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It is pretty hard to believe that it is almost two years to the day that I wrote part one of this BLOG. I was starting my “new” job at Dell, travelling to Austin and getting ready to embark on a new chapter in my life. Well, that chapter has officially closed and it is time to move on.

I have officially resigned from Dell, and I am taking a new job with Copan Systems. My old boss, Mike Connolly “came a callin’” and after some friendly negotiations, I decided to join his team. It is bitter-sweet really. Leaving Dell, my team and all of the friends that I met while in Austin is actually very difficult. I became very close to my boss, my RM peers and other folks within our organization. We had a lot of success collectively as well. When I left, I was running a 200 million dollar/year international business, was travelling to all points on the globe, and the team that I was managing was fantastic.

But it was not all rosy. Like all jobs, there were difficult people and trying circumstances. Such is life in the work-a-day world. I apologize for shutting down the BLOG for a while, but I had some of the previously mentioned “difficult people” trying to use my BLOG as a weapon against me, so I locked it up for a short time. We are back in business and I will begin updating it as often as I can.
Anyway, a new chapter is beginning, and I am extremely excited. I am sitting on an early morning flight to Tampa, and then will be heading to New York City this evening. It is Spring Break here in the US, and every hotel in Manhattan is sold out. Man, there should be some extra energy in the city tonight. I love New York at this time of the year. I love the people, the food and the energy. My initial meetings will be held at the Mandarin Oriental (per usual) and then for dinner with coworkers somewhere in the city tonight.

So besides the typical travel updates, I am trying to figure out what has been going on in my life. We decided to spend some money this winter and put in our patio and hot tub. Man, we have been using the hot tub like crazy and the patio looks awesome. We should be finishing the brick work and landscaping within the upcoming months as it gets warmer. There is nothing like soaking in a hot tub in the middle of winter. I love the experience. The view out to the back yard is breath taking, and there are a million starts in our night sky. In fact, we just recently watched the lunar eclipse from the comfort of the tub. That was a wonderful experience.
We are also quickly approaching the one year anniversary of my father-in-laws passing (March 29th). It will be a hard day for all of us, but it has been getting easier as time passes. We miss him, his antics, humor, and intelligent conversation a great deal. He was a wonderful man, father and husband. We will visit Arlington Cemetery, Columbarium #8 and pay our respects to his life in the morning, and celebrate his passing with lunch at the Blue Ridge Grill – Dad’s favorite haunt.

I am a little loss for words this morning, even though this BLOG post is getting lengthy. I tell you what; I will end it here and update it later in the city. I missed you all. Thank you for your patience while I was on hiatus. We will chat soon. I promise…

I am in love. Where else, but Madrid, can a theater of the performing arts be named after my favorite ice cream?

I am sitting in a square, late at night, about to head to dinner. When in Spain… Apparently the locals dine after 9 p.m. Dinner is at a super cool restaurant where the owner only serves fresh produce and meat. So the only options are ham (local specialty) and 3 different types of mushrooms, and one selection of asparagus.

It was a beautiful, clear day in Madrid, 25 degrees C, and I spent the majority of it in meetings, however, at the end I did have an opportunity to visit the Museo de Patro - the home of my favorite artist, Francisco Goya. The mainstream is fond of his early work, but what I really love are his pieces from his “Dark Period”. It was late in life; Goya was suffering from disillusionment from the war that ravaged Spain, his handicap - as he was suffering from deafness (directly caused by lead-based paint poisoning) and from his movement into old age.

My favorite piece is termed “Saturn Devours His Children”. It is a dark background, but with vibrant reds, oranges and yellows. Scary, but powerful. It depicts his internal struggle with age, as the older is eating the younger. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. I took a quick tour through the rest of the Museo, but lingered and stared deeply at the works of Goya. I remember being in school staring at Art History books filled with images, dreaming of the day I would be able to see these master pieces first hand - and today I realized a dream. It was wonderful.

The experience of a “first” is magnificent. A first dance, first kiss, fist trip with friends, first love, and the first work of art you have being dreaming of seeing. Art is awe inspiring, thankfully surviving hundreds, sometimes thousands of years. What a blessing people can be to the world. Taking a vocation and breathing creativity into it; forming a trade out of a passion is a marvelous gift.

My walks through the Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace and its gardens were restful. It is no wonder that this city steals hearts and minds.

I return to Paris in the morning, but Madrid is something special. I can hardly wait to explore its beauty further.

