7/31/2002

My cousin Dick and his wife wanted to play golf today. Since I can barely move without groans of pain (and with the temp in the high 90's), I went back up to the project. Kat had given me the day off, and she was working on the billing for her office (wait till she sees MY bill!). I went up anyway and painted l 1/2 closets, with no kids there. Ah! When I got home, Dick's 2 girls (17 and 14) were just starting to watch "The Bonecutter". They filled me in on what I missed. We were cool and relaxed - it sure beat playing golf! Love, P.

7/30/2002

What a day! Kat's sitter was "unavailable", so we had both boys with us all day. It is a good thing that I do not have any children! Man, oh man! Too exhausting. Today I sanded and primed 2 closets. I warned Kat that I'm not very quick. The sad thing is - she has 3 closets. I was reminded as I worked how much I hate painting. Sigh. My cousin Dick and his family are here for 2 days. I was hoping to get "project volunteers", but I'm told they both like to sleep in. They don't have painting clothes with them anyway. Love. P.

7/29/2002

Today was the first day of my 5 days of volunteer slave-labor for Kat. She & Bob bought a ranch house in the commercial section of Camp Hill, PA which she is going to convert into an office. What makes it tough is that it has been a rental home till now; also a few accountants plan to share office space with them. She has been trying to get a price for the remodelling, but the contractors are trying to rip them off. She has decided to do as much of the job as she can, by herself. I agreed to help her after I got my drivability back. We worked all day today. I am so sore that I can't lift my arms above my head. Tomorrow I will paint some closets. We are limited with what we may do until she gets her building permit. Long bath tonight! Love, P.

7/28/2002

This morning my Dad took me on a "last tour" of the farm. He has a closing on Wednesday and the last closing on Thursday. I'm glad they decided to sell it now rather than have us fight over it after they die. We celebrated David's birthday today. I got him 'power-digger'-type toys. Barb got him a Spider Man action figure and 2 new outfits. He got books from Mom & Dad and a whale bath toy from his parents. He refused to even try the chicken corn soup (more for us!) and only licked the frosting off his piece of cake. I wonder what his fifth birthday will be like? Hopefully, I'll be around to see it! Love, P.

7/27/2002

Yee-haw! I drove today! I'm in PA now. On the way up, I figured I should drive the speed limit. Good thing I decided that - there was a state cop right behind me! My nephew David's birthday was on Wednesday. He turned 4. We are having his party here tomorrow with the whole family. Mom made home-made chicken corn soup (it's a PA Dutch thing) for the celebration. Wow - two days without golf. Love, P.

7/26/2002

I can drive tomorrow! Hip, hip, hooray! I can hardly wait! I know that my neighbors and friends have been great about taking me to places I need/want to go to, but it'll be so nice to drive again. We actually DID get rain last night into this morning. I was glad to avoid golf for once - I had played for 5 days in a row. Did I use this "day off" to pack for my trip? Nope. Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow? Love, P.

7/25/2002

Where is our rain? It seems to be missing us. Two days ago it rained 2.3 inches in Charlottesville, only 16 miles from here. Us? Not enough to wet the ground. Today they had more rain in C'ville with nothing here. The Lake water is not even up to my dock yet. We are 24 inches below where we should be. Maybe it'll rain here tonight. I hope so. Love, P.

7/24/2002

I had an appointment today with Dr. Gorsch. He told me that I was not allowed to look so healthy or the "disability spies" would report me. I figure that the two new brain tumors (that they have no idea what to do with) give me a bit of leeway until they have a PLAN. Sure, maybe I will have to go back to work, but until that is a plan, I'm going to enjoy my golf and my travel! Love, P.

7/23/2002

Julia came over after my golf, and we went to the pool. I bought a house here in 1995 and had never been to the pool before. It was nice. Julia was going to drag me into town for supper and drive me home, then drive back to C'ville. Too much driving! We decided to order delivery pizza instead, ate on the back deck, and then went for a sail. Not much wind, but we had a good time. Only 4 more days till I may drive again! Love, P.

7/22/2002

My golf is getting worse and worse, but my energy level is MUCH better. I played again in the heat today and felt as though I was still alive at the end of the round. I went to the bank and the grocery store . Lots of people I know were also shopping. Hey, Eric P - I have not been able to read the Email you sent. It is 14MB and my mailbox is only 5MB. After trying for days to retrieve it, I called Kat. She told me that it was from you and was a HUGE file. I've been unable to get any Email because it always tried to come across first. She has turned it into a temporary file so I can now read my other mail. We may have to delete it entirely. Was/Is it important? Love, P.

