What a Difference a Month Makes

November was like being slammed up alongside the head with a 2x4. For those of you who don't know, Tom spent 21 days in Mass General Hospital. At first we thought he had pneumonia, but soon discovered it was congestive heart failure. His aortic valve has failed along with one of he grafts from the old surgery. Bottom line is he was not getting enough Oxygen into his blood and all the liquid was building up in his lungs and body. The surgery was cancelled twice as the pneumonia refused to go away. He came home under house arrest, the day before Thanksgiving, to finish out the medication and wait for his surgeon to return from a trip to Israel. The new surgery date is December 14th at 7:00 a.m.

He has done very well here at home. His lungs are clear and he has dropped 40 pounds. All things considered, he's in better condition than the last time (14 years ago). He's been busy working and catching up on all the holiday movies ever to grace the TV screen. Do you have any idea how many versions of the "Christmas Carol" have been made!!!!

I managed to get the yard decorations up, most of the house, Christmas letter and cards sent and most of the shopping done and sent. The dogs and I all got groomed and we're ready for the holidays. The "Pack" made you all a Christmas card:

A slideshow design by Smilebox

Tom should be home around the 20th. My grand daughter, Jessica, is coming out to help me. She has her Certified Nursing Assistant training and will be able to help the visiting nurses with Tom. I am so very lucky to have her! Christmas at Seagull Cottage will be quiet this year. But I get a healty husband for Christmas! How can that be topped?

Tom will be on his laptop as soon as he gets home and anxious for his email (stundza@aol.com) so help keep it full.

Happy Holidays to All, and a Bright and Bold New Year.

If I Had Trees My Yard Would Be Full of Leaves

I had to turn on the heat. Each year I swear I will not turn on the heat until November 1st and the weather gods slap me in the face, yell “Fool!” and drop the temperature enough to force me to renege on my vow. Even with the blankets so artfully tossed over the sofa and the chair, the ability to see your breath was enough to make for rethinking my plan. The dogs were all cuddled together in little tight balls and Tom was not taking his coat off when he got home from the office. I turned on the heat a week early. Oh and then the weather gods had their last laugh and jumped back up to the 70’s for several days! Donch’a just love New England? (NOT!)

October was a fun month. We started out by attending the Cocker Spaniel Rescue of New England (CSRNE) gala fund raiser in Middleborough, MA. The puppies were up for a slot on the calendar and so all three were off to the groomer. They wouldn’t take Atticus! Said he was matted and that they would have to shave him down! Matted, my eye! Shave him down…NEVER! So he came home with me and I combed him out and took him to a Doggy wash here in town. They were nice enough to help me with his long fur and clipped his nails too. I trimmed his top-knot and when I went to get the other two, the groomers, there, were shocked at how good he looked. By then, Atticus’ regular groomer was there and she apologized for the others and their actions. Bottom line: My “Pack” looked spiffy!

The trip was fun. We took the new car and turned on the GPS and set out for the hotel. One small glitch. When we arrived at our destination (according to Zelda, the GPS) there was no hotel. It seems there is a North road and a South road and the address didn’t specify which. Once at the hotel, we checked in and took the dogs to the room. They saw the king sized bed and each stacked out a spot and drifted off. Later they came down for a visit and to show off. Everyone recognized “The Pack” from the contest and had to come pet and play. The pack came in 8th in the contest and are July on the 2011 calendar! So thank you to all who voted for them.

We took Mom and Auntie to see the musical “Chicago” done by a local theatre group. The venue was a really small theater in Reading, MA. I wasn’t sure how they were going to pull off this play in such a small space. One of my friends from the Bank of America days was in it so we gave it a shot. What a wonderful time we had. William and Wanda joined us and everyone enjoyed the performance. The director was brilliant and managed to pull off a full stage production in a very tight, diagonal space. Afterwards we all went to dinner.

