Book of Jamez

55 y/o malcontent, something of a writer

Author: Jamez

  • The Long Goodbye

    My friend Jim’s mother was diagnosed with cancer this spring and at 85 years old she made a decision not to fight the cancer this time (she had fought cancer before). So the family did as she asked and then proceeded to do the other important things, make extra trips to New Jersey to see her, send out the call for cards to be sent and prayers to be requested. People responded to the call. Last fall when my Pa died Jim’s mom sent me a lovely card that touched my heart and made me cry all over again, I still have it – so when the call went out I participated in the card sending just little notes to keep her spirits up.

    My friend Jim, who I work with every day didn’t or couldn’t really talk about that with me in the office. I got the information I needed (what to tell friends and clients when the time came, what charities and so forth) from his daughter Lisa, a nurse who works in the hospice industry. Lisa received regular updates from the hospice nurse that came to the house and about three and a half weeks ago she made the decision to go up to NJ (from Nashville) full time. I know that Jim appreciated knowing she was there and he got regular updates. As her journey approached Jim and his wife, Ana, headed up to be with is mother during her last days – they were there for over a week with only a brief return to their home down here for more clothes.

    On Friday of last week Dorothy, Dot, or Mom-Mom as she was called, finally left our plane of existence for the kingdom of heaven. Jim and his family planned for the wake and funeral to be on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Dorothy had specific requests that I believe were followed to the letter.

    My friend Vera and I drove up on Wednesday afternoon and arrived with enough time to spend a few minutes at the family home before heading to the funeral home for the week. There were some last minute items to be taken care of and Lisa was at the church practicing songs for the service the next day.

    There are four children at the moment in the family, all of them great grandchildren to Dorothy. They brought so much life to this event – dancing, laughing, signing. Many a sad tear was turned into a laugh or at least a smile by their antics. I’m glad they were there.

    Jim put up a strong front, but you could see the sadness in his eyes that just stayed there. He knew that his family and friends were all around him, but it’s a hard thing to go through. I remember last fall when Pa died and that nothing really made the pain any easier, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I know he’ll get through this, but I also know it’ll be tough.

    The service the next day was at the Catholic Church. Lisa sang powerful songs and was just amazing. David and Jim both gave eulogies and both choked up a bit. The priest had powerful words to say. I saw tears in the eyes of many people around me and felt them run freely down my face. We had the funeral procession to the cemetery where Mark had a nice eulogy as well. Dorothy was buried next to her husband James.

    I can’t express in words how beautiful Lisa sang, nor the pain and loss in Jim’s eyes. But I was honored to be there and witness the love they shared for one another, the loss they all felt and the beauty of how they said goodbye.

  • Ft Lauderedale Trip

    My last trip to the Royal Palms was over two years ago and every day I was there it rained, this time all I had was sunshine warmth and handsome bears… what more could a guy ask for?

    Friday was rather uneventful for me, swam in the pool layed out by the pool and read from my Kindle. I was tired and in bed before 11:00 and I slept in until 8:30 crazy… that is what I love about vacations, doing what I want and usually that equates to nothing. Jim’s mother passed away in the afternoon so I sent out a few notification emails and made a few calls. I received a few calls to for Jim and Ana from friends that were worried about them, it’s nice to know that I’m an emergency contact.

    Saturday I had a Costa Rican for lunch šŸ˜‰ and that evening I went out to dinner, a meeting and a movie with Michael K to celebrate his AA anniversary. Dinner was at J Alexanders, a nice steak house down there (I think it’s a chain).

    We went to the beginners meeting and it was an interesting format. There were very entertaining moments, one guy who said he was 9 years sober and still restless, irritable and discontented ever day said basically that if you didn’t slip you’re not a real alcoholic, it was precious… poor guy really needs to get a program and some help.

    We went to see Julie and Julia or whatever and it was very cute.

    Sunday was a nice relaxing day, I went for a walk, spent some cash on clothes and headed back to the resort for a quick nap and some afternoon delight.

    I got enough sun and relaxation and made some nice new friends. Then I boarded the plane… lol

    There was a young thin blonde girl right in front of me and she kept getting up and fidgeting (this was even before we left the gate) and I heard the stewardess tell her that if she felt that strongly about it we would go back to the gate… I had a window seat and she had a clastrophic thing going on and she eventually got moved to my row on the aisle. She apparently is very phobic about flying and had forgotten her Xanax that day so was particularly frightened. The cute guy (married, straight, beared bear) next to me and I did our best to distract her and made conversations with her the entire way. She did finally allow me to open my shade when we were landing. She was on the first leg of her journey and I hope she fared better on the second flight.

