Happy Belated New Year

First of all, let me wish you all a happy new year. I know, the year is 5 days old already, so I am late. But, better late than never! We didn't do much for new years eve. We were actually in bed at 12:05. Dawna and I are not night owls. we actually were falling asleep earlier, but we got up and had a drink before the new year came in.
Evelyn went back home to her mother this past Saturday. It was sad to see her go, but, it is also nice to get our house back to quiet again. A 4 year old girl is not very quiet. We love her, and will miss her, but it is always good to get back to our humdrum life. Randy had a job interview with the Butler VA hospital last week, and has a second interview tomorrow. Sounds promising for him. Keep your fingers crossed. This would be a good job for him.
Dawna and I are still looking for a new church to attend. We have gone to Bethel Life Church in Greenville for the past 2 weeks. We will give it a month there, before we make a decision. I really like the Pastor there. He has given very good sermons for the weeks we have attended. The music has been wonderful. A little too long, I think, but overall I have enjoyed being there. The people are very friendly. We will keep praying on this, and God will put us where we belong.
The Steelers are in the playoffs, and will play the San Diego Chargers next Sunday in the first round for them. If they win, they will play in the AFC Championship game next week. A win there will put them in the Super Bowl. I will keep you posted on how they do.
My sister Chris and her family from Florida visited in Pennsylvania over Christmas. They stayed at my parents house in Jamestown. It was good to see them all. They have 2 wonderful daughters, Gabby and Danni. We may go visit them in Florida in March.
That's about it for today. Got to go watch Jeopardy on TV.

Merry Christmas!

Today is Christmas Day. What a wonderful Christmas it has been. My son Brian came home from the hospital today. That makes it a great day! For him, and for all of us. We thought he might come home yesterday, but it just didn't work out. The doctors tried to get him home, but, he was not quite ready. So, this morning after our dear Evie opened up her Christmas presents from Santa, Dawna and I drove down to Pittsburgh once again to spend Christmas with my son Brian. We must have seen 4-5 doctors today. On Christmas Day? Hard to believe that many doctors were working today. They told us Brian has had Hershbergers disease his entire life. This causes his bowels to not function properly. The one doctor said he has had this since birth. He was amazed that no one caught this when he was a little boy. I have had Brian in to see many doctors when he was growing up, and no one caught this problem. They all said nothing was wrong with Brian, that he just would not move his bowels. They all thought it was just him, not wanting to go. At least now, we know what the problem was. And now, we can get him the help he needs. He is still going to need more surgery in a few months, but, this is all workable now, as long as he does what the doctors need him to do. So, he is now back home with Joey and his mother. Merry Christmas, Brian!
After we took him home, Dawna and I stopped at Denny's for a little dinner. We have started making this our tradition. Usually we go to a movie, and then to Denny's, but since we had to go to Pittsburgh, we skipped the movie, but still had dinner at Denny's. After dinner we went and saw Nathan and Mindie and Jim. Then we came home to a nice quiet house. Randy and Evelyn went to a Christmas party, so Dawna and I are enjoying the quiet while we can. Evelyn is a beautiful little girl, but, she does get a bit rambunctious at times. I will miss her when she leaves, but the quiet is nice right now. I hope you all had a nice Christmas today. Enjoy your families, and remember the real meaning of Christmas.

Super Steelers

Wow! What a game the Steelers played today. They beat the Baltimore Ravens 13-9, and clinched the AFC North Division title. Plus, they gained a first round bye in the playoffs this year. If they win their last 2 games they will be the number 1 seed for the entire playoffs. They should be a favorite to get to the super bowl this year. What a team! They were behind the entire game until 43 seconds left in the 4Th quarter. The Steelers completed a pass to Santonio Holms at the goal line, and it was initially ruled not a touchdown. After the refs reviewed the play, it was overturned and they gave the Steelers a touchdown, which won the game. The Steelers never give up. They are a great 4Th quarter team. They came back last week against the Cowboys and won it in the 4Th quarter. And they did it again against the hated Ravens. Next up is Tennessee. They have 12 wins, and the Steelers have 11. If the Steelers can beat the Titans and the Cleveland Browns in their last game, then they should go all the way to the Super Bowl this year! GO STEELERS!!!!

