Reconstruction surgery now scheduled

Just got off the phone with Dr. McMillan's office to follow up with them and let them know that leave shouldn't be an issue, and to ask what the next steps would be in getting reconstruction surgery scheduled. The receptionist said she could help me with that, and let me know that the earliest Dr. McMillan had open was September 18th. I said I'd take that; that's plenty of time for my team at work to plan for my absence, and for me to get current major obligations done and dealt with, project-wise.

Hopefully, it'll also give us some time to further beat down debt to brace for the likely large bill for staying in the hospital for a couple of days.

There will be a pre-op appointment on September 2nd to settle all pertinent details, and I'll need to do another round of FMLA paperwork. Here's hoping it'll be the last.

Cross your fingers, folks.

Book Log #39: Wings to the Kingdom, by Cherie Priest

Wings to the Kingdom, the second Eden Moore book by cmpriest, is a somewhat lighter-hearted read than its predecessor Four and Twenty Blackbirds. The grimness of the plot of the first book is resolved somewhat as Eden begins to make peace with those events; moreover, since her credentials as one who sees and interacts with ghosts have been established for the reader, more room is left to devote to the plot.

Which is, in this case, Eden's investigation of why ghosts are appearing en masse on a local battlefield, and what's happened to the entity said in local legend to be their guardian. Joining her in her endeavor are two of her friends as well as celebrity investigators of the paranormal--who, as far as Eden is concerned, may or may not be legit. There's just enough followup with the previous plot to show that not only is it having an impact on Eden's relatives, but also that it's bolstered her reputation in the area, and in ways she doesn't particularly like.

The one quibble I have with the story is the time-displaced chapters from the point of view of the mortal antagonist who sets the plot into motion. We don't see him come in until several chapters into the book--and then, we jump back "seven weeks earlier" to see his events. Which didn't quite click for me. I'd have preferred to just tell the story from both his point of view and Eden's linearly in time.

But that's only a minor quibble. All in all the tale is very solid, and I'll much look forward to reading the third book. Three and a half stars.