THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 69 AUGUST 2011

Dear Readers,

One Friday evening Coryn invited me to see the movie 'The Help' with her. We had both read and enjoyed the book and hoped that the movie would be as good. Josh came to stay with Norm . I was quite sure that a lot of people would be keen to see this movie so I suggested to Coryn that we might want to get there well ahead of time to be sure of getting tickets. Coryn just rolled her eyes, languished on the coach, and twirled her hair assuring me that we would not have a problem. As usual I couldn't keep my mouth shut and repeated my concerns about such a popular book being sure to draw a crowd for it's movie debut. Coryn finally acquiesced to my suggestions and rolled off the couch to drive us to the movie theater. As we pulled into the parking lot it became evident that once again Mother was right: we had trouble finding a spot and once out of the car we saw lines of people in front of the theater. Coryn decided to use the self service machine , only to see that the movie was completely sold out .I was disappointed but buoyed my spirits by muttering a few times about how right I was - yet again. Fortunately Coryn had committed to memory the times that the movie was showing at other locations and she decided that we might make it in time to the one in the mall by her house.”Come on Mother, run” she cried as she sped back to her car. I managed a fast trot and was panting and sweating profusely by the time I plopped myself in the car. I barely had time to buckle my seat belt before Coryn was burning rubber out of the parking lot using nasty language at every red light we hit en-route. I clung to the door handle the whole way , as Coryn frantically changed lanes and went flying past the speed limit. I was almost crying “Help” myself.

Once parked in another very busy lot I huffed and puffed behind Coryn who urged me to move it as seconds were left before show time. Unfortunately there was only one cashier and a line but we did get in and once I saved our seats Coryn even had time to pick up my box of hot tamales and her popcorn.

I was grateful that I had come through the experience thus far without suffering a heart attack. I vowed that once again I must try to get in better shape so that I can hang with my children for years to come. The movie was very enjoyable, using comedy to underscore the dreadful bigotry that existed in the South. As we all know I have no tolerance for racism, although I will admit to being a tad prejudice in favor of the British.

Coryn and Jeremy have selected their wedding venue with a little help from your dad and me. One Sunday afternoon I went to assess a possible place in Independence with them whilst the boy's stayed with Norm. Her brother's were not enthusiastic, telling me that Independence is the crack cocaine empire of the Midwest. Of course I immediately defended their sister's and Jeremy's choice and assured them that the whole city couldn't be undesirable.

It seemed a rather long drive over there and I was less than rhapsodic about the building named “The Rhapsody”. It was a concrete block building nestled behind a mall and between other retail structures.
Once inside the building it was nicely laid out and well decorated but didn't seem large enough for the two hundred or so guests they are planning on. It did have a beautiful garden area complete with a waterfall, pond and numerous arbors. They even offered a cottage for the bridal party to use as a staging point for the day. Coryn detected that I wasn't wowed and suggested that we look at another venue they liked later in the week if she could make an appointment.

Coryn was able to make an early evening appointment a couple of days later and Norm was very excited to be included in the outing as no one was available to stay with him. He asked me for two days every hour or so what time his appointment was. Coryn arrived after work to take us out to the Loch Lloyd Country Club. A uniformed guard appeared from the gate lodge to check us in and we drove up the beautifully landscaped winding road through the golf course and gorgeous homes to a very grandiose club house with a slew of young men parked out front on golf carts who rode up to see if we needed any help as soon as Coryn exited the car. Whilst they were engaged in conversation with her, I struggled unnoticed to get the wheelchair out of the trunk and Norm into it. Once I had Coryn's attention I remarked that our Ford Focus was probably the first to grace the club's parking lot.

We enjoyed a tour of the gorgeous club house and terraces with Coryn pointing out the spot in which she and Jeremy will be married - which I apparently will be draping with cascading fabric, presumably to compliment the waterfall( which may drown out her string trio). I surmised that standing on the edge of a precipice with only a tree and step ladder to work with might be challenging for someone of my age but Coryn assured me that I will not allow a small problem like that to deter me from fulfilling her dreams. The key phrase seems to be Mother I need you to......... Her brothers may have to build another garden arbor for me to work with – too bad we cemented the one they built me for Mother's Day into my backyard. Of course I am sure that Coryn will require something on a much grander scale. She has already decided that the clubs chairs are not suitable and is planning on either using chair covers or renting chairs that meet her expectations. Personally I thought the upholstered chairs were perfectly adequate but looks are everything to your sister. I remarked that she certainly was picky for someone who formerly dismissed weddings as unnecessary , expensive extravaganzas. She declared that since having a big wedding was very important to Jeremy she was going to embrace his wishes wholeheartedly- which means that Jeremy is definitely going to have to sell his Corvette to finance the wedding that Coryn now envisions.

We left this beautiful spot to meet Jeremy at another Country Club which neither of them had seen. It was not nearly as impressive. In order to make the facility handicap accessible this country club had installed a very primitive elevator, which could only be intended for in home use in my opinion. It was a metal cage only about three feet tall, that opened on two sides for entering and exiting. They had a worker stand by as I pushed Norm aboard in his wheelchair – it was a very close fit so I decided to leave him to ride the elevator alone. The worker urged me to get back on assuring me I could fit too. I wedged myself in behind the wheelchair's handlebars and held on for dear life as we slowly rose up the shaft - the elevator's working mechanism was so loud that you would have thought we were being rocket propelled to the moon instead of one floor up. I was grateful to see Coryn (who had greatly enjoyed the whole procedure) and Jeremy waiting for us and begged them to get us off the contraption as quickly as possible. I was amazed that this experience( after all the activity of getting in and out of the wheelchair and into the car a few times) didn't cause your dad to have a seizure. I dreaded the return trip and hoped this wouldn't be the chosen place for the wedding.

It was a fairly nice place but it did not compare to Lock Lloyd and that evening Coryn and Jeremy decided to commit to having their wedding there.

Sean was out in LA on a work assignment with Cerner last week so he stayed with Marc for a few days and this week Bryn is out there. I'm still waiting for Marc to send me my plane ticket.

Ming- Jon called to let me know that he had survived the shake rattle and roll of the earthquake that rumbled Washington DC recently. Fortunately I had not heard the news so I didn't get myself all shook up about it. I was very surprised to learn that earthquakes could occur in the East. Then he was threatened with the hurricane which fortunately didn't affect him despite the dire forecasts.

Leslee has just celebrated her 29^th birthday -the age I was when I became pregnant with her – my sixth child. She and Craig will have the pleasure of mine and Coryn's visit next month to shop for the bridal gown. I was expecting to be shopping for patio furniture and plants for Leslee and Craig until Coryn's engagement nudged those plans aside.

Ming-Lee is arriving on Sunday night to spend Labor Day with us. I'm sure we will be able to enjoy a barbecue on the deck as the weather is forecast to be in the seventies instead of the hundreds like it is today.

Becky, Sherry and Evelyn are planning to visit in the middle of the month so that will motivate me to scurry around the house cleaning and bed washing ! Hopefully it will help whittle away a few pounds too – Coryn has made it very clear that a slimmer Mother-of-the -Bride would be her preference. I may just tell her to hire a skinny double who can do double duty on all the wedding chores too.

Norm has been spending too much time at KUMed again. He has been having so many seizures and falls and worse he came down with another urinary tract infection. Fortunately he told me about it this time before it reached the level of the previous one. I took him to the doctor's immediately to get him on an antibiotic so that we hopefully wouldn't end up in the ER with a catheter again. For awhile he lost his appetite and Coryn suggested I try Ensure, an excellent suggestion. I am pleased to say that although he is sleeping most of the time and barely able to walk from one room to another without a seizure or fall he is eating more. Last night he fell in our closet and managed to catch his Tee shirt sleeve on the door knob with enough force to rip a hole in it. It took me a while to free his arm once I figured out how it was hanging there! I am hoping that his new seizure medicine will be more effective once it builds up in his system.

Time for me to enjoy a couple of scoops of frozen yogurt and think about the gourmet supper I shall tempt your dad's appetite with tonight. Too bad it's too hot to use the oven or stove. I guess we'll have to have salad again. Your dad will have a plate of potato chips with a lettuce leaf on the side. He has really taken his cardiologist's advice to eat a high salt diet to heart! Apparently it's one of the few things that helps with his autonomic nervous system dysfunction. I thought it would be bad for his chronic renal failure but his kidney function has actually improved!

