GREAT GRANDCHILDREN CANCEL CANCER RESULTS
We have enjoyed having our #1 Grandson and his family here since Sunday afternoon. Great grandsons, Christopher and Brent, had to first check out the fish pond and throw a few rocks and sticks in to see them splash. I got there and fed the fish. We have a pond full of new fish. Lots of little black babies and some that are about 1"long that are changing color to gold. The lilies were in bloom with several large blossoms. Today both Jim and Mandi drove mowers. Jim got on the Ford with the shredder and Mandi drove the Deere riding mower. Each had a son who had to switch from one to another. The lawn around the Halsell House looks great again. We have totally missed the rain. They got 4" in Brownwood and Coleman and the clouds moved this way but the rain quit before it got here. The temperature is cooler so that helps.

Today they called with the CA 125 results and it is going in the wrong direction up to 39. We will see what the CT Scan shows on July 3 and Dr. Hanson may have to use one of the other solutions that he said he still has up his sleeve. Lou is complaining about pain across the abdominal wall.

We got the final audit report and after I clean up some problems with moving the books from QB online to a desk copy, I will be finished with the church treasurer's job. Hallelujah!
We are enjoying the new church. Lou didn't go this weekend because the kids were coming in.

ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DR. APPOINTMENT
Today was eye doctor annual checkup. Lou came out fine. I was told that my right eye could improve with cataract surgery. I hadn't considered it before because I have macular degeneration in that eye, but he said the ARMD is stable and an operation would improve sight in that eye. I am looking at dates and will have to schedule when I have driver to take me. Only takes one day. They operate in the morning and check it in the afternoon and you can go home. For in-town residents they come back the second day for checking. We then went across the street to have blood taken for Lou's CA 125 and from me for a kidney recheck.

We drove across town to use the OfficeMax bag that gave 15% discount on anything in the bag. I replenished my ink jets and bought some paper. Lou got some storage boxes. We went to the mall and ate Mexican food. Bought a few things, went by HEB to recycle paper and plastic. And home. Maybe tomorrow I will get caught up on the UMC minutes from Weds last week. I usually get them out in a day or two.

On at literary note the Library is trying to schedule Dixie Cash (two sisters) for a special event of Meet the Authors this summer. Trying to find a good date.

GOOD AND NOT SO GOOD NEWS
The good news is that Lou made it to our new church building for Sunday School, church and potluck dinner. She sat in three different chairs but survived. She appreciated the new restroom and was greeted by everyone who was glad to see her.

Today she got the CA 125 results and they weren't so good. They came in at 28 which is a big jump from the last results at 6. Dr. Hansen asked for a retest in a few weeks. His office also called today to say that Dr. Hansen has asked for a PET scan and they are trying to schedule it for this Friday. We have a eye doctor appointment Thursday.

She walked with me to the front gate this morning. Our son, Mark, is on a business trip to Pakistan and his wife has forwarded some of his emails. He has had two suits and 6 shirts that are being made for him. I was surprised at how well he is able to communicate by email and phone service. There is a 11 hour difference between him and us.

ONCOLOGIST VISIT AND NATURE REPORT
One more trip to Texas Oncology in Fort Worth to meet with Dr. Hancock. He had the CT Scan report from Abilene that showed a "nodule" on the left side near the adrenal gland in the back. Another small object was shown on a lung, but he wasn't concerned and concurred with recommendation of radiologist to look at it again in 2 months. Mary Kathryn went with us and pushed having a PET scan. Dr. Hancock said he would see if Medicare would approve one although he was a little skeptical of the test saying that it often gives false positives and negatives. Lou made the trip well. We drove in in a light rain. After lunch with MK at Hedary's we were home by 2:30.

A note on our nature trail. We walked yesterday morning and there were two rabbits in the front yard. Haven't seen any for several months so we pleased to see them. Two means that there will be more. Also yesterday we walked in a snowstorm of ashes from our neighbor burning some of the trees behind us. He has had two huge backhoes clearing out trees. A hired burn specialist came by when I went to look over the fence. He said he was checking our fence line to make sure the fire didn't get on us. He told me that most of the dug up trees were buried 10 to 15 feet deep in large holes. The place looks different with all the trees gone except for a few left. They have sowed native grasses and we got about .3" of rain Tuesday night. Should help the grass grow. We may get some more late tonight. Didn't get any last night.

Our birds are less than in any year we have been here. We have one pair of swallows at the Halsell House and none here when in years past we had multiple nests at both houses. We have our cardinals, tufted titmouse, goldfinch, and other finch. I have seen one peewee nest in front. Even the hummingbirds seem to be fewer this year.

