Back from Damariscotta

I've been away since Monday so was glad that Andi has kept up the blog this week! I love reading all the family history and seeing the old photos. Geneology is Andi's hobby and she has done a lot of research into all the branches of our expanding family. She traced Hank's family back to the boat they arrived on in Virginia in the 1600's and has been busy on both the Boocock family in England and the Parker family here. This is a great place to share all that she's learned.

I've been in Damarscotta since Monday doing a State special education site review with a team of three other educators. It was beautiful there in the snow. We stayed at the Aleswife and Ales B & B...an old home with big canopy beds on a historic street right near the middle of town. A lot quieter in Damariscotta in the winter but still beautiful. Got home to the news that Joanne and Mark are still without power - a week after the ice storm. Can't imagine what that must be like - one day was bad enough! And now more snow is predicted for tomorrow with a possible Northeaster on the way for Sunday...sure hope they get their power back before then.

And since the name of this blog is "It's Always Something", I called Nancy as soon as I got home only to find out that she now has pneumonia! I guess her immune system was just so run down from all the chemo that she was an easy target. The doctor has started her on medication and assures her that she should be feeling better soon...I hope so...it has been one thing right after another for her. Her red blood count is also very low so tomorrow afternoon she has to go in and have a transfusion of red blood cells. She said she doesn't have the energy to get up off the couch; hopefully the transfusion and meds. will help her get back on her feet for Christmas.

And to end on an exciting note...an old teacher friend of mine, Bob Crowley, is Sunday night's winner of the reality show Survivor! He won the million dollar grand prize as well as an extra $1o0.k for being voted the Sprint "most popular player"! This year, the 17th edition of the CBS strategy-endurance game was set in the West African nation of Gabon, where 18 castaways had come together when the season began. Bob is a physics teacher at Gorham High School where I taught for nine years. He and my friends Sandy Colburn and Tom Ward ate lunch in my classroom most days and over the years we all got to be good friends. "Crowley" is a great guy and I'm so happy that he won! (As an aside, Andi had picked Bob as the winner in the UNUM pool where she works...not sure what she won for picking the winner...maybe she'll blog and let us know!)

p.s. Great reading the comments on this blog...hope you will add yours! Just click on the underlined "Comment" area on the bottom of the post and a text box will pop up. Type your comment in the box and follow the instructions to post...then we can all read the notes from each other.