Brian

My oldest son Brian, who is 25 years old has had a very bad week. I got a phone call last Sunday evening from Joey, who told me that Brian was taken to the hospital in Sharon, because he had passed out twice during the day. I figured he would be okay, passing out didn't sound like anything that I needed to go to the hospital for. I told Joey to keep me posted, and he said he would. Around 1:30 in the morning on Monday, joey called me to tell me that Brian had blood clots in his lungs and his leg. I then realized that this was very serious and Dawna and I rushed to the Sharon Hospital. Once we got there, we got to see Brian, and he was not doing real good. He has had problems over the years moving his bowels. It has been an on-going problem with him, but, I didn't realize how bad it was until that day. His stomach was distended badly. Kind of like he was 11 months pregnant. The nurse said they were going to monitor him for the night, and gave him blood thinners for the clots. Dawna and I went home and slept for a few hours, and then went back to the hospital around noon. About 4PM, the doctor talked to me, and said they could not do anything else for him there, and they were going to life flight him to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. I knew this was bad, but, I didn't want to think what could happen to him. Dawna and I went to Kmart and picked up some things, we were not sure how long we would be in Pittsburgh, and then we were on our way, with joey and my ex-wife Denise in tow with us. Taking my ex wife was not a good idea, but, she had no other way to get there. After spending all day at the hospital, and most of the night, and the ride to Pittsburgh I remembered why I did not want to be married to her. She is a real trip! More on her later. We got to Allegheny Hospital around 6:30 PM, and I got a phone call from Sharon hospital telling me that Brian had not left yet. They could not fly the helicopter, due to freezing rain, so they had to send a ambulance from Butler to Allegheny hospital to pick up a nurse, then they went to Sharon to get Brian. This made for a long wait in the waiting room in Pittsburgh. While we were waiting, Denise's sister and her husband and daughter showed up to wait with us. Brian finally got to the hospital around 10:15PM. They stabilized him, and told us they would not do anything that night, except to monitor him. I saw no reason to stay there, while they did nothing. So, Dawna and I decided to head home for the night, and go back the next day. Denise road home with her sister, which made us happy. I don't think Dawna and I could have handled listening to her all the way home. We did have to pick her up the next morning and take her back down with us. Another long ride, listening to her whine about her cold. We stayed there till 2PM, and got to see Brian, but, they still weren't going to do anything that day. Dawna and I went home for the day, and let Denise go back with her sister again. My daughter Tiffany showed up at the hospital with her girl friend Jill. Another long story there. My niece, Sarah drove them down. We had more people there, than most people have in the hospital waiting room. Anyhow, They finally did some surgery on Brian on Thursday morning. They basically did a colonoscopy and cleaned him out. Not a pretty sight, but, they had to do this. I have not been back to the hospital since Tuesday, but I have talked to Brian on the phone, and communicated with the doctors to monitor his progress. I will be going back to see him on Tuesday of this week. He is doing better, but, he is still in CCU. He came very close to not making it through all this. He really gave us all a scare. We need to keep praying for his recovery, and for him to get all the help he needs. I will let you know more when I find out more.

OH,the weather outside is frightful.....

Yes, the snow is piling up here. It started snowing today while I was out delivering mail. And it is very cold! The wind was howling all day. I wasn't real cold, except for my face. I wear long underwear, sweater, jacket, gloves, and a stocking cap. I have a stocking cap, that covers my face, but, I really don't like wearing it. I can't see much from the sides, and I do need to watch for dogs. Anyhow, we are supposed to get 6 inches of snow tonight. I am off the next 2 days, so I really don't care how much it snows. I do need to get out my snow blower, and get some fresh gas and oil for it. I should have done that before winter got here, but I have just been too busy. I have been working way too much. I am going to enjoy my next 2 days. Tomorrow, is football. Steelers are playing the cowboys. That should be a wild game. Steelers are having a great year. They beat up on the Patriots last Sunday. They have a real good shot at going to the super bowl. I sure hope that happens. Okay, got to go watch some college football. And, watch the snow fly!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving with your families and friends. we had a wonderful day today. Mindie and Jim hosted a delightful thanksgiving dinner at their home. They really did a nice job as hosts. The house was all decorated and clean, and everyone brought the best food for dinner. Dawna's Mom and her husband, C.R. were there. And her brothers, Denny and Daryl came. Dawna's best friend Deb and her husband Randy and their daughter Olivia joined us for dinner, also. And Randy came home from Texas yesterday, so he was there, too. He is living with us, while he is home. We all had a very nice day together, and we all had a lot to be thankful for. The weather was nice, no more snow, and the sun was out almost all day. We all had plenty to eat, and their was plenty of leftovers. My parents spent thanksgiving with my sister in Florida. I hope they had a nice day with them. I am very thankful for having such wonderful parents, and for having such a loving family. I am also thankful for my wife, Dawna. She means the world to me. I hope you all have as nice as a day as we had here. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Lots and lots of snow

We got buried in snow the past 2 days. A total of over 15 inches has fallen over the past 48 hours. That is way too much snow, and it is still fall! I hate snow. Especially since I have to walk through it all day, delivering the mail. It has been a rough couple of days. My legs were very sore yesterday when I got home. Trudging through the snow really wore me out. My darling wife fixed me a hot bath when I got home, and I soaked my tired old legs in the tub. It felt really good. I haven't taken a bath in years. I usually take a shower. I miss our hot tub, but, this was not bad. We are thinking of putting in a wood burner in our basement. A friend of ours is going to come over and see if it can be done, and if it can he will install it. It should save us a lot of money on our gas bill.
My mom and dad are going to Florida on Monday to see my sister Chris and her family. They are staying for 10 days. Lucky them! wish I was going with them. Maybe Dawna and I will take another vacation next spring, and head back to Florida. I think we will drive this time, and take a longer sight seeing tour. Maybe head to New Jersey first and see Steve and Michelle, then head down to North Carolina and see Daryl. From there, head down to Florida and visit with Chris and Tom. If Dawna's dad is still there, we will go see him too. Should be fun.
Not much else going on here. Getting ready to watch the Pitt Panther play Cincinnati in College football. Have a great day.