Santa brought Jimmy an Amazon Kindle for Christmas

...and I have high hopes that it can quell the tsunami of books that floods our house.

BEFORE:

and AFTER

Yule conflagration

Burned biscuits are a common occurrence around here, but they usually get burned in the oven and not on top of the dining room table. On Christmas night, the bread basket got placed too close to a votive candle, and the napkin in it caught fire and was blazing away before we realized what had happened. Several water goblets doused the flames, hence the SOGGY burned biscuits.

Christmas 2009

Downsizing

A few weeks ago, dreading having to wrestle the usual nine-footer into the living room, I spied this miniature jewel on the sidewalk outside of Winn-Dixie. It gives the warmth and charm of its mammoth counterparts for a fraction of the time and effort. I love it.

Atlanta week

This was our week to go to Emory for Jimmy's regular sixty day tests, and as usual, we won't know the results for another week or so, but Jimmy is doing so well, we expect everything to be fine.

We asked Dr. Lonial if we would continue to have Jimmy tested every two months, and he said we would. When Jimmy relapses, we want to catch it as quickly as possible.

Dr. Lonial was excited about their recent successes in treating patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma with a new monoclonal antibody combined with lenalidomide. The response rate with this combination is quite high, with the ultimate goal of beating myeloma.

All this research and development is a strong international collaborative effort between Emory and their French myeloma colleagues, and the global trials are being led by Dr. Lonial's team at The Winship Cancer Institute at Emory.

After we left the hospital, Jimmy and Jamey spent the afternoon working on business, and we didn't get home until late. (We even managed to do a little shopping, so it was a short but very productive little trip.)

Presidential nod

VSU President Patrick Schloss presented Jimmy with the President's Medallion during the commencement ceremony last Saturday morning. We marched in the processional and the recessional and sat with the platform party.

Jimmy and President Schloss

John Hansen

Rosey and Patrick

Maggie Carroll (Shirlee and Bo's daughter) received a Master of Education degree from the Dewar College of Education with a grade point average of 3.9.

Valwood Christmas program

Grandson William, in pre-kindergarten, participated in his first Valwood Christmas program last night, and he was adorable.

Some of the members of Valwood's Class of 2023

Turn the page

Before we left Marsh Harbour Sunday, we listed Seagrape for sale, and it just about broke our hearts, but it's time.

Our neighbors Nancy and Rusty Angstadt

This is a painting I did about eight years ago of a little girl whose picture I took in Hopetown. Someone later told me her last name is Mackey, coincidentally my maiden name.

Just another day in paradise..

We've been in the Bahamas for maybe a week now; you lose all sense of time here. We found an Internet cafe where you can go online for 30 minutes for $5, but it's slow and the keys stick. Nothing much has changed since we were last in Marsh Harbour, almost three years ago, except us.

The power stays off as much as it stays on, telephone service is sporadic, as is the water pressure in the house, BUT...that's the Bahamas, mon,and it's still the most beautiful place in the world.