Dribbles and Blots - Tales From The Fountain Pens

From my Journal - 5/25/16

And what tale could it tell, this pen of my father's?
This pen that went to war
And came home safely,
Could it write the things
Pop would rather not?
He left ugliness behind
As much as possible
But war marks a person
Whether they fought in it or not
And Pop fought 2 long hard years
In the Pacific
Heat and humidity and unrelenting
Sun
Hard on a mountain-raised man.
Killing and death all around him,
Himself called upon to kill.
My husband went to war as well

On a much smaller scale
In a supporting role,
But still,Separation from loved ones,
Danger, because he was a flyer.
Anytime large, slow aircraft fly in or near
A war zone,
There is danger.

I am amazed at this pen
It's been through so much,
Yet responds well to my hand
Not normal for a fountain pen
They tend to get worn to the owner's
Hand, and don't adapt easily to the way
Another writes.

What would Pop think of the trip Matt and I are embarking on tomorrow? A waste of money? Too dicey leaving the house alone during storm season?  Or FUN- a chance to fly together, a chance to see friends and look at things we find interesting
One long date after 32 years (almost) of marriage - An chance to have fun together.

5/27/16

Weary
But not sleepy.
So full of joy
 For seeing friends and renewing
Aquaintences
Also apprehensive
About things coming up
Trying hard not to worry
Letting God take care of it
But I'm only human.
Uncertainty sticks its head up
 and scowls at me
Sometimes.


Rain
Loud
Dripping
Slapping pavement
Splashing down the sidewalk
Soaking the weary stragglers
Homeward bound from
Their day of revels.


6/6/16

Sometimes having a body
Is a pain
Literally.
Your mind is trapped-
Chained to the demands
Of a pile of biology.
Sometimes a body
Is powerful
Stretching
Running
Dancing
Loving
Alive
Giving a glorious feeling of freedom
 But more often as I age
It is a limitation,
A place where my mind is stuck
Captive to its pains and whims.


This pen has not lived much,  It has been in a cup on my desk most of its life.  None of my own pens has had the adventures Pop's pen has had,  But they keep it company in the "Little joys of teaching" mug on my desk.
And perhaps
In the wee small hours,
When the house is sleeping,
It shares those stories
With the young pens gathered around.
This one is sleek, silver, and slim -
A very lady like fountain pen

This pen is more substantial,
A deep cobalt blue barrel and cap with silver fittings
Could be considered rather masculine,, I suppose
But I like it.  It makes it easier to write boldly.
Though tonight, my writing is awful due to itchy burning eyes and a sneezy, sometimes congested nose.

I know there are others out there that share my odd fascination with antiquated writing implements like fountain pens -
I have several, and these few are very balky and temperamental.  There are a few like Pop's old Parker that should be balky, but work like a dream.
Then there are these that Matt made for me - and they are so very temperamental.
The worst, though, are the two most expensive Waterman pens I own.  I didn't even get them out tonight to try to coax them into writing.  Didn't feel up to the fight.
All the pens Matt made for me will write pretty well once properly started, but some are scratchy.  Some flow surprisingly smoothly over the paper.
I have not done much inspired composition with any of the fountain pens.
They require attention and are a mechanical distraction when the muse is adamant about being heard.
Still, sometimes I like to get them out, and gather them around, make sure they are comfortable,
and listen to see if they have any stories for me.

That's about all from my alternately drippy and stuffy, sneezy and bubbly self tonight.

Fountain Pens in the Little Joys of Teaching mug.

Rumblings of Mutiny, Awash In Summer Reading, General Nonsense

Me and Michael in San Antonio 2015

Me and Michael in Houston 2016  I was trying to fit under the hat!

I did not say much in my post about Space City Comic Con about the disorganized, and downright dishonest things that the management did there.  Our own experience was mildly affected by it, but many, many fans were out thousands of dollars for promised perks that they never got, AND some of the celebrity guests were shorted on money, too.  That, and we never did get a coherent schedule from the con itself.  Wolf Photography had their schedule, and it was pretty accurate, except when the ineptitude of con management screwed it up.  Nobody ever picked up Doug Jones from his hotel on Friday, so he was late arriving, and missed his Friday photo ops.  (My ticket was honored for Saturday.)  A guest artist we spoke to was left stranded at the airport, and had to take Uber to their hotel.  (They rode in to the con on the hotel shuttle with us on Friday.) There was much grumbling and bad feeling among some of the fans.  For the most part, the celebs stayed and took care of their fans.  (Ron Perlman especially was gracious about making sure his fans got what they came for.  SUCH a sweet man, and appreciative of his fans.)  Doug Jones was gracious and kind and very loving to his fans in spite of being left waiting on Friday.
Michael Ornstein also stayed through Sunday, in spite of being part of the group that wasn't paid correctly by the con management.  He had a table in the autograph/artist's area and was selling and signing original art.  He's a pretty cool dude.  I really like him.  Love his painting that Matt bought me.  It's hanging in the front hall now, so we see it every day!

