Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

There is nothing like a small emergency in your life to make you really appreciate your family and friends. For example, this past weekend, when I unexpectedly had surgery to remove my gall bladder. On Thanksgiving day, I had no idea there was anything wrong with my gall bladder, by Saturday evening, it was gone. And I would have never made it through without my family and friends.

It all started Thanksgiving Day with what I thought was heartburn. When the heartburn was still bothering me on Friday, I went to minor emergency. That was where I got the first inkling I was going to lose my gall bladder sooner or later, but honestly, I thought I would have more time to say good bye. While the doctor was sure I had gall stones, I needed an ultrasound to verify it and all of the radiology centers were closed. The doctor sent me home with some vicodin, a list of instructions, and a warning that the gall bladder was probably coming out the next week. Hah!

When I started getting sick Saturday morning, I knew my time together with my gall bladder was coming to an end. I gave my parents a warning call and then called the doctor at minor emergency. Yes, he said, it was time to go to the emergency room. I called my parents, who already had their pajamas packed, and waited them to show up to watch Andrew. I do have to give a big thank you to my parents. Adam and I did not want to take Andrew to the emergency room because we did not want him to get upset but I needed Adam with me in case I got upset. Mom and Dad dropped everything and were at our house within 35 minutes of my call. As far as Andrew was concerned, he was getting to spend a fun weekend with his grandparents and I never had to worry about my child.

Within an hour and a half after our arrival at Round Rock Medical Center, Adam and I knew my gall bladder was coming out. With some morphine (lovely stuff) and some valium (even lovelier), I made it until 2:00 pm when they wheeled me back to the surgery room. The next few hours are blurry but when I finally came around, I was missing one of my non-essential organs.

I came home Sunday and have been well taken care of since. I have to give thanks to my parents and Adam's parents for watching Andrew during these days of recovery. Oddly enough, I am just not up to watching Andrew right now, shocking I know. I also have to thank our family and our friends for feeding us. I can not get it together to cook right now and the boys can eat only so many hot dogs.

So all you girls out there (because gall stones affect mostly women), if you are experiencing really bad heartburn and are in your 30's, have your gall bladder checked out. You never know. It could be here today and gone tomorrow.

Only on Wednesdays

Andrew's grasp of time is tenuous at best. So we have been working on understanding measurements of time. We have a calendar on the refrigerator and we talk about what day of the week it is and when we are doing certain things. On Monday, we go to the grocery store, Wednesdays are swimming lessons, and on Saturdays, we watch football. I wasn't sure Andrew was getting this lesson until last week.

"Andrew, you need to take off your pajamas and put on your clothes."

"No Mommy, only on Wednesdays."

"Excuse me," I said.

"I only change my clothes on Wednesday."


And since then, that has been his response to everything.

"Andrew, would you like spaghetti for dinner tonite?""

"Only on Wednesday."

"You need to pick up your toys Andrew."

"Only on Wednesday."

"Andrew, it's time to take a bath."

"No. I take a bath only on Wednesday." (Ok, he definitely did not win that one. Our kid is not the Pigpen of his class. At least, I don't think he is.)

And yes, I even heard:

"Andrew, would you like to go get doughnuts for breakfast this morning."

"I only eat doughnuts on Wednesdays."

Who Are You and What Did You Do with My Husband?

I loooooove Christmas. It is my favorite holiday of the year. And I see no reason to confine it to one month. I am already listening to Christmas carols. Adam disagrees with me. He firmly believes that there should be no hint of Christmas until after Thanksgiving.

For 11 years, Adam and I have waged a battle over when I can break out the Christmas decorations. This has led to me surreptitiously slipping Christmas decorations out during the month of November. If he doesn't notice the Santa on the mantle he can't really complain about it, can he?

We have also have a running argument about snowmen. I say snowmen are winter decorations, not Christmas decorations and thus eligible for display. My snowmen coffee mugs make an early appearance in our house. Adam, of course, disagrees.


Until today.

Yesterday evening, Adam and Andrew packed up all the Halloween decorations and moved them into the attic. Andrew loved the Halloween decorations and told Adam he wanted to put up the Christmas decorations. Two weeks before Thanksgiving.

This morning, Adam asked me if Andrew and I were going to put up Christmas decorations today.


Are you kidding me? Who are you and what have you done with my husband?


I fight for 11 years and get nothing. Andrew asks once and Adam completely shifts his position.
I should refuse on principle...


But I'm not stupid. No, sirreee. I am putting up Christmas decorations today.

