April 18, 2011

Hi Everyone:

Sorry I didn't get this posted yesterday, but I just had too much to do. Sandy and I had a visit from two of our best old friends from our Wichita days, Linda Bowman and Jim McConnell. Linda and Jim live in Medford, Oregon, and they stopped off in Kansas City on their way to the Akron, Ohio, area. Jim is recently retired from the Forestry Service, so they purchased a new "teardrop" camper that they plan on pulling behind their Prius on their many future camping expeditions. To get what they wanted at the best price, they chose to drive halfway across the United States to pick up their little baby. This total lapse of good sense, which can be attributed almost completely to Jim, is our good fortune, because it meant that they could plan a stop in Kansas City.

I had a bit of a rough day on Friday; I seemed to be adapting to the effects of the Mirapex, so that I was feeling symptoms toward the end of each dosage interval. This all changed upon Linda and Jim's arrival, however. We introduced them to Oklahoma Joe's, and we talked until the wee hours of the night, which means I was in bed by about 11 PM. I was feeling great, though, and never felt symptomatic the rest the evening. Friends tend to affect us that way, don't they?

Saturday was an even bigger day. I had enrolled us all in a 5K charity run for pediatric cancer. Linda, Jim, Alyssa, and I did the 5K and Sandy walked a mile, and waited in the cold for us to return. I held the group back time-wise, but we finished together in a far from record time, still a bit cold but fulfilled; it's been a long time since I've run any distance at all, so it did seem a bit of an accomplishment to start my day. And the cause is so important.

After lunch, we drove Jim and Linda around the Power and Light District, which gave them a good view of the Sprint Center in Kansas City's latest downtown playground. It's beautiful down there and the day was turning equally bright and comfortable. Rather than stop, though, we moved on to the Country Club Plaza. This has been Kansas City's showpiece for 50 years, and we still enjoy walking around the area showing off Kansas City to our guests.

Saturday evening we had a great dinner at the blue Koi, one of our favorite restaurants in town. It seems that Sandy and I are always in the mood for some of their dumplings splashed generously with "awesome sauce". The dumplings were delicious as usual. Finally, we capped the evening with a concert by Bela Fleck and his entourage at Johnson County's Community College. Their music defies stylistic categorization, but all three musicians wowed us with their technical brilliance. And here I was at the end of a very long day, feeling very tired, very fulfilled, and basically, symptom-free (well, I had faithfully taken my Mirapex all day long, but the effects never appeared to be wearing off).

Yesterday, we had to give up our friends to the road, and Sandy and I lapsed back into our routine, trying to catch up on things that were already stacking up at work. I got some exercise in yesterday and already today, however, and the day is off to a great start.

So, it appears that I respond well to visits from friends. Be sure and book your reservations at hotel de Fey well in advance. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Marc