The Mini Gets a Bath

Today we are going with two pictures. It is hard to convey what a Florida rainstorm can be like, but you see that the wind is blowing mighty hard. I've heard from three people now that there was considerable hail although we didn't get any at our house. Today's rain was a piece of cake compared with yesterdays.

I'm getting nervous about this blog thing. I know that I make grammatical errors, probably more punctuation errors; I hate that, but I've just never been good at that aspect of writing. I really need an editor-- if you know one for hire, let me know.

Actually, I'm personally acquainted with a number of people who could fill that post, however, they all have day jobs.

I was thinking today about food texture. I was pulling apart some green grapes for Baxter because for some reason he likes them halved. They had the feel of scallops to me which I had just finished telling Hank I didn't especially like because of their texture. In fact, I'm not a fish eater for that very reason. Yet, there are other foods with a similar texture that I like just fine--maybe it's the taste--who knows. At any rate, aren't there foods that you hate because of texture? Maybe you don't like celery because of the ribs, or cheese because it's mushy. What about oatmeal? I like all of the above mentioned foods, but I'm sure they bug some people. People's food preferences really fascinate me. Maureen has many of them, mustard, and lemons come to mind.

I haven't told you yet that Maureen has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. We are all very sad about this. She is a lively 58 year old with a sharp wit and I don't want her to have anything wrong. She is our matriarch since our mother died. Today she visited her neurologist and had an EMG (same test as me a few weeks ago) and also some acupuncture. She came home feeling tired, but felt that the acupuncture did some good--let's hope so.

I had a pleasant surprise this afternoon. Our dear Matthew called from London to chat. Our visit was cut short on Sunday due to the market. He is doing famously, a real gad about town. He will be back in the states in a week--first to New York, and then to Las Vegas for a convention. Soon it will be Matt's 31st birthday. You know what that means--yes, you are right. I've been a mother now for almost 31 years--it's my longest running gig.