Welcome back, sj! Bet that vacation time flew by too quick. I've really enjoyed reading your updates. It sounds like you had a lovely time.

Thanks, Laura! I think it was just the right amount of time. I was exhausted and just so happy to get home by the time yesterday came around, and I am actually looking forward to staying home tomorrow and doing nothing but laundry and going through the held mail when it arrives.

Today I need to find the energy to get to Trader Joe's, since we're out of everything. TCG is a saint and got up this morning and went across the street to the little convenience store to get milk and half & half so that we could have our morning caffeine fixes.

I would also love to be in on helping Deena.

Count me in on the Deena gift, too. I've got an address for her from about a year ago, but I'm not sure if it's still current.

Welcome home, sj!

I'd like to help out with Deena too. It sounds like she has to spend most of her time in bed. I wonder if she has a wireless router and some kind of lightweight computer or tablet.

Also, I'd like her current address. I think she may have moved since the address I have.

So, I have read the paper, caught up on livejournal, facebook and here, and made my list for Trader Joe's. I suppose this means I should consider showering, cleaning out the fridge, and actually going to Trader Joe's.

I'm watching an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition where both parents are deaf, and the younger son is autistic and blind. I'm kind of amazed at all the communication things they worked out. The father and son communicate using the kind of system that deaf-blind people use, where one person signs while the other person feels his hands. Among the various things they put into this new house, they have an alarm system so that, every time the front door opens, lights flash all over the house and the parents' bed shakes, because the son has sometimes gotten up in the middle of the night and started wandering around outside.

I looked at the costume Steph linked to and my first reaction was "Vampire Ken"!

Whatever you all want to give her is fine by me, of course. I only suggested flowers because they meant so much to Drew and me as symbols of love and support when each of us was in the hospital, but if we want to raise more money and do something more substantial I'm all for it. I can't coordinate anything more than flowers with my current work load, though--can someone else collect money?

In much less serious news, I had a crappy night of sleep filled with nightmares and tossing and turning, and I'm freaking out at still having 25 comments to write before tomorrow. And Drew left again. And my kitty is still slowly dying of cancer, and although he acts like he's mostly fine, it's killing me. I invoke Allyson's FPC, of course, but sigh.

Pix, sorry if I implied that flowers were not a good idea or would not be welcomed. I do think flowers (or something else beautiful) would mean a lot, but it's hard for me not to zoom straight to the practical.

Also, {{{you}}}. Even without invoking the FPC, that's a lot to deal with.