March 31, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. The MRI.

Once again, I totally forgot. But it all came back to me. For three hours I was in the tube. At first, I wondered whether I might sleep but trying to sleep while the MRI is conducted is like sleeping at the carnival. There are bells and horns and bangs and every so often the whole bed shakes. Fortunately they give you ear phones so everything is a bit muted, but there was an amazing amount of noise. The last time I had an MRI was for just my head so it was fairly short. But today they were doing everything and the test took three hours, all the while the attendants admonishing me to stay still. It was almost inhumane, but the test got done. I sang inside my brain. Certainly could not sleep. Linda was a big help. Fortunately, she volunteered to drive me to the test, because I had fuzzy eyesight this morning when I woke up. Hats off to her. Once again, it helps to have good friends.

March 30, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Acts of Kindness.

When in Mexico, I learned the benefit of holding onto a strong arm when walking. Either Doreen or Rita or Ian were always at my side. Here at the condo, I am reluctant to walk by myself because I have no one to walk beside me and I am unstable. Ken with his Parkinons is almost as bad. This morning I walked around the parking lot and used the parked cars to steady myself. This afternoon when I started to do the same thing, a young lady was working with her flower pots and I asked if she would be willing to walk with me, with me holding onto her strong right arm. She was more than willing to help. In fact she offered to walk with me anytime and put her phone numbers in my phone. Our walk was pleasant and certainly safer for me. It was an act of kindness to me. This evening, Linda, Christina's mother, called to offer to drive me to my MRI tests. The problem for her is that we must leave our condo at 7:00 as my appointment is 8:00 and I must arrive 15 minutes early, so for her it is inconvenient. Ken and I have been discussing how I could get to the tests so her offer to me was the perfect solution. She solved our problem and we are grateful. It has another act of kindness that landed on my lap today and for that I am grateful.

March 29, 2015. Ridgelandm MS. Bitring and Chewing.

We have done it before, bitten off more than we can chew. The difference today and in the past is that right now, neither Ken or I are able to either bite or chew. This coming week will be busy. Every day there are activities that must be done. This is not normal for us these days. Tomorrow we must go to the bank and be ready for the big cheque for settlement. Tuesday morning I have a series of MRI's. So far, we have not figured out how to get me from the parking lot to the admission office. I certainly could not walk it myself. In the afternoon at 4:00 we settle on our new house. Wednesday Christina and the girls will unload our truck while Ken and I measure to see what furniture from the condo should be placed. Thursday the mover will pack and move our belongings from the condo. Fortunately, Wonderful Wendy arrives in the afternoon. Friday the boxes will be opened and we will begin to organize. In addition, the belongings that were put into storage from the farm will arrive, probably on Wednesday or Thursday. We will be in a big mess. I refuse to be stressed with the mess. That is the least of my problems. What I must do is keep my naps going each day and not get over tired. Everything will wait, but Ken and I have probably bitten off more than we can chew at this time of our life. But we will enjoy the chaos and Ken will inspect the yard every day, which will make him happy, so we think we have done a good thing. But this week will not be easy.

March 28, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. The Bed.

Clever Christina and I had a plan. This morning, we were to go to Miskelly, a furniture store, and buy a bed. Our new home will have only one bed moved over from the condo, and we will have a guest. Molly came to help. At ten this morning, Christina and Molly appeared to pick me up but the D. appeared so I was resting on the bed. Poor Christina and Molly were forced to shop all by themselves. Technology is helpful. Christina and Molly chose two beds and sent me pictures. Both beds looked fine so I suggested that Molly make the final decision, and she did. I have a picture of seven year old Molly stretched out on the bed she liked the best. Next Wednesday the bed will be delivered. When Wonderful Wendy arrives to help on Thursday afternoon, she will find a bed all ready for her, all because of Molly and Christina. All Ken and I did was to pay the bill. Life is wonderful.

March 27, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Friends.

