It's been a long few days for Sandra and her father, and her mother, of course. There's lots to learn about hospital stays and medical treatment and all that. Sandra arrived at the hospital yesterday afternoon and found her mother quite uncomfortable, Sandra found a nurse and learned that, although the meds were prescribed for every three hours, Sandra's mother had to ask for them. The day shift nursing staff was quite disengaged while the evening shift has been terrific. We've had good coaching from daughter-in-law Jennie, a physician's assistant. There's lots to learn and just when you've figured something out, it's time to learn something new.

Yesterday was the birthday of Adam and Jennie's daughter, Lily. She's five.

With this new work schedule, I have time to read a newspaper in the morning. I get most of my news during the day from Internet news sites and then on the radio during my commute. The paper carries smaller stories that I might not otherwise see. Also, the comics are better.

I left work a bit early yesterday so that I could get home, let the dogs out, and then go to the hospital. I brought my laptop home so that I could check email and work on a few things. In my previous job, I'd bring my laptop home every night. Now, it's a couple of times a month.

MRM's surgery went well. As Sandra observed, it was a long day but a good day. The operation took nearly four hours. When we left the hospital last night, she was tired, but comfortable.

The last of the rains from Hurricane Jeanne will leave us this morning, followed by fine weather for several days. That's the way September has been: delightful weather punctuated by downpours. The rain is cold. We've entered the season that requires a fire in the wood stove every morning.

The pace at work has picked up considerablyl. In addition to the long assignments, due in late October or late December, I have a number of hurry-up short-term tasks. This morning I'll take time to review my notes and make sure that I haven't overlooked anything. Even though we have good computer-based scheduling, email, and planning tools, I still use paper to track my daily to-do items.

Sandra's mother is scheduled for surgery this morning. She'll report to the hospital at 10:30. The operation should take a couple of hours. She's eager and anxious and accepting, all at the same time. Sandra and her father will spend the day at the hospital; I'll join them later this afternoon.

My father is doing better. He was able to stack wood for a short while during our visit on Sunday. Trips to the grocery store are a bit much, but he is still thinking about getting his Jeep ready for plowing this winter.

We took the MacGregors' dog, Molly, with us to the camp this weekend. She's a yellow Lab, one year old. Her bounding and boundless energy is good for Marley, although he was quite tired by Sunday morning.

With the weather cooling, the woodland creatures are making ready for winter. We're finding acorns tucked away on various shelves, in corners, and in other seemingly impossible places. At the camp they gather acorns. At home they steal bird seed from the feeders.

A 200F degree sauna followed by a jump into the bracing water is good for what ails you, body and soul.

The return to work this week brought me into my first long traffic jam in quite a while. A car fire had traffic backed up for a couple of miles and it took nearly 45 minutes to travel that short distance. Traffic jams bring out the goofiness of my fellow travelers.

Work itself is ok. I'm still having some trouble focusing, but I am making progress on my assignments.