Miracles Still Happen

Country singers entertain in the lobby. Annie's leg is in the foreground.

I 'm trying to think of an interesting topic to write about and not coming up with much. This morning a friend of mine that I first met online reminded me of how we met in person.  We arranged to meet at a mall and we hit it off immediately.  We shopped all day and decided our middle names were "shopping".  I guess I could write of my memories of shopping with my mom, Pug, but not now.

Carlotta Wheeler sings as her husband Bob works the music.

Another topic could be the story of Annie's roommate at the hospital.  It is kind of scary.  In the first place, Annie was supposed to be in a private room on the third floor that is devoted to orthopedics but ended up on the fifth floor which is an overflow for everything, I guess.  Anyway, it was very small and crowded with very little privacy.  The curtains that wrap around the beds didn't even work right.

They wheeled the lady into the room about early afternoon and she looked in bad shape. She had a big cut on her forehead, a big neck brace and a very swollen left arm. She was in a lot of pain for sure!  We ended up hearing her story a lot because she had a lot of company plus a lot of doctors who wanted to know what happened.

Her 26 year old son was driving her to work in his pickup. They were on I-17 just after getting on from the 101.  She unhooked her seat belt to reach in her purse on the floor.  She saw her son look back to his right and as he turned back she saw his eyes rolled up in his head!  He was having a seizure.  The car crossed two lanes of traffic and she was yelling at him.  At the last minute he jerked the wheel so it hit the cement median at a glancing blow instead of head on.  They did not roll and they were not hit by any cars.  A miracle on the interstate during rush hour on a Friday morning!  They were lucky to be alive. 

She ended up with a shattered L-1 disc in her spine with pieces floating around, a broken ball part of her shoulder, broken arm bones, broken wrist and broken fingers.  She has a long "Frankenstein" (her word) cut on her forehead that took 10 stitches.  She was bruised and whip lashed all over and her chest was very sore from the airbag.  She had spine surgery yesterday and was supposed to have shoulder and hand surgery today. Ohhhhh, when they moved her to take her down for the MRI my shoulder ached for her.  She was in great pain.

Meanwhile, her son was across the hall with a shattered eye socket, broken cheekbone, and some other bones in the face. I guess his face was hugely swollen according to the friends that stopped in to visit.  He also had some spine injuries. Many of his friends came to visit him and then dropped in to see his mother.

Remember this room was crowded to begin with and then the parade of doctors, nurses, and visitors was never ending.  We had been up since 4 AM and Annie had been through a 2 hour surgery so she needed rest.  I'm sure the poor woman did too.  She was in extreme pain and the medication was not touching it so they were trying ice packs and whatever.  She counted the minutes until her next pills!  It wasn't until 10:30 that night that the last 4 visitors left!  By then Annie was exhausted and knew the whole story word for word.

Needless to say, Annie begged her doctor to let her come back to the rehab center the next day and he finally relented so we made it back to the relatively peaceful quiet of the weekend here at the rehab center.

I hope that Tracie has a quick and uneventful recovery and they can relieve her pain.  I also hope her son,Travis, has a quick recovery and a good plastic surgeon working on his face.  They are so lucky to be alive and to be receiving great care at the hospital.

This event got me to thinking about how quickly our lives can change and makes me feel grateful for how my life is going!

Bob and Carlotta Wheeler

Here I am in Phoenix AGAIN--In summer!

The cookie jar in the lobby.  I guess everyone hit it pretty hard. The chocolate chip cookies were delicious!

Here I am back in Phoenix.  Annie has had her surgery and because it was more extensive than they thought, they had to put her in a rehab center for awhile.  I am staying at her house about a 20 minute drive away.  The rehab center is really nice.  The food is well prepared and there is a nice selection. They have a pleasant dining room and they vary the seating so you get to visit with a variety of people. I eat my dinner here every day. Each day they also have an afternoon activity.  So far we have seen a movie with popcorn and soda, had sundaes at the ice cream social, and today we are headed out to play bingo. The beauty salon was open this morning and a lot of ladies got their hair done. I feel really lucky when I hear some of these people's stories. I sure am grateful for good health and staying in shape! 

This is "our table".  We park ourselves here and then they bring others to sit with us.