Personalize a slideshow

A few weeks later the gang got together at the China Blossom restaurant to celebrate a very special birthday. Tillie turned 89 and was telling everyone she saw. I don’t blame her! She is still spry and beautiful. After working our way through trays of delicious ribs, mouth-watering Peking Raviolis, sumptuous sweet and sour pork and so on and so forth, we adjourned to Mom’s house for cake and tea. There the gifts were given and a few tears shed. But all in all it was a great day.

October also saw the return of the contractor. Why he chooses to work on our place in the cold weather is beyond me. But, the work on the deck has resumed, or I should say the stairs to the deck. We had to replace the entire structure from the support poles to the stringers. The poles were not set in concrete and the stringers were full of rot. They are almost done. Then the real deck work will begin.

I got the yard ready for winter. Shrubs cut back that needed cutting, bulbs planted for the spring, grass cut and winterized. I should be almost set in that area. I may have to mow one final time if the weather stays above 50 degrees. If I do I can fertilize one more time. All the mulch is in and the rain barrel is almost empty.

Halloween was a special day, here at Seagull Cottage. It marked the one year anniversary of Atticus joining our family. The pack celebrated with each getting a dish of Icy Paws, doggy ice cream. They had been out for a fun romp on the beach earlier.

a

Digital scrapbooking design generated with Smilebox

Well that was our October. November is here and the heat is on for good now. It is hard to believe that Turkey day is just around the corner. And you know what that means: I have to go to the basement and figure out what in the world Im going to use this year to decorate with! I have enough for three houses!

Stay warm and cozy. Have a warm toddy now and then to keep the blood pumping. Stay healthy, and God Bless you all!

Oh My God, It's September Already!

This slideshow created with Smilebox

Where has the summer gone? For us, it was a time of hard work and satisfaction in many areas. Tom's new job, our new yard, Josh moving back to Seattle to start the next phase of his life, and the addition of another dog. September is proving to be time of winding down, yet tossing in some fun stuff, too. For example, on September 8th, Tom and I were at Fenway with seats on the Green Monster, where FOUR homeruns were hit into the seats! And the Stundza Clan is going on a boat ride around Boston Harbor next weekend with a yacht club member's cabin cruiser.

The sad news is that my 13-year-old Sebring convertible finally bit the dust. After five years of faithful service, "Baby" started to show the ails of 97,000+ miles and a rough life by the ocean (she never had a garage). It was either spend a small fortune to get her back in shape or let her go. After much thought, it was decided to allow her to quietly go off to rest. The dilemma was whether to spend a small amount and get another clunker or to up the ante and look for something very dependable. We needed something we could use for our day-trips or even short weekend hops that would not rack up miles on the leased Edge. But, since this would be my primary car, it had to be a rag top. After searching for many weeks, I found a car I really loved and it met all the criteria: Tom was comfortable behind the wheel, there is room for the dogs, the gas mileage is better than "Baby" and it looks HOT! "Sugaa" is now a part of the family. She's a 2006 Toyota Camry Solara with only 35,000 miles on it. She's in really great shape and has a crazy story. THIS IS THE TRUTH!!!! She was owned by a 72 year old Plumber from Revere. He decided that he needed something different so he traded her in for a 2011 Mustang Shelby convertible!!!! His nephew is the sales manager at York Ford and the Solara had just come in the day I saw her. Uncle has to wait another month for his new car, but we have "Sugaa" now and we love her!!!!!

Last week Tom had a visit from one of his old high-school, college & Post-Tribune buddies whom he hadn't seen in a gazillion years. It was wild getting these two together again. The stories! Glenn Arnold Surrette was with us just for one night but he seemed to be an old friend of mine as well. He and his wife live in Charleston, S.C., have a dog and two cats so he fit right in with our zoo. He pulled up to the house in the most beautiful Corvette C5 that I have seen in ages, named the Blue Shark, and it turns out he has an Austin-Healy Sprite MK I too! The Healy is my favorite car of all time and I had a '56 back in my youth. If the guy has that taste in cars, he's #1 in my book!