Today was the beginning of Summer Reading at our library.  I worked from 11 to 3.  The kickoff event ran from 10 to 12, and believe me, we were busy long after it ended!  Lots of fun, exciting stuff for the kiddos, and lots and lots of new library cards made!

But oh, the weather from Houston followed us home.  It's been RAINY and HUMID and HOT here this week.  Nasty.  Got rained on getting to my car after work both yesterday and today.  The yard needs mowing, but the rain won't stop long enough to let it dry enough so I can mow it!  Our lovely yard is a JUNGLE!!


We have been busy framing and hanging the art and photos we bought this weekend.  I am seriously running out of wall space in this house.  I have culled out what I have on display, but still, my walls are FULL!

Sitting here writing, checking social media, and sipping on a "Hammered Nail" cocktail.  Made with Rye Whiskey, Drambuie, Creme de Cacao, and Coffee Liqueur.   Very good stuff.  Very slow sipping recommended.  Let it settle in bit by bit.  Great for winding down after a busy, busy day.

Tomorrow is my turn to do Zumba with the library program bunch.  Here's hoping I survive!!


Life has so many textures
Tastes
Sounds
Scents
Colors
Lights
And Darknesses.
It sometimes is more
Than I can take in.
So many things I want to do
Want to see
So little time
In the short span we are given
Which also is full
Of things we NEED to do
MUST do
Are paid to do.
Lucky for me
Many of those are
Very fulfilling things
And give me satisfaction
Even though there are other things
I'd rather have the time for.

To spend time with people I care for
To read stories that let me dream
To write the things I dream up
To stare at the light and shadows in the garden
To sit with you
And remember why
We fell in love
And find again
That you are the one
I am happy to be with.

Stranger In A Soggy Land

We have been visiting the fabled city of Houston, Texas.  Famous for being the home of NASA's Mission Control team, the Astrodome, outstanding medical center, and tropical rainstorms.
We didn't fully appreciate that last item until yesterday evening, when we got caught in a downpour on our way to meet the hotel shuttle.
My shoes and Matt's shoes were completely soaked by the time we got back to the hotel.
We are here for Space City Comic Con.  While the con organization leaves A LOT to be desired, it has been amazing fun catching up with friends and meeting up with celebs we sometimes connect with on Twitter.
OF COURSE we came to see Ron Perlman, and our favorite artist, Michael Ornstein.  I was so glad to get to see them again, and to collect hugs.  Gave a hug or two for absent friends, too.
One of the great joys of this trip is that we got to meet Doug Jones.  What a truly awesome guy!  So full of love for the fans, and so very kind to us all.  SO glad I got to "hug on Doug!"

Official Photo Op With Doug Jones!  One really awesome guy!

Me huggin' on and being hugged on by Doug!

We also had the chance to catch up with a couple of the stars of Star Trek Continues.  Michelle Specht and Chris Doohan.  Both outstanding actors, and very gracious and kind to fans.  Michelle is SO much fun!  Chris is so very nice, and a good lower-key person to come to a con with Michelle!  She has SO much energy!  We thoroughly enjoyed meeting them both!

Me with Chris Doohan

I am trying to add a photo of Matt with Michelle Specht, but Blogger is resisting this process.  I shall try again.

At last!  Matt with the very vivacious and totally sweet and fun Michelle Specht!




I also got to visit with, and Matt bought me a painting by, the totally cool Michael Ornstein!

Here's the official photo op with Michael:

Michael has been a good Twitter pal, he interacts often, and has been very supportive of my writing.  He isn't just an artist and an actor, he also writes, and his work is very visceral and moving.  Lots of flowing images there.