Adios Amigos.

A peaceful, early morning cab ride to the Le Gare L’Est in Paris (Paris East Train Station), I grab a coffee and a pain du chocolate; what else in the world could be more perfect? It is a little before 8 a.m. in the morning, the sun is coming up in the east, casting a beautiful pink and orange glow over vast French farmland and vineyards.
My train is racing at over 250 km/hr, which is a little unnerving if you look out your window and focus on the blur of passing scenery, but you quickly learn to focus on the horizon. I am on my way back to Germany after a brief, but re-energizing stop in Paris. The previous day was spent in the crush of thousands of people on the Champs Elysee watching a bag pipe parade. This does not typically sound wonderful, but it was Paris in late summer, warm and familiar. The music was powerful and completely enticing. I arrived at 6:15 a.m. into Paris so I was able to drink in the early morning ambiance of my most favorite city.

As luck would have it, the World Cup of Rugby is in France at this very moment and my favorite team – The All Blacks of New Zealand (outside of Canada) was playing Scotland. So I rested my legs after hours of walking and standing during the parade and began, at once, exercising my left arm – lifting heavy pints of beer to my lips as I watched the All Blacks dismantle Scotland 40-0. There is nothing like watching the All Blacks Huka.

After sharing a pint with a local volunteer that is working for the World Cup, I walked to the Ponte Neuf (Old Bridge) and unfortunately I left my camera in the hotel, but I will never forget the sunset painting a perfect rose backdrop to the Eiffel Tower. Behind me the Louvre was glowing pink, and the ferris wheel was illuminated with its white lights. I just stood, completely still and speechless. I was standing in a work of art. There were couples all around me, kissing, holding each other during this perfect moment, and it was then I realized how happy I was not to have my camera. This was my moment and I will never forget.

I have a hard time finding the words for Paris. There is something so inspiring to me about this place. I could not wait one moment to begin writing about my feelings here; in fact, it came rushing upon me on this bullet train to Germany. Poetry seems to flow into my heart about her. What a city. I hate to leave her, but I know my return will be savory and sweet. Enchante my sweet, until we meet again.

Man it’s hot in the desert in September…

I wake from a six hour slumber to see the map, and the city below is Tehran, Iran. There is nothing but desert for miles.

The 777 is moving quickly over the waters of the Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf – the locals hate it being called this) towards Dubai. I (and my entire family) are quite nervous about the timing of this trip to the middle east as both September 11th and Ramadan are near. Both of these events typically are a cause for more terrorist chatter and activity.

I land in Dubai, and my team has arranged for a car service to pick me up. It is 109 when I land, and I cannot believe the heat. The sand is thick in the air, there is a strong wind blowing and all I can think is “where is the desert oasis that they are advertising?” The car is a BMW 750 and I am given cold water and a fresh towel to wipe my sweaty brow. I am told that the UAE is planning to expand the Dubai airport to accommodate six 777 aircraft landing at the same time. The driver shows me the new tower being built that dwarfs every building in the world by 40 stories. The tower is the new, world’s tallest building, and it stands at 162 stories tall. AMAZING!!!

I scan the horizon of the city and all I see are cranes. I come to learn that there are 5000 concurrent construction projects ongoing in the city at this moment. But what is dumbfounding is that there are 200 towers being built simultaneously at this moment. My father was amazed at Beijing and Shanghai as they had ton of the world’s cranes there, but that was nothing. 23% of the world’s cranes are in this new city, here, in Dubai.

As my driver game me the tour of the town, as we passed the world’s only 7 star hotel – the Burj Al Arab, the land reclamation projects that are building islands in the middle of the gulf, I could not help but think that I am seeing the rise of New Babylon. The city is nothing to see now, only a few shopping malls and some VERY high dollar automobiles, but in 5-10 years – there will be no city on the planet like it. It will have the largest airport, tallest building, and largest hospital complex, have the largest shopping mall – what city can compare? This will be the seat of the coming one-world government. Mark my words.

Again, the city was a complete construction zone, the air filled with sand, obscuring even the massive Al Arab.

