Today would have marked my Father's 91st birthday. I always remember this day every year and yet, somehow, don't remember Mom who would have been 85 this past May. I miss them both. I always knew I would.

Wow... no posts since January. No major stuff going on other than life. Laura and her boys came for a couple weeks this summer. We had a really good visit. I miss them too.

Jennifer and her family have been in a few times and they are vacationing this week... they picked a good time to be away as there is so much flooding in their part of the world.

Stephanie is expecting a boy in December. Anna turned one in June.

Katie is still in school but the end is in sight. May 2010 the last I heard.

Suzy started a new job a couple weeks back and getting settled into that routine.

I have been traveling a bit... Cleveland and Albuquerque last week and I just got back from Cincinnati this morning.

We are slowly conquering projects around the house. Suzy and I broke up the concrete that was collapsing at the end of the driveway a few weeks back... it took 8 bags of gravel mix to fill it in. We have dug up the last of the timbers in what was once the arbor in the back yard. Redistributing the dirt and leveling is now on the radar. Gonna take down my Ham Radio antennas too when the mood strikes me... I haven't used them in years. Had a guy trim up the front of the house and mulch. Looking at replacing those tall windows in the kitchen and den too.... not sure how soon. I don't want to get to far ahead but there is quite a list. We would have done more by this point but Suzy and I are busy farming..... on facebook. I think we have that under control now so we can find time for a real project.

Well... until whenever the mood strikes me again --- Steve

In an effort (and it IS an effort) to post SOMETHING. Here Goes . . .

It has been about six weeks since either Suzy or I have posted so I will start with catching up on what I can recall.

In early November I had arthroscopic surgery on a shoulder. I have been doing PT since then 2-3 times a week. I am now beginning to get range of motion back that I have not had for well over a year. Strange that I can think of nothing as the reason this problem developed. The MRI showed some inflammation and scar tissue but no damage to the joint/rotator cuff etc. The doctor said he cleaned out the scar tissue and this should promote recovery.

Suzy is going to have surgery on her right-hand for some form of degeneration on her thumb as well as for Carpal Tunnel problems. Unfortunately this on her dominant hand (right) but the doctor thinks the recovery time will be rather quick. She should be able to go back to work after only a few days.

As my job goes I have been to Cleveland a couple times and to Kansas City a couple times... going to Cleveland for the Browns/Bengal’s game this weekend. I believe that is the final home game for them. Not particularly looking forward to it since this is a definite winter weather event. That should do it until January when there is potential for many trips to Cleveland should a major project come through.

As most who read this know by now all but Suzy are now appearing on Facebook.... I went from a couple of friends to over 60 in the last couple of weeks and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down. It is a curious type of environment so I have not decided whether it is something I will mess with long-term. I already am involved in what I would call business networking on Linkedin and Plaxo. It is good to stay in contact with acquaintances but Facebook is a rather hyper active environment.

We are all set for Christmas, or that is what Suzy (the family shopper) tells me, I have had very little involvement... I guess it is a woman thing. I did buy a few things but the majority has been Suzy's doing.

Well I cannot think of anything else, at the moment, so this will have to do.

- Steve -

Yesterday (Saturday) Suzy and I decided we needed to make a day trip. It was either to see Katie or Jennifer or Stephanie. Our plan was to go do a visit and come back the same day. The mileage made it easy to decide. Jennifer was 384 miles round trip... Katie was 466 miles round trip and Stephanie was 248 mile round trip... we chose Stephanie. We left the house about 9 am and took the back roads through Clarksville, Dover and Paris TN as I have become fond of taking a less frenetic route... the GPS does help. We arrived at the Masco Farm at Noon. We visited for about 2 1/2 hours... took some photos and a few movies. I am in the process of uploading one of the movies to Youtube... it will be linked on the Anna Movies page on our website and the photos will get posted in the gallery later today. Here is a photo of Stephanie and Anna in the pergola.

Anna certainly is more active now than when I last saw her. I tried calling Laura but apparently it was too early (8:30 am Hawaii time)... I got Jack and we chatted for a few minutes... he was not the normal chatty Jack so I told him to tell Mom we had called. We headed back home, roughly the same path we took coming back. We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Clarkesville for a bite, drove home and I became one with the couch.

Today I maintained my relationship with the couch until early afternoon. We then went to see Tropic Thunder... it was a hoot a lot of self depreciation about the movie industry... there were quite a few laughs but it was typical Ben Stiller fare... I give it 3 1/2 stars.

This week I will be in Cleveland Tuesday through Sunday. Suzy will be joining me later in the week. This will be her first trip there. We have a game against the Bears on Thursday and a College game there on Saturday. We are headed back Sunday afternoon. I think we will visit the Mammaws on Monday, as we will be due to visit.

That's all I have at the moment.

