Monday, February 22, 2010

Dinner at Bugaboo Creek

Kevin was supposed to return to school in NYC yesterday via the 4 pm Vamoose bus, but when he arrived at the bus pick-up location, he found out he actually had reservations for the 2 pm bus. Since the 4 pm bus was full, he returned home to try again this morning. I had planned on having Mexican lasagna for dinner, but while it was cooking, Kevin decided he wanted to go out for dinner. So, Dennis, Kevin and I ended up going to Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse in Rockville. It was the first time any of us had ever been there, and while the service was extremely slow, the food was very good.

"Bugaboo" eyes!

Kevin is crowned Elk King!

So, Kevin ended up taking the 8:10 bus back to New York City this morning. Hope he had a good ride!

WARNING – THIS NEXT SECTION MAY GROSS OUT SOME PEOPLE!

When I was 2 years old I had major intestinal surgery, and to this day I have this big, ugly scar on my mid-section. A couple weeks ago a small, red, painful bump appeared at the top of the scar. This morning the bump had turned pussy (as in pus), so I squeezed it. Out popped this ¼” long, plump, round, white thing that to me looked exactly like a worm. I totally freaked out, because it was very possible that it could, indeed, be some kind of parasitic worm. (Those who know me also know that I love to travel and have been to 5 Third-World or semi-Third-World countries in the past few years, so it was not inconceivable that I had picked up something. In fact, a few years ago, I did end up with parasites from a trip to India!)

Totally repulsed by this wormy discovery, I immediately called my doctor’s office and they had me come in immediately. I put the “worm” in a plastic baggie and off we went to see my physician. When I told the doctor my story and showed him the specimen, he kind of chucked. To my GREAT relief, it was not a worm or any other type of parasite. When my doctor told me it was a “calcified encapsulated suture” from my intestinal surgery scar, I was astounded! From over 50 years ago? How could this be!

My doctor explained that when I had my surgery, absorbable sutures made from animal gut (since they didn’t use synthetic back then) were used to close me up. It appears that not all of the sutures dissolved. Over the years, my body recognized these as foreign and calcium formed around them (this is a common occurrence with foreign objects in the body). Evidently, my body finally rejected this one particular suture, and my “worm” was the suture being ejected from my body. Boy, it sure did take its sweet time -- 50+ years! I now wonder how many more calcified encapsulated sutures I have waiting in my scar to be propelled from my body!! (TOLD YOU IT WAS GROSS.)

February 21, 2010

Visiting Kathleen's New Place

This past Monday, my daughter, Kathleen, moved out of the family home (for the 3rd time -- these Boomerang kids!), so this afternoon I stopped by her new apartment in Laytonsville to see how she is settling in. She is buying all new furniture, so her place was a little sparse. But, she has a very good decorating eye, and I really like the little she has done so far. Enjoy the tour.

Kathleen lives in a very small apartment community. There are only 4 units in her building.

Kathleen standing in her living room.

Kathleen loves her new 42" television. Roxy likes it, too!

In the hallway to the bathroom with Minnie.

The sparkling, white kitchen. The door leads outside to a very large patio.

The cute bathroom.

New artwork for the bathroom.

The only piece of furniture in the bedroom!

On the way home, I took a photograph of the road near my house. The snow is still taller than most of the vehicles. I'm afraid this stuff won't completely melt until summer.

The tree farm down the street from my house looks beautiful in the snow.

Last spring, a family of beavers built a dam and stopped up the creek near my house. A small pond has formed, which you can barely see toward the back of the creek. The beavers have cut down many trees along the creek to build their dam. One day as I was exploring this area, I saw one of the beavers swimming. At first I thought it was a log, then as I got a closer look I realized it was a monstrous beaver. Whoa, those things are BIG!

Behind my house, down the hill, across the creek, and back up the hill on the other side, is a farm. Here is a photograph that I took this afternoon of the barn. Such a beautiful setting.

February 21, 2010

God's Handiwork

God's majesty was on full display last evening for all to see, as evidenced by the gorgeous sunset behind my house. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." (Psalm 19:1)

February 20, 2010

Kevin's Weekend Visit

Kevin is home from college for the weekend. Dennis and I didn't know he was coming home until yesterday. It's so nice to have him here because we don't get to see him often. He's been lazing around all day -- sleeping in late, watching the Olympics on t-v, and working on his Jeep in the freezing cold garage.

This afternoon Kevin took the dogs out back. Dusty and Molly had a great time playing in the snow.

While I was taking photos of Kevin and the dogs, I noticed a herd of about 7 or 8 deer just inside our woods. The herd is usually on our property, but this is the first time I had seen them since the February 5th snowstorm. I had been wondering and quite worried about what had happened to them since we had a total of 40 inches of snow fall since the 5th. I was thrilled to see them again. As I was getting ready to photograph them, they ran down the hill deeper into the woods. I was able to get a shot of one of them before they disappeared.