This brings me to my walking adventures. Marianne got me to put the Runkeeper app on my iPhone, so then I had to set some goals. They really do keep me walking. Just before I found out I was coming to Phoenix I set a goal of 30 miles by the end of August. When I got down here I couldn't see walking in 100 degree heat and wondered if I would meet my goal. Annie suggested mall walking so yesterday I tried it and it was fun. There were quite a few people walking at 7:30 in the morning.  There was music and several food places were open including Starbucks.  A security guard was driving around keeping us safe.  A group of women were doing Pilates and another group of people were having morning coffee together in the food court. I did 4 circuits of the mall and then had an iced frappuccino out on the patio of Starbucks.

This is the sitting area in the lobby with the registration desk in the back.  The chairs are really comfy.  I've tried them out!

The next day (today) I met Amy (Skyler and Colton's aunt) and we did the same walk.  We had a nice visit and then we had our Starbucks.  My Runkeeper went nuts on me and said we had walked 4.5 miles and the map it drew was really crazy!  It said we walked at a pace of 12.43 minutes per mile!  That's better than JJ and Carla did with their running.    Anyway that put me over my 30 miles so I had to set a new goal.  I am going for 40 miles by the end of September.

The dining room.  There is a private dining room for families to eat in.  They also use it for movies and bingo.

Well, they just told us they cancelled bingo!!!  How dare they!  Guess I will see if they have some cards. One thing about these places is that it gets pretty long and lonely between meals on the weekends for those who don't have family or friends who come to visit.  Not much therapy goes on during the weekend.

Another view of the lobby.  In the background is a large aquarium and the library.

That's about it for now. I'll try to come up with a recipe for my next blog.

Here are some pics of the fish in the aquarium.  They are so friendly and they love to pose.

This fish loves to get real close to the glass when he sees a camera!

Mr. Stripes

I love anemones! These pale pink ones are so delicate.

These orange, black and white fish love the anemones too! 

 

 

An Unexpected Trip

Our family.  Top left Marianne, Danny, Carla.  Front JJ, Me, Bob.  Thanks Rita for taking our family picture!

 Click on the picture to make bigger.  Hit the back button to come back to the page.


Today I am going to post some recipes but first have decided to talk about another trip I am about to take.  A few days ago I got a call from my friend Annie in Phoenix (the one who had 2 knee replacements last spring and summer.  Bob and I spent about 3 months with her).  She had torn up a tendon in one of her knees and is going to have surgery on it ASAP.  She will be laid up again for another 6 to 8 weeks!  I will be headed back down to help her out for awhile again. 

Remember the Lily Pad pond from yesterday?  We took group pictures in front of it.  I obviously had my camera with me taking pictures of everyone setting up their cameras for timed shots.  That's all I have--no group photo.

This time her niece will be able to stay with her for the week of surgery.  That is good because I have the local Craft Fair to do with Carla before I can get down there.  Bob has decided he can't stand that much heat and he is a little worried about being so far from his urologist.  It is almost time for his stent in the ureter to be changed and he doesn't want to be in any Phoenix hospitals again!  Last year was enough for him.  Anyway, he is going to stay up in Casper with Carla while I am gone.  I will only be able to stay for about 3 weeks and then we will see how well she is getting along.  I have to get back for all of Bob's Dr. appointments I actually have a check up too.

Darcy and Brendin on our hike.  Darcy is trying to avoid mosquitoes, I think.

 Maybe this time I can get to see some of my former students and friends on FB.  (Tonya and Theresa??  Who else is down there in summer?) Of course I may get to visit with Beth's sister Amy and her family too. Then again I was pretty busy last time just getting everyone taken care of.  At least I will be dealing only with one hospital and maybe not even that if all goes well. Annie and I will have some good times reminiscing about the good old days .

I was trying to bind the apron on a table with a just started puzzle and all my sewing paraphernalia.

I am trying to multi-task right now and things are kind of getting in a jumble.  I hope this doesn't sound as discombobulated as I feel!  I am embroidering some lace snowflakes for the craft fair, making a garden apron, eating a little lunch, hoping the lightning doesn't shut me down, and trying to write this blog.  Oh and I keep getting cell phone messages and FB messages as well!  I think it is time to post my recipes!

I'm trying to make a set of lace snowflake ornaments for the craft fair but the thread keeps breaking.

