Ethan’s Journey

Pluto is a riot! He is full speed kitten. Tinkers with everything. Runs full speed to and from. But when he sleeps, he sleeps hard. I tried to set up an appointment for Ethan for dermatology. I called a place that the hospital recommended that deals with transplant patients. Unfortunately, they don’t accept his insurance. Grrrr…. I have to call Ethan’s insurance and see which dermatology place will accept his insurance. I ran out of time to deal with it today. I ran to the bank with Avery and got a money order for Avery’s first month’s rent for tomorrow. We have an appointment at 9:00 am. It has been hard not to get things for her for her apartment. But she knows what she wants and needs. She will figure out the rest. We went to dinner with my mom and Gene for my birthday dinner. We went to Margaritas and I got a margarita of course. It was delicious. It was really nice catching up with them because life has been crazy the last few weeks. When we got home from dinner, Avery and I packe...

 This morning we slowly introduced the dogs to Pluto. Jiminy is scared. Penny was also scared because the baby kitten hissed at her. She was also curious. Her body language was submissive. Side eyed glances, yawning and excessive checking to see where the kitten was. Pluto was a bit nervous as well. He would run and dive under the couch. Then pop out again. It was better than TV. I picked Ethan up and headed to Strong Hospital for his Nuclear Studies. His nurse today had a baby voice and she was talking to him like he was 6 years old. He was getting aggravated by it. I sat in the waiting room while they were testing him. There was myself and a man. The man proceeds to make a phone call on SPEAKER. He and the person he was speaking with were so LOUD! Why? Leave the waiting room please sir. He spoke with the person for 16 minutes with full volume. Once Ethan was done, he shared that the only side effect he had from his injections was facial pain and shortness of breath. We didn’t get...

 Paul and I worked from camp again today. We had a nice breeze through the camper. He works in the back of the camper and I work either outside or in the kitchen of the camper. I finished before Paul and took Moe on a bike ride.  We rode top speed. Each time Moe’s toes touched the pavement, I envisioned his toe nails being filed down just a little bit more.  Moe ventured into the lake when we got back. Just up to his armpits to get a drink. When Paul finished work, he had to “wrap up a few things”. When I asked him a few more questions about what that meant, he finally shared that he wanted to wash the camper. He wanted to get the spider webs off the camper and use spray wax on the decals. Eye roll. I have to give him credit though. He has kept the camper looking immaculate. I can’t take any credit for that. He meticulously washes it, kisses it and tells it how beautiful it is! I guess it is working! We had a mostly uneventful ride home with only a few traffic annoyances....

 Happy Birthday to me! My birthday was great. I worked this morning in an office over looking the lake. The water was calm, the temperature was comfortable and the colors were rich. I took a break mid morning and took Moe and Penny for a run. To be clear, that means they run, I ride a bike. They have to keep up with me. We went for about 2.5 miles. I had more meetings and did more work until my next break. Again, I took the dogs for a run. I left Jiminy and Ferguson together so they wouldn’t be too sad. Moe and Penny had their tongues hanging out of the side of their mouth. They had to reel it in. Moe went to the lake and laid in it.  We are making progress with the lake. Paul was still working and I finished up for the day. I did a little bit of weeding in the garden. Avery sent me videos of her kitten playing in our house. The kitten will be staying with us for a few days until the big move on Friday. Ethan was playing with the kitten and even teasing Avery. He is feeling be...

 This morning started off overcast with a sprinkle here and there. We did have rain overnight. By mid morning it had brightened up and was sunny and windy. Without the wind it would have been sweltering. We had a leisurely day. The dogs got to go on a few walks. Penny got to fun next to me as I rode a bike. That little dog is impressively fast. I was riding the bike at top speed and this dog was keeping up with the pace. We rode about 2 miles.  She was panting a lot when we got back. She was placed at the end of the dock and swam back to shore (about 80 feet). I thought she would be tired after that and she was not. Penny wanted to go again. She wasn’t even slowing down. How do we harness this as an energy source. Penny might produce as much as the Niagara Falls. The rest of the day was pretty wonderful. It was a bit windy but warm. Paula and I went swimming for a little bit.  We visited with the neighbors in the evening which is always full of laughs. Meanwhile, Avery br...