Love to you all, your thinking thin but not eating thin yet Mother. Too bad I have to buy those potato chips and chocolate candies for your dad's health.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 68 AUGUST 2011

Dear Readers,

Jeremy has put a ring on it : Coryn's ring finger is now beautifully adorned with the promise of their future together. Kudos to Jeremy for asking both Norm and I for our permission just days before he proposed to Coryn. Remember when Craig only asked Norm because he didn't think I could keep a secret – guess who's going to be my new favorite son-in-law. Better come through with my TV show fast Craig!

I spent Saturday night cradling my phone expecting Coryn to call with the exciting news from seven O'clock on . She and Jeremy were spending the weekend at his aunt and uncles vacation home in the Lake of the Ozarks and we knew that Jeremy planned to propose on Saturday night. The phone never rang.

Sunday morning Coryn finally called and I expected her to immediately blurt out the great news but no she just said that they were heading back and asked how everything was going with us. I immediately switched the focus back to her and Jeremy, asking what they had been doing – nothing much, eating out, hanging out and out on the boat. She informs me that I am acting weird, asking so many questions and hangs up the phone claiming that they are loading up the car to leave! I was now on the outs.

Once off the phone I assailed Norm with several scenario's that might explain why Jeremy failed to propose. Maybe Coryn was in one of her moods and he came to his senses, maybe the opportunity to ask never arose, maybe he forgot the ring. I fretted for a few minutes and decided to call Jeremy. But before I did your devilish sister called back to save your dad from my endless conjectures about what might have happened. Jeremy had proposed but not until about 11.30 on Saturday night! I'm surprised his bride to be was still awake – I gather it took some cajoling on his part to entreat Coryn to join him outside on a garden swing: a spot he was sentimentally attached to as they had become serious about their relationship there a long time ago.

For a girl who always claimed that she would never have a big wedding, always threatening to elope, if she ever were to even marry - Coryn has certainly embraced tradition . Within hours of becoming engaged she was calling Leslee to ask her to be her Matron (Whoops) Maid of Honor, planning to shop for her wedding dress in Orlando and thinking about floral arrangements, themes and colors. I was dispatched to find Bridal magazines and reminded every time I voiced one of my brilliant ideas that it was her wedding and not mine!

The last few weeks have not be so good for your dad. He is awake less and less, having a great deal of trouble moving from room to room and his appetite is finally diminishing. It is difficult to know whether this is due to his cancer treatment, new seizure medication or the progression of his illnesses. Knowing that Coryn has someone to take care of her has definitely buoyed his spirits. Just think boys you might be able to give your dad a new lease on life if you could all find that someone special as soon as possible!

You might remember from my last newsletter that Coryn and I were planning to explore the thrift stores on Wornall but unfortunately that trip had to be postponed as Erseline couldn't stay with Norm that day so we had to put it on hold till the following week.

So on a very hot and sunny Friday morning we headed off to shop for a used rocking chair that I could transform into something acceptable for our front porch that Norm would also enjoy using. I was so glad that Coryn was driving as Wornall is under construction – one lane only with nearly all the exits and entrances into it's businesses torn up too. It was quite a challenge to figure out how to reach some of them. We ended up on a steep gravel incline at one point that I know my Ford Focus would not have been able to negotiate. We searched an antique store where the price for a rocking chair was higher than a brand new one, and I was on a twenty five dollar budget! Our third thrift store had one of about the right size and in very good condition – no price so we asked and after a quick conference between the workers they suggested twenty dollars. A real bargain. They were probably desperate to make a sale as I am sure the road construction and lack of sidewalks must be having a very negative effect on sales. I suggested driving back to the antique store to show the owner that one could purchase an equally as antique rocking chair just down the road for about one hundred and forty dollars less. I can't believe anyone would be dumb enough to pay his prices. As I always say there are no antiques in this country unless they came from another country! What Americans call antique the English call Grandma's junk.

After our successful purchase we headed to the Plaza for lunch and shopped for cheese at a specialty store that Sean and Bryn had highly recommended. I did find some English Stilton and Cheddar but no Caerphilly or Cheshire cheeses. Since it was so hot we couldn't leave the cheese in the car while we shopped for the rest of the afternoon so I suggested leaving it at Sean's condo in his fridge. There was no evidence in the Condo of my recent cleaning spree. Cardboard boxes were piled everywhere – Sean later explained that he was saving them for a friend who's moving – dirty dishes filled the sink and counter tops and mail was strewn across every table and available chair. Coryn and I cleared a space to sit and eyed the mess. Josh and Sean desperately need some neat freak girlfriends. We left the depressing sight and headed to the newly opened Trader Joe's store. I was very excited about the prospect of stocking up on cheap wine. It seemed that most of Kansas City was too as the store was filled to bursting with shoppers and the check out lines were longer that any I have ever seen, snaking through the store. Coryn was ready to retreat as soon we walked in but I questioned her sense of adventure and dove into the hoards blocking access to the grocery shelves .By the time we reached the wine I realized that the food prices were not insanely cheap as the advertising and popular view suggest. I looked at the check out lanes and decided that even cheap wine wasn't worth hours of standing in line. O f course if I'd had a bottle opener in my purse I might have been able to sample a sip from a bottle or two and made the wait more palatable.

The rocking chair is waiting in the garage for it's transformation which won't take place until I can take the heat. It was one hundred and eleven degrees one day. This has been the summer of triple digit heat and killing humidity. Every night on the news another body succumbs. My garden is toasted, many plants burnt brown, others gasping for water. I spend hours watering every day but the ground is baked brick hard. We have had so little rain.

Ming and Lori have invited me to visit them next month so I can spend some time with them and my grandchildren and in October Coryn and I will probably be flying off to Orlando to shop for a wedding dress . She was very impressed with the selection at the store where Leslee found her dress and doubts she'll do better here.

Bryn went to a two day rock fest here in Kansas City this weekend, he spent Friday night here because as always our house is so conveniently situated. He came through the door at midnight while I was deep into my book and wine glass – I was surprised to see him so early but his group had decided to leave Eminem to beat the traffic. I doubt they missed much. Saturday evening Coryn and Jeremy showed up and I was most anxious to take a picture of them posing with the ring for this blog but they had just returned it to the jewelers to be re-sized. Unfortunately they had to drive to Oklahoma City on Sunday for a funeral on Monday. Jeremy's twenty five year old cousin died of heart disease leaving a wife and baby behind. Just a couple of years ago they had attended his wedding.

Josh and Sean came over with their laundry on Sunday just on the cusp of lunchtime so I had to throw something together, fortunately I had some little smokies, eggs and muffins. And of course because there were so many loads of laundry to do they were still here at dinnertime! I ran to the grocery store while they were here with Norm.

One of the most exciting things- as I'm sure most of you know- is that my football savvy has finally been recognized: I am now in the Lowe Family Fantasy Football League. I can guarantee that Remsburg will not usurp me. I am on the web 24/7 picking my team. I'm going for the best tight end and offensive tackle with Matt Casel as my quarterback. I may be too busy with my laptop on game day to fix those gourmet meals you have all come to expect. We may have to rotate between our Kansas City abodes. Do you think we should get some kind of team logo shirts?

Bryn just came over for lunch,he scrambled four eggs with salsa, ate a handful of cherries and strawberries and berated me for having no peanuts or pistachios. I offered walnuts or pecans from my baking supplies but was rejected. He is on a protein diet with vegetables and fruits. Good thing he rejected my linguine with Alfredo sauce, peppers clams and tomatoes(last nights dinner) as Norm decided to have some for lunch and then as soon as Bryn left Coryn arrived and expected lunch too. Good thing your dad's appetite has diminished in this instance, leaving enough linguine and sauce for her too. I honestly feel like I'm running a restaurant here some-days. I hope no-one shows up for dinner today as I serving flounder which is not an elastic meal that can be stretched to accommodate more mouths.

Love to you all, your soon to be Mother of the Bride again who's hoping for a smaller dress size by May of next year when the wedding will hopefully be.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 67 JULY 2011

Dear Readers,

Friday, June 10^th dawned stormy and rainy. Not the best conditions for my road trip to Fort Madison so I delayed my start until the rain lessened around mid morning. I left Bryn with Norm and pulled onto 435 East only to find myself stuck in traffic for fifteen minutes because of an accident. I fumed behind the wheel : was I ever going to reach Iowa​? Finally I was speeding and for the first time in the three years that we have lived in Kansas I was able to use my cruise control! The drive was most enjoyable – in fact I didn't even stop for gas or the bathroom! Once I merged onto I 35 there was hardly a drop of rain and I was soon crossing Missouri on I 36 to I 61. The only road construction en route was in Fort Madison due to the bypass.