I also got to see Ron Perlman today.  Sometimes he seems like an extra brother.  He is closer in age to my brother Walt than to me, and he sometimes teases me about typos and stuff like Walt does.  I really love it when I get to see him.  He's so very kind to us fans, especially those he knows have been in his corner for the long haul.

Above is a picture with Ron and Doug because they were in Hellboy and Hellboy II together.  Ron was asking the photographer if the love showed enough.  I'd say so!  Love both these guys!

Here is the Hellboy picture they both signed for me, the joke is that I always tweet them when Can't Smile Without You shows up on my workout mix.  Doug always "favorites" those posts.

In case you can't read Ron's inscription, it says "Me Neither. Luv U" I think this is just about my favorite thing from the con. 

It was SO good to see him again.  Just love that guy, like a brother.  He's a keeper!

One more photo op with just Ron tomorrow.  Will have to say my quick goodbyes then, as we have to get to the airport early in case of security delays.  

I didn't get to spend much time with my friends.  We really enjoy those girls, but neither Matt nor I are really fond of going out to noisy places.  Besides, Matt can't drink, and never did drink much in any case, and I fall asleep if I have more than one drink.  I'm afraid I'm one of those bookish types who thinks a party is staying home curled up with a good book!  Or maybe hanging out with a few friends or just one friend and talking.  (Introverts don't party well.) (Don't know what my extroverted spouse's problem is with going out, except that he doesn't drink anymore.)

Wish we could hang out, just us girls sometime, but unless they all come to visit in my area, and even then, I can't very well just exclude Matt. (Well, I could, but he'd be hurt. Not a good thing.)

We did have a great time at dinner tonight, good food and good conversation, even if we had to shout across the table sometimes!

I've stayed up too late working on this.  I'll add more tomorrow.  Let us hope the trip home is uneventful, and the house is in good shape.

OK, I've been back in Moore, America (as some of the locals call it) for about 4 hours or so now.  All the unpacking is done, laundry to be started tomorrow. I have made myself a Lemon Chiffon Cake Martini. (Oh, so GOOD!) Recipe at TheMartiniDiva.com.

Yesterday we also got to see the latest episode of Star Trek Continues. Episode 6 "Come Not Between The Dragons."  Beautifully done, beautiful story, very true to the Original Series. This is one of the very best episodes of any Star Trek I've ever seen.  Wow.  Just wow.  We got a poster and had Michelle and Chris and Gigi sign it.  We shall treasure it.
This is one reason we couldn't spend too much time with the other Perlgirls this weekend, we were geeking out on our long-held Star Trek fandom.  Star Trek Continues is a loving tribute to the original series.  It looks and feels and sounds a lot like the original.  The production is all non-profit.  Nobody gets a paycheck for making it.  Talent and time is donated, the costs of production such as sets, storage of sets, studio time, materials, etc are what the crowdfunding   money raised covers, and the actors and others pay their own room and board and transportation during production.  The results are breathtaking.  You must see it!  If you haven't found it yet, go to startrekcontinues.com  You owe it to yourself to check it out, especially if you loved the original Star Trek.
Here's the poster:

We got to spend quite a bit of time talking with Michelle Specht and Chris Doohan, and a bit of time this morning with Gigi Edgley about the episode and the series in general.

 We went with the other Perlgirls to get our photo ops with Ron.  Here's mine.

After that, we went about checking in with and saying goodbye to the folks we had met and visited with this weekend.  Stopped by Michelle's table, and Chris's and stopped to meet Gigi and get her signature on the poster.

We also went back to see Doug Jones one more time, and I bought a "Mother Ghost" figure from Crimson Peak, and he signed it.

Also collected more hugs and smiles.


  Went back to see Ron again, just to say thanks and goodbye.  Girl at the line entrance is all "Are you SURE he'll remember you?"  We said yes, he will.  About that time his booth helpers saw us and said, "Hey! Hi! Are you guys just coming by to say hi?"   THEY remembered us! Of course Ron came out for hugs and a little chat, and to wish us safe travels home.  I missed the opportunity for a group shot with the girls because they caught him later.  I also missed the panel discussions he was in on because they conflicted with the Star Trek Continues panel and with when we had to leave for the airport.  It's hard to be Torn Between Two Fandoms, you know?  I love Ron like a brother; but Star Trek, well, you'd have to be a fan to understand, I guess. REALLY wish I could've seen Doug's panel, too.

