Gather ye rosebuds while ye may

Knowing that we won't be getting too many opportunities for such pleasures in the upcoming months, Jimmy and I decided to venture out this afternoon, to go places, and enjoy the beautiful weather. Unlike when we were here last week, when the city felt so deserted, Atlanta was back to its usual busy self: people were everywhere.

We started at the Buckhead Diner, where Jimmy loves to get the eggs Benedict on Sundays; he got the traditional, while I lived dangerously, and tried mine with smoked salmon, on potato patties instead of English muffins. We had to wait twenty minutes for a table, but it was well worth it: it was great.

Our dear friends, Maudie and Bill Huff from Columbus, were at the Atlanta airport, putting their son Martin on a plane to Virginia, where he was headed back to prep school. We had not seen each other in months, so we decided to meet up at the Buckhead Ritz Carlton for a visit. It was also the first time Jimmy and I had been back to the Ritz, since we spent last June with them, after Jimmy got out of the hospital; the staff had taken us under their wing, and greeted us today with open arms. Maudie asked me, "Do you feel like Eloise, returning to the Plaza?"

Maudie and Bill are two of our very favorite people, and we've had some great times together over the years. Bill, a KA with Jimmy at Georgia, was a Captain in the Marine Corps, and saw a lot of combat in Viet Nam. He is a very talented and successful interior decorator. Maudie is a gifted artist, whose paintings grace numerous homes and businesses across the Southeast and in Maine.

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As our lovely afternoon was winding down, Jimmy turned to me and grumped, "Take me home, Nurse Ratchett; I hurt all over." "GOOD," I told him. Bone pain means that the Neupogen is doing its job, and that the presssure of all the new stem cells building up is causing discomfort. We hope he's making millions and millions of them.