I have always been blessed with my friends. The fabric of my life has been enhanced by my friends. Here is another example. My friend Suzanne, who lives in Bethesda, is flying to Jackson on April 27. Then she will drive with us to Texas and share the driving task with me. After two days in Texas, she will fly home. I am thrilled. When we drove to Mississippi I drove myself even though I had a chest full of fluid. But it took us three days, even though it is only a ten hour drive. Normally we stay one night on the road and will do the same with Suzanne. I was not looking forward to taking the trip if I was doing all the driving so I am so pleased that Suzanne offered to take the trip with us. We will have fun too!!

March 26, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Resting.

Yesterday afternoon and all today I have been resting. I have always wondered how much rest I am supposed to get, but I am told not to get tired and not to press to complete the task. Especially the first week after a treatment, I mostly rest. Truth be told, I can not do much but rest. I accomplish tasks in spurts. I wash my face and brush my teeth. Then I rest. Next I put in some laundry. Then I rest. Yesterday mostly I slept. Today I just rest but am mostly awake. Tomorrow will be even better. Surprisingly, I am mellow with the resting probably because I was told that the medication works best when I am at rest. I don't know if this is true or not but at least it keeps me content. March Madness begins again tonight. I will enjoy the games and might listen from the bed, just as if I was listening to the radio. Our system works well. I find it quite astonishing that I am able to rest most of the day and to be happy doing it. So unlike me!!

March 25, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Settled.

For the first time since 1973, we do not own property in Pennsylvania. Our wonderful farm settled today and the funds are already in our bank account, ready for our next transaction. We have loved both our farms, both the early primitive farm and the modern functioning farm. They both restored your soul. But now they are gone. Folks have suggested that the sale is a bitter sweet attitude by us, but we don't feel that way. We loved the farm and had many happy times there but we have no use for it now, so we must move on. We are delighted that the purchaser is similar to us, in that they will ask the Jays to farm the property while the owner and his family will enjoy it on the weekends. It is the best of all possible outcomes. And now we move onto our new home in Mississippi. Ken and I are delighted with the outcome.

March 24, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Progress.

The truck is full and will stay full until we move into our new house. Ken and I visited a consignment shop this morning, told to us by our good agent Susan Mimms. Our plan is to take all our furniture from the condo to the new house. Even though it won't look good, it will work for us until we find something better, except for our bedroom. Ken reads in the middle of the night and needs a good chair. Also the small sitting room off our bedroom is where we will put the TV so we need something to sit while we watch. And we need book cases for the office downstairs. Success. We were able to buy two comfortable chairs for the small sitting room and one smaller chair for beside the bed. And one book case too. It is small but will work. We can't remember how many books we put into storage anyway, but this small bookcase will give us a start. The best part was that Christina and the girls came to meet us for lunch to a Thai restaurant just around the corner. It was fun and festive and a big surprise to everyone as we called them at the last minute. We celebrated our purchase of three chairs plus one small bookcase. Definitely progress.

March 22, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Treatment #5.

The nurse knows me as the patient who has no one accompanying her. It does not seem reasonable for a friend or relative sit in a room for five hours and do nothing except talk to me, so I have told folks that I can do it myself. I must say that in Mexico, when Doreen came with me, the treatments were more fun and the time seemed so be shorter. But I told Christina that I am not a wimp. so I drive myself and I drive home and I stay in a treatment room by myself watching TV , reading, and sleeping. And I think of the medicine going into my body in the IV as the healing water and I embrace the action. In other words, my attitude is upbeat and energetic and I expect the treatment will make me well. The first time I had a treatment, the nurse told me to use the restroom frequently. By the time the liquid hits the bladder, she told me, I should get it from my bladder and not leave the caustic stuff leave in my body. Today I fell asleep and forgot to use the restroom soon enough. Of course, I must push my IV tower down the hall to the closest restroom. Then I must get down the zipper of my jeans. My the time I was able to sit on the toilet, my underwear and jeans can clearly see my urine. I just laughed. But the nurse wanted the social worker to give me a pair of sweat pants. "No. said I. "I am just going home. And who cares if people know I wet my pants". For the rest of the time, I went to the restroom every 30 minutes. I learn fast!! But treatment number 5 will always remain in my mind as the treatment as the one when I wet my pants. Kind of funny, I thought.

