Weekend with Dad

This weekend we had a digital camera and tried to take some advantage of it! So here's some proof of my continued existence, despite the lack of blog posts. Dad arrived on Thursday and we've been having a wonderful time just hanging out.

I have gotten through another week of surgery (mainly more hernia repairs and gallbladders). I have one more week of actual surgery coming up, which will probably be quite busy. More getting up at 5 AM, unfortunately. Then a week in the ICU and a couple of days of anesthesia before heading back to Minnesota. Alex will visit next weekend, which will be wonderful. I've been so lucky to have so much company to break up my time here!

Thursday I left the hospital at a reasonable hour and we went for falafel sandwiches at Pita Jungle, then got gelato next door. Alex and I had discovered both of these places when he visited last. Here I am eating, which is something that I spent a LOT of time this week doing.

I think the crumpet might be having a growth spurt, as I have been hungry all the time. I eat breakfast at home just after 5, then again during the 7 AM conference, and usually a nibble or two in the middle of the morning as well to bridge the gap to lunch! I bring some food in every day, and there are also snacks (some healthy and some not) in the resident lounge, and then I have a small food allowance to use in the cafeteria as well.

Yesterday, we had a great vegan meal at Green, where they make their own ice cream. I had the yummiest dessert, which they call a tsoynami, with the ice cream, mint and chocolate syrups, and chocolate cookie bits in it. It is the vegan answer to a Dairy Queen blizzard and I want one every night!

Today, we went to see Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's camp that is just a few minutes from my apartment. We had a wonderful two-hour tour from a fantastic, interesting guide.

They gave us umbrellas for shade!


Here's an outdoor view:


The drafting studio and dining area from the outside:


The living room:


Dad in the living room. The entrance is directly behind him: all the doorways are very short, and then once you enter, the rooms open up. To the far right of the photo is a mosaic-ish piece. Clare Boothe Luce made that from stones and other natural objects she found on the property when she came to visit.


I love this little door, it makes me think of a Hobbit:


This one's for you, Clara: a dragon standing guard on one of the posts in the garden. Wright was a huge collector of Asian art, and it's scattered all throughout the property.


The weather continues to be sunny and hot. I think it hit 100 today, and though it is a dry heat, that's pretty warm! I'm never outside during the hottest parts of the day, though, and things are pretty climate-controlled in the hospital. I would definitely miss the four seasons if I lived here all the time. Besides, it would be way too hot for Jasper!