Last Sunday afternoon, I drove the 2.5 hours over to Deborah's for a delicious dinner of lumpia in celebration of Samantha's birthday. After a brief visit, I continued the 40 minutes to Miranda's house for the night.
After seminary and breakfast Monday, Miranda, Rachel and I drove to a commercial countertop warehouse; it was like being in a candy store with all these wonderfully beautiful slaps of granite - so many choices, how do you decide? This was a well organized warehouse; all their slaps were clearly identified as to country of origin, class (1-7; as in how expensive) and were barcoded. If you found something you liked they would reserve it for you. We spent over an hour there and found a couple of likely possibilities. After lunch I drove to my eye appointment. In a previous letter I mentioned I had a spot on my lower diagnosed as cancerous and was referred to this eye specialist, the only one in Northwest Arkansas, that does this type of procedure; only he doesn't really do the surgery - he does the reconstructive surgery after the other eye specialist that he will refer me to, removes the cancer. I am now set up to see the eye surgeon the end of April and then the reconstructive doctor that afternoon. Both are located west of here.
Kristy drove down to visit and brought Emily with her. The goal was for her to spend the week with me and scan a notebook of family letters. And then return with me tonight to her house. She has been faithful in completing her home schooling, reading and scanning each day. She is also an excellent baby sitter and playmate for her younger cousins.
Emily and I drove home in the afternoon, but only after the traditional stop at Andy's Frozen Custard. I was blown away with what had happened to my kitchen in my absence! Nathan had removed the former kitchen wall, installed a beam overhead and totally transformed my kitchen into...well, a big empty space that no longer functions as a kitchen. The plumber came the next day to install new water lines and drain. But the old sink is not connected and is now in the back yard. Even my new refrigerator with the now useful water isn't connected. It has been quite a challenge to cook. All the pots and pans and dishes, plus food ingredients are upstairs. So, if we cook anything, all the required food and utensils need to go downstairs for the preparation and cooking. We can still eat upstairs, but wash the dishes downstairs in the kitchen there. As Steve said, it is like camping.
Steve continued to be a good support, supplying useful suggestions and a helpful hand. But he and Susan left Thursday to get home before the storm. That morning I had testing at the hospital. I was impressed with their friendliness and efficiency. They did a scan of the adnominal area, injected the die for the bone scan and told me to come back in 90 minutes for that scan. I returned and was out of the hospital in less than 30 minutes. That afternoon the spray foam people had planned to come and spray, but they were swamped at another location. They are now scheduled after my return in April. In the meantime, I have done additional electrical work and hope to be done in that department.
Miranda drove over Thursday afternoon with Rachel and two of her boys; she joined me at my Friday morning meeting with the doctor who reported on the previous day's test. He walked in saying "good news" which he explained meant that the cancer had not spread beyond the prostate - at least according to the test. He did indicate that I have arthritis in a variety of places throughout the body. Because of the screen implanted in 2013 when I had my hernia surgery, having this guy surgically removed is not an option. While doing nothing is an option because this is a slow growing cancer, his best recommendation was for 9 weeks of radiation. Miranda has agreed to help research specialists in this field and see about getting a second option. At this time there is no big rush to do anything. For those of you who keep track of those things, my diagnosis came three years within a week of Sandy's cancer diagnosis in 2018.
Nathan came by in the afternoon the size, shape, location of cabinets so he can start making them in my absence. Hopefully when I return, he will have them completed. Dan also arrived with the Camden
Saturday Dan helped me install five sheets of drywall in the pantry; the rest of the walls need the insulation sprayed first. We also got a call from the elder's quorum president about an emergency move of a sister; she only a few items. We took a break and rendered assistance. It was a quick and easy move since there were less than a dozen items, we had two trailers and several people to help. And Miranda headed home with Rachel and Camden since she was to help deliver pie to her YW on Sunday.
Today we had elder's quorum at 8 and discussed President Nelson's talk on 'God Will Prevail' from last October. Some impressive challenges to ponder. Sacrament was t 10, so I stayed to study for seminary and Dan brought Alex, Ethan and Emily in. Then Dan had to head off to St Roberts for a meeting there. Originally he planned to take the boys, but asked if I could take them with me to Jonathan's and he would stop by after his meeting and pick them up. That means I will need to be more organized in my packing!
So, after sending this off, I need to finish packing so I can get on the road. This will be the start of my Great Fox Adventure, taking me to such exotic places as CO, UT, OR, CA and more. Stay tuned for exciting details of long drives and boring roads!
Here are some of Grandpa's helpers:
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