Saturday Smiles

Here are 5 things that make me smile:

1. Listening to Jake play guitar

2. Listening to my girls laughing and playing

3. Digging into my stash of beads for inspiration

4. Watching old Star Trek episodes

5. Making up new lyrics to old tunes with my husband

(Example? so glad you asked! Sung to the tune of "Oh, Ricky you're so fine, you're so fine, you blow my mind, Hey Ricky!" - "Oh, Jake-y you're so fine, you're so fine, I'm glad you're mine, Hey Jake-y!" And yes, depending on the company & mood sometimes our lyrics get rather risque...)

6. Grocery shopping (yup, I'm weird.)

7. Windchimes

8. The silence after my girls are in bed

9. Hammering on copper (or silver or bronze or... hmmm, I think you get the idea.) in the metalsmithing shop.

10. My husband's photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/v-system/

Old

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get OLD.
George Burns

ER Trip

Abigail & Deborah were playing upstairs around noon, when I heard screaming & hysteria....

So, yes. We took a trip to the ER.
Abigail has 3 stitches close to her left eye, & Deborah spent a good portion of the day feeling guilty & crying because "it was my fault!" Apparently on her way down from the top bunk, she accidently kicked Abigail, which propelled Abigail into the corner of the bunk bed.

An accident. Not on purpose, and I have to say, I think they both kind of learned their lesson. They've been playing rather rough lately (too cold to play outside, plus Abigail's SICK, so she doesn't get to go anywhere...) I think they might not play so rough for a while....

Poor Abigail got HYSTERICAL when I said we were going to the ER- Screaming, crying. She kept saying "I'm not going to the hospital!" in this very firm and confident tone. I bundled her up in Mom's SUV (After Beth & I spent 15 minutes digging it out of the snow, 'cuz we got about 2 feet last night! And we didn't think my car would drive through all the snow, which was the right decision.) Then I drove by the museum to pick up Jake, so that he could hold her if we needed more physical strength.

They looked at the cut, which was about half an inch long and about half an inch from her left eye, and decided it needed stitches. Partly because it was fairly deep and partly because it was so close to her eye.

Abigail was not cooperative at all, (screaming, fighting, kicking, etc.) so the doctor made the decision to give her a medicine called Ketamine, which calmed her down and let her sleep during the sewing up. Everyone, including Jake and me, was glad they gave her the Ketamine. It's a disassociative, which basically means it doesn't hurt as bad & she wasn't really all there. However, it's fast acting so she recovered very quickly. And since the doctor was working so close to her eye, he didn't want to have to fight her.

Abigail's okay, now. And she doesn't really remember the whole thing. I'll get a pic up of her fancy stitches tomorrow.

However, mommy and daddy are both a wee bit traumatized... I think we'll recover, but part of our recovery was to come home and have to dig the rest of the driveway out of 2 feet of blowing snow. Then we came inside and cuddled while watching some old Star Trek.

recovery

I am tired all the time. I sleep. And I wake up tired.
I go to work, get Abigail to her OT, get Deborah, make dinner, and fall asleep on the couch.
I'm not making much stuff right now- just what I make at class.

I go to bed, and have trouble sleeping, but I can fall asleep anywhere else.
I actually started to fall asleep with one of my first grade students... Pretty pathetic.
Poor little guy. We were playing a game, and I closed my eyes. Then I opened them. And he was looking at me. He said, "You fell asleep!" And I was all like, "You know, I think I did." It wasn't long, but it was kind of embarrassing...

When I talked to my physical therapist she told me the kind of major surgery I had takes a long time to recover from... I want it to be fast. Like it's been about 3 months now. I should be better! Not falling asleep the instant I sit down! I should be back to making jewelry, and dancing in the streets!

But the paper-work my PT gave me indicates that I only have so much energy to give during a single day. And my surgeon told me my body is in the process of re-building muscles, nerves, bones, and tendons in my neck & spine. Therefore, when my energy runs out during the day, it's just gone. And half my energy is in the process of re-building myself.

I feel like a 'half-man, half'machine' sort of thing... Wish I could figure out how to share the crazy pics I've got of the screws and THINGS in my neck.

I miss blogging. I miss writing about stuff. I miss having the energy to write about stuff... I'll think about something to write, sit down at the computer, and have no clue what I was gonna write about...

That's the thing about energy. It's where my creativity seems to be located. I've only got so much energy right now, and I can't seem to save any of it to write about cool stuff.

I will get back to you, little blog. I love you, and I haven't forgotten about you. In fact, I think about you every day. Recovery is only for a season. And this season will not last forever. Please wait for me, little blog. I'll be back soon.