Hawaiian shaved ice--ninja turtle flavor. 'Nuff said.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Surgery Is No Picnic
Not that I expected that it would be, but...
Why on earth do we actually pay someone to inflict pain on us?
I went under the knife on July 14th. A hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy (The word makes me giggle. It means ovaries). To treat adenomyosis, endometriosis, and hemorrhagic ovarian cysts, among other things. Suffice to say, that region of my body hadn't been doing so well this past year.
The surgery went well, and by what my Dr has said, it was a very good decision. And the pathology report says everything removed was benign (even if it certainly didn't act benign while inside of me!)
A long night of dizziness with mass amounts of puke-age and quite a few drugs later, I was able to go home. And I slept. And slept. And did I mention that I slept? Aside from shuffling to the bathroom or gingerly turning in bed, I don't remember much else of the first three days at home.
My dad took time off from work and flew in to take care of the boys while I was still trying to figure out how to even roll over in bed. The boys had a fantastic time with Grandpa J. and were sad to see him go after a week. I was too! But we are forever grateful to him for helping us out.
It is now 12 days out. I can finally walk without hunching over. My stab incisions from the laparoscope are healed. I feel well enough to start helping around the house, but cannot lift, push or pull anything yet because it will tear the internal incisions. Kind of frustrating! Also, I am having hot flashes. And I cannot fall asleep easily. Here comes menopause rearing it's ugly head at the ripe old age of 33. Oy.
Why on earth do we actually pay someone to inflict pain on us?
I went under the knife on July 14th. A hysterectomy and bilateral oophorectomy (The word makes me giggle. It means ovaries). To treat adenomyosis, endometriosis, and hemorrhagic ovarian cysts, among other things. Suffice to say, that region of my body hadn't been doing so well this past year.
The surgery went well, and by what my Dr has said, it was a very good decision. And the pathology report says everything removed was benign (even if it certainly didn't act benign while inside of me!)
A long night of dizziness with mass amounts of puke-age and quite a few drugs later, I was able to go home. And I slept. And slept. And did I mention that I slept? Aside from shuffling to the bathroom or gingerly turning in bed, I don't remember much else of the first three days at home.
My dad took time off from work and flew in to take care of the boys while I was still trying to figure out how to even roll over in bed. The boys had a fantastic time with Grandpa J. and were sad to see him go after a week. I was too! But we are forever grateful to him for helping us out.
It is now 12 days out. I can finally walk without hunching over. My stab incisions from the laparoscope are healed. I feel well enough to start helping around the house, but cannot lift, push or pull anything yet because it will tear the internal incisions. Kind of frustrating! Also, I am having hot flashes. And I cannot fall asleep easily. Here comes menopause rearing it's ugly head at the ripe old age of 33. Oy.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Life Comes At You Fast...
Matt and I returned from Hawaii on Memorial Day to three little boys very ecstatic to see their parents. "M", the sitter, seemed to have made it through the previous ten days and said things went well. I can't tell if she was being polite or if the boys pulled a fast one on her! Either way, we're glad everything went well on the home front.
The boys were more than anxious to see their "surprises" from our trip. They all got T-shirts and Hawaiian necklaces and bracelets. Naturally, I forgot to take a picture of them all dressed up. Now that the braceletes and necklaces are broken and/or missing...Xander and Talmage scarfed down the packages of "7-D" mango slices we brought. Kalvin said he liked them, but after about the fourth day of saying "no thanks" he finally admitted that he didn't really like them! We sure missed the boys and all their little quirks while we were gone.
The rest of the week went fairly smoothly. The construction on the Strawhouse hadn't really progressed much while we were gone due to waiting for inspections, etc., but it started to pick up again at the end of the week. I spent a few days cleaning the house. Matt was back in full swing at the office. A regular week on the homefront. Until...
Friday.
