Hope

Because the only pictures I have today are ones that Mr. Moon sent me of the fishing trip, I will give you those. 
Here of course, we have Owen, firstborn grandchild, the giver of my grandmother name, an intelligent, gentle, funny soul, cleaner of ceiling fans, and strong carrier of the Moon height gene. I think he is holding a Florida bass which is the state freshwater fish of Florida. I had to look that up. I didn't even know Florida had a state freshwater fish. 
I did know that some asshole legislator is trying to get the state bird changed from the mockingbird to the flamingo which is absurd. 

Anyway, here's a picture of Boppy himself, holding up one of his catches. 

I do believe he may be holding it closer to the camera. He's an old dog and knows old dog tricks. His hand does look immense but then again, his hand is sort of immense so...

I went to see the urologist today. He's the referral I got from Dr. Zorn when I told him I wanted to see a different urologist for at least a second opinion. The office this doctor works in with other doctors and NP's and PA's, etc., is run entirely by an army of women who appear to have it all together. Also, they called me "sweetie" and "honey" which made me happy. I mean- I know some people would get their knickers in a twist about that but not me. I would if there had been the least bit of condescension in their tones but there was not. It was more of a kindness. 
Another thing I liked was that I didn't get weighed and no one took my blood pressure. 
Phew. 
Gotta love that. 
The doctor came into the exam room shortly after I'd been put there and I liked him too. He's a local guy, Dr. Z. told me, from Wakulla County which is right down the road. I did my best to explain my issues in the shortest way possible while hitting all the pertinent details. Or at least what I consider to be the pertinent details. He listened, he asked questions, he made remarks. I won't go into all of it here but the best part is that they have the ability to do CT scans in that office which beats the hell out of having to go to another facility AFTER they call you and set up an appointment and then send the results and film over to the doctor and so forth. What this doctor wants to do is for me to get another scan so that he can see the size and position of the stones. He told me that very small stones cannot be blasted but very large stones can be. He also told me that a very large stone which cannot possibly pass can indeed get in a place in the kidney which causes irritation and discomfort so that's one of the things we'll be looking for. 
They didn't have an open spot today for me to get a scan but I have an appointment on Monday. 
Of course me being me, I apologized profusely for being paranoid and worried about something which may never happen but I think he understood. 
I hope so. 
He was very calm and to the point. One of the things I really liked about him is that when I told him I hate going to the doctor he said, almost under his breath, "I do too."

And...once again my urine was pristine although he didn't call it that. I think he just said it was fine. 

Mr. Moon's Christmas present finally got here! It's a Happy Birdy Smart Feeder which gets video of the birds which come to eat at it, identifies them, and sends the videos to your phone. 
This was literally the only thing I could think of to get him that he would not think to get himself but might possibly enjoy. 
We told Lon and Lis about it on our New Years Eve call and it turns out that Lon's sister gave him one last year which was great and he really enjoyed it until...

A bear took it out. 
Gatorbone does have bears. I'm surprised we don't too, actually. 
As Lon said, it's squirrel proof but not bear proof. 
But of course you have to register the damn thing online and download the app and do all these things with bluetooth and I don't even know nor do I want to. But if it works, it will be so cool. It has real-time phone alerts and night-vision capabilities. Do birds even eat at night? I know owls do but not at a feeder as far as I'm aware. But best of all, it's solar powered. 
How cool is THAT? 
Steve Reed, you may need one of these. 

 

So Mr. Moon spent several hours trying to get the whole thing set up as to the bluetooth/internet situation. I think he's got it figured out. I went to the store today but forgot to get the bird food Lon says attracts the most birds in his experience, which is Publix Bird Seed for red birds. Lon says the cardinals do love it but so do many other birds. 

I really hope this thing brings Glen some pleasure. He loves the birds and feeds them regularly at a plain old wooden feeder in the back yard. 

Before I leave tonight, I would just like to give my honest appreciation and respect to New York City for electing its first Muslim, social democratic immigrant from Uganda, and youngest mayor ever elected to hold that office in the city. 
He has promised to govern expansively and audaciously. 
I wish him all the success in the world and I am grateful he had the courage to step forward when everyone was wondering where the candidate who would and could change things would come from. 
He is young enough to have the spirit of youth and intelligent enough to have the mind to deal with the issues that are so important to all, and not just the people in New York City. 

Hope. There it is. What we've all been so afraid to even believe we might ever feel again. 

Inshallah. 

Happy Friday, y'all. And yes, there are clean sheets on the bed, a martini at my elbow. 

Love...Ms. Moon