Let me add to the thoughts and prayers-Carolyn I too am glad all came out so well. It sounds like you had a wonderful doctor who took great care of you! We all hear about using sunscreen, but I think maybe we'll take it a little more seriously now.
David had biopsies done this week also on his stomach and small intestine-the doc said he really thought that the problem was more the medicines just eating away at his stomach but wanted to be sure. Kind of disgusted at the Jonesboro doctor who took him off his Protonix a few years ago-he probably wouldn't be having any troubles now! Being back on them will help-now I know not to let anyone take them away!
Sara, Chris and I are (slowly) recovering from our colds. It was a nasty little bug-seems to last forever! At least I can take a few more meds then poor Sara. I came home Sunday and slept for 18 hours-that always helps too :)
Can't wait to see pics posted of the new shop and the new house. Everyone seems to be busy remodeling, painting, etc-makes me appreciate my little apartment!!
Work is really busy-this is the busiest store I have ever worked in. Every day is a challenge just staying filled and recovered (or at least attempting). On top of the holidays, the store manager quit the week before Thanksgiving.....oh, there is never a dull moment here. Hopefully we will have a new one in place soon-will be the 10th one in 5 years-is there a trend here?? Not really a store I would particularly want at this point.
On the upside, we had a great Thanksgiving with the kids, David's sister Nancy and her daughter Megan and David's niece Lorie and her husband and two kids. We finally visited the famous Beale Street and also checked out Zoo Lights at the Memphis Zoo. Plenty of shopping too! Luckily the weather was warm and we could spread out onto the balcony for space :)
Well-I have rattled on enough-let me close with a HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISH FOR DALE!
Hope you enjoy your day!

Blessings and Paint

I'll echo the sentiments of everyone else and say how glad we are that every thing turned out okay for you, Carolyn. Medicine is certainly a wonderful thing. I, too, never noticed anything so am sure that the scar will not draw attention. Your wonderful smile and sparkling eyes will certainly be the attraction.
As for the paint topic....Dale finished the ceilings of Bryan and Nikki's rooms today and will begin painting the walls tomorrow. He's working alone right now..while Bryan and Nikki take care of the hundred million other things that need to be done....measuring carpet, getting keys made, etc. They are right, though. The house is much bigger than what I remembered, too. Once the furniture was out, the size of the rooms were quite bigger than we had thought!! It will be fun to watch them as they turn it into "their" house!!!
Chris, glad to hear everything went okay. The shop looks great...and I'm sure it will be a success!!! You all did a lot of hard work to bring it about. Can't wait to hear about your Open House on Saturday.
Sue, heard you, Sara, and Chris were down with bad colds. Hope you all are feeling better. Know this is your busy season and your hours are long.
I've had a few days off, too, with a flu bug---am following my own instructions and not returning to work until I'm on my feet for 24 hours--which is tomorrow. Too many of our students and staff return too early and wind up going home AFTER they have spread the germs to the rest of the school.
Hope everyone has a good rest of the week! Love to all.

Blessings

Quick note to say I am so glad you are OK Carolyn.

Also yay for Nikki & Bryan. The home seems to grow as you measure for floor coverings. Don't worry, it'll shrink back when you move all your stuff in.

And hooray for the opening of Christine's on Sterling! I echo our thanks to our family. We couldn't done it w/o you!!!!

Love,
Les

Grandpa & Grandma's Christmas List

Congrats to Bry & Nikki!!! Can't wait to see it. Waiting to here a moving date, but will be available to help do whatever needs to be done while I'm home for the holidays. Carolyn, glad to hear everything is ok!
So on to the Christmas List for Grandpa as he is very concerned that if it's not posted he won't get anything for Christmas... Grandpa would like Argyle Socks, Cheap Whiskey (or really any kind of Whiskey), a sheet of masonite 1/4 inch thick (this doesn't need to be wrapped), Waldenbooks or Kohls Gift Cards. Grandma, who is still thinking of her list had these 2 items, Heated seat cover for the car and hospital socks (the ones that are have no slip strips and no toe seam, the toe seam really bothers her).
Last thing really, I'm asking the Grandkids that are coming to Quincy to once again help with Christmas dinner on Jan 3rd. I will be supplying the main course of Baked Ham. Here's the rest of the menu:
Mash Potatoes & Gravy
Cheesy Corn Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Soup
Bread
Pumpkin Pie - Nikki has agreed to make thise
Apple Crisp
Cookies - Daddy I'm hoping we'll have some of your awesome Christmas cookies!
Salad w/various dressing
Pineapple Stuff that Grandma makes - Grandma & Mackenzie
Waldorf Salad - Grandpa & Brady

