Is It Friday Already?

Oh dear, do I see a trend going? I will have to figure out more interesting titles, and leave the days of the week alone.

Our official high yesterday was 92! One degree short of a record set back in the 60's. We do have a cool front that has come through, and it is to be much cooler for the next few days---in the 80's again. I hadn't quite realized till I saw it on the weather report last night, but bucking the usual trend, the coast areas have been just as hot as/hotter than the central areas (Orlando, etc). It hasn't really felt that hot, except when getting into the car. The breeze is an amazing help.

Our brief bits of rain yesterday didn't add up to a thing. I finally remembered to check the rain gauge today, while out playing with the sprinklers (some of the heads don't like to come up all the way, as the runners from the grass like to grow over them and hold them down). The rain gauge was dry as dust. I figured that would be what I would find. Oh well. I took the utility scissors out with me this morning, and trimmed any and all offending grass runners.

No word yet on Anne's appt, but hopefully today. Dr. Venero's office had given me the number for the specialist's office, and I gave them a call yesterday. I was informed that they would set up the appt through Dr. Venero's office, and that Dr. Venero's office would call and let us know about it. Put me in my place, eh? I would have found it very off-putting, but I have found that a lot of offices around here have policies we find very strange, and yet the doctors are all wonderful. So we will keep our fingers crossed. If he can figure out what is going on with Anne, I won't care how snooty the office staff is.

No word from Brian and Christine. We have tried calling a couple of times, but they have always been out. I know they are busy right now, so we don't worry about it. Wouldn't mind an email now and again though!

Meanwhile, the buds on the magnolia tree are getting fatter and fatter, so I guess we will have flowers soon! As promised (although late!), here are some photos of the gardenia in the back.












Sorry the first photo is so blurry. There are tons of buds like these on the little gardenia bush. It was windy, so it blurred. The other picture came out fine. Go figure. I had taken two shots of the flower, and one was pretty blurry, just as the one of the buds is. I think I remember that you can see the very faded remnants of another bloom behind this one. I thought this one looked pretty droopy, but still nice and white, so it works, eh?

All the oleanders in the area are covered with flowers again. I never seem to notice that the flowers have gone off them (we don't have any in our yard), till all of the sudden they are covered again, and they really stand out. They are so pretty and really remind me of Crete.

It's Wednesday Already?

Absolutely amazing. Time is flying by at warp speed, it seems. I have been very slow in dealing with the new bookcases. Everytime I do work on them, I get a bit of a headache, and can smell the chemical fumes (although it really is dissipating!), so I figure it is just as well to take my time.






This is the set of two bookcases in our bedroom. This is how they looked when they arrived. Just imagine single bookcases in the computer room and Mike's cave, and you have seen them all! I have the shelves in all but the computer room bookcase now. It is amazing what hard work it can be to get those little peg things into the sides, to hold the shelves! Some (not enough!) go in almost easily by hand, but the rest require the use of vice grips and a good bit of twisting force. It seems to be at least partly a factor of how much stain got into the holes. I did consider a tiny bit of sanding to make it easier to get the pegs in, but decided I would just as soon have them fit snugly!

Anne continues to improve after her wrist surgery. Further study has shown that actually, both little scars are the same size. She just had a red bit or maybe a bit of sticky stuff that made the one scar look longer! So, two quarter inch scars is all she has to show for her surgery. Not bad at all! Photos later, as I don't have one of how it all looks now that all the bandaging is totally gone. She is really happy to be able to knit again, although she does have to take it easy and not do too much at a time. She continues to cut back on the pain meds too, and that is always a good thing! No word on the appointment with the specialist, for the continuing mono problems. I am working on it.

We haven't had any rain since the weekend, and not much then---I think I reported a bit less than half an inch in the rain gauge. Some areas did get a lot more, and we aren't hearing as many reports of brush fires, although there were a couple of small fires that they think were started by lightning.

Meanwhile, spring continues to do its thing here! I noticed that there are buds on the magnolia, which has had nothing but leaves on it for ages now.













