MISC

It is a slow morning here quite cold outside so no outdoor activity for me today and from the looks of the forecast none the rest of the week .
Visit to Duke for Vickie to get qualified for the Dimabond trial. We will return in a few weeks for the clinic and she will get the first dose of the Medician or the placebo ?? I will talk to them about reducing the # of pill she is now taking .

I have been shopping for a new camera and i think i need an enginnereing background , quite a few camera on the market and the more i read the more confused i become.I also look at another car ,but that didn't take long. I can not believe the price of cars , no wonder sales are slow. I read recently the average car in America today is 11 years old, i know why no one can afford a new car.

The ground crew are out on the golf course and they look cold . The cat wanted out on the back porch this morning ,but it didn't take long for him to return to the warm house.

Last week of the year.

Monday morning and all is well at he Jackson's , Vickie is sleeping and i am waiting for the sun to warm up a bit so i May go for a walk. The holidays were calm , there is not much excitement once the small ones go home.
Vickie and I were able to catch a movie and It was the latest chick flick. I told Vickie she owes me two science fiction movies,me and two other guys in a room full of Lady's. The movie was not bad .

It will be a slow week , we will go to Duke tomorrow for a follow up on the clinical trials , not sure if she get the medicine (dimabon) tomorrow ?? Shirley comment to me on Vickie condition this weekend , how concerned she is in her ability to get around.. She was referring to her leg pain and general movement issues. I am also concerned , Her balance has gotten worse in the past couple of months. I am not sure if it is the disease advancing or the result of the medication change.
She has agree to come help if i need it.
I plan to go to Hamilton & spend a few hours with Daisy to complete the family questionnaire for the COHORT study. It will give up the opportunity to take her to lunch and get her out of the house.
One more cup of coffee and a walk. My goal is 8 miles per week .

Christmas Day

Another Xmas day is here , i have not checked on the kid yet , but i bet they are up to there little necks in wrapping paper.Spent most of yesterday with MOM . We plan to have lunch , well that is easier said than done in Harnett county on Xmas eve. We found a good restaurant in Lillington and had a nice Italian lunch.We drop a care package at moms for the half way house Rick manages in Raleigh, Rick is by her House a every week.
On Wednesday out of the house most of the day, annual holiday lunch at Deacon's and a few visits around town.I also spent a few hours working on a bank/hospital project.

We are going to visit with Vickie's family today .We have an hour&half drive each way. The weather is wet so i plan to take my time.They don't have the traditional holiday lunch which is OK, by the time Christmas arrived everyone is stuffed from the pre Holiday events.
Time for another cup of coffee, before a shower ,dressing and pack the car.

HO_HO_

Back to Normal

The party is over and the kid are back home.We had a great weekend ,the kid came in on Saturday afternoon and left Monday morning. Vickie and attended a party own the street on Saturday , it was a very large party and we enjoyed it. Vickie was able to last a couple of hours. It always help when your house is next door to the party .
Hannah grace is so sweet and she can entertain her self for hours as long as there are people around she can see. The boys are all boy. I am concerned about there eating habits. Tim did not eat enough the past few day to keep the cat going. The boy looked out the window in the morning and saw the big frost we had the night before and ask did it snow last night. Not much frost in Charleston SC.
The Jackson Xmas on Sunday was great the weather was sunny and cool . The children were able to get out side. Kenneth comment to me yesterday about how much Mar hall & Jacob reminded him of Stephen &Kenny at the same age (30 years ago).Mom arranged for Santa to stop by after lunch and he was a big hit with the little ones . Aunt Helen stop by too and she looks great.Bryan came alone , Stacy aunt past away Saturday so she and Heather were not able to attend. Bryan looks great and is moving forward on the way to his state license.
Another big frost this morning , not sure there will be any golf this week.

Waiting for the Kids

The big storm the weather folk talk about non stop for the past week has past. We got a little rain and wind but none of the promised snow . The folk west & north of got a good bit of snow. I am thankful it all missed us ,We have the Jackson Xmas tomorrow and all of the kids are traveling either today or in the morning. Hannah will be one on Monday and she is a little bundle of joy always happy , i expect she will start to walk any time now.
The party on Thursday was very nice and Vickie was able to attend for an hour and she really look good. She did not attend last nights party , it was just to much for her and i know she want to go to Nell's tonight so she stayed home to rest . I attend for a short while , mostly folks from the neighborhood .
The kid should be here by mid afternoon and will stay until Monday. It don't look like me and the boys will get in any outdoor activities this trip.
Still working on Stephen move to the county next year,we have our fingers crossed.

