Olivia

John and I had lunch with Olivia and her parents yesterday, and it was a great time. Olivia was all smiles, but she's forgotten a huge amount of English. She responded to lots of questions with 'fine' or 'I forgot,' and relied on saying, "Come, Kristen" and pointing to things. I'll be watching her next week, and a few odd days in the month of October. I'm sure her English will start to kick in after a few days.

My high-school buddy Lana arrives tonight with her husband and son. They got a great flight; they leave LA and fly straight through to London, then hop to Copenhagen. Unfortunately they changed their plans at the last minute, and will have to take a train from Copenhagen to Århus- it's a four hour trip! (We don't have high-speed trains in Denmark.) That last leg should be a killer, and they'll arrive at 10 pm our time.

I'm excited, but it doesn't seem real yet.

John is doing better. The swelling is down in his arm and fingers, so he has more movement. He managed to get through the shower on his own and tie his own shoes this morning. He's giving a talk at the University tomorrow. It's meant to be a dry-run to the talks he'll give when interviewing. We'll see how he does.

I should give a little update on my dear Hunny. As you guys know, she's 14 years old! Up until now, she's been in great shape, but recently she's developed an inflamed bladder. So far she's manged to hop herself to the litter box regardless, but she's had two accidents (over a month, both, thankfully, not on the carpets), which has sent my mom into hysterics. The vet says it's kinda like getting arthritis as an older adult human; they can treat it with steroids, but the inflamation will return when they wear off. She received a steriod shot (the cat, not my mom) last week, and so far she's better. It will last 4 to 6 weeks.

I have to find out how long they can continue the steriod shots. I'm guessing that they'll give them to her, regardless of the ill effect it may have on her long term health. They'll keep this inflamation down as long as they can. It doesn't cause her pain, but it will make it difficult for her to get to the litter box, which (understandably) is a pre-requistie to living with my parents. We'll see how it goes.