Denny the Explorer

Denny enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather ...

Ever wonder what they do when they think you're not watching?

Yep, he's drinking from the concrete fountain!

An Elvis Valentine

On my weekly trip to the Central Market, I picked up a nice batch of tulips that they had on special for Valentine's Day.

Valentine's morning, Ray sent a photo of Jerry Lee, so I decided to take a picture of Elvis with a tulip

Look how sweet he looks ...

OOPS! The "real Elvis" came out and he couldn't resist tasting of the flower!

Elvis' Wrist

You all know that taking Elvis to the vet is an experience for EVERYONE, but we've gotten a system down that seems to work. A happy pill, his Thunder Shirt and I handle him unless it's absolutely necessary for someone at Memorial 610 Animal Hospital to lay a hand on him - other than Dr. Rose.

Last November, I noticed a pea-sized knot on the side of Elvis' right wrist (or whatever they call it in vet-speak). It was sensitive to the touch and felt as if part of the joint had come apart ... he was walking on it, but would stop and flick it in the air from time to time.

X-rays revealed damage to the bones - we have no idea what caused "the traumatic injury" - but the radiologist said it was healing. Dr. Rose felt that the bulge was cartilage that had been displaced from the joint and that we would just leave it unless it became a problem for him. They wanted to see him again in a few months to check the progress.

We went back in February and I thought I'd share some photos ... first the x-rays.

Getting these x-rays was a bit of a chore ... like the first time, I had to position him on the table exactly where he needed to be. Blythe would then step behind me and slowly put her hands where mine had been holding him - making sure he couldn't see her - and then I would leave the room while the other vet tech got the shot. Then I would come back to move him for the next view.  I'm happy to report that it went well and we got identical shots to November for comparison.

From the top ...

From the side ...

Exhausted and relieved to be heading home!

And when we got home, Denny gave him a quick "cat scan" and ear washing to welcome him back from his ordeal.

To Blog or Not to Blog?

That is the question!

I resisted the FaceBook craze for years and still question their integrity and privacy policies, but over the last few months have posted more on-the-spot photos from my iPhone or iPad. It's convenient and fast and I'm in touch with friends via FaceBook who wouldn't care to read the details posted on the blog. Not that you do either ... ;)

On some occasions, what I would have written about had already been highlighted with a FaceBook photo and, being fully aware that my life is just not that interesting, I didn't write a blog post. With several legitimate excuses - December 9, 2012 marked the one year anniversary of Dad's death - I fell behind in December and then just got lazy. I should have been focused on the miracle Christmas, but frankly I was distracted by memories ... the good, the bad and the ugly.

As Valentine's Day approached - the one year anniversary of Mom's death - I decided to look back at some blog stories and photos and as I scanned the entries that started in 2009, I realized that the blog was a pretty good snapshot of the highs and lows of several years. I decided to keep it going.

So this post is an up-front apology to those of you who read the blog and are also FaceBook friends - when you see FB posts followed by more detailed blog posts, just ignore them. Or read them if you're interested.

The Tigris River and the Fitbit

What do these two things have in common? Since buying the FitBits in mid-May last year, I put in 1,246 miles running, walking, grocery shopping, producing Kelsey-Seybold events, etc., and that's more than the length of the Tigris River! Who knew?

Anyone within earshot has heard Jerry and me talk about our little FitBits - they provide up-to-the-minute feedback on daily steps, calories burned, stairs climbed and this model can even analyze your sleep patterns. Once set-up, your tracker syncs very detailed data to your account on the FitBit.com website.

Several days ago, they sent us emails with the following recap of our 2012 activity. Kind of a fun surprise.



I was most active in November, when I was doing the long runs and I have no idea what I did on July 15th to be so active - I guess I was really movin'!

Jerry put in 986 miles, which is more than the length of the California coast, and was most active the month of June. Must have been the "pressure" of monitoring his activity with his new FitBit ... ;) His most active day was May 18th - the Friday we walked the entire TPC course at Las Colinas during the Byron Nelson.



Anyway, it's fun technology and we've both found that even though we bought them to track calories burned during the tournament and other events, that we like wearing them every day to keep us motivated. It will be fun to see how far we've "traveled" in the 2013 recap.

Farewell, Robertson Stadium

On November 24th, the Houston Cougars played their last football game in Robertson Stadium, a facility that has hosted the Coogs for 70 years, with the exception of the seasons they played in the Astrodome as repairs were being made. The lot was filled with tail-gating fun and the band did their traditional march across campus and into the stadium.







I'm sure the new stadium will be nice, but it's the end of an era.



Jerry in front of the stadium - one more time!



And out among the Alumni pavilions ...



One of the more famous Coogs' wall tiles ...



Heading in for the final game



These concession stands are a familiar sight. Very "low tech" compared to newer facilities!






Heading up the ramps



JB with our last set of Robertson rental chairs ... they told us to take them home after the game, but the seats didn't say UofH or Robertson Stadium on them, so we left them for the wrecking crew. They also held an online auction, selling the box seats ... needless to say, we do NOT have either of these memorabilia items!



Cougar band on the field ...



UofH formation ...



Team takes the field



School song, to which no one remembers the words!



Action on the field



Shadows fall



Last shot of the Robertson Stadium scoreboard



We left just after half-time, it was cold, and unfortunately we missed the post-game program and festivities. The Coogs posted this photo of "lights out".



They've since surrounded the stadium with construction fencing and will begin demolition in the coming weeks. The Coogs will play in Reliant Stadium next season and then back on campus to open the new stadium for the 2014 season. We'll be there!

Running for Pie

Continuing our running program, Jerry and I ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning with Ed and Martha. Ed and I did 6.2, although he finished much faster than I did. Jerry and Martha ran the 5K (3.1) and it was a good run for everyone.

Here is our official "finisher" photo ...



Ed & Hope hosted the family for Thanksgiving lunch and through the wonders of technology, we have a group photo. The photo resolution is fairly low, but we're all in there!

FIFTY Years

It's hard to believe that Jerry has been out of high school for fifty years, but the Austin High School class of 1962 celebrated their 50th reunion in November. The event coincided with the 75th anniversary of Austin High School, so they had lots of activities Friday and Saturday.

Here's a photo of Jerry with classmates and friends - Glen Cook, Herman Wehner & Pat McCraken on school grounds at the 75th Anniversary program.



A shot of Darrell Cherry, me and Jerry at the 50th reunion party at the Hilton/Doubletree downtown that Saturday night.