Hugs All Around! (No, not hogs)

Last night, while my husband visited a NC emergency room and had half a dozen x-rays taken of his ankle, I was readying myself for an evening out.

But first, the ankle. He was helping our friends with a controlled burn. They had been at it for hours and were getting much accomplished. Joe attempted to throw another log on the fire, when he stepped in a hog hole. That's what he called it, anyway. I have no idea what a hog hole is ...how deep? ...how wide? ...visible or camouflaged? ...truly dug by a ...hog?!

(Ohhhh, later learned it was a groundhog hole. That, I can make sense of.)

Anyway... he landed in it, heard a pop, and felt shearing pain. It was ridiculously swollen in a matter of seconds. The pop is what made him suspect he had broken it... that, and the odd looking bulge on one side that he thought looked suspiciously like a bone.

Thankfully, he did not break it and the bulge was not an errant bone. He severely sprained it. They put him in a boot and sent him off, doped up on pain meds.

Meanwhile, mom and I were headed to my daughter's in-laws' home. My son-in-law was in town for a whirlwind, ultra-brief visit. We gathered together for Gary's homemade pizza... Mmm...One of them was pepperoni (the only one with red sauce), one of them was potato and caramelized onion, and one of them was gorgonzola cheese and rosemary. Oh... good! With our pizza, we enjoyed wine, laughter and conversation.

Then, we capped off the evening with Diane's homemade apple pie and yummy french-pressed coffee. Auntie Ev and Uncle Mike came, too. It was such a great evening. We wished Joe were with us instead of in the ER; and we wished Kristiina were with us instead of in Vermont! Nic promised to take our hugs and kisses home to her. Likewise, I have many warm wishes to relay to Joe.

Time to go, we hugged and were off. Family is such a special blessing.

{{No pics cuz I sent the camera to NC with hubby.}}