Kim getting married

People have good years and bad years. As a family, we're enjoying a good year. Two weeks ago, Ashley graduated with her B.S. in Nursing. Ashley is Chris' fiancee. Last Saturday, Kim graduated with her AA degree - a real accomplishment for such a busy person. This Saturday Chris gets his BS in Engineering. August 4th Chris and Ashley get married.

Kim called last night to tell me that Mark, her wonderful boyfriend, proposed to her after the graduation on Saturday. He presented her with a beautiful diamond that he had made specially with lowered prongs and a setting that won't "rip her rubber gloves" - so she can wear it while collecting evidence. She is in her own words, floating between Cloud 9 and a state of shock. They had never really discussed marriage, even after four years so it was a complete surprise to her. Mark's daughter gets married August 1st. Mark has one grandchild and his other daughter is expecting twins so Mark and Kim will have six grand-children between them. That should keep them busy.

So, it's a good year - if only Jim's eye would recover, everything would be good!!

Richard's 70th

We spent from April to May 13th in Singapore and Bali to celebrate Richard's birthday. Singapore does not look like it is suffering from the recession although people we talked with said they were. First and foremost, they were terrified that the swine flu would appear there and discourage tourism. They can't survive that - they absolutely live on tourism.

On our way in, we stayed at the Carlton Hotel which is centrally located. First morning, I left Richard lounging around and went to shop in the stalls around the corner. I ran into a long corridor of people doing demonstrations so I enjoyed watching the chopper/slicer/dicer guy, a demo of a device that saves cooking gas, a fabulous mop (i amost bought one), a great pen that
allows one to make fancy writing and designs. Business seemed to be good and people were buying. After Richard got moving we went to the big shopping center and visited Yes! eyewear with the idea of getting more glasses but prices seemed too high. We went to the food court and had one of the Indian pancakes that we like and admired the Vietnamese Food Stall which we hadn't see before. We ate at a pseudo fast food place in the mall where we had a version of Cereal Shrimp and potstickers. Food was good but we were very tired and jet lagged so went back to the hotel to bed. Next day, in a light rain, we visited the Botanical Gardens for the third time and once again really enjoyed the orchids. When it stopped raining later, we walked to Jumbo Seafood for the "real" Cereal Shrimp - delicious. Up early to catch our Garuda flight to Jakarta and on to Denpasar. Garuda had changed the way they operate these flights and we had to collect our luggage in Jakarta and re-check in for the second flight. Turned out to be good because we bought our visas at the airportand Jakarta is much more efficient and easier than Bali. Once in Denpasar, we caught a cab to Prime Villas which turned out to be lovely.

While in Seminyak we spent one day with Toya and visited furniture manufacturers and his uncles carving place. Designed a few items and Toya has sent us prices. Day two we spent with Ayu who ran us around to a few places..she was sort of helpful but mostly just nice company. Married to an Australian, she is very worldly for a Balinese. A fan of Gordon Brown's cooking - she's lived in many places and is quite sophisticated.

Ate well at Gado Gado for Richard's birthday. We had an oceanside seat and perfect weather. Just great food and even a great wine by the glass - a Hugel Gewurztraminer, something I've never seen served by the glass. Had a rather poor meal at Ku De Ta but the setting was glorious and it was interesting to see how many people were there for the sunset, a tradition. We ate two meals in Kuta at the cafe down from Matahari's and both meals were good and perfect for our mood.

On day four, we moved up to Ubud an dour cab driver had quite a time finding the villa. As it turns out, the Villa Sarna was just a bit closer to Ubud than Villa Uma, where we were married. The room was up a couple of flights of stairs, a bit difficult for me with my dizziness, especially in the rain, especially in the dark. I think the staff, who helped me up the stairs, thought I was drunk!! Our bedroom was a little small and the whole thing a bit of a letdown after Prime Villas but it was OK - the outdoor bale for reading was great. Staff was excellent and the overgrown, jungly grounds were fantastic. We saw some new villas built by the owner of one of the big design companies. Next time, we might stay there for a real splurge.

Ate well twice at Ira Burgis (whose cremation we attended), at Lamat (wonderful meal) and at Mosaic. All very fine eating. We shopped at the market as usual for cheap watches and earrings, always fun. Other than that, we did a lot of resting. Enjoyed breakfast at the villa with a view over the jungle. Banana pancakes were great.

