Here we are, January 4, 2009. It's been 15 days since I have brought you up to date. But, there's a good reason. These days have been mostly focused on Debbie's recovery since surgery. I really haven't had much news to share. She is doing extremely well, going to physical therapy every other day and pushing herself as much (sometimes more) than she should. The aftermath of her surgery has been just short of amazing. She stands straight and the pained look on her face that we all took for granted as her "normal" look, is gone. Her face shows relief. I tell people her face looks "released", which it does. She continues to heal and progress. I'll tell you all, we did a year's worth of due diligence before proceeding with this operation. When she went in, everyone around her, including Debbie, had peace. Much of that peace came from the prayers of our many, many friends.
Personally, taking care of Debbie has been rewarding, even as demanding as she can be. I've had to stand down, be available, cook (which I do most of the time, anyway...it's fun), do the dishes, drive Ms. Daisy, do laundry, fetch and pick stuff up off the floor. She still isn't allowed to bend, twist, stoop or pick anything up that's heavier than 5 pounds.
Christmas was fun. Son Ty, 35 (I was 11 when he was born), enjoyed the season from his home base outside Phoenix. Daughter Lindsay and her husband, Dennis, spent Christmas Eve at our house, dining and enjoying each other. Dennis and Lindsay are parents of our three grandchildren. I love those darn kids! They are a total joy. Son Jonathan, 27, and his new bride, Katherine, spent the holidays at his in-laws near Minneapolis, Minnesota. We missed them at Christmas, but had them at Thanksgiving...so all is well. I certainly don't mind sharing my peeps. Son Cameron, 20, spent Christmas in Kalil, Iraq, doing what he does in the Army. I've got a care package going to that kid tomorrow. He loves homemade cookies, jerky, hand sanitizer and sunscreen. (He is pale).
But, the fisheries business beckoned and I had to take advantage of good weather last week.
Evaluated a lake last week outside Paris, Texas, for a Pond Boss forum member who has the land under contract. I got to help with his due diligence. That's fun stuff.
During this warm spell, we took advantage to do some work around LL,2. Here, young Ethan Lovelace gets the wood duck boxes ready for occupancy. He added proper ladders for baby wood ducks, compliments of Bob and Donna McFarland (who started all this wood duck stewardship with us in the first place).
I forgot to feed the cats this morning, so one of them (Jasmine), fed herself. As a biologist, I enjoyed the fascination of the food chain. She played with her food, a big field mouse, batting it around, playing tag with it, chasing it, herding it, licking it, pushing it. Then, she ate it.
This next week is a big one. Tomorrow, meeting with staff to try to come closer to finalizing the Pond Boss conference. It will be spectacular.
Then, on Tuesday, I head off to Lee Roy Mitchell's Eagle's Nest Ranch to meet with Trent Lewis of Pond Medics and Steve Bartosh, of Cabela's Trophy Property's lake mapping program to map Mr. Mitchell's lakes. It will be a fun time, plus a good story for Pond Boss.
I also plan to meet up with long time client Stan Graff, of Dallas, to make plans for 2009. I've got several other irons in the fire, too.
As they come together, I'll keep you posted. Holidays are over, I'm working on the March-April issue of Pond Boss and things are starting to pop.
Fish on!
