Just sending some pics taken in the Habitat of the hotel (went to a conference last week). Some cool birds in there... that was the best part of the conference... The butterfly was taken at the Ballagio Hotel, across the street. ~ Vickie ~

Hi Guys,

Some of you know already that after mom was transfered and had surgery, she unfortunately had a stroke which left her unable to move or speak. She had since then, another clot in the leg and has been having a hell of a time. So is my dad who has a lot of difficulties coping with all this. Mom was not doing good on the morphin and they finally found an alternative medication that helped manage the pain. She is supposed to be transfered back closer tomorrow so that she starts speech and physical therapy next week. She can say a few words again now and move a little but still has no sensation in her hand and foot. 4 weeks tomorrow already that she's been in the hospital and she is hating it... Anyways, I'm also posting a couple of pictures from my hometown until I can find the time to build a quick website. Hope everyone is doing well.

See ya soon, Vickie.

open blog

Hi everyone, to tell you the truth, we're getting a little tired of the pressure of updating the blog, so we've decided to open it up to everyone!! I'm going to give you our log in info and you can post whatever's going on with you. So, can't wait to see what happens from here:

login: artnut@cox.net
password: matisse58

So, go for it! Happy bloggin'!! Come on, if we can do it, you can....

weeee're baaaacckkk

Howdy, just a quick note to let you know that everything's good and after a weekend at the hospital, we're back to having fun and enjoying the sun!! We're heading over to the Blue Anchor tonight to meet a couple that Wayne met while I was gone. Really looking forward to it, they sound like cool folks and you know I love the BA.

Sandy (the frog) seems to have moved on, at least temporarily. Oh yeah, I ordered a hammock stand while I was away and put it together Monday. Carolyn and Jimmy gave us a hammock many moons ago and I've been dying to try it out. So, here it is. It looks much better with me in it!!!

Wayne had a blast with Frank, Dana, and Mary. I told him Mary probably looked like that painting "The Scream" by Munch by the time she left. I don't think she realized how much Wayne can talk!! (Just kidding, honey, love you)

Okay, gotta go outside and enjoy this beautiful day! Hope it's pretty where you are.

Look what the Tabloids are saying.

After an extremely long separation, Professor Baker finishes her class in Newport News, Virginia. The Averett Art History Professor is finally returning April 19th to Delray Beach to join her Husband and kitties who miss her so much! She vows never to be separated from her home for this long ever again.





Rumor is: after realizing that there is only 6 days before Susan returns, Wayne began break-dancing in the living room every night uncontrollably with excitement-
he can't wait to see his Honey!

Easter pics

Here are the Easter pics I promised.

I heard from Vickie yesterday. They took Maryvonne to the hospital in Rennes via helicopter. She was really scared because she's afraid of both heights and helicopters, but she made it just fine. Now comes the hard part. On top of all this, Chantal, Vickie, and Klaus were in a car accident Monday. An elderly man lost control of his car and crashed into their parents' new car. Luckily no one was hurt.

The good news is it's only 8 days till I'm back with Wayne and the kitties. Countin' down.

too quick

We had a wonderful Easter weekend, hope y'all did. Wayne's visit was way too short, I cried for joy to see him and the opposite when he left, pretty normal I guess! On Saturday, we met Wayne's Mom (Millie), Jim, Carolyn, Lauren, and my Mom at Bill's BBQ in Midlothian for lunch. We were celebrating Millie's 83rd birthday and that's where she wanted to go. It was great having the best BBQ in the world, the same since I was a kid. My mom is to be commended for showing up when we only gave her like a half hour's notice because the details of our outing were hammered out on I-64.

After BBQ, we went to see a movie called "Amazing Grace"... my Mom and Lauren opted out, and to tell you the truth, we weren't all that keen on it from the description. In fact, we were kind of hoping lunch would make us miss the 1:15 pm show. But alas, it didn't, and to our very pleasant surprise, we loved the movie!! Before, we were like, oh boy, how uplifting, a movie about the slave trade. But honestly, it was absolutely uplifting, about a guy named Wilberforce in England who spent his whole life trying to get slavery abolished. It had many different levels of meaning, one which was, of course, how much one person can really accomplish. Anyway, it gets 4 and a half stars out of five for me....

