THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2013 VOLUME 82

Dear devoted readers and family members,( who are probably not among the former,)

Today is dank, downcast, and dreary: a typical English day which explains why I fled the country decades ago. Of course everything is blanketed in our second heavy snow within days and two of my kind neighbors are battling it out with their snow blowers to clear my driveway and sidewalks because they worry about my visiting nurses being able to take care of Norm and are aware that he may need an emergency medical trip at any time. Unfortunately until the street crews plow our neighborhood the only way to go is by ski or sled. One of them thought of calling city hall to get our street designated as a snow plow priority since there is no way an ambulance could make it into our cul de sac if Norm should need one. I am sure all the residents trapped in their homes would be most grateful to Norm if this transpired.

Ming Lee flew in for a quick visit last week and witnessed a senior moment with his mother. We were in the kitchen and I flipped the light switch on only to have one of my two kitchen lights come on. Ming asked if there was another switch -no I assured him as I started complaining about the high cost of these new fangled long lasting light-bulbs that hardly seem to shed any light where I need it. I muttered that they weren't that old. Ming unscrewed the fixture and took out the bulbs which looked fine but suggested we might want to try new ones so I handed a couple to him but still no light. He thought it odd that one fixture worked but the other didn't if they were on the same circuit. Again he asked me if I was sure that there wasn't another switch so in exasperation I walked over to the switch and realized that I had one switch up and one down on my dual plate. I guess I am so use to putting them both on with one flick that I had forgotten that each light had it's own switch. Ming shook his head and replaced the new light bulbs with the still fine old ones. It takes a long time for Mother to see the light sometimes. Thankfully things went better with my garden gate repair – I only found some tools for Ming to work with and tried to distract the neighbor's barking dog from his frenzied attempts to get over the fence and show Ming some affection.

We spent Ming's last evening babysitting Elena because Becky had parent/teacher conferences and Fred was out of town. Since this coincided with supper time Ming made his dad a sandwich which he raved about -using up some of the smoked turkey that he and Lori had sent us earlier in the week Elena was thrilled to have another male to flirt with. I decided to take some pictures of Ming and his dad sitting together so I was counting to three and saying cheese when Elena came up with “cheese” all by herself after the count. So cute.

Norm's sister Elaine and her daughter Lainee are visiting us for a few days in early March. They are both foodies so hopefully they'll be able to adjust to my gourmet cooking -more truck stop than Wolfgang Puck! They are renting a car at the airport so they will be able to do some sightseeing- we can always offer a tour of our homes: Coryn and Jeremy's offers a dog pound feel,Bryn 's showcases what you can find on Craig's list and Sean's pay's homage to Norm's artistic abilities.

On Saturday morning Coryn came through our door unexpectedly with a bag of sub sandwiches for our lunch and announced that while her dad was taking his afternoon nap we would drive to downtown Overland Park to shop at a fabric store that she thought might have some trendy fabrics for a mother/daughter nursery project . Earlier in the week she had sent me a link to a picture of fabric birds which she saw perched on twigs in the nursery. We made it to our destination despite all the snow but it was impossible to find a parking spot. I thought downtowns were a dying memory these days but this place was pulsating with life - each trying to beat the other to the few parking spots available. We all know how miffed Coryn gets when she can't find a spot right in front of the store she wants to shop in. She berated all the shoppers for ruining her excursion by causing us to drive in circles before we parked in the Farmer's Market parking lot. I did warn her to be mindful of the pedestrians and cars that she almost plowed into in her haste to find a spot but she mumbled something about it being one way to lessen the competition. Once inside the store we did see some great fabrics but nothing in quite the right color scheme. They had some beautiful quilts – mental note to self to bring Becky Clay on her next visit – one of which featured an abstract bird motif. Coryn immediately saw this in her nursery, in fabric to match her birds. She mentioned that she might be able to find a ready made crib skirt and bumper pad in a solid color to co-ordinate and without even thinking I said that it would look more custom to do the whole thing in like fabrics and thus committed myself to a quilt, bedding and the birds of which I initially thought there would be about five but it turned out that our Mother bird is expecting a flock!, We drove to three more fabric stores before we finally found seven fabrics in her newest color theme: the place I suggested first of course, - after Walmart which she said was an inconceivable choice for her baby. I will have to set this project up in my basement instead of the dinning room as it will take weeks to do all this work. Coryn had mentioned that it was a mother daughter project but other than picking out the fabric and design , the fun part – I seem to be left doing the actual sewing. I did mention that it would be a great time to learn to sew but as usual Coryn doesn't seem to see the point in learning to do something that her mother can do for her.

