Hi everyone! It is unlikely that I would be described as a lurker. Good to see the people I don't see words from often.

Come on lurkers!

Now is the time!

You can do it!

This is your thread!

JenP! Allyson! Good to see you!

Hey lurkers! What's new?

Love you too, quester!

Back at you WindSparrow!

Allyson! DX! So good to see your fonts (everybody else too). I'm not even sure I count as a lurker anymore. Work cracked down big time on internet use that wasn't company related and I don't really like being on a computer at home since I'm on one all day for work (I KNOW - cray cray isn't it?).

However, my work from home days allow me a little slacking time, so I figured the delurking thread was a good place to do it. I miss you all. And need to post somewhere to let Gud know my thoughts and best wishes are with him and his family.

Good to see you here, Frankenbuddha!

Hi, Frankenbuddha! Hi, quester! Hi, Allyson! Good to see you all here!

I haven't been posting much this year. It's been -- insane, especially the last few months.

Hubs's sister moved back to the DC area in September of last year, and she was in and out of hospitals for just about the entire fall and winter. She is on dialysis for kidney failure (a side effect of her heart meds, we think), and she's more or less confined to a wheelchair.

Hubs and I have both been diagnosed with asthma and severe allergies, including both being allergic to cats. At the beginning of May, I had surgery for a severely deviated septum and too-narrow sinus passages.

I was just recovering nicely from the surgery when our orange boy, Seamus, started bleeding. It turned out to be a skin cancer (not unusual in dogs, quite rare in cats) that is fairly easy to treat if you catch it early, but spreads aggressively. We did not catch it early, and we had to say goodbye to Seamus in the middle of May.

We spent the next couple of months focusing on Hubs's sleep apnea. And then his back went out in July -- worn out discs between his vertebrae. By the time he could schedule surgery in late August, he was barely walking. And more or less crawling up the stairs in our townhouse. He's been recovering slowly and went into physical therapy a couple of weeks ago. Last week, his pain levels started increasing.

So for the last three months, I've been juggling a full time job and caring for a sick husband who can't really do much. And I'm exhausted. (How do you parents do it for years on end?) If there's a bright spot, I've had to work from home so I can drive him to doctor appointments -- over a month later, he's still on pain meds that keep him from driving. (Let's just say that his meds make the Good Meds look like child's play.) And I don't have to deal with the commuting mess while Metro works on the Orange Line for six weeks.

In two days, we leave on vacation. Transatlantic cruise. Which should give us both time to recover. I hope.

Oh Fred, may the vacation bring you both much needed rest and recuperation.

I hope the cruise is good for both of you, Fred. What a year!