HOWDY BUCKEROOS…..  Well, it’s Scamp Yanoff time again….  I’m back in Austin, back in the saddle, and back to blogging.  Sorry for the late post, but as some of you know, I had some personal business to attend to in Florida.  Two weeks ago, my sweet mother (Miss Hazel) fell down and broke her hip.  Due to her advanced age (and playing ice hockey in her youth) she needed an immediate hip replacement, so…… guess who got to spend 10 hours a day by her bedside in the hospital?  Yep.  (I was the one who got “bed sores!”)

My brothers (Glenn and Ron) were also by her side, and Glenn (a resident of the Sunshine State) actually slept over one night.  (When Mom was hallucinating!)  Glenn would take the morning shift, and I would drag my lazy butt into the room around ten o’clock and spend the entire day there.  The surgery went well (due to the expertise of the great Dr. Bergman) but the recovery was difficult at times.  As I found out, seniors take a while to rid themselves of the massive amount of drugs and painkillers they receive.  During this process, they often hallucinate and become quite paranoid.  (I tried to get my Mom’s PIN numbers while she was doped up, but to no avail.)  Anyway, everything worked out fine and she is now resting comfortably in a lovely rehab center in Boca Raton.

I must thank all of the lovely nurses who attended to Miss Hazel with great kindness and skill…..     Nurses Rachael, Heather, Veronica, Marie, Michael, and Guisselle.  All I can say, is God bless you folks.  Your sweetness and dedication was overwhelming to observe.  Each one of you were amazingly caring and competent, and in my humble opinion, you have made the Boca Raton Regional Hospital the BEST hospital in America!  I hope you all enjoy your autographed books, and if you check out the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SECTION of my next book, you will see that your are mentioned!  (Believe it or not, I had TWO books published while Mom was in the hospital!  Man, did I do a lot of writing!)

Of course, I wasn’t the only creative person in the room.  My mother took the liberty of re-designing the “bed pan” while she was recuperating from surgery.  (The “Hazel Poopy Pot” will be available, in many different colors, sometime in the Spring of 2014.)

Finally, I would like to say a HUGE thank you to my beautiful and talented sister-in-law, Grace Yanoff.  During my stay, I was lucky enough to eat several gourmet meals at Grace and Glenn’s house, and my God, were they good!  Grace is just about the best Italian food chef in the universe, and as you can imagine, I dined (and wined) quite well.  Thank you, darling!

Incidentally, one of the great parts about going up to brother Glenn’s house was meeting all of his wonderful friends at the ADDISON COUNTRY CLUB.  Not only is the club magnificent, but the “Friday Night Ladies” were incredible!  Try to picture a room filled with beautiful, intelligent, sweet, sexy women…..  Yep, I had to put up with a lot this trip, but hey, I managed.  (I can’t wait to go back!)

I will post the covers of my two new books in a few days.  Let me know what you think.  I love both of them (THE GRACELAND GANG  and  THE PIRATE PATH) but I would be interested in your opinions.  Well, I must go pay some bills.  Take care and have a safe week…..    Love to all,

Doc Yanoff