A Visit from my Brother Paul

My brother Paul Schroeder was in Rochester the last few days for a Mayo conference that provides Physicians with updates on medical treatments and the latest breakthroughs. We don't get to see each other that often, so I'm glad he came. The Saturday he came, Annika and the boys and I had walked to the top of a hill a few blocks away to visit a llama farm. The kids all like the llama. When we got there, Annika fell over on tricycle and started crying. When the llamas came over, she stopped, but then when we had to leave, she started crying again and didn't want to move. She wouldn't let me attach her to the wagon (we use a dog leash to go up hills) so it was slow going home, the whole time her right arm was hanging down at an odd angle. When we got Home, Sandy took Annika to Urgent Care and I fed the boys and picked up Paul at the airport. When I told Paul about it, he said it sounded like Nursemaid's elbow, and indicated what type of procedure he would have done to fix it. When we got home we put the kds to bed and talked about our lives, and then Sandy came home with Annika. X-Rays had found nothing, but the doctor had performed the same type of maneuver Paul had shown me during the course of their examination of Annika. So that was interesting. I knew she couldn't have hurt herself THAT bad! :-)

My mom came over and Sandy made a really nice dinner and pumpkin bars for dessert. Last night after Annika's libray storytime I picked Paul up at the Radisson and we went bowling. While we were waiting for a lane and shoes, I asked Paul if he had seen the Big Lebowski. He had not. I told him about the scene with Jesus and he thought it sounded pretty funny. We rolled about 4 games and they were automatically scored. I think we both won 2, but there is no printed record to verify that. My best game I got 3 strikes in a row so that felt pretty good. After bowling, we headed over to Zorba's to get some Greek food, but they were closed so we headed to India Garden. Sandy have wanted to go to this place for a long time, but never found the time, so I caught a little heck for going without her, but the food was good. Paul and I talked about how people are working harder and longer hours and have less time for their families, while at the same time spending more and more money on possessions and getting into credit debt. We both agreed that the rich man is the one who needs the least, not the one who has the most.

Today, Wednesday, is Paul's last day in Rochester. Sandy will pick him up at 3:30 outside the Mayo Civic Center and take him to the airport. I had a great time with Paul.

The picture above is taken from a Newsletter put out by the clinic he works at.