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BOX SCORE
Element	Current	Std. Range	Trend
Hemoglobin	7.1	13-17	v
Platelets	19	140-375	^
ANC	590	1800-8300	^

What a time!  I believe I have mentioned that Jill and daughters Tara and Laura cooked up a scheme to meet in Las Vegas with the express goal (pun intended) of attending a Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey game. The plot began in our living room a few months ago, when Tara was visiting on a weekend. She told us all about her plans to see the Knights play as well as to attend a Cirque du Soleil show. 

She would be leaving Portland on Sunday morning, seeing the Cirque du Soleil that afternoon and then lounging about Monday morning until it was time for the hockey game on Monday evening. She would fly home on Tuesday, after her weekend mini-vacation. The trip was planned for MLK Jr. Day and would only require her to take one day of vacation time. 

The more she talked about it, the more animated she became, and soon Jill had invited herself to go along. That stoked the fire and before the evening was over, daughter Laura, who lives in San Diego had been included in this gals' getaway. 

A few weeks down the road, we learned that my leukemia had relapsed. We were staring down the barrel of a month-long hospital stay. When we learned the date of my check in, it was December 14th, and I would be staying 30 days. And the Vegas adventure was scheduled to begin on January 14th. No problem, I would be discharged on the 13th, and the gals could take off on the 14th. 

Big problem. No matter how many weather forecasts we read, a big ice storm was headed for the west coast, due to arrive on, you guessed it, January 14th. On Thursday, the eleventh, the gals got their heads together to figure out alternatives. Now the Eugene airport is about as far south of Dallas as the Portland airport is north. And the forecast for Eugene was that it would not be as hard hit as Portland. Many phone calls and travel app consultations later, Jill and Tara had reservations to fly from Eugene to San Diego on Friday. Laura would pick them up and they would fly out of San Diego to Las Vegas on Sunday morning. This seemed perfect and provided the gals a couple of extra days to hang out together, the opportunity for which they had not had for several years. Yay! Trip on. 

Naturally, their connecting flight in San Jose was delayed, but they made it to San Diego! Let the good times roll. Knowing these three ladies, there was a lot of laughter to be shared, along with many hugs. 

Now, it just happened that Laura's husband, Tim, was away for the weekend with their 14 year old son, Judah, at a Karate tournament. Judah is always competitive at these tournaments and has won many awards. Anyway, they arrived home during the gals' stay in San Diego. Judah had schoolwork and didn't have much interest in another trip, so he stayed home, and Tim flew out with Laura and their 8 year old son Malachi on Monday in time for the hockey game. 

Wouldn't you know, that evening the flight arrangements for Jill and Tara's return flight to Eugene collapsed because of, yep, ice storms predicted for Eugene. Another flurry of phone calls and app searches and Tara was able to secure reservations to fly to...ready...Portland. So, that would get them back to Oregon, but their car is in Eugene. 

The solution? Call Costco, of course. They reserved a rental car and will drive from Portland to Eugene to retrieve our beloved Ford. 

In the meantime, my dear friend Bob has graciously offered to pick me up at the hospital. Oh, I'm sorry, did I forget to mention that my time to be discharged from the hospital, although delayed a few days by stubborn blood cells, came today? 

We are supposedly at the tail end of the ice storm, and I am approaching the tail end of my patience with hospital life. The gals' fun, two-day trip has morphed into a six day bipolar experience for Tara and Jill, complete with mood swings from extreme joy to sadness to frustration to worry to resignation. I guess maybe it's a pentapolar experience. 

As of this writing, Jill and Tara are aboard a plane. Last I heard it was moving, but the next to last thing I heard was that takeoff was being delayed by weather-related manpower shortages in Portland. 

One thing I am adamant about is that there will be no more "two-day" ice hockey excursions... unless they are in the summer! And that's final. (Did you hear that, National Summer Hockey League?)