Rain, Rain, Go Away

OK, so we desperately needed rain because it's been such a dry spring, the lawn is browning (usually doesn't happen until well into July) and our water bill is soaring as we try to keep our reseeded area alive. But we didn't really need to get the rain all in one or two days. At least our basement is dryer than the IRS.

The accidental antique

Way back when we were first living in Miami, in 1992, Ken furnished his apartment from the thrift store. Among his purchases was a simple, sturdy coffee table which was used as a TV and stereo stand. When we moved to Norfolk for medical school, he sold what he could and left the rest of the furniture behind for the apartment complex manager to give to new tenants. He left first and I moved second, driving north in my '84 Honda Civic. The only thing I could squeeze into the car with my clothes was the coffee table. I have kept the table ever since, the only piece of furniture that's survived 7 addresses in the last decade plus, because I've always liked it.

Apparently I have a good eye, because as it turns out, the table is a Lane Acclaim mid-century Danish modern, circa 1963, which has recently become rather collectible. Not bad for a $20 thrift store acquisition. If I hang onto it long enough, it can become a family heirloom!

Reality check

I typically blog about the mundane details of life; a trip here, work events there. I don't even blog as often as I could, so it's not even a thorough chronicling of day-to-day life, rather an intermittent one. But lately I have found it odd to post news of a day trip to Hershey Park or a brush with poison ivy that's still healing after 2 weeks, because 4 weeks ago Mom got the results of a biopsy back and found out she had breast cancer. On May 19, she had a mastectomy. And Saturday she came home from the hospital a second time after returning to fight off an infection. The bright side is that the cancer appears to have been local (it was ductal), a sentinel lymph node biopsy was clear, and there's no need for radiation or chemotherapy. So all signs are positive. In fact, in some ways, it doesn't seem real. It's as if she had her gall bladder removed or some other type of surgery. They went in, they took something out, and it's over. I refuse to believe anything else.