Canine rivalry

Less than a year old when Jimmy was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, Andy would have been given away had it not been for our children, Jackie and Mary. He lived with them, off and on, for that whole year we stayed in Atlanta most of the time, and I'm sure he must have been confused about where "home" was.

They've missed him since he's moved back in with us, so a couple of months ago, Mary adopted a puppy from the Humane Society: Charlie. They told her that Charlie, like Andy, was a chihuahua-mix.

Charlie's an adorable pup, but chihuahua? I don't think so. German shepherd is more like it, with maybe a little hound thrown in for good measure. He's over 25 pounds already, and still has a lot more growing to do.

Mary brought Charlie over for a play-date with Andy today, but Andy refused to have anything to do with THAT. Territorial by nature, Andy detests his rival for Mary's affection, and was most uncivil. He'll get over it. Someday. Maybe.

Simple pleasures

Just when I think that it's not possible for William and Jake and Caroline to get any cuter, they do. We went to lunch with them today, and enjoyed every minute.

Making several trips with the boys to the ladies' restroom proved interesting, with all the toilet-flushings, elaborate hand-washings, and enthusiastic room-sprayings with air freshener. But the big event of our outing was getting bubble gum out of the machines as we exited.

Table for two

While we were at the beach last weekend, we went to one of our favorite local restaurants, The Verandah, for dinner. We didn't have reservations, and they were busy, but after a short wait, we were seated at one of those long skinny tables for two.

We studied the menu as we sipped our drinks, a pinot noir for him and an O'Doul's for me, and we smiled at each other and waved over the great expanse of the table. Finally, Jimmy summoned our waitress and said, "I'm afraid this isn't working. Could you move us to a square table when one is available?"

We soon moved, and were much happier.

It says a lot about the stage of life you're in when you want to sit close together, not because it's romantic, but because it's the only way you can hear well enough to carry on a conversation.

Calorie Therapy

I know we've been remiss in keeping the blog updated, but no news is good news: Jimmy's been doing so well that we have actually been living a blessedly (and relatively speaking, of course) normal life. If you could have told me two years ago that Jimmy would be as healthy as he is today, you'd have saved me a whole lot of anguish.

We just got back from spending a few days at the beach, and our choice to be there and not in the mountains was fortuitous: it has been raining up there ever since we left; not like the Atlanta flooding, but torrential anyway.


It DID rain Monday though, and we were a little bored and out of sorts, so we went for a ride. As we drove along the streets of old Fernandina, the most heavenly aroma wafted through our partially opened windows: chocolate!

No matter that it was 5 o'clock in the afternoon; no matter that it was pouring rain; no matter that we both had just that morning decreed that we were on "diets": as soon as we could find a parking place, we were high-tailing it back to that candy store just as fast as we could go.


Oh, the bliss. Jimmy got a scoop of ice cream with sprinkles and little crunchy things in a waffle cone, and I indulged mysef with a big slab of walnut fudge. I ate it all, with neither guilt nor remorse, and it was divine.

How do the coaches stand it?

What a heart-stopper! With 100-yard kickoff returns and blocked extra points and down-to-the-wire defensive stands, the Georgia -South Carolina game tonight had you electrified for four solid hours.

I did NOT nurse Jimmy through two stem cell transplants to have him succumb to cardiac arrest while watching a football game. This game was almost TOO exciting.

Moonrise over Satullah

Reclaiming our view

Mother Nature is relentless: year by year, inch by inch, she has been taking away our view, as the trees down-mountain from us continue to grow.

Today Jimmy hired a tree cutter to give the foliage a little haircut, and we sat on the deck all afternoon, entranced, as he performed feats as death-defying as a Ringling Brothers trapeze artist.

He scaled tall trees , scampering up with his cleated boots and a chain saw strapped to his back as agilely as a young monkey. After pruning one tree, he'd throw a grappling hook to the next tree and swing to it like Tarzan.

He said you expend most of your energy climbing up and down the trees, so he conserves his strength by swinging from tree to tree. It's quite a show.