Life in a Bubble

[BY SUSAN]

Peter's grandmother kept a diary and tended to write most often when she was angry or upset.   We seem to be keeping to that trend...not with anger, of course, but writing here when there is something going on medically, and laying low and quiet when things are, well, normal here on the home front.

Actually things have been better than normal.  From my perspective Peter has been in better overall health - energy and stamina and spirits - since well before his diagnosis in November 2011.

He returned from Philly to get his NC dose of the interminable winter and thankfully was here with his chain saw when the unpredicted ice storm brought down so many trees.  Jessie and Matt and their friends came out to help clear it all away, and fortunately little actual damage was done.

Since then Peter has re-stocked the sheds with firewood for next year - to replace the astonishing amount I burned during the cold month while he was in Philly.  He has moved back into his routines - volunteering, seeing friends, counseling a couple of clients each week, pouring over the paper every morning, exercising most every day, and lastly, watching old episodes of West Wing with me most every night.

He kept putting off making the appointment to go back to Philadelphia for a scan, and after a few weeks I quit asking.  We like this bubble and don't want to leave it.

But now the appointment is scheduled for Monday, May 5th and we'll see the doctor on Tuesday before heading back home.  We're hoping that feeling so good translates into good news from the scan.

To distract myself I decided to fly up a day early and attend the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, which is nearby, just outside of Baltimore.  The kids and I used to go every year, even bringing sheep to show at least once.  Amanda and I came together last year.  It is a huge festival with more than I can possibly take in in one day, but I'll enjoy every second of it...a mini vacation that feels right after the long winter.

After a brief hiatus I resumed writing my bi-weekly columns in the Herald-Sun.  Since leaving my job at the beginning of February, I've had a hard time "coming down" from the busy schedule I kept.  My last two columns have been about time and our perceptions of it.  Here's a link to one:
 http://www.heraldsun.com/chherald/chcolumnists/x2025293720/None-of-us-should-have-to-live-on-a-racetrack.  The one coming out this Sunday is about the Sky Mall catalog on our last flight.

Speaking of leaving my job, they threw a heckova going-away party for me.  It was a fundraiser as well, and I hope that it brought in lots of $ for the next class of interns.  Here are a few pictures.  It was a real highlight to have Solita there (middle photo).  I wrote about her accident in an earlier post.  The first photo is me reacting to an embarrassing story told by Ebeth Scott-Sinclair, and the last is all the alumni who could make it to the event.


That's about it here.  I just wanted to get something posted before flying out to the festival.  Peter will join me the next day.  Thanks to all.

Susan