Well folks, today is March 3, Super Tuesday is upon us. I have done my level best to keep this blog apolitical – after all this is a family-centric blog and there are days when our politics don’t feel entirely suitable for families. But as we gear up for what will likely be a highly partisan election cycle, I would like to offer up what I hope is a nonpartisan...
This is America’s newest National Park. It was officially designated “Park” status on 20 Dec 2019 – which also just happens to be my birthday! We nearly missed knowing about the new designation. In January I just happened to read an old Instagram Post from the National Park Service announcing the change. Fortunately for us, the park happened...
According to Dan, I have a thing for deserts. Apparently, every time we enter one, I express my admiration in one way or another. I am not sure this is universally true – I don’t really want to live in a desert – but I sure did like Saguaro. Saguaro (sa-WAR-row) National Park acts like a pair of parentheses embracing the east and west sides of...
Spanish First, English Translation Follows Hola! Este semana nosotros visitamos Joshua Tree National Park! Fue muy fantastica! Llegar a la parque en Martes. Comer la cena y después fue afuera para ver las estrellas. Son maravillosos. La dia despues fuimos en una caminata que tiene muchas cactus. Hay una que tu puede ver dentro de la cactus. Yo inclinada para obtener...
Spanish first, English below: Hola otra vez! Yo estoy recuperarse bien y estoy disfrutando la magnífica clima en California. Es hermosa! La viaje a San Francisco era bien, pero un poco incómoda porque mi pierna era derecho y estaba un poco abarrotado. Cuando nosotros aterrizada Papa y Hazel nos saludo y a finalmente yo soy moviente!! Nosotros...
Judging from the avalanche of supportive calls, texts and comments my last post generated, I must have sounded alarmingly blue! In truth I was feeling pretty glum and am so grateful for the collective pick-me-up you all sent. Physician friends emailed to see if we needed a second opinion, one friend sent uplifting quotes from Shakespeare (followed by a...
You know the rest of the saying…when it rains, it pours. Or perhaps it would be more apt to say when it snows, hunker down for a blizzard. I was planning to write an Ava medical update today, instead I probably need a little space for a rant. Or as my dear friend Mary used to say, I need to have a little “come apart.” Because coming apart is pretty much how the...
It has been a long few days, but we are glad to report that Ava successfully made it through her first surgery yesterday. Her patella was well and truly smashed. It took 6 screws to put it back together which is remarkable because the bone is so small. I can’t imagine how tiny some of those screws are. We are grateful that Ava had a talented...
All publications, even excellent ones, are forced to publish the occasional correction or clarification. According to Ava, my article yesterday requires multiple corrections and clarifications. Here is the story, retold in Ava’s own words: Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. It’s not like I purposely ran into a tree!! And I don’t “let out blood curdling screams for trivial...
This trip has been amazing, maybe too amazing. It was probably time for Murphy’s Law to catch up with us. Unfortunately, Murphy arrived in the form of Ava skiing into a tree in Big Sky, Montana. Short story: nothing irreparable, we are very lucky; a broken patella (kneecap), broken nose and soft tissue damage to both knees. Longer story; our trip to Big Sky had...