The first recipe is for ice cream  Jason was looking for one just before the Fourth of July so I dug out an old one I've had around for a long time.  Carla brought her electric ice cream freezer down for the 4th so we used it with some modifications to make the ice cream.  We had a major problem though.  The motor was seized up on the freezer!  We had already cooked and cooled the batter and we had a house full of young men who were looking forward to this dessert so they took turns spinning a pair of pliers holding on to the dasher! It took awhile but the result was delicious.  Here it is:

FROZEN CUSTARD ICE CREAM

1 ½ TO 2 QUARTS

6 Eggs

2  Cups milk

¾  Cup sugar

2 to 3 Tablespoons Honey

¼ teaspoon salt

2 Cups whipping cream

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Crushed ice and Rock Salt

In a medium saucepan, beat together eggs, milk, sugar, honey, and salt.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and just coats a spoon.  Cool quickly by setting the pan in ice or cold water and stirring for a few minutes.  Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly cooled at least an hour.  When ready to freeze, pour chilled custard, whipping cream and vanilla into a 1 gallon ice cream freezer can.  Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions using 6 parts ice to 1 part rock salt.  Transfer to freezer containers and freeze until firm.

These are the American Egg Board Directions.  You can adjust according to size of freezer and if you didn’t start on time.  I used to put my custard in the freezer to speed it up and then put it in the ice cream freezer when it got lukewarm.  It just takes more ice and time to set up.  The proportions of ice to salt really are pretty important for a nice smooth ice cream.  Cooking the eggs in the custard prevents Salmonella so I definitely recommend it!

Variations

Carla’s version we called Drunken Strawberry Ice Cream:  Prepare as above, Partially freeze.  Add 2 cups sweetened crushed fresh strawberries and a couple shots of vodka to the mix and complete freezing it.

Banana Nut:  Reduce vanilla to 1 ½ tsp.  Prepare as above.  Stir 3 large ripe bananas, mashed, and ½ cup chopped toasted pecans to custard mixture and freeze.

Cherry:  Reduce vanilla to 1/2 tsp. add 2 Tbsp.  almond Extract.  Prepare as above.  Partially freeze.  Add 2 pounds pitted pureed dark sweet cherries or 1 can (16 to 17 oz. pitted dark sweet cherries, drained and chopped.  Complete freezing.

Chocolate:  Add 3 squares (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate to egg mixture.  Prepare as above.

Mint:  Omit vanilla.  Add 1 ½ tsp. mint extract and 9 to 12 drops green food color, if desired.  Prepare as above.  I think you can figure out Chocolate Mint by yourself.

Plum (really???):  Reduce vanilla to 1 tsp.  Prepare as above.  Partially freeze.  Add 1 ½ lbs. pitted, pureed ripe fresh plums.  Complete freezing.

The paper said more at the bottom of the page but I must have lost the rest of the pages!

  I guess I'll save the other recipe for tomorrow......

May-June Happenings

We did some tye dying while in Casper.  Here Carla is dying some shirts.

 I promised to finish our Mayo Clinic saga and then never got back to it.  Here's "the rest of the story!"  On May 6, after the doctor gave Bob the OK to head to Wyoming to stay for a while with Carla's family in Casper, we all got packed up to leave Phoenix.  Carla, JJ, Bob and I loaded into our 1990 Lincoln Town Car and headed for Flafstaff.  Due to my great sense of direction and map reading skills, we ended up 45 minutes of city driving later, several blocks away from Annie's house!  Ozzie was supposed to meet us with his motorcycle in Flagstaff and was patiently waiting when JJ called him to tell him where we were.  He sarcastically wanted to know if we were going to stop back at her house for a bathroom break!

Annie celebrates her two new knees.

 The second try worked much better and we were finally headed for Flagstaff.  As
we got closer to that city, driving up the winding mountain highway the car started to do big jerking gear shifts.  Bob kept accusing Carla of not knowing how to drive and she kept insisting she wasn't doing anything wrong.  After all she had grown up in the mountains and knew how to drive in them.  Meanwhile JJ and I were in the back seat feeling the floor to see if it was getting hotter.  JJ kept seeing smoke from the back of the car when it shifted.  We were only about ten miles from meeting Ozzie and going about 45 mph on the interstate.

Bob is dealing with the heat the best he can.