March 22, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Wonderful Wendy.

Our day had been pleasant. Instead of meeting for Brunch, Christina and the girls brought us brunch from Julep, a restaurant we like in Jackson. It was Molly's suggestion and it was a good one. The food was excellent so we six enjoyed our food and each other. While they were there, I took a walk, leaning on the strong arm of Kate. After they left, I watched basketball, so the afternoon was pleasant but not exciting. But then I received an e mail from my niece, the Wonderful Wendy and the whole evening changed. Wendy offered to come and help us at our new house and put things in order. I could have hugged her neck. Actually, I have been worried about getting things put away in the new house. I have arranged for the movers to unpack the boxes but I have been concerned with putting things away. I do not have much staying power so I had discussed with Ken that we would probably just be forced to leave everything in piles when we leave for Texas. But Wonderful Wendy is quick and a good worker and she is staying from the 2nd to the 11th. We can get things put away and in order. I am thrilled…and relieved. Wonderful Wendy made my day!!

March 21, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. My Friends.

Once upon a time, we all lived in Bethesda, Maryland. Now we are scattered, except in the summer when we all spend the summer in Nova Scotia, overlooking the bold Atlantic Ocean. Mary and Cliff live in Ocean View, Delaware. Last year, they renovated their summer house and sold their Annapolis home and now spend the year in Delaware, except for the months in Nova Scotia. Gill lives in Toronto and Wendy and Clausen in Potomac, so neither of them had seen the new home. This weekend, they are all there having a party, drinking scotch and eating steak. I know because they phoned me. They wanted to put me on the face stuff but I have no interest in seeing me. I am quite a sight. But we would love to be with them and enjoy the weekend together. They have been loyal and helpful during my illness and treatment. One of the side benefits of my situation is that your friends and family stay in touch with me more than is normal. Wendy gets the gold star because she e mails me eery day, and sometimes twice. I am fortunate with my friends. Ken and I would love to be at the party in Delaware with our good friends. But actually, they might have run out of bedrooms. We must wait until we are in Nova Scotia to do our parties!!

March 20, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Decisions.

Making decisions has never been difficult for us. Ken looks up as much information as possible about the topic being decided, and if we can afford it, we make a decision. But things are different when the topic under discussion is your health. On the one hand, the medicine I am getting every three weeks is working. The pleural effusion has almost all gone as has the mass in my chest. So the infusion has been working on the cancer and the cells both white and red are still working. At my meeting with the Oncologist this morning, it was clear that stopping the infusion makes the good doctor anxious. She does not wish to have me regress. On the other hand, I am getting debilitated. My legs are weak. Ken has bought me a cane and I use it. My balance is not good. My platelets are low. So the decision to stop the present medication and start a hormone type of treatment seems attractive. Except it sometimes does not work. Our decision was to have one more infusion and after two weeks switch to oral medicine. If it does not work, we can always go back to the IV treatment. Decisions are not so easy to make but we are happy having made it. Now here we go!!

March 19, 2015. Rigeland, MS. Pleasures.

We ended with ice cream. You just can not beat ice cream for dessert, especially when one of the diners is 7 years old. The appetizer was the best. Fig jam served with blue cheese or sharp cheese on crackers. Delicious. We six sat in the living room for both the beginning and the end of dinner. For the main course, I brought fried chicken while Christina prepared spinach salad while we sat at the dining room table. Last evening, Ken and I went to dinner at Christina and the girls. Kate came home from Chicago with a cold so we have stayed away, so it was a special event to all be together. And we enjoyed it. We sat in the living room and chatted as we snacked, just like grown ups do. The dinner gave us great pleasure especially as I had a good report from my PET scan. We celebrated and we enjoyed the dinner and each other. It was another simple pleasures of my life.

