balloons & bennie

The balloons are up this week. That means wonderful fall weather. Cold and rainy on Sunday but sunny, blue and warm since then. Jackson had a tough time with asthma earlier this week. It seems to be triggered by colds. He's a tough guy. He's a boy now. Handsome and sweet. He works hard on his room. It's part library, part office, part classroom. It's his "cousins club." Did I mention his clipboard he takes to school for the cleaning club? He got a new computer CD called brain power that he loves. He's off tomorrow for a balloon day.

I saw Ry's classroom today. He goes two mornings a week. He brought his new bumblebee transformer for show and tell. He's been talking about it for weeks. He has very few toys of his own, and this one is his. Even Jackson seems to acknowledge that. Apparently, everyone with a three or four year old boy knows about bumblebee transformers. Ry's a sweetheart. Likes jokes. Likes to tumble. Isn't afraid to slug Jack.

Rylee has decided to be a bumblebee (the kind that buzzes around flowers) for Halloween. Jack's going to be a laptop.

So good to have Ariel here for a while. We all went to PF Changs last weekend: sea bass, marinated tofu, and lots more. It was fun. I haven't seen her during the week. She went up to the cabin the night of the rain.

I think Bennie is on the verge of some noticeable improvement. The pain and a fall prior to the surgery took its toll on his mobility, and the surgery must have been very difficult. I think the first almost two weeks after the surgery, he just needed to deal with the trauma of the surgery and the pain. He's staying at a rehabilitation center about a mile from our house. Cyndi goes there before 7 am to join him for breakfast, goes late at night, and at least once during the day, while her sisters, brother, and brothers-in-law also go daily, usually staggered throughout the day. Her mom is there daily, making the trip from Belen. I think Marty or Michael almost always drive her up. At the beginning she stayed overnight with Dorie, but the trip from the hospital to Dorie's was almost as long as returning to Belen and I'm sure she must find some relief to be in her own home at night. I don't think anyone thought there'd be so much recovery needed. He's been bedridden, but his appetite is good, the pain is being managed, and I think there will be some obvious improvement in being able to get around again. No one seems to know, so I'm guessing it may be another 3-5 weeks before he's home and certainly before the holidays. I happened to visit on Monday when he had physical therapy. It was difficult, but it was really only the beginning. He was determined I could see and in good spirits, despite the circumstances that, as I said, I don't think he or anyone expected.