Apropos of Nothing v.20

Steve, my hopes and wishes are with your and your family. Hope all goes as well as possible. Sharon

Praying for your family, Sofer, especially Charlize.

Sorry to hear about your cute little GD. All our best wishes are being sent to you and yours.

Steve, I'm so sorry to hear it. Thinking good thoughts in Charlize's direction...

Hey, Steve, wellness for you and Charlize..... sent with love. Hope everyone can be peaceful during this ordeal also, I know it's a rough go for all involved. Bless you.

Many prayers for Charlize and all of you coming from here.

Steve, I got the message you passed to my DH tonight. We're sorry to have missed you, but I am praying hard for a full recovery for your precious girl, and for you and her parents as well. She is in good hands at that hospital.


Julia, sorry I didn't get your post until now. I have been MIA lately. That tree is a birch, i believe, and should be fine. It was outside all the time last year, in an un-sheltered location so it weathered the deep freeze of last November nicely.

I have not covered anything this year. It either lives or dies. I admit that this attitude gives me pause when I see my bananas weeping from cold. I moved several things into the greenhouse, but three large pots of succulents didn't make it inside. I'm afraid to look. But this year I did not plant anything late in the year. I learned that lesson last year with the November freeze.

On the lighter side, a bit, I am in my new office and it's really nice. I moved my big red banana into the office and it's loving it. There are two new leaves already. I also moved a large tree fuchsia I received last year from Thistledownfarms. It's in a large pot and, unlike the banana, I did not take it out of the pot before moving it. Now I'm wondering if I should be sorry. Tonight as I was working at my desk, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and it was a rodent of some kind in my office. Too large for a mouse, no long tail as on a rat. Then I saw that something had been digging in the fuchsia pot. I'm hoping it wasn't a vole that I brought in with the plant. Traps will need to be set, at any rate. I can't believe I may have brought a vole with me to the new office.

Eep... make him the office mascot...?

Steve

Didn't have time to send wishes your way this AM. Have been thinking about your Charlize all day. My thoughts are with you and your family.
I hope she is giving you a smile this evening and all went well.

Pix, it's time for you to write a cartoon, starring the office creature.

Pixy, how kind of you to open the first ever 'vole rescue' operation! I hope you and your new office mate bond quickly. Or, perhaps this is a stroke of karma to assuage your general angst against the entire vole population. Or the voles may just be ramping up their offense. Who's to know...???

It's a spy vole!

LOL

Well, I hate to say it but it's a dead vole. If it's even a vole. I only caught a glimpse, but I'll let you know. if he's a spy, he's going to have a pretty boring time of it.

next we will have to send you the thousand rats in California that are awaiting rescue. You clearly know how to deal with such critters.

I don't know what the story is about the thousand rescue rats but I keep seeing the headlines! And of course, now that I look for the story it is nowhere to be found, but, I swear, I did see it and did not make it up.

So, a vole looks like a large mouse or a small rat without the long tail? Don't they have some crucial role in the redwood forest ecology? What the heck is one doing in an office in the first place?

Did I come in in the middle of the story? Oops, sorry bout that, it's a bad habit.

*grin*

Thank you everyone. Charlize did well in the surgery yesterday and they took out a very large kidney mass. It was encapsulated and not spred to any other location. Lymph nodes were taken and we will find out the extent of the tumor type tomorrow. Chemo will start in a week or so. We will see if she needs radiation with biopsy results with the Oncologist tomorrow. Tonight was special and when I arrived she took my hand and with her mother fell asleep next to me. I stayed for a couple of hours and talked and kissed her when she woke up. Pain is well controlled and she is only dealing with the side effects of the spinal block. Itching and discomfort with the naso-gastric tube and urethral catheter. But it was so nice to watch her sleep and suckel on her pacifier. She is so beautiful and I love her so much. It is hard to know how tough she is to become to fight her battle ahead. Thanks so much for the prayers.

Steve,
Thank you for taking the time to let us know what is going on. Happy to here she is out of sugery. Wishing you the best and pray she has a comlete recovery.

What a great thanksgiving gift - to have her do so well in this first phase and safely out of surgery. So scary for such little ones. Stay strong and we will continue to send little Charlize all good karma, prayers, and thoughts.

Best thoughts going out to you and Charlize and your family, Steve. It's difficult to watch a little one go through illness. She is lucky to have you with her. Thanksgiving blessings to you all.

Today I am heading down to my parents' home in Tahoe for Thanksgiving, and I wish all of you a very peaceful and happy holiday.

