Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Please Pray for Fr. Vince

I know that no one who reads my blog has any clue who Fr. Vince, but please pray for him anyway. He is a very close friend of my fathers, he was the pastor at the church where my parents attended when they first moved to Columbia (Sacred Heart) and was the priest who baptized me when I was 27 days old. My earliest memories of him are showing up unannounced at our home bring ice cream for us kids. Vince had surgery to remove esophagus cancer last fall. Below is a report from his sister:

"He has said for over a month that he has not felt well. Last Friday he had a test run and found that he had gall stones. As of today we had not heard what the treatment was to be. That is until this afternoon (March 19). We received a call from Bob Heinz telling us that Vince had called him around noon telling him that he was in severe pain and vomiting. Bob went over and was going to take him to the hospital but Vince was unable to walk to the car, so they called for an ambulance.

Tests were run and found that he had a twisted intestine. Vince called bob around 3:00PM to say he was going to surgery and while on the phone they came for him.We were on the phone with family and the hospital and asked the doctor to call when he finished surgery. Thank God it was Dr. Starke who did the surgery since he did the other one and knows Vince’s insides.

Dr. Starke called about 8:00PM and this is the report: Vince got through surgery okay. He had a bowel obstruction from adhesions, which he said are common for one having had stomach surgery. While in there he took out the gall bladder. Vince has been on blood thinner and they had to reverse that before doing surgery. There was no sign of further cancer. The big concern is Vince’s level of strength.

Update 4:30 A.M. – Dr. Starke called to say that Vince is not doing too well. They had to put him back on the ventilator. His blood pressure is down. He said his condition is not irreversible. So it is definitely up to prayers now."

Monday, March 19, 2007

New Logo:


I just noticed the other night that La Quinta Inn has updated their logo. I think it's an improvement, which isn't always the case with the recent hotel logo redesigns (see post from last July).

Thursday, March 15, 2007

St. Louis Survey

This is a silly survey I got off myspace, but it is kind of interested too. I have lived in St. Louis since August 2001...and I think I've done more than some St. Louis natives!

