Way Too Much Time: Let's Try This Again

After hearing numerous complaints about not updating this blog, I will attempt to get everyone up to speed on what's happening with myself and "The Madge".

Since my last posting a few things have happened. The both of us have lost three good friends, words can not express the sadness we felt with their passing however we are blessed with the memories of friendship and love that these friends have given us;

Matt Warren -

Marina Kenney -

Cooper -

On to the Children

Allison - Allison and husband Henry are living in Eastchester, NY. Henry is working at Fordham University and attending classes in pursuit of his Doctorate, which should be competed within the next two years. He recently became a member of Phi Beta Kappa fraternity, which gives him a slight edge over his father in law who was a member of Tapa New Keg. Allison recently lost her job and was unemployed for less than a day. She is now working in "The Big Apple" and has to put up with commuting by train. It's amazing that people complain that they can not find work and subsequently collect unemployment for a few years, get off your lazy butts and get a job. Found an old picture of the two of them, see if you can see any changes.

Meaghan - Meg still resides in Trumbull, CT and presented us with a new grandchild, Maeve Elizabeth. Meg insists that Maeve looks different from brother Sean but take a look at the following. Sean's on the left or is it the right?

I think the only difference is behind the diaper. Here's a few pictures of Maeve.

Erin - 100% cured of breast cancer, and has gotten very involved with the Susan G Komen organization. She and Colleen flew to Chicago to participate in a three day 60 mile walk plus Erin volunteers for other events in the Dallas area. She also presented us with a new family member, no not a grandchild but a grandpuppy. They still have Riley, the golden doodle, who is as obedient as a rattlesnake and now they have a poop eating, non housebroken, parasite infested mutt named Buddy.

Colleen - Still with Shell and remains in New Jersey, we are detecting a change in her accent but she hasn't surprised us with dropping an "F" bomb yet. A few more years on the east coast then it's off to greener pastures. She too has presented us with a new addition, another grandpuppy. They named him "Dexter", this name is after the TV character Dexter, who is a forensics expert that moonlights as a serial killer. Nice, real nice.

Not too much excitement here with the exception Christmas. The plans were; Allison and Henry fly into Houston and the four of us drive to Frisco where we would meet up with Meaghan, and Colleen. This should work out fine, well the day before we were to leave I told "The Madge" that I didn't feel that well and would she mind if I skipped going. Okay I DID get some flack but in the end she agreed. So Cooper and myself stayed home to celebrate Christmas. The next day I really felt bad and ached all over to the point that I slept in a chair at the kitchen table with three pillows to make it more comfortable. "The Madge" insisted that I go to the Doctor however due to the holidays I could not get in to see him until the 27th. The morning of the 27th I was REALLY bad, besides the aches and pains it was very very very hard to breath. They took blood and did a CAT scan. Now the fun part, he walks in my room and says I have some bad news and worse news. You have pneumonia. I asked "Then what's the bad news?". He responded "No that's the bad news and the worse news is you have a pulmonary embolism in your lung". Now I had no idea what that meant so I asked what do I take for it. He said "If it was anyone else but you I would have EMS over here and take you to the hospital but because it's you I want you to go right over to the emergency room and check yourself in". Still not knowing the severity of this I asked if I could go home first and feed Cooper, the poor dog is three hours overdue for his lunch. The Doc told me to get my butt over to the hospital. When I got in my car I called Dallas and told "The Madge" the news and asked her to call a neighbor to feed Cooper. Cooper was fed by our good friend Kathy Calonico, "The Madge" got the first flight out of Dallas and before I was in my hospital room both she and Kathy were by my side. Fast forward - Allison and Henry drove back to Houston and two and a half days later I was discharged. I found out while in the hospital that this was serious, heck I might not have seen 2012. No matter how serious this was, it didn't prevent "The Madge" from asking if we could go out to dinner, and that was the day I got home from the hospital. Yes it was a good meal.

Now pictures from last year: