yesterday was my birthday, and it was certainly…different.  i worked in the morning, we had a tasty sushi lunch, and later in the day i went to rehearsal.  no cake at all!  but that’s ok, because cake is going to happen later.

maybe i’ve mentioned it – we’re doing “the dixie swim club” again, this time at Theatre in the Park at New Salem.  I’m excited about doing the show outside.  last night during rehearsal, when i was supposed to be focusing on the scene i was in, i was enjoying looking at the clouds changing color in the sky.

this morning, as a day-after-birthday treat to myself, i’m taking a break from posting about wales to try to get caught up on posts about life here in the present.

well, at least i have some photos of april, so that’s a little bit more current anyway.

i love this shot of chester, who looks like he’s going to start writing.  gee, i shoulda photoshopped all the junk on the counter out…or better yet, i should have cleaned the counter!

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lester, on his jungle gym.

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i’d like to post a chronological group of these photos, because the hostas are getting bigger and bigger – if i wasn’t so lazy at the moment, i’d get up and take a picture of them so you could see how they look now.  this was taken on april 30th.

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this was also taken on april 30th, cute tiny little goslings.

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and this was on may 3rd, but i don’t think the goslings got this big this fast, this is another set of them.

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mom and aunt sandy went with amy to a zumba event for breast cancer awareness, so mom and sandy got to see what an awesome insructor amy is!  i had rehearsal and couldn’t go.

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jill’s cute dogs, after a hot walk.  they get hot pretty quickly, these giant bernese mountain dogs.

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when we walked one day i saw this bush with these lovely yellow flowers, and i sure wish i knew what they were.

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jill suggested that we walk to rehearsal from her house, so we did that every time we rehearsed downtown.  it was about a three mile walk, and a nice way to get some exercise and relax before rehearsal.

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lester, in his backyard.  all that bare ground on the left is now sprouting some new grass, but the unsightly mass of dirt on the right is still there, plus the grass has grown soooo high.  in order to mow, i’d have to unseal the gate which kevin thoroughly secured because les was escaping again.  i also need to bring in lots more mulch, so all of that will have to happen.  but not today.

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while working back there on saturday may 7th, i got bitten on the eyelid by a buffalo gnat.  they were swarming around like crazy, and it was pretty annoying, but i just kept working diligently.  after an hour, though, it started to swell.

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i kept thinking it’d shrink, but instead it grew at an alarming rate.  i’d go inside every once in a while to check on it, then i’d go back out and work.  but in a few hours it got so big that i decided maybe we should go to the walk-in clinic.

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the doctor gave me a steroid shot and put me on a 9-day regime of prednisone.  i assumed that the steroid would start working right away, but this is what it looked like by nine that night.

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i sent jill the photo and she said DELETE THAT PHOTO!

it actually looked even worse the next morning, but then it got better and i’m already forgetting about it.  i mean, it was NOTHING like the over 100 yellow jacket stings i got all over my body a couple years ago.

i’m kind of sensitive to bug bites and stings.  i’ve been using more bug spray lately.

look at this lovely little cabin in the woods – it belong to my neighbor bernice’s daughter debbie, and it’s right in her back yard!  she has a big lot with woods in the back, and i’d love to see it someday.

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toun’s sister came to visit her – Doyin is from nigeria, but she works for all kinds of relief efforts worldwide.  she’d just been at harvard, doing some training with a bunch of US army and navy or marines.  they were working on survival skills if they got kidnapped.  she was so cheerful about it, and said it was a fun time!

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and finally, the last photo in this random collection, i happened to see this charming family swimming by as i was down at the dock.

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and that was just on may 10th, so i’m almost caught up with the month, and now i have over an hour of free time for more yard work before work and everything else.

ok then, i hope your wednesday is good,

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