I think the bud in the photo on the left will actually be producing leaves, and the one on the right will produce a flower! There are a good number of buds on the tree, so it should be really pretty soon, even though they do seem to open just one or two at a time.

Well, I got hold of the doc's office, and they said the specialist's office seems to just be running slow. They did re-fax everything, just in case, and called to make sure it was received. So, we should be hearing about an appt soon.

Tomorrow (?) I will post with some photos from the gardenia in the back yard, which is covered with buds too! The jasmine continues to grow, and still has a lot of flowers on it. The hibiscus are all in full bloom, some with more flowers on them than I have ever seen on them before!

Slow Weekend

I am not sure why I say, that. I guess in some ways we have done more than usual. We had thunderstorms and some rain yesterday. It really poured at times, but was one of those deals where clouds move in, it rains, they move out, more move in, etc, etc, etc. I checked the rain gauge just a while ago and there was not quite half an inch of rain in it. Oh well.

I made chocolate chips cookies yesterday. I wanted something to take along to Mike's boss Glenn's place. He was having several of us over, to watch Monty Python, etc, and see the house. They have had an extensive remodeling done, and its all done except finishing up their inside bits. It was interesting to see. Mike has seen it at different stages, and mentioned that they had all the walls painted different colors. It sounded really sort of strange, but actually looks really neat. The family room, for example, is yellow and lavender. It looks really nice! Humm, the kitchen is a nice green and yellow, with some sky blue. The very long center island is covered with a really neat dark blue countertop, with sparkly bits in it. Really looks nice. Anyway, it is one of those places that sort of defy description. Nice though!

So, we all watched several episodes of Monty Python, then they put on the movie Tommy Boy. We had not seen it, although all the rest had. It was funny, but one that I think one viewing of is enough. Anne started a sock and made good progress on it.

I think we are going out to eat tonight since we missed last night. The festivities were to start at 4, and we didn't get home till about 10. Glenn made chicken wings, with a number of different seasonings, and they were really good. The cookies I brought made a sweet addition to everything else. It was a really nice evening out!

No word from Brian and Christine. It looks like the weather is going to be quite variable for a few days, with high 80's one day and 66 the next. Yikes! Then warming back up again. Looks like there are thunderstorms in their forecast too.

Bookcases!

They are here! They have arrived! They came early, but we were home! Can't ask for much more than that. The guys got here about 4.15, but Anne and I were already home, so it wasn't a problem at all. They managed to get all the bookcases in the projected spots. The cave wasn't as much of a problem as I thought it might be, but the computer room was harder to get into than I expected. I hadn't really thought about how narrow the hallway is, etc. Oops! But, they got the bookcase in with very little trouble, so all is good! They have a lot of experience dealing with this kind of thing.

I had everything ready this morning--finished up vacuuming, etc. I wanted all the bookcase spots to be freshly vacuumed, and that worked out just fine. Everything was done and ready before we ever left for Anne's appt. It was really nice to come home and know that we could just relax! I will do photos soon, but so far, the bookcases are just standing in the rooms, without their shelves installed, and are being rather dusty. Which would be better, to photograph them empty, with just their shelves, or wait till they are full? If you have an opinion, leave a comment, eh?

Anne's appt went well. We saw the PA, who is nice, and good about spending an adequate amount of time with patients. The girl who took us back to an examing room was going to remove sutures, but Anne truly didn't have any. Hurrah! The gal did remove the tape and gauze, and the one remaining strip of seri strip came off with it, thank goodness! Her incisions look great---two very tiny ones, one is about half an inch long, the other about a quarter inch. Can't complain about that. The PA came in, showed us on the photos what all it was that the surgeon did. There was fuzzy stuff, as I thought from the photos, and that was all cleaned and shaved off. It all looks nice and clear in there now! Although Anne does still have pain--sometimes more than others---she can tell a difference in this pain from the pain she had before the surgery. This is better, and she doesn't regret the surgery at all. She will go through some pt, and then sees the PA again in 6 weeks. She is allowed to start using her wrist, since the surgery was cleaning up rather than assaulting or chopping things! The PA's guideline is "if it hurts, don't do it." Good words to live by, I would say!