  • Random Thoughts and an important announcement

    Iā€™m currently on a US Airways flight from DC to Fort Lauderdale, this is the ticket that I had to use from my Cancun trip that was cancelled last year when My Pa died. Itā€™s rather appropriate that Iā€™m on this trip this weekend as my name was officially changed on Tuesday. Iā€™m very proud to be a Prudlick.

    Because Iā€™m headed to Ft Lauderdale and not Cancun this ticket is a First Class ticket and Iā€™m sitting next to an elderly gentleman that has an oxygenation machine under his feet. He seems like a nice guyā€¦ but all I can see it this thing exploding under his feet, sending him skyrocketing into the atmosphere ā€¦ Iā€™d die too of course, just being close to the tank as it explodes and sends metal shards slicing through my body. Yes, Iā€™m a bit of a pessimistā€¦ or is that a called something else?

    Iā€™m looking forward to being down there at one of my favorite hotels, yes ā€“ clothing optional – just relaxing by the pool with my Kindle in hand and my eye on the various ā€œsightsā€.

    Itā€™s been an odd week or so, Jimā€™s mother is in home hospice about to die and heā€™s been up in New Jersey with other members of his family waiting. I know this is tough on all of them. Jim is quick to point out that it is nice that sheā€™s holding on, even if sheā€™s not conscious as they have an opportunity to say goodbye several times, and just be there with her. I donā€™t know whatā€™s better the sudden death like with my Pa or this drawn out dying with Jimā€™s mom. Maybe they both have benefits and detractions. Either way itā€™s hard to lose a parent. Jimā€™s mother passed away this afternoon after several months in home hospice.

    At the office weā€™re finally being paid for work we had done over 4 months ago, I think the economy is affecting companies all over and this is one of the ways. I imagine they too are waiting for payments from other sources. Jim has been working on projects while at his mothers so we should have billables to send out at the beginning of the month. August wasnā€™t such a good month for billables perhaps around $8,700 ā€“ usually we bill out $22,000 to $46,000 (the $46k was a really good month).

  • Suzanne's Wedding

    Iā€™m not a fan of beaches, nor of driving anywhere for 2 or three hours, or of screaming babies on airplanes. But for your best friend, you do things you wouldnā€™t necessarily do for other people. Thatā€™s why I could be found on Tuesday September 8th at BWI waiting for a flight to Norfolk, VA.

    Suzanneā€™s Dad, Chip, planned to pick me up and drive me down to Hatteras (Salvo actually I guess) which saved me from having to rent a car and drive down there myself. I was surprised to find Suzanneā€™s brother-in-law, Jerry, at BWI and we rode next to one another on the very turbulent plane ride to Norfolk. I hadnā€™t seen Jerry in probably 10 years or more, but when I lived in Eau Claire he was a regular part of my social network.

    The ride down to Hatteras was drowned out in rain, we were afraid the wedding day might have dampened spirits ā€“ yet when we arrived it was sunny with a slight wind.

    The house was a huge thing, like most of the houses that I saw down there. We were greeted by Suzanneā€™s Mom, Judy, her sister Eileen, niece Paris, friendā€¦ whoā€™s name I couldnā€™t tell you how to spell, and of course Farley the slobbering bulldog.

    It was a relatively slow, relaxing night, we did check out the beach where the ceremony was to be and talked about the upcoming stuff. We did have a lot of fun, silly stories; silly fathers (Jerry) helping their daughters cheat at cards against little old me.

    Wednesday, 9/9/09, Suzanne and I had a nice quiet morning reading AA literature, sipping coffee and talking about the program. The women all left to get their hair done and Jerry and I were left to pick up the house. Later we were sent on a mission to get more flowers, which we did finally find.

    Iā€™ve known Suzanne a very long time, Iā€™ve seen her at special events before, Iā€™ve seen her holding puppies all full of love, but truthfully, I think she looked the most beautiful in her dress on Wednesday, it wasnā€™t the dress, it wasnā€™t the hair ā€“ she was just glowing with happiness.

    Her man, Paul, showed up with his father around 2 and quickly go into his military dress whites. He was looking pretty sharp. I will let you know that heā€™s not perfect, he doesnā€™t like coffeeā€¦ so he has at least one flaw.