I awoke on the 10th of September and packed an overnight bag. I was boarding a plane that morning to Qatar. Qatar was the site of a major military base and home to the Arab media mogul Al Jazeera. It was bizarre. Again, the heat was oppressive, there was a Mosque almost every mile, and the call to prayer seemed constant, every morning and every afternoon – sunrise, noon, afternoon, sunset. The hotel was filled with security; it was like being in a movie. I would not say it was a fearful experience, but we were looking over our shoulder at every turn. We needed a break from the hotel room, so that night we ventured out into our hotel’s “hopping” night club. It was comedic. The place was filled with Malaysian workers enjoying the sounds of the Big Night Out Band. If it were not already bad enough, we were forced to rebrand the band – BNOB! The surreal part about the whole experience was that BNOB was covering the Lynyrd Skynyrd song – Southern Man and back in Leesburg VA, Lynyrd Skynyrd was playing live. WEIRD!!!

Anyway, we made it out of Qatar unharmed and 9-11 came and went without issue. Thank you God!!! The prayers were much appreciated.

Between meetings and calls back to the U.S., my team and I were able to enjoy some well deserved R & R. We made our way to the Emirates Mall to strap on a helmet and some skis to hit the late night slopes. 9 pm and we were in the mall, ripping it up. You heard me right; we were on the ski slopes IN THE MALL. For me, it was like being home. West Edmonton Mall is a spectacle, but this too is no slouch. A full blown ski hill, complete with a quad chair lift, ski chalets, and “on the mountain” accommodation for a great après ski was here in Dubai. There is an absolute KILLER picture of me getting some major air off one of the large jumps – check it out in the photo section.

I won’t be back here anytime soon. Kuwait may be the next Middle East trip and possibly the northern horn of Africa, but not here. Just keep a close watch on this city my brothers and sisters; you know who you are…

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…”

After a long week of meetings and late night business calls from the US (due to the 7 hour time difference) I was able to celebrate the Labor Day weekend with my lovely bride. After her hellish flight over, we left Frankfurt airport to make our journey to Munich.

The ride was long, and unfortunately the traffic near Stuttgart was unforgiving. We arrived in Munich just in time for a late dinner and a quick tour around the city. One of the few remaining restaurants that were open was a local Texmex haunt. The food was pretty good given that we were eating burritos in a city so distant from Mexico and Texas (and famous for bratwurst and sauerkraut). Thank goodness for the BMW GPS system, because it made our life very easy. It was able to assist us with finding monuments, getting us to restaurants, and most importantly, finding local coffee shops in the morning.

I have to say that I was not all that impressed with Munich. The history of the city is amazing, but, in my opinion, still has an eerie feeling from the Second World War. Hitler’s Third Reich started here, Hitler made his power grab here worst of all, the Dachau Concentration Camp was formed near Munch (about 18 km outside of the city). After a good night sleep and a coffee, we made the drive to Dachau.

Dachau was established in 1933 to initially hold a select group of political and anti-Nazi prisoners. It began with a prisoner population of approximately 4000 prisoners. By the end of the war, there were 30,000 prisoners being kept confined here. Barrack dorms that were meant for 250 had 1200 prisoners by the end of the war. I have never felt this way before. The spectacle of this place was grotesque. The presence of death was everywhere. We entered at the front gate, far away from the main entrance that most people take to enter the camp. It was the guard access off of the main road. Six foot concrete walls (not to limit people getting out, but to stop people from getting in), and topped with barbed wire. The towers were placed every 250’ all around the camp. The first perimeter inside the camp was a dog run. Obviously German Sheppards ran freely within the dog run to contain anyone that made it this far, next was a tall stretch of electrified barbed wire fence, and then finally, a four foot moat filled with slate and filthy water. It was obvious that there would be no escape.

The German’s made it obvious that they would use their efficiency to keep, count, and finally kill and cremate their adversaries. IBM was retained to develop the modern spread sheet in order to maintain accurate counts of the prisoners and to monitor the other forced labor and death camps.

The camp’s main entrance shows the words “Freedom Through Work” (obviously in German – Arbeit Macht Frei). The Nazi’s were masters at physical and psychological manipulation. There was never any intention to release or free prisoners, but the Nazi’s wanted the prisoners to think that they could earn their way out as it kept the prison population motivated.

We saw the Nazi torture devices, the gas chambers, and the crematorium. At the time of the U.S. Army’s liberation of Dachau, there were over 3,000 people lying dead in piles awaiting cremation. The spectacle of the atrocities committed here were so unbelievable, that when the local town’s people were confronted by the U.S. Army, they denied everything. The U.S.’s 20th Army was not buying the story, so they forced every adult in the town of Dachau to tour the camp, including bearing witness to the piles of bodies awaiting cremation. After the tours of the camp were complete, they enlisted every man in the town to bury the bodies. Photos of Dachau, its gas chambers, and the crematorium are posted in the photo section of the website.