Well, I guess tomorrow I will get the bookcases dusted, and start arranging shelves. I don't want to put books in yet, as I think there is still a bit of fume residue from the finishing, and I want to give it a bit more chance to dissipate before I start putting books in them. I notice the fumes a bit from where I am sitting, and I don't imagine the books would like it very much either! But I remember from last time, it clears up quite nicely, in a short time. Tomorrow or the weekend, or early next week, will be fine for book shelving! Depending on when I feel up to getting at it--haha.

Hot and Waiting

It is hot out. I think 89 degrees at 5.53 p.m. counts as hot, right? Surely it has cooled down a little bit since the high part of the day? Who knows, maybe we did break the local record? I saw it listed on TV today, while waiting at the Doc's office. The record high for the day was 90 degrees, (in Melbourne) and was set in 1972. Who knows? Although I will say, that Anne and I didn't think it felt that hot out, except as we were getting in the car. It got pretty warm inside there!

Mike just came back in from walking. I imagine he got pretty warm. He wore the pith helmet today--good plan! He has really been getting a browned/burned neck from walking. The baseball cap just doesn't do anything to protect the neck, eh?

Anne's appt-----Still not to go back to work. The spleen, as mentioned recently, is still twice its normal size. Carol (the nurse-practitioner) did briefly wonder out loud if it has always just been so large? I doubt it, although she didn't expect an answer and didn't wait for one. But, my thoughts at home are that Anne has had enough prodding and poking exams of her abdomen, along with enough ultrasounds, etc, that if it had always been this big, we would have heard about it. Anyway, the long and the short is that Carol is referring Anne to an infectious disease specialist, and then Anne is to follow up with Dr. Venero. I guess Carol is out of ideas and feels that the doctor needs to take over. Oh, I forgot to mention that Anne continues to run a low grade fever---has for months now, when her normal trend in the past has been to run a good degree or more below normal. Also, the blood work---the mono antibodies are not decreasing as expected. Carol wonders, as do we, if there is something else going on besides the mono. So, no work till the two docs have been seen, and then they will go from there.

Although I am sure Anne is sick to death of being at home, she is also still so fatigued that the thought of going back to work probably scares her half to death. So, this is a good outcome, under the circumstances. Now, we will just hope that the specialist finds something and can do something about it, and make our sweetie all better. Cross your fingers, and prayers on her behalf are happily accepted.

So, that is life here in Florida. It is really nice knowing that Brian and Christine, and our sweet baby, are just a few states over in Texas! How cool is that? It will be so good to see them, when the time comes. Good luck with the house hunting, kids!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

It is beautiful outside, and I hope it is the same where ever you are! It is quite warm, AOL says 86 and Mike's weather channel window on his blog says 87. Either way, it is quite warm, and Mike is out walking. I imagine he will be ready for a cold drink when he gets home!

In honor of spring, Easter, etc, here are some pictures!












These are photos of the frangipani. The first one is rather funky, as all the leaves are way above my head, and I was trying to get a shot that required the camera to be held above my head. I couldn't totally see what I was shooting. Oh well. The second one is a little bit lower, but not by much. I was able to get a little bit better view though, after practicing with the first shot! Be sure to click to see the larger size. You can see buds in among some of the leaves, so it will be blooming eventually. The flowers on this frangipani are really beautiful! I guess my only complaint would be that they are so high up, I can't usually see them very well. Oh my!

I heard from the Grands in Texas, and they talked to Brian and Company today. They got the rental car returned and are back at their lodgings again. I am sure they are glad to be done with that, and are surely looking forward to the house hunting which will start soon. Or maybe they are dreading it, but looking forward to getting it done and over with. I am not sure! In any case, I hope it goes well for them.

I called about the bookcases on Friday and they reported that the bookcases were in the stain shop, and ready for their last coat of finish or whatever. They will be done soon, and we will have them in house soon, sometime this week, surely! Hurrah! I can then start unpacking all the remaining book boxes, and hope that there is room in the new bookcases for all the remaining books!