Steve

All - Just wanted to pass along the following emails from Marilyn (Hazelip) Alexander. Marilyn, and her younger sister Rebecca, are my first cousins the daughters of Aunt Hazel (and Malcolm), Mom's Sister (Not Malcolm... is this confusing?). He is my only remaining favorite uncle. Uncle Malcolm has had some serious surgery this week and it looks like he came through it in good shape. I know Marilyn will appreciate your thoughts and prayers. As I write this I have just checked in to my Hotel in Kansas City.... big weekend for Suzy... extra unhindered embroidery time - Steve

First Email:

I wanted to let you know that Daddy has been experiencing some heart symptoms recently, so he had an arteriogram this past Monday. It showed 4, 40% blockages and one 95% blockage in a critical area. We got word this morning that he has been scheduled for open heart surgery at Vanderbilt next Thursday, August 14th at 7am. This is big surgery for anyone, but at his age (82), we are naturally concerned. Please put us on your prayer lists and we will try to keep you posted on how he gets along. His attitude is great and he is in pretty good health, so that much should help him a lot. Rebecca and I are in a good position to help him during recovery, so that will help also.

It is so great to have family to count on!! Hope all of you are doing well.

Much Love,

Marilyn
-----------------------------------

Update Friday - August 16:

Good Morning,

Daddy came through the surgery on Thursday quite well. If you are going to have heart bypass, this new minimally invasive is the way to go, especially if you are 82. Still, it is major surgery! His attitude is amazing. He was up walking yesterday afternoon, gown tail flying. He will start cardiac rehab in about 4 weeks. He should be able to leave the intensive care unit today and go to stepdown. Vanderbilt is really set up for this type of care- they have been wonderful.

Thank you for your prayers and concern. Rebecca & I will be sharing daddy's care time over the next weeks. We are holding up fine so far. I am headed back to the hospital this morning to relieve her. We have so much fun talking and remembering the years with daddy and each other.

More later,

Marilyn

It has been a month or so since I have posted anything. Work has been very busy for me the last 4-6 weeks so I guess I could blame that. I have been to Cleveland 4 times in the last month. I was up there last Thursday when FAVRE arama was going on. The Browns were playing the Jets on the same day that it was announced that Brett Favre was being traded to the Jets. They called us in early as they had decided to do the press conference at the Browns Stadium where Brett and a couple of the Management folks from the Jets were to do their initial interview. I was tagged to spend most of the afternoon getting the room ready for this. A room about the size of our Den... They had 150 credentialed press they wanted to put in there... you can do the math. It was a zoo... they finally just allowed the national press and everyone else had to stand outside.... a real circus.

The game with the Jets was rain delayed for an hour so I left the stadium at 12:30... go back to my room at around 1:30 and had to get up at 4:45 to fly back home.... wound up with only a couple hours sleep... had to go to work from the airport.... got away around 3 and CRASHED.... gahhhhh!!!

Saturday night (last night) I had to work the Titans/Rams game (sorry Wayne) so another long day. Could it be a longer week... well now that I mention it.
- Monday - In the office... spin a bunch of plates
- Tuesday - 8:30 am Doctor Appointment (Rotator Cuff)
- Tuesday - 12:30 Eye Doctor
- Tuesday - 3 pm - Drive to Cincinnati
- Wednesday - At the Reds
- Thursday - At the Bengal’s, Drive Home
- Friday - Titans game.
- Saturday - Fly to Kansas City - Game that evening
- Sunday - Fly Home

August has become the very busiest month for me.... I enjoy it and hate it at the same time. On top of everything last week my laptop crashed... so I have spent the last few hours getting it reformatted and reloaded.

This is pretty much my life.... Stephanie was up this week while I was out of town. She, Anna and Suzy had a good visit from what I have heard. Katie has moved or is still in the process of moving to Ashville. And that is all I have. OH! I did have a colonoscopy a couple weeks ago... all is well in there... I had 4 polyps that were small and of no real concern (they were removed, and now living in a condo in West Nashville) so I am good for 5 years.

- Steve

Been busy the last couple of weeks. The weekend trip to Mark & Stephanies was very nice. We spent most of the time in the back yard... the weather cooperated quite well. We all enjoyed meeting, holding, talking baby talk to Anna... Mammaw Hargis was able to come along so that was special too. On Sunday we took Mammaw back home and showed some of the latest photos to Mammaw Deweese. We came home and dropped into a semi-vegitative state. Both of us had a busy work week his past week. Saturday was the annual Durrell gathering at my boss's lake home on Center Hill Lake. We drove up Saturday morning. About 11 we all went to the lake and boated over to the Cookevuille Marina for lunch. John (the boss) rented a pontoon boat so we went to a cove and anchored in the middle. Everybody except Suzy and I went in for an extended soak, float, and beer consumption. We stayed dry but I did have a few beers myself. It looked stormy so we headed back to the marina and returned the pontoon... good timing, a strong storm blew through a few minutes later... we sat in John's boat in a covered slip until that blew by... we jetted back to where John put his boat in, got it on the trailer and were loading the coolers back in to the truck just as wave two of a gully washer came through. We went back to the lake house and chilled for a bit... John made steaks and salad for supper... I had ordered one (1) of the Carnegie Deli Cheesecakes and 10 of us ate maybe close to half. We left the rest for them to deal with... I understand John's father (92) is a big cheesecake fan so I think it went to him. We drove back that evening after dark... got home around 10:30. Sunday we vegged... sorry I vegged, Suzy washed clothes and generally stayed busy all day.

Next week I am off to Cleveland for most of the week. Hope the weather is as moderate as it has been here today (low 80's).

Well that should bring us up to date. Wonder if I can goad Jennifer or Katie (OMG) would that not be a shocker... into posting. - sg