Too Hot for Just June

I guess there is one good thing about it being so hot in June--we already know how much the electric bill will be before August.  I told Jim to just go ahead and pay extra on it so we will at least be ahead when August does hit.  Skye has been wanting to hang out on the porch out of the sun. She couldn't be inside today because I was doing the floors and didn't need any "Doggie deco."  

Boomer has been finding the darkest coolest places to sleep, which happens to be in the deep, dark corner of the master bedroom closet.  We hardly see him anymore unless we dig him out.

Personally I have opted for the swimming pool.  I have been going early because in the afternoon it even seems hot in the water!! 

Evidently others are feeling the ravages of the heat as well.  A friend of mine who is a vet sent this hilarious picture of her dogs--those little dogs always have the last word huh?

The Little Girl Down the Street

Maisie and Yoda Beth

My granddaughter Maisie visited us  over the Memorial Day weekend.  I had wanted her to meet several of the kids in the neighborhood, but people were busy or out of town.  Maisie ended up spending her time with Yoda Beth, our Calico cat and Skye, the border collie.

Maisie was riding her trike on the sidewalk, when Skye took off running down the street.  Haleigh, 5 yrs, who lives across the street, took off running after her. "I'll catch her!", she yelled.  In a minute Haleigh and Skye both arrived  on the porch out of breath.  Maisie was thrilled to have another little girl around, and asked her if she could play.  Haleigh had just gotten out of the pool and was wearing her swimsuit, holding what looked like dance clothes.  I asked her, "Do you have dance in a few miniutes?" 

She shook her head no, as she started to put on the clothes she was holding.  Over the swimsuit went her leggings, then her pink tutu.  Seeing the leotard still on the ground, I asked,  "Aren't you putting them on in the wrong order?"  Again she shook her head no, then said, "Oh watch, it will all work out." 

Then on top of the swimsuit, leggings and tutu, she slipped the leotard over the top of everything, with a slight bulge from the tutu around her waist.  Then off she and Maisie went down the sidewalk--guess it did "Work out."   

:)

Long Time

It has been such a long time since I posted.  I am sure everyone thought I had closed up shop, but no I have not.   We have had a busy spring with Jim's Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery on the left side of his brain.  It went well with him coming home one day later.  He had the priviledge, two weeks later, of speaking to the Early Onset Parkinson's Disease yearly meeting.

He was able to turn off both stimulators and show the group what his life would be like without the implants.  The difference in amazing.  After speaking, during the break, a line of people met him in the lobby to ask questions.  PD patients can literally be given their life back with this procedure.  It is not a cure, only a coping mechanisim.

Many people are intimidated by the surgery because the surgeon goes into the brain, while the patient is awake, a very unnerving thought indeed.  I think I was more afraid of the surgery than was Jim.  It gives the patient the ability to continue to walk unassisted, to feed themselves, to have some relief from the constant cramping which is so exhausting and to live a somewhat normal life.  The life of a PD patient however is far from normal.

When Jim was diagnosed, finally in 2000, we were told, "A cure is five years away."  And hopfully now 11 years later, it is only five years away.