Have a great day, and a great week, all of you! Happy House Hunting, Brian and Christine!

HURRAH!!!!!!!

They are in Texas!!!! Hurrah!!!!!

I had the bright idea of looking up the number for lodging, and checked to see if they were there. They do have pets allowed units, and I was hoping they were able to get one. Yes, they were!

I talked to Christine and then to Brian! They are all fine. The trip was a long one, of course, and they haven't gotten their sleep schedules on track yet, since they just got in late last evening. They got the car this morning and headed for the base.

I have a phone number--if you want it, email me and I will email it to you! I guess that isn't good info to put onto the blog, since there is no guarantee of just who all might see it.

They said Michelle did just great on the flight. She only cried the one time, that they mentioned. It was while they were landing, and she happened to be awake. She is quite the little trouper!

They are amazed at how hot it is. On the drive to the base, Brian watched the thermometer in the car, and it was 90 degrees. I had already checked online for their local temps and the temps in Germany, where it is 50 degrees. Quite a change for them! Brian says it is quite arid where they are, with cactus along the side of the road, etc. He really wasn't old enough to remember the drives through west Texas, Arizona and New Mexico when he was little. It will be quite a difference for them.

Well, off I go, take care and more news here as I know more!

WELCOME HOME!!!!!

Yep, Brian, Christine, Baby Michelle, and Pudgy the dog, will arrive in Texas sometime today!!!!!! Brian and Christine have been so busy these last few days, that I never got a chance to ask what time they are to arrive in Dallas. I think there was some hope that they would arrive in time to get the car before the place closes at 5 p.m.? I guess we will all find out eventually. It will be great having them so much closer!













Here are some baby grapefruit! Aren't they cute? It was quite breezy, and they didn't want to hold still, so I am surprised the photos came out as well as they did. Of course, I have deleted the photos that were so fuzzy you couldn't even tell there were grapefruit in the shot! It looks like we will have quite a crop of them this year. The funny thing we noticed when the tree was blooming, is that there were blooms (and now visible baby grapefruit) all the way to the top of the tree. Last year, the blooms and then fruit were all located on the bottom half of the tree (not counting the trunk, of course). We found that to be very handy, of course, as that meant that all the fruit was easily reached for picking. I am not sure what we will do next year, if the top ones don't fall or get blown off. Oh well.....

As Mike mentioned in his blog, we had a little bit of rain yesterday. It didn't look like anything really collected in the rain gauge, so "little bit" really is about the size of it. I heard on the noon news yesterday that there was a fire in Rockledge, which is a little bit north of us, but still in Brevard County. I didn't hear if there was any indication as to how it started, but it was burning near a school, which was sure not a good thing. I think they have it under control now.

The traffic signals are all installed and just waiting to be uncovered and put into use at our intersection. We will be so glad when they are working, and are really hoping that they have protected left arrows. On Tuesday, when Anne and I were headed home, I pulled into the turn lane to turn onto Old Glory, and there was an SUV in front of me. Stopped. I could see that there was absolutely no traffic coming from the other direction, it was totally clear to turn left. This SUV just sat there. I guess it didn't register that the signals were still covered and not in operation yet? Despite two little honks, the driver still ended up sitting there, till traffic did arrive to block the way, but once that was all clear, did finally move! I guess maybe I should have honked a little louder? It was a good thing we weren't in a hurry.

Anne got a huge laugh yesterday, as we were driving home. Sam and Ethel (or some of their crane friends) were at the side of the road on Murrell. They were standing right at the sign that said "caution, wild life crossing", and Anne said Sam was watching the traffic, waiting till it was clear to cross! They really do that, most of the time. They are pretty smart birds.

Anne had her ultrasound yesterday. The tech said the size of her spleen has decreased just a little, and even so, her spleen is twice the size it is supposed to be. Hummmmm. She has an appt for the results of all the tests on Monday, and we will be interested to hear what they have to say about it all.