 This morning, we peeked out and can you believe it? A toilet is at the end of our neighbor’s dock. I wonder how that got there? We giggled about this all morning. We then went to see it in person as both occupants of the house were away. We started goofing around. We laughed and laughed at the silliness. The water was so calm today. Almost no wind. We headed over to Wilson bay. We like the sandy bottom of the lake in that area. We were one of many boat there. We anchored next to our friend’s boat. It was easy to get in the water as it was sunny and warm. Diane brought her double float and I happily shared it with her. We had a nice afternoon enjoying the water, sun, music and the sights and sounds of an active beach. As it was time to go, Paul and I hung back at the beach. We then hopped on the jet ski’s and took the longer way home so we could drive around one of the islands across from us. After returning, we prepared steak for dinner. Paul orchestrated the weekend to make my bi...

 Moe thought he was helping me work this morning. This was my view for a bit. It seems like today we are not going to respect personal space boundaries. (Does he ever? Nope). He just stared at me for quite a long time. At least he is cute. 🥰  After work, Paul and I drove to camp with the dogs. Within the first 15 minutes, we witnessed a road rage incident where one lady was driving like a maniac and the other lady didn’t appreciate it. The lady that didn’t appreciate it, was flipping the other lady off. She chucked a water bottle at her car. The lady deserved all of this as she was driving like she didn’t care if she, or anyone, lived. As we drove further, the crazy lady continued to drive crazy and pissed off other drivers. We saw a sea of middle fingers emerge from cars as this horrific driver passed them. Good times. We arrived and immediately was greeted by a stray toilet. Someone’s used toilet was sitting on our property with a traffic cone on it. We have become the butt...

 I received a letter in the mail saying that Ethan has lost his SSP benefits. In the note, it said to call and check on the status of his Medicaid. Failure to reach out could result in suspension of Medicaid. I made the call. I sat on hold for a while. Finally I spoke with a nice lady that checked Ethan’s status and shared it was active with no signs it will be terminated. I am hesitant to believe her, only because I have been burned before with misinformation. It was quite warm out. The dogs were begging to go out side. If I let them out they would immediately lay in the sun. Brats! I have been taking my new meds all week. I switched to taking them at night which has significantly improved the way I feel during the day ( in a good way). Paul got home late today (around 8 pm). He went out and worked in the barn for a while. I puttered around the house getting my donations ready for dropping off at the Goodwill next week. I was thankful for the breeze and the air conditioning today....

 Ethan’s glasses finally arrived. These are his replacements for the ones the lake swallowed up. He goes to have them adjusted on Friday. I worked outside for a bit today, under the shade of the tree. I had the dogs out. Penny was sniffing around and eating things she probably wasn’t supposed to. Ferguson was basking in the sunshine, Moe was stretched out because he likes the way the grass feels on his belly. Jiminy was plot his time between following Penny around and wanting to sit on my lap. I was able to meal prep this evening. I made a huge pan of meatloaf as well as a large pan of Mexican rice and chicken. The only salt was in the Parmesan cheese I sprinkled on top. All in all it made 22 safe meals. Don’t tell Paul and Ethan but there was avocado hidden in that meatloaf. I put it in the blender so it was undetectable, but they will still get the nutrients from it. I took the dogs for a walk. They ran until their tongues flop out of their mouth’ .  I am ready to lay down, ...

 Today was one of those days I felt like I was stuck in quick sand. Quick sand was so terrifying when I was little. It seemed like it was a true threat around every corner. Today I stepped in it, metaphorically of course.  The more I tried to catch up and make moves, the more the sand/work gobbled me up. I finally had to just shut the computer with work still left to do. This family needed groceries. I ordered my groceries online last week and they cancelled my order because there were no shoppers available. I just decided to go in person. I need to meal prep but there are things in the freezer, so no one in the house will die of starvation. Ha! Ethan seems to be coming out of his funk a little. He has been a little more chatty. That is always good news. We discovered a large amount of poison ivy in our back yard. Paul had a melt down over it. He is ready to just have someone come and rip out everything and put stone down. I don’t blame him. If he talks about poison ivy he get...

