Today had appointments at the TB with the hematologist.  I knew it would be slow as they were fitting us in but slow doesn't begin to describe it.  We were there at 11 AM for bloodwork.  Finished up there and headed over to clinic area where we proceeded to wait until 2:30.  The appointment had been scheduled for 12:20.  You are so at their mercy.  They breeze in with a flip little "Sorry we're running a little late."  I honestly don't think they give a tinkers damn.  The good news is my blood has pretty much normalized at this point and you would think with that would come a sense of feeling better.  Just hasn't happened for me yet though. The doctor was a little surprised that they had not put me on an antibiotic when I was at Emergency as the report described "patchy" spots in my lungs consistant with what you might see with a pneumonia.  She decided to start me on a course of antibiotics which is fine with me.  Although I have no fever and am not coughing up stuff I must confess I feel very similar to how I did when I had pneumonia following my first surgery.  Normally a person who steers away from meds,  I find I'm just shrugging these days and saying "Why not? You've given me much worse than that."  So will give the antibiotics a try and as strange as it sounds hope that I do in fact have pneumonia.  I know that last time I had a very quick turn around after starting them and started to feel much improved after a relatively short time.  We left the Foothills and headed down to Lics for icecream cones.  It was lovely to sit out front and slurp back one of my all time favourite flavours....coconut!  From there home to drop me off so Bill could go pick up a few groceries and my perscription.  A lovely surprise when we pulled into the driveway.  My pal Judy, dropping by with a bag of goodies and a cute White Rabbit card!  Thanks Judy! It's been a long time since I've baked anything and Bill wasted no time tucking into everything.  We had a great visit as always.  As Judy left, Maureen pulled in with a plate of cookies so we are more than set in the sweets and treats department for awhile.  You girls are soooo good to us!  Maureen and Duane are off to one of my favourite places on earth tomorow....Mount Assiniboine.  They are booked in for the next four nights.  Duane loves the back country...Maureen not so much.  She says she just can't see the purpose behind "hiking".  I am sure she will change here mind when she sees the beauty this place is surrounded in.  For my Dad's  birthday a few years back, we booked a couple of nights up there.  We took the helicopter in from Mount Shark and spent a couple of unforgettable days traipsing around the abundance of trails available to explore in the area.  This also an area of prime Grizzly habitat and I suspect Maureen might be having some nerves about the possibility of an up close and personal encounter.  When we were there most of the guests did see bears over the course of their stay, some a little closer than they would have preferred.  We saw two.  One up hunting squirrels near the Naiset Huts and another as we crossed over Marvel Pass.  I have a healthy respect for bears, expecially Grizzly's but to my knowledge there has never been an aggressive attack up at Assiniboine.  The hosts at the lodge keep you well appraised of what is in the area and encourage you to hike in groups.  There are many tourists up there every summer and I believe that the bears share the same respect for us as we do for them.  Our closest encounter was with the young bear hunting.  He did stop momentarily, standing up on his back legs to study us with his nose.  Bears have terrible vision and rely heavily on their auditory senses and sense of smell to tell them what they have encountered.  My only regret on seeing this guy was that I did not have my camera as he would have made a fabulous photo!  We hurried back to the lodge to drag Dad up to see him but by the time we got back with Dad in tow, he was long gone.  In any case it was such a lovely way to welcome Dad's birthday!  If you love the mountains be sure to add Mount Assiniboine to your list of destinations.  We took the helicopter in and then hiked out over Marvel Pass and around Marvel Lake.  On a beautiful day there isn't a prettier place to be found.  If this doesn't convert Maureen to keen hiker nothing will!!!