    The ceremony was short and beautiful. The dinner as well.

    I was glad to head home the next morning, but glad that I had the opportunity to spend time with all the folks that I hadnā€™t seen in a few years as well as Suzanne and Paul.

  • Overruling the President, Publisher and Owner.

    Pretending to cry on the witness stand: $42,000
    Offering to settle for minuscule amounts “to avoid embarrassing Jim in front of his family”: $19,000
    Attempting to make profit on a newsletter after years of failure and studies saying it can’t be done: $100,000
    Watching you lose this case in front of your employees: PRICELESS

    The Players for the Plaintiff’s: Jim and Ana D, their children Mark and David (and Lisa in spirit), cousin Dom, the Attorney Brian, and of course me.

    The Players for the Defense: John and Ann S, their daughter Brynna, employees for the firm Lee, Monica and Kim, the Attorney’s and Paralegal.

    The Players for the Court: the Judge, the Clerk and assistants, the brilliant Jury.

    Supportive Cast: Regina, Carol, Sylvia, Vera, Kate, Gary, Rankine, and a lot of prayerful folks that never gave up hope and kept the prayers coming.

    And, as usual, the star of the show, the big G himself: God

    Brief History of the progression of the Case: John hoped to find a way to make his newsletter profitable and thought the best way was to fire Jim and not pay him money for work performed. That’s a biased point of view, and this review will be very biased as I was there and I can’t report objectively. OK, really I can, but that’s not any fun.

    Day one was pretty boring, we waited around for a judge and courtroom most of the day. Around 3:30 we were rewarded with both and then a jury was selected. The Judge I found to be very nice and professional. Shortly after the jury was picked I was told to leave as I was one of two potential witnesses on the list. I had been subpoenaed by the Defense.

    The rest of my observations (outside of my own testimony) occur from what I saw before or after each day and what I observed through the windows of the court doors or on the faces of jurors or participants of the case.

    I sent brief updates to D family members on day one and one of the recipients asked for more information on what everyone was wearing so I happily obliged on Day 2:

    “Jim, Ana, David, Mark, Dom (Jim’s cousin), Brian (the attorney) and I are here and looking sharp. Jim, Brian and I are in black suits with soft colors accented by striking ties. Ana Maria is looking lovely in her stylish ensemble and black throw.

    John, Ann, and lawyers are here as well. They all look grumpy to me. John is wearing a grayish suit and his lawyers are also in black suits with dull colored shirts. Ann is wearing a black sweater over an embroidered shirt and slacks.

    Members of the jury are in the waiting room with all of us.”

    and

    “His lawyers can best be described as the frumpy one with bed head and the escaped circus act guy with the shaved head. At least our guy is handsome and has good hair.”

    I watched Jim being questioned by his attorney and then later by the opposing counsel and all I could tell about anything was that Jim remained calm through what I could see. His testimony was I think over 2 hours.

    Later, I was called by Brian the attorney for Jim and was asked several questions. I was very nervous, which is silly as I had prayed a lot and only told the truth, but I was shaking up there. On the redirect John’s attorney asked me about my resentment towards John and I said that it was still there and I was still praying about it, both of which are true.

    After my testimony the Plaintiff’s side rested and lunch was called.

    Kim was called for the Defense and wasn’t up there very long… it was the end of day two the Plaintiff’s side appeared very upbeat and the Defendants were all rather down trodden looking… some (maybe even me) were pretty sure we had won outright, but I knew there was still the next day for court.

    “Jim and Brian are once again in darksuits with pleasant ties. I realized this was the last business day before labor day and am wearing off white slacks and shirt with a purple patterned tie. Ana looks simply stunning and has repeated the black throw look from yesterday – she has enough style to pull it off.

    John’s attorneys, the frumpy one with bedhead and the escaped circus freak with the shaved head, are in dark suits but common ties. John appears to be wearing the same drab gray suit he wore yesterday. Ann and Brynna are both wearing pleasant outfits.

    Spectators that are here today include Lee, John’s wife and daughter, Jim’s wife and son David.”

    Today’s testimony started around 9:00 and I had my Ipod with me, the day before I had tried to read from my Kindle but couldn’t concentrate, so I put an AA speaker pod cast on and relaxed the hours away. Today was John’s turn on the stand and he was up there a long time just like Jim. There was at least one break during his testimony and he came out looking all smug so I glared at him as best I could… Jim’s lawyer finally got to redirect and they were up there even longer… then before I knew it it was lunch and they were coming out. Ana came out first and she didn’t look happy at all.

