Dear Family and Friends,

I am sorry it has been so long since I have written. I have thought many times to sit down and write, but I seem to flit away and get distracted. So, I am just going to sit down and at least get notes done, and not try to be so ambitious, and maybe it will actually get out. So, my energy is so much better, and I’ve had a fairly busy month and done quite well. I don’t have another medical check- CAT scan, blood work and Dr. ONC visit until the end of Nov. I am enjoying having hair again, and I do at this point have a poodle-look, but I doubt that my hair will stay THIS curly, although some folks say it did stay curly. We’ll see.

My biggest change has been for the first time in years I didn’t go back to school this fall.—Actually for a long time mid-Aug. Had a great visit with one of my Clarke College roommates, Pat Virnich and her husband Woody. Their daughter lives in Santa Cruz, so we have had several good visits over the last few years. Over the Labor Day weekend we went to MN to see St. John’s 1st football game. It was great to see friends and always a fun weekend. Anybody who tailgates knows about most of the people we saw, and we stayed with Bob Wicker and Chris on our way back to the airport. They cooked us a delicious and of course healthy dinner. My energy was great on the trip, but it did take a while to recover. I mention this because we went to the ND-MI game Sept. 21, had another great football weekend- plus a victory, and my energy was still really good when we got home.

We have two birthdays in Sept.–Clark and Ellen. Ellen had a birthday dinner, gourmet, of course, for him. We then finished Sept. with Ellen’s birthday gathering, and her retirement festivities.
For those of you who get some news of Ellen through my blog, the retirement festivities were really well-done and fun. Ellen had been an Administrator at the SFVA- Nurse Manager in the Psych Dept. having various departments under her. They had an afternoon reception for her, complete with gifts and speeches and very warm testimonies. Ellen had been there for 13 years and had done a great job. Afterward we went out for a drink with friends. Thursday was Ellen’s birthday dinner with Jim Peterson and Sue, Clark and me. Sun., Ellen’s famous Bookclub had a Retirement party for her at the Mazzocca winery. We had a brief, but interesting tour of the winery and a delicious potluck luncheon with fabulous wines. Great friends- great day.

Next up, I have to really work on studying for our trip to Japan. If anyone has been to Japan recently I could use any feedback. We’re going over in early Nov., so the task is right here. Luke will be able to travel with us. We will also have a chance to see Luke, who will be in SF next weekend on Peperdine’s Trial Team competition. Sarah and my cousin Virginia will also be here, so we are very excited about that.
Ellen’s official retirement was Fri., Sept. 28, so she has a whole new availability. All this time is very new.

Will get a note off before we leave for Japan. John is in the Tokyo area- so we’ll start there. Know you are all in my thoughts and prayers, as I ask you to keep us.

Love Annie/Noel