The yard is as done as it will get except fot the planting of some bulbs for the spring. Some summer plants have been replaced with Mums and Asters for the fall and we added some Ornamental Millet for fall. The work on the upper deck is paused as our contractor had some major problems on a couple of other sites he is working on. The other sites involve unlivable situations vs my outside deck, so I told him to see to the other houses first. I just want the work done before winter sets in. Tom is not pleased, to say the least.

The pups are in a contest for the Cocker Spaniel Rescue of New England. They are having their big fund raiser and you can help by voting for your favorite picture! Go to http://www.csrne.org/ and scroll down until you see the link for "enter your pet pictures", then scroll down until you start to see the pictures. There are so many beautiful dogs. I entered a photo of each dog and then one of "The Pack". The Pack seems to really be getting votes. Each vote costs $2 and the money goes to helping with the care and wellbeing of dogs waiting for their forever homes. We are all going to the Auction and Dinner in early October.

With fall creeping up on us, I was hungry for a chicken chili. None of the recipies I found sounded good and I didn't want to make a trip to the store for a bunch of ingredients I might never use again so I tried just using what I had in the cupboard. SCORE!!! Below is Keleigh's Chicken Chili for Two:

2 chicken breast halves, skinned

1/2 cup chopped white onion

1/2 green pepper, chopped fine

1 T minced garlic

2 T Adobo sauce out of a can of poblano chilies

1 quart of chicken broth

2 small cans of great northern white beans.

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and brown in large frying pan. Toss in the rest of the ingreidents, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes. Remove the cover and simmer to the thickness you like. Serve with oyster cracker, a good country bread or garlic crutons. A dolop of sour cream adds a coolness to the pepper heat. Give it a try, I think you will like it.

So much for the start of our Fall. I hope our weather holds up for many weeks to come. I really need the time to plant the Spring bulbs! I hope you all are having good days and good health. As always Life at Seagull Cottage is Blessed.

Water Bill = Equals National Debt

This photo album created with Smilebox

The yard is almost done! We have worked the entire month of July on it and I must say it is looking good! I tried to do a video of the yard but I skills are still not good enough. I hope you all enjoy the Smilebox .

July was a very busy month. Tom got his job at IHS Global Insight as a Senior Analyst. He has an Office with a door and three windows! He is so happy. He just started the 3rd of August but was hired as soon as his commitment to Reed was over. He's so very busy and loving every minute of it.


Josh moved back home to Washington State yesterday. The house is very quiet without him. Yodi and Brewski were very attached to him and they are suffering from Josh withdrawal. Josh was able to transfer with the Hyatt Hotel and got a promotion to the Security Staff at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle. He's very excited as that is the hotel where all the sports pros stay when there are games in town. Lots of high profile guests. He still plans on enlisting in the Coast Guard or Navy as an officer. Now that he is home he will have the time to look into whats going to work best for him. It was great having him here but now he is on to the next phase of his life. He will have a few weeks with his dad before Jerry goes out of town on business .

My time was filled with the Make a Wish regatta at our club. I was part of the committee for the raffle, silent auction and grab bags. We started the project in March for a July31st/August 1st Regatta. Between the youth sailors and the adults we had over 120 sailors. I just heard from our chairman today and she thinks we cleared $30,000!!!! We never thought we would make as much as last year and now it looks as if we might have done a few bucks better! This is a shot of the boat taking the course markers out to the race area. I liked the reflection in the water.
Well that's it for now. Enjoy the rest of the summer!

60 Days Was a Big Mistake

I owe you all an apology as last months chapter seems to have been posted in cyber space somewhere but NOT here where it belongs. Rather than trying to remember all I wrote last month, I will do a quick recap and then do June.

The biggest event in May was the graduation for Josh.

This free photo slideshow created with Smilebox

June was a busy month. Tom was busy with some free-lance for several people while waiting for the 18th when he would be legally free to start interviewing. I was working around the house and dealing with antiquated plumbing. In five days the main line clogged and flooded the back of the basement with sewage twice! I was up to my toes in you know what! So I shoveled and sprayed and shoveled some more. Finally the plumber came and replaced the traps and the drain guys jet flushed the line. But what a few days that was. I got rid of a lot of "stuff". I bet the trash pickers got a big surprise when they opened the big black bags looking for treasure!

