Fast Forward

The five days spent in Columbus are a blur. In a nut shell...we practiced on hard courts, Phil played with some of his buddies, had dinner with his boys a few nights, had dinner and lunch with John (his close friend) got a few crushed ice drinks at Tim Horton's (Phil's personal favorite), worked on getting Phil's condo rented, which looks very promising, cleaned the condo thoroughly to prepare it for being rented, then drove to St. Louis last night, arriving around 10:00 p.m. Needless to say we slept very well and are happy to be here on part 2 of our road trip.

I am most happy to report that my hives have subsided. I've got a couple of small patches on the inside of my arms that feels like it could flare at any time, but for the better part of three nights I've had no problem. During my miserable night in Columbus on Thursday I researched more on the Internet. It seems that many people with this condition found relief by combining Zyrtec (allergy med) and Zantac (antacid med) both over the counter. They both contain different antihistamines. I started on it first thing Friday morning and that seemed to be the beginning of the end for me. Let's hope so!

We are staying at the Marriott at Union Station. Awesome hotel! Today we'll practice, then pick up Phil's doubles partner, Tom Smith, who is flying in from Atlanta. Tonight we're going to a Cardinals baseball game. Yea!!! Then the tournament starts for us tomorrow. My draw shrunk from 5 players to 4 when Mariana Hollman dropped out. Our draw will be a round robin, and I'll play one match each day. It has been incredibly hot here, so we'll have stay hydrated and be prepared for the heat. Phil's draw has some really strong players. We both need matches so this is a good start for our fall tournaments.

My brother lives here, so it's an added bonus to get to spend some time with him and his family. We'll be with them at the game tonight and I'm sure throughout the week we'll get together as time allows.