Saturday, November 1, 2008

Bruce, Melissa and I drove to the Lake of the Ozarks last night after work. We stopped in Cole Camp, MO and had dinner with John and Chris Adams. It's been a long time since we've seen them and we had fun catching up. They have sold their beautiful place in the country and will be moving to Colulmbia, MO the day after Thanksgiving.

This morning Bruce and I went to the RV shed and picked up some things we will need for the winter. Later the three of us went leaf peeping in the boat. It is absolutely beautiful here today. The birds were enjoying the sun even more than we were.

These pictures were all taken along the bluff just west of us. We've never been here while the leaves were this pretty so this was a real

treat for us.

This morning I talked to my brother, my dad and my friend Bev Henning. Since we've been back to work it seems like I have a hard time keeping in touch with friends and family. Speaking of that, we had finalized plans to take Alex, Joy, Melissa and Amy on a vacation to Riu Placar in Mexico February 15 - 22, 2009. All of us are excited!

This is really the first day is a long time that we didn't have something on the calendar and I am enjoying it immensely. This evening we are going to Shrimp Daddy's for some good cajun eating.

Weekend of 10/25-26/08

What a great weekend we had! Friday was a rainy day but we checked the weather in Topeka and learned that it was not raining over there so we drove over to see our grandson's band perform at the high school football game. Here is what the sky looked like on the drive - beautiful. We arrived at the football field just in time to see the band leave the field. Hmmm. It seems that because of all the rain, the band performed BEFORE the game so they didn't have to be on the field after it was all torn up. Joy, Alex, Bruce and I opted to go to Old Chicago for a beer instead of sitting at the game in the freezing cold wind. A good time was had by all. Saturday morning Melissa, my friend Diane Carter and I went to the Junior League Holiday Mart for some heavy duty power shopping. GREAT FUN. The convention center was packed with hundreds of vendors catering to women's wants and needs. After the shopping we met Bruce at First Watch for a yummy late lunch. Then came the fun part. Bruce and I got to spend a couple of hours with Miss Kyra Johnson. She is the 15 month old daughter of one of the air traffic controllers at work. At first she was afraid of us: It wasn't long and she started moving about freely - right toward the phone. She really likes her milk.

And then came the best part of all--she decided she likes me! We hope she comes to visit again and again.

Saturday night we went to a sorority birthday party to celebrate the "0" birthdays of Pat Maas, Lisa Wilms and Barb Frans. We laughed until we were all about sick. Being back together with my sorority sisters is wonderful. Sunday afternoon Bruce, Melissa, Amy and I went to the Louisburg Cider Mill for some good old-time fun. It was WINDY. Can you tell? After the cider mill we found a new little winery so of course we had to stop in and sample the goods. A few bottles found their way into the car and I'm thinking we'll probably find out way back to the winery. We grilled a couple of t-bone steaks our friends Greg and Janet Nieto gave us and had a nice dinner and settled in for our Sunday night tv shows. Our weekend just couldn't have been any better.

Tribute to Jasmine

A Tribute to Jasmine “T.D.” Hoover (T.D. =The Dog)

Witten by Bruce Hoover

"Jazzy Dog” joined our family in the fall of 1997. She was an orphan from the Independence, MO Animal Shelter, the same city where DeAnn and I were married only 6 years prior. She came to us as a very frightened little girl with ring worm. Our great friend Kari Swan DVM assured us the ring worm was not an issue and before long, Jasmine was healthy and working her way into our lives. I, of course, said “okay she can stay in the house (she was so small and fragile); but, she would not be allowed on the furniture or our bed”. That lasted about 4 hours and I gave in. I did need some sleep and she did stop crying once she snuggled in!

We took off that weekl with our new, 26 foot travel trailer for the Great Smokey Mountains. Jasmine seemed to adapt well to life on the road and eventually logged some 65,000 miles in the three RVs we have owned during her lifetime. I have assembled a few photos of “the best puppy ever”. Please allow me to share these with you.

"Jazzy” had many friends. Here she is with one of her “Grandmas”-- Shirley B.