March 18, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Nikki.

Nikki is the nurse assistant to my Mississippi Oncologist. You e mail or call her about anything and she sends you in the correct direction. I have never met her in person but I have many e mails. She is pleasant and responsive but the thing she really wants for you is to get better. This morning early she received the report from my PET scan. She was so pleased she e mailed me part of the report. She told me that my red cells were higher and the PET scan was better than the last one. She was so excited she wanted me to know the good news. I have noted that folks seem to care about your health. I am a patient to Nikki but she has taken a serious interest in my health. Now she is a nurse with other letters after her name. Most nurses care about the health of their patients but Nikki went above and beyond just caring. I have an appointment with Dr. S. my Oncologist, on Friday where I will get the full report but Nikki could not wait that long to tell me that I had good news in store for me. I was pleased to read the report but even more delighted to read her pleasure in the telling. She really does want me to get better and she is not a friend or relative. It does make you feel good about your care givers.

March 17, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. PET Scan.

The memory is a wonderful thing. It removes anything negative from your memory bank, leaving only the good parts. Today was my second PET scan. I was interested to realize all the bad parts of a PET scan, until I was doing it all again.. Then I remembered. For instance, after the IV was hooked up and medicine injected, I was left by myself in a dimly lit room for an hour. No phone. No magazine. Just rest. And I must drink a full glass of water with sugar stuff in it. The elbows over my head was the part that was most painful. I had totally forgotten about the elbows, until he asked me to put my arms over my head. They still hurt. I remembered dealing with putting me into the tunnel. Last time I sang. This time I counted and got to 2059 before the test was over. The test is very high tech and fancy and the results are miraculous. But the test , like all tests, is not without it's level of discomfort. But the next time I must have a PET scan, I will never remember the difficult parts. I will have focused on the results. Truly. The memory is a wonderful thing.

Mar 16, 2015 Ridgeland, MS Basketball

Basketball was the source of great pleasure to me all last week. I watched the conference championships, one after another, all across the country. It was great sport. When watching college games, you never really know what will happen. You certainly don’t know what team will show up to play. Even a team like Duke played one half of the game playing like a JV high school team. Even at that, they lost by only 6 points. And I saw Carolina State play a wonderful game when they beat Pitt. The next night they could do nothing even close. Where did that team disappear to, over night? Ken does not enjoy basketball, but I loved watching all the games. And the best part is that it was just a taste of the NCAA Tournament, which begins next week. I will be in hog heaven.

March 15, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. The Pucks.

I ate the last puck yesterday and already I miss them. The first time Doreen shopped in Mexico, she bought a box of cookies that the picture looked like shortbread. But they were nothing like shortbread. The cookies were packaged with four in each container with ten packs per box. The first time we ate them for dessert, we all laughed. The cookies were hard and not a bit sweet but looked like miniature hockey pucks so of course, we all call them pucks. And no one would eat them except for me and Don. I don't know what was in the cookies but there was certainly no sugar. The interesting part of the pucks was that they seemed to settle my stomach. What ever was in the cookies seemed good for my digestion. From the taste, it seemed to be ground nuts. The medication I am taking does all kinds of funny things to stomachs so I got to eat a puck an hour before dinner, which made eating easier. So Doreen made sure we kept a supply of pucks in the pantry. When we left Mexico, I came home with two packs, which meant 8 pucks in all. Now they are gone and I already miss those pucks. Certainly you can not buy them here. No one would buy them.

March 14, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Sports on Radio.