We stopped by Michael Ornstein's table again to say good bye, and show him that I'm wearing the "lucky shirt" on the flight home. (It cracks him up, every time!) We bought a painting of his, an original that he did just for this show.  We bought the painting on Friday.  I managed to get it back to the hotel without the rain ruining it largely because Michael painted these on a plasticized paper. (Also, I had bought a protective sleeve for it.)

This is my favorite of the ones Michael did for the con.  The expression in the eyes, the colors, it's all compelling. There's a story or three in there. It's going to hang in the hall, where we'll see it often, and so will visitors, if they look that way as they pass the hall.

I did mention the rain, didn't I?  Just briefly, I see.  This will be forever remembered as The Con That We Got Rained On. It POURED on us when we were walking from the NRG Center across the street to our pickup point.  We then got further soaked between the hotel lobby and our room.  On top of all that, the ceiling in our room leaked.  Right in front of the fireplace, there was water dripping.  Both from the ceiling, and down the front of the fireplace insert, between it and the actual wall.  Joy.
The hotel was very sweet about it, offered to move us, etc, but we didn't want to move our stuff in the middle of a howling thunderstorm, so we just asked for a bunch of towels to keep it contained, and learned to ignore the drip,drip,drip.  Luckily, the rain stopped after a couple of hours, and by the next morning, you almost couldn't tell the carpet had been soaked over there.  They cleaned it all up while we were at the Con on Saturday.
We did get one group shot of all us girls and the two husbands who gamely came along.  This was taken right after our photos with Ron.

From left, Matt, Mary, me, Kelly, Jana, Mal, and Lance.

So glad we got to meet Lance.  Glad I got to spend at least SOME time with my friends.  I made some new friends,too, and got to show appreciation to people who have done GREAT work and made many of us Trek fans SO happy.

On the way out the door, we stopped to say farewell to the artist Nicole Brune.  She and her husband and their young daughter were the folks we met on the way in on the shuttle from the hotel on Friday.  Her art is really beautiful.  Traditional pin-ups, but with more attitude.  We bought a couple of her prints, but also her book -

Her husband is a character, and their daughter is just delightful.  SO glad we met up, and VERY glad we bought those prints!  Her web address is:www.nicolebrune.com

The two prints we bought are on the upper left, The Last Teaparty and Pamela's Midnight Rendezvous. Just below it is the decorated, clasped, leather-bound journal of handmade paper that I bought.  Of course, you can also see the StarTrek Continues Episode 6 poster, and my portfolio of con photo ops and autographs.

By the way, the Star Trek Continues poster was free; I paid for the actors' autographs, of course, because hey, we want them to keep being able to come to cons and to make more Star Trek Continues!

Whoa!  I think I just about covered it all, except for getting lots of hugs from the other #Perlgirls who were there. Wish we could get more of us together.  I KNOW we'd hang out then, I'd just tell Matt he was tagging along like it or not! (Or maybe he and Lance or some of the other spouses could go for a night of their own...) Would greatly depend on where we were.
Just so much love this weekend, and I really needed it!  A great, relaxing, fun time.  Thanks again to Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Michael Ornstein, Michelle Specht, Chris Doohan, Gigi Edgley, and Nicole Brune and family for being so awesome and so kind to fans!
Extra hugs to Doug, always.  You have the most soothing presence of anyone I've ever met!  (And you're fun, too!  Bonus!)

I do hope this makes sense.  I have read over it several times, but it was written piecemeal, and on at least one extremely sleep-deprived night.  If it sounds too juvenile, or too "fangirly" , I'm sorry.  I AM something of an antiquated geek girl , after all.  Bear with me.

Just Another Manic Monday...

Now that I've given you all a classic '80s earworm, yes, it's Monday again.

I had several things to do today, and I got MOST of them done.  In spite of rain that reminded me at times of my mother-in-law's description of "rain like an inverted ocean."  Seriously.  High-speed wind shield wipers almost didn't cut it.  
The ducks love it.  Our resident neighborhood Mallards have been out there most of the day snuffling through the puddles and thoroughly enjoying themselves.
I am not so sure the broom plant or my roses are going to like all that moisture so much.  It's good for the area in general, though.  
Today was grocery shopping day.  Thankfully, I got my walk in early, before the rain started. I am also grateful that the rain let up long enough for me to get the groceries from the commissary to my car.  Once home, I pulled the car close enough to the garage to be able to unload in relative dryness. 
Voice lesson was a challenge.  Been a LONG time since I had a lesson, and a long time since I've practiced enough.  My throat was not happy with me. 
I also managed to get the kitchen cleaned up and the dishwasher dealt with this afternoon. 

