With all the rain I would assume it should be a good time to lay the sod. Means less work you keeping it watered. But is the ground so wet that your doing damage to the yard? Are your feet sinking to your ankles so you might leave holes under the sod? And if we had a down pouring of rain would it wash the sod off of a slope or hill?

Greetings, temporarily fly-less Liz, Good thoughts for tomorrow and hopes that the surgical and after-care staff will be at top performance levels, plus hopes for no complications, with some prayers for all of those things, as well. We hope that your recovery is speedy and complete, with no complications and minimal discomfort along the way. Here's a suggestion, if I may. As you know, it's seldom that both parts of a couple leave this dimension of living at the same time, and some men left spouse-less are pretty well at sea in terms of taking care of themselves and their living place. With no help-meet there to offer advice ... the best that they can do is consultation in person or by phone calls to female (or other experienced male) friends. For the next few weeks your guys are lucky - as they are doing all of the necessary chores that go with keeping a household humming along smoothly, after the first day or so, they have not only a fully qualified, but experienced consultant on staff, available at all hours and fully familiar with all of the nuances that go along with managing your specific household, who's willing to put all of her brain power to work to provide the necessary wisdom. And, in some important circumstances offer *a* hand, physically (even if it's not as experienced as the recuperating one). How about that for a good deal?! On the off chance that your flight should go down in the drink some day and, God forbid, you not survive, they'd be fully trained in all of the necessaries, so would not have the trauma of learning some aspects of their personal care, along with managing a house, in addition to that involved with the mourning and funeral preparations. I hope that they'll be fully aware of their good fortune, in being able to have had all of that important ... nay, essential! ... training. Good wishes for tomorrow and through the coming days. ole joyful P.S. Should they not be so aware on their own, I assume that you're fully capable of bringing such good fortune to their attention (diplomatically, of course). Might it be more diplomatic were Grandma to be the notifier? o j

I've said it before and I'll say it again.....This Lady is my HERO!!! Even when she is not feeling well, she has stayed strong and as positive as she can. Recently we had a family get-together, as she put every one else's concerns at ease. Hang in there, my sweet daughter-in-law, your family and many many friends are pulling for you. Dottie

I think I know exactly how you feel! We are now on day 13 of our renovation. The night before the crew arrived as I was packing up I was surprised at my nervous second thoughts about a renovation that had been planned and anticipated for so many months/years. Now, having survived almost two weeks with no kitchen and nothing but a half bath I can say that I am having a blast with the renovation. I have tremendous admiration for our hardworking crew of four who work on our house from 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. every day. "Camping" in our own house and cooking in our backyard still feels like a lark (at this point in the reno).The dozens of treks up and down the basement stairs to wash dishes in the basement sink is doing wonders for my thigh muscles. Washing my 15 year old son's hair in the powder room sink is bringing back memories of happy toddler days. Despite gutting the whole back end of our house and pulling down all the original 1928 tile and plaster in kitchen and bathroom, the dust has not been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. And I have a new appreciation for the stoicism of our cats. I'm even thankful that the renovation was delayed five months so that we didn't have to go through this in the winter. We would be freezing with the open roof and cavities where we once had windows. Every day I reflect on how lucky we are to be able to do this renovation when so many people lack even the most basic necessities. Enjoy your reno! ( And please resurrect this post for me in three months when I start whining that the project still isn't finished.)