It was a sobering drive back to the hotel that morning…

We took some time touring the local museums, some beautiful churches, and an open air farmer’s market that had some beautiful produce, fresh pasta, peppers, meat and fish. There was live music and people were starting to break out their traditional Bavarian garb. We had some awesome Dunkle Weisen beer, and some great bratwurst. To finish up the day we had a wonderfully romantic, gourmet dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, German food with a French flair.
The next morning we checked out, and made our way over to the Residence Museum. It was home to Ludwig II, but had its most growth under the reign of Duke Albrecht. The Albrecht name is where half of my family is from. Apparently we were descendants of the Duke before my family made a departure from Germany to Oregon within the U.S.A. This was the most beautiful building that we saw in Germany. Unfortunately, most of the museum was a recreation because the palace was mostly destroyed by Allied bombing during the Second World War.

We hopped back into the car, and made our way into the Bavarian Alps. We took a two hour drive to Castle Neuschwanstein, the castle that Disney based its design off of. We took a horse drawn carriage ride to the castle and had a wonderful tour of its grounds. It is a really magical place, but it was nothing compared to what we were about to see. Our drive took us just 30 km south east to the town of Mittenwald – the town of a thousand violins. The Alps burst from the ground, much as they do in Banff, but the peaks were extremely jagged and snow capped. We were blessed with a beautiful sunset and then we checked into the Post Hotel.

The Post Hotel is famous within the Bavarian Alps for its beauty and hospitality. Rena and I had a wonderful dinner -Beef Stroganoff and Wiener Schnitzel. The town is famous for a beautiful church, established in 1749, its violin craftsmen, its wood craftsmen, and its beer. I was able to taste test most of the local beers and we collapsed into a feather bed overlooking the majestic Alps. It was a dream.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we toured the quaint little town, had some wonderful Gelato, and window shopped throughout the many local stores. Unfortunately we not able to purchase much because most of the shops are closed from noon until 3 p.m. and we needed to get back on the road to Heidelberg. I had a full day of meetings in the morning. We were blessed with being able to make the most out of the drive home. We travelled south along the Germany-Austria border, then to the Germany – Switzerland border, passing into Switzerland and finally back to Heidelberg. It was a long, but beautiful drive through some gorgeous mountain passes.

The scary thing is my team and I spent the majority of the next day in meetings at Rammstein Air Force Base attending to customer calls. Rena and I left and made the drive to Frankfurt. We had the luck of stopping at Frankenstein’s Castle, home of many rumors and legends. Frankfurt is the home of Germany’s financial district and is a major metro area. We did get to see the Romer, an area of timber homes and restaurants. Back to my original point though, Rena and I were flying out of Frankfurt International Airport back to Washington D.C. and after spending the prior day at Rammstein for work, I was hit with the news that a major terror ring was thwarted in Germany. The plans were to use German nationals to bomb Frankfurt International Airport and Rammstein Air Force Base. WOW!!! Thank God that we dodged that bullet and those men were apprehended before any terrorism occurred.

We very much enjoyed Germany, the people and its history. France it is not, but to each his own. I will b e back in Germany again at the end of the month. I will keep you posted. Safe travels…

So my next round of business travels takes me to the place of my family’s origin. I arrive a day late in Frankfurt Germany after missing my connector in Atlanta because of weather. I think this past trip will be the end of my allegiance to Delta Airlines. I was stuck on a tarmac in Knoxville Tennessee for four hours, but I digress.

The flight is 9 hours and 40 minutes, which is not too terribly bad given that this is the farthest flight into Europe I have taken. As luck would have it, the rental car company is out of vehicles and I am “forced” into taking a new, black, Mercedes-Benz SLK 200 convertible. It worked wonderfully as you can imagine. I have a fairly decent sports car for my upcoming travels on the famous German Autobahns. If you are at all curious, the top speed of a 2007, Mercedes-Benz SLK 200 is 232 km/hour. I was able to determine this fact on a stretch of road between Heidelberg and Trier. Don’t tell Rena…

Anyway, per usual, I have to arrive in Europe ready to “go to work”. I was able to check in to my hotel, grab a quick shower and change (unlike Ireland). I did not feel too bad and we were in back to back meetings all day long. Lucky for me, I did not have to drive very much, so the rest did me good.