Every night I retire to the bed upstairs, long before I am ready to go to sleep. Sitting so long is difficult. Our condo bedroom is a loft that is open to the lower level, so when the TV is on, I can hear what is going on from the bedroom. So I lie on the comfortable bed and listen to the game from the TV. When I was a child and teen, we listened to a game on the radio. At school, if we were good, the teachers would keep the afternoon games on the radio, so from our class room we could listen to the games. It is where I learned to love the World Series games. The brain is a wonderful thing. You can see the whole rink or field, just be listening the words, all inside your brain. So when I am upstairs listening to the words on TV, I am actually reliving the days of sports radio. In many ways the picture in my brain is better than the pictures on TV because I make up the rest of the play that they do not describe. This dire disease has sent me back to my youth. In addition, after I fall asleep which happens around 10:30 or 11:00, Ken comes back down to turn off the TV. The system is good!!

March 13, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Letdown.

Once upon a time a couple knocked at our front door. They were dressed for the party. The only problem was that the party was the next night. We all laughed and had a drink together and they did it all again the next evening. But it was an anti climax for them. You could tell that they were ready for the party and they were let down. The same thing happened to me today. I went to my PET can at 10:00 only to find that the machine was broken. A service man was working to fix the problem so we waited for an hour but finally I had to reschedule for next Tuesday. Getting ready for a PET scan is not insignificant. The day before the scan you must eat no carbs. No pasta, no rice, no potatoes, no bread, no crackers, no cereal. Then nothing to eat or drink after midnight on the day of the scan, except for the water to take your medication. I arrived for the scan all ready for the big scan, only to be denied. I felt just like that couple who arrived at the party the day early. It was all a big anti climax.

March 12, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Planning.

Our good friend, the ever helpful Gillian, sent me an e mail listing all the helpers we will need in our new home. She included such things as ordering groceries on line and on Amazon for everything we might need to purchase to use in the house. Her list was not exclusive. I quickly listed several other folks we will need to be able to function. Our problem is that we don't really know how we will feel in the future. I will either get better or I will get worse. And the same for Ken. Immediately, we will order a yard company and a cleaning service. And we will need a service to check on the house when we are away. My bigger issue is the month of April. Our settlement date is set for April 1. Movers will pack the condo and move our stuff on the 2nd. On the 3rd the lady will unpack. Immediately after settlement, our belongings being stored will start the trek south. They also will unpack the boxes. It would take me 5 years to unpack all the boxes at the rate I move these days. But I must put it all away, someplace or another. I am thinking about asking Kate and Mary Frances to become my legs and arms because I suspect I will need extra help. But I am not worried because everything will keep. Planning has become more difficult.

March 13, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. The Plumber.

I was delighted to see him walk through the door, even though he was an hour late. Plumbers are like that. You are delighted when they arrive to repair the problems but after they leave you forget all about them. But not me. I love plumbers. They fix things that are not working in your house. When we bought this condominium over 5 years ago, the kitchen sink would only stop dripping if the tap was in one specific position. Of course, we quickly figured that out and have done it ever since. But at least five times a day, the kitchen tap was left dripping. Fortunately, a dripping tap could be heard all over the condo so someone quickly went to the kitchen and moved the tap to that one spot. We knew it was not right but we lived with it. Now our condo will soon go for sale so the tap must be fixed. Also the toilet had a very slow and quiet leak that needed to be corrected. In the door walked the plumber. He was efficient and courteous, just as I knew he would be. Soon we were perfect. We paid him and he left, grateful that he had arrived. Plumbers must be one of the unsung heroes of North America. The first time we were in Ireland, which must have been almost 40 years ago, I commented to Ken that what Ireland needed was one hundred good North American plumbers. They must have arrived because the next time we were in Ireland, the plumbing systems worked perfectly. So hurrah for plumbers. They fix things in our homes.

March 10, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Rain.

