Gains and Losses.

I had a great birthday week, gaining a year on paper on Thursday. At thirty-six, I am now closer to forty than thirty yet still feel somewhat closer to, say, twenty-eight. Kelsey surprised me with a stay at the Chevy Chase Beach Cabins on Discovery Bay (outside of Port Townsend) last weekend. We've decided to make this stay an annual family ritual. Cabin #4, the grounds, the staff and owners and the views were delightful. I had two birthday lunch dates early in the week, a combo birthday dinner on Wednesday night and a full day of fun in the city with my hubby on Thursday. If you live in Seattle, or are visiting and want a selection of seasonal foods, woven into dishes that will truly awaken your palate, you must check out Restaurant Zoe. Seriously yum. I don't think I've ever celebrated my birthday seven days in a row, but hey, who's complaining? Last year on my birthday, we received the welcomed news that we'd be able to take Owen home the next day after a LONG, 12 day stay at Tacoma General. We spent my birthday packing up our guest room at the hospital and preparing to take Owen home. Stark difference.





We had to put our cat, Mo, down on Sunday after 14 1/2 years. It was terribly hard to say goodbye after having to do so to her good friend, Siva, just a couple of months prior. Mo had late stage kidney failure and had dwindled to a mere seven pounds.

Owen is on a new seizure med, Keppra, and so far, it is working very well in conjunction with the Vigabatrin. He is sleeping great, smiling all the time and seems quite peaceful. His vision has improved over the course of the last few weeks and he now smiles pretty consistently at two things... his daddy talking "silly" to him and me quietly smiling at him from his preferred right side.

Owen also got his first wheelchair a couple of weeks ago and now has his own, stylish set of supportive wheels.



We leave August 22nd for Stanford to get Owen started on the ketogenic diet. He will be admitted on the 25th and stay through the 27th. We'll be fitting in two quick visits with Grandpa Marshall and Nai Nai in Santa Rosa on the way down and on the way back up, before racing back to Indianola to connect with Aunt Laura who arrives on the 29th.

Not much else to report and perhaps this is good? The garden is doing great - we have a basil forest (in preparation for Kelsey's fall pesto production), our tomatoes are ripening, we finally have cucumbers and squash and are going to have a bumper crop of heirloom sugar pumpkins which we'll distribute throughout Indianola.

Hope that the rest of you are enjoying your summer...

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We can't change the cards we're dealt, just how to play the hand. ~ Randy Pausch

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