You're Never Too Old To Learn

THINGS MEMA LEARNED ON DESTIN TRIP:

*You don't go over the Mississippi River twice between Little Rock and Destin. That other big bridge goes over the Yazoo River

*Those big box things are grain silos.

*Southeastern Louisiana State University is not in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.


*Self-checkout. She had "never seen anything like that before!"

THINGS MARGIE DISCOVERED ON DESTIN TRIP:
*You don't have to read any street signs while travelling with Mema. She will read them all to you.

*The way to keep Mema from talking non-stop is to get her up early to leave. The talking only starts after she's been awake past 9:00.

*Mema and Aunt Boochie stopped at some random field while driving through the Delta onetime and picked a cotton ball to see what it was like.

*Mema's idea of a few minutes is 45 so plan accordingly.

Mema Moments

Most of you know I have come to Destin. My heart is in Little Rock with Melissa, Scott, and Emma (as well as a sick Matt and the rest of my family), but there were things that needed to be taken care of here that couldn't wait. With things at home looking up and with my family's blessing, I headed to Florida with Mema along for the ride. And there were a couple of Mema Moments along the way.

In one stretch between Hattiesburg and Mobile, we got stuck behind a big truck hauling some big green piece of equipment. One car was riding along with it, blocking traffic from going around it on a narrow stretch. We did finally get around it and go on our merry way. We later stopped for gas. After we got back on the road, as we were passing the truck weigh-in station, the green equipment truck was reentering the roadway with a car in front and in the rear riding along with it. I made the comment that I didn't remember there being a lead car when we passed it before. "Yes there was," Mema explained. "It was behind it."

My favorite was as we were passing through Hattiesburg. Mema asked, "Margie, is Southeast Louisiana--that team we played--in Hattiesburg?" I was speechless.

Great News

Melissa is home, and glad to be! Tests came back that she does not have preeclamsia. It's pregnancy induced hypertension. She needs to rest, but it's not nearly as bad as it could have been. The doctor says for her not to go back to work until she sees the doctor in her office on Wednesday.

She does still have gestational diabetes, but she seems to be managing that well with diet.

The rest of the drama is left to Emma!

Thanks for the prayers. They worked.

PROBLEM CHILDREN

It seems the Duncans are not destined to have normal pregnancies or non-dramatic babies. As most of you know, Noah was in NICU for a few days after he was born. In fact, he had already come into this world by c-section since he weighed in at almost 10 pounds, but he was dehydrated. A couple of months after his birth he decided a stay in Children's Hospital was in order. It turned out all his problems were just minor setbacks but not before scaring us all to death.

Then Brady decided he wanted to top Noah and be born a month early. He weighed in at 5 pounds and 5 ounces, but went home after a couple of days. And not to be outdone, he, too, decided to pay a visit to Children's Hospital at around 3 months of age. That one set me and Alan on a flying trip home from Destin. After minor surgery for a common, correctible problem, he was back on the right track.

Then there's Emma. She isn't going to let those boys outdo her, and she isn't even here yet. I'm sitting at the hospital with Melissa right now. She has been having high blood pressure issues, and they are testing her for preeclampsia. If she has this condition, she could be looking at a five-week stay in the hospital waiting for Emma to reach the 36 week point, so she can be born with fewer problems. Her vitals are looking pretty good today, though, so we're hoping this is just a scare. Afterall, the boys scared us, so why not Emma?

We could use all your prayers for Melissa and Emma. The doctors assure us that even if Emma were to be born today, they are highly optimistic that she would be OK. We sure could do without all this drama, though. We'll have test results back this afternoon and have a better idea what we're facing.

FOURTH

OK. So JB tagged me to upload the FOURTH picture from my FOURTH album and tag FOUR more people to do the same. This is one of the many pigs on parade in Seattle when we visited there a year ago before going on an Alaskan cruise in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of Alan's heart surgery. That was our third celebration of Alan's good health following heart surgery at age 45. On the one year anniversary we went to Jamaica. Hawaii was the 5 year anniversary. For the FOURTH celebration, we think we'll go to Europe.

There were pigs everywhere on the street corners of Seattle. In fact--here's FOUR more:

There's just one problem with this game of tag. Everyone else on my bloglist has already been tagged, so I'm offering a different challenge. I want Kathy to publish and write about FOUR different photos from her FORTIES. Of course, that's assuming she can remember her FORTIES and what she was up to then. Afterall, she was born in the FORTIES. Surely Larry threw her a FORTIETH birthday party she can tell us about. I'm guessing, though, that digital cameras didn't exist when Kathy was in her FORTIES, so we'll have to give her time to scan her prints.

Noah Visits Papa D

Noah decided to pay a visit to Papa D at his office this Halloween. As you can see, he was more interested in eating the chicken sign than eating mor chikin!

The Duncan Hilton

Over the years our home has become affectionaltely known as The Duncan Hilton. As the tiltle implies, this started because of all the people who have stayed with us over time. I think 103 Valley Club Circle was the first Duncan Hilton--or at least the first where we started calling our house that. Since we were the only relatives in Little Rock, everyone else in our family makes a reservation at the Hilton when coming to LR for football games, the doctor, to shop, or for a special event.

The newest Duncan Hilton

Five years ago, we built a new Hilton. We kept this use of our house in mind while designing our abode and made sure we had plently of room for out-of-towners. Upstairs is where they stay. We have a choice of the Buffett room (decorated in island style, complete with an autographed copy of A Pirate Looks at Forty), the Garden room (plenty of floral photos and greenery here), the formally Asian room (which our decorator was quickly told to change), and the TV room, with a daybed for overflow company. We didn't put as many amenities up there as in our downstairs living space. There are no slow-closing potty lids here, and the ceilings are only 8 feet instead of 9. Alan explained to the builder that we didn't want our guests to be too comfortable or they might stay too long.

Many people have stayed at the Duncan Hilton over the years. Family of course have been here numerous times. In fact, my sister Kathy complained recently about not getting her Hilton Honors Points for all her stays. Alan pointed out that Hilton gives no Honors points for free lodging. Others who have stayed here are friends passing through, business associates of Alan's, friends of our kids, and even some friends from Little Rock who were without power for a few days.

Noone, however, has spent more nights as a Hilton guest than my nephew Ben. Since his family lives in Birmingham, he lived with us one summer while working in Little Rock. And Ben is the reason the Duncan Hilton is completely booked for the weekend of Nov. 15. He's getting married that Saturday, and reservations started coming in a couple of months ago. We'll have Mema in the Garden Room, Brent and Katie in the Buffett room, their son Walker in the formally Asian room (where we now have a baby bed), and Hunter in the TV room. He said the Day Bed had to be more comfortable than Denver Peacock's couch. Actually, if anyone else is brave, we still have a queen-sized bed in the room with Walker and a second bed under the day bed Hunter will sleep on. (Lucky Hunter even gets to share a bathroom with Mema.)

So if you are coming to Little Rock, you might want to check out the Duncan Hilton. The Duncan Hilton even serves free breakfast and sometimes lunch and dinner, so it's a real bargain.