Good morning. Y'all hold onto your hats - my sister who has cancer has an unexpected visitor this weekend. Her ex-husband! To refresh everyone's memory, he is the cad who left her when their three sons were 9, 10 and 11 years old - for the young babysitter. He's been through several more since then, and all have left him. When their middle son was paralyzed in a diving accident in high school, he showed up enough to get sympathy, then left town again. I despise him for what he did and didn't do for her and their boys and should really let it go, but just the mention of his name makes me crazy. So this should be very interesting. He is in for a terrible shock when he sees her, but he deserves at least a shock or two. I'm sorry, I should not be bitter, but he's the kind of man (and I use that term loosely) that loved to put my sister down in front of others, even her own sisters. Like why don't you wear clothes like so and so, and you could stand to wear a little makeup, etc. But, the good thing he is going to see her, maybe he'll offer to help out with the situation. Maybe he's turning over a new leaf. The sad thing is his own sons don't respect him, because he's never been a father figure, so this will be quite the visit for them, too. Stay tuned. On a much lighter subject, I love House, Dancing with the Stars, Ugly Betty. The last episode with Cuddy about to adopt the baby preparing to adopt the baby broke my heart. Was not prepared for the ending! Wow. Such good characters in that show - I've always loved Wilson! Re: Ugly Betty - I know it would change the whole show's meaning, but I wish they would allow her to be pretty at least one episode. BJ, thanks for sharing the history of Baby V. I can almost picture him by your description, what a beautiful baby. When are the new parents coming? Peggy, I'm so excited for you - it's like you are re-born. What a beautiful Christmas you are going to have - lights and all! It's going to rain here today. I like a cloudy, rainy day every once in a while - kind of peaceful. At least, it will keep me out of the dirt! QOD: No company, no travel, just hanging out and watching football games - college and NFL with my husband. I've got a couple of Blockbuster movies that I'm ashamed to say I've had since August (it's like Netflix, so no late fees, thank goodness) - The Kite Runner, The Bucket List, and I don't even remember the other - I think it's Smart People with Dennis Quaid. Might be a good movie marathon weekend. I definitely want to do Christmas cards. Just tell me what to do. I've always enjoyed sending them out, but it seems like each year, less people send them. So, this will be fun to share with my new friends! Hope everyone's weekend is a great one! Jan

On Saturday this bird with a bright yellow head and a bright red and yellow body walk thru my yard. This photo is thru the screening. This was outside the screen but he started moving pretty quickly. I have a cute video. It turned out to be a Golden pheasant. I have never seen a bird like this before.

seagrass _gw Cape Cod @djacob - our pastel calico lived to be 20. She was the sweetest girl and I still miss her. I hope you have Kibble in good health for more years. We live with dogs now, but I would love to share my life with another cat.

Feathers, so glad that you could spend some time with your sister and helping out in her household. I am sure what was most special was being there to provide support as she navigates this phase of her treatment -- I wish you both all the very best! And thank you for the recommendation of the meditation apps. I have previously dismissed them-- not because I don't believe in meditation (I DO!) but when I get worked up, I become pretty singularly minded and am not in a state that is conducive to meditation. Not sure that is fair or true-- I've never given it a chance-- but this is not my normal type of sleep issue. I usually struggle to fall asleep but am fine once I do. This time it is waking up in the middle of a normal sleep cycle (surprisingly, I am doing much better with falling asleep). While it was odd behave to wake up at 2am and work, I feel good about my progress so there is that. It has totally mucked up my day though .. .i am very likely going back for a second nap this afternoon. Sue, so sorry to hear you have issues with your shoulder. I hope it is not a rotator cuff injury. Not that bursitis or frozen shoulder are fun to deal with, at least they do not to require surgery (to the best of my completely uneducated knowledge!). I had a terrible time with frozen shoulder --twice/once in each shoulder. I also have a lonnnng history of bursitis (all the way back to elementary school -- which is highly unusual). Both caused pain that went down my arm. If you can take aspirin-- literally aspirin vs tylenol etc-- I recommend giving that a try in advance of your dr appt. It is what my ortho suggests and the *only* thing that helps when my bursitis kicks in. You may not have bursitis but it isnt going to hurt anything to give it a try. For me, it gives pretty relief that increases with time and doses. I have another suggestion for frozen shoulder that I will share if you get a dx. It seems harmless to me but I'd be concerned that it might cause more damage if you have a rotator cuff injury. Hope you get some good answers from the dr! In the meantime, enjoy your beautiful walks with Bugs!