This week we had a fat raccoon eating bird food on the terrace and climbing up the pole to a bird feeder. I greased the pole and haven't seen him up there since. We rarely see them, but they come around about dark. We see their tracks on the road and trail every morning so we know that they wander around at night. Yesterday I took the second peach broken tree limb off. High winds last week broke a limb off of each peach tree in our front yard. They were loaded with peaches. Lou thinks that they were helped because heavy coons were in the trees. We don't know that. By July we will have some peaches and the squirrels, fox and coons will have the most.

WESTERN WRITERS WEEK
Lou had a great week at the annual meeting of the Western Writers of America talking to old friends and making new ones. One author, from the Texas Tech Press that Lou had reviewed manuscripts for, Susan Miller, who lives in Tucson, joined WWA and came to her first meeting. She was drafted to help with the TTP table. They sent a few books and order blanks. Several of Miller's books were included in the Homestead Auction. She writes mysteries about geological investigators in the Nevada Utah diggings.

We got to visit with Anne and Elmer Kelton. Anne said that they flew out. She has restricted Elmer's driving. We were fortunate to have a chauffer with our granddaughter, Val Wilcox, driving us to Scottsdale. She is a love. Easy to be around and very helpful with everything. She said she enjoyed the sessions and learned a lot about writing and westerns. We told her that she would have to help with the auction because her mother did when she came with us, but this year Paul Hutton, the executive director, had his two daughters who handled displaying the artifacts on sale. The pickings were slim this year, but contributions increased the Homestead Foundation over $100,000.

We enjoyed renewing acquaintances with Mike Powell, the magistrate who has retired after a couple of four year terms. He is trying to decide what direction his career will go. I told him he would probably join the 30,000 K-street lobbyists who are working on the 50 senators and 456 representatives. He worked on the Hill before he became a judge. We got to have lunch with him and have him at our table for the meals. He gave Lou a copy of a Spur award novel and gave me a book of the Westerns that were made in Arizona.

We also got to meet Marc Otte's wife, Vicki, who is an eighth grade social studies teacher in Alaska. So she and our Jr. High math teacher, Val, had notes to compare. Marc honored us with special plastic enclosed coins that say United States Marshall on one side and District of Alaska on the other. Marc started his law enforcement career as a Weatherford policeman. His son is graduating from the Air Force Academy and getting married next year just before the next WWA meeting.

Johnny Boggs did a good job of taking the President's reins from Cotton Smith and even got a Spur award and was a finalist in another category. This year's Spur award banquet used computer projections to feature each winnner. Even had video clips of the movie awards.

Reporting on Lou's health. When we got home we had letters on the results of the mammogram and bone density tests. The mammogram was normal. The bone density indicated bone loss and advised taking the new prescription for Vitamin D and three calcium pills a day. Today we finally got the report on the CT Scan and it confirmed a nodule on her abdominal wall and recommended a follow up in two months. The report will go to Dr. Hancock before her appointment Thursday. Lou is trying to get over the long week of too hot temperatures. She didn't walk this morning but plans to resume walking tomorrow. Today we finished the laundry and got Val off and had the cleaning lady here. I went to Kiwanis and found out that they had been calling my disconnected answering machine all week to remind me that I had the program. As usual I did an adlib. Peg Terrell suggested I report on the UMC church building where they held the first church last Sunday. Had twice our normal attendance and the reports were good. I told of the building committee and financial history of the church. We got it built and have money in the bank due to the overwhelming generosity of members and friends and the responsible builder, who also built the addition to the Baptist church. There were also a lot of answered prayers contributing to the building project.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
We finally got to Scottsdale for the Western Writers of America annual meeting and when we went to the reception at 5:30 we were told that it was 4:30 because they are on PT. Or they don't recognize daylight savings. Anyhow we didn't think to look at our cell phones until after and found that they keep the local time. Very confusing.

We have had a great chauffer. Val, our granddaughter, has been driving. We spent last night in Las Cruces. We ate at the Cracker Barrel and each one of us ordered chicken and dumplings, which I thought was odd. We got to LC about 5 p.m. local time. I had forgotten my pajamas so Val and I went to Walmart which was about a block away. On Lou's orders I got two pair because my old ones at home are really old. I also bought a new digital camera which I had been planning after reading the latest Consumers Reports that covered cameras. Have you ever noticed that stores never carry the models that CR reports on. I wanted a Nikon Coolpix L12 and ended up buying a L18 because they didn't have L12 models. I like it but wonder if another model with digital image stabilization would be better than this one with electronic stabilization where they only increase shutter speed to correct for my old man shakiness. I haven't used it except for a practice shot, so I haven't tested it completely. I made a short movie of Lou and it even captures audio. Looked good before she made me erase it.

