Llama, Llama, where's Mac's mama?

This disjointedness is brought to you by 

Mrs. 4444. 

Go on, click on over and see what's up there, 

you won't be sorry!

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 Christmas afternoon, I snapped this of  my brother and his dog Nutty on his aptly names sun porch. She's getting pretty old, I was struck by her powdered face and her gait, but she still adores Jeff.

When I said good-bye to her, I cried a little.  I believe I was truly saying good-bye.  

Yes, I've suffered worse losses, and so has Jeff, and so we have that perspective.  But that doesn't always remove the pain.  Does it?

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No, I have no "whiz-bang" gift photos to share, my husband and I don't exchange gifts.

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Mac did find the perfect fluer di lis earrings for me, but taking a photo of my own ear is a task I'm not up to.

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On Monday night, I helped make dinner for the guests of Ronald McDonald House in Chicago.

By helping I mean I cleaned both before and after dinner.

The excellent cooking was done by my friends Jim and Helen.

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On Tuesday night, we went to Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo.  My friend Jenn is a dolphin trainer there.  The top picture is her at work in the water.

Then she tried to coax one of her pals out after the show.

We had a behind the scenes tour of the Seven Seas facility afterward (no photos allowed, too bad, those dolphins were up close on that side of the tank, and a photo of Jenn digging through a bucket o' fish would have been priceless.)

Afterward Jenn dried off and met us in the lit wildly but still dark zoo.

We made our way to the children's zoo where Cinnamon was waiting to pose for photos.

Jenn got us a little closer...

Mac with a llama,

niece Alice with a llama, 

but no Ellie with a llama.

Hm.

I did pet the llama, her neck felt like a rough tree trunk covered by fake fur.  Okay, I get that it was real, but it felt synthetic.

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I had minor "chick" surgery yesterday.  The thing I was most nervous about was the anesthesia.  I was full under, but I woke fast without getting sick.  Every staff member I encountered at Central DuPage Hospital was beyond competent.  What a good place!

Especially the nurse who wrote the name of the best pads on a post-it for Brad.

He has no qualms about buying such things, but I knew facing a wall of product would be daunting.

Heck, I have to search that aisle, but after the next couple of weeks, that should all come to an end.

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Did you know surgery has color coded socks?   

I teased the nurse and told her I wanted orange, but she said those were for cardiac (I think) care.

Notice the two grips on both sides of the socks, even if I walked on the top of my feet, I wouldn't wipe out.  Okay, maybe I would...

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Best thing about surgery?  All the Lorna Doone's I could eat afterward.  They even sent some home with me in a "bio-harzards" bag.  I plan on using that ziploc for lunch over and over.  It's an apt name for my kitchen skills.
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There's something deeply thought provoking and gratitude filled about driving away from a hospital with the knowledge that recovery would be swift, and, although nervous making, what I went through was nothing compared to what 99% of those people walking through those doors would experience.

So I'm ending this with not a fragmented thought but a very deeply rooted and solid one:

Thank you God for my good health and access to doctors and their staffs who help me maintain it.