Saturday, Sunday, Monday........

We left here early Sat. morning, my husband and me, and Gracie. I dropped my husband off at the airport-- he had another conference to attend in Philadelphia. I chose not to go with him this time...... I knew the contrast between last week's trip to Hawaii and this weekend's trip to the northeast would be too much for me to bear. Had there been a longer period of time between Hawaii and Philadelphia, I would've considered going. My apologies to the people in Philadelphia, but I just didn't want to get on another plane again so soon after getting off of one.

So off to the lake cottage we went, just Gracie and me. Poor Gracie...... she had never dropped off my husband at the airport before, and she didn't understand all of that. By the time we got to the lake cottage, she ran all over the property, from one end to the other, looking for my husband. Then she followed me into the house and she ran from room to room, looking for her "daddy." It took her a couple of hours to settle down.... poor dog just kept looking all over for him. She hadn't been to the lake cottage without him since we bought the property, so I guess she just assumed he would be there.

My young Miss C and her mom drove up to the cottage on Saturday afternoon, and C had another box filled with treasures for her cabin. The decoration of C's cabin has been an on-going process........ she brings more stuff up there each time they go, and her cabin is a treasure-trove of dolphin collectibles. That girl loves dolphins, and I hope she will someday achieve her goal of working with dolphins.

Instead of eating in, the four of us went into town for dinner.... slightly cloudy when we left the cottage, and dark as pitch with pouring rain when we were driving bak to the lake. A storm broke out, and as much as they need rain up there, it seemed like six-months' worth of rain was falling in less than half an hour.

C and her mom left after breakfast on Sunday morning because C had a Girl Scout meeting. I spent the morning pulling up the tomato and pepper plants from the garden. That's it for the fresh vegetables this year, but I'm sure we'll plant something in the Spring, being that the vegetable garden is all boxed in and appears now to be begging for plants.

I went into town yesterday afternoon, looking around the local consignment and antique shops, thinking I might find something for the cottage. I found lots of things, but the prices were too high. I know I can find similar things at the local yard sales, for much less money, so I'll just wait till I do. We have the necessary things up there now, so anything else can just wait. I do wish we'd find a sofa, though. The wicker chairs look perfect in that living room, but the right sofa will finish off that room.

I drove back from the lake early this morning... Gracie in the back seat.... I think she knows the routine now because she settles down to sleep in the back seat and doesn't move till we get back into town here. As a result of the long plane flight back from Hawaii, I now have a very sore throat. So sore that I could barely talk yesterday, and today hasn't been that much better.

When I got into the house late this morning, I checked for phone messages and eMails...... found a sad and disturbing eMail from a friend of mine up in NY. She's facing surgery this week..... a very frightening surgery, and after using a salt/warm water gargle for nearly half an hour, I was able to talk well enough to call her up. What do you say when you just don't know what to say? It was the saddest phone call......... before it was over, after she had given me all the facts and the possible outcomes, we both just cried. My friend is my age..... much too young and too vibrant to be going through something like this.

I won't mention her name, and not even her initials.... I know who she is, she knows who she is, and that's all that matters in this situation. I have known her for more than thirty years.... and in all that time, she was always someone that I admired. As with my dear friend Frankie, this friend of mine was never afraid to just be herself. She didn't judge anyone, was always willing to listen to the opinions of others, loved to discuss differences, respected the "live and let live" theory, and just plain was always such a nice, nice person. When we were both in our 20s, I allowed myself to be changed and molded by the circumstances in my life at that time. My decision to allow that affected the outcome of my 30s, and it wasn't till I was in my 40s that I came back into "my own self." At that time, I told my friend that I had always fully admired her because she never lost herself... not in her 20s, not in her 30s....... and she never has to this day.

So now, the thought of my friend putting herself into the hands of surgeons tomorrow morning is just plain frightening. To her, to her husband and sons, to me, and I'm sure to anyone who knows her. The last thing I told her on the phone today was to think of just one thing when they're about to put her under for the surgery---- dancing at her sons' weddings.

I am holding that picture in my mind as well. I can see her in my mind's eye...... dancing and twirling and smiling and laughing and thoroughly enjoying the music playing at her son's wedding.