Catching Up

Hi everyone,



Well, so much has been happening, and we have been so busy...where to start? I guess I'll tell you our sad news first, that Bobs Aunt Millie passed away last week. She had a devastating heart attack on Ash Wednesday that she never recovered from. She was, as her daughter Candy says, a force to be reckoned with, but an oh so loving and proud Mother, Nona and Aunt. We will all miss her terribly, but she left a wonderful legacy of love for her family. But as they say, nature abhors a vacuum, and though Aunt Millie truly is leaving a huge space to be filled, my niece Megan gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Matthew Thomas, on 2/29 at 4:09 am. Yes we have a "leapling", in fact the first of the day at Doylestown Hospital, so Mom, Dad Matt, and little Matthew made the front page of the Doylestown Intelligencer Newspaper. Weighing in at 7lbs., 20zs., and 21 inches long, w/ a little brown down, he is the sweetest little bundle of joy. Despite having to be induced b/c her BP was high Meg had a relatively easy time of it. And she and Matthew are both doing fine, although today his bilirubin was high, so he actually is having to stay an extra day to be under the bili-light. Now we just have to arrange for Matthew to meet his Great Nana and Pop-Pop Noon. My Mother is, needless to say awfully disappointed that she can't be here to have him in her clutches...but hopefully soon. My parents are faring pretty well lately. My Father had his EPS studies, but did not need a pacemaker. He tolerated the procedure very well, in fact all the staff kept saying...you're 90 years old??? And he only needed to stay overnight b/c the procedure was done so late in the day. So that was a relief all the way around.



Now, onto the big guy. Or maybe I should say my shrinking guy. Bob's appetite has been waxing and waning lately and he lost 2 lbs. at his last visit to HUP. He also hasn't been able to shake the dregs of his cold, still needing meds regularly for the congestion and cough. And last Sunday I noticed that his "sunburn type" rash was back, and he noticed that his eyes were burning and tearing. So Dr. Luger prescribed some drops and cream, but both were worse by Thursday, so Lee Arano took Bob down to HUP on Friday, for which he deserves a medal or at the least a case of beer, as they were there ALL DAY!!!!! Dr. Luger sent Bob to the opthamology clinic, where he had a very thorough, 3 hour long eye exam. Bob thought he had conjunctivitis, but as it turns out he has blepharitis, which is an inflammation of the inner eyelids. So now he's on antibiotic eye drops, and needs to wash his eyes 4 x's a day w/ Johnson Baby shampoo. They seem a bit better as of today, but he still has a lot of tearing and burning, and is in general, not a happy camper. He also has had his one immunosuppresant drug doubled as the rash that's back is caused by the GVHD(graft vs. host disease). We head back down on Tuesday for a follow-up.



We've also been very busy with "the fire" business. Still filling out inventories of things that were lost and working on getting invoices from the furniture companies where we bought much of our furniture. Many of you know we had a beautiful, custom made, tiger maple dining room table and hutch, and windsor chairs. The furniture restorer we met with this past week is confident he can restore those to like new, all but the 2 armchairs. But all our upholstered furniture, entertainment center, kitchen hutch and a corner cupboard were destroyed. So we have already been to Pa. Traditions in Skippack and will be going to Pipers Classics and Roger Wright this week. I've also been working on replacing my collection of Vaillancourt chalkware Santas----these are American folk art pieces made in Massachusetts, many of which were part of their Starlight series that are only made for one year, so difficult to find and expensive when you do. And here I must thank my gal Deb T. who actually called Vaillancourt to order me a repacement, and ended up having a long conversation about her poor friend who lost her Santas in a fire.....so typically Debbie, making friends so easily and constantly worrying about others. I should tell you also that Deb, though fighting sinusitis right now continues with her outpt. chemo at home monthly, and her counts are currently off the charts....that is to say...normal!!! She remains, as ever, a huge inspiration.



Well, I think I hit the highlights. As I say, we are staying very busy. And I think I will be busier still with that new baby boy. Did I say how beautiful he is??? Oh, I did? Well I can't help it. When I get someone to e-mail me some digital photos, I will try to post them and you can see for yourselves. I will enclose the web address for the newspaper article that you can cut and paste, but unfortunately the photo isn't included online. So now you are caught up and I am going to hit the hay as it's after midnight. I've been writing in between watching TV, though I was disappointed that Masterpiece Theatre's Jane Austen wasn't on tonight. Bob and I have really been looking forward to Sunday nights since it's been showing.



Everyone take care. We hope you are all well. And you know, I'd love it if you'd blog to us. I miss the chit-chat like there used to be. And as always, thank you for your prayers.



All our love,

Bob and Mo


http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-03012008-1496289.html