what she was
doing when these last two photos were taken.  She was having a
glass of lemonade at Maxie's.  We then joined her for a piece of
cheesecake for only $8.95 a slice.  Yikes.

She was a real trooper, though, and very brave to have even
tackled the trip after all she has been through.

This is Bart, Niki's "main squeeze."  He is not a native, but he has
been in NYC for several years.  He builds things for special events.  For
example, if Victoria's Secret, Inc., is having a fashion show, they will call
Bart to build the runway.  He has a cool warehouse/loft type living space
where he works and lives.  It is one of those places like you see in movies.
That is one of my favorite things about Manhattan, just about everywhere
you look and everything you see, you have seen in some movie or TV show.
Again ... it is sooo cool!

We sort of lost Monday since it poured down rain all day.  So, Bart took
some time off and we all went to lunch together.  (That's my new red purse
on the table.)  We then went to see Hairspray, the movie.  There was such
a line to the theater on Broadway where Hairspray was playing that
we thought we should check it out.  It was so-so.  We were very glad we
had chosen Wicked instead.

I found the retail world in NYC very interesting.  There is mile after mile of
little "mom and pop" stores, intermingled with a McDonalds, Target, etc.,
every now and then.  There are lots of restaurants with various ethnic cuisines
and lots of food stores.  The unique part about ther food stores is that you
cannot buy all of your groceries in one spot.  You go to a produce store for
your produce, a meat store for your meat, a bakery for your breads, etc., etc.   
No big supermarkets like we have around here.  You can only buy as much
as you can carry as very few people have their own cars. 

The traffic is terrible and so is the price of parking, thus, cabs, subways,
trains, buses, etc., are the way people get from place to place.  Cabs can
add a great deal to the cost of your evening.  (They charge by the minute,
so if you get stuck in traffic, you can really get screwed!)  We figured at
last $50.00 (and sometimes more) just to get to and from Manhattan from
Brooklyn. We usually hired a car, as they charge by the trip, not the mile
or minute. The Subway is cheaper, but Pam didn't do so well with all the
walking and steps they required; besides, they are dark and dirty and you
can't see where you are.

On the rainy night, after the movie, we went out for Mexican food with
Bart and Niki's roommate, Mara, and NIki's friend, Robin.  I will introduce
Robin in Part 2.  She is quite a character.

Well, that gives you an idea of our first three days ... Saturday, Sunday and
Monday.  I think I will stop there and put the next three on a separate (Part 2)
Blog so this doesn't get so big that those of you with dial up connections cannot
get it open!

I hope I am sharing this so that my enthusiasm for the city comes through.
I thought it was a wonderful place.  Sure, up close you see the trash,
graffiti, disrepair, filth, etc., etc., but all that just added to the ambiance
for me.  From a distance, it is magnificent! 

I am too old to live there now, but I can sure understand why Niki
wanted to be there and why she is enjoying it so much.  My sites were
always set on California when I was a kid; I never gave the East coast
a thought.  I never made it to California either, but knowing what I know
now, I would definitely have added the Big Apple to my dream places to live.

I'll be back in a day or two with Part B.  I hope all is well with each of you

Take care.

Love,
Judy and Jerry

ENJOYING THE 4TH!

Hi, Everyone.
We had a terrific weekend with all of my grandchildren, except Mitchell!
I wish he, Zanny, and Jack could have been here, but this gathering
was a last minute decision, so there was no time for them to make
the trip from Colorado.  Darn.

Cody and Amy had planned for weeks to come stay with us on the
4th for a few days, and Rob and Susan just decided at the last
minute to drive down on Saturday, so we had four out of my five
grandkids, and fun was had by all.

Elena turned one on March 2nd.  She is something else.  She has
absolutely no fear of anything and a great deal of curiosity about the
world around her.  She is learning a few words, such as "backpack"
(from the Dora show), pizza, dada, baabaa (for bottle), etc., but even
with her limited vocabulary, she has no problem making it known
what she wants and how she feels.  She's lots of fun, but you can't
turn your back on her for a moment.  She would have walked right
into this swimming pool had Amy not been right there with her.  She
loves the water!

We went to Steak and Shake for lunch one day and they gave
the kids suckers, which they found delicious but also very sticky.

Jude did not share Mitchell's love for the go-karts.  It was shortly after
this photo was taken (lap two) that he called it quits.  He insisted on
going by himself before riding with his daddy to get an idea how they
worked, so he was pretty amazed at the whole experience, especially
at their speed.  He also had no idea what a gas pedal or brakes
were.  He was barely tall enough to reach the pedals as well, so it
was not the best part of his trip.

We went on a couple of boat "trips," as Jude called them.  They both loved
the boat a lot, especially when Jerry would go fast over the "bumps" (wakes).

Jude decided he wanted to take some photos with my camera.
Below is one of his better shots.  :-)

Rob, Susan and the kids arrived at about 1:30 Saturday.  We had some
lunch and then headed for the pool at Millstone condominiums.   Here's
Susan in her new suit she bought in Cancun recently.

Tessa has loved the water since she was a very little girl.

Here are Sam and Rob having a "noodle" battle and squirt gun fight.

I am not sure what Jude is doing in this shot, but I think he is
enjoying it!

