I apologize to those who've been following this blog, for the lack of timely updates. I've been on Facebook quite a lot this year, since I found out everyone in my Family is there, and I'm afraid the blog has suffered a bit. Here's a quick summary of what's been going on...
We're doing pretty well overall, although life continues to be somewhat complicated.
You may recall that K's left foot got infected a few months back, and they had to amputate her big toe. The surgery wound didn't heal for a long time, and it was looking pretty dicey for a while, but it's finally getting around to healing now. She's had foot wounds continually since late 2007, just about the time her kidneys failed, and they've prevented her from getting a transplant. After going so long, always with one wound or another on one foot or the other, we're starting to think that she may actually be back on the transplant list soon. An exciting but scary thought. The current plan is for the University of Chicago to do a dual Kidney/Pancreas transplant, but she may opt to change that and have the local Porter hospital do it here in Denver, to avoid having to travel to Chicago for three months, and all the associated logistical complications.
I bought K an iPhone for her birthday last October, and I think that's partly why her foot's finally healing. With the help of all the distractions available on the phone, she's been able to successfully stay off her feet most of the time for the past few months. Of course I had to get one too, since I figured she'd be looking to me for help on figuring out how to use it. ;-) These phones are very fun and useful too.
My Sister and her husband came to visit for two weeks after Christmas, and I took off some extra vacation time to be with them. We had loads of fun, roaming as far as Rocky Mountain National Park for a short day hike around Bear and Nymph lakes, in light blowing snow. After three weeks off for the holiday, it was a little difficult going back to work on the 11th! Bob returned home on schedule on the 10th, but Mikele offered to stay two extra weeks, to help us with the overwhelming task of organizing everything that was thrown into boxes, in preparation for finishing our basement in 2008. She's been a godsend, and with her help, some amazing progress has been made. I can finally use my new workshop, which has been piled high with "stuff" for the past year and a half. We'll really miss her after she leaves on Saturday. I bought her an iPhone too, a couple of days ago. It feels like the least I can do, after all the progress she's helped us make, over the past few weeks. She's very excited about it, since she's been lusting after ours while she's been here.
I just heard that Kiyoshi Hamai will be in the Denver area on Tuesday! We're talking about trying to get together for lunch.
I just finished watching the Apple Keynote video where Steve Jobs introduces the iPad tablet computer. Seeing a picture in the newspaper this week, and reading some of the hype written by journalists, I had no sense of just how cool it really is!