Some friends from down the street, John & Carol, have two Cavalier King Charles spaniels named Gabe and Nina. They had the cutest tags for the dogs and I HAD to order some for my pack. All three now have a MA Barking License!


The website is yappyhappy.com and the licenses are issued from whatever state you live in. these are the best tags I have ever seen!

The money-pit stories go on. My washer and dryer are 15 years old and have been overhauled several times. When you spend as much time as I do with a machine, you learn its little quirks and fits. Last week I told Tom and Josh they had to go easy with the load size as the washer was acting like a diva and I wasn't sure if this mood would pass. So Tom says: Honey, bite the bullet and go get a new set. I says: I'm in the car and down the street. So off to Home Depot I go and order a new set. When I get home, Josh says he's going to do his laundry. I head off to a meeting. Tom and Josh show up at the club and are still there when I go home. I go to bed. Midnight: Tom wakes me up to come fix the washer. Needless to say I say I'll deal with it in the morning. Morning: Washer is DEAD! How did it know a new one was coming in five days?

The meetings at the club are for our annual Regatta to benefit the Make a Wish Foundation. I am on the Silent Auction/Raffle committee again this year. We started early and really have a great start. The raffle has the Sports package: 2 tickets to each of the Boston/New England sporting events (Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins & Patriots), an IPod Touch, a Kayak and numerous other items. The silent auction tables are building with Sports tickets, artwork, hotel stays, restaurant certificates, cruises on some of the boats from the club. More things are still coming in. The event will be July 31st and August 1st. We will be having the silent auction open to the public this year. I hope we can have as good a result as we did last year.

Tom had a great interview in Washington DC with a company who has an office here in Lexington. Now comes the wait for the big guys to decide on if this new position will be a benefit to the company. Tom has worked with this company for many years as part of his job with the magazine. Everyone seems to want this to happen. We will just have to wait and see.

The yard will be done next week. I finally decided what to do and found a contractor who seems to know what he is doing. There will be a brick walkway. curbstone flowerbeds around the house and along the north side of the yard, a 10 x 10 patio in the back and a brick platform for the barbecue. I will not get all the plantings in this season but will be able to get the bulbs in for the spring. I will do mums for the fall. I did add flower boxes to the front porch.


Now the flowers have filled in a lot more. The heat wave has done its damage to many of the plants, especially the huge hanging basket. I am trying very hard to save it. Water in the morning, misting midday and water at night. The verbena has come back somewhat but the petunias seem to be lost. The tomato plant has a single tomato on it and I have a single flower on my strawberry plants. It's a good thing I wasn't planning to live off the land this fall!

Well that's about all the news for now, at least for the timebeing. I hope all of you are doing well and are haveing a great summer!

The Law, Boiling Water, The 4th Degree and an Enlarged Pack

This free photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

There are months that pass and are as exciting as watching paint dry. And then there are some that really pack a lot into a few weeks. We just had one of those months.

After deferring my jury duty call for several months because of surgery, I reported like a good citizen, filled out my form and waited along with the room full of excited(?) possible jurors. Finally a group of about 30 of us were called to a court and selection began. One after the other were dismissed. My number was called and I took my place in the jury box. They liked me , they really liked me! and I was left there! After years of reporting for duty and being sent home, I was on a jury! An assault with a deadly weapon case. What an experience! The case lasted for two days and we found ourselves faced with what we knew to be true and what the evidence, or lack there of, proved. Reasonable doubt. What a tricky thing. No fingerprints, no two witnesses could tell the same story, and as hard as she tried, the Assistant District Attorney could not provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt for the guilt of the defendant. We had to deliver a "Not Guilty" verdict even though we all knew him to be as guilty as sin! What a great experience with the way our legal system works. We all just hoped that when he comes before a judge again, and we know he will, the evidence will be a lot better.