Well, Brian and Christine, I hope you all had a good trip home, and got the car without any problems. Do call if you need anything, or even just to let us know you are there. I hope Michelle did okay with flying for the first time--Pudgy too! We look forward to hearing all about it!

Thunderstorm

We had quite a thunderstorm this morning, about 5 a.m. or so. It poured down the rain for a while, but not nearly long enough. I checked the rain gauge, and we only got about a quarter inch out of it. Unless they got more to the south of us, I don't think it was enough to help much with any remnants from the brush fires. Oh well.

A friend of Mike's from work stopped by late yesterday evening with some butterfly attracting seedlings for him. I think I will try to find a pot to set down in one of the beds, and plant them in it. This plant is a good spreader, and since it is also a weed, I don't want it to get out of control. I know Mike will love having more butterflies around to see and photograph, but I do worry a little bit about the caterpillers. They do go hand in hand, don't they! Oh well, I guess we will see, and if it all becomes too much of a problem, they can be pulled and tossed. Meanwhile, they are supposed to bloom with pretty flowers, so it will add some color.

The azaleas are making a start at blooming. I seem to remember that last year it was a very drawn out process. There is one bloom on the larger plant, and just buds on the smaller one. I don't think that the conditions here are quite right for them to do well?

Our weather is much cooler now, we are in the low 70's and are to be in the 70's or low 80's for several days now. We have further chances of rain, but this rain this morning was considered to be the best chance, so I guess we will see if any more comes.

Anne goes to Dr. Greenspoon's tomorrow to be re-bandaged, and I guess we will find out then if that is really it or if there is any casting in her future. Her fingers and lower arm are still rather swollen, although she has no trouble wiggling her fingers as directed--exercising them! I'll keep you posted!

A Busy Saturday

Mike took off for the zoo this morning, after Anne decided she wasn't quite up to it. She had really wanted to go, but she really did need some pain meds, and they make her so drowsy. Best not to overdo, in any case. Mike came back home about noontime, and had some good photos to show for his trip. He did get a membership, although there was not really a super good variety. He ended up getting a 1+1+1, which is in his name. We can all get in for free now (having paid for the membership, so not really free!) or he can go and take any combination of up to 2 other people without paying to get them in. We can't go without him though. Still, this will work out, and we have already "paid" for more than half of it, as we all went for a quick trip to the zoo this afternoon.

It was quite warm, and we did notice it at the zoo. There was a lovely breeze that kept it from being too hot. It really did get quite warm---I saw the 6 p.m. news and they listed Melbourne fluctuating between 87 and 90 degrees. It was quite overcast when we went to the zoo, and that did keep the sun from beating down, but it was also a bit more humid, so warmer from that. Oh well. It is nice to be able to go to the zoo and not feel we have to stay for hours to justify the expense.

Anne got quite warm, and her sling was making her quite sweaty, so we didn't stay as long as we might have otherwise. They don't have a huge selection of animals, as Mike said, but there ARE animals, and birds, and the zoo is nicely laid out, and quite scenic. We saw what have to be scarlet ibis, as they look exactly like the ibis we see around our neighborhood, but they are bright red. They looked really amazing in among the greenery. I had hoped to find a photo from the ones Mike took today, but they are all "raw" and rather than mess something up, I will have to wait for him to put one in his blog. He took a number of photos of the flamingoes, too. Anne got a kick out of them--I did too---their knees and the webbed parts of their feet are all pink! She says she wishes she could sleep standing on one leg the way they do! It was really interesting to watch them all!

I don't think they have brought the new baby giraffe out yet, but we did see one giraffe this afternoon, and Mike said the adults were all out on display this morning. You can buy giraffe food and can have a go at feeding them. I guess that is fine if you don't mind giraffe tongue all over your hands? They sell only a certain amount of giraffe food, so as not to spoil their appetites for their regular fare. They have Purell dispensers in that area too, I guess so giraffe feeders can sanitize after the experience!

