Happy New Year! "Make 2011 an excellent year", that's what I'm going for. It's started off much like last year, which is an fine way to begin since 2010 ended in a good way and place for me. I certainly missed my Vermont friends over the holidays and was thrilled to hear from so many from there and elsewhere. Keeping in touch! With so many ways to do it, I vow to do so. A resolution? I'm not one for making resolutions, yet will go for this.
The time with Claire and Spike continues to go well, with Willie parked in their driveway, mostly used as a TV room for Pete.
It also was the sports bar for LSU playing in the Cotton Bowl. LSU won! The TV inside couldn't pick up the game even with the creative "tree" antennae, so we gathered in Willie RV very comfortably to root on our team. Pete and I, mostly Pete, have ridden the roads from Fairhope to Pensacola Naval Hospital quite a bit for doctors' appointments, along with labs, MRIs, x-rays, armed service hoop jumping, etc. And, the verdict is... On January 21, he'll have surgery on his shoulder and his wrist. Both were further damaged by his head-first fall in VA and are not getting better. His knee does not need surgery now, so at least he'll be able to walk! Better done now, so we can travel and he can drive. Thanks to his being a veteran, this all can happen here and now. We thought by this time we'd likely be in New Mexico, but with our open atime-lines loose timelines, here we are and will be for awhile.
We'll move Willie RV over to a Pensacola Air Base campground-RV park (Blue Angel Naval Recreation Area). BlueAngelPark That way Pete can be close to the hospital for check-ins and rehab. It's about an hour drive one-way from Fairhope to Pensacola, so we'll be back, at least for weekends, when he can make it. The RV-Campground is on Perdido Bay, has a couple of beaches, places to hike and fish. Being in a pretty, warm place will also help his recovery. Maybe tossing a fishing line will be good therapy.
Other news: My nephew Christopher (Valli & Brad's son) and niece-in-law Makenzie are starting the adoption process for a baby from Ethopia. Wonderful! If you want to know more, check out Makenzie's blog at: http://grafted-branches.blogspot.com Very exciting!
And, as it snow, it seems, everywhere else, we're getting cold weather, especially for here. But, the camellias are blooming. Gorgeous!
It's coming upon a most beautiful time in the deep south; I'll send photos.On one of our last days before surgery we went to a movie, shopped the outlets, then out to eat at Big Daddy's Grill on Fish River. Delicious!
We took Willie in to get the awning replaced (blown off in VA), then headed to Pensacola, FL. What fun we've had with Spike and Claire, and we'll return on weekends when Pete feels better.