Yesterday I went for a short walk around the end of the reservoir. By the time I got home, it was raining so my cross the parking lot neighbor took me the rest of the way home with an umbrella. The frequent rain is a good thing because the foliage is always green but on the other hand, lots of folks get caught out on their walk, just like me. We have never lived in a place with 52 inches of rain each year. Vancouver, where I grew up, gets 32 inches as does Toronto. The difference between Vancouver and Toronto is the intensity. Vancouver rain comes in a drizzle and lasts for a long time where as Toronto rain comes down in a deluge, then stops. Jackson seems to get rain every few days. But I am not complaining. The trees and shrubs are big and beautiful, all due to the rain and the soil. The foliage is lush and the lilies are huge. All you must do is to always keep your raincoat in the car!! The good folks in the Hill Country of Texas always pray for rain. Always. When you live there as we do at the ranch, you definately do not need to have alternate options for location due to rain. In Jackson, it is essential, as is Vancouver. In Toronto, you just wait until the rain stops. But living with 52 inches of rain a year is definitely different.

March 9, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Big Breakfast.

Thursday was the day, not Sunday as is the normal, but Ken cooked a big breakfast. Our plan is to go out for brunch on Sunday with the family so we miss our fancy breakfast at home. So Ken decided to cook on a Thursday. This Sunday morning habit has been going on for over 40 years. We like it, obviously. This last time Ken served blueberry pancakes and bacon. It was delicious. Especially in Nova Scotia, we invite friends for our Sunday brunch. It is an easy way to entertain. Ken is a champ at cooking bacon. No one cooks bacon as well. His secret is to cook the bacon slowly so everyone must be patient. But it is worth the wait. It was especially sweet to eat our big breakfast on a Thursday. I always enjoy a surprise.

March 8, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Eyes.

Eyes are tricky. The second night after my first treatment my left eye would not work properly. In the middle of the night, everything was blurred from my left eye. During the daytime, some times it worked and sometimes it did not but as we went to Mexico the next day, I ignored it after I read in the side effects that vision loss was common with my medication. It was irritating because sometimes my left eye did not work well at all and even the right eye was not perfect either. But I could cope. When I mentioned it to the Oncologist here last Friday, she urged me to get to the eye doctor immediately, which I did on Tuesday of this week. Dr. Kosek checked out all the bad things my eye could be doing but fortunately I had none of them. No problem with retina or infection. And also fortunately, my eyes performed perfectly, in that sometimes they worked and sometimes they did not. Dr.K was delighted to know that I had a problem with the lack of moisture. To get better, he put in eye drops to wet them and like a miracle, both eyes got better. These drops are over the counter drops so I could have purchased them long ago. Now I am back to seeing perfectly well out of both eyes. It is a bit tricky as I must put the wetting solution more than 30 minutes after the glaucoma drops, taken 5 times a day. But I am managing and I am pleased to be able to read once again. Once again, sometimes I just get lucky.

March 7, 2015. Ridgelandm MS. Home Inspections.

He went around for almost 4 hours, poking and prodding our new home. And he did it all by himself. We were invited for the last hour, which consisted of the summary. In three hours, he sent us via e mail the complete report. It was all very efficient. The owner of our home moved into a new home in 1986 and loved it. But they did nothing to change anything, so the home inspector found lots and lots of deferred maintenance. The home was well built and in generally good condition but when he listed the items needing repair it took two full pages requiring maintenance. Much to our surprise, the seller has agreed to make every repair. And the work will be done by the original builder. Of course, the seller has no real choice because once she knows what is the matter she must disclose to any future buyer. But we are pleased. As Ken pointed out, everything is superficial but we are pleased the home inspector poked and prodded because we would never have found those bits of rotted wood. Once again, we are grateful for home inspectors.

March 6, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. The Chandelier.

I stood for a full five minutes looking at the light fixture in the dining room of our new home, trying to figure out whether or not I could live with that gorgeous chandelier. Clearly it was expensive and very large. The light was excellent too. But it is all crystal and glass and was huge, really too big for the room. It certainly was not our style but I did not want to just throw it out so I could not figure out what to do. But I got lucky. The seller asked if she could take her chandelier and in exchange give us $1000. for a new one, which she will install prior to settlement. My problem was solved. Some days you just get lucky.

