45 DAYS SINCE KIDNEY TRANSPLANT WITH 8 DAYS TO MY SACRAMENTO RETURN.........

I awoke to watch the Today Show, to the surprising news that President Barack Obama has been named the winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. He becomes the fourth US President to be awarded the Prize, beginning with President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906; President Woodrow Wilson in 1919; President Jimmy Carter in 2002; and now President Obama, 2009. Having taken my morning meds and eaten my breakfast, I face out the day and am looking at a very inviting backyard. As these final days in Phoenix unfold, I look forward to enjoying this house inside and out, to the max. Temperatures permitting, I plan to walkabout the yard and the neighborhood throughout the weekend. I am feeling better and stronger each day that passes. Hopefully, we have gotten on top of the urinary tract infection problem with this six week Ampicillin antibiotic regimen 4 times daily, I am undergoing. It causes me to think of Brian Welch in Dallas, who while contending with ALS, also has been facing regular uti's for some years now, each one I now know a very trying experience on the body. I can hardly begrudge my uti's, when a man like Brian, who has endured so much over the past 8-9 years, faces them with steadfastness, confidence and courage. Jeremy has cousins who live here in Phoenix. Coincidentally, they reside just a few freeway exits south of where we are staying. He had a visit with them last night and found many of the younger cousins have grown up substantially since he saw them last. It has been two weeks since Father Oliver made his Spaghetti Bolognaise for me, so I think I will ask Jeremy to prepare spaghetti for dinner. Have yourselves a positive, prayerful, peace filled, productive, day. All My Best in Jesus the Christ, Fr. Troy Powers.........