Maundy Thursday

I took the girls to a Maundy Thursday service tonight - we went to the church we took Mama T. to... mainly b/c I know what to expect, it's close by, and I know how long it will last (since I'm bringing the kids past their bedtime).

It was a beautiful service - a good message on what it means that Jesus washed the disciple's feet, communion, beautiful music, beautiful prayers.

When I went 2 years ago with Mama T., the service opened with the song "Just Breathe". It moved me to tears.  Tonight, it was a blessing to me to hear it again. (i was not familiar with this song prior to that service)

And then, to top it off, the service closed with the hymn "what wondrous love is this" - I knew this song as a bluegrass hymn that I put on a bedtime CD for the girls. Even tho' we heard the regular version, they both recognized it right away.

I normally play my violin at church, and am not standing with the girls during worship. It blessed my heart tonight to stand with them and hear their sweet voices singing.

Twiddlin' Thumbs

No one has ever said to me "hey, stop working so hard"

I like to relax.

I have, however, reached my limit on relaxing. Not quite going out of my mind, but the things I might do to pass the time are things I can't do.  I'm actually feeling pretty good, but it's the twisting and the lifting, etc... that I'm avoiding.

I will however cherish these last few moments of recuperation b/c I'm going to be very (for me) busy in the next few weeks.

So here's to doing nothing....

zzzzzzzzz

Post GB Day

Surgery went well.  The nurses and staff were all very nice yesterday.  My pastor stopped by prior to surgery to pray with Mom and I.

Scar tissue was not an issue, so the surgery went quickly and smoothly. I got pictures of it too.

I do have pain, and I do have pain and nausea drugs (although a side effect of the nausea drug is...nausea).  They work and give me terrible dry mouth, which I guess is good b/c it's forcing me to stay very hydrated.

They do not help with the gas pain. (don't worry, not gas like toots) ;)  They inflate the abdomen with gas to make it easy to do what they need to do, and you just have to wait for the body to reabsorb it.  It can even cause left shoulder pain (which I did experience yesterday) b/c of how the anatomy is.

So mainly, I'm very slow moving, and I don't even want to think about bending over.

I'm holding out hope that I could teach on Monday, but I won't really know until tomorrow.

GB Day!

Today's the day.

aaahhhhhh

$%#@

Even if my kids didn't go to public school, they would be exposed to the ways of the world.

Yesterday, I got to explain the word "bitch" to the girls. It was written on something on the playground (I think - not entirely sure, but it was written somewhere outside on something)

We had a nice calm discussion about it. We talked about what it really means, how people use it, etc...

So. That was fun.

Due Date

T-minus 1 day to gallbladder surgery. It's not quite as exciting as having a baby I'm afraid.

The last time I had surgery was the c-section, and that was a pretty big deal. In comparison, this is not a big deal at all.

I'm not even that worried about the surgery itself, but there is something about general anesthesia that kind of freaks me out.

I've perhaps been bordering on the morose..."what if i die?" kind of stuff... which led me to write something for the girls to read in case I die... you know, like the stuff I want them to know in life, and stuff about sex and their bodies, and what kind of people I want them to be.

I've saved it as a file on my computer - b/c really, we never know when we're going to die, and I told Steve it's there...and I also told him he's not allowed to read it unless I'm dead b/c I'd be too embarrassed. :)

So as I'm working on this letter to the girls, I'm really forced to examine the question

"what do I want to pass on to my children?"

and also

"am I already doing these things?"

so in that sense I think it was a very worthwhile exercise... to stop and reflect on what lessons I want to pass on, and to examine how effectively i'm passing those lessons on.

Spring Break and the Gallbladder

This week is spring break for us - the girls went to Granny's for a couple of days, and we took advantage of that and the beautiful weather...We took a train ride into Fort Worth and walked around, enjoying the sites.

One of the things I really enjoyed about living in PA was the public transportation. I enjoyed riding the trolleys and the subways.   (I still don't like riding buses)  Taking the opportunity to ride the train forced us to walk around the city more than we would have otherwise. It's just a totally different experience. We enjoyed lunch in the city, went to the bookstore, and then headed back home.  There's not a whole lot to see right where we were, but it was fun nonetheless.  (pictures on Facebook)

I got the call this week for my gallbladder surgery. It'll be a week from tomorrow.  I wouldn't say that i'm particularly looking forward to it, but I am hopeful that it will help some of my issues.

The girls came home today. I don't think they missed us at all, and that's how it should be. They had a great time (as they always do with grandparents).

Today it wasn't too hot - after a morning/lunch outing with a friend and her kids, I enjoyed reading a magazine in the backyard. The simple things.

Today my heart felt full.

Back Update

The rhizotomy went well. Sedation is such a weird thing for me - having vague memories of things, but not being entirely sure...it's unsettling.

I had a lot of soreness on Friday after the procedure, but by Saturday, most of the soreness from the procedure was gone.  There is still some tenderness at the sites where the needles went in, but really only tender to the touch.  Already I'm noticing a big difference in my pain levels - and it should continue to get better over the next week or so.

Hooray!

Up next, a meeting with a surgeon Thursday morning to discuss my gallbladder.  It's as fun as a barrel of monkeys around here.

Yay!

Today's the day - rhizotomy day. Hooray! Feeling very hopeful about this procedure.

Fingers crossed :)