And a very Merry Christmas to you too!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to all my friends,

I hope this holiday season is finding y'all healthy, wealthy, and wise.  As most of you probably know, the Happy Couple have migrated to Texas for the winter.  After Dufus finally got the blessing from the doctor to travel after his brain surgery, and after many hours, or was it days, of discussion and research the Happy Couple finally threw a dart at a map and it landed on San Antonio, Texas.  That was the destination but, believe me, it was not a direct flight.  The trip had to be planned around Iowa Hawkeye football games.  On November 11th the trailer was hooked up to the truck and we made a beeline for the south.  Now, if you have ever ridden with the Village Idiot when he's pulling the trailer, making a beeline for anywhere is at the breakneck speed of 55 MPH on a good day.  Usually he is driving out on little two lane highways and driving even slower.  I asked him once why he likes taking two lane highways and his answer was he drove over the road for 26 plus years and has seen the rear end of all the trucks he cares to see.  That, and the fact that the food is a lot better is small Mom and Pop cafes than it is on interstates and big cities.  He also said he wasn't in a big hurry as he doesn't have anywhere important to go anyway.  Back to the travels, on November 12th we made it to West Memphis, AR where we stayed for three nights.  Remember, there was a Hawkeye football game on the 14th that needed to be watched.  On the 15th we traveled to Savannah, TN to stay with Larry and Diane Frisbie at Green Acres RV Resort.  Diane had called earlier and asked Dufus if he could come down and help them at the park for a couple weeks which he gladly accepted.  While we were there, Norris and Mary Schuman showed up so there was lots of good food to eat.  Of course, there were two more Hawkeye games to watch.  When we arrived at Green Acres the Hawks were 10 and 0.  When we left they were 12 and 0!!!!!  On November 29th it was a flying three day trip (825 miles) from Savannah to San Antonio.  We arrived at GreenLake RV Resort for a month long stay on December 1st.  At first the intent was to stay for, at least a couple of months at GreenLake, but after a week of driving and shopping in the San Antonio area the Happy Couple made a decision the big city life was not for them.  Moe and I liked that decision because that meant rode trips to the Hill Country to find a place to move to.  On December 31st we are moving to Riverway RV Park in Llano, Texas.  The rv park is a rather small rv park with about 40 sites but is very well maintained and nice people that operate it.  Llano has a population of about 3,300 people, no interstates, and a lot of wide open spaces in the Hill Country. Dufus will be in hog heaven. Hopefully, we can get the Village Idiot out of there next spring without wearing cowboy boots with his shorts on.

How's the clan doing you ask.  They are doing fine,  My favorite girl, Miss Shari, still has her hands full trying to keep Dufus in line, but that is nothing unusual.  When we were at Green Acres the ladies had a night of crafting and wine drinking.  You can probably guess what got done the most.  Since we have left Tennessee the crafting has slowed down considerably, and, besides that, my girl hasn't got an outlet for them.   Hopefully, that will pick up a little when we get to Llano.  The wine drinking is still doing fine for her. Dufus is still Dufus.  He couldn't work at McKinney Fall State Park this year as the surgeon didn't want him driving Mules and Gators around on the rough terrain.  The surgeon didn't want anything bouncing around in his empty skull.  So he is just doing his thing of getting in Miss Shari's way.  He did clean the truck and trailer but now we have to find something else for him to do.  Moe Jean is just fine as always, except when she had to go out at 5:00 AM a couple days ago!  That is very unusual for her as she normally stays in bed until at least 8:30.  Everybody is hoping this does not become a habit!  Me, I just sit on the sofa or the dash of the truck and take it all in.  Sometimes the world is very interesting from my observation point.

This pretty well takes care of what the clan has been up to.  The clan is anxiously waiting for the Rose Bowl game on New Year's Day as it is a perfect way for the Hawkeyes to finish a great football season.  Win or lose, I know the Happy Couple will be proud of what Caption Kirk and his staff have accomplished this season.  Speaking of great accomplishment, the Happy Couple would like me to mention that grandson Luke was named to the Burlington Hawkeye newspaper all area football team.  As a high school junior he lead Iowa Class 2A in tackles as a linebacker for the West Burlington-Notre Dame Falcons.  His sister Emma is in line to graduate from Western Illinois University in May and has been accepted to grad school at Western for a Masters degree in the Communication program.  The Happy Couple is proud of them both.

