I figured it’s time for another update on Mary Beth – although really not much has changed.  She is now recovering at home and doing fairly well.  Her eyesight in one of her eyes it still a problem, and she is still frustrated with that. I again thank all of you who have been praying for her.

Lindy has her tech issues worked out and is blogging from Wuxi China at Adventures in the Middle Kingdom . She’s already got up some great pictures and Lindy style thoughts – do go check it out.

Went to NYC this past Wednesday (in between J2 having bronchitis and E coming down with the flu!) and spent the day at the Museum of Natural History and in Central Park with my family.  We took the train in (my kids had not done this before and were very excited!) and even rode on the subway from Penn Station to the Museum.  While I successfully plotted the routes  to and fro, this did not stop us from a minor subway hiccup.  E and I were discussing which train and what street to get off, when the train pulled up.  Kids and I pop on, and I look over my shoulder to see the door close on my husbands arm with the majority of his body outside the train.  Needless to say, he got Left Behind.  After a few moments of panic and fussing with the useless cell phone, the kids and I jumped off at the next stop, and got on the next train.  We all met up at the 81st St. station, where J2 in particular was greatly relieved. Giggles.

In retrospect, E and I were just extremely grateful the doors closed on him and not one of the kids or worse yet, with the kids riding the subway alone. Gulp and eep.

All that immediate adventure provoked a need for sustenance, so we got some food from the dirty water cart.

We all went to the Hayden planetarium and saw an excellent star show. It was marvelous, and I was so glad we did it. The show made you feel like you were floating in space while watching stars becoming and unbecoming, and floating in nebula and dark matter. Great, great show! If you can get there, do treat yourself to that spectacle!

The kids really enjoyed the museum.  Lots of fun looking at all the displays. J2 was especially keen to see Rexy (E had a Night at the Museum viewing party the night before the trip while I was at EfM, so the kids were primed!).

After we were done walking around the Museum, we popped over to see Central Park. Kids really loved that!

That was about the highlight of my week! We had a great day in the city, and capped it off with a very good meal at Pasta Lover’s.  Yummeh!

Run, don’t walk, over to Wormwood’s Doxy to read her Open Letter to Her Scumsucking Insurance Company!  Doxy RULES!!!!!! She used their own propaganda and their own postage to send them this AWESOME Fuck YOU!!!!

Go, go on! Get! Go read it!

Now I want my shitty insurance company to do send me some bullshit so I can do this and send it back to them on their DIME!

The Disney Princess Feminist Fail. .

Yep..so much time, so little new to say in the Wonderful World of Disney!

I luf this! It was twittered by my pal Buddapalian. Money quote for me…”We say God Bless you on that journey” is Anglican for “Go Fuck Yourself!” BWAHAHAHA!

This morning as I got up to pray morning prayer, (to support my lack of belief system according to Christopher – WTF I bother for, I’m not sure, but I feel compelled….), my naughty gray kitty proceeds to puke up the catfood I have just fed him on the rug.

He then idiotically spends a good five minutes scratching the rug trying to cover up said vomit (talk about a pointless, fruitless endeavor), and THEN hairy kitty comes by and eats it.

It’s not even 6:30am yet…Surely this is a sign of the day to come ahead of me, no?

I went to leadership training for a week…here’s what I bring back….

Will this make me a better boss? Prolly not…but it does make me a more AMUSED one!

Hi All…I’m crazy busy this week – commuting back and forth to a Leadership Conference in North Jersey..fun fun fun!

However, Harl reminds me that people are still reading this blog, and have been praying for Mary Beth (for which I am most thankful/grateful), so a quick update is due.

She is doing well – they have had her up and walking around, and there is talk of her being discharged some time this week. There is still concern for sight in one of her eyes – apparently the optic nerve was involved and there does still seem to be some residual complications from this. So far her memory seems to be intact, which was also a concern.

The issues with her sight have her a bit down, but overall, things could have been much worse. Keep her in your prayers for continued recovery and to keep her spirits up. Thanks and hugs to all!

So..I’ve recently finished reading two books: The Preservationist by David Maine, for this month’s book club (yeeha! Waaay ahead of time!) and Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins, just for me. Both were humorous, interesting reads. The first book fleshes out what exactly Noah and his crew had to do to get the ark built, gather up the animals, float around for all that time, etc. Interesting piece of fiction – sort of a fun thought experiment – although, for me, it raised as many questions as it potentially answered. The first such question being, Noah’s three son’s and their wives, and two adopted children supposedly repopulated the world. Talk about your mostly close relatives. And Ham, who gets exiled, was of course, also the most fun and the most human character.

Noah was a cranky old git, who was high and mighty on his relationship with God, and I wanted to kick him in his shin more than once.

As for Jitterbug Perfume, it was, well…odd. But fun. This was also a thought experiment on immortality, and the senses and world history. With a smattering of Paris, New Orleans, and Seattle thrown in for good measure. Oh yeah..and PERFUME. And PAN! It was a fun book – not difficult to read, and it kept me amsused/bemused/intrigued/interested. Best thing I ever read? Nah. Would I recommend it? Not to everyone – only to those who don’t get easily annoyed when they read, and who have a taste for the fanciful.

Also, E and I have been watching TrueBlood, Season 1, on DVD. At first I wasn’t sure what I thought of it, but now that we are almost through season 1, I have to say I like it. I like it alot. It’s the story about Vampires becoming “mainstreamed” into human society after the invention of readily available synthetic blood. They are out of the coffin and looking to get civil rights (very parallel to civil rights for blacks/glbt, women, etc.) The characters are amusing, and the story lines are pretty intriguing. It keeps my attention (and I can have a mosquito length attention span sometimes)! But you should be forewarned – it’s got some elements of soft porn and loads of cussing – so if nudity, blood, sex, and serious cussing offends you, don’t bother. Otherwise, welcome to the bayou!

Mary Beth made it through her surgery well, but she is in ICU, and her brain is still quite swollen.  It will be several days before any damage to her brain can be assessed – the aneurysm was apparently deep and her surgery was quite invasive, so there are concerns about her vision and possible cognitive functions.  Her doctors report she is young and strong though, and so they have hope she will make a full recovery.

Many thanks to those of you who have been praying for her.