The boy doesn't even know about the Newtown massacre

The other day, Babbo confessed that he's been unable to stop thinking about the fact that we live and we die, but the earth just keeps spinning and spinning as if we weren't here at all. This is what has been making him afraid to sleep in his own room - because the thought was just making him so sad. We talked a bit about the meaning of being here, and I pointed out that most of the folks he knew were at peace with the fact that one day, some sooner than others, they would die. In addition to being at peace, they were honestly happy people. I encouraged him to be mindful of his actions on others, but to go ahead and to pursue those things that make him happy.

In other news this week, thanks or no thanks to our friends from the north (Mark, Mary, and Loz are down from Vancouver), the boy has been working on his Michael Caine impression.

Valerie and Judy see each other again after 8 years!

Chris and Valerie came back from the big city for a visit to the East Side around Thanksgiving Weekend. It was great to be with them again. We had a little wander around the glorious Tablelands on a glorious Thanksgiving morning, and we ate like princes and princesses (thanks Chris!).

On the morning I went in for surgery, my dad and Judy came up to help watch Wyatt. It'd been over 8 years since V and Judy had seen each other. By all reports, J recognized her dear buddies right away. Bless.

Yes, but is it going to be like a Costco inside there?

* still have this to look forward to in the coming years. 


Five days post-op from a laparascopic hysterectomy and man, I feel alright. I am on very little Norco and Ibuprofin and I am grateful for the talented and young Dr. Arndal who was able to keep the procedure from becoming a full laparatomy (the long incision through the abdominal walls), even though she found stuck ovaries and scar tissue.

Despite giving up: my left ovary, two fallopian tubes, a uterus, and a cervix, my innards feel pretty normal. I was afraid that having all those organs removed would render me into a Costco warehouse - all big and empty. Happy to report that my stomach and guts are only too happy to fill the void.

My remaining right ovary is a bit sore, but hey, if you'd been unstuck from your hiding place and cleaned up, you'd be sore, too.

I am grateful that my uterus and other reproductive organs aren't going to be my favorite topic of potluck chitchat (Hey, I am still an American and inappropriate topics at dinner are our birthright) for years on end (one year was enough). I am grateful for some insurance (such that it is - the procedure was approved only as an outpatient deal - right. I was vomiting from the anesthesia until 9 pm the night of). I am very grateful for Matty, Babbo, and my family and buds.

What we did on our holiday

Back from a very good trip to Europe. A week month and some later, the whines, the bouts of dehydration, and the fussiness over the logistical minutia have faded. A month and some later, the memories of being someplace familiar, but different, the good old-fashioned catch up with dear and new friends (Gary and Sandy Linn bred while we were breeding and their boys are awesome), and the random acts of kindness among strangers have prevailed.

I am grateful that Matt insisted on seeing some new places – and suggested the Swiss Alps. They, as well as Chamonix, are very special places. I guess we get all emotional about mountains and not beaches in the end. I'm glad that Schober got to see and climb around the Fatherland in a week of glorious autumn weather.

My night in London, with Carosello and Mark, Ed Sterns from my Hong Kong C/NBC days, Owen Harris – who is now in Sydney, Spence Bayles from Leeds and so many other old-timer, hardcore Mutton Birds fans was a dream. It was the weirdest thing to be in pub with folks I've known for years only online and to finish each other’s fragments of conversations with a Mutton Birds’ lyric. The band played very well and the highlight for me was looking over at Carosello, who openly wept to “Ngaire” and “While You Sleep.” It was also special to be in a venue with maybe 800 folks who knew the words to all the songs and all shared that special “mutton moment.”