Fun Stuff for a Change, and Filling in the Gaps

There was lots of joy sprinkled in with the "fun" of dog sitting last weekend. One of my dearest friends came to visit and stay over on Saturday. Sue and I share a long history and have seen each other through some milestone events in our lives. I was just thrilled she could come and stay so I arranged a little surprise. She had not met baby Teddy yet, so shortly after Sue arrived, Jason, Alison and Teddy came to the door for a visit. Sue was thrilled....our boys did some growing up together so Sue is about as thrilled as I am that they now have this beautiful son. Alison looking very lovely for someone with a newborn! Teddy slept a lot, although, I did get to fed him a bottle and cuddle him.

Proud Daddy!

Sue delighted to hold Teddy for a time.

This beautiful amaryllis is blooming in my boss's kitchen and was a very cheery aspect of my 5 days with the dogs.
Last but not least. My new chapeau...last week, TJ Maxx held a customer appreciation sale to atone for the huge credit card breach last year. Everything was 15% off. I had stopped in for a birthday gift and saw this hat marked down to $5. With the discount, it was a little treat I could afford. I added the beautiful pin which my daughter bought me several years ago and it is perfect. It fits well and does not do too much damage to my coiffure.....I've had to hide the hat at work as some "jealous" co-workers have been trying to steal it!! Just makes me feel good, and right now, I'll take what ever "feel good" I can find.

In other news...My sister-in-law, Trish (mother of Bob the cat and others!!) lost her mother last weekend. She was ailing but died sooner than expected. Trish has lots of loving suport from family and friends and that will carry her through this time.
My Florida family is dealing with end of life issues, too. Son-in-law David's father is gravely ill with double lung cancer. We all await the prognosis which should come Friday. It is a sad time for them all. Anne and David have opened their home to "Big David" until they know what will happen. It is life, but it is painful when those you love are sad, and far away! They are meeting this difficult chapter of their lives with aplomb and love. I am sure Theo is a comfort and offering some comic relief!

LM's daughter, Meaghan is leaving on Thursday 1/29/09 to join the US Army!! We are very proud of her, but there is trepidation for obvious reasons. She is one brave and gutsy girl and I have a feeling she will excel and make us all very proud. It will be a wrench for LM to see her go as he is very close to all his children. Thursday she goes to Fort Jackson in SC for weeks of Basic training. After that she will go to Ft Hood in TX for 16 weeks. We will miss her but the Cape is offering nothing for work right now and this will afford her the opportunity to finish nursing school. Her work here fizzled out and she had to drop out of nursing school.

LM continues caring for Bob, having no time to himself at all, and we are craving time together. I can barely talk about it with him without crying, and it just plain hurts. His days are filled with personal care for Bob, laundry, coordinating VNA and Dr appointments, paper work, making meals and trying to keep things in order. We are still waiting to hear when the PET scan will take place. There is a plan to begin chemotherapy but right now Bob is too frail to endure its rigors. LM is completely devoted to seeing Bob through this with the best possible care. Now even our phone calls are very short as Bob needs so much help. By the time LM gets Bob to sleep at night, I am also asleep, so in the morning, I find a little e-mail maybe sent at 2 am. We miss each other so much yet I find myself avoiding opportunities to see him because I just do not want to start crying and make him feel bad. So hard. It will resolve itself......someday! Our love is strong!

Ms Graysea is happy to report that her own personal cat couch has returned home, covered with essence of dog, but she's just happy to have her favorite "place" to sit back in her realm. That "couch" is pretty happy, too. Somehow all the issues I've been dealing with seem lighter and more manageable, now that I am home with the civility of my dear little feline friend. No barking all night!