The road trip was hard on Lou yesterday. She is doing some better today because we weren't in the car for as long a time. It is great to have an air-conditioned car when the outside temperature is 103. Yesterday we saw 106 as the maximum going through the low desert areas of NM. As we went up in the mountains it dropped to 94 but back in the valleys it got above 100.

The first person I saw when I checked in here at the Chapparral Suites Resort was the new WWA president, Johnny Boggs. I told him that we were having Mike Cox for our next Author in Cross Plains and he said he was a great choice.

We are enjoying having a DSL line for our free Internet access in the suite. It has a large living room with a small kitchen area plus a large bedroom in the suite. Lou was hungry an enjoyed a chicken quesidilla while Val and I had pizzas when we found out it was only 4:30 local time. Our stomachs said it was supper time. A glass of Merlot with her meal mellowed Lou out and she is feeling a lot better. I noticed that she brought Jim Lee's book about his literary experiences to read for her next memoir chapter. She finished writing up her experiences with Elroy Bode last week.

We still have received no word on her three Xray exams last Thursday. I called and bugged the doctor's office Monday and Tuesday and finally got someone who said they hadn't gotten the readings and would call my cell phone when they did. I will bug them tomorrow if I don't hear. It is ridiculous that we can't find out sooner than a week later about the tests. The medical profession is getting bogged down and backed up.

MEDICAL TESTS
Today was the day that Lou dreaded and it lived up to her worry. She spent all afternoon being Xrayed. We got to town at 1 with her fasting since breakfast and at 2 she went through bone density and the pain of another mammography. She insists she won't have any more of those. Then the fiasco of finding out that the CT Scan machine that she was supposed to go to had been purchased two days ago by Abilene Regional Hospital and all scheduled patients were sent over there. Of course that delayed us well beyond the 3 scheduled appointment time. She finally finished after 5:30.

Everything looked a lot better to Lou after we had a great meal at Copper Creek restaurant, a new experience for us. She said she needed that glass of Cabernet and had a cup of decaf to finish with. It was a long day. We got home at 7:30 and she got to see the Rangers doing well before she went to bed. Looks like the Rangers should win.

I had a long day also. I needed to copy a bunch of records for the auditor of the church finances. I was greatly helped by our pastor, Rev. Margaret Friend, who ran the copier for me and copied papers for 2 1/2 hours. I slipped off and got my haircut that Lou insisted I needed before we leave next week for the WWA. We finished at 11:30 and I took it to the PO and got it off to the auditors. I can't get rid of this Treasurer's job until I complete the audit. I then got home in time to take Lou to the tests.

Tomorrow we get up early to drive to Dallas for a Regents meeting at Presbyterian Hospital site of TWU nursing school. We will have to get there early. But after the meeting we will have a meal with son Mark and his wife Mary Kathryn for an early Father's Day celebration. For the last 50 years I have always been on the road for Father's Day and this year will be no different.

GRADUATES AND HONORS

I forgot to tell about the honors that our granddaughter, Ashley Rodenberger Pagenkopf, received. She got her Master's degree in Child Development, but to be certified as one she has to complete an internship for a semester (at no pay, unlike my engineering interns who were paid well). She wanted to intern close to home in FW so she applied to Scottish Rite Children's hospital and Dallas Children's Hospital. She didn't get accepted by Scottish Rite but was one of 40 applicants at Dallas Children's of whom 8 were interviewed and she was chosen as an intern. They may have selected two, I am not certain of the details. But she was honored to be selected. She plans to commute using the rail connection from FW to a station at the hospital. She will continue to work weekends at Cook Children's to maintain her employment status with them and help defray living expenses. Her husband, Ross, is a nurse who is working two jobs to help out. She starts her internship in September.

This weekend Lou took a viacodin in order to go to Stephenville to celebrate the graduation of Sue's grandson, Whitt Livesay, from highschool. He was a little groggy. He and his dad were up all night Friday celebrating at the school. He won a recliner chair that he will take to his dorm room in September. He is attending Dallas Baptist College. We got to meet his girl friend, Atalie, who was knock-out gorgeous. She will be majoring in nutrition at A&M this fall. It was a great time to reunion with our family and Sue's and the Levisay family. It was a great time, but we hadd the car facing the sun and it took a few miles to get it cooled down to a reasonable level. Kinda took it out of Lou, but she is doing fine today. She got the meal together when I got home from church.