Driving past the hospital I noticed it had expanded again and on Bluff road I saw the new senior living development. The rest of the scenery was just as I remembered. The old Aquinas High School building looked very worn as did much of the town as I drove around over the next few days. I arrived in front of Becky's familiar home and took in all the improvements she had made to her front yard with retaining walls, fencing and landscaping. Her house is definitely the belle of the block – probably several! Becky's landscape was not the only thing that had undergone a transformation, she herself had lost a lot of weight. Now she is going to be in better shape than me for our impending old age and all the places and things that we want to explore.

We had dinner at Alpha's which was very nice and then we headed to HyVee for some groceries and I didn't see any one that I knew there! Once home we had more cups of tea and a look through some English garden magazines that I had brought for Becky to enjoy. Soon we were planning which ones we would see when we make our 65^th Birthday trip to England. Then our delightful evening was some what disrupted when we spied ants under our feet and on the kitchen counters. Becky and I grabbed paper towels and squished as many as we could whilst I urged her to get a can of Raid out to annihilate them. Becky didn't have such a thing. She preferred a more organic approach and started sprinkling black pepper everywhere. I thought red might have been better as it was almost impossible for me to tell the difference between the pepper granules and the ants with my eye sight. Becky assured me that the pepper would deter the ants from entering the house. I was skeptical and not surprised when I saw a column of ants climbing up her pristine white lace curtains the following evening. Becky said she would consider a trip to Kempkers for a can of Raid!

Saturday morning we decided to stroll down avenue G, so that I could see what was happening in my old down town. Unfortunately many of the buildings were empty, including my old store. Some of them had nice window displays and had been painted in attractive color schemes but the lack of traffic – hardly a car or shopper in sight was a grime reminder of how hard it is to run a business in a small town. I thought of all the years I had struggled to keep my business open - years that would probably have been more productively spent at home with my children . Yes Marc, I know that was your advice from the start of my working days!

We stopped at the Book Mark to visit with Bonnie Howard which was so very pleasant as always and then we were off to lunch at The Ivy to see Sue. Becky insisted that I was to be her guest but she was trumped by Sue who insisted on my being her guest .Sue was as warm and gracious as ever, beaming her beautiful smile, and lunch was as delicious as I remembered. It was there that I finally saw some people I knew - one of our old neighbors from Avenue D and Sue's daughter, Emily, and family.

Saturday afternoon I visited Myrna for a couple of hours and saw that she had her living room furniture recovered in the same plaid and floral print that I have on my beds in my English Country Garden room. I didn't mention that I had bought my bedspreads at Walmart!

Later I headed back to Becky's to change for Sarah Wenke's wedding reception. Once squeezed into my bright and bold short floral dress I drove down to the Comfort Inn anxious to see Evelyn and family and the Aschbrenners. So much construction was going on around the hotel due to the bypass that I had trouble figuring out how to get in the parking lot weaving around endless orange construction cones before I headed onto the shoulder and probably illegally entered the parking lot.

Evelyn was once again a stunning Mother of the Bride and Sarah a beautiful bride. I enjoyed meeting John and Emily Wenke's two little boys, seeing Rachel and Anna and of course sitting with Sherry and Rocky Aschbrenner who were about the only people I knew at the wedding aside from Sarah Rashid and her husband. As usual I had to confess that I am still the Mother of five very eligible bachelor sons, the mother of one daughter on the cusp of becoming a common-in-law wife if she and Jeremy ever manage to sell one of their properties so that they can live together and still only a grandmother of three. I could feel their sympathy for my plight. People always question how I can have five well educated, handsome unattached sons when there are so many desperate to be a couple single women. I wish I knew the answer.

They had a delicious Italian style buffet which reminded me of Leslee and Craig's wedding. Once the dancing started I decided to head back to Becky's. We thought an evening stroll would be a pleasant and for me much needed activity as I had spent most of the day sitting and eating! Becky was anxious to strut her stuff to show me that she had decided to walk my talk of the need to be able to walk a few miles every day at a good trot once we get to England. We took Ellie with us which resulted in Becky adding weight training as the aged miniature dachshund could only totter a couple of blocks and had to be carried all the way to Central Park and back. The sidewalks along most of our route were in dire need of repair - I kept my eyes down to avoid tripping. To think I now live in a neighborhood where the sidewalks are fixed immediately. They even seem to fix perfectly good roads here. Pot holes are definitely not tolerated!

Once back at Becky's we retired to the family room with a bottle of wine until past midnight. Ellie spent the night in my lap where she had been much of the time since I arrived loving the attention. Poor Becky was exhausted the next day as she usually is in bed by nine and up by four!She claims my visit took her days to recover from – too bad as I so enjoyed my time there that I have invited myself back!I had a such a relaxing time in her claw foot tub that even has a rain shower. We have such a shallow tub in our bathroom - I can hardly even wet my belly button.

Sunday morning I was greeted with homemade scones and coffee! Becky was just the best hostess, I'm thinking that we ought to run a Bed and Breakfast together. She could handle the morning hours with hearty breakfasts and I'd take the evening shift – the wine and cheese bit.

On Sunday afternoon I visited Bonnie and Gary Niehaus who have recently done a lot of work on their house. Their new living room furniture would look great in my family room – good job you can't fit much in a Ford Focus. They are redoing the kitchen cabinets so I was more than happy to give them my opinion! Gary had baked an apple pie in honor of my visit so any hopes I had of undoing yesterday's caloric overdose were stymied.

Later in the afternoon I headed up to Mike and Mary's where I was spending Sunday night. Mary had called me at Bonnie’s to see what time I was planning on being at her house as she was running to the grocery store. She, Elizabeth and the kids had only just returned from Kansas City that morning. They had been there because the movers were packing and loading Elizabeth and Brent’s worldly possessions for their move to Fort Madison. I has questioned if this was the best time for me to visit earlier in the planning but Mary thought it would work out expecting to be home a day earlier than she was. When I arrived at the Brockmans no one was home so I let myself in and was almost knocked to the floor by Dewey and Teddy who were wild with delight to have someone to cover from head to toe with doggy licks. Obviously they are not guard dog material. I was rescued by a very apologetic Mary with Mia in tow. Soon it was tea time and we sat at the table with Mia making us beautiful butterfly necklaces from a kit I had bought for her. After tea we headed to Elizabeth’s so I could see her really neat new house and all the work they have done. They have spectacular views of the city and the river and a large garden to enjoy. Hopefully Elizabeth will be much happier there then she ever was in Kansas City. Personally I much prefer life in Kansas with all the wonderful amenities.

We all returned to Mary's for dinner while Drew and Mia kept us entertained. Drew was fractious and Mary plonked him on the kitchen counter piled with kitchen paraphernalia which proved irresistible to Drew. It wasn't long before he hurled a crock pot lid to the floor where it promptly split in two. I thought to myself better the lid than his head. I had questioned the wisdom of sitting him up there in the first place but Mary said she did it all the time. Somehow amidst all the chaos Mary produced a delicious dinner which we walked off later on Country Club Lane with Mia in the stroller. Afterwards we settled into the family room babysitting the kids while Elizabeth went back to her house to do some things before the movers arrived the next morning. She and the kids had been living with her parents for sometime and I could tell that Mike was very happy that they would soon be moving into their own home!

Mike and Mary had just had a whirlpool bath installed in their guest room and were most anxious that I should give it a whirl. I thought I'd do this before my drive home but on Monday morning I awoke to Mike telling us that the septic system wasn't working so we weren't to use the water or flush the toilets. You can imagine the effect on my bowels as I religiously empty them within half an hour of rising every morning. Mary suggested we should go to Elizabeth's but I knew I couldn't hold it long enough so they had to contend with my stinking up a bathroom. Thank goodness Mike had made a pot of coffee before it happened as we all know I don't function without it first thing in the morning. I decided that with all the chaos of Elizabeth’s move and their septic system breakdown that the best thing I could do was to leave as soon as possible. I was back in Kansas to relieve Coryn who was staying with Norm, early that afternoon. Norm had a wonderful break from me too as the kids fed him bags of fast food and junk that I usually ban from the house.

As you all know I have been trying to interest Coryn in the domestic arts for sometime and only lately has she begun to show some tepid interest in cooking but things really heated up this week when she was summoned to one of her principal's kitchens. Throughout the school year this principal, Sherri, had decided that Coryn's remedial cooking skills needed to be improved and she insisted on tutoring her this summer in her own kitchen. Frankly I expected Coryn to develop attention deficit disorder as soon as the lesson began but Sherri whipped her into shape and had her making Beef Strogonoff, baked salmon stuffed with spinach and mascarpone cheese and for dessert Coryn made the Ivy Bake Shoppe's recipe for chocolate mint brownies,but substituted almond flavoring for the mint.