7/21/2002

I can't think of a more perfect combination: church, golf, and supper at a friends' (unless it involves travel away from home, a beach and a few wine coolers). Ah!! I even had to sing at church today with the choir. Golf was VERY poor, until the middle of the 13th hole when Pops told me that I had been dipping my shoulder all day. Notice how he waited till I had played almost 13 holes before he clued me in? Thanks, old Poppa, dear! Will it be better tomorrow? Probably not, but it was better the last few holes today. I appreciate Mom's serious Guest Book entry today. Every now and then, I need to stop having fun and think about how critical my illness is. Love, P.

7/20/2002

Ann & Richard from Richmond came today. They took me to breakfast and then we had a very serious talk as to what I would want done to me or not done to me if/when I become critically ill. No one wants to think of bad things happening to them, but there are somethings I should not and cannot ignore. I feel great now - happy, healthy, certainly not sick. However, with me having "one or two" new brain tumors, things can continue to get worse. It is hard to picture yourself as unable to respond. A very tough morning, but one I needed to have. Now to a lighter subject - did any of you watch Tiger Woods crash and burn at the British Open, scoring 10 OVER par and shooting an 81!!! He completely blew his dream of winning all four Majors in one year. Two of my "brothers" leave tomorrow morning. It was a weird week, because the Lake is so low, nobody swam. Most of the activity seemed to take place indoors. Love, P.

7/19/2002

July is just crawling by. I'll bet that feeling is because I'm having to wait till the 27th to drive. I want to be driving! I hate the 'passenger role' I've been in. My SUV battery has died, but my car still starts. (I sort of forgot to drive them up and down the driveway for nearly 2 weeks, and the SUV decided to take a break.) The Colville clan and I went to see Stuart Little 2 today. It was much better than the first one except for the annoying character played by Geena Davis and the voice of the bird (Melanie Griffiths). Bath time! Love, P.

7/18/2002

I figured I'd pop over here after supper next door to get my entry in a bit earlier than last night. My third "brother" and his family will arrive later tonight. Who knows when I'll get back over here next!? More bridge? More Phase 10? Oh, what do we have in store for us tonight? In my rush to write in the Journal before midnight last night, I forgot to mention that I also attended choir practice. We worked on the song for Sunday's church service. I wish I had a better background in music, because with no one playing the song for me, I have no idea what note to start on. Will I get better at that? Nine days till I can drive! Hooray! Love, P.

7/17/2002

Wow! It is 10 of midnight, and I'm trying to get this in really fast. What a fun day! My neighbor's kids are in town. We had all our meals together, played 9 holes of golf, played Phase 10 (a card game), and then bridge. They stopped the bridge and told me to get home and do this entry. Golf was a hair better. I came in second in Phase 10. I played bridge poorly, but I'm blaming my cards on that (not the fact that I don't know what I'm doimg). Love, P.

7/16/2002

Golf tourney today. My score keeps getting worse. Oh well. It IS a GAME. I was invited to supper tonight at a friends' house. One of the men cooked the meal which had shrimp and crab over rice, and was quite elegant. We ladies sat on the couch and gabbed while the men did all the work. Very nice! Love, P.

7/15/2002

Argh! What a frustrating day! I was on the phone non-stop for 6 1/2 hours trying to get through to get NASCAR tickets, and never did get through. I know Barb will be disappointed. My left forearm and hand feel overused. Tomorrow is golf, which usually kills 6 hours, so I can't try then. I told some of the other ladies that I'd join them for golf this morning if I had my tickets by then. Yeah, sure. Lyman told me tonight that he will talk to a family member who knows Dale Jr. Maybe I'll get tickets that way. I don't think Steve will even notice if I route for Jr. that day! I may need to buy a red outfit before the race. Love, P.

7/14/2002

We had RAIN! It was the slow all night and most of the day kind of rain (not the 20 minute thunderstorms that dump rain so fast that it doesn't sink in). A perfectly restful day for church, lunch with a friend, and the NASCAR race. Thank goodness that creepy Jeff Gordon did not make it out of second place. My driver, alas, had another poor run. I'm wondering if I should change my loyalty to Michael Waltrip - the #15 NAPA car - he is pretty easy on the eyes! No, I'll stick with Steve. My mission for tomorrow morning is to try to get tickets to the September Richmond race. They open the phonelines at 8:30, and I'll keep calling till I get through. I hope I get through before the tickets run out (many people have season tickets). I plan to go to bed early tonight to allow an early start tomorrow. Love, P.

7/13/2002

Interesting golf tourney today! I was paired with a guy who is a friend of mine, and they put us with a man who is one of my neighbors and another woman. I started out playing so horribly! I had 42 strokes on my first 5 holes. I wanted to cry! I decided to quit worrying about "helping the team". Towards the end, I finally did start to play better. Our total score was awful. We finished and came in. I ran into Pops in the parking lot who was raving about how well his team had done. They beat us by 28 strokes. People asked how we did, and I'd say, "poorly". Then they posted the scores. My team won 1st place in the "mixed couples" group (I assume because most groups were either all men or all women)! Hooray! I won 40 dollars and 12 golf balls! Last year I was on Pops team and we took 2nd place - I did better this year than last! Ha! Ha! What a crazy game! Love, P.

