end of October/November

Life is like a mirror,

smile at it and it will smile back at you!

~Peace Pilgrim

I really enjoy the season of Fall.  Seriously, everthing smells better and the world is so very colorful.  The trees turn various colors and drop their leaves.  The only thing I don't like about it is, like Spring, that in the morning you need to wear a coat and sweater (we have been hovering in the upper 30s/low 40s) and in the afternoon, you need to shed some layers.  It is too early for winter coats but too cold to not make clothing "adjustments." 

Work has been especially busy.  The end of the year brings budgeting, fiduciary tracking, end of the year invoicing cut-offs, and of course, all the bills that the service providers remember to send me.  Also, I was in Seattle most of last week, returning late (11:20 p.m. departure from Seattle) last Friday evening.  We arrived in Detroit at 6:00 a.m. (30 minutes early).  Since the layover in Detroit was ridiculously hideous . . . I wouldn't have gotten home until noonish, Dave drove to Detroit early Saturday morning and picked me up at the airport.  On our way home, we had a blow-out (of course) and he had to change the tire.  The jack slipped, so he was very disappointed.  Being so anal as he is, he knows that it generally takes him 12 minutes to change a flat and because he had to re-jack the car, it took 18 minutes.  Alas. 

We were home by 9:00 and I was in bed by 9:15.  Ed and Tina, very good friends (we have known them as a couple for more than 30 years . . . and Dave has known Ed since they were 12 or 13 years old . . . and Dave is 59 . . . you do the math) of our's daughter was getting married on Saturday (which is why I took the red-eye in the first place).  Dave took Lindsey to the ceremony.  I slept on.  We went to the reception that evening.  It was lovely and it is always good to see so many very happy people.  The DJ did an anniversary dance.  All married couples on the floor.  Then he started dismissing them . . . those married less than a day (the bride and groom) . . . and so on, until the last couple on the dance floor was Tina's parents, who had recently celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary.  It was wonderful.  What was truly amazing was the number of people that had been married for 25, 30, 35, 40 years.  I know that everyone says that divorce is rampant and maybe we are just lucky, but out of most of the couples we know, they aren't and many have been married for many years. 

My nephew Michael is doing much better.  He was released from the hospital last Sunday.  He went from ICU to a step down unit for one day.  It will be at least another month before they remove the stent from his voice box and they know whether or not he will be able to talk.  They will reduce the trach over the weeks after that and do swallow tests.  Right now and for the foreseeable future, he will continue to have the feeding tube.  He also had a follow up with the ortho guy who said that he put in screws, wires, plates, bands, etc.  If Michael does everything he is supposed to do (and he will because he is very competive and very athletic), he should end up being 95% mobility in the foot and ankle.  Right now, he is not allowed to put any weight on the foot.  He has physical therapy three times a week.  Fortunately, he has incredible insurance and his company is being wonderful.  And his wife is not working because their baby was born on August 31.  They had gone back and forth about her going back to work and decided that she would not.  In retrospect, that decision is good since she has to be home to be with him now.  Thanks everyone for the prayers and thoughts.  It is incredible that he has come so far in such a short time. 

I am at the Library.  I haven't really been here in a month.  I am dedicating November to reading.  It is an easy thing to do since Lindsey's practice for swim season starts and I will be spending lots of time waiting for her to come out of practice, etc.  Once the season starts, I will knit at the meets . . . it is rather hard to read. 

Lindsey has applied to University of Dayton (her first choice), Case Western Reserve University and Carnegie Mellon.  She will find out on or about December 15 whether she is accepted and what the schools will give her with respect to financial aid.  She just doesn't have a clue about student loans and the costs. 

So life is like a mirror, I just have to remember to keep smiling . . . it is a beautiful season.