Tonsillectomy

When my husband and I were kids, having your tonsils out wasn't a big deal. It was a common procedure and you were in the hospital for days, pampered by the friendly nurses. My husband actually tells stories ( over and over by the way) of his tonsillectomy. He remembers vividly the stuffed pink elephant he was given in recovery. He also remembers getting to eat as much ice cream as he wanted!

When it came time for my 19 year old to get her tonsils out we were thinking...no big deal.

Everyone was telling us that the older you get the more painful the recovery. How bad can it be?

According to every adult, awful!!!!!!!

One friend said it was worse than her hysterectomy. She ended up taking three weeks off of work!

When my daughter went in to have hers taken out we were glad! She had tonsils the size of grapefruits in her throat! Ok maybe more like the size of grapes but still big and nasty!

After her surgery , we expected her to have some pain for a few days

Like a good mom I made jello and pudding for her to eat! After a couple of days the pain had prevented my poor baby from eating much. We made a trip to the store for her favorite ice cream; mint chocolate chip!

Nothing worse than having your favorite ice cream in front of you and not being able to eat more than a spoon full!

On the other hand, nothing better than losing weight eating ice cream and pudding!







Hidden Treasures?

Fall is a beautiful time in the Pacific Northwest!

Deciduous trees losing their grip on their last green, red and yellow leaves until the next wind sends them to the ground.

It’s when these leaves land in your back yard that they become a problem.

Our back yard is hit especially hard with our location next to a small wetland. Keeping up with the raking is almost impossible.

I don’t mind a little raking on a sunny day; good exercise, adding to the compost pile and time with the dog!

Our adorable little Corgi actually blends right in with the leaves!
Blending in with the leaves I don’t mind, but the hidden treasures she leaves on a daily bases I can do without.

There is NOTHING WORSE THAN walking through the yard, raking leaves and finding a fresh poop well hidden under a large maple leaf.

I didn't show the actual treasure under the maple... too gross! 

It wouldn’t be so bad if there were only a few. The problem with the PNW is that with the beautiful fall colors comes rain... and lots of it.  I haven’t racked in over a week and the yard is covered.

Who knows where the next hidden Corgi treasure will be?  Hopefully it won’t be on my boot!  

Kids on a Plane!

With both of my kids in college, my husband and I find ourselves doing a little more air travel. I spent the weekend with family at Lake Natoma in Sacramento, watching the Pac 12 rowing championships. The weekend was fabulous and we hated to go home.

Plane travel can be painful with long security lines and full body scans but we moved to the gate with ease. The flight was on time; passengers loaded their bags and took their seats. Seats 8A and B were perfect; close to the front, a great view, and no screaming children…then… the screams began.

In unison we both looked at each other and said; “I’m glad we aren’t sitting next to THAT family!”

He went back to his paper and I to my book.

In the back of my mind I remembered how difficult it was to travel with kids and how forgiving one man was in particular.

My son was just over a year old. We packed a rather large bag with cheerios, toys, pacifiers and books. His favorite toys at that time were small dinosaur figures. Like any boy, there were many battles between the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the flying Raptor.  The flight was going well and we let our son stand up and hold on to the head rest behind us.  

What passenger on this plane wouldn’t think our son was the cutest thing ever! The man in the center seat behind us probably didn’t think so.

There is nothing worse than your smiling one year old launching his toy raptor made of cheap hard plastic straight into the forehead of the man seated in 14 B behind you.  

We were horrified, embarrassed and quickly apologized to the man behind us. As we looked at the damage, the man with his reading glasses knocked off center had a smile on his face. He adjusted his glasses, waved at my son and went back to reading. In shock, were extremely grateful for the patience of the man sitting behind the family with the obnoxious boy.

I think I’ll be a little more tolerant of screaming children on a plane!!!