The Pie Brigade

This was the happy reunion last night with our Karmanos friends. We met at The Grand Traverse Pie Company in Lansing for our monthly dinner together. Gil, Mark and Bonnie continue their recoveries without complication and are nearing their six month post-stem cell transplant anniversary.

As you might remember from previous blog entries, we are pie lovers and so we all started our dinner with pie first. We then "progressed" to sandwiches, and finished off with soup and salad. (Hey, we do what we want!)

The spouses (me, Kim and Steve) happily support Gil, Mark and Bonnie's efforts at getting stronger each day, taking fewer naps (!) and getting more involved in the world at large. (As long as it's germ-free!)

Germs are the terrifying big topic these days. Gardening is absolutely forbidden -- too much bacteria in the soil and leaf mold is everywhere. And crowded places still need to be respected.

Gil heads into Karmanos tomorrow for an appointment and he's doing well. He's hoping for a reduction in his steroids again and that within two to four weeks, he might actually be able to discontinue them all together.

I've got a lot of books checked out from the library and reading as much and as fast as I can:

Dorothea Lange by Linda Gordon, The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis by Lydia Davis, The Hidden Life of Deer by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, Food Rules by Michael Thomas and The Joy Diet by Martha Beck. (I love having a book in every room in the house that I can browse or pick up and take with me to an appointment.)

Haiku:

A warm sunny day

Is winter really over?

Or is this a tease?