I get all the kids dropped off at school/preschool. Off to the office to check on things. They need office supplies, so I go run a few errands and return to the office. I leave again to go pick up some lunch for Matt. I get a message while in the restaurant. Xander has stuck something in his ear and they can't get it out. I get to the preschool to find him happily eating his lunch. He's fine unless you even think of looking at his ear. We call the ENT. They can't get him in for three hours. I schedule the appt and we go to Dad's office to have him look in the ear. Xander is petrified and doesn't want anyone to touch it. After much reassuring and a bit of hand (body) holding, Daddy saves the day and pulls the object out. It is a small yellow pellet from a pellet paint gun, no bigger than a small pea. Evidently, they are all over on the playground at the preschool. We just happen to have the child who figures it might be interesting to stick into one of his body orifices. It's never happened before at the preschool. Naturally.
Matt has a break between patients and decides to check on the progress at the Strawhouse. He comes back excited about the progress made. Our two secretaries want to go see, so I drive them over to see. As we are walking in the front door, we witness one of the workers fall from the scaffolding and tumble to the concrete floor. We call the paramedics immediately. He has hit his head, his back and his elbow the hardest. We can't leave until the ambulance arrives and he is taken care of. Meanwhile, Matt is back at the office and panicking. Oh, did I mention that Xander was still at the office too, since we were only going to be gone for a couple of minutes?
Matt and I had somehow missed the announcement that the preschool was having a spring concert that night just after five. It was the funniest thing I have ever watched. Talmage and one of his buddies were so preoccupied with stomping out all the bugs on the sidewalk (outdoor concert) while Xander sang all the songs and did all the actions and movements. The teachers, and Matt and I, were all sure that it was going to be just the opposite! Xander has NEVER really participated in any singing or other parts in any programs at school or church. We were shocked!
In the midst of all this craziness, my sister had her baby today. He's healthy and well. So is she. Thank goodness!
Okay, so that weekend was pretty null. Nothing out of the ordinary. I seemed to be coming down with a cold (thanks fellow airline passengers), but all was well.
Tuesday.
Not much happening. Just trying to get back into the swing of life. Matt is doing general anesthesia this week, so he's pretty whooped by the end of the day. Why is that? Three or four kids versus his regular fifty in a day? Matt thinks it's probably from the emotional toll of the cases. The kids are really hurting.
Wednesday.
The kids are having a do-not-cooperate-and-get-ready-for-the-day-morning. They are all just a little bit fussy. I have managed to sleep in. Hmmm. So far, so good. And we have no water. None. Not even a drop will come out of the sinks. I manage to scrounge up some clothes for each kid (today was going to be laundry day) and we all pile into the car. There is NO way I was going to try and do breakfast at home without running water. I pick up donuts at the corner stop by the school instead. Suddenly, I have become World's Best Mom. Okay, so maybe no water wasn't such a bad thing this morning...
Is the well dry? Oy. We don't want to go there. I turn off the sprinklers to see if we've just used too much water in a short time. Matt calls the well drilling company. One hour. No water. Two hours. No water. I check the breaker and the well pump. They are working. Wait...the pump controller is beeping. It says there is a short circuit. Good. So maybe it's only the pump. $5-6K sounds a lot better than a new $20K well. The driller finally calls at 4:15pm. We are in town and have all but given up on hearing from them today. Matt rushes back to the house. It looks like the pump wiring has a short. But not in the house. It's somewhere inside the well. Can't be fixed until tomorrow. I have a garden's worth of plants sitting on the porch that I have just purchased. It has been in the upper 70's outside and I have no water to keep them alive. Sayonara plants! Good thing I tilled the manure into the garden and took a shower LAST NIGHT.
Thursday.
The boys get taken to school. I have two appointments today. The well driller did not arrive before I left the house. I get a phone call from my mom. My sister who had her baby last week is hemorrhaging. They have called 911. Luckily, she ends up okay and is able to go home later in the day. Lots of prayers said.
My brother has a coworker that has been seriously injured in a work related accident witnessed by most of the coworkers. It's been a rough day at their office.
Mom calls to tell us that Dad is at work (she is still in Utah) but has just heard that there is a severe tornado warning for their town. In a non-tornado area of the country. It is raining harder than he has ever experienced in his life. After living in Oregon for 30+ years. The highways have been shut down in the area.
I get home from my appointments. The drillers have been working on the well. They have fixed the wire inside and it is now working. We have water!!!
