bad news and bald eagles

Thanks, all, for your kind words. Unfortunately the news we were awaiting is Bad. Stage 4 cancer. We are very, very sad about our sick loved one. We were able to see her yesterday (she's back for Uncle Gary's funeral) and it was sweet to see her dote on her beloved grandsons. I wiped away a few of my tears when (I hope) no one was looking. This is going to be a tough loss for us all.

So, I'm a little stressed out. I had previously agreed to make meals for two friends (one for the friend with the husband with the heart transplant and the other for a friend who's husband has cancer), and those two meal obligations are due today and tomorrow. Of course, when I scheduled them I had no idea we'd be in Janesville all day yesterday or all day tomorrow for funeral/family stuff, so now I'm running around like a crazy woman. I know - whoa is me. I've gotten used to my (fairly predictable and slow) pace of life since having kids, so I'm out of practice with the stress of deadlines.

In other news (Mark, I know how you love that phrase), I saw a bald eagle yesterday when walking Dashy-dog. I have heard rumors that one has been hanging out down at Monona Bay (2 blocks away from our house) all winter long, scooping up fish from the ice fisherpeople, and yesterday I saw it. It was nothing short of magnificent. It swooped up from the water with a fish in its beak and landed on a tree 20 feet or so above me. I stopped in amazement and looked around for someone, ANYONE, to tell. There was a neighbor girl skipping along the bay with a friend, so I whispered, "Anna! Look! Bald Eagle!" She ran into her house to get her dad (aka my kids' phy ed teacher) and the crowd started assembling. People doubled back on their bikes, other neighbors came to look at it. I ran home to get my kids and gathered some other neighbor kids along the way. At one point, there were probably 30 or so people gathered around watching it. It sat there with the fish in its talons, looking very regal and mighty. In my spare time this week (ha!), I want to walk along the bay with the kids and look for its nest. It's gotta be huge. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died awhile ago and I haven't bothered to charge them, so no pictures. You'll just have to trust me. It was quite a sight.

OK, off to Trader Joe's for some meal prep stuff for the friends. Oh, remind me to tell you about some books I've gotten from the library lately.