Finally back in Texas for a while

Well it has been a long time since the last post, but that doesn't mean that nothing has been happening.  Val and I drove to Panama City Beach to stay in the condo that is in the Sally Family Trust--I call it Sally's Condo.  We were there about three weeks, but I had to fly back to Houston for a couple of days for a board meeting at Lexicon, the small biotech company that I have been associated with for the last 10 years or so.  The condo was in good shape after a year of rentals, but there were still a lot of "chores" to do to make it perfect in our eyes. But the weather was gorgeous in 70's and low 80's and the water was about 80 degrees.  The beaches in the panhandle of Florida are so beautiful.  Don't get me wrong, I love the Pacific and the So. Cal beaches, but the beaches at Panama City Beach are so pristine white, the sand is so much finer that in Calif and the water is very clear.  Since there is little or no surf, depending on the weather, you can see fish and other critters in the water.  I saw one pretty good sized shark, lots of dolphins and rays and of course many birds.
After replacing some stuff, repairing a few things and having one wall painted, the place was perfect.  We ate lots of fish and shrimp and Key Lime pie.

Jimmy and Teresa Goode came down to their condo during the time we were there and they had visitors from England--Teresa's niece Sara, nephew John, John's girlfriend and their two children.  It was very fun meeting them all for the first time.

We left the condo and drove back through Lake Charles, LA and Beaumont, TX where we celebrated Val's 70th birthday with her children and grandchildren.  We got back to Sugar Land on Halloween.

It has become clear to me that my back has not improved as much as I had hoped after the last epidural steroid injection--but at least I did not get fatal fungal meningitis.  It is somewhat better, but I decided to see another surgeon for another opinion--this time an orthopedic surgeon.  I saw him on this Monday and he confirmed the diagnosis and we discussed several options.  I was encouraged by his comment that there is no urgency or medical necessity to do surgery for the degree of spine slippage that I have (grade 2 spondylolisthesis).  Since I have not really had physical therapy recently, I am going to try that and see if I am improved enough to avoid surgery.  I will be going today to get taught the regimen.

We heard good news yesterday that Craig and the boys will be coming here for Thanksgiving--arriving next Tuesday and staying until Saturday.  They will stay in my condo in Sugar Land.  We will be having dinner at Lorrie's.  Val will be going to celebrate with her family but will be back in time to have another dinner with us, I hope.