It is Father and Sons camping weekend and there is a dinner with moms and daughters included at the campsite tonight. The boys have a blast playing in the water at lake's edge. They are soaked, covered in sand, and thoroughly happy. Mom and Dad are happy too. It is a good night.
To quote one of my sisters, can we just push the pause button on our family right now?!?!?!?!
Friday, June 5th.
The weather forecast calls for snow in the next 24 hrs. I have got to get some of the garden planted. Kalvin goes to school, Xander and Talmage help me in the garden in the morning. I think they found every beetle, caterpillar, ant, and other bugs that were out there. How do they do that?
The boys (ALL my boys) head to the campground at three. The weather is blustery, but they are going to sleep in a tent instead of taking the RV this time. I sure hope they have a good time. I work in the garden until four, take a very long hot shower, and plop into bed to watch "House" episodes on DVD. I'm not feeling very well. My cold has caught up to me.
Saturday.
The door chime goes off at 6am. Matt and the boys are home. Evidently, the kids slept all night, but Daddy didn't. The wind howled. Talmage was in Matt's sleeping bag, snug as a bug. Between the wind and a wiggly bug in his bed, Daddy was awake all night. And it started to snow by the time they left the campsite. Everyone else was bailing as well. At least they had a fun evening-roasting marshmallows, playing in the dirt, riding their scooters, telling stories around the campfire...I am really glad they were able to do that together. It was fun to hear the boys talk about what a good time they had with their dad. And to hear Matt talk about how much he enjoyed spending the weekend with his little guys.
The boys were more than anxious to see their "surprises" from our trip. They all got T-shirts and Hawaiian necklaces and bracelets. Naturally, I forgot to take a picture of them all dressed up. Now that the braceletes and necklaces are broken and/or missing...Xander and Talmage scarfed down the packages of "7-D" mango slices we brought. Kalvin said he liked them, but after about the fourth day of saying "no thanks" he finally admitted that he didn't really like them! We sure missed the boys and all their little quirks while we were gone.
The rest of the week went fairly smoothly. The construction on the Strawhouse hadn't really progressed much while we were gone due to waiting for inspections, etc., but it started to pick up again at the end of the week. I spent a few days cleaning the house. Matt was back in full swing at the office. A regular week on the homefront. Until...
Friday.
I get all the kids dropped off at school/preschool. Off to the office to check on things. They need office supplies, so I go run a few errands and return to the office. I leave again to go pick up some lunch for Matt. I get a message while in the restaurant. Xander has stuck something in his ear and they can't get it out. I get to the preschool to find him happily eating his lunch. He's fine unless you even think of looking at his ear. We call the ENT. They can't get him in for three hours. I schedule the appt and we go to Dad's office to have him look in the ear. Xander is petrified and doesn't want anyone to touch it. After much reassuring and a bit of hand (body) holding, Daddy saves the day and pulls the object out. It is a small yellow pellet from a pellet paint gun, no bigger than a small pea. Evidently, they are all over on the playground at the preschool. We just happen to have the child who figures it might be interesting to stick into one of his body orifices. It's never happened before at the preschool. Naturally.
Matt has a break between patients and decides to check on the progress at the Strawhouse. He comes back excited about the progress made. Our two secretaries want to go see, so I drive them over to see. As we are walking in the front door, we witness one of the workers fall from the scaffolding and tumble to the concrete floor. We call the paramedics immediately. He has hit his head, his back and his elbow the hardest. We can't leave until the ambulance arrives and he is taken care of. Meanwhile, Matt is back at the office and panicking. Oh, did I mention that Xander was still at the office too, since we were only going to be gone for a couple of minutes?
Matt and I had somehow missed the announcement that the preschool was having a spring concert that night just after five. It was the funniest thing I have ever watched. Talmage and one of his buddies were so preoccupied with stomping out all the bugs on the sidewalk (outdoor concert) while Xander sang all the songs and did all the actions and movements. The teachers, and Matt and I, were all sure that it was going to be just the opposite! Xander has NEVER really participated in any singing or other parts in any programs at school or church. We were shocked!
