THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER
VOLUME 87 SEPTEMBER 2013
Dear Readers,
August started off with
gloriously cool summer days and ended with horrible heat and
humidity. As usual my weeds have thrived, while I and my plants have
wilted.
My children are spreading
their wings and flying off in different directions leaving behind
this broody old hen. Sean is currently in New Zealand and reading his
blog is very enlightening – I had no idea that his ego was so
big, his effect on women so amazing or that he had some interesting
body parts that I failed to notice during diaper changes. The photo's
are amazing and I am so glad that I get to read about his exploits –
white water rafting, flying a stunt plane, bungee jumping etc- after
he has survived the experience. I read your dad a somewhat edited
version. But I highly recommend the blog to those of my readers who
have a broad mind, a sense of humor and an appreciation of good
writing.
I received an amazing email
a couple of weeks ago from Kay – she asked if she could cook Sunday
lunch for the family ! Furthermore she undertook to shop for all the
necessary ingredients to make this meal! This was an unbelievable
offer so I was thrilled to accept it : what a glorious sight to see
her coming through our front door with bags of groceries for a three
course meal! She even made her own salad dressing from scratch. After
our delicious salad and pasta lunch with cookies for dessert she
insisted on helping clean everything up! Quite a contrast to some
other family members who only ever ask what I'm planning on making
them and when it might be ready for them to eat- then they dash off
to the gym leaving me to clean up the kitchen and dishes. Only today
Coryn put in an order for three home baked desserts for a back yard
get together that she and Jeremy are throwing for some other young
couples this weekend. I pointed out that it was a bit much to expect
me to bake in this heat for a party I wasn't even invited to but she
promptly said I was welcome to come if I wanted to play beer pong
and besides by Friday ( her pick-up of my baked goods day) it would
be cooler so I should be fine in the kitchen with my double ovens
going all day! I declined her invitation to play beer pong but agreed
to make her desserts. At least I'll get to see Ava Claire that day!
Bryn announced a couple of
weeks ago that Black and Veatch had offered him a promotion and
transfer to San Ramos in the bay area close to Oakland and San
Francisco. Last week he flew out to check it out and found an
apartment in Walnut Creek, close to shopping, night life, jogging
trails and the Bart system. He has sold most of his household items
but unfortunately not his house. He is going to hand it over to a
property management company in hopes that they can rent it out for
him. He plans to drive his car, loaded with his clothes, some
electronics and an air mattress to his new home which will probably
take two to three days. He plans on leaving the day after Leslee-Ann
arrives for her visit on the nineteenth of this month.
When Sean left on his
extended trip, Josh moved from the “Seando” to Bryn's but his
brother's unexpected job move left him homeless so I thought he might
move in with us or Coryn and Jeremy but he chose to move into the
basement of a friend. He will finish his current job in December and
then plans to meet Sean in Thailand, possibly to be joined by
Leslee-Ann, Craig and Bryn if their work schedules permit.
Ming-Lee has been in flight
school all summer learning to fly a new plane for Fed-Ex. Hopefully
he will soon be finished and able to spend more time with his family.
Lori and the kids have had a great summer despite Ming's absence,
although he did manage to make it home for a couple of days here and
there. He will now be flying internationally so will have a chance to
explore more of the world on his down time. This should be an
exciting experience for Ming who loves to try new things and now that
Blake and Claudia are older it will be easier to cope with his
frequent absences.
Ava Claire is a happy,
healthy baby but unfortunately something her milk supplier is eating
is causing her to have gassy and explosive poop – during one diaper
change I was showered in poop and had to completely change my
clothes, scrub myself and my carpet. She is even passing a little
blood in her poop so the pediatrician suggested that Coryn eliminate
all diary from her diet and put Ava Claire on a milk free formula
for a week or so before returning to nursing. I thought this a
ridiculous suggestion but tried to be supportive. I was very pleased
that my grand daughter refused to take a sip of the chemical junk (my
terminology for baby formula) so instead of pumping her milk Coryn is
still nursing but eating a very restricted diet. It does not seem to
have helped much yet so she is now thinking that melons may be the
cause as a couple of family members have allergies to one or another
of these fruits. Sometimes I wonder if any one in the medical
profession has any hands on experience. Nursing babies often will not
drink from a bottle and if one does succeed in getting them to do so
after a few days they will not be interested in breastfeeding
anymore. I say keep the boobies flowing and Ava Claire growing. I am
sure she will grow out of the problem as her system matures. She has
already doubled her birth weight and is definitely a full figured
girl!
Last Saturday I was able to
enjoy a carefree shopping outing thanks to a hospice volunteer, Mike,
who has signed on to stay with Norm for an hour or two every other
Saturday. This is such a blessing as we are going to be losing all
three boys help very soon. I usually only run errands when I am
fairly certain that your dad will sleep the whole time or be
engrossed in an NCIS episode.
Norm continues to have his
esophageal spasms while eating so we have a couple of other medicines
added to our arsenal to
combat this problem – they are in liquid form and can be placed
anywhere in the mouth to help with the secretions and panic
sensations. He continues to have daily bleeding due to his prostate
cancer but fortunately it has not worsened over the last few months.
But despite all his health issues he remains in good spirits
especially when Coryn, Kay and Ava Claire visit.
Kay was a little concerned
during her first few weeks of teaching that her very small class size
might result in her class being split between the two other first
grade teachers and her being transferred to another school. Since she
liked the staff and was comfortable with first graders she was not
looking forward to having to start afresh in another school but
fortunately everything worked out. A fifth grade teacher volunteered
to transfer and one of the other first grade teachers was assigned to
the fifth grade class leaving Kay with her original class plus a few
more kids. Kay seems to be adjusting well to life in Kansas City
although she elected to skip out on watching the Chiefs defeat the
Jaguars on Sunday after lunch. I of course am thrilled that we are
back to Football Sundays and will be coaching the team to the
playoffs this year!
Ming-Jon has moved to North
Bethesda to cut his expenses while he continues to look for another
job. Hopefully something will happen for him soon. Don't forget to
send out your new address Ming-Jon! You never know when Marc might
want to mail you something!
Your dad and I have enjoyed
watching the US Open Tennis matches this past week and every time
they showed the spectators I looked for Lainee who was there a couple
of days during her recent trip to New York. Time for me to rally and
serve your dad's noodle lunch, love your always on the ball Mother.
