Josie Update and a Gathering of Friends

Josie is officially back to normal, and quite frankly, for a snakebite as bad as the one she got, she cruised through her recovery like a champ. She still has a little bit of pink discoloration on her outer lip and perhaps some light light scarring where the fangs struck. It's all good, though.

We kept her in the house for a full week after being bitten, and when she finally tasted some sweet freedom, we were afraid we might not see her for two or three days, what with the accumulated and unspent energy from being on house-arrest and all, but she's actually been good about coming in after a reasonable romp most evenings. Moose is older and slower than Josie, but they buddy together, and I think he keeps her from wandering too far from home.

Jack and I, on the other hand, did wander from home for a couple of days. We'd been needing a break from the routine for months, but our current budget doesn't allow for much of a vacation, so we boarded the dogs and headed to The Baby House. The trip was actually a little bit more than that - we've hoped for awhile to have a gathering for some of our closest friends, and when our chick-buddy, Heidi, said she would be coming through Tennessee, we took advantage of the opportunity to have one. 

With friends coming from every direction and wanting things to be as convenient as possible for everyone, Mom and Dad graciously let us use The Baby House.

Great fun was had by all, except the dogs, who were boarded, but I'm telling you this -- a gathering for even a small group of people is a LOT of work, but we pulled it off with teamwork and a little help from our friends. Everyone showed up with wonderful, beautiful food. Larry brought his guitar.

Larry belting out some old-style blues

Kathy and Shelli

Jam session with Larry and Jeffrey

John at the food table

We laughed until we hurt and stayed up way too late, but spending time with special people is balm for the spirit, and we all came away from the evening with warm hearts and a renewed sense of just how much good stuff we all have in our lives.

While we were in Franklin, I managed to sneak in a couple of visits with the V-girls, and Lu got to hung with me for awhile on Wednesday while Sis ran some errands. Our friend, Matt, who had over-nighted with us, got to experience her delightfulness, and during some "gettin' to know you" Q & A, she explained that she's four years old, but that "kiTTen is as old as EGYPT!" 

I barely got my camera out of the bag and ended up leaving town with no new photos of the girls -- sometimes it's way more about the visit than the photos.