The following day she arrived at our house as proud as any kindergartner showing off their school work but instead of sticking it on the fridge she put it in the fridge so that we could enjoy the fruits of her labor for lunch. I was most impressed that her principal had succeeded in keeping Coryn in her kitchen for several hours. She walks out of mine as soon as I offer to show her how to make something and I know she rarely uses hers! Of course all of Coryn's co-workers have daubed her “teacher's pet”. Apparently Sherri has never invited any of them to a one on one tutorial.

July 4^th was celebrated with a barbeque, largely put together by Costco courtesy of Sean's shopping skills. He purchased steaks which Norm marinated before the boys put them on the grill, baked beans, cole slaw and a bleu cheese and bacon potato salad. For desert he selected apple turnovers which were quickly turned over to Norm's tum and a pineapple upside down cake. Two gigantic bags of chips, a delicious herb cream cheese and crackers were offered for snacks! It was the best holiday of the year from my perspective as I didn't have to cook anything but Bryn's must have mashed potatoes and that was a Costco box mix!The boys and I played some family games and fizzled on the sofas by suppertime.

Coryn was in Chicago with Jeremy for the holiday visiting Amber Scott and Julie Bigler who's mother just died in a freak boating accident. Such a tragedy.

Ming-Lee and Blake were recently in Orlando, staying with Leslee and Craig so that they could witness history watching the last launch of a space shuttle. The whole family will be returning there later this month to visit the Harry Potter World attraction.

Ming-Jon is playing a lot of tennis and has tickets to see U2 and Paul McCartney in concert this summer. Kay will soon be heading to China for a semester of study.

Leslee and Craig are close friends with the son and daughter-in-law of Jeff Ashton, one of the lead prosecutors in the Casey Anthony trial. Craig was also covering the verdict for Fox News. Frankly I would have convicted her just on the grounds that any normal mother of a two year old would be frantically calling 911 within seconds of realizing that their child was missing and if it were an accidental death why would you hide the fact and toss your child away like garbage? Common sense seems to be missing from our justice system.

Norm is very tired and more mentally confused again since he has had to undergo the Lupron shots for his prostate cancer and adjusting to a new seizure medication has not been helpful either. The epileptologist said Norm is having seizure activity in his brain without physical manifestations and that he thinks many of the spells are caused by the failure of his autonomic nervous system. He and one of your dad's cardiologists are thinking about trying yet another medication. Frankly I don't think anything can be done to improve the situation and I wonder if the quality of his life might be improved by taking less rather than more medications. His appetite is still voracious and most of the time he is in good spirits. He likes the lady Coryn found to stay with him on Fridays so that I can spend a few hours out of the house.

I had to take your dad to the hospital a couple of days ago and Coryn volunteered to make us dinner that night – her cooking class seems to have made a lasting impression. I offered to help but she waved me away, banging my pots and pans around with authority to produce a delicious made from scratch shrimp scampi with fresh tomatoes and mushrooms over a bed of linguine. Her father declared it better than anything at the Olive Garden. She even had dinner rolls -which she forgot about and I never expected. For desert she had made a coconut crème pie even toasting the coconut. Unfortunately she had decided to add a layer of chocolate to her pie which set rock hard, almost needing a jack hammer to get it out of the pie pan! We couldn't get a fork through it so we had to hold it our hands and bite through it. I prayed for your dad's dentures. It was extremely messy to eat this way but very tasty. Jeremy must be thrilled to find himself sitting down to real meals in Coryn's kitchen after a couple of years of eating out or picking up fast food.

One recent Friday while Erseline, the lady who sits with Norm on Fridays was here I spent some time with Coryn's neighbor, Doris, who is from Germany and has lived here a long time like me. We drove to Lawrence for lunch at one of her favorite places, Wheatfields Bakery Cafe. Lunch was delicious and I allowed myself to be tempted by a loaf of freshly baked bread. Then we explored the British grocery shop and the world market. I found a family favorite - Crunchie Bars and couldn't believe the exorbitant price but bought a few and some biscuits and tea. Unfortunately it was so hot that we couldn't muster the energy to walk up and down the old fashioned shopping street which reminds Doris of Germany. She came to lunch again recently and kept us all entertained with her amusing stories about her neighborhood. Coryn is so lucky to have her for a neighbor and I count her as one of my new friends.

I am finding it increasingly difficult to care for my garden these days – not only because of the daily escalating heat and humidity but due to the demands of my neighbors. I am constantly being asked for landscape advice – both Dalton and Steve have ripped out their boring green bushes and replaced them with more colorful plants and flowers. Charlene is always interested in any new plants I add to the garden and Jack approaches the fence almost daily with the words “Megan, I have a question for you”.

Unfortunately though he never acts on any of my advice so his garden is a bare plot of weedy grass, with a broken down play structure that I am trying to convince him could be turned into a vine covered arbor with little effort. He always assures me that next week he will get it done but of course it never happens.

Tomorrow Coryn and I are going to leave Norm with Erseline and explore the thrift stores on Wornall – she's looking for bargains to revamp her school offices and I am hoping to find anything I can turn into something, to enhance my home or garden. It might be slow going though as the street is under construction and walking in this heat would be a death sentence.

I will soon be out in my garden wilting in the heat like my flowers, dragging heavy hoses around in my daily attempt to revive them. I water myself as well as the garden but nothing helps one stay cool for long outside. Unfortunately the chiggers adore me and despite using insect repellant and an Off fan I still have to shower and slather myself in anti-itch cream every day -sometimes twice.

Your always red hot mama with love.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 66 MAY 2011

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER : VOLUME 66 MAY 2011

Dear Readers,

As predicted the boys stretched the installation of my new bathroom floor from my birthday to Mother's Day, when Josh installed the tack strip between the hall carpet and bathroom tile. They did a beautiful job and I am thrilled with the new look. I fully expected this to be a combo birthday/ Mother's Day Gift. However, when I mentioned to Sean that I was considering purchasing a garden arbor he immediately suggested that it would be a great Mother's Day gift from my kids: so thanks to all of you who contributed whether in labor or dollars!I expected the boys to pick up a pre- made one but they decided to design and construct the arbor themselves. I was convinced that this would probably be finished in time for Christmas but to my amazement Josh and Sean put the whole thing together on Mother's Day. Bryn arrived with a post hole digger a couple of weekends later and he and Josh cemented it in place. Eventually I plan to stain it to match the deck.

For Mother's Day my metro kids put together a wonderful barbecue lunch that we were able to enjoy on the deck – they all made numerous side dishes too and Coryn actually made baked beans from scratch and they were really good! I think she might be a late blooming cook like Julia Child - remember that woman didn't start cooking until she was menopausal. The kids bought one of my favorite desserts: ice cream cake. There was plenty left over, clogging up the freezer as your dad put it- so he decided to clog up his arteries as he consumed slice after slice to free up the freezer.!

After lunch the boys began work on the arbor. Coryn had arranged for me to be safely out of their way at the Spa for part of the afternoon – then she and Jeremy took me for a walk around the Arboretum and to a large lawn and garden center so that I could shop for some more plants for my garden – Norm's present to me.

I am writing this portion of the newsletter in your dad's hospital room at KUMed. When doing inpatient video monitoring for seizure activity they require a family member or friend to be with the patient 24/7. It's definitely a great help to have so many children available whether it be through their physical presence or calls of support. Marc flew in on Monday morning to spend the first couple of nights with Norm and they seemed to be great roomies. Norm's snoring didn't bother Marc and Norm was oblivious to Marc's nocturnal bathroom visits. Since your dad didn't get admitted until 7:30 pm that Monday Coryn and Norm picked Marc up and enjoyed lunch together at a Cracker Barrel. I elected to stay home and plant a clematis to grow up my new arbor.

On Tuesday I arrived at the hospital late in the morning and since they were still attaching electrodes to your dad's scalp Marc and I decided to eat lunch across the street from the hospital at some place called Jazzy's – recommended by Bryn. I should have known it would be a dive. It has a New Orleans flavor to the food and décor – post Katrina. I could smell the musty dankness of a building with a water problem and lighting so dim that you couldn't see the water stains that I suspected were all over the floors and walls. But the food was pretty good, although I had to take most of it to go and it went straight to Norm when we got back to the hospital as his lunch hadn't arrived and he was starving!The most special thing about our lunch though was that Marc insisted on paying!

