When it rains........we do see a Rose......!

I am constantly amazed at the generosity of friends. After I finally found and booked a Red Roof Inn room in Chicago for Monday night (at a modest $160), my friend Anne at work was talking to her daughter, Marianna, who is living in Chicago in a condo, less than 2 miles from Rush Medical Center. Marianna Rose, (whom I have known since BEFORE she was born, since Earl & I went to Anne & Bill's wedding 4 years prior) graciously offered to let Earl & I stay at her place. I don't like to impose, but Marianna insisted it was not an imposition and I know she means what she says. After the whirlwind of devastating events, this is comparable to the eye of the hurricane. I can also stay there Tuesday night and can go back up to the hospital on Wednesday. Thank God for miracles, friends, and serendipity.

Earl was able to get through Friday (his last workday for a while--it was very hot & humid) by drinking water, Boost & Powerade. I gave him cream of asparagus soup in a thermos (the last thing that most people want on a hot day), but its about all that will go down now. He ate about 2/3 of it. I'm planning a fantastic dinner tonight of home-simmered chicken noodle soup for him. Oh boy. One of our favorite TV channels used to be Food Network; now I avoid putting it on and watch the History channel instead.

Something else happened yesterday that would have had me in a total dither 4 weeks ago; now it is a (probably costly) minor irritation. Our Dell computer has suffered some type of crash; according to Dell, it was an automatic Microsoft update, which Microsoft has now allegedly discontinued. (Funny, I didn't see anything on the Microsoft web site about it) I was on the phone with Dell for approximately 62 minutes last night, after which the service tech told me I would have to have someone attempt to transfer our files from our hard drive, and then reinstall Windows. I don't even know where the Windows back-up CD is. Oh well, it will have to wait until some other time. I'm just lucky we bought my daughter a computer for Christmas and hers is apparently not affected. Funny how we come to depend on something that 5 or 10 years ago was a "luxury" and many people still don't embrace. If anyone knows of a reasonably-priced computer technician, please let me know.

Well, it is almost lunchtime; I have to make sure that Earl is attempting to eat. Oatmeal, which is his usual breakfast of choice, did "not even taste good" this morning; I think he ate about 4 bites. He is also having problems (with the "other" end) since he is not eating much and not enough fat, if you know what I mean. Maybe a broth-based soup for lunch will help the Metamucil work.

It is amazing how time goes so slowly at times like these, and so quickly at other times. Please remember to stop & smell the roses!