"Personal battles are won

in the heart of the person"

 Latest News for the Month of

July 2006

Hey Gang:

What a great 4th of July we had. We headed to the beach in VA but drove across the top of NC to get there. We spent the night in Chesapeake Bay then drove over to the resort we were staying at in Va Beach. We enjoyed seeing the ocean and being at the beach again but to be honest, this isn't our favorite place to get our beach fix. It is crowded, congested and busy. We will probably no doubt head to Cape Fear the next time we need that beach fix. :) We headed to Richmond next and spent the night. It was a welcome visit for Natalia and Matt as they missed seeing us. We had a nice night out for dinner and got caught up on the latest. After that we headed to a National Park on top of Loft Mountain located in the Shenandoah Valley. What can I say. It was breathtaking, gorgeous, quiet, peaceful and the gentle mountain breezes and clean air did us both a great deal of good. We sat, read alot, watched some movies, took some long walks in the mountains and just simply de-stressed. It was great fun before heading back home and to a host of projects.

The entire family is doing fine, My Mom is feeling much better and seems to have ,most of her wits about her. Ally has been busy around the house doing things and getting ready for Kim's ( her best friend ) wedding. Ally will be a bridesmaid in the wedding so had to do some alterations on the dresses that her and the other two girls will be wearing. Lindy, Kim and Ella are all doing great and Lindy's company InnVision is growing leaps and bounds. They are having a remarkable year and their growth and revenue is out of this world for 2006. Natalia has started working for an investment couple in Richmond and just got her own salon to manage. They had their grand opening on the 11th and she said it went great. I am extremely proud of the way she has matured. I am hoping she will be an awesome business lady as she progresses in age.

On the health front, I am doing well. Cannot complain a bit. Well, I could, but what's the sense. Like I tell people, these days if you want to complain you normally have to pay someone to listen. I just motivate onward and leave the rest of the crapola in life behind. The future is always in the today's and tomorrows, not in the past. I really do not have a whole lot to report here except that I know some of you have been waiting for our European pictures to get posted. It hasn't happened yet because my main computer is down. Hopefully I can get these posted sometime this decade. :) I am getting way behind in posting pictures and have a hard drive full of them. Just cut me some slack and sooner or later they will be up on the site. I truly hope that each and everyone of you had a great 4th of July holiday. If you get the chance, please do drop me an e-mail and fill me in on the latest in YOUR life. I talk to many of you on the phone but for those who we never connect personally, please do keep me posted on the latest happenings in your life. 

Things have been a bit busy lately. Last week I had a root canal and am scheduled for another the first of August. I think I would rather take a beating then have dental work performed. It all came out good though and I will wait with such great anticipation for the next one. Stephanie ( my dentist ) and the gals in the office always make sure I am harassed. I still cannot understand this as I never harass anyone. Geeez have any of you ever witnessed me harassing or teasing someone ? :) They do make the trip to the chair fun though and I always walk out laughing.

On the health front, a change has come about as my blood cell line is back in the morph stage. I did head over to the hospital and have a phlebotomy done about 10 days ago and that helped lower my volume. I could tell the bone marrow was starting to get rev'ed up again as the pain in the long bones has been excruciating. Couple that with more cluster headaches and its been a fun couple weeks. I have a very high threshold for pain as I learned in the Marine Corp how to mentally block it out. But even then there are times you need some relief so I grab for the pain killers. I do not even drink alcohol so its a bit tough to take them, but it does provide relief and eases the battle. What is really strange is that the pain killers I take     ( which varies and can be strong at times ) have no effect on me at all mentally. They don't make me feel druggy nor impair me in brain department ( no more then normal anyways ). I guess I cannot see how others get addicted to these things but maybe they effect others differently. I can only state how they effect me which is very little.

We had a great business opportunity presented to us last week and wanted to latch on to it. The company is a small manufacturer out of Kansas with two great people who head it. We thought it would be a match made in heaven as our personalities seemed to mesh but then things turned south for me in the health department and we have had to put off any involvement this year. We are looking at possibly getting involved next year though as I do believe in their product lineup. The owner understood ( though I believe he was disappointed ) and took the news well, but I didn't. This is when the bitterness with my disease raises its ugly head. I cannot even begin to explain just how PO'ed I get and bitter over this disease when I see opportunities like this and I have to step aside and cannot participate or grab onto them. It flames me to no end. Time heals everything and in time I will get over it. I am staying positive and will look at this opportunity again in a few months. In the mean time, I do believe that once I finish off a couple projects at home its chemo time again. At least that's what Ally say's and normally when she say's I am going back on it I do not argue with her. I normally admit it when she is right but I don't have to like it do I ? It's a male thing. :) We are looking at a couple investments in the meantime. There is a house close to us that would make a great investment as its being foreclosed on. We just need to inspect it to see what it will need to flip it and make a few bucks. Normally the banks just want rid of the property and headache and accept any ridiculous offer as long as you have cash.

I wanted to let you know that I did update the latest photo section. Ally and I attended her best friends wedding ( wasn't that the name of a movie ? ) last weekend and really enjoyed being with the Royal family again. Its true Kimberly Diane is no longer a single lady and is hitched. Ally was a brides maid and I myself participated in the wedding by eating as much as I could at the reception. It was a nice celebration and we both wish her and her new man Dave the best in the years to come. Since we were both dressed up we decided to have a couple pictures snapped of ourselves for our families and plan on having some prints made to send to them. Being one who wore suit and ties everyday when working it was a rare photo of me since retirement. Here is the link to the pictures ( click here ). 

I will be writing more in the very near future so check back again soon. Until then, please do enjoy yourself, be safe and remember everything in moderation. For those of you stuck in this miserable heat, please do drink allot of water to prevent heat stroke or exhaustion. Some parts of the State's is just plain miserable. Be careful out there. All my best to each and everyone of you,

Chris

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