So, what do you think? Has the boy gained weight?



We think he definitely has!

We are back from our vacation in the South, and it was a grand time. Here are a few pictures (click to enlarge these):



The best high school band in South Georgia:
Lowndes High Georgia Bridgemen



The best sandwich in South Georgia:
The Cheese & Feed Store in Moultrie



Susie and Celeste outside the Georgia Music Hall of Fame
Macon, Georgia



Marty standing beside the Blue Ridge Parkway,
in southern Virginia



The famous Snappy Lunch, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
(the town also known as Mayberry)




Sunrise over the airport in Greensboro, NC
11/29/2004, 7:00 AM

Good News

It's been two weeks now since Ziggy came home from his radiation treatment, and already I think I can see an improvement. He's eating less, and gaining weight. That sounds like a contradiction, I know, but it's what we were hoping for. Before the treatment, his high thyroid level meant that his metabolism ran very high. He ate a lot of food, but his body burned it at such a high rate that he was losing weight. Not surprisingly, that put a lot of stress on all his systems. In the last few months he had lost about three pounds.

We won't know for sure if the thyroid number is down until we have it tested again in January. But it looks to me like Ziggy's gained weight, even in just two weeks. I am hopeful that he'll be 100% healthy again soon.

In other good news, it's a lot warmer in North Carolina than it is in Connecticut. We're visiting Marty's dad's family this weekend and it sure is pretty down here. Our suitcases even arrived, just about 17 hours after we did. I was pretty stoked to get them at last, and not just because of the clean socks and underwear. ALL of my ongoing cross stitch projects were in my checked luggage. I think I would have been inconsolable if they'd been lost. I guess next time we fly I'll just remove all the scissors and needles from my project bag and take the actual pieces in my carry-on bag, but I didn't think of that yesterday morning when we were packing.

And now we're off for a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I gotta say...



This looks like a GREAT day to go on a vacation.

Random things.

Random things.

• If you get a chance to try it, I highly recommend Starbucks' peppermint mocha. It's one of their seasonal treats, and I really love it.
  
  
• Movies I want to see: Alexander, The Incredibles, Ray, Kinsey, The Polar Express, and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. I'd better get started!
  
  
• Frankenberry, Booberry, and Count Chocula cereal. Weren't they available all year round when I was a kid? Now they're apparently seasonal selections for Halloween. And they get marked down for clearance after Halloween. Uh, not that I noticed that a big box of Count Chocula was only 99 cents or anything. Although I will say that the marshmallows are a lot bigger than they used to be.
  
  
• What flavor is Frankenberry supposed to be, anyway? And does anyone really like Frankenberry or Booberry best?
  
  
• The last week before vacation always seems to drag a bit. This one is no exception. But vacation is a very good thing. And it starts this Saturday!
  

Friday Night

Two nights of chorus this week. The regular one on Wednesday, then an extra one tonight when this guy came to coach us. He was awesome. We worked hard, too. Sang from 6:30 to 10, and learned a lot.

In all honesty, two nights of chorus was just what I needed this week. Not to mention my grand visit with Laura on Wednesday, my successful chorus audition, and both my guys back home again (after Marty was away on a business trip all last week, and Ziggy was at the vet's becoming a Radiocat). A productive week at work was good, too.

Tomorrow we're going into New York with friends, and I can't wait. New York City was one of the things I missed most while we were in Germany.

Hope all my readers have a relaxing weekend.

For my own convenience, here are three things I read this week, that I likely will want to look at again:

• Gary Wills' The Day the Enlightenment Went Out (requires free New York Times registration)
  
• Thomas Friedman's Two Nations Under God (requires free New York Times registration)
  
• Pineapple Girl's latest entry

I, too, am proud to be both a Democrat and a liberal.

A girl and her tree

Connecticut's largest tree

Today I got a treat: I visited the famous Pinchot Sycamore in Simsbury, Connecticut. Even better, I was graciously escorted there by the tree's biggest fan.


Click to enlarge photos.

I must admit, visiting this big old tree improved my mood considerably this afternoon.

Election Day 2004

New Day Dawning

My clock was set for 5:30AM, but I woke up around 5 and couldn't get back to sleep. I'd planned to get up early and stop at the fire house on my way to work this morning, but the polls were opening at 6AM, and the closer it got, the less I could wait. Marty was still in bed at 5:45 when I came back into the bedroom and said, "Come vote with me."

We arrived in the half-light of dawn, around 5:55, and there were already about thirty people in line ahead of us. After a chilly wait of about 10 minutes, we were in the door, and we'd finished voting by 6:15. We used the old fashioned machines with the lever that closes the curtain and then casts your ballot.

When we walked back out of the fire house, we were greeted by a glorious sunrise. And, on the other side of the sky, a full rainbow. So big, I couldn't even fit the whole thing in my camera lens.

Get out and vote today. It's the most important thing you'll do all day year. Or even in four years.



Click on pictures to enlarge.

1. Waiting to go in and vote. Marty is the guy in the Georgia sweatshirt on the right.
2. Democracy is everyone's responsibility.
3. Sunrise, 6:15AM.
4. Sunrise, 6:15AM.
5. Rainbow over Middletown.
6. Driving up our street.