Thursday In Florida...April 3rd, 2008

4 days left in Florida....then home to Oregon....

Linda had a good day..a lot of walking as we went to St. Petersburg and visited with Champ Car drivers and owners and all who now are "merged" into the Indy Racing League. The race event is this weekend..we won't attend as we have some "pool time" to do and watch all races in High Definition on TV. We were able to connect with drivers and all who will be attending the fan dinner in Long Beach ...

We had dinner with our neighbors in Florida tonight...Linda had a good appretite and held her own throughout the evening. Tomorrow we aren't going to do a lot besides "pool time"...and dinner with some friends.

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Pictures:

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Linda with friend Marilyn in the racing pits at St. Petes today (Marilyn and husband John are "us" at races we haven't done)

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Linda with friend Mark who works for Newman/Haas racing (yes, Paul Newman's team)

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Lunch in St. Petes
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Team activity in the Newman/Haas Paddock
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Linda ready for dinner

Our neighbors Dave and Mindy

Dave

Tuesday Florida Evening...April 1st, 2008

6 days left and 6 1/2 nights left in Florida......we fly out very early Tuesday morning......

Linda here, checking in. It was another beautiful day at the pool; so nice that we didn't even leave to go work out. We just sat and visited with friends and made some new friends. I'm going to miss all our friends when we go home. We need to move to a retirement community in Oregon, so we can find neighbors with nothing to do but visit, play cards, etc. like here.

It's raining hard out now. It was nice for the weather to wait until the day was over first. Raining should always happen at night, don't you think?

I can't believe how much better I'm feeling. Most of the time, I forget I was ever sick. I've definitely learned not to overdo, and that seems to be the secret to feeling good. I'm anxious to see how I do on Thursday when we spend the day at the track. I'm so looking forward to seeing a lot of friends there.

Thanks for continuing to check in. Remember to check in a week from Thursday when we give our good report from the doctors.

Love and gratitude......Linda

Sunday Evening In Florida.....March 30th, 2008

8 Days Left In Florida.......

Mrs. Wood is doing quite well.....walking up stairs instead of taking the elevator....working out....doing some clothes shopping.....soaking up sun.....having an appetite...everyone here is amazed at how good she looks.

Next step: Tomorrow Linda is dying her hair...so it will look like more hair...not a permanent dye but rather a wash in color. I pushed for pink...but it is a shade of brown.

We have a lot of dinner engagements this last week....then packing up for the trip back to Oregon.

Dave

Thursday Evening...In Florida...March 27th...2008

11 wonderful Florida days left!

Linda is doing well...still coughing from the chest cold or whatever it is..masking perhaps the previous cough. Her blood pressure/pulse cannot be better.....so much better. She is much more active and everyone thinks she looks good.

We finished preparations for the dinner for the Long Beach Grand Prix and all is posted on the forums and such. We are going to the St. Pete's event next week..but only Thursday to see driver friends and other folks. We are announcing our retirement from fan activites as of the Long Beach event....we are receiving much accolades for making this move. We will be attending a race or two in the future but from a "seat". It is time to rest.

Dave

Saturday Evening (Florida Time)......March 22, 2008

Not much new to report....16 days left in Florida.....we will miss it...

Linda is doing quite well (my observation)...she still gets fatigued and coughs a bit...but not as much as before....the chest cold or whatever it was seems to be clearing up. Her back still has pain from time to time...somewhat of a puzzle but could be due to sitting, etc.

After a week of sunshine and warmth....today it rained but was warm....we took a long nap and did not much else. Tomorrow we have dinner at a friend's house so we will get plenty of rest tonight.

We are working on the dinner in Long Beach...we have some exciting things planned and everyone will have a great "last" time. The dinner announcement will be posted on the 27th of March.

Dave

Wednesday Early Evening...Florida Time...March 19th, 2008

Today we have acted as if we were young again (ie..pre Linda's illness).

We drove....ran....raced...down to Sebring today to catch the prior Champ Car teams (3 of them) practice with the IRL cars they are now involved with....We walked...talked...and enjoyed our day....BUT..it was a long road back...and we still have a dinner date.....tomorrow we sleep in...except we have another dinner date tomorrow.

It was fun meeting drivers and race folks we knew..we felt part of things again....we plan on visiting with more folks before the St. Petes race and then we will be in full action in Long Beach.

What then? We think we might really retire....