I think he might have been getting wound up about his early birthday
party!  The poor kid had to look at his gifts for days yet wait for his
party on Saturday night before he could open them.  (I did let him
have a few gifts before the big day.)  Finally, Saturday night arrived
and we celebrated his July 19th birthday.

Jude has a severe allergy to dairy products so he has never been
able to eat a piece of his own birthday cake, so I searched the Internet
for a dairy-less cake recipe and gave it a try.  It was a strange recipe,
but he loved it.  He ate and ate and couldn't get it in fast enough.  I was
sooo pleased.  I got the biggest lump in my throat watching him devour
that silly cake.

 

Elena is at the stage where she is very leery of anyone except her mommy
and daddy.  She may let you hold her, but it doesn't last long and then she
wants to go back to one of her parents.  This is true except when it comes
to Tessa.  Those two have had a bond from the very beginning.  Elena
loves Tessa. We had trouble getting her to sleep; Tessa had no problem
at all, and what's more she stayed asleep right in the middle of all the
TV noise, conversation and fireworks happening outside!

Rob is one of the many folks around the country who has been waiting
with baited breath for the new iPhone to arrive.  He got his on the first
night and had it with him this weekend.  They are pretty darn amazing. 
Here he is giving Jude some  iPhone instructions.

We had a quick breakfast Sunday a.m., and then we headed out on
another boat trip.

Before leaving, we played a "raise your arm" game with Elena.  It
is a game Elena invented and seemed to really enjoy.

We have a strange tradition in our family of taking pictures of
people taking pictures.  (Or perhaps it is just me.)   :-)

Cody was my hero when my cap flew into the water.  He came to
its rescue with the big net and fished it out.  Way to go, Cody!

Elena was deep into her shyness when Rob was trying to talk to her
in the below photo.

We are nearly home in this photo, so this boat trip was coming to an end.
Sadly, so was the weekend.  Cody, Amy and the kids left shortly after
we returned.  (Jude commented several times that he would like to just
stay.  That would be fine with me!)   Rob, Susan, the kids and I then
went back to the condo pool for a quick swim before they left town at
about 2:00.   It was great fun to have "my boys" here and especially
at the same time.  It is fun to see Jude and Sam play together and to
watch Tessa with Elena.  I enjoy my daughters in law also, so it was
an awesome weekend -- improved only if Mitchell and his family
could have been here also.

I believe I told you last year about Missourians and their fireworks.
Well, they out did themselves this year.  I have never seen so many!
Our neighbors are two young guys who made fortunes during the
dot com days by selling out just in time.  They are back in some
sort of business that is working out very well again, as they
personally spent about $30,000 on fireworks to shoot off
Wednesday night.  What a show!  Holy Moly!  Their show was in
addition to dozens of others that were happening all around us. 
It was really, really cool.  The Lake of Ozarks is without a doubt
THE place to be on the Fourth of July!

I have fun news!  My sister, Pam, and I are headed to New York City
on July 21st!  I am thrilled.  NYC is a place I have dreamed of visiting
but I never really expected to see. Well, thanks to the fact that Pam's
daughters have chosen wonderful cities to live in (London and NYC), I
am going places I never ever expected to see in my whole life!  We
leave on Saturday, July 21, and return Friday, July 27, giving us five
full days to tour the city.  I imagine we will sign up for some bus
tours, etc.  Any suggestions?  There's so much there to experience,
and I won't want to miss a thing!  (My budget is extremely limited,
so I hope there are lots of free things to do and see.)

Our 2nd annual Fritz Girls reunion has been canceled for this year.
It is just too hard to get everyone together.  We will try again next
year, although I am not sure we will be here at the lake to host it.

I interviewed three realtors last week regarding the house.  They were
all over the place in price.  I am not sure what we will do.  Perhaps we
will try it on our own for a while.  There's still nothing happening with
the condo, I'm sorry to say.  We really got ourselves into a big mess.
The moral of the story is never ever buy your next house before the
current one has sold, especially in a RE market like we have today.
It used to work, but it sure doesn't any more. 

We keep searching the Internet for places in KC, but being able to buy
a place there could be a very, very long way off.  I think we do it partly
just to take our minds off the present and think about the future.  We are
now in the 7th month of double payments, and its getting very scary.
I try to avoid stress when possible, as I believe it is very detrimental
to your health, but there's no way around it ... this is very stressful.

Jerry started a new job!  There is a corporate resort at the top of our
hill.  They have a mini-zoo with zebras, camels, llamas, ostrich, etc.,
and several houses they rent out to various corporations.  This is all
situated on several acres and taking care of those grounds is mostly
Jer's job, except he will be expected to help care for the animals when
the woman who does it now goes on maternity leave.   He is working
there as we speak.  He wanted to work only 2 days per week; they
want him 3-4, so I am not sure how that is going to work out.  He loves
to mow, so he is a happy guy.

Not much else to report.  I have my scans next week, so I won't know
anything until the results are in.  I will let you all know.  Thanks for
your continued prayers and concern. 

I have been asking around and have learned that acupuncture is now
being used to help with cancer.  Not as a cure but as a help to pain,
etc.  We happen to have an acupuncturist here in town, a friend of
Jer's from his morning "breakfast club."  He is very interested in
talking to me about it and is willing to provide treatment without
charge so we can both learn together what acupuncture can do.
It can't hurt, so I plan to give him a call today.  I'll keep you posted.

That's it for now.  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday week!

Love,
Judy and Jerry