Afterwards, our friend Robyn came to meet us at the Crowne Plaza down on Canal. A bit later, Jim and Carolyn came back from taking Millie home, and we all went to Sine for dinner! If you look closely at the picture above, you'll notice that I'm the only one who looks snockered!! But, I wasn't.....yet. Really I didn't even drink that much, but I was tired. Everyone else looks so perky!! Then we took a cab to Galaxy to see the girls (Carly and Lauren). We got dessert and some drinks there: deep fried Oreos and Apple Pie a la Mode. They sent over a complimentary sample of fried pickles, which I didn't try because I couldn't mix all those different tastes my mouth, but everyone else loved them and the cooks sent out a "to go" container full of pickles for Wayne. I wish I had some pictures from there.

On Sunday, for Easter Brunch, we picked up Millie and went to Willow Oaks as guests of my brother, Bill and his wife, Pam. There were 11 of us. We had a lovely time and as soon as I get some pictures from Pam I'll post them.

The other news is that Chantal wrote from France today. She said that Maryvonne will be tranferred to the hospital in Rennes tomorrow, about 2 hours from where she is now. This is because it has the cardiology unit that specializes in her condition. Chantal said that she is doing well considering what she's been through, and that if all goes according to plan, she will have a rather risky surgery at the end of the week to try to address her current heart issue. As always, if you could keep her in your thoughts and heart, that'd be great. Vickie and Chantal are coming back to the States this Thursday.

Well, this turned out to be a rather long-winded post. Hope it finds you well and content. I'm looking forward to heading back South in a bit over a week now.

oh boy!!

I can't wait till tomorrow, Wayne'll be here at 7:45! It's gonna be a quick trip, but it'll be so great to see him. We're looking forward to a fun filled Easter weekend.

Last Saturday I took my art class to the Chrysler Museum and then we had lunch at Freemason Abbey. It was really fun, there's a great Spanish exhibit there now. Here's a picture of all of us at lunch. My friend Nancy went with me to see some art and keep me company as my honey ususally goes, she's the first on the left there.

I hope to hear from Vicki, Chantal, or Lili today...am anxious for the latest news about Maryvonne. Sure feels like a special Easter this year, a bit more poignant than previous ones!! Hope you all have a good one.

silly me

yeah, i did a dumb thing, shocker...i bought the kayak without trying it because the only way i could figure out how to get it over here was to ask him to deliver it. And you guessed it, it's too small for me...it would be better for a teenager or young adult...i've got it up on craigslist again, but here it is in case anyone's interested....asking price: $350, includes white paddle

latest from France

This just arrived from Lili, Vickie and Chantal's Dad:

Merci Susan !
Maryvonne est sortie du coma et elle a reconnu ses deux filles adorées . Les nouvelles sont donc beaucoup plus rassurantes aujourd'hui . Demain , elle doit être transférée en cardiologie pour un bilan complet . Apparament , le cerveau fonctionne bien . Les filles se joignent à moi pour vous embrasser .
A bientôt . Lili .

Roughly translated, it says that Maryvonne is out of the coma and she recognized her daughters, whom she adores. The news today is therefore very reassuring. Tomorrow, she will be tranferred to the cardiology unit where they will do a complete check up on her heart. Apparently, her brain is functioning just fine. The girls and I send you hugs.

Till later,
Lili

a small miracle

This just came from Chantal, Vickie's sister

"hello Susan,

We want to thank you all for your support and prayers because mom just woke up this afternoon as she saw my dad and vickie. We couldn't stay with her more than few minutes because she recognized us ans cried, she tried to talk and to write but could not because of the tubes. She will be going in cardiology tomorrow and we will see from there.
Love you all,
Chantal"

This is encouraging news and I thank you all for joining with us to pray (in whatever way works for you) for Maryvonne, Lili, Vickie, and Chantal. We will continue to do so and hope you will, too. I will keep you posted when I hear anything else.

unbelievable

You'll never believe what happened yesterday. I was walking down the boardwalk in Virginia Beach, missing Wayne and the kitties, feeling really blue and I noticed some commotion up ahead. There were tons of people at like a beach blanket bingo party, all dressed in 50s beachwear and lights everywhere. It was pretty warm here yesterday, so I was wearing some white peddle pusher type things and this blue and white striped tee shirt. Anyway, so I wandered down closer and this guy grabbed me and said, "You're late" and he threw a beach towel at me and pushed me toward the steps. So, I was a bit confused, but I just went with it and headed down the stairs to join the party. Well, turns out they were filming a scene from an upcoming movie, with some younger stars I really didn't recognize and I'd just become an extra!! Anyway, the director thought I did such a good job that he got my name and number for his next pic. A star is born!! Let's see, what's today, oh yeah, I remember it's April Fool's ; )