Yesterday was a long, long day. Karen and I were going to come to Wichita early, and I would sleep while she visited with Debbie and her Mom. Well, so much for plans... Karen and I went out to breakfast and then I decided to nap; that didn't work, so we took off.

We had a pleasant drive down; most of the time that I spend with Karen is pleasant. When we got to Deb and Ric's place, we found a note: Jeff had sprained his thumb and they'd gone to get x-rays.

So, I decided (surprise, surprise!) to take a nap... again, fruitlessly. After a half-hour, I quit trying and Karen made a pot of strong coffee. The coffee sustained me throughout the evening.

Jeff's x-rays were negative, and they got back about 17:45. Deb made "reservations" at a steak eatery called Timberline. We didn't have to wait very long... it's one of those places that has peanuts in large barrels distributed around the place so you can munch while you wait. So we munched quite a bit.

We also got one of those onion flower appetisers after we got seated, then a big salad before the meal. I opted to not eat about half of my salad, so I could finish off my steak when it came. Not a bad meal, but a little pricey.

We came home and had xmas... we hadn't seen each other since sometime in November. Then I finally got to bed about 22:00, thinking that I would just drop off. Well, that didn't work, I was still awake when Karen came in an hour later. I got to sleep shortly after that, but it was not very restful because of the lousey bed and nightmares. Karen had a crummy night too, because of the lousey bed and her claim that I snored once I got to sleep.

Karen got up around 09:00 and I crawled out of bed a half-hour later to find Debbie making pancakes and bacon. The coffee was good and strong, so it didn't take me long to wake up.

After breakfast Karen and I went over to see her mom, Betty. She's in a very nice assisted-living place here in Wichita, and she seems very happy there and everyone likes her, naturally. We talked to her until it was time for her to eat, then we came home and went out to the mall with Debbie.

Karen had bought me a real nice jacket for 75% off at Dillaards in Topeka yesterday, and we went to the Dillards here, where they were having a sale and I found a roadster hat that matched my new jacket. $4.77, a pretty good deal.

Due to the weather, I scratched the trip to see Mom in Enid. Bad weather made it to Wichita during the night, rain and cool, and it will turn even cooler and start snowing shortly, we're told. We are considering going back to Topeka tonight to avoid any weather problems.... and, not incidentally, to escape another night in the bed from hell...

Deb is planning to fix supper here tonight, and we will go pick Betty up and have her over. She is a really neat lady, and I enjoy being around her. Supposedly she is suffering from Alzheimer's, but I can see very little evidence with my short and infrequent visits with her.

22:04 Saturday 07 MAR 1998

Back home again... a change in plans brought to you by Mother Nature.

About 17:00 we were watching the weather channel in Wichita... and noticed that there was a blizzard warning up starting about 20:00! After a brief discussion, Karen and I decided to come home before it hit, and we were on the road by 17:30. It had been raining off and on in Wichita all day, and it poured on us all the way to Topeka, with some areas of freezing rain/sleet too, but the highway never got slippery. We were watching the outside temp gage in the Cadillac, it started off at 37 F, and got down to 33 F by the time we got home.

So far, though, it hasn't started snowing, but it has been sleeting. We're supposed to get somewhere between 6 and 12 inches before it's over tomorrow night. I kinda hope so, we haven't had much of a winter yet, might as well have it in March!

As soon as it starts snowing, I'm going to try to talk Karen into going out and hot-tubbing with me...