Gene and Shirley Birlingmair, Lake of the Ozarks, MO, took an early role as Grandparents. They too had dachshunds before and had been well trained by the “hard-headed Germans” that doxies are. One can only serve a doxie, they are quite the independent thinkers. Here is our royal puppy at the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM. It was during this stay that Jazzy and I went over to Gene and Shirley’s rig next door after dark when she just plain disappeared. I knew I was a dead man as how do you find a nearly black dog in the dark of the balloon field amid 4,000 motor homes with their generators running? I ran up and down the rows and in the distance I saw something in the row just behind us and about 100 yards down. Thank God, it was her! The Royal Blanket, for the “Queen of the Known Universe”, from another “Grandma”-- Shirley Mae Henderson and “Grandpa” Vincey, Rapid City, SD.

Jasmine made friends with the Hendersons in Coolidge, AZ during the winter of 2003-2004. We parked our 34 foot motor home just up the street from them and Vince and Shirley quickly adopted Jasmine and eventually DeAnn and I. The three of us attended their 50th wedding anniversary in Rapid City.

Jasmine especially loved the deer jerky treats that Vince would share with her and he too enjoyed our little dog with the big heart. Here you see them enjoying some quiet time in our motor home.

Her Grandma, Darlene (DeAnn’s Mom) knitted her a sweater to wear on those chilly AZ mornings and on our treks to South Dakota and Iowa.

DeAnn’s Dad, Harold Meester, was no match for Jasmine as she worked her way into his heart as well. The Meesters are at their home in Watertown, SD.

Jasmine loved her “licky”. She would play with it and lick it for hours on end.

As you can see, she was truly an entertainer. Following my retirement we had the good fortune to take a number of fabulous trips with Lynne and Woody Barlow, Eureka Springs, AR and their cat Jack. "Jacky Man” was a small kitten when we began traveling with the Barlows. Jasmine mentored him and now Jack sort of thinks of himself as a dog. They liked playing together. Jack would run at Jazz and jump over her at the last second. One evening we pulled into a beautiful campground along a river about dusk. As we began hooking up our coaches we soon discovered that Jasmine was missing. Woody grabbed a light and ran to the nearby river, the four of us searched for her to no avail and feared that either she had fallen into the river or became disoriented in the nearby woods. Later, we discovered her safe inside of Lynne and Woody’s coach enjoying JACKS FOOD! Thankfully, the Barlows were prepared and had more food for Jack, as you can see he really likes to eat!

Here, Uncle Woody shares a treat with Jazzy. Yes, she was a beggar. You may also notice over Woody’s back is Jack looking on … perhaps a bit jealous??

Speaking of begging, Jasmine really loved Charles, AKA “the Cookie Man”. They both delighted in sharing and eating a few cookies of an evening. Charles and Myrna Drost are great friends from Saskatchewan. We always have to drive by their Arizona home as Myrna loves the sound of our diesel!

As we all know she REALLY LOVED her “Mom”. Here they are sleeping on a visit to my Mom’s in Iowa a few years ago. As you can see, Jasmine was always alert and ready to protect her Mother!

Whenever there were gifts to open, Jasmine was always there to assist with the paper removal. She would never bother presents until you picked them up and made the first tear in the paper. Then she knew that was her cue to begin tearing away at the paper with her teeth! She was always ready to help out …

Jasmine was always a part of our family gatherings. Here she is with our son, Alex, his wife Joy and our two grandsons, Michael and James. To my left are our daughters, Melissa and Amy.

Jasmine loved to travel and to be out exploring … Here she is hot on the trail of a varmint! She had a tremendous sense of smell and could dig after a critter or find a treat in one of your pockets.

Here we are at Bagnal Dam, overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks. One day while walking near the lake, Jasmine went into the water and swam after a couple of ducks swimming nearby. I had her on the retractable leash and she swam out to the very end of the leash!

Here we are ready to hit the road... Jasmine always got excited when she heard the diesel and would keep running into the motor home as if to say, don’t go off without me!

Jasmine and her Mom enjoying a hike northeast of Phoenix, AZ. Note the carrier; she always seemed to enjoy riding next to her Mom.

Jasmine after a hard day of travel.

Here you see Jazzy and her cousin Craig Denman canoeing on Flathead Lake, MT. Craig and Connie Denman and their family all live in the Kalispell, MT area.

Jasmine and her Dad, resting after a full day at the 2007 Indy 500.

Jazzy Dog was even a supporter of Kansas State!

Jasmine and her Dad enjoying the Bluebonnets in the Texas Hill Country.

Jasmine was also an avid boater; she only asked to be out of the wind if it were a bit chilly.

But most of all she enjoyed basking in the Arizona sun. She could always be found lying in the sun coming through a window or actually being in the out of doors.

