Hi! It’s been a long time & much has happened since I last wrote here. I think I’m just going to do a bullet point list of some high/low points, as that would be easiest on me.

• My dad came through his surgery spectacularly! He did not have to have is voice box removed or his carotid artery severed. He’s recovering marvelously & we’re all so happy!
• I have my own major surgery scheduled for two weeks from tomorrow. I’m supposed to be in the hospital for a week, should feel some real pain through Christmas, discomfort into mid-January and it’ll likely take 3-4 months to fully recover. All of this information comes from multiple surgeons & doctors, so who knows, they’re probably right. I’m trying not to be overly nervous, but I think a week from now I’ll probably start freaking out.
• My home life is spectacular! My girlfriend & I are deeply in love & love each other immensely & are completely committed to each other. Unlike any relationship I’ve ever had. It’s amazing. And we have so much fun together, which is fabulous. I heart my honey!
• We just got a “new” (used) oak dining room table with six chairs yesterday, delivered to us, from a Craing’s List find. It was shockingly cheap & we got it for a real steal. We’re elated, because that’s the one major thing we’ve been missing in our new house, AND it fits our formal dining room perfectly!
• My rather sad Vols are 5-6 on the season & must beat Kentucky next week to qualify for a bowl game. I don’t think we deserve one this year, frankly, but I’m still rooting for a win. Go Vols!
• My Steelers are 7-3 and are in control of the AFC North division. They’re having a slightly inconsistent, but overall decent season. I attribute much of the inconsistency to a shocking number of injuries….
• We just got a rick of maple firewood delivered to us last week, so we’re set for fires in our new fireplace for awhile. It’s going to be great!
• My last neurological surgical procedure for my Trigeminal Neuralgia was August 1st & I went until October 7th without any head/facial pain. Since then I’ve had at least six minor episodes, ranging from one to three days each. It’s depressing, because it indicates I’ll need another procedure soon, maybe in January.
• I’ve been testing out six iPhone scanning apps this week. I narrowed the group down to Genius Scan+ and CamScanner Pro. I threw the others out for various reasons. I ultimately chose CamScanner Pro two days ago because while these last two are quite similar, this one has much better document editing tools and possibilities & it just seems easier to manage. As I have dozens of old articles & newsletters I’ve written over the years, as well as dozens of ancient pictures I want to digitize, this is freakin’ awesome! I’m slowly working through a few each day & uploading them to Dropbox. Very cool.
• My girlfriend’s youngest son is coming down to Chattanooga to visit us for the first time, for Thanksgiving. My parents & we three are all going to do Thanksgiving at our house & it will be marvelous!

Well, I guess that’s about it for now. I hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving holiday week & don’t go nuts shopping on Black Friday — that’s just crazy.