Less pain more life

Dear Family and Friends,
Wow this day has been packed with wonderfully helpful friends. This morning Sylvia arrived at 9:15 to drive me to Richmond to conduct an appraisal. How nice not to have to worry about driving with pain meds. We really had a great time and by the time I was back to the van she had the comps plotted on the map and we quickly found them and then she drove me back. It turned what was a morning I was secretly dreading into a day of joy and fun. Thank you Sylvia, it was great to have your expert driving even in Richmond where things are always a little more exciting.
When we got back to the house we found some soft food for me to eat and then Sylvia headed home to the big city, Tracy and I waited for Pam to arrive. At 3 she drove in and we quickly headed for SF airport where she was catching a plane for a vacation away. We had fun and the traffic seemed to part for her so the trip was rapid. I enjoyed driving her car back and in spite of it having a lot of miles it drives like a dream. Nikki caught me as I was about to turn onto Vasco Road, she reported she had seen at least 3 ambulances heading to Vasco, that usually means the road will be closed soon due to an accident. Knowing in advance I selected another way home and arrived in the rain a little while later.
Lois came over to enjoy a nice fire with her wood burning and we shared a desert of pudding, again something soft. Now she is gone and I think the calls from friends and family are through. How nice it is to stay in touch with Jerry and Donna. They live very near Mt Shasta and have weather that is a bit more intense, frequent snows, very cold nights, winds, real winter. Their wood stove burns for far more than just the beauty, it helps heat the house. I was glad to hear that Joyce had made it back from sunny San Diego and that our wild new years even party is still on, oh the scandal!
Amazingly work is picking up. I've received several orders in the last two days so its time to be done with tooth pain and get back to work. Ken just called to say there is a 70% chance of rain in the morning so another day will pass without our walking the course. I have mixed feelings about that, I'm anxious to hear how Ken has been doing but I really don't mind sleeping in with warm blankets pulled tight.
My mouth is beginning to regain a bit of normalcy, still very hard to open wide to take pills and the socket hurts unless covered with Vicodin. I'm going easy on that thought since driving and prescription drugs don't go well together and I think I have work out in the field tomorrow.
For now I'm going to express my thanks to those who have called or emailed words of encouragement. Especially I'm thankful for Nikki and Jason. They really are incredible and so kind to their old dad. They warm my day when they call.
I'm thankful to God for being close over the last few days. Being alone, older and hurting badly is not fun, its scary and unsettling.
Love to all,

tim