We had dinner out at the Gator place and then stopped at the bookstore, as Anne was looking for a book she had heard of. I found it for her, so it was a successful trip! We had noticed a lot of smoke on down the road as we were headed to dinner, and there was even more smoke when we came out of the bookstore. There were a good number of police cars, they had the more southern sections of Wickham blocked off, and you could see that on down the road the visibility was non-existant. I found a report on the news after we got home, there is a brush fire on both sides of Wickham to the south of where we were. They are hoping that the burned areas at Wickham Park, that burned last week, will provide a needed fire break and will allow them to get this fire under control. There are houses and other buildings in possible danger from this fire, and it is still quite windy, which doesn't help a bit. They said there is another fire in another part of south Melbourne, and one in Palm Bay. Those two fires don't sound like they are nearly as bad as this one. I imagine that they will find that this one is arson too. I don't understand the mentality that leads people to set fires. I can think of a fitting punishment, but I know the "civil liberties" people would scream about it. Oh well.

So, the excitement never ends here. This has definitely been one of our more activity packed weekends, and it is only Saturday. I imagine we will have to sit quietly and rest tomorrow! Mike and Anne are both quite tired after their long day out. Mike's was double long, of course, with two trips to the zoo and more walking during the morning trip there than during the afternoon trip. I didn't make it onto the nordic track today, so at least I got a little bit of exercise!

Day After Surgery

Well, our sleeping princess is still sleeping, but I think I will get her up soon. It is about time for meds, if she needs them, and she might as well not let it go too long. She was downright perky after she got up from her nap yesterday evening, which I count as a really good thing! Of course, those meds they gave her at recovery helped a lot--no pain makes perky much easier to do!




Here is a photo of part of the jasmine on the trellis! There are tons of blooms on it, and I noticed that there are still a great number of buds too. Once the vines fill out more and cover the trellis, it should really be something to see when in bloom.











Here are some photos of Anne's greatly bandaged and wrapped right wrist. Doesn't it make her hand look abnormally long? So far we haven't seen any signs of leakage or icky stuff. Thank goodness! Of course, it would take a bit of doing to get through all that bandaging! They sent her home with some bandaging things, but no real direction as to doing anything with it. We will hope to just leave it for Monday and the people who do such things can do it. I think the things they sent home with her were a "just in case" deal.











More pretty photos! These are some close-ups of some of the open jasmine blooms. Sorry, the one set came out a bit fuzzy. I was surprised that they came out as well as they did, as it is quite breezy outside, and the flowers wouldn't hold still!

Everyone at the surgery place was really nice. Anne's only complaint, I think, was the short stay in recovery. I think she would have been as happy to stay longer, but then, she was much more comfortable having a good nap in her own bed. Of course, the long delay before her surgery was no fun, but not really anyone's fault--it just happens that some surgeries take longer than expected, and it causes delays. Just one of those things, eh?

She only got me up once last night, as she woke up itching again. I forgot to mention that, right? She had the same problem after her brain surgery, itched all over. They gave her something for it in recovery, and she had some benadryl later in the evening, after her nap. I gave her some when she woke me at almost 2 a.m., and left some pain meds for her---it was about an hour too early for them. I see she did end up getting up and posting on at least one of her blogs. I was afraid she would have trouble getting back to sleep till the benadryl kicked in.

I will keep you all posted on how she is doing.

Surgery is Over, Anne is Resting

That is about the size of it. She was a good two hours late going in to surgery. You know how that goes, delays build up and get longer as the day progresses. She was scheduled for 1.15, and didn't go back till 3.20 or so. They called me back to recovery sometime between 5.30-5.45, and she thought she had been there for 15-20 minutes, but hard to say. We had a quick fly by visit from the doc. Some inflammation in her wrist, but the impression I got was that it wasn't as bad as he thought it might be. We have photos, and can see little bits of stuff sticking up. We know from her knee that her body is very sensitive to things like that, so perhaps that and the inflammation was it. It sounds like she might not have to go into a cast, but we will know more when she goes in to be re-bandaged on Monday. As I told her, no cast means she will be able to knit and spin again that much sooner, and that is a good thing!

More info will be posted here as we know things. I will try to update the brain blog too, actually, I might just copy this and put it in there too---same info needed in any case.

