Sad news and good news go together I guess. Mark and I had to do a whirlwind trip to Fort Fun Iowa on Tuesday as his mother was in ER with chest pain. While we were on the road we heard she had 2 stents put in. Seven hours later we were there and Darlene looked pretty good and we were thankful. All Mark's sisters and brother were there and we spent the night at Darlene's house seeing in the new year. Mostly we yawned and struggled ot stay awake until midnight. A bizarre and sad fact we discussed was that 19 years ago to the date was the day Mark's dad was buried. We were all glad we were not there for something such as that. The next day we felt we could head home as Mark's brother and wife were going to stay for awhile, then a sister and so on. Before we left town for Iowa we'd heard that a friend of ours who had been battling brain cancer had died after a year and a half battle...and I mean battle. Tim never lost his sense of humor though. He always joked about his being forgetful and only having "half a brain". We will miss you Tim. Another family friend was sent to Lincoln with a heart ailment last night but we could find no one to help us find him. We searched every floor and then we decided we had to get home. What a way to start the new year. I hope this isn't a sign of times to come.