First Fill Up

I filled up Dixie for the first time this week. I got 75 mpg. From what I understand this should only improve after its first tune up. This is all city driving with quite a bit of stopping and starting. I went for my longest ride this morning. I travelled 40 miles and at one point was able to get Dixie up to 55 mph with no effort. I think the throttle was only half open. It was a great morning for a ride. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to take her out again. I bought two convex mirrors to put on my mirrors. I put one on the left mirror and it worked great...until I hit a pothole and it fell off. I bought a pair so I am going to put the remaining one on and try to get it to stick.

The Vols play Auburn today...pray for me.

I love the Vols!

I love the Tennessee Vols!. I wish they weren't so bad this year. They aren't even fun to watch. I don't mind them losing as much if they would just entertain me. Basketball season begins soon. I love the Lady Vols. The men are fun to watch as well. This year should be a challenging one for the women. We only have one senior and no returning starters. It's going to be fun!

Independents Day

We spent yesterday at a new art/music festival downtown. We had a great day. The weather was perfect and Mary Ann made a big sale. Pictured is Mary Ann holding our friend Georgia.

New member of the family...

Meet Dixie. Isn't she beautiful? She is a 2009 Kymco People 150. I have been looking for a scooter a little bigger than the Vino. When I saw a picture of this one I just knew she was for me. I rode her to work today and she was quite the star. She is so much faster than I am used to. I must remember to not open the throttle all of the way upon take off. I swear the first time I accelerated I thought I might pop a wheelie. I hope to be able to take some cool rides soon. It is going to get cool soon so I don't know how much time I have. I would love to post pictures from scooter rides on my blog.

Everybody is home!

Dad is home and getting better. I am home and beat. Work is the last place I want to be tomorrow. Oh well. Hopefully I can speak to the owner of Zootscoots and see if he knows when the new scooter will be arriving.

Sunday afternoon.

Dad is looking good. The doctor came in this morning to take the packing out of his nose. Mary Ann and I thought it would be a great time to try out the Starbucks coffee in the cafeteria. He said at 4:00am a nurse came in a took vitals and asked if he needed anything. He decided he wanted some crackers and orange juice. As he was eating his snack he had a morphine infused mirage of eating a 6 course meal containing the following:

1st course- An appetizer of 3 fried mushrooms and 3 coconut shrimp.

2nd course- Seafood bisque with lobster, shrimp, crab, and scallops.

3rd course- A wedge of iceberg lettuce with creamy blue cheese dressing.

4th course- Warm homemade whole wheat parker house rolls.

5th course- The best veal marsala he had ever had.

6th course- Mom's butterscotch pie.

And of course all of this was washed down with sweet tea.

So he had a pretty good night. He still has headaches. I will be curious to see if his headaches decrease after the packing is gone. I am getting ready to go back up to the room. The picture I am including is a camper we saw at the gas station this morning. I think it is beautiful.

Sunday Morning.

It's early Sunday morning and I feel much better. Dad looked good when we left last night. He hadn't had any morphine since early Sat. morning. His headaches had gone from a 6 or 7 on the pain scale to a 2 or 3. We talked a little about The Lady Vols and he got a little excited. Uncle Jim left yesterday. He looked great. It was nice to see him again. I will write more later. I should have plenty of time at the hospital. I have a feeling that Dad will have some visitors today. Thanks for the nice emails I received from friends. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you for laptops and wifi!

It's been a while since I last blogged. I am currently in a hospital in Cookeville, Tennessee. Dad had surgery for a tumor on his pituitary gland. I guess it's been there for about 10 years. It really has affected the human growth hormones. His shoes are a size 9 1/2 EEEEE, he's outgrown his wedding ring twice, his jaw has grown, and his tongue is larger. The surgery was pretty hard on him. I wasn't here the day of the surgery and the day after, but Richard and Mom said he didn't look that great. He has been in an enormous amount of pain and has been given Morphine to ease it. When I came in the room today he looked good and I could tell I was grinning ear to ear. His tears showed that he was as happy to see me as I was to see him. So today, Mary Ann, Mom and myself are sitting in a waiting room while my Uncle Jim is hanging out with Dad. When Mom and Mary Ann went to deliver some chocolate to the ICU nurses Dad told me that I was more than welcome to talk, but he just didn't feel like talking.

Dad is supposed to come home on Monday and Mary Ann and I are planning to leave on Tuesday. Mom is doing better. I think the first day was very stressful. I am glad that Richard was here to lean on. We actually saw Richard on the drive down yesterday. We were on I75 S, almost to the Tennessee border. Richard was headed back north. I can't believe that we both happened to see one another and wave.

I better hand the computer over to Mary Ann. I am so happy she came with me. I feel infinitely fortunate to have her in my life :)