 This morning I woke up and tried to scrub the coffee stain out of the WHITE shirt we are required to wear at our booth. I don’t wear white. I can’t be trusted to keep it clean. We only got one white shirt too. Yikes. Keep it clean and not smelly for THREE days?!?!?  Someone has extreme faith in me and the rest of the team. We finished up at the conference and myself and two other ladies headed to the airport together. We went our separate ways and I got into my security line. That is when all the noises started to grate on my nerves. My social battery was on empty and now I was starting to crack a little.  Why must we have our phones on full volume during security check in? If you miss a call or a text for 10 minutes is it that big of a deal? Probably not.  People answer their phone, (but let it ring several times first) then proceed to have a conversation. They don’t pay attention to what they are doing in security and three people that did this in my small little ...

 Between yesterday and today I have had 3 people tell me I look like Emma Thompson. I don’t know who that is but I had to google her. The first picture that popped up gave me a jump scare. “That? That is what you see when you look at me?” This was horrible news. Are you kidding me? I looked at other pictures of her. They were less offensive. I can see a little resemblance but am convinced this is a huge inside job at pranking me since I have never heard this comparison made before. I don’t know who is behind it though. I walked around the conference and learned about new products, got a few little trinkets. They offered yummy salads for an afternoon snack. They had cups full of things like tomato’s, quinoa, blue cheese, prosciutto and chick peas. Yum! We went to dinner in Virginia. We took an uber to a nice Italian place. They had magical food AND I got pistachio gelato for dessert. My stomach needs a break from eating so much.  My flight leaves tomorrow after 10 pm so that wi...

 Today was a busy day at our booth. I worked a double shift just because I wanted to and enjoy it.  One of the highlights of the day was a girl that I spoke with in the past and hired her at one of our hospitals. She shared how she has worked her way up in the hospital and that she is SO happy there.  She gave me a hug and a big thanks. It was a moment of such reward for me. I was so thankful she sought me out based on my LibkedIn post. It was such a nice moment. My coworker and I went out to dinner with 15 other people and met people within our corporation. It is a situation that I would normally be uncomfortable with but it went so well. I got to sit next to this one lady that I admire. She always has an amazing smile on her face. We chatted and it was great. I did not care for what she ordered though. It was some fish dish where the fish still had the scales on it. The tail was still on it. 🤮 I had to ask, how do you eat that? Do you eat the scales? Apparently you do....

 My flight was smooth and on time. I met my coworker in person. It is very odd to see someone on your laptop for months and then meet them in person. We headed to the hotel and dropped our things off and had some lunch. We also had a good chat. We then found our way through Washington DC to the conference hall for our evening event. The event was to have us available for people looking for another job.  We talked to several people. Some great ones and some not so great ones (that were spitting when they talk). We talked to normal people and “close talkers”. Close talkers are not my favorite. Spitting close talkers are even more displeasing. Afterward, my coworker and I went to a restaurant. We sat at the bar but it was clear that the bartender was overwhelmed. We ended up leaving. The next restaurant we went to had a private party going on and were not serving food.  The next restaurant was a 5 minute walk away. We spotted a different restaurant on the way. We chose that ...

I have struggled all my life with focusing on tasks. To cope, I make lists. My lists have lists. I feel like I am always forgetting to do something and often times will forget, not because I am intentionally lazy, but because my brain is juggling 20 balls in the air and sometimes I drop one. This is typical human behavior.  My anxiety stems from making sure everything gets done and I want to be the person that can be counted on. With Ethan’s ADHD diagnosis, I spoke to my doctor about how this has been going on my whole life and I have found ways to cope, but I have been feeling that it is getting more out of control lately. Together we decided that I should try ADHD medication. This decision was not made lightly. I was very thoughtful about addiction and my kidney. I didn’t want a controlled medication, I wanted something that I can take for the days that I really need to focus - week days. Today I took my first pill. Holy cow. What a difference. I noticed that my scattered thought...

 I got a text today. “Ethan has these 3 upcoming visits to check in online.” Then another text for Ethan’s nuclear studies coming up. Yikes! We are going to have a busy next week or two. Tomorrow’s appointment is to discuss Ethan’s mental health medication’s to see if we can help him combat his extreme fatigue.  Ethan has a dark purple circle in his mouth where he had his worst mouth sore. I swear it was trying to eat through his face. His mouth is feeling much better, but I bet that spot still feels weird to him.  I can’t imagine the people that are receiving chemo that have to deal with this for months.  I did some well needed self care today. Soaked my feet, had my hair dyed and looking less gray and a mask. I am almost unrecognizable with all the changes -sarcasm. I am looking forward to a quick visit from Avery tomorrow night. Avery and Kendall get their kitten, Plutonium 239, (Pluto for short) on Sunday. Paul and I will have a grand kitten (I already bought som...