    John came out and looked at me and said with his evil smile: “It’s over.” He and Ana were near the restrooms and he told her “I’m sorry that you had to be embarrassed that way Ana..” or something and she had a not too lady like retort… you go girl! At lunch the attorneys had administrative duties with the Judge about jury instructions and I heard from our side some doubts about how we did today. I continued to tell folks that it wasn’t over until the fat lady sang and we had to wait for the jury to return a verdict. We all said our prayers tried to turn it over to God.

    We returned to the court, the Judge instructed the jury on law, the verdict rules and evidence. Then Brian gave his closing statement and I heard all kinds of things that I knew and agreed with of course I’m on his side.

    Then the Defense guy went up there and I heard him tell outright lies and fabrications about Jim and our company and it was a very difficult thing to sit through. I am almost glad that I didn’t have to sit through the actual trial it would have been hard to listen to this slander all day. I don’t know how Jim’s family managed to not burst out in anger at some of it.

    A law in Maryland gives our side a chance at a last rebuttal at the Defenses closing arguments and he did.

    The jury was excused around 3:20 and we waited. At 4:52 we were informed that the jury had a verdict and we all filed into the court.

    They found for Jim and it was just a huge relief and I’m glad that this part of the battle is over. Now there will likely be some legal wrangling from John’s side, but I’m hopeful the ruling will stand based on rulings of the Judge and the verdict of the jury.

    I was in the middle of this particular dispute during it and it was hell then, these three days of trial were also very unpleasant… but the verdict, victory and vindication make it all worth while.

    All told: $206,670 plus the right to argue attorneys fees (that’ll be in a motion later). If the argument is won on attorney’s fees it will apply to any and all appeals that are won by Jim’s side.

    some math below
    Originally owed to Jim, $161,200
    Jury states he now owes $206,670
    that’s $45,470 more

    Plus his own attorney fees, possibly Jim’s attorney fees, lets assume approximately $300,000

    his staff sitting in court all day not doing billable work? well I’m not sure how much that also costs him.

    He should have just paid the amounts owed from the get go but he got very greedy.

  • Self-CheckoutĀ Rules

    There should be rules for something and one of those things that got on my nerves today – again – was folks in Self-Checkout aisles that don’t follow the rules. Now you would think that common sense would prevail and there wouldn’t need to be rules for self-checkout aisle, but you would be wrong. You may find that these rules apply to other situations as well and by all means, feel free to adopt them to your need or cause.

    1. Don’t use your pocketful of change to pay if you’re in the self check out aisle. There are other people with credit cards or cash that are staring at you in disbelief – it is not your imagination, they really hate you.

    2. Don’t attempt to use that wrinkled up dollar to pay if you’re in the self-check out. You should know by know that the only machines that will take those dollars easily are in Vegas and Atlantic City… feel free to move.

    3. Don’t buy beer, liquor, wine, cigarettes or decongestants these items require you to show your identification, that is the anti self check out.

    4. Know your fruits and vegetables. If you get to the self-check out and can’t remember what the name of the produce that you picked up is and have to ask the clerk… well, see number 3.

    5. You have a cart full of groceries – yep, that’s not going to be fast at all. Part of the appeal of the self check out is that it’s fast, but if you’re there with your month supply of food stuff it’s not going to be fast at all.

    6. Children. If your child can’t help but touch things, including the scale and where the bags go. It might be a good idea to tie them up with duct tape or perhaps leave their asses at home… or you could simply go to a regular aisle.

    It is my belief that the purpose of the self-check out is efficiency. If you have all the time in the world, go talk to the clerk and get the hell out of my way.

  • Listen to yourself already

    So, I’ve had the CD of my talk for a month now and just couldn’t bring myself to listen to it. When I was up there talking I know that I shared my story but I could only remember the first part (where I read from the book) and the last part (when I talked about my Pa) every thing else was pretty much a blur. I wasn’t too worried, I had said a few prayers before I started so I knew whatever came out of my mouth should be ok, but I had no clear idea of what it was that I said.

