Ch-ch-ch-changes

On the good-news front, my mother-in-law has been given a clean bill of health. They'll watch to see if any further bleeding occurs. We suspect her coumadin levels might have caused it, but time will tell. My cousin Walt (Junior) is finally feeling better and has also been given positive news on his health. I haven't heard back from Trudy, other than the usual greetings, so I guess she's okay. My friend Sarah has written that she's been diagnosed with IC (interstitial cystitis, I think it means), and she's pretty miserable, but she's hoping dietary changes will help.

I have a new cell phone, a lavender-colored Blackberry Curve. My cousin Walt also has one, and he says the "Curve" refers to the steep learning curve it takes to master it. They even have classes on how to use it, for gosh sakes! We'll see. It wouldn't hurt for me to take the classes. Maybe I'd actually learn how to use my cell phone properly. As my son has reminded me, a Blackberry is more than a cell phone. It's a little computer. What I like about it most is that it has a qwerty keyboard. What I hated was the fact that it took over an hour to do all the paperwork for getting the new phone. As I grumpily told everyone, "We've bought houses in less time!"

I also have a new laptop computer, a white Sony VAIO. My husband is busy setting it up for me. We're going to go to Ferris on Monday to download all my personal info from the school desktop (since they're supposed to replace it with a laptop this summer). I'm still typing on my usual desktop with my ergonomic keyboard here at the house, but eventually this desktop is moving to the basement so we can use it down there to convert old files to disks or something. I'm also going to use the scanner down there and work on scanning in more of our family photographs.

I was probably more excited about the things I've purchased at the arts and crafts stores than about the cell phone and computer. After all, I KNOW how to work a pencil and kneadable eraser. And I'm looking forward to mailing the things to Carolyn that I've collected for her. She does jewelry, mostly beadwork. I've collected an assortment of beads and tools to send her.

Another little tidbit of news: one of the campus osprey eggs has hatched, with the two others due to hatch in a couple of days. According to the website (www.ferris.edu/osprey) the eggs hatch in the order they were laid, and they were laid about two days apart.

My beloved spouse and I have each been having lots of sinus headaches and pressure lately. It rained a lot yesterday, so of course we have dampness and mildew to add to spring pollen. But the stuff in the yard is growing rapidly, so that's a good thing. We needed a year of good growth. Esteemed Spouse was talking about digging up and moving the Japanese magnolia tree because it wasn't growing. I told him to fuggadaboudit. He kills more plants with his transplanting than the Michigan winters do.

I'm hoping my friend Ellie will report in soon with good news on her job situation and on her health. This has not been the happiest year for her. Fingers crossed that summer will bring health, peace, and harmony.