All else is well here. Anne is sleeping, she is pretty worn out. It sure has been a long day. More later.....

Super Quick Update

We finally got Anne's surgery time, and it isn't till 1.15 p.m. on Thursday. Well, we knew Thursday was the day, just didn't know the time. We don't have to be there till 12 noon. Since Anne isn't allowed to eat or drink ANYTHING after 12 midnight tonight, I plan to let her sleep until such time as she has to get up in order for us to arrive in time. No sense in making her suffer any more than necessary.

She had a good dinner, with plenty of good meaty things to cut with a knife. I guess we will soon be back to me cutting her meat for her. It sucks for her much more than for me. I know we all hope that it won't have to be too long. The term 4 weeks doesn't always have to mean exactly 4 weeks, eh? Of course, cast time is followed by 4 weeks of splint time, so it won't be too fast and easy no matter what. Her appointment on Monday is to have her wrist rebandaged, and we assume that means getting the cast put on. I remember from my foot surgery, that they can't cast till most of the swelling goes down. I just hope she isn't in bandages till the second appt and then goes into a cast after the stitches come out. We don't have a lot of hard data, but the doc is good, highly recommended by a lot of people long before this came up, so we figure he at least knows what he is doing.

We have been anxiously waiting for this new Outback to open. The other local ones are on Merritt Island and down in Palm Bay, both of which are a good half hour or more to get to. The new one is not more than 10 minutes or so! Hurrah!

Well, I will blog or whatever tomorrow, after we are back from the big adventure. We don't imagine the surgery will take too long, but recovery times seems to fluctuate so much, there is no telling how long that will take. So, I haven't a clue as to what time we might be home from all this. I'll be in touch though!

Take care all, and good thoughts and prayers for Anne are always welcome. Thanks!

Foggy Monday...

Nine and a wake-up! That is all that is left till Brian, Christine, and super-baby Michelle, leave to come back to the States! Do you think we just might be a little bit excited? I think this calls for flowers!




This is a fairly close shot of part of the bougainvillea in the back yard. I think it has more blooms than I have ever seen on it before. Usually by the time it decides it wants to let loose with flowers, Joel and the guys come and trim it, and the flowers are gone. In any case, it doesn't bloom nearly as much as the small one in the front does. Go figure?




Here is a closer shot. You can see some of the little anthers that Mike took a super close-up of and posted on his blog!

I found fog outside this morning. I think they had actually predicted it, how is that? It has all cleared out now and is sunny once again, as you can see from the flower photos. We have had quite a serious shortage of rain, and there are no signs of an end to it. Oh, by the way, the brush fire I mentioned once before---they did get it under control before any buildings/houses were in serious danger. Last I heard they suspected arson.

This will be a busy week for Anne. They moved up her ultrasound on her spleen and she will have that this Wednesday, the day before her wrist surgery. She isn't wild about that, or the 8.30 a.m. appointment time, but as I told her, it might actually help her be able to sleep the night before the surgery. I guess we will see. The wrist surgery is the biggie, of course. Still, not nearly as worrisome as the brain surgery was. I think most things are diminished in light of brain surgery?

I talked to Brian on IM yesterday. The house is empty, not much of anything to do, etc. They do have the laptop though, and the internet connection is still available, so they can still get online, watch movies with the DVD player on the computer, etc. So much better than in the old days, when we had none of that and made due with reading, etc, to occupy our time. Not that I think this is necessarily better, since I would choose reading over tons of other activities! It works out well for them though. Anyway..... Brian says that Michelle is pulling herself up on her knees now!!!!!! How cool is that??!!! I don't imagine it will be long, and she will be pulling herself up onto her feet. Hurrah!

Mike has put more new photos onto flickr, so be sure to check it when you check his blog! He has been taking lots of photos with the new camera, and new lens. The garden that I said he went to on Saturday is actually a nursery, and it seems he was not the only photographer there! It seems to be a popular spot for taking photographs, and I think Mike said they have a butterfly garden too, which is also popular.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Mom Walters, who lost her brother Elmer, and with his children, who lost their father.