Monday, March 9, 2009

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Friday, November 21, 2008

What I've been waiting for!

Finally, I have been to all my doctors and can give you an update on my condition. It has been a bit stressful, particularly with my kidney doctor. I finally saw him today and he told me that everything looked good, blood tests are good, kidneys are functioning good, no problem with the bladder. Then he said he thought that I had a kidney problem in the past and that he wanted me to see him again in three months. So, I'm back at square one with him. The other doctors have said I was doing fine. My primary care doctor even called me and said he had seen the pictures of my kidneys and bladder and everything was fine and not to worry. So that's where I am with the doctors.

I have been going to rehab three times a week for an hour each time. I do the treadmill, weights and bicycle. Today, I asked them to do a home program for me and they will have it ready for me on Monday. I then will just go to our fitness facility and do my rehab there instead of going to the hospital three times a week. This change gives me more latitude in when I go and allows me to not tie myself up at a certain time three times a week. It should work out much better for me.

All my bruising has gone, my incision is healing well and I feel pretty good in general. I still get tired, but am getting more strength every day. I am also back on the golf course and trying to play 9 holes at a time. I don't use the driver yet, just my irons and I only swing a half stroke. I think this is helpful also. The guys that I play with are very obliging.

We received an invitation to join with another couple for Thanksgiving. We had just planned to stay home or maybe go out to eat at a restaurant. It will be nice to go somewhere we can enjoy some good company and be among friends.

We wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We feel we have so much to be thankful for. My health is better and as I get better, it seems that Chris is able to do better also. We live in a great neighborhood and community. Our church is good and we, so far, have been able to weather the recession ok. Our second house is rented through April 2009 and that takes a load off of us financially and physically. We feel truly blessed and thank our Heavenly Father for His goodness and kindness toward us. We are far from perfect, but He is very forgiving of our trespasses and errors. We hope we can always do better.

We are pleased with each of you. We know that all of you have experienced some adversity in your lives, but it seems to us that all of you are enduring well and trying to be the very best you can be. A great family. Your Mother would be happy with you if she were here. I think she knows of your trials and tribulations and is pleased with your faithfulness and endurance. I know we all miss her very much. She was a lot of fun and was particularly fond of Thanksgiving.

That's about all for this post. After Thanksgiving, I'm sure that we will all turn our thoughts to the Christmas season.

By the way, don't get too discouraged with our new president. We can still keep him informed of our dislikes, but we need to honor the office he holds even though we may feel that someone else could have done better.

Love you all,

Dad

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

One day at a time.

Today, I walked to the club house for the Heron Lakes golf course. It's at least a 1/4 mile one way. After getting to the club house, I read all the bullentin boards and caught up on the latest competition in the men's club. The pro shop was closed and no one was on the golf course as it was being overseeded. It should open back up in about two weeks. That's when I plan to start my putting practice again.

By the time I returned home, Chris had picked up our house keeper and she was busy cleaning in the Arizona room. Carmen, our house keeper, is a very nice young hispanic lady. She doesn't speak the best of English, but she has a great personality and does a great job of cleaning.

When she finished cleaning, which was about 1:30 p.m., Chris took her home and I went along for the ride. We stopped at WalMart on the way back and did some shopping for some food for me to eat. I am on a low fat, low salt, low cholestrol diet and was getting tired of eating the same old foods every day. We didn't get much in the way of groceries, but we still spent almost 2 hours shopping and I was getting tired. The long and short of it was that I was able to have some French Onion soup for dinner which was very good. I have found out though that when you shop and read all the labels that the shopping time is extended longer than I expected. But, it has to be done. All in a day's work. Tomorrow, I think that I will just do my walking and maybe go to our library and get a couple of good books to read.

Al as a rookie Las Vegas Police Officer in 1970

This was a great time in my life. I had just started teaching English at Valley High School in Las Vegas after getting my degree in Political Science and English at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. I was very happy with my job, family and for the opportunity to serve my community as a part time police officer. I worked two to three nights a week. My wife supported me all the way. This job was the hardest to leave when I received a call from the Dean of Continuing Education asking me to return to the University as a full time administrator in Continuing Education for Adults. All this after only teaching for one year in Las Vegas Clark County School District. At this time Alyse and I had five children, we were still young and adventurous.