Health Report

Gary and I had our annual physicals today. Last time we went was more than 2 years ago. Most of the news was on the good side: good cholesterol, lipids, blood pressure, lost a few pounds, no skin cancer, etc. For me, the best news was a greatly improved blood sugar reading, because last time it was in the pre-diabetic area. We did have a few bits of negative news, but nothing serious. We are, after all, getting old.

Happy Birthday, Gary

We went out to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. It was OK, but seemed overpriced for what we got. Then Rachel bought Gary a cupcake and coffee at Starbucks and we went home so Gary could open is package of 6 George Winston CDs from Andrew. Andrew phoned in the middle of the celebration so he got to hear us sing Happy Birthday.

Sing

Gary sang in a quartet at church today--very nice. (Even if he has to hide behind his music in order to get it close enough to his eyes to see it.)

I called my sister's cell this afternoon and found them just pulling the last box out of the UHaul into mom's new house in Carson. The weather delayed them, but not too much.

Had a nice chat with David last night. He's doing pretty well except for one day of sickness with a migraine. He's got 4 more weeks of surgery rotation.

Rachel has a day off work tomorrow since it is teacher work day. If Gary weren't working so much, we'd like to take him out to eat for his birthday.

Photos of Mom, Deb, Jim's Visit

Mom, Deb, Jim Visit

(Click on the above photo to view the entire album--10 photos.)

They were here less than 12 hours, so I didn't have time to take very many good photos, but you'll get the idea. If all goes as planned, mom will move into her new home on Sunday. We're praying the weather cooperates for this trip.

Bound for Michigan

They got delayed in traffic in Austin, but made it here a bit after 10pm. The lasagna was a little dried out, but they were too tired and hungry to notice.

2111

We may have discovered why Rachel has been so sick this fall...peanut butter. I just checked the product number on her mostly-empty jar of Great Value peanut butter. That is so weird--peanut butter is supposed to be good for you and doesn't need refrigeration so isn't susceptible to spoilage.

Black on Black, again

For some reason Blogger apparently ate my cat photo yesterday, so I'm trying again today.

In other news, Rachel is feeling considerably better, but she still has a cough. She worked as a librarian today and is babysitting tonight. While she was away, Gary and I reviewed her 1040 form and found a way to save her some $$. That should make her feel a little better.

Not much else for news. It has been very cold here this past week, but we are hoping the worst is over for the winter.

Black on Black

Happy Valentine's Day

David's girlfriend got him this nice shirt and tie, and he got her the rose. She was kind enough to send this photo, so I was kind enough to paste it all over the internet in my blog.

Andrew phoned this evening saying he was calling all the women in his life--that meant me and Rachel--after Laura, of course, to whom he gave two dozen roses.

Rachel isn't dating anyone at the moment, so she had to settle for going to Ton's with the old folks. Actually, she originally had plans to go to a sports' grill with some girlfriends, but she decided she is still too sick to be out partying. It would be really good for her to go back to work soon!

We took our friend and colleague Bryan with us to Ton's and had a nice time chatting with him.

This Week's Health Report

Except for the hair color, this could be poor Rachel. She had the flu about two weeks ago, then the stomach bug with fever last week, and now it is sinusitis. That means another round of antibiotics, which will likely be followed by a yeast infection /:-( Not only is the poor child sick, she got sicker when she got the bill, as she now no longer has privileges at our clinic and she has to pay full price for her office visits. One good thing--the doctor gave her a voucher for free antibiotics.

Drip, Drip, Drip

We had a retired fix-it man come and take a look at the water heater today. He said:

• We definitely need a new water heater, and soon.
• They may not be able to get the old one out without ripping out the bedroom wall since the new furnace (put in 18 months ago) took up more than its fair share of the closet.
• We should consider a tankless water heater for the replacement.

This could get complicated, to say nothing about expensive.

In other news, Rachel is sick AGAIN. Besides the cough that never went away from the flu two weeks ago, she has a fever and vomiting and achy muscles. Probably what Gary had a bit over a week ago.

White on White

Gary left Michigan that was white with snow and got back to Dallas safely. We drove directly from the airport to our Superbowl party and got there in time to hear the singing of the national anthem. Then to eat lots of good food and celebrate our friend Bob's birthday.

Now Gary's back to work, having finally recovered from his stomach bug by Saturday. He's got solid meetings for the next 10 days--ugh. That makes keeping up with his normal work almost impossible.

We still haven't heard any more news from David, so don't know how he is doing.

I talked by phone with Andrew on Saturday night, and they are doing well. Looks like Laura might be getting some kind of promotion to a regional job with Samaritan's Purse. Not sure what that will mean for them, but most likely it will mean more travel for her. They've also but down money on an investment house on in the DR.

Rachel's cold/flu from two weeks ago is still hanging on in the from of cough and some congestion--she's getting pretty tired of that. She's going to go for an initial visit with a brand new doctor on Wednesday. It is kind of sad to have her move on to another doctor when she's had the same family doctor/family friend for the last 23 of her 25 years. But she has to--she's getting kicked out of the Wycliffe system for old age.

Things may be changing with my mom's house buyer, but I think the plan for her to move to Michigan later this month is still on and a small apartment has been located for her. So that is good.