GRANDMA REID HAS A NASTY FALL

Grandma had a bad fall a few days ago, cutting, scratching and bruising herself pretty seriously in the process. She was taken to the hospital where's she's stayed for a few days to heal and feel better. I gave her a call and she was in pretty good spirits, all things considered. She hadn't looked at herself in a mirror yet and was a little afraid of the bruises/cuts, but I told her to tell anyone who asks that she went in for plastic surgery. She thought that was a good idea.

I believe she's back home now, but she did mention that the hospital has worked out an arrangement where a nurse or someone with similar credentials will now begin stopping by the house regularly to assist with anything. She felt pretty good about it, particularly since she understood that Medicare would cover all the costs. Here's hoping it gives her more peace of mind.

NEW BLOG FOR ME-MA'S BIRTHDAY

I've created a new website with news and announcements regarding Me-Ma's coming birthday. Check it out:

http://www.me-masbirthday.blogspot.com

HOME IMPROVEMENT IN A HURRY

Well, we learned over the weekend that several pieces of Jill's grandparents' furniture will be delivered to the house this week from Los Angeles. This includes a dining set and a monstrous, black wrought-iron baker's rack.

So, we switched into high gear and began painting the dining room. We bought a few sample color quarts from Rodda Paints and applied them yesterday. In the process we got rid of most of the dark brown trim that has plagued that room, well to be honest all of the house, and we'll be replacing that with white trim after painting is done this week.

What colors you ask? Well, that's a secret, but when we're all done, I'll post a photo.

All this follows on the heals of a leaky toilet that Jill's father and his friend Steven helped repair last week. The old wax seal had broken, so we had to replace it. The job was reasonably straightforward, but the dumb toilets that we have are all one piece so lifting was particularly heavy because the tank is not detachable. Otherwise, it was as smooth as silk once I had the right replacement screws from Home Depot.

TOM AND KATE SET TO MOVE

Tom emailed to say that he and Kate have been approved to rent a nearly new house in Sacramento. They're finally getting out of the apartment! Congratulations to them; they're going to love it. Should I tell Kate about Tom's yardwork ethic now or later?

Here's a pic of the house and a link to more information about it.



VACATION PICTURES ON THE WAY

Since there's over 400 digital photos from the vacation, it's taking quite a long time to give them all descriptive names and format them appropriately for viewing. By that, I mean many were taken with the camera turned sideways to capture a tall building, a tree or whatever. So I have to go through many of those and turn them rightside, etc.

But soon enough, I'll have some photo highlights posted on here and I'll write some about the countries and individual episodes. Patience...