Our ride home was easy - all Northwest flights were just fine; customs was empty and our luggage was out in about 15 minutes. Almost like Singapore!!

Back at home and work

Busy interviewing painters this week. The one we hired did not work out - he tried his best, but he was older and recovering from a stroke. He tried to return to work too soon and we paid the price. The whole house has to be re-painted and we will change the color in the living room to something less yellow. A designer is coming up on Friday to help with color picking...I've just run out of the ability to tell one from the other.

The pool was gutted on Monday in record time. A crew came up and jack hammered it in just a couple of hours. Tomorrow, the 21st they will begin the stone work on the coping and then place the tile. A plumber has been installing heaters, pumps etc. We will have a new pool once they are done.

I had a hearing test this week - a six month check. From what I could see it didn't look like it had changed much by the graphs. The tester told me the left ear was pretty bad but that my right ear was very good. We discussed hearing aids and there isn't anything that helps my kind of hearing loss..most promising is a device that picks up signals on the left and then sends them via a radio signal to the right ear. Eventually the brain learns that the squawky sound coming in is from noise on the left side and processes accordingly. Maybe I'll try it. Now I need to get the blood work so that they can schedule a MRI, probably next week.

Spinning head, dizziness, numbness on left side of face and full ear with pain behind the ear in an arc, wonky head. Those are the current symptoms and they are absolutely typical from what I read about An's of my size. The small ones cause the most symptoms. I'm hoping that some ofthese symptoms subside...apparently they often do.

Jorge Redux

Our tiler Jorge, with wife and young child, has gone to VeraCruz to live for a few months. I met his wife whle returning his tiling equipment to her. Jorge was dumped off in Mexico by the INS and they decided to make the most of it and go to VC where they own a couple of houses. They're going to fix them up and iin the interim, get Jorge's papers in order so that he can come back in the country with a better status. His wife is American.

The tile aspect of the house is surely cursed. First there was Jorge and his disaster. Ours too as 1000 dollars worth of tile disappeared. Then we started having problem after problem with UGMC. I've made at least 20 trips there picking up tiles in dribs and drabs. Each time it's been a hassle. I made 8 or 9 trips regarding one tile and when they finally got it in, it was the wrong stuff. I gave up and substituted something I could buy at HD.

Happily we have a good tile setter now who seems to be competent and is completing the job and doing it well.

We are terribly unhappy with our plumber too. He never returns phone calls. A nice enough guy but the lousiest business man I've ever seen. I'd never recommend him to anyone.

Enough carping.

Painting Glitch

The "bargain" painter we hired turned out to be anything but. He came recommended but did sloppy and incompetent work. He did manage to get a coat of paint on the walls but had thinned the paint down so much, it didn't cover much. When he pulled the masking tape off, he took the paint along with it. The place is a mess and it will require quite an effort to get it straightened out. I should know better having once before been shellacked (ha) by a painter.

We are also having problems with the outside sprinklers. Installation is not going as Richard had hoped.

So what are we doing about all of this? We're taking off on a trip. Last time we were overwhelmed, Richard insisted we take off and once again this is his rx. I'm reluctant to go as I'd like to get this whole ordeal over with, but I guess we'll drag it out another couple of months. Now, I'm looking at Christmas as a deadline for moving..but how do you rent a house that time of year??

The stucco job is complete and looks great. It's called cat's paw and was applied entirely by hand. About 8 people were working at any given time applying a total of three coats to the house. The look is very Spanish and we are pleased with both the cat's paw look and the bright white color.

Our floors have now been scraped and sanded and a coat of sticky goo has been applied which will provide moisture vapor barrier protection. Ken and Jerry applied the goo with trowels and killed their backs and their hands. Blisters erupted all over the hands, backs were aching from bending at the waist to do it and both of them have goo stuck on their skin - knees and hands. It wasn't an easy job. I worked just ahead of them cleaning the floors with brooms and a string mop. We had a long day on Saturday.

Today, I spread straw out under the eaves, under the drip line so that if we have rain, splashes don't bounce up and stain the stucco. I also applied the moisture protective paint to the unprotected fascia around the roof, on the deck and on spots round the house. We called a number of people to come out and give us landscaping bids and contacted the iron men to come and
and adjust our Bali railings so we can install them on the deck and on the stairs.

