I am beginning to think I felt better before I began going to the doctor a month ago.

Well, maybe I wouldn't go that far!

I always kid Memama and Pepa that if they didn't go to the doctor(s), they wouldn't go anywhere at all. As it stands, they go all the time. But I'm not complaining, they are really in pretty good health.

I made my 9 AM. appointment for my follow up with my surgeon. He was running just over an hour behind. That always poses a major problem for me because I figure my time is worth just as much as his is. An inability to stay on schedule could mean a number of things, one of them being ADD. A simple explanation could be lack of organization. The most likely explanation could be that he has one of those management groups that tells him how many patients he has to see to reach pre-set goals. Usually these goals are very unreal.

The best news of the day was that he removed my drain tube! Yea! That was almost immediate relief. It was a downer that he decided against removing any staples! One more week. He did tell us that the pathology report came back consistent with lipomas, which is good. (Meaning benign). He went on to tell us that when he removed them they weren't the big bleeders he feared but they did have lots of fingers or tentacles that had attached to anything in the neighborhood. Basically this just made for a more difficult extraction and probably accounted for a little more post op pain.

In between appointments we ran back to the house to unload potted plants Pat had brought over. It is still unbelievable the number of plants that friends and relatives sent to Fred's funeral. In fact, the flower shops have delivered a couple of days this week! They tell me that Jason and Christy's house looked like a jungle and they delivered many plants to churches and nursing homes and other places last weekend. The remaining plants have been sent to other family member's homes. They are very gorgeous!

Next stop was the dermatologist! Another long wait! Over an hour and a half. Turns out it was so bad that my docile sister, the RN, family medical revue officer, got up and walked to the window. "Yes, is there a problem?", she asked. "Do we need to re-schedule?" I am sure later in the day the receptionist realized she had never been chewed out in such a nice manner! Kill 'em with kindness!

When we finally got to go back, Pat had developed a game plan. She wanted the P.A. to do a complete melanoma check on me. When the P.A. walked in, she asked what I was there for and I began to point and explain. In between she was talking to her nurse, but the P.A. told me to take off my shirt so she could look at my multitude of moley oleys! "Oh my!", she exclaimed as my staples from the recent surgery registered with her trained eyes! "You've had surgery!" (You can't slip nothing by some people). About this time the nurse stepped in front of me and said "Bee sting!" Yikes! She stuck me in the nose with a needle, not once, but twice. Now that first time might have been an accident, but I think that second one was intentional! When the P. A. got through with my once over, she told us she didn't see anything to be concerned about, except for the place on my nose. She told me to put my shirt on and lay back on the table. I wasn't even comfortable before I could see the handle of a scapula and the P.A. had whacked off the skin flaw in question! Ouch! No fanfare, no "on a count of three", no "ready or not". It was done! We were in the express line! She told us that it was not a melanoma, she was virtually positive of that. However she did say that relying on her experience she was certain that it was a basil cell carcinoma. Which is an official way of saying the big "C". Cancer. They sent it to the lab to be sure, but she told us what the next procedure would be and approximately when to expect a call from them. When we got outside Pat cyphered through everything and told us that if I had to have a cancer, this was the best kind to have! My understanding is that it is not very aggressive and works from the outside in instead of vice versa.

I can't believe anyone would think I would have any kind of cancer but the best kind!

Probably the worst thing of the whole ordeal was the bandage. I have never seen such a monstrosity. It was almost like they went into the bathroom and returned with a new roll of toilet paper and said, "Put your nose in here!" while pointing to the center of the tube. A couple of big X's with some packing tape and they were putting me out the door. Not even a "I hope you're not driving".

I had no idea that when things began to happen they would progress so quickly. Krl and I had told Pat that we had a gift to certificate to Chili's, and we were all talking about maybe going to eat afterwards. Our treat. We were all hungry, at least before we went back. For some reason after you have been stabbed repeatedly in your nose with a needle and then they whack a portion of it off, you lose your appetite. As it turns out, Pat had a full plate of errands to do anyhow.

Krl and I never ate lunch. We just did an early supper.

I did feel well enough to go and pay a couple of bills later in the day. I found if I tilted my head just right and angled it, I could see through the middle of the toilet paper cardboard tube, so driving wasn't too big a deal.

I should have been a submarine pilot!

Well today is Friday! Thank GOD. I need a weekend. And a paycheck! Yippee! Other notes of interest for today's date are as follows. Today is Rian's last day under contract for the summer. He has about five weeks off before going under contract for the next school year. It is also TJ's birthday. I'm not sure how old she is but I know she is getting really really old. Something like forty-three or something. (Even if I knew I wouldn't say publicly). My theory is that you are getting old when your age is larger than your IQ!

Chris called me and asked me to make a pickup before I leave Abilene today. From the sound of it I just hope I have enough room in my little truck to haul it all. I told his Mom that I don't know if we really need any of this stuff but it may be a reason for me to stop by La Popular Bakery for burritos. I haven't done that this week. Hah!

The month is moving right along! Sales at the store seem to be soaring! And that is good.

My sources have told me that the contracts have been let for phase three of the wind farm project. That means six more to go! They are still saying that it could be six and a half or seven years before the last phase is completed.

Pat told me Pepa found him a custom harvester to combine his wheat crop! I hope they get a good run in before it weathers again! He had been threatening to get out his combine, but none of us thought his health was up to it yet! I think between Pepa, Jason and Brent had put together a package of about two thousand acres of wheat to be harvested. I visited with Mr. Bonner, the general manager of the company that runs the grain elevator and he told me that local grain prices were set at $4.90/bushel. That is about the best I have heard this year. Yields have been well above average. And that is good.

Well, I had better get. I don't know what I will do in the middle of the night but I will find something!

Have a day!

FATHER, with YOUR help.