 I saw the sun come up when I was walking the dogs this morning. I needed to get on the road by 6:30 am to get home for my first phone interview. I made good time with only a few nimrods going under the speed limit in front of me. I kept my distance because little Jiminy can’t be bumping his head in the car. I need to keep all the dogs safe and in one piece. I was very thankful we have air conditioning today. It is certainly a privilege. I was listening to people that live in Ontario on the radio. They were talking about how they don’t have air-conditioning and they sit on their couch sweating and unable to move away from the fan. You know that is a stinky, sticky, miserable mess. My phone was blowing up when I pulled into the driveway. It was my boss asking me why I was late to the meeting. 6 minutes late to be exact. I didn’t have a meeting scheduled though. She realized she created a meeting and never invited me to it. Ha! Phew! She was actually worried because I am always early...

 It was a relatively quiet work day for a Monday. My office overlooked the lake. The weather was perfect. Slight breeze, sunny, not too hot, not too cold.  My co-workers were lazy today. It’s ok. I still love them. I like being up here at the lake with the dogs. It is peaceful. The only drama is Penny barking at stuff. Ethan has his lab work done over the weekend. His doctor has given him a therapeutic goal with a combined level of 6-8. I learn little bits a pieces of information as we ride this transplant train. Ethan’s dose of medicine that caused mouth sores was 5 mg. As soon as his dose was changed to 5 mg, he developed mouth sores within a few days. At 4 mg he was not at a therapeutic dose, but also had no mouth sores. We were told to decrease it from 4 mg to 3 mg even though his mouth sores cleared up. This didn’t make sense as the dose of 4 mg was already low. I inquired about adjusting the dose down to 3 mg. If 4 mg wasn’t enough, but he wasn’t developing mouth sores, ...

 Another perfect weather day with the exception of a 10 minute light shower this morning around 8:45 am. We were in the lake by 10:00 am. Moe did some swimming again today. He doesn’t love it, but will do it for treats. I think he enjoys the way the water cools him down after a walk. Heather and I floated around on tubes enjoying the sunshine and the warmth of the lake. The water is quite inviting and easy to submerge in.z mg  We went on the boat over to anchor off the island where there is no wind. We swam around. We took all 4 dogs and they all went in the lake except Jiminy. He just floated on the tube for a bit without getting wet. Penny and Ferguson had a bath to cool them off. Moe was forced in the lake and was swimming. He ultimately went back to the boat and climbed up the ladder out of the water. We got pizza for dinner and it was really delicious. The salad was really good too. We sat our chairs around the fire and turned on some tunes.  It was a warm and sticky...

 7Today was warm and wonderful. A perfect day at the lake.  Moe went in swimming after our morning walk. I did too as I was warm. He swam the farthest he has swam so far. I gave him a shampoo as well. Yay Moe! We went out in the boat but ran into some difficulty so we headed back. Time was taken to troubleshoot the situation and turns out things seemed under control. During that time, Heather and I floated in tubes around the end of the doc to beat the heat. We had drinks and even did some walking along the flat rocks. The water was warm. Later we went on a “booze cruise” around the lake as the sun was setting. We had a campfire and some tunes. The temp started to go down as we sat at the fire. It went from blazing to tolerable heat. We had a slight breeze thankfully. The moon came up. It was beautiful and appeared full. 

 The appointments today were nerve wracking. We found the parking garage close by. Yay. As we walked in, I heard someone calling my name. I looked and it was a previous boss of mine’s wife. She told me that my previous boss was inside. We got into the line and in fact, my previous boss was at the window checking in. I gritted under my breath to Ethan “you better be cordial.” We chatted afterward. It has been almost 5 years since we have worked together. Ethan was cordial and shook his hand. Oh thank goodness. We waited and waited for Ethan to be called. Ethan was miserable. He didn’t appreciate the wait. He didn’t appreciate that he took time off of work for this.  We were finally taken back by this bubbly lady. She asked Ethan if he got his fistula on purpose or by accident? I inquired what an accidental fistula situation would be….she described a basic injury to the vein. We then saw a doctor. His language was at best somewhat understandable. English was not his first or sec...

