THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 61 November 17, 2010
CONGRATULATIONS MING-JON!!!!!
I was delighted when Ming-Jon called me earlier this week with the wonderful news that he was offered and had accepted a full time permanent job with AERA (American Educational Research Association) as a program manager, to start immediately. Thankfully he had been able to find some tempory work after leaving the Washington Center but in this present job market finding another is a challenge.
Ethan will be back in the USA at the end of this month for an extended stay into February. Great timing as he’ll be able to carry all my shopping bags for me as I shop for Santa through the mall - and he can haul all the Christmas decorations up from the basement to save my varicose veins. Of course his help won’t be required or allowed when it comes to the placement of any of these decorations as we all know I regard it as an art form. This holiday season I envision yards of plaid ribbon, bushels of pinecones and swags of greenery adorning my home: in part because I can find the pinecones and greenery for free over the back fence –well Ethan can forage in the cold for his favorite auntie. We will head to the nearest Hobby Lobby with our discount coupons in hand as we scoop up spools of holiday ribbon. Once the tree is up, festooned with lights, yards of artfully placed ribbon and my belles of balls; the gift shopping boxed and wrapped; the cookies and holidays breads baked I hope to sit before a roaring fire , cocoa mug in hand basking in the beauty of my Martha Stewart decorating skills. However this last image may go up in smoke as my chimney is in need of repairs that may not happen in time.
Not wanting my house to literally light up the neighborhood for the holidays I decided to have my chimney cleaned. I selected the “Artful Duster” (the business name of a chimney sweep) for the job. He started blowing smoke up my you know what as soon as he stuck his head up my chimney. I soon realized I was dealing with a Dickensian Artful Dodger rather than a Duster He declared that my firebox tiles were cracked and would have to be replaced. I explained that I had already had repairs made to the firebox – he insisted they were inadequate. He further fanned the flames of my fears when he discovered that my stainless steel chimney liner was in such terrible shape that he could actually see daylight coming through in places. I asked how this was possible as all the brick work is intact on the outside. I think he sensed that I was seeing through his smoke screen. He craftily suggested that I stick my head in the grate and look up. I declined, not wanting to lay down at this man’s feet with my head stuck up a black hole. He gravely informs me that my entire chimney needs to be rebuilt and relined and fortunately he knows the best mason in the business to take care of me. I show him my home inspection which only found fault with the chimney cap – he isn’t fazed assuring me that I should have had a chimney sweep do an inspection. I guess the other couple of guys I had bid or work on the job two years ago were useless too! He warned me not to use the fireplace until I had paid thousands of dollars in repairs to make my chimney fireproof.
After he left alarm bells were ringing so I did some research and decided to hire a certified chimney inspector for another opinion. He used a video camera for the inspection and found my firebox to be safe and my liner intact with no daylight to be seen. Unfortunately he did find a problem with my smoke box and chimney cap .These repairs will cost far less than the previous sweep’s estimate – which would have made a clean sweep of my bank account! The scary thing is that I used Angies List and the Better Business Bureau to vet the Artful Duster!
Your dad spent a day at KUMed last month undergoing psychological testing. I was amazed that he was able to stay awake for eight hours! He greatly enjoyed his lunch at a little cafeteria that is hidden away in the cardiology department: I found it when he was an inpatient there having his pacemaker implanted. The main hospital cafeteria has the usual hospital fare designed to drum up business with heart attack and diabetes inducing menu choices. Fortunately I have been able to keep your dad out of there on our visits. I have discovered that he is much more motivated to go to his dentists and doctors appointments if it involves eating a meal! We won’t get the results for some time but I’ll keep you all informed.
Your father’s insatiable appetite led him to suggest dinner at Bolings one recent Saturday. Josh happened to be hanging out with us so thankfully he came along too. I say thankfully because with out his help I would have had to call an ambulance to get your dad out of the place. Unfortunately after enjoying a delicious Chinese dinner your father went into full seizure mode as we were leaving the restaurant. Josh and I tried to quietly restrain him in a chair but he refused to co-operate and kept trying to stand and make a dash for the door. The staff was very concerned and helpful, bringing a chair for him to sit on while he partially blocked their doorway. At times your dad began waving his arms about, treating the diners to an impromptu floor show –a sort of seated Tai Chi display. We tried several times to steer him through the door but he would collapse within seconds.
Unfortunately we had taken Josh’s car –the wheelchair was in my car’s trunk. It became obvious that we were not going to be able to physically move him out of the restaurant and into the car. I even considered calling for an ambulance just to get him out of the restaurant – I think it would have been a great relieve to the staff. I persuaded Josh to drive home and pick up the wheelchair while I tried to keep Norm seated and calm in the restaurant. Unfortunately your dad realized that Josh was going out to the car and despite my efforts to retrain him he managed to head for the door and disaster as he collapsed on the sidewalk. Fortunately Josh spotted us and came back to help – he managed to drag his dad to a bench but Norm lost his pants in the process. What a view those diners with window seats had! I was struggling to make him decent when some very kind people stopped to help, offering a blanket as one of them helped me tug Norm’s pants up from around his ankles. They offered to call for an ambulance so Josh and I explained the seizure situation- one with which we have plenty of experience! Since this last fiasco your dad has finally agreed to use the wheelchair on all our outings.
The Kansas City kids have fallen into the habit of watching the Chiefs Sunday Football games at our house over their own this season so I have to hunker down preparing late lunches or early brunches to accommodate kick off time. I keep hoping that one of my children will decide to host an event at their home. They all seem too comfortable in mine. We are ordering in Pizza this Sunday since Thanksgiving looms – or as I think of it my rehearsal dinner for Christmas. Guess where we are having it for the 35th year in a row? I just hope the Chiefs play a better game this week than they did last – otherwise I might decide to do some Christmas shopping instead. It should be Joshua’s turn to use the laundry facilities this weekend. I’ve still got a basket of Sean’s laundry in my dinning room – not exactly the sort of centerpiece one wants the neighbors to see! The worst Sunday by far though was the one when Josh and Sean arrived with a bag of Oreo’s, cream cheese and almond bark and told me that each needed a batch of Oreo Balls for work functions! I had already spent hours in the kitchen preparing Lasagna and cherry crumble for lunch! At least Josh pitched in to help and I think he realized how time consuming the process is. I really do need to develop some balls to say NO to my boys!
Craig and Leslee will be here for Christmas, Ming –Jon may arrive a few days later as Kay is leaving for Singapore on the 26th and of course Marc will be here as he won’t want to repeat his Thanksgiving Day dinner: a frozen turkey TV dinner for one. Marc E-mailed me his flight information yesterday. Should be interesting to see who is going to volunteer for the early bird trip to the airport for his return flight on New Years Eve scheduled to leave at 6:00am! I can guarantee it won’t be me.
It’s time for this mother hen to fluff her feathers and pluck a fresh turkey from the Hen House for her brood to gobble up next week. I’ll be thankful when the last dish of the meal is in the dishwasher, my feet are up on the sofa and a glass of wine is in my hand.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers, I am so thankful to have you all in my life.
Love Mom.
