And the last day of NaBloPoMo! Wondered if I’d finish, given all that’s going on, but I did.

An update on Dad: Even with a CAT scan and an MRI, they couldn’t find evidence of a stroke, but they think that indeed is what happened, in the back of the brain, where it’s hard to see. He’s still unable to swallow, so a feeding tube will be put in his stomach tomorrow morning. He can talk, but his speech is very slurred. I picked up a book today at Barnes & Noble called “My Stroke of Insight” by Jill Taylor. It’s about a neuroanatomist, Harvard trained, who had a severe stroke at 37 years of age. Amazingly, she talks about her feelings as she was going through the stroke and of course, her recovery from it.

I’d like to thank everyone for their kind words! I’ve been reading all your comments, even if I’m not able to respond in a timely manner and I truly appreciate each and every kind thing you’ve written. Thanks also to Megan and Michelle, who have provided food, distraction, good company and an ear when I needed it, and to Heather and Maribeth, who have listened and helped in any way they could, given their distance from me. You guys are the greatest!

Photohunt, courtesy of TNChick

You can find the Friday Fill-Ins here!

1. My stomach feels smaller.
2. Comfort foods (and not too much of them, either) is what I ate the most of on Thursday.
3. The yard got raked yesterday…and mowed…and bushes were trimmed.
4. Walking in the woods is where I’d rather be at any given time.
5. The smell of vanilla reminds me of my mother.
6. A vacation!!! is what I need right now!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to reading and relaxing, tomorrow my plans include checking out the big, fenced in dog park I saw from the hospital window and Sunday, I want to see Dad feel better (they had to put in a tube today to feed him and give him his meds, since he can’t swallow and hopefully by Sunday he’ll have a bit of his strength back)!

Carmi hosts Thematic Photographic and the theme this week is “sweet”. Carmi said: “The world’s becoming a little too sad for my taste. So I thought I’d give us an excuse to share some happier views.”

So very true, this Thanksgiving Day, in quite a few ways, but especially in a very personal one. You see, my Dad’s been in the hospital since last Sunday. Wednesday his doctor said he could come home and then all hell broke loose. The symptoms pointed towards a stroke, but the CAT scan says no and they’d done one last Sunday so they had a recent one to compare it to. They’re now thinking some time of blood or other infection (still haven’t come up with a reason as to WHY he was admitted in the first place), but those results won’t be back for a few days. So, if you please, while you’re sitting down to your Thanksgiving dinner, please spare a good thought for my Dad…he’d appreciate it and so would I.

Anyway…here’s 13 “Sweet” pictures for you:

1. 365/47, candy, 2. bite of licorice, 3. 365/34, chocolate chip banana bread, 4. honey (2/1), 5. flourless chocolate cake (2/14), 6. japanese chestnut cake, 7. peanut butter chocolate chip, 8. molasses crisp, 9. inside the cadbury creme egg, 10. Stahs!, 11. 365/20, mint brownies, 12. a cookie for you, 13. the devil’s food

Here’s last Wednesday’s picture:

And this is what it was cropped from:

Skelly (the poppet) has a comice pear with lunch. Ok, maybe it wasn’t Skelly that had it…maybe it was me!

Lots of you got it this week; here’s the first three:

- Marina: “Hmm… either a potato or a pear…”
- Robin: “I’m going for Anjou pear.”
- Leora: “Looks like the side of a pear.”

So…

What is it?

If you don’t see your comments, don’t worry…I’m most likely moderating them…or not! I like to keep you on your toes!