Wednesday morning was very wet and overcast and by the time I was ready to head to the hospital we were under a tornado warning. I tried to call the hospital on both my land line and cell phone but neither worked. I grabbed my purse and headed to the basement where I watched the tornadoes blowing ever closer to me on the big screen TV. Your dad actually managed to call me , advising that I stay home and not to come to the hospital as everyone was being evacuated to the basement. I could only imagine the chaos for the hospital staff having to move all those patients and visitors. Of course many of the patients were probably hooked up to huge pieces of medical equipment like your dad. Once the tornado passed over my neighborhood I decided to follow it up I35 to the hospital and found myself trapped in torrential rain, actually hydro- planeing for a moment. I arrived at the hospital at about the same time Norm was returned to his room. Actually Marc seemed far more upset about the experience of being crammed into a basement area with strangers than your dad. He declared it horrid.

One great side effect of all the morning's excitement was that it seemingly primed your dad for an Oscar worthy performance for his small screen video debut. A technician had your dad stand by the bed and step in place and soon the physical exertion had him seizing. The technician had never seen such a performance. Soon nurses were popping in and out hoping to catch an encore. Coryn orchestrated this by arriving with a bag of fish sandwiches and french fries. Once your father was sated she had him walking the length of his twenty foot cord which kept him tethered to the equipment. He soon went into his spells which greatly intrigued his nurse who bemoaned the fact that she wouldn't be working the next day to catch another show.

Whilst this was going on I was driving Marc to the airport to catch his evening flight back to LA and on my return home I was again caught in torrential rain which made it almost impossible to see the signs for the various interstates I needed to take – and I don't see well at the best of times! Thank goodness for the voice of my GPS which guided me home. Sean had volunteered to spend the night with Norm so he took over from Coryn and stayed with him until I returned the next morning – driving through rush hour traffic so that Sean could get to work.

Norm was scheduled for a tilt test that morning – something that has already been done in the past and I frankly considered it a waste of time but for once I was wrong. A cardiologist had been called in for a consult as they noticed some problem – I explained that he had undergone cardiac testing the previous month but the results were fine. They suspected another problem which they thought might be detected by the tilt test.

When Norm was returned from the test. I asked him how it had gone and he said fine, nothing happened just as in the previous tests. Another waste of tax payers money I said to myself. Early in the afternoon a couple of cardiologists came in and asked your dad how he had done. He thought he'd done just fine but the doctors informed him that he had actually passed out during the procedure and had what they assumed was a seizure. They said his blood pressure had rapidly fallen very low whilst his heartbeat had failed to increase from its preset pacemaker rate. Norm had no recollection of having passed out. They said they were going to reset his pacemaker to a higher heartbeat rate and a quicker response time if it should drop. They also decided to put him back on a beta blocker but said there was little they could do to rectify his blood pressure that swings from extreme highs to extreme lows very rapidly upon any exertion. They recommended a wheelchair and helmet to guard against falls. They also recommended having your dad sleep virtually upright and eating a high salt diet – the later eagerly embraced by Norm of course. The rest of the ideas were not as appealing although he does of course use his wheelchair most of the time now when out of the house and does wear a helmet when he drives the lawn mower around the yard but that activity is probably no longer advisable.

The technicians that came later in the day to reset his pacemaker were the same ones that had performed his test earlier and they were very surprised that he had no recollection of some of the events. They seemed to find the situation very intriguing too.

Coryn arrived with Chinese take out for supper, hoping that a subsequent walk would result in Act Two for the camera , which it did. Josh came by after work for awhile too and Bryn spent the night as he had Friday off work. Sean drove to the airport to pick up Leslee while I drove home to enjoy some peace and quiet with the cats. The kids arrived back at the house at about eight thirty starving for supper so I quickly whipped them up some cheese omelets. Grocery shopping was not something I had time for! Leslee and I washed our hair that night to save time in the morning – figuring we could sleep in until rush hour was over since Bryn didn't have to leave for work.

Friday found Norm very excited to see Leslee who can always be counted on to keep things lively..She and Bryn escaped for awhile to have lunch together at some new Mexican restaurant while your dad I ordered room service. As always your dad spent a lot of his hospital stay studying the menu and trying to order cookies for breakfast – he was denied! Late in the afternoon we learned that the doctors had captured enough episodes and were going to discharge him on Saturday morning. They have diagnosed him with Dysautonomia which basically means that his autonomic nervous system is no longer working properly and thus causing many of his problems. Unfortunatelt there is no cure, We will learn more about the seizures in a few weeks when they have had time to study the video and brain waves.

Josh picked up food for Norm and Leslee that night while I drove home hoping for a good nights sleep before your dad returned. I picked him up early Saturday morning and Leslee was thrilled not to have to spend another night in the hospital on a small sofa bed. She too was able to induce seizure activity in your dad for the camera so the neurologists must have plenty of footage to analyze.

Unfortunately your dad seems to be having more not less episodes since the changes have been made to his pacemaker and medications so hopefully the doctors will be able to adjust things again when we see them in a few weeks. We were back at KUMed yesterday for a follow up at the Alzheimer clinic and blood work in preparation for his trip to the urologist for his prostate cancer next week.

I will be enjoying a break for a few days as I head back to Fort Madison for a long weekend June 10^th. Evelyn Wenke's daughter Sarah is being married so I want to be there for that and it will be a great chance to hopefully see many of my friends. I’m going to stay with my friend Becky Clay for a couple of nights and then I'll spend Sunday night with Mary and Mike Brockman. I shall get to see Elizabeth and Brent's new house and my beloved Mia and Drew. Lunch at The Ivy too I hope!

In other family news Claudia recently made her First Communion, Ming Jon made his first trip to London and your dad attended his first social event held by Brits International. This was just before he was hospitalized. Unfortunately I had suggested a picnic at a previous meeting and the idea was eagerly acted upon by our group leader but for some inexplicable and definitely not in true blue blood fashion he decided to have the picnic at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning that barely made into the fifties. We were all huddled in our winter coats and blankets and not a cup of tea to warm us! I can see I need to be more involved – as you know children Mother is never reticent to assume a leadership role!

Just think this time next week I shall be streaking my way to Iowa in my trusty Ford Focus, burning rubber and cranking up Adam Lambert! Don't you wish you could make the road trip with your Mother?

Love, your on the road again Mom.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 65 APRIL 2011

Dear Readers,

I recently celebrated another birthday with my metro area children: Bryn picked up the Pizza and Coryn actually baked a cake! Josh, Sean and Bryn were persuaded to tile my upstairs bathroom as a present. I was convinced that the three of them would easily complete the project in a weekend . Always one to pitch in (whether asked or not) I decided to make the job faster and easier for my boys by tearing out the old floor for them. I took up the quarter round strips and started pulling up the vinyl and saw that the sub floor was badly water damaged and would therefore have to be replaced. I tried to pry the vinyl and sub floor up in one go using a hammer and crow bar, laboring on my knees for hours but only managing to pull up about a third of the floor . I contemplated an easier method : a phone call with my do-it-herself-er friend Becky had me thinking that my electric circular saw set to a depth of half an inch might rip through the job in no time but when I E-mailed Josh my solution he nixed it . I decided to let my boys brawn do the rest of it. Fortunately there was a layer of plywood underneath that looked just marginally water stained – in the interests of getting the project done I decided I was fine with just covering it with some new backer board if the boys concurred.

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The first Saturday morning I was naively expecting my boys to put in a couple of hours before enjoying one of my delicious lunches - with expectations that the job would be virtually complete by suppertime. By noon my bowels were in an uproar , the boys had not arrived - my expectations tanked on realizing that they were not flush with my ' lets get it done' enthusiasm. I phoned to find out when they were planning on coming over to start the job – not until some time later in the afternoon they said, assuring me that the job was not going to take them any time. That claim was definitely true as hardly any time on any given day was given to this project! Which explains why it has taken three weekends for three boys to tile a relatively small bathroom!

Sean and Josh worked by themselves the first weekend as Bryn was out of town. The first afternoon the boys pulled out the rest of the floor,( berating me for taking so long to accomplish so little of course) removed the toilet and headed for Home Depot where they picked up some new backer board, thin-set and a toilet to replace the one that never recovered from Marc's usage during his Christmas stay. Marc flushed the tank so many times that he seemed to have taught the toilet to flush itself all day and night! He even broke the handle on the tank – Ethan tired of constantly having to reattach it while he was here - Marc of course just left it to some one else being totally inept at plumbing – not surprising I suppose since his own was never hooked up properly from the start!! I should probably send Marc a bill for the new toilet as a belated birthday present for me!Don't worry Marc – Josh picked it out so it was very economically priced!