There's still a load of towels to be folded in the dryer, but hey, they're not goin' anywhere...

Five more days of antibiotics, tomorrow's the last day of the steroids. 
Oh, yeah, I got stung by what we THINK was a wasp while in Austin almost two weeks ago.  The spot was almost completely gone, not even very red when we left Austin.  Last Tuesday morning, it was itchy, really swollen, and red.  Seems wasp stings do that sometimes - they have a delayed reaction.  So, off to the clinic I went, and the doc said I had a fever, so antibiotics, and a steroid pack for the swelling and irritation.  It is not swollen at all anymore, the mark is almost gone.  Just a little bump where the actual sting was, and it's not even red.   Downside has been that I have to keep food in my stomach, or it gets really painful.  Don't even want to SEE the scale until next week after I've had a chance to normalize the food/exercise ratio.  The clothes mostly still fit, so that's good...

Today was also my Mom's 91st birthday.  Had to call and wish her a happy birthday, and confess that though I had a card, and had indeed gotten it READY to mail, I had neglected to get it into the mailbox until this morning.  She laughed, and said that everybody's card seemed to be late this year.  She sounds good, and was having a great birthday.  Someone from her church brought her a little birthday cake, all decorated.  She says she'll probably take it to the dining room to share with the other residents who sit at her table. 

Days like this I usually prefer to spend curled up in my office with a book.  I only got to do that for a little while today.  I think I'll go do that some more before bedtime. 
Just checking in so that I don't get out of the habit of writing in this blog completely.

Anybody Seen A Guy Building A Big Boat?

We talk about the weather a lot in Oklahoma.  Only natural, the weather here can be deadly.  In more ways than one.  Giant monsters of storms can come out of nowhere and eat your whole town, sheets of ice can fall and make travel dangerous, heatwaves can come that will make you wish you were dead, and, on occasion, we get steady, unrelenting rain in the middle of freakin' July.
So, this blog post is also about the weather.  Mostly.
Today, it was so rainy, that my walks both took place in the rain.  I tried wearing the Wellies, but my ankles were too restricted by the boots, so trudged home and put the non-slip sneakers that were still wet from the morning walk back on for the evening walk.  Didn't get as soaked on the evening trip.  Still, had to hang my light jacket up to dry.  At least I didn't have to put it, my capris and my socks in the dryer like I did after this morning's walk.
On these walks, I had the soundtrack for Pacific Rim to keep me company.  Excellent music for walking.  The music was running through my head so much, I just bought the soundtrack to help get the little theme out of there.  Seems to help. Also fit the atmosphere of the day today.  I mean, in Pacific Rim, it seems to be cloudy and raining a LOT.  So it fit my very damp walks very well.

Everything here had gotten dry again, and my herbs and flowers were suffering.  We needed the rain.  Of course, I had just watered the yard around the foundations of the house the day before all the rain started.  I guess I had to guarantee our rainfall, but boy, that gets hard on the water bill.

Today had some positive notes as well.  I got to use the new digital audio recorder to record my voice lesson, and it worked just fine.  No more cassette tapes for me.  We will also be able to connect Karen's microphones to the recorder and make good quality recordings of some of my songs. 

Now it is Tuesday, and I have more to write.

Today, we actually see the sun!  Amazing!  My walk was reasonably dry.  As the sun came out, this came up on my Pandora mix.  So very appropriate, and uplifting after all the dreary wet weather.  In the middle of JULY, for God's sake!

Got all my errands run this morning, so we once again have fruit and other low fat things to nibble on in the house.  Also, filled up my car with gas, and found out I got over 26 mpg this last month.  For me, driving a compact station wagon all around town with no highway miles, that's pretty good.  It'll go down again because of the air conditioner use soon.  I was only down to about 1/4 tank.  I cannot let it get below a quarter tank.  Saw too many commercials on AFN while in Germany about preparedness and safety. Thank God we never had to do a non-combatant emergency evacuation, but we had to have all our ducks in a row just in case.  To this day, I get nervous if I have less than half a tank of gas.