We made it to the bottom of the exit ramp and could see Ozzie over in the filling station waiting for us.  When the light changed and Carla stepped on the gas nothing happened!  Just our luck!  Bob said try it again and it inched forward.  We made it and Ozzie took over and helped us to figure out what it was. The transmission fluid was gone so we dumped in several quarts, waved goodbye to Ozzie and JJ on the motorcycle, and we were headed for New Mexico.

Buddy is the welcoming committee at the dentist office.  I took this the day before her second knee surgery.

 We stopped a couple times to make sure the fluid was still OK and it was.  We ended up staying overnight in Grants, NM.  Bob was tired but did pretty well.  We pressed on the next day which was Sunday.  I was driving and shortly before Santa Fe the car started a jerking.  We had forgotten to check the transmission fluid that morning and so we made a pit stop at Walmart in Santa Fe.  They didn't have any transmission fluid but did have some stop leak type stuff.  We drove around town until we found an auto parts place that was open, added more transmission fluid and the stop leak fluid and were off again.  We checked our fluid again in Raton and it was OK.  We made it to Denver that night in the rain and were in Casper the next afternoon with no problems!

Carla checks up on how her tye dye is doing.

We took the car in to the Ford garage in Casper and they found a crack in the transmission where the fluid is kept.  After a couple weeks of recovery for Bob in excellent weather (warm with no wind), the car was ready and we were able to head for home to our beloved cabin.  Six days later we were off to Elko for a graduation and then back to Phoenix for six more weeks helping Annie with her other knee replacement! With another little, but expensive, blip on the drive down we made it!  That's where we are now in 113 degree heat--but that is another  story!

Erin is sitting on their patio in Spring Creek, NV.  The view from there is terrific!

Annie's Knee Replacement

No pictures of Annie but here is Carla on Annie's patio.

 Annie and I go back a long way!  We met my freshman year of college where we both lived in Rockwell Hall at CSU.  That first year we were not roommates but had many adventures and pledged the same sorority.  We did room together off and on in the sorority house and continued to have great times together with our many friends

Sun bathing on the back patio of Rockwell Hall in the 1950's.

 Annie grew up in Denver and her family all lived there.  I spent Thanksgivings and other breaks with her family.  We were like sisters and still are.  Over the years our lives took different paths but we always stayed in touch

Rockwell Hall as we remember it in the late 1950's.  It is now where the Business Department for CSU is headquartered and looks quite different!

From time to time our paths crossed and we shared wonderful, as well as some sad times.  My children have fond memories of staying with Annie and Hank at Stock Show time and consider her an aunt.  Hank died of lung cancer when Annie and I were still quite young.  We all loved Hank and still miss him when we get together.  Annie persevered and works in the financial world which eventually led her to Phoenix about 20 years ago.  We visited her right after she moved into her new house in northeast Phoenix right on the border of Scottsdale.  I'm sorry to say we never made it back to Phoenix until now.  Annie and her sister Katie visited us and we met in Laughlin annually for our gambling and shows.  Since I retired 6 years ago, we have not seen each other but still stayed in touch.

On Annie's birthday in January  I had written her and told her what our plans for the winter were. They included spending 6 weeks in Florida at my sister's place in Lake Placid even though they would be in France at that time.  Annie wrote back saying she should have let me know sooner that she desperately needed knee replacement surgery and had no one to help her during recovery.  We decided Phoenix would be better than Florida and we would get a good visit as well. So here we are  (see my previous blog for our adventures getting here).

When we got here I realized how desperately she did need surgery on both knees.  Although she still is working, she was practically wheelchair bound due to her bad knees.  The Doctor would only do one at a time but he has assured her she would be walking without a walker when he was done. 

The Cafeteria in Rockwell Hall in the 1950's where Annie and I met the first day we were in Fort Collins.

 Annie's surgery took place in John C. Lincoln Hospital.  It went well and she had a room on the newly renovated third floor-- Big screen TV, roomy private rooms,  great care, and lots of little perks.  The two little ladies who did her physical therapy were a kick in the butt.  They were in their 60's, kind but no nonsense ladies.  Annie's recovery in the hospital passed quickly and 4 days after surgery she was back home.  That is when the " fun" started.