In St. Louis I have seen/been to/experienced:
  1. The Adams Mark Hotel -- never stayed in it but I have been inside. My dad stayed at it for a conference when I was a kid and then when we came to St. Louis as a family a couple years later he insisted on taking us inside to show us the big horse statue in the lobby!
  2. The Old Spaghetti Factory -- many times
  3. Driven over the MLK bridge -- yup
  4. Driven Over the J.B. Bridge -- yup (well not me in the drivers seat but I've been over it in the car)
  5. Driven over the Poplar Street Bridge -- yup
  6. Been to Pops -- no
  7. Been to The Oz -- no
  8. Been to Westport -- yes, not a big fan
  9. Been to Mardi Gras -- no I think it's just silly to get a huge crowd of people together in the streets to drink. I'd rather drink comfortably at home.
  10. Gone to the top of The Arch -- yes but not since I moved here
  11. Ridden Metrolink -- many times
  12. Shopped at Plaza Frontenac -- no..because I prefer to shop where I can actually afford things.
  13. Eaten at Imo's Pizza -- not in the restaurant, but I've had the pizza and it's yucky.
  14. Shopped at South County -- yes, only a couple times, it's out of the way.
  15. Shopped at West County -- yes, they don't have many stores I like
  16. Shopped at Galleria -- yes, nice mall, will be interesting to see what happens when hwy 40 is closed tho
  17. Shopped at Union Station -- yes, tourist mall, I used to see movies out there riding metro down from the UMSL dorms my freshman year though
  18. Shopped at The Mills --yes, they don't have many stores I care for
  19. Been to Pink Galleon (any location) -- yes, I hate smokey bars though.
  20. Gone to Octoberfest in Hermann -- I think we drove out there once or twice when I was a kid.
  21. Been to Ted Drewes -- yes, and I even had some at a department meeting this afternoon!
  22. Walked along the Riverfront -- yes
  23. Been to the Art Museum -- yes - was going every semester while I was in school for art history classes
  24. Been to Six Flags -- yes, at least once a year for the last 5 years or so
  25. Been to the St. Louis Zoo -- yes, one of my favorite St. Louis spots!
  26. Been to Ronnies Theatre -- no, but I don't think I'm missing anything
  27. Been to the Muny -- yes
  28. Been to Silo X -- I am seriously afraid of haunted houses...but I want to go to a REAL haunted house with real ghosts and spirits and such
  29. Been to Forest Park -- yes, it's really quite nice
  30. Been to Fast Eddies -- nope
  31. Been to the car show at the Edward Jones Dome -- no but I had to pay extra for my parking when I was working downtown and it was going on!
  32. Been to a reception at Orlando Gardens -- no but I visited to see about having our wedding reception there.
  33. Been to The Hill -- yes
  34. Been to (old) Busch Stadium -- yup
  35. Been to Busch Stadium II -- yup
  36. Been to The Checkerdome -- just learned that this is the old arena, and the answer is no because they tore it down before I moved here.
  37. Been to The Keil Center/Savvis Center/Scottrade Center -- I saw Pope John Paul II there back in 1998 (it was Keil then)
  38. Been to a concert at Riverport/UMB Pavillion -- yes
  39. Skied at Hidden Valley -- nope
  40. Been to Hacienda on Manchester -- yes, I love me some mexican food
  41. Flown out of Lambert Airport -- yes
  42. Been to St. Anthony's Hospital -- no
  43. Eaten at Eat Rite -- ha no but I consider it whenever I drive by
  44. Been to The Tivoli theatre -- no
  45. Eaten at Cecil Whittaker's Pizza -- nope
  46. Been to the "'Revolving Restaurant" downtown? -- no
  47. Eaten at Crown Candy Kitchen -- yes
  48. Been to the V.P. Fair -- yes, loved it, trying to forget about the ride home on metro
  49. Been to Dogtown for the Hibernian's St. Patty's Day Celebration -- nope
  50. Been to Ameristar -- no
  51. Been to Harrahs -- no
  52. Been to Casino Queen -- no
  53. Been to Fairmount Park for horse-race betting -- no
  54. Been to Dave & Buster's in Earth City -- yes
  55. Gone Bowling at Brentwood Lanes -- no
  56. Sat on that big Tortoise in Forest Park -- yes
  57. Seen the hot air balloon race at Forest Park -- not the race, but I have seen the glow twice
  58. Been to the Lemp Mansion -- no but it is supposedly haunted so I want to check it out
  59. Been to Grant's Farm -- yes, I love to feed the goats from the baby bottles!
  60. Met Marshall Faulk in person -- no and I wouldn't know him if I saw him
  61. Met Nelly in person -- no
  62. Met Ozzie Smith in person -- no
  63. Eaten at Cunnetto house of Pasta -- yes
  64. Ridden in the Moon Light Ramble -- no
  65. Eaten at Helen Fitzgerald's -- no
  66. Been to the Old Cathedral -- yes
  67. Hung out on Delmar -- yes, one of the first places I went with people from the dorm when I moved here.
  68. Been to Meramec Caverns -- no, surprisingly
  69. Taken classes at Meramec/Forest Park/Flo. Valley -- nope
  70. Been to the notorious East Side -- ha no!
  71. Have you ever been asked what high school you go to -- Yes and I tell them Hickman and they look at me like "huh?" Then I explain that I didn't grow up in St. Louis
  72. Gassed up your car at the giant Amoco sign at the Highest Pointe in St. Louis -- I honestly can't remember. I know I've met up with people at that station
  73. Eaten at Blueberry Hill? -- yes
  74. Gone down a slide at the City Museum? -- they are so much fun!
  75. Gone sledding at Art Hill? -- no
  76. Gone ice skating at Steinberg rink? -- yes
  77. Been to Dirt Cheap Cigarettes and Liquor? -- yes
  78. Mentioned Buckley? -- LOL NO
  79. Been to the science center? -- yes
  80. Been on the AB brewery tour? -- no but I have been on Schfley's tour at the Bottleworks!
  81. Been to Tower Grove Park? -- no
  82. Been to Laumier Sculpture Park? -- yes, I love it there
  83. Left St. Louis via the AmShack? -- ha no
  84. Moved away and come back? -- nope

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Wii have something to play tonight!

Tom got me a Wii!!! We've been looking whenever we are in a store that sells this exciting new game system, but hadn't found one in stock yet until today. More to come later...

Monday, March 05, 2007

Why I love craigslist...

Examples of why I love craigslist, here are two posted today:
2 to 3 foot female boa constrictor for trade:
very healthy snake. around 2 to 3 foot female guyana red tail boa. also a 20 gallon tank.will trade for a ps2,go carts,pocket bikes and other interesting trades. also looking for a registered female pitbull.i also have more high end boas i might consider trading.

Free somewhat busted lamp & bookshelf:
I just ditched a somewhat busted bookshelf (the little pegs that hold up one of the movable shelves are missing) and a somewhat busted 3-bulb stand-up lamp (the kind that normally has a long tubular papery shade over it, but the shade got torn up by my darling little cat, and it turns out I hate the lamp anyway) by one of the dumpsters behind the 6600 block of Washington Ave in U City (just south of the loop). So if you want some slightly busted furniture, by all means....