About time to head for work.  Tuesdays are my Mondays as far as work goes.  Here's hoping we aren't too slammed with check ins.  It IS summertime at your library!  Glad to know the people love us and come see us so often.  The library is one of the busiest places in town!  (Though the cynics among us say it's because of unlimited dvd checkouts and free internet.  Though PLENTY of books circulate as well.)

Glad to report that it appears we won't be needing the Ark after all.  Hope all of you have a fabulous Tuesday!
As Ever,
Katie

Birthday Thoughts

So the day when I am officially another year older has arrived.  I was afraid it would be a day I would struggle to be cheerful, because the local weather hyenas started howling this weekend about "blizzard conditions" in the metro today. (Well, there are monsoon conditions here so far today, maybe, but not one snowflake so far.  Northwest is another story!)   As someone who grew up in the land of sunshine, orange trees, droughts, smog, and traffic, the thought of a blizzard is depressing.  Being trapped in the house for long periods of time is not my idea of fun. ( Don't get me wrong, we have a nice house, and lots of things to keep us entertained, and we DO still enjoy each other's company, but I am somewhat claustrophobic.  The very idea of not being able to go outside if I feel like it gives me the willies!)

The day itself, however, has been full of blessings.  First off, no snow, just rain.  (We NEED rain, and I can drive in rain.)  I got out early and got all the groceries bought, and my allowance and gas money out of the bank.  The groceries came in under budget thanks to coupons, and putting them away didn't take too awfully long.  Stew is in the crock pot for a nice, cozy birthday dinner.  (With sourdough bread to toast in the broiler to go with it!)  All the cleaning is done, so now if we get stuck in the house, it will be in a fresh, clean, good-smelling house. 

An especially nice blessing is having my voice back to just about normal.  I have been so afraid it was gone for good, but the mid - range is back in place, and I am Go! for any and all singing that needs to be done!

There have been really special birthday wishes sent to me today.  I forget how many dear people that I care about also care about me.  My Facebook feed has been overflowing with loving good wishes.  Most of these are folks I have either met face to face, or have corresponded with for so long, that we feel like we've known each other forever.  There are family wishes in there, too.  MY big brother, and NOBODY else's, is the only of my siblings on Facebook, and he always greets me there, as well as sending a card.  I got a sweet post from one of my nieces - in- law, too.  One of my Facebook friends who is also on Twitter sent me a nice birthday tweet, and so did an actor/artist that I follow.  The icing on the birthday cake of this day though, was a nice, short, 'happy birthday' from a busy man that I admire.  It was the perfect topper for a day that turned out so much nicer than I was afraid it would.

Throughout the day were little reminders of how blessed and how precious this life is.  There were lots of nice people at the base today, from the gate guard to the cashier and the bagger at the commissary who were cheerful and helpful in spite of the yucky cold wet weather.  Those that looked at my ID card even wished me a happy birthday.  (Nice to know they actually look at the darn thing when I go to the trouble to have it out for them!)
My dear husband had a sweet little gift for me when he got home.  A while back, I had lamented that one pair of my full size sewing shears had just disappeared.  He replaced them today with an even nicer pair.  A small thing, perhaps, but so very thoughtful and attentive of him to remember my lamentation over "the good scissors".
There have been other "birthday presents" that we have bought together.  Like this fabulous new computer that I got right after Christmas because the old one up and died.  (It was only five years old, which is about 110 in computer years...) I got a Nook HD+ on Friday because the old Nook Color, while still working, is getting harder and harder to keep charged when using the Wi-Fi.  This new one will let me watch Netflix on the go on a screen that is much more watchable than my phone.  (Needs Wi-Fi connection, but that is cheaper than the data on my phone when it goes over the contract limit!)   I can also be environmentally responsible at church and download the service bulletin to the Nook HD+, and not have to use a paper bulletin.  (Quieter during the service, too!)  I have also acquired a Bodhran and an istructional dvd to help me learn to play it.  I intend to do so.  I've wanted to learn for awhile now.
So, this birthday is a LOT better than I feared it would be.  Thanks again to all those who have made it so.
All my Facbook friends and family, (you know who you are!)  Also, Anne Lower, Michael M. Ornstein, Ron Perlman, Mary Stolfa, Anna Cathy Wells, and Fiona.  (Rusty, I know you are sending good wishes, too, but I also know you are buried in job training! ;-) ) Phyllis C., commissary cashier extraordinaire, and Matthew Douglas Amistead, husband who goes above and beyond the call for me!