We had to get up at 6 AM just to fit all the activities in her regimen into the schedule.  She had to put in 6 hours a day in 2 hour blocks on the CPM machine with at least 1/2 hour of icing after each block.  This went on for 3 weeks.  In addition to this she had physical therapy for an hour 2 to 3 hours a week plus doing the exercises she had learned and doing some walking!  We managed to fit in meals somewhere too and a couple of follow up visits to the doctors and a couple to the dentist as well.

Annie improved greatly and we even went out to eat one night to have an early birthday celebration for Bob (which, although we didn't know it at the time, was very fortunate).  We also took a little trip to a casino for an afternoon before all hell broke loose!  But that is for another installment in our Phoenix saga!

To complete Annie's story, I drove her to outpatient physical therapy 3 days a week for 4 weeks after home health's 2 weeks.

  Annie was able to drive since it was her left knee that was replaced but they didn't have enough handicapped parking close by so she had to be dropped off and then I had to find a parking spot in the parking garage across the street.  We had to laugh at ourselves because we looked like "Driving Miss Daisy".  It was easier for Annie to sit behind me than in the front seat.

The best part of the physical therapy sessions were that the therapists let me use the gym equipment while I was waiting for Annie to do her therapy.  They had great equipment in a sunny room with great views to the outside.  I got in some good exercise which helped with our very stressful time!

New Years in Fredricksburg, TX with Micah, Kim and the girls.  A beautiful warm, sunny day for the first day of 2012!

By the end of her 6 week recovery time Annie was ready to go back to work and we had decided she needed the other knee replaced as soon as we could all get back together.  That meant early June, so on June 4 we will be headed back to Phoenix with high hopes for Annie and also fervent prayers that we won't have a repeat of Bob's events!  So what were they?  You will have to read the next installment of our Phoenix adventures!

Bob and The Mayo Clinic

The next installment

How Our Winter Went......

Chili Pepper Lights on Annie's Patio

 OK it has been a long hard road for us lately but here I am finally ready to take a writing break.  Just a bit of background to get started; this winter we decided to spend the first of the cold weather in Texas with Micah's family.  That was back in January.  We had a great time but while there Bob had a really bad episode of severe cramps and vomiting.  Within 8 or 9 hours he was completely better, so we chalked it up to a flu bug.  I will say that Micah was concerned enough that he offered to take Bob to the emergency room but it was over before Bob consented to go.

Natalie is making a commercial! Yet another topic for this blog.

The next stop on our winter itinerary was Casper, Wyoming, to be with Carla's family.  Again we had a great time but Bob had another episode of the stomach pains and vomiting.  This time Jim was ready to take Bob to the hospital but he refused and after about 12 hours he was fine.  We figured it was more of the flu. 

We had left the car at Micah's and flown to Carla's so we headed back to Texas for a few days before we headed up to Phoenix to spend six weeks with my college roommate, Annie.  On the way we spent a night in Demming, New Mexico. When we woke up the next morning, it was snowing in extremely southern New Mexico!  The snow was sticking and visibility was not good.  The old-timers were telling everyone to take pictures because we'd never see it like that again in Demming! 

Meanwhile, Bob was having another bout of stomach cramps and vomiting.  I figured we would end up staying there for the day and possibly going to the hospital but after an hour or so Bob thought he felt better.  We set off for Phoenix in the snow storm and after an hour or so we crossed the state line and were in Arizona and lo and behold the snow was gone!  However, Bob's stomach cramps were not gone. 

It was a very long trip for us and Bob was miserable but we finally arrived at Annie's.  We said hello and asked where the nearest hospital was and were off to the Urgent Care only a few blocks away.
He was given a shot for nausea and another for pain and they sent us off to the emergency room of the hospital.  After running tests and a cat scan they admitted him in the hospital for a partial bowel blockage.  By the time he got to a room, it was after 10PM.  I came back to Annie's so she could go to bed.

Bob and Ozzie enjoy breakfast on the patio at Annie's.  Ozzie was headed for San Antonio on his motorcycle for spring break.

 I began to wonder how I was going to be of much help to Annie with Bob in one hospital and her in another one but fortunately Bob's blockage resolved itself and he felt fine.  He was released 2 days before Annie went in to have her knee replaced.  Yes, we did have questions about why it kept happening and what would prevent it from happening again, but we were given a new diet which they hoped would solve all Bob's problems.  We were not convinced but we had other projects to worry about.