Jasmine left this world on October 15, 2008, at the age of 13 or 14 following a steady decline in health beginning with losing her hearing, becoming nearly blind, from Cushing’s disease and eventually liver failure. She has left an incredible void in our lives that only time can heal. She will always remain in our memoires.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The last time I wrote, we were in Rochester, MN at Mayo Clinic. The trees were beautiful up there. Bruce's visit went well. We went there because Bruce has been having significant back and neck pain and he has his fourth collapsed vertebrae. The doctors prescribed some intense physical therapy which Bruce has started. The goal is to strengthen the muscles in Bruce's back so they will protect his spine. The doctors did lots of blood work and said they were pleased with everything concerning his osteoporosis. I think that means that everything that can be done is being done and if he acts his age and knocks off the risky activities, he could be fine. His PSA was a little higher but is still very low. He will have it rechecked again in three months.

We came home and worked two days and then took Melissa with us to the condo at the lake for the three-day weekend. Our friend Don Putnam has finished our kitchen. He designed and installed the back splash for us. He is great! I wish I could figure out hold the camera level when I'm taking a picture. For those of you that don't know, I have an issue with straight lines!!

Our next week was a tough one. Jasmine stayed with the vet while we were in Rochester. She was doing great when we got home so we took her with us to the lake for the three-day weekend. When we got home Monday night, she was fine but later in the evening she wasn't fine any longer. We took her to the vet Tuesday morning and they watched her all day. The vet called Tuesday night and said he thought she would be ok. Wednesday morning the vet called and said she had gotten way worse. He thought that her liver had failed and it was time to put her to sleep. Bruce and I went straight to the vet's office and held her for about an hour. She was crying and seemed to be totally out of it. We stayed with her while the vet gave her a shot and put her to sleep. She passed away very peacefully. Bruce and I cried like babies for the next three hours.

Fortunately for us we had planned to go to Topeka to see our oldest grandson perform in the Capital City Band Festival. We had dinner with Joy, Alex, Michael and Joy's dad Jim and then went to the competition. We had a great time. James is the tallest one on the drum line (6'4" - 225 lbs).

The next night we went back to Topeka for our youngest grandson's middle school band concert. He is in a newly formed middle school which has a fantastic band program. We went to the concert with the kids and then went to Olive Garden for dinner. Yum. Here's a couple shots of Michael. Michael is in the red shirt.

Friday we met friends for drinks and dinner after work. It was a "pre" surprise party for Barb Frans 60th birthday. Saturday we cleaned the apartment and scrubbed the carpets. Saturday night we went to Barb's real 60th birthday party. It was fun to be with long time friends.

Sunday Bruce cleaned the cars inside and out and I laid on the couch like a lazy bum.

Last night Amy helped me get signed up on Facebook. I've been having a good time trying to figure out how to make my way around. I have already amassed 20 plus friends. I'm such a techie!!! (LOL)

It has cooled off here so I've been making soup in the crock pot. I'm not sure how we are going to survive the winter. I'm already cold! Tonight Bruce and Melissa went to Taco Tuesday at Pickerings with my sorority sisters and their husbands. I had my hair cut and colored. Now if I'd go get my nails done, I'd be in pretty good shape.

Monday, October 6, 2008

We've covered a few hundred miles since I wrote on Friday night. Saturday morning we tried to get out of town early but didn't hit the road until 8:00. We arrived in Watertown, SD at my parent's house about 4:00 p.m. We had dinner and a nice visit. Sunday we left Watertown about 12:30 and drove to Madison, SD to visit my Aunt Delores and Uncle Roger for a little while. Instead of taking the interstate to Rochester, MN we took the back roads. The drive was beautiful. The trees are starting to turn here. Mankato, MN was gorgeous. This morning Bruce had his first appointment at Mayo Clinic at 9:30. He saw Dr. Anne Kearns in Endocrinology. She ordered a bunch of blood tests and a consult with Physical Medicine. He is carrying around a jug because he is collecting urine for 24 hours. Now, that is a fun thing to carry around with him! We finished at the clinic about 4:30 and went to the mall to get some exercise. We had dinner at a family owned place called O'Neil's Pizza Pub. Oh YUM! Tomorrow the only thing Bruce has to do is drop off his jug at 9:40 and then we are going to Minneapolis to Mall of America for some shopping. He sees his doctor again on Wednesday morning at 11:00 to find out what she thinks. We are staying at the Super 8 and have nice accommodations. We are making the most of our time off.