Please let me know if you will be willing to help and what you would like to fix. As to my life right now. Not much new is going on. Work is normal. Zoo is good, new tamarins went on exhibit this week. So this will be my first weekend to be able to work with them. Oh, Hannah I think I will be able to get you a volunteer position if you are interested. You'll need to fill out the form that is located on the blankparkzoo.org website. Let me know if you have any q's. Back to work as I watch the snow swirl around outside. Hope everyone has a great week!

Carolyn, I am so happy to hear that everything is alright with your procedure and you are in the clear. I never noticed anything on your face either. Just your wonderful smile!!!
Our prayers will be with you for a perfect recovery and healing process.
Nikki and Bryan, congratulations on your new home.....I know you are excited to get in and make it yours. I will look forward to the pictures.

Things here in KC have been crazy as a good part of our family can attest to. Everyone worked super hard over the Thanksgiving holiday helping at the Sugar Creek salon. By Sunday evening we were ready for the inspectors to come. That they did yesterday. We passed state board with flying colors and the city inspection with just a couple of minor things that the electrician has to complete. Although the inspector told us not to stop our opening next Tuesday Dec. 9th :-)
We will plan our Grand Opening in Jan or Feb. will let you all know the exact date.
Again our thanks to Sherry, mom and dad for cooking a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner (otherwise it would have been who knows what) Laurie for keeping an eye on Kenzie and Brady so they did not have to hang with us at the salon (they seem to have had their fill of this). Dad for recovering our chair arms (they look great with the mats) Dale for connecting and wiring our phones (plus much more). Julie for dusting, cleaning and whatever else she found that needed to be done. Mom and dad for their moral support and for the upbringing that we had to give us the courage and confidence to venture into another business. And of course our partners in this Leslie and Eric for all the time, effort, hard work, determination,headaches, and support to make this happen.
We are truly blessed as a family! and although I did not get to post what I am thankful for last week, I am taking that opportunity now.
God Bless You All!

Congrats and Whew!

Congratulations to the new home owners. Can't wait to see the before and after pictures. That is my favorite part of remodeling. Well, actually being finished is my favorite part of remodeling, but it is great to be able to see how far you have come. 

As for the whew, I had a large black and brown spot taken off my jawline a few weeks ago. It was melanoma in situ--the bad kind of skin cancer but only in the skin, so considered stage 0. I had to have a follow up procedure with a special kind of surgeon, who can examine the cells after they are removed, to make sure they got it all. They took  pretty good sized chunk yesterday, sent it to the lab, and it came back clean. They got all the bad cells, so today they stitched me up. I am sporting a very attractive pressure bandage and will have a pretty big scar for several months. But as my friend Amy just said, "none of us ever noticed the darn thing before, we aren't going to notice the scar." The surgeon was a combination dermatologist, pathologist, plastic surgeon (called a Mohs surgeon), so he was able to take the minimum amount of tissue and minimize the scar. 

So here's hoping Santa brings each of you a great big bottle of SUNSCREEN for Christmas and that you use it every day. 

Love, Carolyn

Official Home Owners!!!

The papers are signed...the keys are hung...
We're home owners now...
the job certainly is not done...

There's paint to be painted...
Carpet to be installed...
if only that were it...
but we're in it for the long haul...

I'm such a little rhymer... LoL

Anyways.. we closed on our house today. It's much bigger than we remembered, which is a good thing. Bryan and Dale will be working on getting the ceilings painted in the living room and bedrooms tomorrow. We're hopefully going to get all the painting done by the end of this weekend so we can work on getting flooring done ASAP so we can get moved in before Christmas. I'll be posting before and after photos and will be video taping also!!!

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Nikki & Bryan