March 5, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Yesterday.

Yesterday was a lost day for me. Believe it or not, I spent the whole day resting upstairs in our condo. Everything started put fine but for breakfast I tried the bottle of Ensure and a cup of tea. Ken thought the Ensure would give me proper nutrients so I tried one for breakfast. The D. disease comes the first week of the infusion and sure enough, soon I beat a quick retreat upstairs, where we have our only bathroom, and where I stayed the rest of the day. In between rests, I did the laundry, three loads full. The rest of the time I slept. I was certainly not going to come downstairs again. But things have gotten worse because today a water main has broken so we have no water. I am a bit better but not perfect. It is actually kind of funny, in a perverted kind of way. I feel sure that tomorrow will be a better day but yesterday was just one big blur.

March 3, 2015. Ridgeland, Ms. Memory.

In the middle of the night it came to me. The Password for our WiFi in the condo was written on the pad of paper sitting beside me on the couch. Why my memory let me down at 7:00 the evening before I will never know. I was sitting right beside the pad all the time. The last time my phone needed to be backed up I asked Clever Christina to fix it, and she did. we were at her house and asked me no questions. She just fixed it. When they were over to the condo bringing Chinese food I asked Christina to back up my phone. She asked me for our Password for the WiFi system we use. Of course, neither Ken or I knew it. We searched everywhere. I looked in my purse where I keep lists, all to no avail, so we decided to do the deed at their house. Then in the middle of the night it came to me. David had given me the Password and his User name when he ordered the system for us and I wrote it down on the pad of paper I keep beside my spot on the couch. The real question I ask my self is why I was so stupid as not to remember it the evening before and not in the middle of the night. Memory is tricky!!

March 2, 2015. Ridgeland, Ms. Our new House.

Look it up. The address is 511 Roses Bluff, Madison, Mississippi. The location is about a half a mile from our present condo and sets overlooking the Reservoir. The house sets high which you would expect on a street called Bluff but the view is beautiful. The walkway to the small dock has a sturdy railing so it is safe enough to walk. Ken will be happy puttering around the yard and fishing from the dock. The first floor is what I like the best. The home is spacious but not huge or grand. Everything Ken and I need is on the first level and the water side has windows top to bottom. The master bedroom with a small sitting room plus a huge closet is on that level along with all the other parts of a house, including a laundry room and half bath. As the land drops away, the lower lever is above grade, so again has windows across the whole water side of that level. The lower level has two bedrooms and one small bedroom plus two full bathrooms. Also a good sized sitting room. Our family and friends will be able to visit us and still enjoy a bit or privacy. The contract finally was ratified this morning, contingent on the settlement of the farm. Ken and I are delighted, and I have a project. The farm settles on March 25 and our new home on April 1. Fortunately for us, the house was never staged for sale. The lady must have 10,000 objects in that house. She has beautiful furniture and art but you can't see either the house or the art because it it too busy. We just got lucky!!

March 1, 2015. Ridgeland, MS. Simple Pleasures.

The event was simple. Christina and the girls picked up Chinese food at the Ding How restaurant and brought it here to the condo where we ate dinner together. Just regular Chinese food but we were all delighted to eat it together. We asked them to order 6 different dishes so we would be sure to have lots of left over food. I must note that Molly ate her whole order of chicken fried rice. And today she was the only person at the brunch this morning who ate everything on her plate. She must be having a growth spurt. Christina did not suggest the Chinese food until 5:00. Often spontaneous events turn out the best. Perhaps the reason it tasted so good was that none of us had eaten Chinese food for ages, or perhaps because we had not had dinner together for several months. Or maybe we had written an offer on a house. For whatever reason, there was a definite sparkle to the evening. Simple pleasures are often the very best.