Next came the morning of May 2nd. There was a massive water main break in the line coming from the Quabbin Reservoir, the reservoir that supplies the entire eastern half of the state. Well most of it anyway. Mom and the rest of the family were not affected in Lawrence. Alerts went out to boil all water for consumption. Tom called me from the Cape to tell me to go get some water from the store. This was not something I really wanted to do. Boiling a pot of water to use for cooking and coffee and rinsing dishes seemed a whole lot easier than fighting my way through the mobs I knew would be at the stores. I did a lot of camping as a kid and knew there was no real danger as long as the water boiled for a few minutes. So for the next three days we boiled water for drinking and dishes and life went on. It was a terrible thing to have happen, just not as troublesome as some would have you think. It would have been a lot worse to have been without water all together.

Tom being in the Cape and not here at home was because he was busy being inducted as a 4th Degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus. I could not go with him as the Cape Codder Hotel is not puppy friendly. These dogs are smart but not smart enough to be left alone for that long. Saturday morning my handsome Knight dressed in his new tux and headed to Cape Cod where he was sworn in. Dad was a 4th Degree and it meant so very much to Tom, Mom and Auntie for Tom to follow in Dad's footsteps. As you can see in the pictures, he is a very handsome Knight of the 4th Degree.

We now, officially, have a PACK of Cocker Spaniels! Last week our neighbor, Beverly, who runs a dog and cat rescue let us know about a little 2 1/2 year old male Cocker in New Hampshire whose family worked all the time and had him in a kennel for many hours a day. As hard as it was for them to let him go, they knew he needed a better way of life. The Dad and one of the sons brought the dog to us. After a meet and greet in the yard, Atticus and Yaar decided Brewski should join the family and make us a full pack! Brewski is a true love. He and Atticus have had a tussle here and there but this morning they were facing each other in the "play" posture and all is well with the world. Of course Yaar is still the Diva and where she goes the "Boys" go. They all line up for dinner, treats and pets. What a joy the pack is! But this is it, there will be no more!

And last, but not least, I'm married to a BUM! Actually, Tom is on extended vacation so there's no need for him to dress daily. Reed Elsevier closed 23 magazines in April (Purchasing included)and are paying staff salaries until mid-June. So, until then, Tom's technically still an employee of Reed Elsevier and unable to work elsewhere. I don't think there is any worry about future employment for Tom. The day after the closure, he started getting offers! He's a very sought after commodity! Each day there are emails and phone calls to see if he is available yet. I think this could be a very good thing for him.

Well, that's been our last month. I hope yours has been good for you all too. Coming up for us this month will be Josh's graduation from Merrimack which will bring a visit from son Jerry and daughter-in-law Jenene. Jessica has to work and can't make the trip. Josh is a Legacy because of Tom so there will be some pomp and ceremony for that. Next month will have Graduation pictures, I promise.

Bye for now.

March Lion Smells Like A Wet Dog

Well it's official: March 2010 was the wettest March in history. Our rivers are flooding along with all the creeks. People who never knew they lived in a flood plain are now pumping out their homes. Massachusetts has been declared a disaster zone. Today is April Fool's Day and there isn't a thing to make jokes about.

We were really very lucky here at the beach. There were two leaks from the old deck area. One above the first floor bathroom and the other at the edge of the addition for the front part of the deck. All in all we got away easy. We have friends who are talking about their new indoor swimming pools. Our yard flooded in the low spots every day, but drained very quickly. I sure know the areas where fill is required before we do the walkway and grass. The fact the yard is 95% sand explains the quick drainage. When the original builders of this house did the foundation, they knew what they were doing. We have never had a wet basement (knock on stone). Our foundation seems to be made up of large stones cemented in place. I can only think the builders got the stone from the beach across the street. There was an article in our paper the other day about people being fined $25 per stone for beach rocks removed from the beach to be used for private building. I guess in the late 1800's this wasn't a big issue. Considering the size of our basement, The value could be a good $100,000 more than we know. I am just very glad the statute of limitations is way past.

