Some Favorite Summer Pictures

This song, The Sweetest Thing I've Ever Known is Loving You by Juice Newton, is the song Don and I danced to on our first date, December 31, 1981. It has always been special to us.

Never a Dull Moment.

We were enjoying a quiet, empty house today when Drew came home and said it was time to bottle the beer he has been brewing. The next thing I knew there were hoses, buckets, hops, and beer bottes all over the kitchen. His friend Keith came over to join in the bottling and those boys kept Don and I entertained for quite a while. I wonder if the kitchen will every be the same!

Good News!!

Don had an appointment with Dr. Regenstein today and the doctor had wonderful news...Don's blood work showed that his cancer marker went from 55,000 down to 3,600! That was great news to hear. He also looked at the CT report from Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola and said it may show some changes from the CT done here in May. He wants us to get the films from Pensacola so he can review them himself. Doctor Regenstein seemed very happy with these results and if he's happy, we're happy. He is going to redo the procedure Don had in Pensacola, and reband the varices once they have had a chance to shrink. Once they shrink, the original bands tend to shrug off so he will replace the original bands with tighter ones that will stay put. That procedure is scheduled for October 2. Thank you all for your prayers, they are being answered!

This evening we decided to barbeque chicken for dinner. I prepared the side items inside while Don took the chicken outside to cook. I went out to check on him and he was sitting down relaxing with friends as he cooked. I couldn't resist posting this so everyone can see just how popular he is!!

Happy Birthday, Mary

Today Don's sister, Mary, is having a birthday. Mary is retired and lives in Huntington Beach, California, but we were lucky enough to enjoy our Alaskan cruise with Mary last summer and then spend time with her in Florida this summer. Mary calls each week to visit with Don and share the stories of her children and grandchildren. HAVE A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY MARY!!!

Home Again

On Sunday afternoon we got a call from our neighbor who let us know the electricity was finally back on after Gustav blew through a week ago. So, after a dinner of fried fish, hush puppies, gumbo and baked beans, with Deke, Debbie, Edward, Chris, Kim, Mom, Hannah, Christopher and Matthew, Don and I loaded up the Suburban with Mom and three tired dogs and headed west. We left Pensacola around 6:30 PM and arrived in Kenner at 10:15 PM - a much better trip than when we evacuated Saturday night and took almost 7 hours to get to Pensacola!! I drove home so Don got a lot of rest which is what he is supposed to be doing a lot of these days. We went to the hospital this morning so he could have a blood test that hopefully will reveal that his chemotherapy is working. We should have those results on Wednesday when Don sees his doctor. The only problem he is having now is a sore throat that is bothering him enough to take pain medication - something he does not normally do. I'll be interested to hear what the doctor has to say about that. I'll post the results of our visit Wednesday!

SINCERE THANKS: Thank you to all who visited Don while he was in the hospital in Pensacola - you all lifted his spirits in a way I could never have done. Thanks also to Deke and Debbie for opening your home to all of us, I know you say you love company, but this was above and beyond the call of duty! Thanks again to Nicole for coming to the aide of her sick uncle and calming us both down - you made life easier for both of us. Last but not least, I must thank Adam for emptying our refrigerator and freezer before the food went bad, feeding the cat, and most of all cleaning up the hurricane debris from our yard so we did not have to deal with that when we returned home. We love you all and appreciate everything you all did to make our evacuation easier to bear!

He's Still Got It!

Today, Douglas, Deke and Angie's husband, Chris, went off with their cast nets to try their luck with the mullet which is eaten in large quantities in this area but not so much at home. When they returned, Chris had some questions about throwing the net so Don went outside with him to give him some pointers. Even though he has been so tired lately he just couldn't resist...he picked up that heavy net and threw it just like he has done for years!