Wow! We got blasted today. I was driving on a road this afternoon and the water was running UP the grade. That was wild looking. I was getting into it until a transformer got struck by lightning and blew up about 100 feet behind me. That gave me a pucker factor of 9.5 out of 10. Cooler temps mean better fishing this weekend!!!

Been there and done that with my daughter when she was nine. She developed a tummy ache in school. We didn't have a car available, so she had to walk the 1/2 mile home in pain. I really didn't think it was anything more than something she ate, but it just kept getting worse. I wasn't able to get her into a doctor till that evening, when their emergency clinic was open. He had her jump up and down and tell him if it hurt. That was how he decided she needed to go to the hospital. They actually had her do that there, too. She was in so much pain I had to carry her, and they had her jumping up and down. Turned out her appendix was ruptured, also. The luckiest thing about this was it happened a few weeks after my DH was laid off, but before his insurance ran out, so we were covered. A month later, and we would have been in real trouble. She recovered nicely, but had to take some huge antibiotic pills that they said had to be taken whole. No way. They were bigger than she was. (She's always been very, very tiny) We had to break them in half, and still they were big for her. Bobbi, you and your son are in my thoughts and prayers. He'll be out of there in no time, and feelling much better, I'm sure. Hang in there. Sally

I'm checking in, and wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone for all your support. We got the news on the road, while on the way to a windpower conference and the last fews days have felt pretty dark. I won't see Luna until Saturday, which feels weird since she's always gone with us when we traveled. It's truly a Mercury Retrograde moment, since this is old ground I have covered once before with our last golden. I'm trying to focus like a laser on the fact that she's feeling better for this day, and remind myself that the present is just that...a gift. Peppi, I'll check my mail as soon as I get home. David, I saw your post about Lucy and wanted so much to respond, but your story flooded me with my own memories of my last golden who had lung cancer, and I couldn't see the keyboard to let you know that. Please know you were (and still are) in my thoughts, even though I couldn't say so at the time. I'm so appreciative for all of you. I'm taking my girl swimming as soon as she can go; it's one of her favorite things to do and we're going to do it as much as we can while she feels like it. I keep looking for the blessings, and count all of you as mine.

Thanks Nita for the link to the update. Another prayer answered that Marilyn and the animals are all okay and no major damage. Had a cell phone call from a dear friend in Houston. They too are fine, just limbs down, fence down, and no power. It's hard though on her elderly mother who is housebound and can't be moved. News said power may not be restored for 2-3 weeks.