Sunday Sean bought over a tile saw and some other stuff needed for the job but had to leave shortly after lunch as he had to drive to Omaha for a business trip that afternoon. That left Josh to put the sub-floor down.

This past weekend Bryn and Josh arrived after work on Friday and in just a couple of hours tiled the entire bathroom. I didn't even complain when they dragged my old trash compactor out of the garage and set it up in front of my porch with the tile saw perched on top! I was so happy that progress was being made that I didn't care if the sight offended my neighbors who had all been manicuring their yards in preparation for the Easter holiday !I was thrilled to see my new tile laid with the little spacers just waiting to be grouted. Josh and Bryn explained that that wouldn't be happening until after our Easter Sunday lunch as the thin-set needed time to set up. I'm sure I've seen them lay tile and grout it all in one day on HGTV! This weekend I am hoping that the boys will seal the grout, clean the tiles and put the shoe molding back down. Then I will be so grateful to my boys!

Josh has definitely assumed the most responsibility for the project as both his brothers have been traveling. Bryn went to New York and Boston to visit friends, He was able to spend some time with our Kay and his AHS class mate Alicia Sanchez in Boston. By strange coincidence the girls are almost neighbors!

Sean was in Orlando for a few days last week helping Leslee and Craig move into their new home which I am very anxious to see of course. It's in a lakeside community so should be very picturesque – just the sort of scenery I appreciate. If your dad was able to travel I'd probably move us in for the winter! Sean is flying back to Orlando again this weekend for a few days on a business trip. He has really lucked out with Cerner as they also sent him out to LA earlier this month so that he was able to spend several days with Marc. Now he just needs a trip to the East coast and Indy and he'll have the whole family visited courtesy of Cerner!

Ming-Lee came for an overnight visit at the beginning of the month, unfortunately he missed Sean who was in LA at the time. As an early birthday present he cooked a couple of meals for the family giving me a welcome break from kitchen duty. He arrived with a beautiful bunch of lilies which lasted for a couple of weeks and a gift card which I used to buy some gardening supplies. Thanks to Lori too! We took advantage of a sunny day to visit one of my favorite places, the Arboretum. My muscles appreciated Ming's taking over pushing your dad's wheelchair up and down the hilly paths.

Coryn has been playing nursemaid to Buster all month. Unfortunately one of his hind leg’s knees detached from it's socket and required the expensive services of an orthopedic vet to insert a steel pin to hold it in place. Buster was sent home with a plastic cone encircling his head to prevent him from chewing his stitches ,a shaved and stitched back leg and a shaved spot on his back where they apparently gave him an epidural! I think our bill for Marc's birth was about the same amount as Buster's surgery! Coryn was given strict instructions: Buster was to be confined to a crate for several weeks and to be kept on a very short leash when taken outside for potty breaks. Of course she broke the rules almost immediately by letting him sleep in his doggy bed by hers at night which went well for a couple of weeks until he decided to jump up on the bed. Fortunately the pin held! The vet recently removed his plastic head cone which he endured until the stitches were removed. Coryn is going to have to keep his activity to a minimum for a few more weeks which is hard with a robust dog like Buster. He’s already slipped out the doggie door and down a couple of forbidden steps to chase Ollie around the back yard! I keep warning Coryn that she is going to be paying for another surgery soon and putting herself and Buster through all the trauma of a long recovery period if she doesn't keep that dog confined. Of course she pays no attention to me.

Ming-Jon is traveling back from London as I type this, he was visiting his long time friends Sheldon and Lori while he had the chance. Apparently they are moving back here later this year after a couple of years there. Too bad he missed the Royal Wedding. I am certain that America is far more excited about the event than the Britons – most of whom are probably bemoaning how much of their taxes are being used to pay for it all. I will certainly not be getting up in the middle of the night to watch it live. I am sure it will be replayed on TV all day long so I shall enjoy seeing her dress and all the pageantry which we Brits do so well at my usual breakfast in front of the TV time.

Your dad has had numerous doctor's appointments and tests and none of them have shown any reason for his recent health problems. His seizures have been so debilitating that one of his neurologists has put him on another medication. Unfortunately to date they have continued unabated and he is continuing to suffer many falls, He gave himself a black eye somehow last week but of course doesn't remember how. I am becoming very concerned about the stairs and am considering using a baby gate. Unfortunately his newest neurologist is on maternity leave and won't be back until August. She is encouraging us to give the video monitoring another chance but so far KUMed has not got it organized. The University of Iowa was much better to work with, possibly because your dad had some medical contacts there.

Just a few evenings ago I was startled by the sight of a turkey strutting past my downstairs family room window – enough of a distraction from American Idol to send me scurrying for my camera – which was pointless as Bryn had 'borrowed' the battery for his trip – apparently his wasn't charging. Fortunately I remembered my cell phone had a camera but by the time I grabbed it and got back downstairs the neighbors dog had came charging out of her doggy door and literally sent the turkey flying over my fence in fright. I was furious to have missed the shot. I never expected to see such a bird in my big city yard. I hope he visits again instead of the usual turkeys that flock to my home pecking away at my culinary skills.

Today is glorious, the sun is seducing me outside to toil in my garden where my roses are coming into bloom, butterflies are flitting and a bumble bee is buzzing in circles over my already blooming dianthus. I am planning on digging up some plants from Coryn's yard,and transplanting them into mine this weekend and I'm also looking forward to a visit to a local nursery or two as I always seem to have gaps in my borders (just like the USA) that need to be filled. I hope that while I'm pulling weeds, digging holes and hauling soil around my back yard that I will hear the drone of my worker bee sons up in the bathroom installing this queen's throne! I can promise something as sweet as honey as a treat for a job well done and finally complete!

From my hive of activity, with love, your honey of a mother.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 64 MARCH 2010

Dear Children and Friends,

Last month we celebrated your dad's and Josh's birthdays. As usual great demands were made on my baking skills with Josh requesting a marble cake that I almost lost my marbles over when I realized that I had mindlessly mixed the chocolate and vanilla cake mixes together instead of gently swirling one through the other – so we ended up with a pallid looking chocolate cake. However, I did redeem myself with the frosting . Josh had found a couple of recipes he wanted me to try: thinking we could have a family vote on which was the best so I whipped up two batches, one with whipped cream, sugar and cream cheese and another with Cool Whip, and vanilla pudding. I spread each cake layer with one kind of frosting and served every one two slivers of cake to determine the winner. I would say that the Cool Whip recipe was a taste ahead. After this endeavor I thought I would be free of kitchen duty for awhile but that turned out to be a half baked idea as Josh told me he had taken the next day of work to make Oreo Balls with me as he and Sean both wanted to take a batch into work. Sean thoughtfully handed all the ingredients over to me. Unfortunately the Oreo Balls are still the most requested item in their work places.

Coryn and Sean utilized my shopping skills too. Sean arrived after work one night to have me go suit shopping with him as he had a business trip the next day and his suit was a wrinkled mess since he hadn't thought to take it to the dry cleaners after he last wore it. He brought it over in hopes that I might be able to steam a few wrinkles out if he couldn't find another suit. Fortunately we found two that fit perfectly without alterations, plus some new ties and a shirt. Of course I ended up having to unpin and iron the shirt and steam out the old suit as he had more trips coming up. I did suggest that he could have avoided this last minute shopping spree if he had only planned his wardrobe out a few days ahead but he didn't seem to feel my stress! But I do enjoy watching my kids pull their own credit cards out to make large purchases these days.

Later in the month he had me help him pick out glass tile for his kitchen back splash and Coryn took me carpet shopping with her. She is planning on putting her house on the market soon and the dogs have ruined the bedroom carpets. Jeremy is hoping to sell his condo too and they plan to buy a new house together – probably on the Missouri side of Kansas City since Jeremy will still be working out of Clinton.

About the same time that the Tsunami hit Japan we were hit with a tidal wave of medical problems generated by the Asian here at home. One recent Monday morning your dad told me that his urine was bloody. Immediately suspecting a urinary tract infection I called his urologist's office to make an appointment – they could not see him for a month! They suggested I call our family doctor for treatment. This I promptly did and we were soon heading over to his new offices which I found without a problem – leaving was another matter as once again I got lost in a parking lot and had to use the GPS to get us headed in the right direction.

