NJ88110905

November 9 2005

I'm going to try and put some down stuff more often. I feel remiss, especially when so MUCH has been
happening. It's not in exact temporal order as some of what I'm putting down happened a couple weeks
ago. I'd been wracking my brain, trying to figure out exactly what to write to keep everyone updated of
sorts to my situation - I've been actually getting emails asking what's up - and so, I'm just going to start
putting stuff down.

Even the boring stuff.

I'm sure you'll just love that. *grin*

Suffice to say we, all of us, have had our Winter cold early. And a miserable one it was. We all sound like a
sick house at the moment, even though we're feeling much better. Seems the cough is the last thing to do
and it's tenacious. But we're not going through a box of tissues a day per person.

Poor Johnathon. We really have to keep an eye on him because his immune system is somewhat
compromised as it is. But he seems to be doing just fine.

Boring stuff I've not really updated about.

Seems Johnathon has a hernia of some kind and we have to get it fixed. He's got an appointment for two
weeks from now.

The problem with that is I am going in for surgery for my foot. There's a tendon in my right foot that's
begun pulling on my toes - age I guess - and it's distorting my foot and has been causing a great deal of
discomfort. Hell. Not discomfort. Pain.

Besides that, it's made my foot ugly. Not that feet are the most attractive thing on the human body. I'd say
they're pretty much the ugliest thing, actually. But why help the image?

So I'm set for surgery in about a week and a half. It took forever to get the okay from my insurance. I'm
hoping we don't have the same trouble in getting the okay to get John's tummy fixed. Hernias can be
serious things.

But supposedly, in the surgery, tiny pins are going to be put into my foot for a few weeks or something like
that to align everything back the way it should be. *shudder*

I find out today. I have an appointment. And this doctor is GREAT. He's funny. And he reminds me of a
human muppet. I swear it. Really. His voice. The way he moves. It's great. Maybe it's a crack. (I'll have to
explain that someday.)

And back to our Walk. *grin*

We entered the hive in a state of semi-shock and wonder. Too much to describe. So much commerce going
on. Lots of noise but it had a sort of musical feel to it. Not angry. Not rushed. Just, well, it was filled with
excitement and laughter.

I smiled as I saw a group of honeybees we passed discussing some fabric they held between them, a
HUGE spider in front of them, smiling. By "huge" I mean really big. I could almost walk under him if he
lifted himself on his fuzzy brown legs. He wasn't a tarantula, I could tell by his structure. His legs were
more slender and his abdomen longer with familiar markings.

"Wolflegs! Surely you mean not to trade with this? Is your own weave, yes? Hah! Know you better than
that? Tis like the finest...burlap."

The bees all laughed at the teasing tone the speaking honeybee directs toward the great spider which I
gather from the name, is an Wolf spider. They can get big on the Greyside, too. I smiled.

"Is not so bad. Can be used for many things. Maybe this better?" He pulled something out of a pack on
his centeroid back. It looked like silk...the color of the sun.

There was sudden silence among the honeybees.

One stepped forward and gently touched the fabric. "Where you get this, old hunter? Is Sunsilk, yes?"

The spider nodded. "Is better than burlap for trade, yes?" he teased back, snapping the fabric open. My
eyes widened. It floated open and snapped with an odd, again musical, sound.

And with that snap - it glowed! Glowed! Like a warm fire in a hearth!

Everyone laughed as they circled the spider, blocking my view of the luminescent fabric while we passed
them, their excited voices fading from my hearing.

Fabric that glows. Glows with warmth? I made a mental note to ask about "sunsilk."

Fleur, looking back, asked, "So where to?"

Aris' wings hummed in excitement. "To the Council."

"Council?" Fleur and I both asked in excitement.

"Yes. Both the Queen and the Council are very eager to meet with you. You are oomans. We have heard
of such but all in stories. Never has an ooman been met in our known time."

"Known time?"

Theta smiled. "The length of time we know. From our beginning. There are stories. Many. But never seen
are the subjects of those stories."

I was fascinated, my mind racing. To Phase. To a name.

And I awakened. I looked around. Fleur and Johnathon were deep asleep, but I could sense a change in
their breathing. Like a deep sigh. I wondered if they were just sleeping now.

I got up, made some peach tea. And here I am.

More soon.