VALENTINE'S MEDICAL REPORT

I'm interrupting this travelogue to bring you a medical alert.

Here's the history...
2008 @ Valentine's Day, Gene had a triple bypass. Everything went well.
2009 @ Valentine's time, he needed more surgery to repair his sternum which had failed to heal correctly.
2010 @ Valentine's time he must have had something else to do.
2011 @ Valentines's Day he had a chest pain and off to the emergency room he went. The blood tests showed that there had not been a heart attack. He had the full routine, many EKGs, a stress test, an echo-cardiogram, and an angiogram. Nothing tragic was found. After many conferences with and among his doctors, it was decided to change his meds.

Gene is home again after a two night stay at Northwestern Memorial. He is feeling fine and thanks everyone for their kind thoughts. I wonder what he has planned for next Valentine's Day.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

Catching Up

Things have been somewhat busy here.

My knitting continues. Scarves and afghan squares mostly. And of course, Ravelry. The Top Chef pool concluded, my chef Richard made it to the final show, but not all the way.

We had a delightful evening with friends at “The Kid from Brooklyn, the Danny Kaye Story”. It is a high-energy musical about you-know-who. The entire cast is only four actors. Two play DK and his wife Sylvia Fine. All the other characters, I guess about 16, are played by the other two actors. Not deep, but not meant to be. Enjoyable, musical, energetic.

The Gourmet Group met for another delicious meal. Phyllis was a wonderful hostess and her deck and garden were perfect for eating outside.

Something unexpected was said here the other day. I used the words “Gene" and “gym bag” in the same sentence.

Book Club read “The Double Bind”, most of us liked it. Some thought that the twist at the end was a cheap trick. Check it out.

How I spent my week-end

Friday, Gene and I drove to the the far south suburbs, picked up our tickets to see the Yarn Harlot, a witty writer whose knitting blog is addictive, and bought her new book (Things I Learned from Knitting...whether I wanted to or not)at the yarn store that was handling the Chicago stop on her book tour. We then drove farther south and had an early dinner with his cousin and her husband. Then back to the lecture, we were told she was running late. Bad weather. A critical mass of happy, interesting, involved knitters is a wonderful thing. Much chatter, admiring of projects and fellowship. Then the announcement. After trying to get out of Canada all day, it wasn’t to be. There were no flights that could get her to Chicago. Event postponed, to be rescheduled some time in the future. Bah.

Saturday, we had our monthly dinner with friends. It has been a regular thing for 15 plus years. Everyone brings a course and a good time is had by all. I knit on an afghan square while we caught up and solved the world’s problems.

Sunday, relaxed. I got my swap partner on the Susan Knits forum. She is in Melbourne, Australia. That’s about as far away from here as you can be. This will be fun. I knit some more, did laundry, enjoyed the completion of Passover, etc. Now I’m watching “House”. Who could ask for anything more?

Gene and Jewelry

Did anyone get the reference to "Jules and Jim"? It has nothing to do with this post, the titles just seem to resonate.

GENE - He's doing quite well, thanks for asking. He's getting out and about and will be more willing to venture out when (and if) the weather warms up. Today it should get up to the mid-40's. It is hard to believe that opening day at Wrigley Field is one week away.

JEWELRY - I made a necklace set for the annual Harbour Auction. Last year the jewelry was well received, let's hope they like it again this year.