    Yesterday while talking to Michael K about a trip to Ft Lauderdale next month I mentioned that I hadn’t yet listened to it. He suggested that I should and scoffed at the idea of others lying when they said I did a good job… I know that I shouldn’t think spiritual giants of AA would be liars, but sometimes I still do…

    Anyway, tonight I listened and while it was brief, it wasn’t that bad… I don’t think I’ll be joining any circuits, but I’m glad I stood on a message I could recognize and be proud of.

  • What's in a Name?

    I was born as James Jody _____. Phillip _________, my biological father was the star football player in Blair, WI and my biological Mother Cheryl ___________ and he hooked up and had my sister and then me for children. Both Phillip and Cheryl were alcoholics and you can guess how the marriage went. My biological mother always told the story of how Phillip would drink up all the money and her mother would have to bring us food as babies.

    In 1974 (give or take a year) my biological mother met and married Joseph __________, who adopted me and my sister – we took his last name. Joe was/is also an alcoholic.

    Joe was a violent drunk who beat my mother bloody regularly. His family helped him beat her on a few occasions. One fathers day on our way home from somewhere he was arrested for some warrant. He was a lot of things, but he was never my father.

    When I was thirteen and again at 15 I met my biological father. He was kind enough to get me drunk both times, offered to get me a hooker so I would lose my virginity and denounced my mothers tales of his drinking as her excuses.

    In 1986 at the age of 15 I was put into the Foster Home system. I was placed in the home I’ve stated before that Ma was sitting in a rocking chair knitting and Pa was sitting in his rocker – they were both very old (I was 15) and I knew it would never be a lasting placement, there was no way these old people could keep up with me nor manage me. Yet that’s exactly what they did. My Ma and Pa fed me regularly, loved me constantly and even made me be responsible for my own actions.

    My Pa was the first human adult male that loved me regardless of who I was or what I had done. He didn’t want anything in return, he just wanted to love me. When I did something wrong I could see actual disappointment in his eyes, I could see concern – these were things that were foreign to me.

    At around 20 my biological father died from complications of diabetes – alcohol became more important than insulin – that’s a serious complication.

    When I sobered up I made amends to my biological father by regularly going to his grave and cleaning it up and I talk to him. But he’s not really my father.

    I also managed to see my adopted father Joe at a bar (I had a legitimate reason for being there) and made as much of an amend that I might have needed to make. But he’s also never been my father.

    My Pa, was from the first day he met me up until the day he died in November of last year, my father.

    This is just a brief few words explaining what’s been going on in my head since before Pa died last year, but it will possibly help you to understand why I’m taking his name as part of mine.

    If all goes according to plan my name will change to honor Pa before October 1, 2009.

    I’ll keep you posted and thank you for your understanding.

  • The Auction (Trip to WI Part 3)

    I think that a little background information might be appropriate here so bear with me if you’ve heard some of this before.

    My Pa died in November of 2008, but before he died he managed to get to as many auctions as he could within driving distance (8 hours probably wouldn’t have been too far to drive for an auction for him) where he proceeded to buy items. Usually the items that Pa would buy would be mowers, snoblowers, engines for such – but sometimes the items he bought were a little more exotic. I know that he had a set of street lights, the kind that you would see on a city street, well maybe a small town street. After my Pa would buy these items he would take them to his “Shop” which he bought 9 years ago, the “Shop” used to be owned by a lumber company (it was huge: at least 3 floors and a basement area, there are little cubby hole type places all over that can only be reached by small sets of stairs – HUGE).

    Anyone in the family that would ask about what he might want to do with these items would be given any one of a standard litany of responses: “Don’t you worry about it.” or “I’ve got plans for that” or “That’s none of your business” among other things. But every once in a while he would chuckle at the prospect of us all having to clean it up after he was gone.

    So, since it warmed up in WI in late March my sister Rhonda took charge of the task and we started to prepare for the auctions. We originally planned to have three auctions (and in hindsight I really wish we would have had three) but dropped it down to two after the first auction was so successful. Rhonda, being the only one of us that lives close to Ma and the shop, spent almost every day down at the shop with her husband, or Ma going through the place and determining what was what. I understand that we threw away over 7 long dumpsters full of items (Pa did have notes on SOME items that said: “for Parts” or “unrepairable”). I managed to get home in March, May, June and July to help and I know my brother Kenny who lives closer was home a few more times that I was bur primarily Rhonda did the bulk of the work.