Norm was so uncomfortable sitting in the waiting room that he had to keep standing and walking around to alleviate the pain and then the urge to pee became so strong that I had to find a rest room for him – fortunately one of the nurses caught us and had him give her a urine sample. As soon as I saw the plastic container filled with blood I knew that this was more than just a urinary tract infection. The doctor took one look at the sample and said we needed to see his urologist today. I explained that I had called him first for an appointment but was told that the earliest appointment was a month away. The doctor said he would call and explain the situation because he believed that your dad probably had a blood clot blocking his bladder which was a medical emergency. He also felt that Norm's prostate cancer could have spread to the bladder and this was definitely out of his realm. His call produced an appointment in three days. Frustrated he told me to take Norm to KUMed's ER immediately since someone from the urology department would have to see him. We made a quick pit stop at home for my cell phone charger and granola bars and headed off to the ER.

Although I have made many trips to KUMed I had never used their ER services before. The entrance to it is virtually hidden up a side street and the underground parking lot is very small and was completely full. I knew your dad was not going to be able to deal with the parking garage so I elected to drive to the main entrance and use their valet parking. Soon I had Norm in his wheelchair and headed for the ER.

Now we are all familiar with airport security but I was not expecting a ramped up version at a hospital ER: an armed guard barred our way and ushered us through a metal detector – forgot about Norm's pacemaker again- passed a wand over us and checked my purse! I even had to hold my jacket open in case I had AK47 under there – a good job I didn't as I might have vented my frustration by firing off a few rounds. We were finally admitted to the ER, and after the usual insurance questions we finally got around to the matter of life or death that was responsible for our being there. Thank goodness I was able to say in all honesty that we had been sent straight from our doctor's office otherwise we might have endured hours in the waiting room instead of minutes.

Once your dad was set up in an examining room, wearing a hospital gown and using a plastic pee bottle (collecting nothing but blood) a doctor finally arrived and decided to set up a catheter so that they could flush his bladder with gallons of saline in hopes of breaking up the blood clots and getting his urine flowing again. The nurse had a terrible time threading the catheter in place because of your dad's prostate cancer and it was obviously an excruciatingly painful one for your dad who was already suffering. I was so relieved when it was finally in and working. There was an awful lot of blood and clots passed. Finally a urologist came to check and decided that if and when the urine was clearer Norm could go home but that the catheter would have to stay in place in case they needed to repeat the procedure and to hopefully prevent another clot blocking the bladder. He also had a very bad urinary tract infection so they prescribed an antibiotic for that. Nine hours after arriving we were discharged and I found myself heading down I35 in the dark of night desperately gripping the steering wheel as I fought through my cataracts to see the lane lines. Coryn had offered to pick us up but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of picking up the car some time in the future so I decided to go for it. She also let me know that Sean was going to spend the night at our house as he had a presentation to make the next morning at the Olathe Medical Center which is fairly close to us.

Sean pulled into the driveway right behind us, exiting his car with a bottle of wine in each hand: I was ready to pull some of Norm's tubing and intubate myself with both bottles. Thoughtful boy that he is he also bought along a couple of bags of frozen Chicken Voila in case we hadn't eaten. I had actually left Norm's bedside to pick up a couple of sandwiches and bottles of juice once I realized that we were going to be there long past my usual dinner time. Would you believe that the security guard actually made me pull my sandwiches out of my purse to check that I didn't have a bomb or something in there! I realized that some of the people in the ER looked like they might be a threat but me?

Sleep was difficult that night as Norm was very restless and still in pain. The following morning I awoke and found him on the cusp of a seizure trying to reattach his catheter bag to his leg. Unfortunately he had undone all the straps and pulled some tubing out but thankfully not the most important part ! I tried to help him but he was being very unco-operative so I was grateful that Sean was there to intervene and get him strapped and taped again. Unfortunately your dad was like a toddler with a new plaything – he just couldn't keep his hands off the tubing and kept wrapping electrical tape around it to keep it tight to his leg not understanding that he was putting so much tension on the apparatus that he was causing the tubing to pull away from the bag and thus causing frequent leaking!

I made a quick trip to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription but by the time I returned Norm was in a lot of pain and there was no urine in the catheter bag. I called the Urology department and was told they would have a resident call as soon as possible. Two hours later there was no phone call and Norm's pain was so bad that I decided we needed to return to the ER. I called Coryn to see if she could leave work early to drive us as I was having my own meltdown and I didn't think it was safe for me to drive. Fortunately her principal was very understanding and told her to take the rest of the week off too!

Once back in the ER Norm was in so much pain that he couldn't even sit in the wheelchair – the nurse said she would try to get him in as soon as possible . Another nurse came to take his vitals and ascertain his problem but she virtually shut me out of the room despite the fact that I told her your dad had dementia. We were sent to the waiting room which seemed more like a social club today. Groups of people , many of whom seemed to know each other, came in and made themselves comfortable, hugging and greeting others as they poured through the doors. They were obviously settling in for the evening. Poor Norm had to keep pacing to alleviate his pain and I was getting close to another meltdown so I went to the front desk to see how much longer they thought it might be – not that they cared!

After a while I noticed a smell that reminded me of dead fish - I wondered which of the crowd was responsible and leaned over to get Coryn's thoughts but she is not blessed with my sensitive nose and just shrugged. A few minutes later the smell caused me to check your dad's catheter bag: he had finally passed some urine but we had an equipment malfunction - a puddle had formed around his feet and his pants were wet. I hastily rushed out to the desk and explained what had happened, hoping this would get your dad into an examining room more quickly, but they were very nonchalant. I expected a hazmat crew to clean it up but the nurse came by after awhile and mopped it up with a paper towel. No bleach, no Lysol. Eventually they did take Norm off to supposedly change his bag but asked Coryn and I to remain in the waiting room while they took care of it, assuring us that they would bring us to him once that was accomplished. I thought it very odd that we were being virtually told that we could not be with him but I felt it better to just co-operate , hoping that he would be seen by a doctor very soon.

Since people were arriving with dinner in hand , all the munching around us prompted Coryn to volunteer to make a food run while we waited. She arrived back about forty minutes later with a bag of heart healthy fries and burgers and was surprised that I was still there and not with Norm. While we ate supper I began to worry about why no-one had reunited us with Norm so once again I went to the front desk and realized that a shift change had taken place and apparently we had been forgotten about . My blood pressure must have been at boiling point. Coryn and I found your dad alone in an examining room where he had scooted himself to the end of the bed and was marching in place to try to alleviate the pain. I was appalled that from a health and legal stand point that they had left your dad with all his health problems unattended. However his spirits rose when Coryn offered him a burger and french fries – he ate like a rabid dog.

A nurse finally responded to Norm's beeping monitor: Norm had pulled his finger clip off. I questioned why he was in so much pain and she assured me that he had been given pain medication and that it should take effect soon. She had a couple of prescriptions to send home with us and was about to leave the room when I asked if the catheter tubing and bag had been changed. The previous shift nurse had apparently neglected to tell her about the problem, but she said she would check it - which she did ,informing me that it wasn't the kind they used. I promptly fired back that he had been set up with it yesterday in this ER ! I realize now that she was probably thrown by all the tape plastered over it and the elastic and safety pins that I had replaced the hospital bands with as they were too easy for Norm to remove. The nurse assured me that all the connections looked fine – obviously she didn't want to change a thing!

Once again Norm was discharged into my care and I think it was about three in the morning before we were able to sleep as he was in so much pain. He would wake me every couple of hours to empty his bag even though there was little urine in it. He confused his sense of urinary urgency with urine flow of which unfortunately there was very little – until about eight in the morning. He woke me up to let me know that the bed felt wet under him. Indeed it was. Once again the tubing had come loose and we had Pyridium stained urine all over the bed. (Pyridium is a medication used to treat urinary tract infections and it stains one's urine a bright orange color which is very difficult to remove.)I had placed some towels under him but unfortunately our mattress pad cover was not waterproof so it soaked through. So I cleaned your dad up, changed him, reattached the catheter tubing and called Coryn to come and help me as I was too exhausted to go to the pharmacy, shop for a waterproof mattress cover, and clean all the mess up. She was a great help again that day, running errands, picking up food for us and watching her dad so that I could try to get some sleep. I did manage to get the mattress cleaned and encased in a waterproof cover, the bedding washed and most of the spots shampooed out of the carpet. A few days later I bought a new bedding set to ensure we were completely clean and comfortable.