Recently we had a new development in your dad's ongoing saga of ills. As you all know he has suffered from esophageal spasms for years, particularly triggered by eating too fast and too much . Saturday night I served him roast beef au jus, rice and mushrooms . Obviously he was gulping his gourmet dinner so fast that he went into horrendous spasms producing blood curdling sound effects and liters of clear mucus. Once I grabbed some towels and a bowl for him to spew in, I researched the clear mucus which has the consistency of egg whites – no children I did not contemplate whipping it up into a batch of meringues to serve you at Sunday tea time – and found that it is another common condition with MSA. It took well over an hour for the attack to subside. The following morning Norm had a chipmunk cheek so I suspected a blocked salivary gland. I used a flashlight to check it out but his cheek was so swollen I couldn't see a thing. I gave him a piece of dental floss and told him to rub his gums with it. That was definitely putting a foreign object into his mouth for your dad- who as we all know thinks dental care is swishing with mouthwash or using left over polident solution. UGH! I had him follow up with salt water rinses and sucking an acidic candy which I found on a home remedy page on the web. It worked. By lunchtime the swelling was greatly reduced and your dad was ready to eat. Bryn and Sean were here for lunch and I explained it wasn't happening because between the dwindling contents of my snowbound fridge and your dad's health issues I was out of commission. They settled on picking up Taco Bell , just a couple of blocks away

Whilst eating lunch with the boys around the kitchen table they glanced at the deck and wondered if I wasn't worried about it collapsing under the weight of over a foot of snow. I wasn't until they bought it up. I suggested that they might want to shovel it off for me but instead they shoved off to the gym. I was left contemplating the prospect of another foot of snow and the danger of the deck collapsing and pulling the kitchen with it. I bundled up and started shoveling. Two hours later it was about done and I was done in. I worked up such a sweat that I had to take my coat off. Good job my neighbors didn't see this or they may have decided I was more than capable of clearing my own driveway!

A couple of weekends ago Norm had his first excursion since his hip replacement surgery. Coryn's former neighbors,Doris and Donny were going to see the newly weds home for the first time and since Norm especially enjoys Doris I thought it might persuade him to go. It did but unfortunately we had trouble getting him in and out of their house. He had a spell on the way out so we had to carry him in the wheel chair back into the house until he came out of it. But at least he got to see the first floor of their home and its neighborhood..

Bryn and Sean seem to have only just returned from their trek to Machu Picchu (hope you saw the great pictures and Craig's time lapse)and they are already planning a road trip to attend a bachelor party in Austin, Texas this weekend. I just hope the roads are cleared and that we have no more snow as they are driving. Bryn's renter, Adam ,is another lucky man who has found a woman to help him through life. I just hope they get enough sleep and make sure they are completely sober before they even think of driving home.

We celebrated Norm's 85thbirthday and our 38^th wedding anniversary with pizza and an ice-cream cake provided by Bryn and Joyce who was in town for a few days. Sean, Coryn and Jeremy joined the party and we were presented with a new copier/fax and scanner to replace a lot of the outdated equipment in your dad's office. I still have to set it up as my boys have such confidence in my IT skills that I was assured they didn't need to do it for me. Mother will make it work even if I have to solicit Coryn!

Ming Jon is still hoping to have his hours increased at work and keeping busy with his causes and love of the arts. Only months now until Kay will be with us in Kansas City – just in time for the baby.

Coryn and Jeremy are planning one last trip to California before they become parents, wonder if they'll see Marc? Josh will be home the day before Elaine and Lainee arrive and Leslee and Craig will be here in April.

I shall miss having Josh here for his thirty third birthday – I had seven children by this age – but I won't miss the stress of baking a custom cake. I will be so happy when my son with the beautiful curly hair is safely home.

Time for me to don my Eskimo suit, drag the trash cans to the curb and fix the garage door for the second time today. May have to call in a professional as it's been having its ups and downs for some time just like the rest of the house. I remarked to Coryn the other day that I'm beginning to see more cracks in our foundation than I do on my face. I'm beginning to think our lemon of a home is showing it's age more than me! Love your holding it together Mother.