Granddaughter Naomi is such a hoot. Let me tell you why.

On Christmas Eve, I was playing with the brass in the 6:00 PM service. I drove there by myself, so I could have some time to warm up, while Jan and my Mom and Daniel and Shelley and Naomi came later, and met Chad and Sarah and Katie there.

Yes, I've been away from here for a while. And I may not come back for a while more yet.

But there are a couple of things I need to tell you about, whoever might be reading this.

First is that the video I created in 2009 of "Uncle Daniel Scares Katherine" appears to have gone viral. As of the middle of December, 2011, the thing has over 40,000 views!

You can see it (and others I've posted) by clicking on the "My YOUTUBE Page" to the right. It's an older posting, and I think they put the newest ones at the top, so you'll have to scroll down some to get to it.

Early in December (2010), my son Chad decided he'd had enough of working for other people, especially for people who didn't have much of a clue how to handle employees.

So he decided to strike out on his own, to start his own business, mainly in computer consulting and programming.

A number of years ago, Jan and Grace and I took a vacation. I managed to rent a condo in "Lake Of The Ozarks" Missouri, because that was what was available through this place I use where I can rent unused condos for $273 a week. (It's higher than that now, but not a lot.)

While we were there, we took two days and went to see Branson, that we'd heard so much about.

I won't go into details about all that here, except to say this was the third week in October. This is a wonderful time of the year, weather-wise, but it's not exactly prime vacation time.

Good Sabbath to all. Latest update 10:15 PM.

8:58 AM - Just a quick note before Jan and I head off to church. I'll post more here later after we go visit Grace.

Jan just called the ICU and they said she rested well last night and they will take the breathing tube out in about an hour, which would be around 10AM this morning. She's not awake yet.

We will go see her after church, about noon.

More later. Stay tuned.

Just a short update right now, since there's not much to tell.

Grace slept all day, under sedation. She still is breathing through a tube.

We saw the duty nurse just after 8PM, and she said they ought to be taking the tube out tomorrow morning. She also said they tried to start bringing Grace out of the sedation today, but she started becoming agitated, so they decided to let her sleep the rest of today and tonight, and take the tube out tomorrow.

It's Saturday morning as I write this, and we hope Grace is still sleeping in her recovery.

If it's news to you that Grace is in the hospital, please scroll down and read the earlier blog article first.

Because of the blood thinners Grace has been taking, Plavix and an aspirin-a-day, there were quite a few complications with her stay and repair in the hospital.

I'll refer to these blood-thinners as BTs from here on.

First, because of the BTs, they admitted her directly into the ICU, where she stayed until her surgery, and then came back to after.

UPDATE - FRIDAY 10 AM - The ICU tells us Grace was scheduled for surgery at 9. We'll be heading over there soon to wait in the recovery room. Stay tuned for more updates.

Yesterday (writing on THURSDAY Aug 5), I took Grace (my mother-in-law who lives with us) to her third session of physical therapy, where they're trying to alleviate her back pain and make it so she can be more mobile than she has been.

Yesterday, in an errand-running outing, Jan and I stopped into the Lifeway Christian store to see if they had a copy of "Matthew Henry's Bible Commentary," which my friend Mike says is one of the most incisive commentaries ever written, with discussions of every verse in the Bible; and this in spite of the fact that it was written about 1706.

Matthew Henry died in 1714.

Indeed, Lifeway did (does) have a copy of the commentary, in a 6-volume set, for about $70, which was almost half off the regular price of about $130.

Someone asked me a few days ago what I was reading.

When I began to think about it, I realized I am currently "reading" (in quotes because some of it is on computer, some of it is audio) an amazing number of books - probably too many to read all at once. I should probably try to finish off some of them and get them off the list.

Of course, if I do that, I'll probably just start new ones. Sigh. Too many books, too little time.

Currently, Jan and I are reading three books together, plus two more occasionally.

Please excuse me if I go on a bit about my granddaughter, Katie.

I spent some time with her yesterday, and it's an amazing blessing to watch her joy as she experiences this world, and her glee as she conquers each new task.

I had the weirdest dream early this morning.

I was asleep in a strange bed, alone. There was an air conditioner vent high up in the wall at the foot of the bed.

I looked, and there was a LARGE snake coming out of the vent. It was a cream-gold color and it had a bony ridge-hood over its eyes.

I had one of those paralyzed-in-a-dream moments, then began kicking my feet under the sheets to keep it off of me. It flashed in my mind that this was a "Gabon Viper" (whatever that is), then I woke up.

Last Wednesday, I drove 2 1/2 hours south to Gulfport, to attend the funeral of Steve Burnett, a friend of mine.

Funerals are always a sad occasion, but this one was particularly poignant, for two reasons. First, Steve was only 54 years old, and second, he was a significant presence in my life.

Taken Too Young!

When is one NOT too young to go home to the Lord? Steve had a beautiful family, wife, five children, and two grandchildren, but should have been looking forward to decades more of enjoying these delights of life.

Last week, we went out to eat at a local Cracker Barrel restaurant.

We do this occasionally, because some folks in our house like the food there, because going out to eat means no one has to fix the dinner or wash the dishes, and because they like to buy a loaf of the Cracker Barrel sourdough bread to bring home.

Our dog, Bert, is no longer with us.

Monday, taking Bert on his final trip to the vet, is all a blur.

On Sunday, the day before, he was VERY lethargic, and getting him up to go outside was a major effort, I had to pull rather hard on his leash to get him to get up. On Monday, he was even worse.

I had an early morning retinologist appointment, which went as well as could be expected, BTW, but as soon as we got back, we knew we had to take him in to the vet, probably for the final time.

Many of you who read this already know I direct a community band, the Mississippi Community Symphonic Band. (The band's home page is here.)

Of course being as how we are a concert band, we put on concerts.

Last night we put on our oh, about thirty second concert since we got started, nearly six years ago.

We must be doing something right, because we regularly put more than 80 people on the stage and have audiences of 500 or more.

Please pardon me as I brag a bit on my granddaughter.

Katherine Grace (Katie) is just under sixteen months old. She's beginning to learn that words exist, and they actually might mean something; and she's also learning a few element of sign language.

You can just see the wheels turning in her head as she puts new ideas and concepts together, and tests her comprehension of what she's learning.

Tonight, while Chad (Katie's dad)was on the way home from Pensacola, where he was helping a friend move back to Jackson, we went out to eat and took Sarah (Mommy) and Katie.

It's been "movie week" this week here in Mississippi. I've been to see FOUR movies this week - more than I went to see in any six month period in the last two years, I think. At least, in theaters. If you're interested, read on!

Christmas Day, 2009.

It's been a wonderful Christmas Day, with six family members in the house, a fire in the fireplace, a bit of a nip in the air outside, bright sunshine to celebrate the joy of the day, and many gifts and other things for which to be thankful.

But a small cloud hovers in the corner of the room.

Our dog, Bert, who has been with us for nearly sixteen years, seems to be on his last legs.

Granted, sixteen years is a long life for a dog, but it's also a long time for the beastie to grow roots in the family.

Fleas. Ugh.

Pesky critters, and not good for our health, our comfort, or our peace of mind.

Our old dog, Bert, has been pretty much flea-free for most of his life, thanks to new advances in anti-flea medications. But recently, he's been scratching more.

We put it down to just the season and his skin allergies, which happen periodically.

However, when we (that's the "royal we," meaning Jan) gave him a bath recently, we discovered he had a bad case of fleas.

Ugh.