7/12/2002

I had a Movers and Shakers Party this evening. Always a lot of fun! Mom went with me last month and loved it. Lots of people tonight asked about Mom. Earlier today, I went for a walk and did the elliptical machine. I helped Lou to clean her outside patio. I watched golf. Quite a busy day! So nice to be off of work! Love, P.

7/11/2002

After all those days of baking heat, today was somewhat chilly! I passed on an invite to the pool because it seemed a bit cool. Instead, I had a productive day reading books. I had decided to restart the Kinsey Milhone detective books (A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, etc). Lynn found "D" and "E" for me at the library. Too bad I finished them both! What will I do with myself tomorrow? Only 15 more days before I may drive again!!! I MUST NOT have any more seizures! I'll lose my mind if I make it up to my driving day and then have another seizure. Golf tourney on Saturday. The way I played on Tuesday, I should just excuse myself. Love, P.

7/10/2002

This morning, I exercised! I had gotten a fancy exercise machine before Christmas, but had a seizure after using it. I decided that I didn't want to risk using the machine again on my own. Now, my friend Lynn and my neighbor Lou are taking turns sitting with me while I use the machine. I must confess that I could only do 6 minutes today, but it is a start. I'll try to use it each day that I don't play golf. The Pittsburgh oncologist agreed with the other doctors about waiting 2 months for another scan, so I'll have it the end of August. I guess that until then, I'll just play golf and relax! Love, P.

7/9/2002

Sigh! Bad golf today. I couldn't hit the ball at all! Figures it was a tournament day. Grrrrr. I think it was too hot out there for good golf. Maybe next time. No word from Pittsburgh yet. I'll call again tomorrow. Love, P.

7/8/2002

I did lots of stuff today. I got a ride to the bank. I went to the grocery store. I bought 37 cent stamps. I played 18 holes of golf. I went out to dinner. Really, though, the most important item is the decision made by both the neuroradiologist and the neurosurgeon that my new brain lesions are so tiny, they would prefer to wait 2 months and rescan me. I did call the oncologist in Pittsburgh and left a voice mail message to see if he agreed with that plan, but he hasn't called me back yet. Love, P.

7/7/2002

I had a productive day today. Church in the morning, then my friend Lynn was over here to watch while I worked out on my elliptical machine. I bought it just before Christmas, but stopped using it after I had my second seizure (remember I thought the first seizure was 'muscle spasm'). I decided that maybe I should become brave and use it while friends were here. I didn't last too long, but I DID IT - no seizure, no headache. Next came the relaxing rest on the couch during the golf, and then Lynn picked me up for supper at her mom's house this evening. Being a doctor, it bugs me when people have "the flu" in the summer. That was the reason Tiger gave for not playing in the tournament. Sure, he probably had some virus, but the FLU is Influenza, and flu season is only November till February! Get it right, people! Love, P.

7/6/2002

Record breaking heat going on around here! I hear I missed a few 100+ degree days here in Virginia. I think it only got up to 99 in South Carolina. Today was had a rather chilly 89 degrees. I played golf today. No great shots, but enough "good enough" shots to yield me a 112. I'm creeping up (down, actually) on breaking 100! I heard today that I missed 'brother' David Colville's birthday yesterday. I'm such a worm! Sorry, David. Love, P.

7/5/2002

Tyler had a friend who slept overnight last night. They got up at 5:40 a.m., in the room right beside mine. Argh! We went to the beach one last time before I had to leave. I'm sitting in Charlotte, NC, waiting to catch my flight to Charlottesville. I see from the news reports that it's 90+ degrees all over the East. Guess it doesn't matter where I am right now. Love, P.

7/4/2002

Happy Fourth of July! This morning was the Pawleys Island parade. There were 91 vehicles in the parade and it was lots of fun. We went to the beach after lunch for more boogie boarding. The Beaufort Stew party was a big hit. I ate enough shrimp to fill me to the gills. No fireworks allowed on Pawleys Island! I could see some off in the distance, but they were very far away. Other than the disappointment of no fireworks, it was a GREAT day. Love, P.

7/3/2002

Another sweltering day in Paradise. Tim and Tammy are planning to have a crowd over for the Fourth of July. They are introducing me to Beaufort Stew -- sausage, shrimp, potatoes & corn. This stew is actually eaten off of newspapers spread on the top of a table. If I hate it, there are always hotdogs. Love, P.

7/2/2002

Tammy's house here is on a creek and across the street from the beach. We went to the beach and I was taught how to boogie board the waves. Boy was that ever fun! I'm going to be sore tomorrow! Love, P.

7/1/2002

I made it to Pawley's Island today via air. The boys love the creek and spend every minute fishing, etc. I kept the dog company indoors where it was cooler. Tyler and I plan to make cookies tomorrow. Love, P.