The Week In Review
Topic: This and That
Today is Armed Forces Day. (Thought it was worth a mention, especially since I'm married to someone in said Armed Forces.)
The sun did make an appearance today, which is always nice.
This picture was taken on Thursday, in our back patio. I love how happy Ryan looks in it! It really shows off his energy, which of course he's got TONS of!
It's been quite a week. As I mentioned before, Monday I had minor surgery. Basically, I had a harmless lump that I wanted out, so I had it removed. It's fairly common, apparently. I was in and out in one day. The hospital I went to was nice. I think it's more of a private hospital, rather than the main city hospital. It was more like a big house with a lot of rooms, rather than the cold, industrial feeling a lot of hospitals have. The staff was friendly and compassionate. I felt like I was in good hands.
Wednesday Larry had an appointment down at Lakenheath. I really wasn't quite up to traveling, but since I'd never been there, I went anyway. Lakenheath and Mildenhall are the two main bases in the area. It's funny, because military people in Germany used to travel a long way just to come to Ramstein, or to Leighton (where Larry and I were). Now we're the ones traveling to the bigger bases and feeling like we're back to civilization! Lakenheath has a fairly nice bx, small shops, and food court. Ryan and I looked around while Larry had his appointment. When Larry was done, we shopped a bit. We got Ryan a new pair of shoes. Very spiffy!
By Thursday I was feeling better, but still really tired. Luckily, Ryan took a major nap so I was able to take one, too. Unfortunately, Ryan's got a bit of a cold. His nose is very runny, but otherwise he's fine.
Yesterday was the first day I felt like my energy was back to near normal. I took Ryan, caught the bus, and went to the May Fair at MHS. (I have to say, that every time I have boarded the bus, there's been someone who very kindly has helped me get the stroller on or off the bus.) The weather caught me off guard a bit. I didn't dress me or Ryan quite warmly enough. It was cold and rainy. Luckily we weren't outside
too much.
The May Fair was a lot like the bazaars on the posts in Germany, only much smaller. There were some of the same sorts of things, like jewelry, linens, artwork, collector's coins, Russian nesting dolls, that sort of thing. Some things were different. There were Welsh love spoons instead of the Austrian cookie molds, for example. I don't know what got into Ryan, but he was good and quiet the entire time I shopped! :) After looking around, I got a photo note card (see previous blog entry), some hand made soaps, and three small jars of honey. The vendors were very nice. I got into a friendly, philosophical conversation with the honey vendors about age, vanity, and child rearing!
It felt good to get out and about. On the bus ride home, we passed a pub called, "Bed," whose slogan was, "Who will you spend the night in Bed with?" *grin*
That night I made enchiladas for dinner. I realized, mid-preparation, that I didn't have nearly enough sauce. I got creative. Apparently if you take a ton of mild taco sauce and add ketchup, it works pretty well. Sounds gross, but I was desperate. I was relieved when it actually tasted decent!
Today I've been a bit tired from all the stuff I did yesterday. I think I was just so glad to be up and about that I overdid it just a bit.
This evening Larry and Ryan and I did a quick jaunt to the Borders near Leeds. For Mother's Day, Larry got me a shiny new GPS. It's very nice. I broke it in a little during our trip. I would like to take it out geocaching tomorrow, weather permitting.
Here are a few pictures from this past week.
Five Pics From May
Today I picked up the teapot I painted at the spouse's coffee. It turned out pretty well, considering I have no artistic talent whatsoever (at least where drawing and painting are concerned). Larry took one look at it and said, "Miss the beach much? You could just write, 'Santa Barbara' on it." :)
For a bit of a Ryan update, he seems to be getting sweeter and smarter every day. He's now doing this thing where he leans his cheek in to be kissed and sometimes says, "Kiss" while doing it. It's really cute! Also, he's able to recognize some letters (B, T, Y, O) and the number 2. We have bath letters and numbers. During bath time, we'll ask Ryan what the letters and numbers are. What's really cool, is that we can ask him to find a given letter (that he knows), and he can find it among all the other ones, even if it's backwards or upside down or whatever. He also meows if he sees a cat, and has developed the somewhat disturbing trend of repeating things we say. We really have to watch out now! :) He still mostly uses his own language, but he's leaning more towards actual words we can understand.
I hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Posted by hkvlayman
at 11:51 PM BST
It's one of those rain-all-day sorts of days today.
The last few days have been pretty good. The weather's been great and we've been busy. Wednesday, Larry was home recovering from staff duty, so I got the car. I took Ryan and went on post and visited with a friend, then ran some errands. Not long after I got home, I heard something come through the letter box in the door. IT WAS A LETTER FROM JK ROWLING!!!!! *HUGE Grin, Does Happy Dance!* Not too long ago, I wrote to her. I was thrilled she wrote back. The letter was hand dated and hand signed. It was friendly and personal, addressing different things I'd written in my letter to her. It means a lot to me that she took the time and effort to respond, and to do so graciously. Thank you, Jo! :)