Catchup Time

Is it 2017 already? I have not posted since November 1, 2016. A lot has happened in our lives since then. 

Sharon went through her surgery and two casts and physical therapy and not has almost normal use of her left hand. She will continue to work it until she has full use - 'cause that's the kind of girl she is.

At Thanksgiving we drove to Davenport to spend the holiday with Kathy, Kevin, and Brady. We had a nice visit, arriving on Wednesday and heading back to Longmont on Saturday. Our drive there was not fun as we dealt with snow in Colorado and the rain across much of Nebraska and Iowa. Going home was all good weather. On Thanksgiving Day we enjoyed a buffet at TPC Deer Run, a very nice country club owned by John Deere. The food was very nice and it was a joy to not worry about cooking. There was a lack of leftovers however!

December was busy! We flew to Chicago and spent a long weekend with friends. We stayed with Katie and Jorge Friday and Saturday and they put on a dinner party for us Friday night. On Sunday we took the train out to Glen Ellyn and spent the night at the Gramas house. Lee and Peg gathered a bunch of our friends to dinner and good times. On Monday they took us to O'Hare and we headed back to Longmont.

The day after we got back, Nick flew in from Chicago, and the next day Larry, Dave, Claire, and Audra arrived! We had five guests for one night and then the crew moved to a huge rental in Niwot. Ginger and Leith flew in from St. Paul and Jeff, Kathy. And Trevor and Laird drove from L.A. - quite a houseful. We hung out at our our and their rental and they went to Rocky Mountain National Park and Boulder. A couple of trips to Boulder included stops at dispensaries.

We had a great Italian meal on Christmas Eve at the rental and then another feast at our house on Christmas day with a smoked turkey and a bone in rib roast. Everybody was happy. All in all a very nice Christmas break was had by all. Nice visit for all of us. The week before New Years everyone headed home and left us with an empty house. Nice to have it back but sad to see everyone go.

In January we headed to Chicago for a short weekend and to celebrate my birthday. We stayed with Kaie and Jorge and had a lovely Cuban dinner with them Friday night. On Saturday we visited the Art Institute with Katie and Nick and then went for a wonderful dinner at HB Bistro with Katie, Jorge, Dave, and Beth. Happy times! On Sunday it was a flight back to Longmont.

Now on to other issues. For about three years we have been watching slow growth of indolent follicular Lymphoma in my lymph nodes. We knew eventually I would have to have treatment, but some tests in January indicated that some of the lazy, indolent lymphoma had switched to a more aggressive form. As a result, I am back in chemo. My first session was yesterday and I am back for number two right now. I will have three treatments a week, three weeks apart for a total of four cycles. The doctor says this is very curable with this attack.

Needless to say, I am not happy to have an aggressive cancer and not happy to have to go through chemo. But, we will make it through this.

Now some good news. Three years ago when I thought my Hodgkins was back I told Sharon I was going to buy a Rolex and a Porsche and live it up. Well, Porches and Rolexes are too damned expensive. I can buy a fake Rolex for $100 and we bought a new Camaro SS - 455hp 6.2L engine and 0-60 in 4.1 seconds. It costs a lot less than a Porsche. We pick it up Friday.