The first time I traveled with Sushi was in St. Louis, where I squeezed myself into the house she shared with Gryph, Bear and Brett for a week. It was an insane week during which the only time I really got to see her was when we had to spend the night at the convention hotel guarding prizes.

The next time we met up was a more somber occasion. We were going to meet at Suz's funeral. We timed our arrivals so that Sushi, Michelle and I got in at about the same time, then shuttled to get the rental car. We hadn't all three seen each other in a while, so we chattered excitedly during the van ride. The driver said, laughing at one of our jokes, "You all here for a reunion?" And after a brief silence, one of us said, "No...actually, we're here for a funeral." I think Suz would have liked that we were in such good spirits to see one another after so long.

Last year, when I was feeling blue, Sushi and I spent some time wondering whether I might be able to swing a trip through London to coincide with a trip she was taking. That didn't work out and we contented ourselves with the emails/blog posts/chat sessions that folks like us use to keep in touch.

But this time...nothing can stop us! We are converging on O'ahu for a week of mayhem post-E3. Muahahahaha! Finally, I possess enough miles on one airline to do something and it's this holiday!

We will lounge. We will ogle beach boys. We will shop. We will watch my niece surf (and we will ogle her instructors). We will wander the maze at the Dole plantation. We will ogle surfers on the North Shore. We will admire objets d'art, listen to music and eat napples. We will do insane things accompanied by my sister.

Look out, Hawaii!

Recovery goes on, slowly but surely.

I had no idea how sick I was until I sat with my doctor on Thursday for a check up. We read the hospital notes together and it was full of very exciting terms that I haven't seen since my days in medical insurance. My doctor, pointing out parts of the reports said, "You were very, very lucky." At the end of our appointment, she gave me a hug.

The whole mortality thing will hit me later, I'm sure. Right now I'm rejoicing that I've finally finished the last of those awful antibiotics. And I lost 5 pounds in one week, though once my appetite returns I'm sure that'll be adjusted again.

Sitting up is still kind of uncomfortable. I don't know how cats do it, but I am not meant to lounge around all day, sleeping in little patches of sunlight. Oh, well. I tried :)