In the midst of all this craziness, my sister had her baby today. He's healthy and well. So is she. Thank goodness!
Okay, so that weekend was pretty null. Nothing out of the ordinary. I seemed to be coming down with a cold (thanks fellow airline passengers), but all was well.
Tuesday.
Not much happening. Just trying to get back into the swing of life. Matt is doing general anesthesia this week, so he's pretty whooped by the end of the day. Why is that? Three or four kids versus his regular fifty in a day? Matt thinks it's probably from the emotional toll of the cases. The kids are really hurting.
Wednesday.
The kids are having a do-not-cooperate-and-get-ready-for-the-day-morning. They are all just a little bit fussy. I have managed to sleep in. Hmmm. So far, so good. And we have no water. None. Not even a drop will come out of the sinks. I manage to scrounge up some clothes for each kid (today was going to be laundry day) and we all pile into the car. There is NO way I was going to try and do breakfast at home without running water. I pick up donuts at the corner stop by the school instead. Suddenly, I have become World's Best Mom. Okay, so maybe no water wasn't such a bad thing this morning...
Is the well dry? Oy. We don't want to go there. I turn off the sprinklers to see if we've just used too much water in a short time. Matt calls the well drilling company. One hour. No water. Two hours. No water. I check the breaker and the well pump. They are working. Wait...the pump controller is beeping. It says there is a short circuit. Good. So maybe it's only the pump. $5-6K sounds a lot better than a new $20K well. The driller finally calls at 4:15pm. We are in town and have all but given up on hearing from them today. Matt rushes back to the house. It looks like the pump wiring has a short. But not in the house. It's somewhere inside the well. Can't be fixed until tomorrow. I have a garden's worth of plants sitting on the porch that I have just purchased. It has been in the upper 70's outside and I have no water to keep them alive. Sayonara plants! Good thing I tilled the manure into the garden and took a shower LAST NIGHT.
Thursday.
The boys get taken to school. I have two appointments today. The well driller did not arrive before I left the house. I get a phone call from my mom. My sister who had her baby last week is hemorrhaging. They have called 911. Luckily, she ends up okay and is able to go home later in the day. Lots of prayers said.
My brother has a coworker that has been seriously injured in a work related accident witnessed by most of the coworkers. It's been a rough day at their office.
Mom calls to tell us that Dad is at work (she is still in Utah) but has just heard that there is a severe tornado warning for their town. In a non-tornado area of the country. It is raining harder than he has ever experienced in his life. After living in Oregon for 30+ years. The highways have been shut down in the area.
I get home from my appointments. The drillers have been working on the well. They have fixed the wire inside and it is now working. We have water!!!
It is Father and Sons camping weekend and there is a dinner with moms and daughters included at the campsite tonight. The boys have a blast playing in the water at lake's edge. They are soaked, covered in sand, and thoroughly happy. Mom and Dad are happy too. It is a good night.
To quote one of my sisters, can we just push the pause button on our family right now?!?!?!?!
Friday, June 5th.
The weather forecast calls for snow in the next 24 hrs. I have got to get some of the garden planted. Kalvin goes to school, Xander and Talmage help me in the garden in the morning. I think they found every beetle, caterpillar, ant, and other bugs that were out there. How do they do that?
The boys (ALL my boys) head to the campground at three. The weather is blustery, but they are going to sleep in a tent instead of taking the RV this time. I sure hope they have a good time. I work in the garden until four, take a very long hot shower, and plop into bed to watch "House" episodes on DVD. I'm not feeling very well. My cold has caught up to me.
Saturday.
The door chime goes off at 6am. Matt and the boys are home. Evidently, the kids slept all night, but Daddy didn't. The wind howled. Talmage was in Matt's sleeping bag, snug as a bug. Between the wind and a wiggly bug in his bed, Daddy was awake all night. And it started to snow by the time they left the campsite. Everyone else was bailing as well. At least they had a fun evening-roasting marshmallows, playing in the dirt, riding their scooters, telling stories around the campfire...I am really glad they were able to do that together. It was fun to hear the boys talk about what a good time they had with their dad. And to hear Matt talk about how much he enjoyed spending the weekend with his little guys.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Friday, May 22nd
A quiet day. Matt and I went out for breakfast, then he was off to classes. I went back to bed and slept another three hours until just after 11! Then I just chilled for awhile before heading out to Waikiki Beach, right on the hotel property. Matt said to me, "You had better go on the beach or everyone that hears that you didn't will be disappointed in you. That includes me!" So I went and laid out on Waikiki Beach. There. I did it.