We decided to go ahead and use the "faux slate" tiles instead of the real thing. The faux slate does not require sealing, doesn't lake and cause other problems. The look is close to slate - in fact, I had to tell the tile man that it was porcelain..he thought it was slate.

Tomorrow will be busy with roof guys, painters and we are having the grove picked - a size pick which will keep Richard busy all day. I'll be handlin the construction stuff - Ken will be laying down more goo and working on the remainder of the finish carpentry...the base boards and trim.

JORGE LIVES

Our tiler is alive! We hired a young man to do the tilework and he turned out to be wonderful. Creative, a hard worker and a genuinely nice man. Last Thursday he was supposed to show up for work and didn't. His wife called on Saturday to ask if we had seen him and we were shocked to hear he was missing. Today we were relieved to find out that he had been arrested because of having an illegal in his car. That would be his assistant.

Many of the construction workers were/are illegals and we haven't been checking them. I think I have sympathy because of having been an alien myself, albeit a legal one. I sympathize with their eagerness to work hard and make a living. I have yet to meet an immigrant that wasn't interested in the freedom to work hard and succeed. Jorge - the tile man - included. All they really want is a chance and when I think of the attitudes of most of the young people in this country, who all want to be rock stars and fashion models and who are encouraged to follow this dream - I'd put my money on the illegals to be the ones who make the wheels turn, the crops grow and to build the future. From their children will come the great new ideas! Not from the dopes worrying about their eighty dollar haircuts, fancy cars and European spring breaks - all provided to them by stupid or unwitting parents too undisciplined themselves to take the time to teach their kids about work.

Maybe Jorge will be able to continue on the job after all.

Decorative accents were added to the exterior - imitation clay pipes, window trim, door trim, a band across the big blank side wall and bands around the deck supports. Everything was given it's brown coat and now sits, curing and waiting for the final coat which will likely have to wait now that we are having rain. 5 days of pretty steady rain, including one exciting hail storm, is a welcome wetting to the grove. The fresh rain washes out the alkali and other deposits that build up from using well water and the county water.

The dry wallers have completed hanging the sheets and are almost finished with taping and mud. The bullnose has been applied and while the walls look nice, the house is a total mess of goopy dry wall clumps on the floors, garbage everywhere. Our dumpster is sorely undersized for this part of the job and we have to fill it and then wait a week to have it emptied. Tomorrow our floors will be scraped to remove residual grout from the old tile. By the end of the week the dry wall will be done and the guys will start installing the finish carpentry.

Today at Trader Joe's I dropped a glass jar of enchilada sauce. I placed it in the cart but the child gizmo was up leaving big holes in the cart through which the jar slid, crashing on the floor. All I heard was a thud but when I looked around I saw that 5 or 6 people were looking at the floor and the spreading pool of red. The experience was telling about how much I'm really hearing.

After spending two hours with the kitchen designer at DixieLine I went on to the Mexican Tile Store where I discussed our quest for a particular design with the owner. He was helpful but tried to steer me to a matte finish tile which I didn't like but had to agree was an almost-match for the tile in the book I'm trying to copy. I brought home 3 samples which we are assessing.

Dry wall

This week we had the first coat of stucco applied to the house, the dry wall is going up fast and we picked out the baseboard, window and door casings and crown molding. A lot of time was eaten up picking out tiles and we found one for accents that we particularly like made out of re-cycled beer bottles. The tile is a beautiful goldish orange color and once you know it's beer bottles - the visual clicks into place. We also finished our exterior inspection which meant we could go ahead with dry wall. One tile setter has come up to give us a bid.

Watching the three guys hoisting up the 12 foot dry wall sheets for the ceiling is thrilling. They organize three ladders and each position themselves under a third. They climb up together and yell "turn", then they flip the sheet over so they can nail it to the ceiling.

We've come through three weeks of perfect weather. Warm sunny days, clear air. Rain started to fall on Thursday and the heat
spell is likely broken.

We're thinking about adding beams to our turret ceiling.

Our first cruise together was from Santiago to Rio on a Princess Cruise lines boat. 15 days in duration, it was too long for us and
we found ourselves a little cranky and beset with cabin fever after about 10 days. We did love sailing through the Straits of Magellan and the Beagle Channel and rounding Cape Horn. The glaciers were beautiful and it was thrilling to sit up in the highest lounge and feel ourselves slipping smoothly through the icy water. Of the ports en route, Ushuaia and Montevideo were the most interesting. Stanley on the Falkland Islands was a real dud unless you took a penguin expedition which really didn't interest us too much. 2400 passengers unleashed on a town with 2000 citizens is just too much.

