These images are from slides that my dad, Kimon, took. It was rare to have him in a picture; he was always behind the camera. My mom used to claim that he always got her backside at Christmas; and, sure enough, that’s her in the picture with me!

42 years ago this month, I graduated from Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island:

Hard to believe I worked up the courage to do something so different from what was expected of a good Seventh-day Adventist girl!

At 6:30 this morning, just as I was getting ready to go for my walk, Brindy sprinted for the front porch and I heard coyotes howling. Not somewhere off in the distance, as often happens, but really close. Here’s our view of the practice range from earlier in the year:

And here’s the view this morning:

There are at least 7 coyotes in this picture and there might have been a couple more out of the picture. This is why when I walk Brindy by myself, I stick to the main roads. Of course, that road in the background, behind the first row of trees, IS the main road. We went for a very short walk this morning!

Mom had the last couple of stitches taken out yesterday afternoon and the eye is feeling great.

This whole process started when we switched to a new eye doctor. We weren’t thrilled with our previous ophthalmologist to begin with. Then Covid restrictions hit and they wouldn’t allow me to go in with her during her visit. As most of you know, even with her hearing aids, mom doesn’t always hear well and I like to be with her when she’s given instructions or information. Mom’s takeaway from the visit was that he said “Well, I hope you don’t go blind”. I was just a bit incensed when I heard this and we started looking for a new doctor.

Went to the new doc at the end of October. What a difference! The facilities, the waiting room, and, especially, the staff were a huge improvement. Most importantly, the doc informed mom that she was not going blind and would not be going blind during her life time. Yes, she does have some macular degeneration, but nothing to worry about at her age. What a relief!

In addition to giving her the good news about not going blind, the doctor also asked her if she had any trouble with her left eye feeling irritated. Her answer was “Yes, it constantly feels like there’s an eyelash in it”. Turns out this is exactly what was wrong: her lower eyelid was turning inward and, thus, the lashes were rubbing against her eye.

We scheduled surgery for the problem and mom came through it like the trooper she is. Her relief from the rubbing was immediate. The first day after surgery was painful for her, mostly because we couldn’t find anything light enough to put on the incision to ice it down. Everything we tried was too awkward or too heavy. Then I finally hit on the idea of freezing a damp handkerchief; that worked wonderfully.

Mom had some of the stitches taken out about 10 days after the surgery. The rest got taken out yesterday. She had quite a shiner, but almost all the bruising is now gone and her eye feels waaaaaay better. Just shows you what a difference the right professional can make.

As our days grow longer, may they also grow brighter!

Wishing us all a happy and healthy new year.

Myrna, Kate, and Brindy

Mom and I love decorating for the holidays.

First, the unboxing; we have 5 bins of small stuff and half a closet of large items:

Every year we wonder where we will put everything and every year we realize we have room for way more!

This year’s count breaks down as follows:

• 12 Santas
• 3 Mrs. Claus
• 7 Snowmen
• 6 Trees
• 2 Nativity Sets
• 1 Wise Men Set
• 9 Animals
• 6 Nutcrackers
• 2 Strings of Lights
• 12 Miscellaneous

And if we get to have anyone over we will be breaking out the Holiday silverware, plates, glasses, platters, etc., etc., etc.!

If anything, things here have gotten even more hectic here. There have been days when I haven’t even touched my computer to even check for emails. Turns out that putting down new flooring throughout the whole house causes just a bit of disruption!

It would have been an even bigger mess if we had had to take up the old travertine floor. Luckily, the new vinyl could be laid right over the stone. It took five days and the flooring crew finished up at 8:30 pm on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Here are some pictures:

The house now looks much warmer and bigger. Mom and I are both very pleased.

Things have been very hectic around here the last couple of weeks. But the good news is that the kitchen remodel is done!

Can you spot one big difference between the picture above and this one?

That’s right; it’s a new dishwasher. The old one which the warranty company took forever to “fix” (for the second time), crapped out after three wash loads. I was incredibly lucky that a local store had one unit in stock of the dishwasher I wanted. Ordered it Monday; got it installed today!

That completes the kitchen work. However, I do have about 90 boxes of flooring sitting in my front hallway. That install starts tomorrow. Crossing my fingers that it is done by Thanksgiving.