The first evening ended in the Biergarten of the Red Ox, a “local favorite”. I was introduced to liver ball consume, and some over-cooked lamb. Not a great start from a culinary perspective, however, I do not think Deutchland is famous for food, but the Germans are certainly famous for their liquid gold. The evening was cool, and ended after we were asked to leave. It was a fantastic first day in Germany.

Day two was customer meetings and dinner with my team. I did have a couple of hours at the end of the day to explore the Schloss Heidelberg (Heidelberg Castle). It was a massive medieval structure that was mostly in ruins. The corn castle turrets were destroyed by Napoleon and his army because he did not want a fortified and defendable position on a major river (the Neckar). Thus, using some basic science and some explosives, they we able to pull the sides of the turrets off and essentially destroy the castles usefulness.

We used the remainder of the evening to entertain, and be entertained by some strategic partners that were in Germany for the end of the government’s busy season. We moved from garten to garten and ended the evening at the Destille, a college bar that has a large tree growing up inside its establishment. I also had the pleasure of meeting some locals, in particular, one gentleman who enlightened me on the German social and educational system. I did find it fascinating that the entire German educational system is based on a two tier system. At a given grade level (he did not say when), a teacher makes an arbitrary decision to place your child into one of two categories: usually if the child is white, from a wealthy family, and of German decent, they are likely slotted for the first track category - being one of higher education on a professional path (Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer) or if the child happens to be from a family of lesser financial status, is not of German heritage (he mentioned Muslims specifically) they are likely directed down track two or the path of a tradesman or similar style profession. I found that shocking and fascinating.

He then mentioned that he was in his fourth year of medical school (of five) where the total cost of his yearly tuition is $400.00. WOW!!! That buys three textbooks in the U.S.A. – maybe. And Heidelberg happens to house one of the best universities in Germany. Now, after all the taxes are paid, that makes a social government somewhat palatable. Canada (similar in government) does stick you for a load of taxes and the universities are still somewhat expensive, comparatively speaking, of course.

The night ended after too many steins and we needed to re-fuel. Actually our crew was on our way to an afterhours club in the city center, but I was stopped by two locals partaking in an enticing late night snack. Back in my own college days, it was not uncommon to stop for a greasy Donner (the more grease the better). However, tonight I would be forever changed. Two locals were devouring Yufkas. It was similar to a Donner in meat and sauce, but that was where the similarities stopped. First, the bread started as dough. They ran each person’s bread (after pounding it thin like pizza dough) through a fast cooking oven. The bread came out hot and fresh. They added the meat, the yogurt dill sauce, corn, cabbage, onions lettuce and tomato, hot sauce and spices. It was a symphony in my mouth. I received countless high fives from the locals who awaited my critique of its flavor. It scored a 10!!! (for “after beer” food, served by Turkish guys in a German town). The locals proceeded to mock my teammates for eating just regular Donners. This story seemed a lot funnier at 3 a.m. and after a few drinks, but I thought I would pass it along anyway.

So enough about my study in anthropology, I will refer back to my exploration of Germany. After finishing meetings on the third day, I jumped in my car about 4 p.m. and proceeded to make an Autobahn journey. I had no idea where I was going to go; I just knew that I would stop when I felt like it. That is one of the many benefits of having a GPS built into the car. I dropped the hammer down, and ended up the Western town of Trier. This town was established by Caesar Augustus and the Romans in the 3rd century. The main gate of the city center is fortified by the Porta Negra – the Black Gate. The gate was a massive black stone structure. There are pictures posted under the photo section. The city was beautiful but very commercial. The old city was now a façade for typical U.S. and European stores. I enjoyed my time there nonetheless. I hopped back in the car and went home.

This BLOG is getting really long…

To be continued.

So I left Austin last Wednesday, it is 104 degrees, and spent a full twelve hours in route to Ireland where the temperature (upon my arrival) is a cool 66 degrees.
I land early in the morning to a true Irish welcome. My driver awaits to bring me to the hotel, it has just rained, and it is partly cloudy with a beautiful rainbow filling the sky. As the plane made its approach into Shannon (west coast of Ireland) the hills were an emerald green with visible property demarcation lines created by hedges planted at the turn of the century. It was remarkable.