We did like Santiago very much and are now interested in visiting more of Chile. Also Rio was wonderful with our guide Rafi who made the visit most interesting. He took us around to different neighborhoods in Rio, to the park, the lesser known beaches and to his home town of Niteroi , where we enjoyed the most gorgeous views looking back at Sugarloaf and the Cristo. Flying home on Christmas morning was great - flights were surprisingly full but the airports were empty and easy to navigate.

On board the ship we did meet a few interesting people. One was a physician from Napa, Italian born and educated who told us he worked for the movie studios as a financially strapped young medical student. He had the chance to make extra money as an extra on Quo Vadis by jumping from a bridge with his shirt on fire. Even though he was burning up he did not pass up the chance to look behind him as Gina Lollabrigida followed behind him reputedly wearing no panties. His wife obviously bored at hearing this story thousands of times, leaned over to me and whispered that after 30 years together and renting the movie many times, she'd never been able to stay awake long enough to see his "big" scene.

I met a man who was in the business of showing movies outdoors - like beaches and public parks. We met a woman who had assisted a physician do a tracheotomy with a ball point pen. Most of the people however were old hat cruisers and they shared a mentality that we didn't feel part of. Conversations invariably began with the question about how many cruises you'd been on. There was a wide range of ages on the boat but most were in 50's and up. There were about 5 children which most people were grateful for explaining that kids can be a huge nuisance on a boat, riding up the elevators constantly, running around in the dining rooms - generally a noisy, boisterous nuisance. Not so on this trip.

An Irish couple told me about a cruise in the same part of the world that they had taken a few years ago. When they came into the harbor at Montevideo, their captain drove through a bow line, overturning a freighter loaded with cars. The freighter sank in a couple of minutes and the harbor was closed for three days. All hell broke loose as people were missing trains, planes, important events. The Irish couple was already highly upgraded and just enjoyed being even further treated kindly by the cruise line. The captain was taken away almost in irons and the company had hell to pay to the passengers. Because of the delay and the increasingly bad weather (this was the last cruise of the season), they couldn't land in Stanley. One family had taken the cruise primarily so they could go to Stanley and pay their respects at their son's grave - he was a British soldier who died in the war with Argentina.

Our cruise was several hours late arriving in Rio. The Brazilian government took the opportunity to be uncooperative about finding a berth. We disembarked hours late after standing in line for hours. 2000 people were waiting to get on and 2000 people waiting to get off. Chaos ruled. We finally got a cab to our hotel and away from the mess at the port.

Eh? What?

People can be wonderful. Most everyone I have regular contact with is very understanding about the hearing problem and they circle around me so they can speak in the good ear. Casual contacts are another story. In stores, when you ask people to repeat themselves they are usually annoyed as would I be. In certain stores or restaurants, I can't hear people at all - because of the tinnitus and hyperacuity combination. The choice is between smiling and nodding or asking for a repeat. In social situations, I opt for the smiling and nodding sometimes with disastrous results. I'm learning to avoid loud places, "live" acoustics and things like cocktail parties or other gatherings where there are many voices at once. The book club is even becoming difficult to hear.
I'm looking into hearing aids that might work for AN.

Singapore and PhuQuoc

A two week break from the house in Singapore and PhuQuoc. In Singapore we did the usual things, mostly walked around and ate very well. We stayed at the Scarlet, in Chinatown which was very nice but we like the location of the Swiss Hotel better. On Tiger Airlines we flew to HCMC. Tiger uses the new budget terminal in Singapore which was very efficient although bare bones. In HCMC, we shopped and ate - had eyeglasses made, bought some fake watches and knick-knacks. Only managed one good meal because I was under the weather for much of the time - acute indigestion and my ear was really bothering me. Once we got to PhuQuoc, the ear calmed down immediately as the ocean sounds cancels out the tinnitus. Our resort, La Veranda was beautiful and the ocean was bath-water warm. Everyday we read, cavorted in the waves, ate lunch at the beach shack next door and slept a lot. A most restorative and relaxing time to forget about everything. It was interesting to be out of the country for the election results. Everyone we spoke to was happy about Barack, except the republicans. However most republicans know the party needs a shake-up and a redefinition. This four year period will give them a chance to regroup and rebuild the party back to its basics.