Mom is getting excited , she always looks forward to this time of year , because it is the only time she can see all of her grandchildren & great grand children at one time. I hope i can remember to take my camera .

Bird watching

It is cold outside , we had a big frost last night. I have been up early well before the sun and the birds have been on the feeders this morning a lest since it got light enough to be able to see them . I will refill all the feeder today , me and the cat enjoy watching the bird feed and play .

Lot to do to day , finish the xmas shopping ,hospital BOC meeting and party and meet with the glass folks. Vickie called me while i was out tuesday and told me she had broken a mirror on one of the closet doors. I came home and cleaned up the glass from the floor . She had open the door and it must have gotten away from her and hit the arch entrance way into our bath and destroyed the mirror. She seem less steady on her feet the last few weeks , not sure why but i am watching her more closely.
I am not sure she will be able to attend all the event of the next few days . I will encourage her to sit most of the time , which i think will help.
Kid coming on Saturday if they can get well.
Off to the shopping trip, I see gift cards in my shopping basket.

Big Week

The rest of this week will be hectic . The hospital meeting are this week ,four xmas parties and the kid are coming to town for several days.I also have not bought one gift , so i may need to get started this morning once i get Vickie up and going . I also must return to the sporting good store in Kenly to exchange a few item and see if they can work on one of my reels.I was in there on Saturday and i looked at a gun for Marshall . The story was busy and i told the owner the gun was for a 9 year old , he showed me a 22/410 combo made for a kid. Than he showed me another gun he thought would work for a 4 year old. There was one lady in the store and when we started to discuss a gun for a 4 years old , she could not hold it in , she allowed that there was something wrong with all of of us and if anyone try to give one of her young kids a gun she would come up side someone head. We all had a good laugh and reminded her she was in gun shop in Kenly NC.
The week end was cold and damp ,not much going on outside. I did get in my 8 miles walking last week.
Vickie and i had dinner in Clayton on Saturday and it was very good. Leaving the restaurant Vickie got her feet tangled and fell , not hard but fell. this is the second time she has fallen this week, the first was in a restaurant also she slid off the end of the bench she was sitting on. In both cases in helping her up I found she has very little leg or upper body strength. She was not hurt in either case ,but once up moved on without talking about the fall.
Ralph called and ask me to stop by yesterday afternoon to visit with a new hospital board member. I cooked Chile for supper it was very good.
Time to get moving , lots to do.
Life is good.

The Bird are back.

I refilled my bird feeders this week and the early winter bird have arrived in force . I will need to purchase another bag of seed early next week.
Out early this morning , got the car washed , coffee and muffin at the donut shot and dropped by Lowe's for survey flags to mark the location of the new plants. Trip to the bank to check in and clear voice mail . I got to Ralph's place and his truck was loaded with my order of plants. I got the flag placed were the plants were to go and unloaded the plants and returned the truck before the labor arrived. The took two hour to dig 70 hole and bury the plants .They ask if i had any more work for them and i do ,but not this week end . He said work is slow and he can do about anything. I got his # and will call him back to trim the foundation Bush's.
I did not sleep well last night between the cat and Vickie I was up in the middle of the night for a few hours . The cat is very close to being locked out of my bed room or Vickie and the cat may lock me out.
Terry down the street stop with a party invitation, i hope Vickie will agree to attend.
No golf to day quite cold , but may be tomorrow.
Life is good!

Over sleep

I had a 7am meeting this morning and i woke up at 6.40am so much for setting the clock. I t only works if after you set it you don't than turn it off, dumb ass ! I made the meeting only 1 minute late. The problem the rest of the committee didn't show at all . I don't understand folk who sign up for board and committees and not only don't show but don't give notice they will not attend.
Meet with the new county commission representivie to the hospital board this morning and i think he is a vast improvement over what we now have for a # of reasons.
Spoke to someone about Sj's job opportunity and they didn't offer much hope , because the local folks get first shoot at the jobs ,according to my source. I am trying to confirm.
I have some guys coming tomorrow to put in some plants for me . I will pick up the the plant in the morning from Ralph's place and get them spotted with some flag before the guy get here . I am covering a ditch which is hard to maintain , hope this fixes the problem.
Lunch with Vickie , she bough a fake fur today to wear with jeans, i hope she get up tomorrow and changes her mind about it. I dislike it.
A good walk today but no golf .I think golf opportunities will be fewer until the spring , i think we we would have more opportunities if we played in the afternoon.

