Martha is back in the hospital with another/more infection after her surgery over a month ago.  She’s doing okay now that her pain is being managed (yeah, morphine is pretty serious pain management).  She doesn’t know how long she’ll be in, probably several days for a full course of IV antibiotics. 

I’ve been paying attention to a series of stories on CNN.com and the Anchorage Daily News website about a series of eruptions of Augustine, which is a volcanic island about 75 miles southwest of our home in Homer, Alaska.  Today it started to get pretty exciting. 

From the Alaska Volcano Observatory site (where they have all kinds of great photos and technical data for the seismologically inclined, as does Wikipedia, and here’s a great NASA shot of Augustine’s ash plume in December). 

A strong seismic signal began at approximately 7:58 AST, marking the onset of an explosive eruption of Augustine. 

They’ve changed the level of concern color code to red, which makes sense to me.  The weather forecast includes an ash fall warning for Homer, which is something you don’t see every day.

After watching entirely too much football and 24 this weekend, I am happy to report that I just spent 70 minutes on my treadmill trying to work off some of the pizza, chocolate peanut butter cookies (thanks, Chris), vodka drink and general slothfulness that I indulged in.  Saw some terrific games this weekend.  I was torn during the Patriots v. Broncos game on Saturday since I lived in Boston/Wellesley for 11 years, and I’ve "only" lived here in Colorado for 10 years.  I basically ended up cheering for whoever had possession of the ball at any given time, which was almost evenly split between the two teams.  I would have been happy to see the Patriots have a chance at 3 Super Bowl victories in a row; but am very very happy with  Denver’s win because my great friend Howard has invited me to join him at the AFC Championship Game next weekend here in Denver.  Thanks, Howard!  I am very very happy.  Very happy! 

Just found out that Stacy’s cancer is in remission!  Yay!  Yay!  Yay!  He had his doctor’s appointment this morning, and then he and Wendy came by my office and we went out for an extra-celebratory lunch at Q’s.  Happy news, indeed, especially since his next treatment option if the chemo failed to put the lymphoma in remission was to have bone marrow transplants.  He’ll still have to have his blood counts monitored until they return to normal range, and he has to have his chemo port removed, and have frequent PET scans — but remission is such a good word!  So happy, so relieved —

Today Brad was abandoned to his own devices while I watched the Wild Card playoff games.  Since I Tivo them, it doesn’t take nearly as long to watch, but it’s still a significant chunk of time.  He read his biography of Andrew Carnegie as long as he could bear to be in the same room as the game, and then ran away so I could yell at the t.v. without bothering him.  Tomorrow our gourmet group is coming over for an All-American football party (Jello salad, bratwurst, Coors beer, chili with cheese and Fritos on top, Rice Krispy treats — and champagne).  I was happy with the Patriots victory today, and would love to see them win the unprecedented 3 Super Bowls in a row.  Tomorrow I’ll be rooting for the Steelers.

Brad and I went to visit my sister, Martha, this evening before dinner.  She has been in the hospital for 3 weeks and 2 days, which is a long time.  Wendy and I came and visited last week, and she was in pretty good spirits, healing nicely, and thought she would get out of the hospital last weekend — but now she’s having trouble fighting infection and is taking major antibiotics and pain medication.  Tonight she was tired and really struggling with pain, and probably won’t get out of the hospital until early next week — not this weekend.  Our visit was more brief than I intended because it took us over an hour to drive the 26 miles from Mobius’ offices to the University Hospital in Denver because of accidents on both Highway 36 and Colorado Blvd and our dinner reservation was across town.  I did bring her small gifts; a fun movie and a first novel written by a woman who lives near Fairbanks, Alaska.  I’d like to bring her the gift of health, but that’s not how it works.

I just uploaded a bunch of candid, unedited photos from our week in Cabo.  As a sudden snow squall swirls around the house this afternoon, it’s nice to think of being on the beach in Mexico with a bunch of terrific friends to celebrate Brad’s birthday together.

N.B.  Attendees are welcome to request the removal of any unflattering or incriminating photos.  I’ve already removed mine!

I spent from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. today at the Flatirons Crossing Mall with my terrific niece, nephew, and sister enjoying the after-Christmas sales and doing some back-to-school shopping in the nearly empty mall.  I bought some fun things for myself, too (love love love my new Converse high tops that have fuzzy cheetah-patterned fabric); but mostly enjoyed getting to spend time with Morgan and Drew.  It’s amazing how funny and wise 15 and 16 year old people can be.