I called the urology department in tears that morning with my tale of woe and they said that they would plan to remove the catheter the next day when we had an appointment with the urologist. Josh came over later in the evening to spend the night and was a great help as he repositioned the catheter bag on Norm's leg to make it more difficult for him to fiddle with it. Since I had again spent most of the night sleeping in short bursts Josh stayed with Norm late into the morning so that I could get some more sleep.

Thursday afternoon Coryn drove us back to KUMed for our appointment with the urologist. Norm was set up with an appointment for a CT Scan and Cystoscopy of the bladder for the end of the month and thankfully the catheter was removed. Fortunately your dad is pain free in that area of his body but is now having a lot of back pain and leg cramps which are keeping us up at night. He’s been having tidal waves of seizures, including incontinence and collapses. He went down in the front yard yesterday when he was trying to enjoy some sunshine – fortunately one of the neighbor's saw us and came over to help me get Norm up and back into the house.

We also have appointments with his cardiologist and a new neurologist who specializes in seizures. I am hoping that something can be done to stabilize his situation as it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to monitor him twenty-four hours a day. Like the Japanese I am hoping that something can be done to contain the situation before the fall out from your dad's ills results in a catastrophe.

The warm weather we have enjoyed these last few days has helped buoy our spirits. Norm has been able to bask in his rocking chair on the deck whilst I've been cleaning up my garden and anticipating the glorious display of my spring bulbs as their green leaves peak through the soil. I have piles of twigs and ornamental grass cuttings for the birds nesting needs; the bird houses have been hung and my bird feeders filled. I spotted a toad under a pile of wet leaves and hope to see the butterflies feeding on all my flowers very soon. The deer have already been around to feed on the few acorns left by the squirrels on the front lawn. I tried to chase them away at dawn this morning but they didn't budge. As long as they don't eat my hostas – they have already dined on my tulips. I am still amazed that living in an area so close to a number of interstates that we have so much wild life to enjoy.

Thanks to Coryn I have recently joined a Brits International group and just before Norm fell ill, enjoyed one of their afternoon teas. They hold social meetings on a frequent basis so hopefully I'll be able to join them sometimes and broaden my circle of friends here. Probably help me regain my accent too – I've certainly never lost my love of a nice cup of tea!

Let's hope that I can keep my cool as things heat up in an effort to get to the core of your dad's latest health melt down and lets hope that no more ill winds blow our way, your hard to contain, highly combustible Mom.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 63

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 63 FEBRUARY 2011

Dear Readers,

I opened the deck door this morning and gingerly stepped out only to find myself flying Bambi style across it - fortunately I managed to grab the patio table before I literally hit the deck. I decided to cancel your dad's appointment scheduled for this afternoon with his urologist at KU Med - fearing that the trip on icy roads would be more hazardous to his health than his prostrate cancer. I didn't think your dad would appreciate me skating around the KU Med parking garage with his wheelchair – he's nervous enough under the best of conditions about my ability to negotiate obstacles like curbs without sending him flying. I think he should be grateful that he married someone young enough and strong enough to be able to push him around in one!

Ethan “volunteered” to skate to the mailbox and push the garbage can to the curb for me. He ended up trying to stay on the grass as much as possible because it was so slick on the cement: watching him slip and slide I congratulated myself on my wise decision to stay indoors all day.

Sean and Josh invited us over to watch a movie one weekend recently and I spent time cleaning in the kitchen – I had hoped that their new counter-tops, beautiful farm style stainless steel sink and high end faucet would be a great incentive to be more house proud but unfortunately they still seem content to wallow in the muck and mire of their bachelor pad. They so desperately need some neat freak girlfriends.

Over the last few months I have noticed that my vision seems to be diminishing so I made an eye appointment and was devastated to learn that I have cataracts. I asked the doctor how someone my age could possibly be stricken with such a thing- she assured me that it wasn't that unusual and she reminded me that one of the side affects of taking Tamoxifen was the early onset of cataracts. She thought they would be ripe for surgery in about three years. Apparently they are contributing to my night time driving difficulties. It seems that I am rapidly approaching old age before I am even comfortable with being middle aged! But worse was to come. A few days later I was chomping on a breakfast bowl of Special K when I bit down on something hard. I assumed it was a piece of almond shell and spit it into my napkin. I took a few more mouthfuls and found my tongue straying to a very rough feeling tooth. I explored my back teeth by sticking my finger in my mouth .What I felt was alarming enough to send me racing for a mirror which showed that I had lost part of a tooth. I put my reading glasses on and checked in the napkin, now seeing that the “nut shell' was actually part of my tooth. I called the dentist and am now $1000.00 poorer as the tooth had to be crowned – you'd expect diamonds for that price! The dental office declared this the first loss of a tooth to Special K in their history and seemed to find the whole thing very amusing. The dentist explained that as we age our teeth tend to fracture more easily. I realized that two health professionals had diagnosed me as having age related health issues within a week. I immediately regretted weaning myself off my anti depressant- could anything be more depressing than to be told you are obviously a card carrying ARRP member? I'm wondering if it's worth maintaining my natural hair color at this point!

Coryn has enjoyed many snow days recently – interesting that we were able to make it to the movie theater on one of them to enjoy 'The King's Speech' – very worthwhile seeing- and I was amazed to note that the theater was full that afternoon of hordes of women who I suspected were usually in the classroom at that time. It would seem that people have no problems getting anywhere other than school. I told Coryn that I was glad to see that our tax dollars were being wisely spent by her school district. I don't think she has worked five days a week since school resumed after the Christmas break.

Ethan spent his last weekend here watching the Super Bowl: he was almost sandwiched on the couch between two geriatrics - fortunately Josh arrived to save him from this fate. Bryn and Sean were attending a friend's party and Coryn and Jeremy had other plans too. Maybe it will be game on for me next year? However a few days later we were all together for a farewell dinner before Ethan left to return to England so perhaps it was just as well that I didn't have to cater two big bashes back to back.

Norm and I took Ethan to the airport on Thursday and fortunately the weather was not a factor. It seems that we have had ice and snow to contend with since the start of the new year. Ethan is now safely home again.

Your dad had his rescheduled appointment with his urologist and once again his PSA is rising so the doctor feels that it might be time to start hormone therapy again. Your dad has elected to wait for a couple of months because he is having numerous seizures again and doesn't feel that he needs any thing else to deal with now. The doctor did prescribe some medicine to help with his urinary flow – interestingly enough I think it's the same stuff that Marc has to take. Quite unusual to have one's relatively young son taking the same medicine as his aged father. Too bad Marc doesn't live here as he could double up with his dad on doctor's appointments and prescriptions.

Taking your dad to KU Med is quite a challenge at this time as the hospital is undergoing some major building work and the roads leading to the parking garage are jammed with bumper to bumper cars all trying to find a place in the multi level parking lot that always seems to be full irregardless of what time of day one goes. The spaces in the garage are so small that even if one manages to find one the chances of being able to open all four car doors are very slight - even for my compact car! I don't think I have ever found a handicap space open in the three years we have been using the facility. So once I've succeeded in getting your dad in the wheelchair I usually have to push him quite a way to the elevators which are barely big enough to hold one patient in a wheelchair - leave alone the usual hordes trying to get on board. This last trip six of us squeezed in with Norm in his wheelchair because people were so concerned about being late to doctors appointments. One poor lady was worried to death that she was going to be so agitated by the time she reached her doctor's office that he would want to admit her! She claimed that she was so stressed out by the elevator ride because she was claustrophobic. I do hope that the hospital is going to improve the parking situation as I'm sure it's not a situation that helps anyone's health. I'm surprised that they don't have paramedics right there to triage all the drivers who are probably on the verge of a stroke or heart attack driving around and around trying to find a parking space. They could really drum up some business for the ER.

Today is gloriously warm and sunny, and for the first time in ages I was able to have your dad sit out on the deck basking in the sun as he so loves to do. Josh was here so I took advantage of the chance to take a long walk although I had to climb over snow piles here and there as no-one seems to be into clearing off their sidewalks in our neighborhood - despite our home owners association sending out an E-mail to remind us that we are legally responsible for them. I’m truly grateful to my neighbor who does ours with his snow blower and of course I had Ethan to help out with snow removal too! Quite a treat for him to experience his first American winter with snow on the ground for weeks and bone chilling temperatures. I'm sure he'll find it much warmer back in England.

Happy Valentines Day to all my readers, I always think of you all with heartfelt love but I barely have time to celebrate the day before I need to start preparing for your dad's eighty-third birthday and our thirty-sixth wedding anniversary in a few days! Love Mom