Linda held up well today...worn out by a long day....but enjoyed the trip. See some pics below, including Linda with Jimmy Vasser...our favorite driver of all times....now a team owner and a great guy!

Dave

Monday Late Evening...Florida Time...March 17th, 2008

Just a short summary tonight.......

The sun and temperature have been grand! We are tanned and then again tanned!

Linda still has congestion and a cough.....a bit worrisome as we don't know where the hacky cough is as this cough might be masking the other cough....so who knows what to think. Her back has been bothering her...which gets our attention as to a "new symptom"....she has had back troubles from a fall on the ice years ago..and her remedies don't seem to work the last few days...so we worry a bit...but then again, today it was better......

Linda still is very tired....duh....she tries to do so many things....she needs to remember about the fatigue..some folks have told us it took them a year to get over it.

We go to Sebring on Wednesday to see our remainign racing teams getting ready with the IRL cars....and we are also working in Long Beach next month for the Champ Car final event before it is all IRL venues. I'll have pictures on the www.wood-eye.blogspot.com web site.

Dave

Friday Evening...Florida Time...March 14th, 2008

Sucky weather today..was supposed to be sunny and 75....it rained and was 60...BUT...got the bills paid and the shopping done...bring on good weather and 82 tomorrow.

I need help with this crazy woman....someone to tie her down...she has gone crazy on me...reminds me of the "old" Linda...it's scary. First she scubbed the shower...cleaned the grout on the tile in the house...worked out at 2.4 mph for 20 minutes...lifted weights...and the worst part is: she has a mind of her own again!...bad news!

Good news....Dave and Linda will be going to Long Beach and there will be an Inner Circle dinner...the announcement will come out the Thursday three weeks before the event. We are also close on being able to do other things too. ..look on a forum or www.wood-eye.blogspot.com for the announcements.

Dave

ps...Swee...folks are not getting thru on your email and have asked you to post it for folks in this comments section..thanks

Thursday Evening..Florida Time...March 13th, 2008

Thank you all for your best wishes today. I had a good day. I felt pretty energetic and the weather was beautiful. Dave treated me with a massage and a pedicure which felt great and we had a lot of pool time with friends. There were three people at the pool with a birthday today.

I was pretty worn out by the time we got home so when Dave suggested a romantic dinner out, I countered with the idea to a to-go pizza at home with candles on the table.

Dave just fixed me ice cream with fresh strawberries, so I'm going to enjoy it while we watch celebrity apprentice, and then I'm off to bed. I'm still suffering from my cold, so I need my rest!

Thanks again for all the comments and phone calls today. My phone battery wore out, I had so many calls

Love and gratitude.....Linda

Wednesday Evening....In Florida....Mrach 12th, 2008

Tomorrow...well almost today...is Linda's Birthday...March 13th

Tuesday Evening....Florida Time...March 11th, 2008

Janet flew off to Nebraska today....Linda still has a nasty cold.....there is less coughing....but the phlem is starting to break up...this is all good...we think.
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Linda will be a birthday girl Thursday....a young 62!

Dave

Monday Evening.....Florida Time...March 10th, 2008

Sister in law Janet's last night in sunny (?) Florida

Linda still has a nasty chest cold...so whether the antibiotics are working on her original cough is unknown.....perhaps in a day or two we will know.

Tomorrow Janet flies home to snowy Nebraska...today was a warm day in Florida..the rest of the week is supposed to be great.

Janet took us to dinner tonight....nice!

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It looks like Linda is trying to drink her way back to health..actually it's water!

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After coming home we played cards...Janet had a little trouble!

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Linda won again...of course!

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Dave

Sunday Evening...Florida Time...March 9th, 2008

Linda still has a cold...and hacking....we don't know if the hacking is separate from the previous coughing or...or...Linda is still on the antibiotic for the original cough...so who knows now what is causing what or?

A picture of Linda today...the "Lady in Red!"

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Nice weather today..clear but a wee bit cool.....tomorrow is warm and better.

Dave......

PS..the original "Lady In Red" by Vargas (note the similarities)

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Saturday Evening In Florida....March 8th, 2008

Linda has a cold today!....what energy she has is gone....she did take a walk but clearly has a drop in her limited energy. She's already in bed...we're hoping tomorrow is better for her.

Today we received sad news that Edith Santoro has passed away....a call from her daughter Nancy. Who was Edith?........Jimmy Vasser's number one fan and a great lady who attended Champ Car races in her 80's. She will be missed...always a favorite of Linda's...and many others.