Well this wraps it up for now.  The clan wants to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.  God bless you all and we would love to hear from you.

Thanks,

Tag

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and The Unknown

Howdy folks,

Remember me, the faithful guardian of the Happy Couple and their guard dog Moejean?  I know, I know, it has been awhile.  I have noticed, with the invention of Facebook and texting, that anything I write about is old news so I just laid back until things happen that I can give you my prospective of what really happened.

I don't know if you have been around when the Village Idiot's cell phone has rung but it plays the theme song from the movie "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".  For some unknown reason that is his favorite movie of all time and it just drives my sweetheart, Shari, nuts.  When the Happy Couple got married 41 years ago and Laura was a sweet little thing of about 7 years old, Dufus would tell Laura that movie was about the clan.  He would tell her that he was the "Good", Shari was the "Bad" and she, Laura, was the "Ugly".  That is when the argument would start.  Anyway that is the theme of this post, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, plus The Unknown.

THE GOOD!

Back in mid-June the Frantz family had a cousins' reunion in Wapsipinicon State Park in Anamosa, Ia.  There was a sister, a brother, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, cousins, second cousins, an aunt, a lot of spouses, and a few dogs all of which were related to the Village Idiot.  (He says he doesn't remember any cats in attendance.)  All totaled, there were probably at least 50 to 60 people in attendance.  They came from all over the country.  The function was supposed to be on a Saturday, but the adult beverages started flowing on Thursday and quit sometime on Monday.  Dufus tells me the sad part about the whole affair is his Grandparents did not consume alcohol and really looked down at people who did.  From what I saw, William D. Frantz (grandpa) had a lot of looking down to do.  He probably had to go to a chiropractor to get his neck straightened out.  Dufus said it was great to see everyone; some he had not seen in 30-40 years and some spouses and second cousins he had never met.  For the ones who could not make it, because of prior commitments or didn't want to be seen with the wild bunch, you missed out on a good time.  A lot of laughs and a few true stories told.  The OTI (other than Iowans) in attendance had to have pork tenderloin sandwiches and I imagine they probably got their fill of them.  I think the Happy Couple should have had them come to Oakland Mills to Butch's for a real tenderloin but I don't know if SE Iowa would have been ready for all that.  I kind of had to laugh after it was over.  My best friend, Shari, was talking to a cousin of hers and the Hamil clan is talking about having a cousins' reunion next year in Mount Pleasant.  They put an invitation out on Facebook and put a response box in the invitation asking if you would attend.  The choices were yes - maybe - no.   Dufus checked maybe.  You can bet your bottom dollar Ms Shari will see to it he is there!

THE BAD!

This spring after we arrived back from Texas, the Happy Couple went on their semi-annual trip to Cedar Rapids to see their favorite doctor, Dr. Nancy Angenend.  Dufus calls her his veterinarian.  During his appointment, the Village Idiot asked Dr. A. if maybe he shouldn't have a stress test since it had been about 7 years since he had done that.  She asked if he was having problems and he said no.  Just being cautious.  Well, since she didn't have to do the treadmill, she thought it was a good idea.  An appointment was set up for the following week. On appointment day the Village Idiot shows up and they did an EKG, stress test, and an ultrasound.   After the tests were over, the cardiologist read the results, came in to the exam room and announced "It looks like someone is a little out of shape."  The old heart rate went right up to the target rate about 10 seconds before the treadmill was turned on.  Other than that everything else was normal.  The Doctor prescribed exercise, and an additional blood pressure pill.  The Happy Couple returned to Mt. Pleasant, Thanks to Carl and Barb Zahradnik, Dufus now has himself a bike.  He says he feels like a prostitute; pedaling his ass all over town.

With all this my best friend, Shari, decided maybe she should do the same thing, so an appointment was made and back to Cedar Rapids they go.  They looked at her previous medical records, checked her blood pressure, took her off a pill she was taking and sent her on her way.  NO-EKG, NO TREADMILL, NOTHING ABOUT EXERCISE.  The Village Idiot has been calling foul every since.  He's thinking about a discrimination lawsuit.  I don't think it will make the Supreme Court but who knows.