Drive safelyJudi, and all others traveling in these slick conditions.

Oh, traveling mercies, Judi.

Praises on hearing little Charlize came through surgery well!!! Continued prayers for her journey. Hugs to you all.

That is such wonderful news about Charlize, Steve. We'll keep your family in our prayers.

Judi, you be careful. We are planning to go to Reno or Tahoe tomorrow in the motor home to tie the knot. How long are you going to be there? We need a witness, you know!

Best wishes to you also Lynn. Have a safe trip everyone.

Sofer, good to hear everything has gone well.

Oh My! I just read about Charlize, and Steve, I am grateful she has come through surgery safely, and that you are there with her and her family to give them all love and support. I will be thinking of you and your precious granddaughter, and hope all further treatment goes as well.

Welcome to your new office Pixy! LOL about the vole. They just can't be satisfied with your ouitdoor garden, but have to invade the interior as well??? That is blatantly going too far.

Power is back on here, which is a nice surprise. We have been several days without in previous storms, but the worst was about 13 years ago when we were out for a week and my son had chicken pox.

Congratulations Lynn!!!

Safe travels everyone.

This message was edited Nov 24, 2010 12:01 PM

Congratulations Lynn & Joey! Now we will know for sure you are both a couple of turkeys...

Steve, so glad to hear things went will with Charlize surgery.... hope all continues well and peaceful.

Judi, brave woman to brave the roads, wow, be safe......

"Encapsulated" sounds like great news. Good luck with the biopsies!

Continuing prayers for her and the whole family.

Corey

Excellent news, Steve. Here's wishing her a speedy recovery, and a long, happy and healthy life.

Lynn! Congrats! You're finally making an honest man out of him... LOL ;)

Lynn and Joey
Congrats!! Have a fun trip.

well, heck, this crew moves so fast I totally missed the wedding announcement in all the other news and flurry. Best wishes and hope it all goes beautifully!

I signed on to find news of Charlize. Excellent! 'Encapsulated' is good news, indeed. I know she will have a lot of people praying for her complete recovery and long life. And for Grandpa to survive this, too.

Lynn, I missed the announcement, too! Congratulations to you and Joey! I'm so glad you two are going to make it official. Call me old fashioned, but I do like a good marriage. (emphasis on the word 'good', of course. Otherwise, why bother>)

Kylaluaz, the only crucial role I know of for voles is food for owls and whatever other predator can catch them. The only crucial role they've ever had in my garden is to teach me a lesson about how we actually never own a garden, nor are we actually in charge of what happens. I don't know for sure this critter is a vole. We set the trap tonight. If we determine it's a vole, it had to come in with one of the large potted plants I have in the office. One, in particular, used to be on the deck by my pond, which is prime vole habitat.

Good news about Charlize, and many hopes for continued good tidings!

And best wishes for your wedding, Lynn! How lovely!

Pixy, most people don't import voles. How interesting of you!

Steve, I am so glad to hear that Charlzie's prognosis is so positive for such a bad situation. It is great that your family has the strength and love to meet this challenge with as positive an attitude as possible. Blessings sent to you all.....

Lynn, Glad you guys are sticking to the plan and have decided on a destination. Have a fantastic trip, and know that Don and Mom and I will be with you in spirit!

Judi, Lynn, and all others who are traveling... safe journey... be careful!

Pixy, Sorry, but I couldn't help but snicker at the irony of the posibility of you importing a vole into your office... can you never be free of them?! I honestly hope that it turns out to be a house mouse just to preserve your piece of mind!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.... may you be lucky enough to be able to spend it with those who mean the most to you!

Lynn the blessing of marrige is so complete and the long term life moments are so valuable for those who do this commitment. I don't know what I would do without my Karen standing tall beside me at this moment! Congradulations Joey you are fortunate! Love you LYNN!

This is a hospital site to view my Charlize's progress. I need to see how it works. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.carepages.com%2Fcarepages%2FBeautifulGrace&h=fced2

This message was edited Nov 25, 2010 6:03 PM

What a wonderful service the hospital (or is carepages separate?) offers to keep folks up to date on progress, particularly in our current age of extreme privacy. Great site that allows the family to disclose as much (or little) information as they like, and to have a spot for folks to post supporting comments. Works great. Good thoughts and joojoo headed your way on a continuous basis.

Here are a few pics I took during the snow. In the courtyard.

A funny looking dog.

The last rose of summer?

I liked the golden leaves on the flowering cherry tree.