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.