 I have been mulling over pro’s and con’s of the roles I might want to be considered for as my team grows. One role is more focused around mentorship and the other is more focused around management. As I was looking at my schedule this month for appointments for Ethan, I decided I have enough on my plate and don’t want to add managing people to that. I have been there, done that and there is a level of frustration that comes with that. I am not interested in going there. I am proud of myself for setting that boundary. Ethan was miserable today and it hit me the wrong way. I know he is stressed about tomorrow. I am too! But he is an adult now and I don’t appreciate him acting a certain way towards me. Paul and I spent the evening at the “beer tent”. The “beer tent” isn’t a large tent, it is more of a space. You can purchase adult beverages from a certain location that is designated inside the beer tent. We met up with some good friends. We had fun chatting, laughing and more. There ...

 We have turned a corner with the mouth sores. Yay! Ethan said they are still sore but not agonizing. I even caught him smiling once today. He was a little more talkative too. He has been using the magic mouthwash. It seems like every day will be one step closer to the edge of the woods. Finally! Our corporation debuted their new name today. That was exciting. They go public next week I believe. They did a cute little presentation about it. As I was mowing the field today I was singing along to my music and realized I was just belting it out. It felt good. I imagined it sounded better than the actual singer….but am pretty confident it didn’t. It was quite stress relieving. Today is my brother, Brian’s  birthday. He must be 29 today because he is 4 years older than I am and I am only 25. Happy Birthday Brian! ❤️

 Ethan’s mouth is still incredibly painful even with all the salves and prescription pain killing mouthwash. These sores will subside since we went down on the dose but can take another 1-2 weeks for the sores to start healing. He is pretty miserable physically and spirits wise. Today he wasn’t feeling up to doing anything after work. It’s hard to watch him suffer. It’s also hard to be helpless and just watch it happen. The hardest is his extremely negative attitude which I totally understand. He has every right to be miserable. In fact I likely would be acting the same way if I were in his shoes…or even worse. I just wish I could help him reframe things. But he is not interested in doing that at this point. It offers him room for personal growth in the future. I have a few opportunities that have been presented for me at work. I will need to make a decision on how I am going to proceed. I have been going back and forth on what I actually want for myself. I had a nice walk around t...

 Man, work punished me today. Work heard I had a fun few days off and was determined to put a stop to it. I got through it. I was forward thinking yesterday and had my groceries ready for pick up this afternoon. Ethan has a big appointment coming up on Friday and I have LOTS of paperwork to fill out. It includes writing down all medications, any medical history, any hospitalizations and what they were for. I got into Ethan’s MyChart, got things organized in the format they were looking for and called it a day. I was able to reorder new glasses for Ethan and they will arrive in 1-2 weeks. Paul was able to stop by the hospital pharmacy and pick up the special mouthwash. The one mouth sores ruining looks like it wants to burrow through the side of his face (which it won’t).  Ethan is miserable and negative. I don’t blame him. I would be too. I offer a kind ear and gentle solutions if I have them. I validate that he can feel mad and frustrated. These sores should start to slowly d...

 Avery came with me on the morning dog walk. We go for a fairly decent walk to tire out the dogs. It was so hot already and it was only 9:00 am. Being near the lake seemed like the only solution. We decided to trade around vehicles so the kids could leave early. Paul wanted to do some outside h ch ores. I wanted to do a deep cleaning of the camper. 6 adults and 4 dogs for an extended period of time… things were grungy. I aired out the rugs, vacuumed everything, changed out the dog bedding, etc! The camper smelled fresh and inviting for the next time. Paul and I would do a little work, then sit.  At one point I HAD to go in the lake. I brought shampoo just to get the sweaty stink out of my hair.  We had a late lunch/early dinner and headed for home. Our drive was uneventful. I worked the entire way. It allowed me to get ready for Marathon Monday. My day is full tomorrow. The kids really helped out with unloading the cars for me.  We got home around 7:45 pm. 

 We woke up to beautiful weather. You could tell it was “going to be a hot one”. It is also Avery’s best that as well as Andy’s birthday. Birthday twins! It was the first day of Avery’s 20’s. As Avery pointed out today was the first day she could officially say she “beat teen pregnancy”. We all slept in from the excitement of yesterday. I took Penny and Ferguson in the lake for a good last day of vacation bath. I took Moe in too. He doesn’t love the actual swimming part. He doesn’t mind walking in the leg in water he can touch the bottom. He also discovered sitting in the lake. He kind of liked that. The water is quite pleasant. I went in and out multiple times today. Moe got out and I hooked him up to the chain. I went inside and when I came back out, I found Moe covered head to toe in dirt. He had found some and rolled in it. Naughty dog! Back in the lake you go! I floated on a tube in the lake, we had some snacks. We went out on the boat while the boys were jet skiing. As we wer...

