Happy birthday USA!

I'm having a terrific weekend. Yesterday we picked up Jo at the airport and it was very good to see her again. It's been 100 days that she's been gone, but it seems to have flown by. She was traveling for about 72 hours and is struggling with jet lag, but seems to be happy to be home. I know she has to be having mixed feelings--glad to be safe at home, yet missing the PCVs and the Krygyz people she left behind. What she'll do now, it's too soon to decide. I've advised her to simply take all the time she needs to recover from the stress of the past month or more before she makes any decisions. She has decided to stay here for a couple of weeks and then she's flying to Austin TX to be with her friends and to, hopefully, interview and obtain a new job. Already, she's doing some on-line testing for a couple of jobs with the State of Texas. If she gets a job and moves there, I guess I'll just have to take winter vacations in East Texas!

I got off the Vicodin yesteray--I only used 4 of the pills!--and have been doing well on Ibuprofen which doesn't mess with my brain so much. Was able to take off the TED and the bandages today and in the heat we have been having, it feels good to be bare legged again.

My neice and nephew and the 2 kids came over to swim and have dinner--They played in the pool for hours and the kids were almost too exhausted to eat. Don and I did ribs on the grill and I think we finally have mastered this dish. They were perfectly done and soooo good. And the girls helped out with the other dishes. A veritable feast with cornbread, baked beans, coleslaw, tomato and mozarella salad, fruit salad and rootbeer floats for desert.

Tomorrow we have a cookout at Tessa's house with fireworks in the evening. Monday, I think I'll stay home and relax.