Okay, okay, I know I’ve been pretty lax with the whole blogging thing, but I’ve been traveling as a doctor working at various places in need, plus there’s that lazy streak. I did want to say how much I love playing with my new granddaughter!

And below we have the downside of school beginning again: Lukas, my 15 year old is taking (gulp) chemistry this year. Yep, that means it’s time to up the insurance coverage for the house. He comes straight home after Driver’s Ed (another horror story in and of itself) and starts concocting the most creative and intricate experiments on his own. His projects are just for his own entertainment; they’re not assigned in class, and he loves it!! Right now he’s making hydrogen gas. He asked for volunteers to light the gas with a match to see if it was flammable and I’m like…”Isn’t there something called the Hydrogen Bomb?” Thanks but I want every one of my molecules, as droopy and tired as they are, to stick together.

It’s all I can do to keep from running away to Canada with this beautiful angel, my first grandchild, Arleen Avery Medhus-Watts. She was born May 30th at 1:31 PM, weighs 6 pounds 7 ounces and is 18 inches long. She looks like both parents, gorgeous of course. Michelle handled everything like a trooper, especially considering it’s her first baby. Anyway, enough talk. See the proof in pictures below!

Read more of First Grandbaby!

As always, we went to see relatives in Norway for Spring Break. We have a chalet way up in the Tundra above Hol, Norway. We’re talking WAY off the grid. Quiet, relaxing and cold as hell. As nice a time as we had, it wasn’t without some jinxes. First of all, Kristina’s boss informed her at the last minute that she wouldn’t be able to take the time off. One paid ticket wasted. Next, during the flight over, I lost my palm pilot-my life, my central headquarters without which all the universe comes to a screeching halt. To make matters worse, when we landed in Oslo, our luggage wasn’t there. Apparently all four bags decided to party it up on the Champs Elysees rather than huddle in the sub-zero belly of an aluminum behemoth. Hmm, very weird. So I’ve gotta tell ya, hanging around among the moose in the tundra is loads of fun in short sleeves and funky 5 day-old underwear. I was expecting the Norwegian Health Board to place a moratorium on contact within 30 km of our chalet, but we got lucky, ha. On day 5, our luggage finally arrived. So we actually got to wear warm, clean clothes for the last 4 days of the trip. On the first leg back, my wedding ring slipped off my finger and down god knows how many rows. All the hands and knees searching was for nothing, because it was nowhere to be found. The flight attendants told us they wouldn’t be able to make an announcement for the passengers to look around the floor under their seats and basically blew us off, despite our wide-eyed stars of despair and panic. We never found it. Last but not least, when we got home to Houston, our bags were not there…again! That slow turn of an empty baggage carousel became a sickeningly familiar sight. That said, I’ve had enough traveling for a while. I’ll post some pictures on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17703&id=768318069

The holiday season is stressful enough, the last thing we want is a sick kid with a high fever and no energy or appetite to enjoy it. What few of us know is that viruses, particularly the influenza virus, rolls into high gear and kicks major ass when the ambient temperatures drop to around 40 degrees or so. Sure, contagion spreads when we’re all inside huddled together against the wintry elements sharing spit and finger grime as lovingly as we can, but the virus has to get juiced before it travels anywhere. I bring this up because last night, Lukas (my 15 year-old) was studying World Geography with a friend when the temperatures dropped to below 40–but sans jacket. He had a short sleeve summer shirt and flip flops on. Of course we reassure ourselves with the old “he’s part Norwegian so he’s part polar bear” adage but he still had the sniffles this morning. So make sure your kiddos (and you) bundle up when it’s cold!

Okay, so there’s usually no shortage of news in our family. Usually news that involves chaos, conflagrations, and catastrophes (like my alliteration?) But this tidbit of news made my jaw go slack and my heart screech to a (temporary) halt. My 21-year old daughter and her fianc {damaged post, stay tuned!}