Life is good.

Bird Feeders

There were not enough people to play golf yesterday . I took a walk , my route is 2.2 miles. It was cold but i got out a pair of gloves and a turtle neck an it was fine.
I also cleaned out my bird feeders and replenished them . I don't feed the bird in the summer , i figure there is plenty of food . I notice this morning even with the rain birds have already found the food.
I spoke to the VP of the hospital management company this morning about what a CEO candidate would look like.Good conversation , not sure the VP will make it long term.
Vickie drop ed some of her medication last ,she said she hated to be so clumsy, she does not have a lot of strength in her hands anymore. She uses small Glass's and cup to help. She ate a big supper and got up this morning in a good mood.

Heavy rain overnight and this morning so no golf today, maybe Friday will be better.

Party

Ralph and trish held a very nice event yesterday afternoon for member of the hospital management team and the BOC . Dr P and his group provided the musice and i was very impressed with the quality of their proformance. Only two members of the MEC were able to attend ?? The sterwarts have a great place for a party.
The new BOC member were at the party , i am looking for to the changing of the guard at the county commission level on our board.
Vickie got up yesterday and the first thing she said to me is i am not going to the party this afternon, i don't feel well . I think it takes her so long to get ready ,she just don't have the energy to get dressed and than come back and get undressed.
The weather has turned cold and i not sure how much golf will be played this week. I think it is a good day for a walk. I walk 8 miles week before last and o miles last week. I got to be a little more consistnat .

Start of the xmas season

I guess the Xmas season has started , Xmas card and party invitations are in the mail box. We will go to the Stewart's this afternoon for a hospital Xmas event . Ralph is hosting the CEO party . I think it will be a good event.I hope the hospital VP's feel the love.
Vickie & I made the best of the wintry day yesterday and went to the afternoon movie, saw "Blind Side" good movie to see. Dinner at the Mexican restaurant and home early.
Talk to mom she has sent the present assignments to all the kids. Kenneth and I think that limiting the # of gifts each person buys to the # in there family will make for a more enjoyable Xmas. Our Xmas is the 20Th at Kenneth's house. Stephen and his family will be back for a few day and i bet Hannah will be walking by than.

Vickie and the cat are asleep so i may read a little and maybe another cup of coffee.

Life is good.

Mistake

I got an email from Duke ask when Vickie changed one of her medication . I wiped off a replay and thought no more about it . I got got a reply confirming my email , my first thought , i sent you the information why is it necessary to confirm. I check the information and low and behold i had made a mistake . I know anyone reading this will find it hard to believe , SJ made an error. I correct my error and schedule an appoint for after Xmas. I also did some work on our records to make them easier to decode for someone not use to working with the different medication.

I played golf yesterday not well , but a nice day. We had lunch and road to Clayton to buy the stuff for a new receipt i wanted to try for supper. We Had chicken cacciatore and for a first effort it was not bad. The prep time was longer than expected , lot of chopping.
The saga at the hospital goes on .I hope my friend Ralph don't let his cousin get to him.

Not to old to learn

The past year at the hospital has been like something from a book of fiction. I can not believe some of the things i have seen and heard. I am blown away by how easy it is for folk to lie or spin the truth. Life is always about me-me to some extent, but normally folk try to keep that monster hidden . The need for some folk to be right is almost as necessary as the basic drive to acquire food and water.
The political crowd just want to make everyone happy, they have been elect so they must have all the answer , the real facts be damned .
The medical staff have a set of bylaws that were written to give all MD rights and due process in the event they are accused of any wrong doing , which is as it should be .The problem is once they began to fight with each other , right and due process are not longer important depending on which side of argument you are on. The BOC must act properly , the rest of the staff is watching to see if we handle our responsibilities properly or if we chose to take an easy out
Golf yesterday , I am not playing well right now but another day could change everything. Had a little temper flair up by Jerry because he was not called and ask to play on Sunday. I think this will pass , I am told he has a history of being volatile

Rain today: meet with JRalph this morning, lunch with Vickie follow by a trip to grocery store . Vickie has transition to the new med's and i have not seen any change in her at all.
Bryan is sick sounds like a duck when he talks , has gone to the MD and got some Medcine. Send Stephen a write up from the local paper about the new school were he wishes to work .
LIFE IS GOOD!