THE UGLY!

I mentioned in the GOOD section that Dufus had a brother at the reunion.  That was his brother Ed  who was 3 years younger than Dufus and lived in Sioux Falls, SD.  On July 26, which was 6 weeks after the reunion, he passed away at the VA hospital, in Sioux Falls.  Ed had may medical problems, and had them for much of his life.  He probably spent as much time in the VA system as anyone.  I was talking to Dufus about Ed and he said, except when they were young and in school, he doesn't remember much time when he wasn't sick with something.  Dufus doesn't know for sure but he thinks cancer was the final blow.  Everybody was happy that Ed, and his wife Nancy, made the effort to come to the reunion.  I know, from what I heard, that had to be a lot of work for Nancy.  She was such a trooper to do so.  I know he will be missed by the Frantz family and the VA system.  Over the years, Ed volunteered at the hospital in Iowa City and Sioux Falls and accumulated over 35,000 hours. 

THE UNKNOWN!

The Village Idiot has a new adventure coming up in his life real soon.  About 5 to 6 weeks ago he was in the house with me, turning on the air conditioners.  In doing so, he had to close the windows.  When he was closing the window at the end of one of the sofas, which is located inside one of the slide-outs, he had to crawl up on the sofa.  After he closed the window, he started off the sofa, and thinking he had cleared the ceiling of the slide out, he stood up.  Unfortunately for him, he is 5' 8" and the ceiling is at 5'.  He grabbed his head and sat down on the sofa. He sat there for about 5 minutes, holding his head.  Sitting in my usual spot on the on the back of the sofa I got to witness all of this and thought, OMG, he broke the watermelon.  I yelled at him "Are you okay?"  His response was "I think I hit my head!"  My thought; Well no shit!  We talked for a few minutes about what to do and he decided he was going to be fine, got up and continued to go about his business.  Being the tough guy he thinks he is, he never bothered to tell my friend, Shari, about what happened.  A couple days later I asked him how he was feeling and his response was he was feeling fine.  No bump on the noggin, no headaches, no nothing.  About three weeks ago, the Happy Couple were out walking Moe one evening and Shari asked him how come he was starting to shuffle his feet when he walked.  He responded he didn't know, but he did mention that he was starting to have trouble with his balance and he was fatigued all the time.  After a week, these things were starting to get worse, so the decision was made to go see the aforementioned,  Dr. A. The next Monday Dr. A. decided that a MRI was in order so one was scheduled for Wednesday morning.  After the MRI, Dr. A. called Dufus and told him he had an appointment with a neurosurgeon, Dr. Howard, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City that afternoon at 2: 30 PM.  During that appointment Dr. H showed the Happy Couple what the problem was.  The MRI showed his brain was surrounded by blood.  Beer or Black Velvet, I could believe, but blood? Dr. H told Dufus he couldn't do anything immediately because part of Dufus' daily pill intake was a baby aspirin, which is a blood thinner, and he wouldn't risk surgery until that was out of his system.  So after 9 days of pre-surgery testing and waiting, surgery is scheduled tomorrow, 9/11 at 3:45 PM.  From what Dufus tells me they are going to hit him in the head to put him asleep, drill a couple holes in his skull, put in a couple drain pipes with spigots so when the red stops and the gray starts they can shut off the flow.  I don't think I would want Dufus as my surgeon. They don't want to drain to much out as there isn't a whole lot up there.  I did ask the Village Idiot the other day if maybe he wasn't a little concerned about the MRI, that maybe they wouldn't find anything inside, that maybe he has just been carrying around an empty ball on his shoulders.  He said he was concerned about that and he asked Dr. A about this very subject.  She said she knew for a fact there was something inside the skull because he was breathing and his heart was beating and that is where the control mechanism is.  He then agreed to the MRI.  The reason I titled this as The Unknown is this is the first time Dufus has ever had any surgery of any kind.  So far he seems to be handling things well.  Actually he is currently napping on the very sofa that he was on when he hit his head.  He sure does snore loud.

I know my best friend Shari has told a lot of you she will be updating you after surgery, but just a soon as I get the word, I will be sending out a short up-date,  In the meantime I know Dufus would want you to follow the Most Interesting Man's favorite advice.  Stay thirsty my friends...


Tag