Saturday, February 06, 2010
Uncle B gets the best lunch box EVAR!
Oh, yay, G. I. Joe...


With meal replacement bars...


And freeze-proof water...hooyah!

One thing about living in your pajamas all week...
...it sure does cut down on laundry.
And for me...
This should make being snowbound all weekend a little more bearable. Wheeee!

Smug parents
Every once in a while I feel we can give ourselves a pat on the back and a "well done." As I tell you this I'm sure some of you will be saying to yourselves, "Well, duh, we've been doing this for a long time." But for us it was the first.

M took Emma by the convenience store to pick up "chicken bones" (fried chicken legs) for her lunch on Wednesday. In the store she saw a little stuffed puppy in a carrier that she wanted. She started in on her Daddy (which usually works when it comes to toys) and he wouldn't buy it for her. So she escalated the crying and dramatics. He stood firm. They walked up main street back to the store with Emma caterwauling the whole way. M was sure he was going to hear about it from folks later. When they got back to the store she was still throwing a fit. She refused to go home with Grandma for lunch and kept up with her hysterics. Then, like a bolt out of the blue, Grandma swatted her behind. A first. Shocked the fury out of her. Of course then Emma's grievance turned to Grandma, but she had too much sense to speak out.

You'd have to see Grandma to understand how shocking this must have been. She's bent over half by scoliosis and getting shorter and more frail by the day. But she has warned Emma in the past that she wasn't above swatting her if she couldn't rein it in. So, kapow! Fortunately, after leaving for a while Grandma came back later in the afternoon and everything was completely cool between Emma and her.

On to Thursday, after Emma gets off the bus she starts in with the whiny, pouty pleas for the puppy at the convenience store. Now seriously, it's so much easier to cave on this stuff than put up with the drama. But easy doesn't build character so the hard way it must be. M brought Emma to my work so I could bring her home later. When she got to me she started cajoling me to take her to the store and buy this puppy. I told her I would speak to Daddy about it.

M has this thing about not wanting to do the wrong thing when something really is important to his kids. He has vivid memories of times in his youth when his parents really didn't understand the enormity of his longing or need, no matter how he pleaded, and it wasn't just about stuff he wanted to buy. With those vivid memories in mind he's keen not to get it wrong with Emma. After some discussion we decided that we'd tell Emma she could get her own money at home that night and come back to town with Daddy to buy it the next day, if she really wanted it.

I was left to explain this deal to her. Of course she wanted it right now with my money paying for it. I told her "no" she must use her own money. "But if I spend my money then I won't have any money!" "Emma, that's how it is with my money, too." Finally, she began to grasp that we were serious about making her wait another day and using her own money.

Since M was shopping last night I had bedtime duty with both of the kids. I let Emma stay up and watch a Scooby movie because I knew school would be cancelled today. Then after I read to her I let her play Leapster. Still, I was a bit surprised when she came downstairs at 10:34 p.m. acting small and pouty. "Mommy, we forgot something." We hadn't found her money yet. So, I got up and went to her room. From her various wallets and purses we assembled $8.00. M had no idea how much the puppy was so I had to guess. Daggone it, if it was more than $8.00 he could make up the difference.

Around 9:40 this morning I called to store to see how it went. They went to the convenience store on the way in and Emma got her puppy. $2.99, so she got to keep some of her money to bring home. M said she had it named before they were back to the truck. "Toodles." Now I'll be interested to see if this lesson in "value" yield any more care and attention to this toy. I'll try and take a picture later to add to this post later.
One week post surgery
My impression is that it wasn't nearly as bad as I was told it would be. Make no mistake, the actual surgery part was no fun. The hospital took great care of me. I love the nurses at RMH. That said, my IV insertion wasn't the best. The anesthesiologist even remarked on it. It was a bit painful; I never got used to it being there. It amazes me when they roll you into surgery and there are always so many people in the room. I'm talking seven or eight standing around for a laparoscopic gall bladder surgery.

Recovery is always bizarre and uncomfortable. I guess when you wake up they want to hear from you before they adjust your pain meds to where they work. They were generous with the painkiller. They kept checking to make sure I was sure I wasn't feeling too much pain. In the ambulatory unit after recovery I got to see M again. We weren't there all that long. I could have stayed there all afternoon napping. After the nurses pulled my IV we started the discharge process. My surgeon was caught in surgery so he gave me a phone discharge.

We stayed at Noni's one night and then M brought me home. The kids stayed with Noni and Popi till Sunday. Which was handy because I was on narcotics until Tuesday. Child care issues were all screwed up this week. Because of the snow days Emma only put in one full day of school this week. We had two hour delays and one early release. I was home all week. I did go to the office yesterday afternoon to clear my desk, but found it was more taxing than I anticipated.

As for the surgery aftermath, honestly, it wasn't that painful. I didn't have any issues with coughing or laughing. No need for pillows pressed against me. I had no gas pains. My surgery left four (or five) different wounds on me and those are sore, but otherwise it's been easy to cope with the pain (with the meds). I suppose having two c-sections has put this surgery in perspective. Not bad at all.
Bracing for it
They're calling for 20 to 30 inches of snow here over the next day and half. This is on top of a 7" base we have already. Joy. We have had so much stinkin' snow this winter it isn't funny. It more than makes up for last winter when we got maybe one good snow of five inches.

We're planning to be housebound this weekend. M and Emma went to the store this morning and will stick with it as long as they feel like it. Meanwhile I'm home with the little boy who doesn't like to nap when he's at home with mommy.

M went over the mountains last night to shop for the store and because Jack was about out of baby food. He said it was nuts. There was no milk to be had at Walmart. None. No shredded cheeses. He went to three different grocery stores and there were no bananas anywhere. He did get all the baby food we needed. I think he said he was in bed by 3:00 a.m.

I had an appointment this morning over the mountains for the follow-up on my surgery. Thankfully they called me this morning. They were trying to move up all their appointments and offered to take me as soon as I could get there. Once they figured out that I was four mountains and an hour and a half away they offered to reschedule me. So next Friday it is!

We had plans with the whole family to rendezvous at Uncle B's this weekend to celebrate birthdays for M and Uncle B. We nixed that yesterday. Rescheduled for next weekend.

At least we have the Super Bowl to look forward to on Sunday. That will take the edge off the cabin fever. Maybe.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
This time last year I thought I was going to die...
This was the night we took the wrong turn taking Emma to her friend's birthday party. It was snowing and the roads were already treacherous. We ended up on what was a glorified cow path up the sheer side of the mountain. I still get a knot in my chest thinking about it.

Tonight is the same girl's birthday party again. It's snowing again. This time I'm cozy and warm at home recuperating from surgery while M is taking Emma to the party. I get to wait for them to return safely. They're not home yet. I wish the snow would stop.

UPDATE: They're home safely. Thank God. The actual driveway to the little girl's house was harrowing in itself. Cut up a long hill with sheer sides. Two people coming to the party had incidents on the driveway. One ran off of it. It had to be near the bottom for it not to have been a catastrophic accident. The girl's dad had to tow the vehicle back onto the driveway. The other did a 180 degree slide and since they were pointing downhill went right home. No one could figure out where you could do a 180 without going over the cliff. M had taken the 4WD truck. Then he traded off at the store and drove himself and Emma home in my car. He said my car did great. So the party ended up with four kids, one more than they had last year. Emma said the little girl screamed a lot, but they all still had fun.