The bad news is that SpamKarma2, the spam filter that keeps the porn, ads and other bullshit spam comments off my blog has decided to somehow blacklist ME, so I have not been able to comment on my own blog in about a week or so. This is frustrating. It may be that someone hacked my account and added my IP address to the blacklist on spam karma, but Zak can’t really figure out what happened.

So, here is the deal. I’ll keep T&S up and running while he works on it, but if you post a comment and you want me to answer it–send it to me in email as well. Because for right now, I cannot really contribute to conversations via the comments threads.

And, while I am at it, here is a question for the readers–what kinds of posts would you like to see on T&S in the future? Work has taken a lot of my time, and Kat and the rest of the family, of course, takes up a lot of time, so I am running out of ideas as to what to write about. So, if anyone has any suggestions, I would be pleased to hear from you.

Thanks for everything, and have a nice Sunday!

And much to Mom’s relief, mine, Morganna’s and everyone else’s.

And much to the joy of his kitty, Nimrod, and their dog, Topsy.

I am so glad he is home.

And Mom let me know that she has been looking through the cookbooks I gave her and the notes I wrote for her on healthy cooking.

I am happy that all has turned out well.

Thank you to everyone who sent good thoughts, wishes and prayers. My family and I really appreciate them.

Dad came through the surgery fine. They fractured his sternum when they cut it and used the spreaders–so he has extra wire to hold it together, and that will hurt even more than normal. He apparently woke up yesterday after the surgery, but when we were there, he wasn’t awake.

This morning, when Morganna and I went to see him, he was awake, and in considerable pain–which is not at all surprising. He was worried about his right hand–it tingled and was numb, but it was most likely because of the amount of fluid built up in it–he has no signs of having had a stroke during surgery–everything else on that side of his body works fine. He is lucid, and has lost none of his black sense of humor and irony.

Right after we left, the nurse took out the central chest tube–the one that was draining the area around his heart. This is good, because it will allow him to breathe more easily. The nurse also said that he is probably going to be moved from ICU today or tomorrow, which is excellent.

He told the surgeon that he had killed him, and Dr. Khan just laughed.

Later today, he was up in a chair, and even stood up briefly–with each hour, his color improves and he gets stronger.

I think that once Dad starts to really heal, he will feel much better, because he won’t have to worry about having a heart attack or stroke constantly.

Four of the six cookbooks I ordered for healthful cooking to give to Mom and Dad came today. Two more are coming next week, so they will be stocked up on ideas for good meals. It looks like I need to go through their cupboards and get rid of the crap they’ve been eating. Both of them are borderline diabetic, so they need to stop eating so much refined flour and sugar, in addition to all of the processed foods and transfats.

That should be fun.

Dad’s triple bypass surgery is on Monday. Zak, Morganna, Kat and I will be going to Charleston on Sunday–I will have been taking my antibiotics for a full week, so any chance that my sinus infection would be a problem for him will be diminished. We’ll stay until he is out of ICU and into a recovery room, and then we will go from there. (Morganna is probably going to be coming back to stay home, so she isn’t out of school for a whole long time, but I am not sure when we are coming home.)

So, next week, don’t expect any posts.

Until then, however, I am going to write a few posts because it gives me something to do and keeps me occupied and from worrying too much.

Thanks for all of the good vibes and supportive comments, everyone. Y’all are wonderful people, and I really appreciate your words at this time.

Thank you all for your patience–and thanks to everyone, including the folks of Athens who voted in The Best of Athens–for the good vibes on being a part of the Best Ethnic Restaurant in Athens.

Love and peace to you all.