Today the news is breaking that Hillary will be taking the job as Sec of State. Disappointing to those who really expected big changes in the way this administration runs the country. Bill Clinton is now Husband of the Sec of State. Nice job.

Sprinkler system

Turns out that we do have to install a sprinkler system, even though we are under the square footage requirement and even though we are a remodel. Another $6500 expense. Last week we got the driveway jack-hammered out, Gail finished most of the wiring and the dry wall was delivered. The drywall delivery truck arrived at 3:00 and didn't get the load off until 6:00 - pitch black and they had to use the fork lift light to see what they were doing. After they left, the truck pitched off the fork lift on a turn and one of the men ended up with a broken leg. We didn't see this accident as it occured further down on Daily Road. Really unfortunate, but it was so dangerous to be working with this kind of equipment in the dark.

Our doors were all delivered and look very nice but many of them don't fit or have problems. DixieLine is coming up Tuesday to decide what to do with them. A couple have to be returned - one is badly warped.

I'm disappointed with the landscape designer. The plan for the front is very good but the back lacks imagination. We may not continue to the next phase with this group and instead just hire one of the other landscapers to finish it up.

Central vacuum system is installed. This was the easiest of all the subs - he came, he installed, he went home. No muss or fuss.

Recipes for the Girls

The Banar gals invited me to do two recipes for them. Poor Vicki is swamped. I'm doing a Coconut Panna Cotta and a Tropical Fruit Tart. Not too hard. I submitted the ideas to them for the concept. They will get back with approvals of one or the other

Meanwhile Shari is trying to sort out some requests of BB. One was for her to create recipes that will match two photos that the agency had shot. They are supposed to be simple and one of them - a spinach salad should be. The other is a taco that the agency has made very complicated by adding too many ingredients and now they want a simple recipe. Furthermore the photo contains a couple of unbelievable faux pas - a toothpick has been left sticking out of one tortilla and you can see a slice of bread sticking out from under the tortilla..they used it as a prop. Ouch.

I will help Shari with her photos next week for two days. This week she's on her own.

This week I will try to get the bathroom cabinets designed and finish up the kitchen with necessary modifications. I have been suffering with a cold and am just getting over it. Perhaps I'll feel a little more with it.

Ironing

We had to choose an ironing "center" today. A built-in unit for the master bathroom. We chose one with a swivel board and a timer and a spot light. The iron can be plugged in at all times and you only have to turn on a timer to get started. Once done, you put the iron in the rack provided and close the door. It will turn off at the designated time. This is supposed to eliminate the "left the iron on" anxiety that we have all suffered. We'll order the iron tomorrow along with the steam shower - a Thermasol. Once again we are having to learn more than we'd like about all the options. 10 years ago there was only one hide-an-iron called Hide a Board. Now there are about 10. It must be a lucrative business because there is not much to them and the price is high.

We cleaned the rancho today...drywall and crap everywhere. The workers are just throwing their empty food containers and bottles off the roof to wherever. I carried drywall and insulation and will probably get asbestosis now on top of my other problems. Richard worked on filling the dumpster. He picked flowers for me which were in the car when I left with Pinkie. Buster stayed at the rancho on the watch with a Kangaroo Rat, flushed out of one of the closets. He was mesmerized.

Beautiful day today..about as good as it gets. Are we lucky to be living in this marvelous climate. And the bail-out bill was restructured and should pass tomorrow. Does that mean happy times will be here again?

Note to myself: watch out for the ruskies. I think they are on the move again, big time.

Pork tenderloin, baby zucchini, baked potato and a nice salad with hand made croutons for dinner. Life is good.

Big Bail out

Today congress passed the big 700 billion dollar bail out. We have reached a disgraceful place in this country. What a mess. The government blames greedy lenders when the problems rooted in the congressional meddling in the whole process to make fair housing available to the poor and needy. Right.

House-wise, we are getting stucco bids. Lots of plumbing going on...laying pipes and running wires. The roof is stacked with tiles and the felt is on. The upper deck has been water proofed and tomorrow Ken and the boys will be over to hand the big slider and to build the roof ridges, the shower framing and lower the roof in the bedroom. I have a cold and am experiencing some anxiety over the tumor. I'll be happy to have my meeting with the neurologist over with so that I know what I have to deal with. Daily I think my buzzing is getting worse and hearing worse..but I don't know if it's my imagination.