Now that I am totally free of tubes and ties, I have started cooking again. With Tom and I both diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, I am really working to find good tasting food while maintaining a healthy diet. We all know: "If it tastes good, it's bad for you". I have found a couple of websites with good recipes. My problem is the meal planning part of it. It doesn't do much good if the entree is healthy while the side dishes fall into the NO NO level. I have found a couple of good websites where they put together the entire meal. The Betty Crocker site and Joslin.org have the best recipes. Take a look if you are interested in some healthy plans.

Easter is just a day away and we are off to Lawrence for an Easter lunch a day early. Last night was the Tommy & Keleigh Egg Coloring farce. I bought what I thought were two really fun coloring kits.Why can these kits work for six year olds and not a grown adult? We ended up using markers to draw on the eggs. Not a good idea if you are not a good artist. These are just battle eggs anyway. The great egg war of 2010 is at lunch tomorrow.

Easter is behind us and we had a few days of summer weather. But today (4-9-2010) is cold and wet! Just drizzling rain. The kind that is miserable because it never lets up. The dogs look at me like I'm crazy each time I take them outside. They look at me and I can her them saying "Mom, why do we have to go out to make puddles in the yard? They are already some there. We'll just stay in if you don't mind" I don't fall for it but they try very hard.

The rest of the family seems to be doing well. Josh just has a month and a half until graduation. He has all the paperwork for the Coast Guard and Navy Officers Training. So on top of all his final studies, he has tons of application forms to fill out and has to take a physical. Jessica is collecting the certificates she needs for her Emergency Tech job. She really is doing well. I am so proud of the way she took hold of this pursuit and is charging ahead towards her goals.

We all seem to have our health and happiness. Which is all we can hope for. Here's hoping all of you are having the same.

New England Spring

Ah, that wonderful time of year we New Englanders look forward to each year: Is It Spring Yet?One minute we are in the midst of a Nor'easter and the next it 's 55+degrees out and the top on my car is quivering to come down. It has to be 60 degrees before that can happen! This is the time of year those little crocus and Hyacinths are usually popping up in the garden.

Garden! That's a big joke around here. Our mud pit is still alive and well with nary a sign of pretty anywhere! I have to get out and get some flower-boxes for the deck so I can see something pretty through the window. I truly hope we are able to get the yard started this year. I believe the only ones in this family who enjoy the mud are Yaar and Atticus. Here is a video of them enjoying the yard a few months ago.

They really enjoyed the snow all winter. Poor Yaar really paid the price when they went for the spring grooming. She now looks like a Beagle with Cocker ears! Poor girl, We just keep telling her she's beautiful.

Atticus came away looking liken a show dog. The groomer who worked on him knew what the breed was supposed to look like. She corrected all the mistakes the rescue made. The rescue really just wants them clean and presentable.

Both our birthdays were great. Tom got two birthday dinners as he got home late from a business trip to "Rat World" and I just ordered in. We went out the next night with Josh. I asked to go to a new Mexican restaurant for my dinner. The Fat Cactus just opened and on a Tuesday night it was really hopping. For those of you in the Greater Boston area, it's on Route 1 North. The site is where he Naked Fish was located. Prices are moderate and the Margarita menu is vast. Their home made Sangria is one of the best I have ever had.

SURGERY UPDATE: For one brief day I was tube free and thought I was in the home stretch with this recovery thing. But a meeting with the plastic surgeon had the Wound Vac put back on. She didn't feel the wound had healed enough to be without it. The only rotten birthday gift I got was being hooked back up to this darn machine. I'm back to gurgle, gurgle, gurgle and walking around with a black box and tubes hanging around my neck. There is some new pain, as the walls of the stomach are healing so are the nerves. The areas that have been numb for the last month and a half are now coming to life and I can feel things I haven't felt for some time.

A good thing we found out with all this is that the neck and back pain I have been suffering with for several years is partly due to our furniture. The chair we rented that served as bed as well was made of that memory foam. The support from that relieved the pressure and I was pain free. Two days after we returned the chair the pain was back with gusto! I went shopping and got a recliner made of the same stuff. I also priced out a new mattress for the bed. And as soon as we can afford it I will have a firm bed to sleep on. We have always loved our soft, overstuffed couch and chair, but all they were doing was adding to the problem.