    I knew what I was in for this trip to WI, the last trip about wore me out so I knew I’d be busy. We would wake up each morning about 6 head for breakfast at the Garden of Eatin’ before heading to the shop. It’s dirty, hard, endless work down there and after even an hour or two you wonder if it’ll ever be over (my sister did this every day for a quite a while and I’m very proud of her). At 12 the sirens for town go off and we’d head for Ma’s for a quick lunch before heading back down to the shop for the remainder of the day. Around 6 Ma would have dinner ready at home and we’d all chow down and moan alot (sore muscles).

    We did get some help while we were down there working. Greg’s dad was down each day helping out, Ma’s nephew Byron was down a few days and really worked up a sweat, there was an annoying kid named Michael who just wouldn’t shut up but he helped so I didn’t pummel him.

    The last two days leading up to the auction we began to see the light at the end of the tunnel, items were strategically placed outside and throughout the building in such a way that hundreds of people could safely walk through and get a look at them. We worked from early in the morning to late in the evening, nerves frayed, tempers tested and nephews absent.

    The day of the auction had finally arrived. We spent about three hours before the auction taking a few remaining items out of the building and into the lot, we also moved a million items that belonged to one or the other of the nephews into the back of pickup trucks and cars. The stage was set and soon all the players started to arrive the auctioneer’s were there and soon the lot filled with old men in various stages of disarray (there apparently are no dress code suggestions for an auction, it’s come as you are).

    This might have seemed to be the longest day the auction started at 9:30 a.m. and continued on until around 6:00 p.m. And for the most part we all just kind of stood around and waited. Every once in a while one of the auctioneer’s would need something and we would take care of that but mostly, we just stood around and waited.

    My nephews, brother, and brother-in-law all bid on things and won them. I didn’t see anything that I wanted to bid on that I could fit in my luggage so I just let those items go… yes, sarcasm.

    Almost every item was bid on, not as much as we had hoped, but some. The building was sold around 1:30 to the highest bidder at less than half of what Pa had paid for it 9 years ago – the new owner has pipe dreams that were reminiscent of Pa’s pipe dreams and I wish him luck. The winners of the bids had 2 full days to retrieve their items or they would become property of the new owners – I hope they managed to do so.

    That night we ordered pizza and sat around the kitchen table talking about the events of the day, month and year. We joked and kidded and old resentments flared up and new jokes and stories were born.

    It’s nice to go home and see my family, it’s nice to spend time with them… but I’d rather never ever prepare for auctions like this again. But if my Ma or Rhonda asks for help, I’ll do what I can to be there for them, they’ve always been there for me.

  • The Rest of the Conference (Trip the Midwest Part 2)

    Saturday morning I had breakfast with an old friend Cliff H in the hotel restaurant, we talked about his family, underground country music and AA. It was nice. He and I headed over to hear the Alanon speaker, Joan H from MN. She gave a very good talk and made me laugh quite a bit.

    After the speaker the other AA speakers and I took a tour of Eau Claire with Bruce, we visited places where Clancy I was young and places that he talks about in his own talk. We ended the tour at Ray’s on Water Street for Hot Beef sandwiches which really hit the spot.

    I was free until the buffet dinner at 5:30 and again tried to take a nap, but this time Pat and Brenda called. I saw them to their room in the hotel and then headed down to my room to get ready again.

    The buffet was… well, the coffee was good and the conversation.

    Jim H from Chicago was the speaker and he gave a good talk, after which we lined up to thank him and then headed to the ice cream social which is loved by all.

    Sunday morning arrived to quickly and I packed up my things and loaded them in Pat and Brenda’s car. I had breakfast with the guy from Gopher State Tape Library who taped the event, we had nice conversations and a good breakfast.

    The morning speaker was Kenna from Los Angeles CA and she gave a real good talk that had me laughing a lot at points and thinking alot at other points, after which we lined up to thank her.

    The roundup no officially over there were photos to be taken of the speakers, the hosts and gifts to be given to the speakers which included an Eau Claire t-shirt and a bag of certified dirt from the Eau Claire area.

    Pat, Brenda and I headed to Chippewa Falls, but not before we stopped at Taco John’s for me ;-).

    Sunday was a very relaxed day at Pat and Brenda’s and Pat and I headed to the Northside Group for a step 7 meeting that evening which hit the spot. It was great to be back at my old home group and hear some real recovery at a step meeting.

    Monday was a day filled with pipe dreams of movies and fun and didn’t really become anything. Tuesday was spent with me waiting for Pat to finish work to drive me to Galesville. I arrived in Galesville Tuesday afternoon, shortly before dinner.