 Happy Fourth of July!!! 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸  Today we celebrated the day we became independent! Ethan has been planning a fireworks extravaganza for quite some time. He made a special trip to Pennsylvania to pick up fireworks. Ethan researched how to make his own fireworks. Sounds pretty dangerous right? He watched several YouTube videos and looked into the chemistry of making your own. He is very cautious so we weren’t too concerned. We went out on the boat and went swimming for a few hours. I floated in a dual tube with Diane for the majority of the time. Avery and Kendall paddled around.  Phil hung out in the water. Ethan stayed back to set up his Display. When we returned, Ethan had all of his show set up and fused. He fuses them so he only has to light them once which significantly reduces the chance for injury. Ethan was exhausted. His mouth hurt and he was just tired. He spent a bit of time alone to rest up. Our st Lucia crew was back together. Seth and Janice AND Heat...

 I tried to get Ethan’s mouth sore medication overnighted. The holiday has goofed things up and we are unable to receive the medication befor Monday. This is a compounded medication that is not mixed in a pharmacy, but made at the hospital. I can stop by the hospital in Rochester and pick some up at their pharmacy on Sunday. I did connect with the team to adjust the medication. They came up with plan C for rejection medication coverage. Ethan asked Avery if she and Kendall wanted to go to the thrift store. I worked today or else I would have gone too. It seemed like the four kids had a good time together which made my heart happy. I wondered if they were getting along. But it sounds like they had a nice little jaunt away. When they returned, the sores in Ethan’s mouth was really bothering him. I didn’t have any Tylenol for some reason, so I ran to the dollar general and picked some up. He said it barely made a difference.  Ethan at one point disappeared from the campfire. I fo...

 Mouth sores are getting worse for Ethan. I waved the white flag today. They offered to overnight some mouthwash that Ethan had had minimal success with. He is skeptical but I say “go for it” any little bit helps right? I inquired about backing off the dose a little so that he had time to heal. I am waiting for a response. I feel bad that Ethan was so looking forward to this trip and eating all sorts of yummy food. Now he is having difficulty. I worked today. Ethan and his buddy went in the water. Avery and her partner went to the local antique store, then to the bakery. Moe was exposed to several people walking into the yard. We had visits from several neighbors. Moe is very uneasy with this and I have to watch him close. He does seem to acclimate after a few minutes of heavy coaching and redirecting. This evening I took all the dogs for a walk. We had another pretty sunset while sitting at the fire.

This morning was a little overcast. It was evident it rained overnight but it was not raining (which I consider a win). The dogs went on many walks and the sunshine (when we saw it) was welcomed.  I did a whole lot of nothing which I LOVED! I have a presentation tomorrow so I made a quick power point to share. I feel like it looks polished so I am confident the message will be conveyed well. Paul worked on more projects today. He relaxes by working on stuff. Sitting is not a good thing for him. I think if he had to sit still for two days in a row he would become physically ill because it is so out of character for him. We had ice cream by the campfire and it was so delicious. We really go out of our ways to eat well when camping.  It is one of the things I look forward to when camping. Ethan and his buddy arrived around 8 pm. It is going to be a crowded camper for the next few days. These are the things that I was worried I would never see when Ethan was in that hospital bed....

 Our day started off a delightful temperature. I took the dogs for a walk to get their morning potty routine in. The lake was like glass. By the time we got back, it was getting a bit warm.  Moe went in “swimming”. I use that term very loosely because he walks in the water but does not enjoy swimming. He spent about 15 minutes walking around in the water with me. We packed a cooler and went on to Wilson Bay to hang with our neighbors down the shore line. Paul and I took the jet ski’s, Avery and Kendall rode the boat with Lois and Craig.  We all arrived and spent the afternoon swimming around in the lake. The water felt warm but refreshing as it was between 85-90 degrees out. The sun felt great! We applied and reapplied sun screen. After dinner we started a camp fire. It was a great one. It got cut short as we were hit with rainy weather.  It started to downpours so we found ourselves at the neighbors playing bumper pool.  What a perfect day!