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Now I guess Swee Hart is the new number one Jimmy fan. The above picture of Jimmy and Edith was taken at last spring's Portland testing.

Dave

Friday Evening In Florida....March 7th , 2008

Tonight I indicated to Linda that an indicator that's she's not doing as well as she should is that she lost at cards again tonight (she usually wins)....her only comment was "I thought you wanted to talk about something serious!".

Mrs. Wood continues to improve...appetite is up...hair is growing (slowly)......she feels eyelashes growing....she walked again today for exercise with Janet.

Yes...the cough is still there....not as bad today but she is taking antibiotics and cough medication...time will tell.

Severe thunderstorm and rain this late afternoon....toronado watch till 2 am.

Dave

Wednesday Evening.....Florida Time...March 5, 2008

Today we picked up Linda's sister in law Janet at the airport (after a side trip to COSTCO)....Janet will be viting us for a week here in sunny Central Florida.

Tonight Linda got a call from Susie, Linda's nurse practitioner at the Bend Memorial Clinic . She was checking on Linda and in particular the cough. A prescription of antibiotics will be tried and if the cough coninues to worsen, Linda will have a CT scan. She has one scheduled for April 9th, but if needed, one might be done earlier here in Florida or we might be flying home early for one to be done in Oregon.

As Linda says...it's not something we should worry about yet...the next step is to see how the antibiotics work...though we've had this cough in the backs of our minds for quite a while.

So Linda is going to enjoy Janet's visit and see what happens.

Dave

Monday Evening.....Florida time...March 3rd, 2008

A quick update...Linda is getting tanner....Linda is doing treadmill time every day....Linda is growing hair....and eyelashes....Linda's eyes are feeling better....Linda is still coughing.....Linda's sister in law Janet is coming Wednesday for one week to visit.....Dave is disappearing....one woman in the house is enough......they will have fun together.

Our neighbors in Oregon kindly sent us our battery charger for our camera...look for pictures in the near future.

We've had a series of great sunny "pool" days..tomorrow there is some rain and lightning coming.

Dave

Friday Evening...Florida Time...February 29th, 2008

Today's been a pretty good day for Linda...yesterday she was moaning over the fact she wasn't getting hair...and then...today she noticed eyelashes...1/16th of an inch...and a slight fuzz on top of her head....it's a start!

Linda did 2.4 miles per hour for 20 minutes on the treadmill...and some hot tub time as a reward. Tonight we're going out to dinner...celebrating the week.

This weekend will be getting warmer....so a lot of pool time....no chores to do..no business to do...just kick back and enjoy! That's what we like about Florida.

Dave

Thursday Evening...Florida Time...February 29th, 2008

Linda and I went shopping today and completed some chores as it was relatively cool again today....tomorrow it's supposed to warm up again. We cannot believe the clothing deals in Florida once again...the stores dump their stuff when they bring the new seasonal clothing in.....so the prices are great....prices we would not see in Oregon (Columbia, Nike, etc.).

Linda continues to improve...worn out a bit tonight as we also worked out again today...she is on her way...the cough still being a concern....tomorrow we will take it easy in the sun with an afternoon workout.

We have put together a proposal to do some Champ Car Inner Circle activities in Long Beach, including a dinner and all....we shall have to wait and see what the "powers to be" think of it....more news soon we hope.

Dave

Wednesday Night..Florida Time....February 27th, 2008

Linda got an email from her Oncologist in Oregon regarding the Florida XRAYS she had taken....he said: "It is hard to compare the x-rays directly because of technique. The abnormalities on the x-ray are in the exact distribution as the abnormalities on the x-ray from here. They are just more prominent. At this time unless you were more symptomatic I would no concerns and would not change any thing."

The only concern Linda has though is the persistent cough...and whether that is "more symptomatic"..she had the cough when he took the preliminary x-rays before she left Oregon. So she's not sure what to think at this point. I think she will trust all is ok and let the ctscan in April be the ultimate answer.

The good news is she is feeling like the 100% she felt last Sunday...there is no doubt in her mind that the beta blocker is holding her back....once that is gone she expects to feel sooooo much better.

Today we did some business as it was cold...and we had a very nice dinner and movie at friends' home..very nice...tomorrow it is cold again and we will do chores and shopping (and sleep in late!)

Dave