Alix Prom 2010

I know a few photos of Alix and her friends at Washington County High School's Prom have been seen, but here is a bunch. Enjoy!

Caroline and Alix getting ready.



Caroline's mom and brother came over for a photo shoot.





Friend Emmaline came over to help Alix and Caroline with makeup (and Caroline's gorgeous hair!)



The theme was "Masquerade" so Alix had a special paper mache mask...as Troy is the Junior Class President, she was First Lady that night!







Troy, Alix, Caroline and Eddie





No, your eyes are crazy..this photo is taken in a mirror...the feathers haven't flipped!

Alan's Back Surgery

Some of you know that when I came back from the cruise with CrusieGran, I found that Alan's back pain had increased. He had a fusion of his Lumbar vertebrae L3, L4, and L5 back in 2002. Hey, it comes from jumping out of airplanes, years of soccer abuse, and a congenital predisposition for degenerative spinal problems. We had been told after the initial surgery that in the future, he would probably be looking at another fusion down the road. It's the fulcrum principle of physics. When you fuse something together, the stress point becomes the area directly below or above.

So, in a nutshell, his MRI from a week after I got back showed THIS.




See the white space? That's his spinal canal. Nice and open above and especially below, where his fusion is...but right in the center, his canal is severely compressed, which is causing his pain.

From above, you can also see the narrowing, or stenosis.



The yellow areas show where his spinal canal looks open, then closes dramatically (red arrows), only to reopen below the problem.

His neurosurgeon, Dr. Ellen Shaver, was WONDERFUL, and fit him into her schedule as fast as she could...meaning he only had to wait a week. He had all the preop tests done, including an EKG because he's over 50 now...



Surgery morning, and he's trying not to show his nerves...



Dr.Shaver had access to some brand new technology, and did not have to do as invasive a procedure as she thought. She was able to "tie into" the existing rod hardware from his previous fusion and stabilize the L-2 vertebra into the others.

And four hours later, he's fixed and in recovery!

Bruce, Alan's best friend for more years than any of us care to admit any longer, came from Atlanta with magazines, mirth, and merriment to be my handholder and general do-gooder. He made a MEAN fashion photographer (work it baby) when Grumpy Guy got to have some yummy jello..



Then ran out to get sushi and pino noir for the me and him. My angel!!!

This damn machine is his morphine pump.



I say "damn" machine because Alan has an unusually low breath rate. The morphine pump is not individually calibrated, so it went off ALL NIGHT LONG, every 90 seconds or so, when it assumed Alan wasn't breathing (morphine slows ones breathing down...which is why they monitor it..) And, NO, it can't be overridden. He finally had it disconnected the next day as he couldn't get any rest.

My darling friend Cecilia sent a precious get well card featuring her companion Sea Troll.



He was only in the hospital for 5 days and when his scar looked like it was healing nicely...




They let us come home.

He's still taking things slowly...it takes longer to heal than it did 8 years ago (imagine that!), and he will be wearing a protective back brace for another month or so, but he can walk again and the pain is slowly abating.

But you know Grumpy Guy...we are going to have to watch him like a hawk to make sure he doesn't overdo it on the cruise!!!

WC2010- Home

The return trip to the States always seems to take so much longer. Especially from Mumbai, where most planes leave in the wee hours of the morning to connect with European flight schedules. In our case, we left the Taj at midnight.

Marine Drive is nicknamed the Queen's Necklace. I guess you can see why.



Midway through the flight, over the Caspian Sea.



Halfway home--in the Lufthansa's Business Lounge at 8am.



I was pretty proud that I made it through nearly 24 hours of flying on Lufthansa speaking German (mostly) to the cabin attendants.





Hey, I used to live somewhere down there!





This little guy was quite a trooper. He slept most of the way over the Atlantic. I LOVE how Lufthansa provides these mini-cribs for their tiniest passengers.



Sound asleep--not a peep from him!

WC2010- The Taj Hotel

The Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel, located in Apollo Bunder in Mumbai, is one of the world's greatest hotels. I was lucky enough to spend two nights there in April, 2008. That would have been lucky enough for one lifetime.


Then came November, 2008, and terrorists attacked the Taj and another hotel, the Oberoi. 167 innocent people were killed in 60 hours. Much of the Taj was burned.


My mother and I decided when we left the Crystal Serenity, we would return to the Taj. I was so glad to find her little altered. Now there are security and x-ray scanners, and the center of the lobby is still wrapped (very elegantly) and hidden whilst reconstruction continues....but she still stands.

As does Maharajah's, my very favorite linen clothes store in the WORLD.



























For dinner, we ate at the same wonderful restaurant we visited last time, the Zodiac Grill.

Still with the Camembert Souffle



Still with the sorbet in a whistling tea pot



and, as a delightful fancy, Candy Floss (or Cotton Candy, as we call it in the US) presented before dessert!



Problems and traumas come and go....and it's nice to find things so much the same.

WC2010- Into Mumbai

As viewed from the decks of Serenity, this is where we were headed.



Two years and one terrorist attack had not seemed to change the city much.











Last visit- two years ago, there was scaffolding surrounding the Gateway of India, but not now.





While we waited a brief moment to go upstairs, I "kinneared" (took a secret snapshot) Odd Ivar Solvold, the world-famous Norwegian chef, whose cooking class I had attended on Crystal Serenity. He was taking a photo of his family.....



The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower was, as always, so warm and welcoming. We received the traditional blessings and welcome.





From our room, we could see Serenity.



We looked out the balcony. Evidently these balloons are the latest sales rage.



We had a drink in the bar on the first floor.



Unfortunately, the lovely bar on the second floor is still being repaired from the damage the terrorists did to it in November 2008.



That evening, as we left for the airport, Crystal Serenity was still in port. And a good thing...I hated watching her sail away two years ago.