I was whisked away to a magical hotel in a town called Adare. The village (and golf course – Adare Manor - http://www.adaregolfclub.com/) is home to the Irish Open Golf Championships. Adare is a medieval town located near Limerick Ireland. Yes, this is the town that the poem is named after.

There once was a man from Nantucket… Ok, so I won’t continue, but I am sure you can fill in the rest.

I spent most of my time in meetings, but I did get to explore around a little and enjoy a wonderful game of golf on a world-class course. It rained the majority of the time I was there, but it certainly did not stop me from enjoying a pint (or two) of Guinness.

King John’s island is a perfectly intact, medieval fortress that sits in the midst of Limerick. I took in the sites and did some shopping. It was a quaint city with pubs on every corner, but the thing that I most enjoyed about Ireland was its people. The people are funny, warm and really enjoy life. The pubs were also a great experience. There was live music until all hours, football or rugby playing on the tele, and a great conversation to be had with the locals.

I have to say that I am ecstatic that my company has a manufacturing plant in Ireland… It will prove to be my lucky charm (for my next trip).

My wife and I just returned from a wonderful vacation on Vancouver Island. We spent three days at Tigh-Na-Mara Hotel and Spa “up-island” with my dad. It was a really nice time and the weather was beautiful. I was glad that Rena and I could spend some quality time with my dad. He is going through some tough stuff right now and it was great that we got some bonding time together.

We took a walk a mile out into the sand while it was low tide. We collected sand dollars, played with hermit crabs, and watched my father run out to the ocean like a child - that was awesome. It was refreshing to be in the clean air and wide open spaces. The mountains were as clear as a bell and Parksville now has a Starbuck’s, so all was right with the world – my dad cannot go a day without Garry’s drink - the grande, green tea frappachino, sugar free vanilla in place of melon, no whip, extra thick, dome lid… COMEDY!!!

Anyway, we had a new convertible Chrysler Sebring, it looks great, but what a piece of junk. Bad design and the trunk space was nonexistent… but I digress. The important point is that I made a VERY smart choice in listening to my wife, “upgrade the car to a convertible” she said. Great idea. The weather was perfect for the entire time we were there. It was so perfect that we were able to take our first helicopter ride. What a rush. We looped around snow capped mountain tops, looked down on old growth forests, and saw some active volcanoes.

We drove north of Parksville about 30 minutes to the Cathedral Forrest. It was completely unbelievable. These trees are set on a mountain lake, and these massive giants that have been untouched for a millennium. We toured past a little village (called Coombs) that had grass growing on the roofs of its buildings and goats live on the roofs eating the grass - quite a scene.

We toured around these little villages drinking in the peace and beauty and finally made our way to Victoria.

My cousin Dallas, I know – crazy, and his wife bought their first home and have been working non-stop to have it ready for our arrival. They have done an amazing job and we are very happy for them. Sabrina is a doll and an amazing wife. She cooked three meals a day for us and made us feel like royalty. Per usual, the family took turns at Jack and Bev’s home, Sherry and Rolf’s and Dallas and Sabrina’s. It was a blast running around. The days we filled with tours of the inner harbor, poker championships, bocce ball and family feasts. Sherry made an insane Thai dinner that we loved.

There are 2 new babies on the way, the DeGeest clan is building a new home (that is going to be awesome) and everyone is gainfully employed and working hard. Things are all good.

There are new pictures posted, so please enjoy…

Family is a wonderful thing. But it is really special when you can call your family friends.

Dear Dallas, This is Grady&Susan Allen, this is Hilda’s brother&sister-in-law in Tennessee, I’m sorry to hear about your Mother, I will keep her in my prayers. I’ve have had cancer too, had bladder and cervical cancer, had chemo and radiation too, it’s been 6 years ago and I would’nt had made it if it had’nt been for Grady,he was there every minute taking care of me and my 2 girls. We are doing fine. I hope you are feeling better. Tell the Hilda and Rena that Grady went and got Grandma for Mother’s Day. My daughter Taylor which is 12 was sitting at the table making Play-doh cookies, she asked me for a plate to put the cookies on, went to Grandma and would you like some cookies,”Grandma said,”Yes”, low and behold she ate some cookies, Grandma come in the kitchen and said too me them cookies was AWLFUL!!!! I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO FALL OVER LAUGHING!!! I thought you would like that little story. Well, it’s getting late talk to all of you later, take care and God Bless! Love, Grady&Susan and girls