I'm busy with cabinets, appliances and have to make tiles and counter choices. More shopping.

Sssstresss

Stress this week with the arrival of the big beams from Vintage. Instead of 400 pounds which they claimed the big beam was, we estimated closer to 800 pounds. Five guys could hardly budge it. We decided to cut it in half and use half of it on the underside of our arches when you walk in the house. Things are starting to look hunting lodge like but we like it. The massive fireplace and beams are a nice contrast to the La Cantina door. Once it was up, I wished we had bought another for upstairs.
The whole wall looks like glass.

Ken was very shocked at the size of the beams. He thought we meant small beams and got lost in my changing back and forth from fake to real. I only bought the beams because he assured me he could set them. If I ever did something like that again, I would make sure the contractor knew what I was talking about.

The sliding doors were set, the beams raised and the bathroom prepared for the new walk-in shower. We decided on a glass brick wall for the guest shower/steam shower and on the jacuzzi bath tub for upstairs. I have to decide on whether we will wax the beam or not. I know I have to get some stain to touch up a few spots on the wood which are just too stained to be really nice.

Today we have to cover the thresholds and the door edges so the "animals" don't wreck them - that would be the stucco, dry wall and roofers...everybody who comes stomping through.

My New Reality

In Lowe's today, looking at outdoor lights, a man walked past me and I heard, "mumble, mumble, grumble." I asked him, "Are you speaking to me?". He replied, "Mumble, mumble, mumble." I said, "I'm sorry could you repeat that?" and moved closer - again, a mumble. So I told him I couldn't hear in one ear. A look passed over his face and he said "I LIKE YOUR SANDALS!" in a big, loud voice. I laughed at the reaction because it's becoming familiar. Why wouldn't somebody be frustrated after repeating an innocent little compliment three times until it's importance is blown all out of proportion? People run out of patience very quickly. So do I when someone dares not to hear me!!!

I'm thinking of getting earrings that say on one side, good ear and on the other, bad ear.

Goodbye Jaime

Richard had a trying day. Jaime finally just stopped working. Oddly, he slashed his time sheet to ribbons and then went off to sleep in the grove. When Richard confronted him, Jaime cursed at him and flashed his knife. Richard calmly told Jaime he was fired and to leave. There was an outburst of profanity and name calling to Richard, who warily kept his distance and remained calm. Jaime left only to come back because he had left his cell phone behind.

Jaime was a good worker in that he did a job, any job, very well. He completed jobs including clean and putting tools away. he had become more trouble than he was worth - in summary, Richard's complaints:
Jaime at one point, virtually lived in the truck..he would do his laundry and hang it in the garage. The truck stank of Jaimes stinky clothes He never worked 8 hours. It was 7 1/2, then 7 then 6. He was arriving later and later and much of his time was unaccounted for; Richard found that he was coming to work, signing in and then taking off to collect cans around the neighborhood. Somehow, Jaime expected Richard to be benificent, bestowing money on Jaime just because he asked for it. He stole fruit from the grove a bit of a time and then became profligate about it taking as much as 50 pounds a day. We believe he was siphoning gas out of the truck - the tank emptied out awfully fast. He always had his own agenda. He preferred for example working with the construction guys and at one point was acting more like Ken's laborer than ours.

His parting shot was to slash up Richard's little tomato bush - we don't know everything he did - Richard will find out what was stolen and what ruined over the next few days. Richard believes Jaime to be insane or at least out of control. We are relieved to be done with him.

Equal and Cedar Rapids

Shari and I went to Cedar Rapids this week to do a presentation at Swank for Equal. We were not well prepared as neither of us were particularly into it. Our contact at Equal is gone, replaced by an unknown quantity and so our work there is probably over. I guess that's the reason we were so unenthusiastic. However, Shari and I enjoyed ourselves in first class both there and back which made the travel much easier.

Our little presentation went OK but I felt we were faking and dodging most of the questions. I particularly can't get behind the product at the moment because of my own anxiety about my AN. This may be distracting me in a bigger way than I acknowledge. I find if I keep really busy I don't notice the buzz so much. Coming down in the aircraft to Minneapolis, my buzz turned into applause for a while which was scary but it settled down in a little bit.

Shari and I shared a pork tenderloin sandwich and we also ordered cheese balls which were deep fried. Not exactly the most nutritious meals you could experience. Pork rules in Iowa.