In my last blog post I told y’all that my cousins were coming for a visit. The “excuse” was they wanted to see the Alabama/Ole Miss football game yesterday. They are Alabama alum (and I still love them, being an Ole Miss alum) and live in Tuscaloosa. The truth is they have access to tickets to most Alabama sporting events, so I figured the real reason for the visit was to check on me and see first hand how I’m doing.

Jim. my cousin, took us out to eat. He really wanted to visit this Southern institution, Does Eat Place. They have the most lucious steaks I have ever put in my mouth. They also have the best hot tamales in the country. Jim and I went for the hot tamales and Sue, his wife, went for seafood. All the food was fantastic, although the tamalies were a little spicy.

The game was pretty good. It is no secret that I am not a fan of the Ole Miss head coach. I figured it would pretty much be a blow out, since our coach is the highest paid cheerleader in the SEC. The game turned out to be a pretty good game. Ole Miss lost by 3. But it was good to spend time with favorite family members, talk football and about the events on the field, and just generally try forget about cancer for a while. I say try because Herman, the tumor that started all this, was fussing most of the day yesterday. The good news about that is the “baby” pain killers pretty much took care of him. (With last week being a chemo week, I figured I’d hear from him this weekend.)

The only down side was I didn’t get as much done on the house as I wanted to. I figure Jim and Sue understand. She has cancer also. She’s been in remission for a couple of years, but her labs aren’t looking as good as they have been and the doctors are telling her she’s coming out of remission. She also has the best care in the Tuscaloosa area. She really likes and trusts her doctor and from what she said over the weekend he knows his stuff like my doctor knows her stuff. I really hate that she’s coming out of remission. She’s very active. She and Jim boat, bike, inline skate, hike, etc. I know it must be hard on her when the fatigue from chemo takes over and all you can do is little stuff and then lay down for a while and rest. I know it’s hard for me and I’m not as active as she is.

One more thing before I finish this blog entry. If you want a good CD I would recommend “Colorblind” by Robert Randolph and the Family band. It’s a really good fusion of blues, funk, jazz and rock. I have seen them live and they are fantastic. As a matter of fact, the last time my cousins and I spent time together I took them to a Robert Randolph concert. They are coming to Oxpatch in November. Needless to say, I already have tickets. It’s good to have something beside scans to look forward to.