It's been a busy month

The beginning of the month started out with a trip to Austin. My son tore him labrum and needed shoulder surgery. Erin my son's fiance has a new job and didn't have the time off so I offered to go down. I had never flown by myself. On previous flights my brother has always been with me, so I was a little trepidatous. The flight was a bit bumpy but uneventful. I even rented a car by myself for the first time. The night before surgery, I took Sean and Erin to a local chain called Chuy's, their favorite restaurant. It has the best Tex-Mex food I have ever tasted and the decor could make a weird object participant green with envy.

The surgery was more difficult than the doctor anticipated. The tear was larger. Sean is now the proud owner of four anchors in his shoulder. They evidently hold everything in place while it heals. He already has one in his knee from a torn ACL. Erin says he is slowly becoming a bionic man.

But a few days later, we went to celebrate his recovery at Cheesecake Factory.I had never been. But it was worth the trip.

When your child lives far away from you, you worry a little more about them. Seeing them again reassures you that they are strong and happy and are doing fine. I flew home at the tail end of Hurricane Ike. The pilot had to detour and it was very turbulent. If this had been my first flight, I wouldn't be flying again. We weren't allowed to get out of our seats or take off the seat belts. But I made it home safely being welcomed at the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport by my husband and the Baltimore Crab. I considered adding this to the weird object gallery, but Margaret beat me to it with her crab object.
NEXT, My daughter works for a wonderful organization called The Sheridan Patterson Center. She is a social worker and they work with higher risk foster children and their foster and biological families. They had their first swim-a-thon as a fundraiser. They take a holistic approach and provide a tremendous amount of alternative training and therapy. The suggest and teach healthier eating, aromatherapy, and meditating along with the traditional therapies.


So, Mom was enlisted to help at the ticket and registration table. It was held at a YMCA that was built on the old Memorial Stadium site. Itwas not like any Y I have ever been in. It was truly a neighborhood resource. Beside the pool, they had a basketball court, fitness equipment and many meeting areas that could be used. You could see that it was heavily utilized by the neighborhood children. I wish I lived closer to it.

The teams really had a good time--as did the volunteers and employees.
They had a VIP dinner at the end of the day for their sponsors. They are a wonderful organizaton and I am glad my daughter is involved with them.


Then, Margaret and I headed to Ocean City, MD, for an office weekend. Nine of us in two rooms on the beach. It really was fun. I am a Wildwood girl, so Ocean City was new for me. The beach is shorter and the riptides were horrible but the waves were exciting to watch.But there was a storm heading up the coast and the waves, I was told, were fiercer than usual. Surfers were everywhere. I waded in the water and even that was exhausting. You were fighting not to be pulled further into the water.On the beach, we did see some sand sculptures. Margaret says this particular artist is always there and usually does religous themes.

On the last night, we headed to a local crab house...

...and made a new friend, although he didn't have much to say---a perfect man.

It was a nice weekend and a great experience to get out of the office and just be friends.