Colorado Bend State Park

This past weekend we went camping at Colorado Bend State Park. It is an absolutely beautiful park in the Texas Hill Country. We left Friday around 1:00 p.m. and were there about 3:30. The campground is at the end of a very long, bone-jarring gravel road. Seriously, we may have to get new shocks for the truck. But the camp ground is in a valley on the banks of the Colorado River and is literally in the middle of nowhere.

We pitched camp and then took a short hike along the banks of the river. We saw 3 armadillos. Andrew wanted to chase them but Adam informed him his ears would fall off if he touched one (well, they do carry leprosy). We also spent a lot of time throwing rocks into the river, great fun for the 4 year old set. Then we went back to camp, built a fire, ate dinner and hung out until bedtime.

The next morning, Andrew and I got up at 7:15. It was 31 degrees. Did you catch that? It was below freezing. After about 5 minutes, I woke Adam up and informed him we were driving to town for breakfast. You just can't cook in those kind of conditions, well, at least I can't. So after breakfast in a nice, warm cafe, we returned to the park and took off on a hike.

The big attraction at Colorado Bend State Park is Gorman Falls. You start at the top of a hill and hike down to the river and at the bottom is this beautiful waterfall. It's about a 3 mile round trip hike and Andrew hiked almost all of it (he rode on Adam's shoulders for the last 1/4 mile).



After eating lunch at the camp, we went down to the river and went fishing. We didn't catch anything, but Andrew learned how to cast. Where we were fishing, the river runs through a canyon and Andrew discovered the fun of echoes. We had great fun shouting silly things and listening to our echoes.



We saw a lot of wildlife while at the park. Lots of armadillos and deer, including some big bucks (it was opening weekend of deer season), a couple of wild turkeys, and a bobcat walked right past our campsite. I was very excited about seeing the bobcat, Adam...not so much. Oh, and there were a ton of daddy longlegs. I hate daddy longlegs. I mean I really hate them. And they were every where and on every thing. Billions of them. Adam and Andrew thought it was really funny when one crawled up on my hand and I started screaming and jumping around like a banshee. I aged about 10 years in 1 second.

But other than the icky spiders, it was a great weekend. There are only about 25 campsites at the park, so it was not crowded. There is no electricity so at night you can see all the stars. And the setting is beautiful and so peaceful.

Now, I just have to get the smell of smoke out of everything...and make sure no daddy longlegs hitched a ride home with us.

Late Nite Adventure (or Finding Molly)

There a couple of things you need to know before you dive into this post. First, we have a nine year old dog named Molly who is, basically, 5.5 pounds of white hair. Second, if Molly really wants to, she can get out of the backyard. Third, we have an alarm system on our house and every time you open a door, the alarm keypads go "beep-beep-beep-beep." There is a keypad in our bedroom so we can hear it if a door opens at night. I think that will do it for set up.

So last nite, about 12:30, I am sound asleep, as all normal people are. Adam, who is clearly not normal, was still awake. However, I am awoken by key pad going "beep-beep-beep-beep" repeatedly, like 5 times in row. My first thought is "What in tarnation is Adam doing?" (though the phrasing might have been a little different). I haul myself out of bed and go into the living room to see exactly what my husband it up to.....and he is nowhere to be found.

"Adam?" I yell.

"I can't find Molly," he responds, slightly frantic, from upstairs "and I have been searching for 30 minutes!"

So I pick up the bag of dog treats and start calling for Molly and shaking the bag of treats. Normally, this is guaranteed to get Molly to run into the kitchen. This time I got nothing.

Finally, Adam comes back downstairs and we go outside. We search the backyard calling for Molly. We go out into the front yard and call for Molly. No response. If she got out of the backyard, she could be anywhere.

"Did you let Molly outside while I was putting to Andrew to bed?" Adam asks.

"No. Was she inside the house when you took him upstairs?"

"Yes," says Adam. "She followed me upstairs."

"Then she has to be inside," I say. Now, Molly is 9 years old and I am terribly worried that something has happened to her and she is unconscious somewhere in the house and at 5.5 pounds she can be very hard to spot (especially if she has burrowed under the laundry). So, Adam and I start a very thorough room by room search. We move couch cushions to see if she slipped behind them, we look behind the curtains, in the pantry. She is not in the back part of the house.

We head into the front part of the house and, as we pass the staircase, very faintly, I hear Molly scratching at a door somewhere. "She's upstairs," I tell Adam and we go rushing up the stairs.

Strange thing about Molly, she will bark at any one or any thing that dares pass by the house, she will bark to be let in the back door, she barks repeatedly when we come home, but shut her behind a door inside the house and she will not bark. Adam finally found her. She had followed him into Andrew's bathroom and, apparently, decided to check out the linen closet, where she had been shut in for over 4 hours.

She was very happy to see us. Next time she goes missing, I will remember to check the linen closet.