Thursday, January 17, 2008 (DAY 21) Today marks the end of 3 weeks away from home. We begin each morning with a cup of cappuccino and the Today Show, and today was no exception. We are learning to take retirement to another level. After our coffee, and with today being trash pick-up day, we emptied the trash baskets, and took the trash to the street. Kay did a couple of loads of laundry and I caught up writing this journal. Then, it was time to schedule my monthly allergy shop. I called a recommended clinic, and was told I would have to see the doctor. After much frustration, Kay began calling and was told the same thing. As a note, my allergist seems to think I can just walk into a clinic with the allergy extract and get a shot. It’s not that simple and really puts a damper on travel. Anyway, I finally agreed to see a doctor just to get the shot. His staff said to come on it, it wasn’t too busy—yeah, right. I waited 3 hours, but finally got the shot. The wedding ring finger was still swollen, and was beginning to hurt, and after soaking in both hot and cold water, with lots of soap, the ring still would not come off. Kay called a jeweler and we drove back to town to have the ring cut off. After some 15 minutes and $25, it finally came off, and the finger was a mess. It’s surprising I didn’t get gangrene. Oh well… Back to Pine to Palm and a 1½ hour nap, it was time for choir practice. With only 2 tenors and 2 bases, the male sections were pretty thin. After choir practice, we attended a "soup and dessert" 51st anniversary party for Jerry and Doris Hart. My, oh my, but there were some good soups and great desserts brought to the party. Kay and I took smoked turkey and sausage gumbo. Kay brought disposable muffin tins for us, so we could sample a number of the soups at one time. It was a very nice party, and well attended with a lot of folks there from or near Puxico, MO, attending. After returning to Dunn Gone, we watched TV for a couple of hours, and we were off to bed. Today marked the 21st day, or 3rd complete week of our trip.