Strawberries were in season when we arrived and Annie had a great recipe for strawberry pie.  See my earlier blog.  http://meemointhemountains.blogspot.com/2012/03/arizona-recipe-for-spring.html

Next installment, Annie's Knee,

will be coming soon.

What's Been Happenin' in Phoenix

Carla works on her computer while enjoying some warm Phoenix sun!

 It has been a busy time down here in Phoenix!  We came here on March 10 to help out Annie, my college roommate, while she had knee replacement surgery and during her recuperation.  We had not been at her house 15 minutes when I took Bob to Urgent Care and ultimately to the emergency room at Paradise Valley Hospital.  They diagnosed a bowel blockage and kept him in the hospital 2 nights.  We were surprised they didn't give us much information on how what they did was going to help the situation.  This was the 4th time he had severe stomach cramps since the first of the year, but they insisted "these things usually resolve themselves".

2 days later we took Annie to another hospital (John C. Lincoln for those of you who are familiar with Phoenix).  She came through the surgery with flying colors and had no complications.  She was lucky enough to get a room on the 3rd floor which had recently been renovated and was quite wonderful with all the high tech equipment and big screen TV!  4 days later she was released and the long recuperation began.  We had quite a big schedule, as she had to be on the CPM machine 2 hours three times a day with 1/2 hour icing after each session!  We had to get started at 6 AM to get everything worked in!  She also had about 30 minutes of exercises she had to do, along with some walking.  A physical therapist also came in 3 days a week for 2 weeks. Annie had to use the machine for three weeks and I had to be there to put it in and out of the bed and to be with her when she walked and exercised for safety's sake.  I also had to do all the cooking and cleaning during that time so I was pretty busy.  But I did get some reading in and we watched several movies, too.  Annie, who is a big sports fan, also got to watch a lot of baseball while using the CPM machine.

Annie's porch is lighted with "red hot chili peppers."  Carla had to replace the bunch and this is how they turned out.

On March 29 Bob started having sharp stomach pains again.  The hospital had not given us much help on finding a follow up Dr. so we decided to call Bob's Dr. in Denver. He was out of the office but the nurse paged him and he prescribed some pills for intestinal cramping.  By the time they had called in the prescription and we got the pills, he was feeling much better. Bob was supposed to call his Dr. on Monday to update him, but the pills were not to be taken unless there was pain, which he didn't have any more.  Meanwhile, Carla decided she needed to come to Phoenix to see what the situation was.  She arrived that Monday just in time to help us get Annie to the outpatient Physical Therapy.

On Wednesday morning the stomach pains returned with a vengeance.  We were still on the 6 hour CPM schedule with all the exercising, so by afternoon when the pills seemed to be doing no good, Carla took Bob to the emergency room at Mayo Clinic which is about a 10 minute drive from Annie's house. They immediately took x-rays and after seeing them, pumped his stomach and put him in their hospital for an unspecified amount of time until the whole situation could be resolved.  He was assigned a team of Drs. which included surgeons to decide how to proceed.

Thursday night about midnight, Paul and Ash arrived from California.  On Friday Bob had lots of visitors but still nothing could be decided until they did some more x-rays on his stomach.  That  evening JJ and Ozzie arrived on motorcycles heading back to Nevada from San Antonio where they had spent Spring Break with Micah's family.  They continued their trip the next day after being assured that Bob was doing much better.  On Easter Sunday Bob was released from the hospital without surgery but armed with a low fiber diet (just the opposite of what the other hospital had suggested) which we hope will help the situation.

Another shot of the pepper bunch for Carla to see since she went home before dark that day.

  Carla stayed here with us and helped with running errands and getting to Physical Therapy.  She also got in some shopping and visiting with Paul and Ash before they left.  Carla engineered Annie's first outing which was to Fort McDowell Casino for some gambling.  Carla was the only one who came home with some winnings but it was a fun time.  We all went out to eat at The Keg for Annie's second field trip and celebrated an early birthday for Bob.  The next day Carla headed back home to Casper since Bob seems to be doing real well on his new diet.

I'm getting excited to see my "cabin" after being gone since the New Year!

We are planning to stay here for 2 more weeks and then we are headed home to the cabin  for a short stay before we start the graduation rounds.  We have been enjoying the nice warm sunny days.  I am not looking forward to getting used to the North Park cold and wind, but it will be nice to get back to my own bed and our beloved cabin!