Miracle Ride Necklace Brings in $

Today was a day of focusing on the outdoors. Marissa and I went down to scope out the courtyard off of the cafeteria and we found outlets, ramps, and smooth sidewalks -- the three main ingredients to a successful outing with the Berlin Heart. We took lots of pictures of flowers and garden structures and even tried to get one of a squirrel, but he just wouldn't wait for Marissa to get set up with the camera -- although we did get very close to him. We've seen him around a lot, so I think we're going to have to give him a name too. He's beginning to rank right up there with Perry (our pigeon) in acquaintences in nature. So, after Marissa and I played a little bit she wanted to "go get our Sweet Bailey" (those were her exact words) so we brought Bailey down to enjoy the courtyard too. It was SUCH a beautiful day -- bright blue sky and pretty white clouds and almost no humidity. It really was gorgeous.

The girls played with sand art and then some clay. I was feeling very, very sleepy so I laid down to get a quick nap. I woke up with a huge headache and then discovered that all sorts of people had popped in during that time (including Scott who brought Bailey and Marissa dinner) and I slept right through it all. I'm usually a light sleeper, so I was surprised to hear I missed all these people. But Scott filled me in. Dr. T wants to take Bailey back to Methodist to talk with a patient of his who might be getting a VAD soon (and I heard she told him no because she didn't trust him anymore making a trip to Methodist - poor guy! It wasn't his fault! The way they badger each other, I'm sure he knew she was just pulling his chain); and she's also been invited to Methodist for a VAD support group meeting (I think it's adult patients and families of those patients - she seems interested in that); and Dr. Darragh, Bailey's cardiologist, wants to spend time with Bailey teaching her some more on how to read echos. She's excited about that too. She likes Dr. Darragh, and, as you can see from the lack of stories I have about him, we don't see a lot of him here, so that will be fun to spend some time with him. Both Dr. Darragh and Bailey love horses, so they have a lot to talk about.

We found out today that none of Bailey's entries made the Riley Christmas cards this year. Isn't that a bummer? With all the people who voted and all the lobbying we did (ya know, like sitting down in the atrium pointing people in the right direction) we thought for sure she would get in. There's always next year. But for the good news, we found out that the necklace Bailey made for the Miracle Ride to be auctioned off went for $118.00! Now THAT's pretty exciting!!

Colin's coming tomorrow for a routine biopsy. He's going to stop in and get his afghan. I'll be sure and take a picture of it for you all.

Bailey and I have discovered that sugar makes Marissa bounce off the walls. I've never really noticed it before, but I guess being confined to a small area like Bailey's room really brings it out in her. Bailey just looked at me with big eyes and said, "Can you please not give her any more sugar, Mom? Ever!" We're having a great time with Marissa this week. I really thought she might get bored being here for such a long time, but she's really done great! I'm so proud of her.

Take care, everyone, and I'll talk to you tomorrow night!
Angie

P.S. Hey, Doug Kerr! It's so good to hear from you again. When we get out of here, we'll have to get together for a visit. I can't even imagine how many years it's been -- 25?!