Now I look and feel like a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken. And I was only out an hour.
Now I look and feel like a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken. And I was only out an hour.
SCUBA and Kayaking, Thurs, May 21st
Matt wanted to get as many dives into this trip as possible, so he went on another trip this morning. The group went out to 92' depth and swam through some reef caverns. Matt said there was all sorts of marine life down there that we hadn't seen before when we went snorkeling.
The divemaster was very excited to see this sea slug (or nudibranch?), as he said it's not a very common one for that area.
Matt in his dive gear. So handsome, isn't he?
The lovely eel that wouldn't have minded biting a hand if given the chance. They have lockjaws, so if bitten, the only way to escape is to cut off their head and then remove it later on. Yikes.
After the 92' dive, they surfaced and boated over to another area for a shallower 45' depth dive. Matt had a total blast. I was kind of bummed to see all his pics and videos that night. I really wish that I could go diving too...
But instead, I went kayaking. My group drove over to Kapohe (?) beach and set out from there. It is considered one of the top ten beaches in the world. I could see why. Perfect white sand with an intense green and blue ocean. We left the beach around 9:30 am and set out to Mokulele Island, just under 2 miles away. I and another gal had single kayaks, the others in the group went tandem since they were all couples.
Mokulele Island is a bird sanctuary for a particular Hawaiian species. Our guide taught us about it's habitat and lifestyle. There were little potholes of sorts covering the entire hill on the side we shored on. Each hole had a bird inside, preparing it's nest for mating. It was pretty crazy looking.
On the other side of the island lies Shark's Cavern. The surf was calm enough that our guide was able to take us out there. It was a hike! We had to climb up and over boulder after boulder of sharp lava rock to get there. Once we did, we were able to jump in and snorkel in the pool. The only bad part about getting in and out was that the tide would slam us against the rock edge in the process. My knee got bumped and evidently, my derriere as well (that particular area hurt that night, but didn't show a bruise until the next day. The size of a grapefruit.). There are also multiple rock diving spots off the cliff. I jumped twice from the 15 ft ledge. That was fun. Except for the uber strong saline rinse up the nose both times. Yuck.
The trip back was just as great as going to the island, although I was definitely more tired at the end. We did see a couple of sea turtles as we returned. I'm really glad I went. Just a small bit of red around my shoulders where my lifejacket had rubbed off my (4x!) applied sunscreen.
Sorry to disappoint with no pics of my jaunt. I did purchase an el cheapo waterproof camera, but I actually have to take it in to get the film developed!
Dinner at the oldest hotel in Waikiki, owned by Westin Hotels. The tables were set out on the courtyard next to the beach and a local Hawaiian band played music all evening. Someone commented on Matt's nice shirt-"Armanai, Manhattan?" Nope. Costco, Montana. LOL.
Wed, May 20th
Hanuama Bay
Matt had some courses to attend in the morning, but had an unexpectedly free afternoon, so we hopped on a bus over to Haunama Bay for a couple hours of snorkeling.
Dinner was at Michel's Restaurant, on the beach, with the Trustees. The sunset view at Diamond Head was exquisite.
Matt had some courses to attend in the morning, but had an unexpectedly free afternoon, so we hopped on a bus over to Haunama Bay for a couple hours of snorkeling.
It felt actually felt safer further out, because the tide would push us over the rock and coral, then ebb. That didn't leave us much space to navigate without touching the coral, a big no-no.
We managed to see more than one sea turtle. They are so graceful as they glide around. And they didn't appear hesitant around us at all. We wish the boys could have been there, even if they are still too little to have actually gone out with us to snorkel. They would have loved it.
Dinner was at Michel's Restaurant, on the beach, with the Trustees. The sunset view at Diamond Head was exquisite.
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