As we head to the weekend, the weather has dropped to the 30's with the wind chill and I had to turn up the heat. The rains are heading back and the cold is tagging along.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. Remember: you're ALL Irish one day a year!

Life Isn't Always Better Through Chemicals

Thirty days after the surgery - four weeks and I'm not 100%. My mind and heart want everything to be back to normal but my body says different. I swore I would take it easy this time and not push things before it was time. I just never realized how very difficult it would be.

There were some very strange experiences along the way - chemicals can transport a person to places and experiences that can only be described as weird! In an effort to find a painkiller that would work for me the doctors tried everything. Morphine was the first attempt. The pain went away but the Turkish dancers, dressed in brilliant colors and the wild monkeys in the rain forest really tired me out. (I later found out the TV was on a travel channel!)Next I was having batting practice with David Ortiz and the Red Sox. Morphine out, Percocet in. Also in came intense paranoia. At one point I made Tom go get me a newspaper as i thought everyone was lying to me about what day it was. We finally found a medication that kept me sane and comfortable. I must say I really missed those dancers, they were awfully pretty!

Cabin fever has been a big factor in my anxiousness level. The winter storms have kept me inside ever since I got home. Today the snow has melted enough and the ice is off the sidewalks so the puppies and I walked around the block. It felt so good to be out! This was probably the best medicine yet.

I have to say Tom has been a real rock for me. I am forbidden to do anything. Tom is the bread winner, chef, housekeeper and pooper scooper. There are not enough words to express the love I have for this man. I am so blessed to have Tom and his family.

Here's a shot of my nurses resting. More later. Love to all.

It's "Twenty-Ten"!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Thought I would start out with a smilebox of greetings. We made it through the first decade, as rough as it was. I want to believe this next decade will be a lot better. I have a feeling this decade of the "tens" will have its own surprises for us.

I wrote the paragraph above a week ago. I did not expect the surprises to come so soon or so horrifically. We are all devastated over the earthquake in Haiti. I know many of you do not live in an area where there is a large Haitian community so it might be difficult to understand how impacted we are here in Boston. Our Haitian community here is the third largest in the US. I have known many Haitians as they worked for me at the theatre. Please take a moment to say a prayer for the families who have lost loved ones or who do not know where their loved ones are. And if it is at all possible, please contact your local area TV stations to see if there is a way to help.

We are all doing well. Jessica passed her exams and is now a qualified EMT! Josh has passed his semester will decent grades, Jerry has gotten A's on his classes and Jenene will have earned several degrees by virtue of all the help she has provided with proof-reading all papers!

My hernia surgery will be on the 20th so I am busy taking down Christmas and getting the downstairs ready for my recuperation area to be set up. I am setting up the queen-sized blow-up bed in the living room so I will be on the same floor as the big TV! Also the kitchen! Tom does not want me to have to do the stairs right away. He and Josh have worked out a schedule where Josh will stay here at the house and commute to classes and Tom will work from home as much as possible. I am sure I will be in fair shape after a week. I know I will be going nuts by then.

I have been keeping busy knitting. I am working on a scarf for Jerry as he has to walk quite a distance from the ferry to his office. I made a hat too, but Josh and Tom say it is too "girly" so it will probably get sent to Jessica. The scarf is taking forever as Jerry is 6'3" and needs a long scarf!

We are in a heat wave as the temp has gotten to 40! Have the doors open and the heat down. I hope all the dirty snow melts away. We are supposed to have some more this weekend but I hope not a lot. Although with the snow on the ground you can't see my mud pit yard. I still have no idea what to do with the space. Pavers or poured concrete? Grass or mulch? My wants are so far beyond my funds. I wish one of those make over shows would just come in and do it! See how my mind works! Here are a couple of shots of the front and side. Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Here is the front yard today.

This is the side yard. As you can see the yard is long and narrow. Any suggestions will be welcome.

Bye for now. I will add more after the surgery.