Birdies

Yesterday I took this cool picture of the sparrows hanging out in the tree. It's kind of neat how stark it looks. It looks better enlarged. What do you all think? Is it cool or just bo-wing?

Everything else, well,

The good -

The turkey was not dry.

The mashed potatoes were good.

The pumpkin pie was great.

The bad - 

The gravy tasted very weird.

The turkey was done almost an hour before I anticipated.

The dressing was definitely not my best.

The squash was watery.

The cranberry sauce had too much grated orange peel.

The ugly - 

My mood right now. I hate it when my favorite meal of the year is not the best. Larry and his mother thought everything was fine, but I know when things aren't right. Why should it matter this much?????  AARRGGGHHHHH.

Ah roma

The turkey smells SO GOOD!

Craziness and Contentment

Today I went for my post-op appointment and I'm doing great. He says I can do whatever I want. The only limitation is pain. Awesome! The craziness comes in because I'm getting another MRI, this time for the left shoulder. We are figuring to just get them both repaired close together and be done with it. As Trisha would say, "WhatEVer." I feel like I'm nuts. Scared. You name it. I DO NOT want to be sick again, or have that awful rash.

The contentment comes in because of this afternoon. Larry and I worked together in the kitchen. We cooked up the butternut squash from the garden for Thanksgiving dinner. He grated the orange peels and squeezed the juice so I could make the cranberry sauce. Cooking those cranberries and smelling those oranges was just the best thing in the world. I LOVE the smell of oranges. Then the windows steamed up which is the epitome of contentment for me. It means that it's cold outside and warm inside. It means that someone is cooking in my kitchen, probably me! I wanted to just plop down on the floor an enjoy the JOY!

Here are the cranberries all cooked up in the bowl my mother-in-law gave me. It was one of her wedding presents in 1945 and it's just the perfect bowl for cranberry sauce.

We went out to lunch today, at that little place I went to last week with Lisa and Robbie. I had tripe again! Here is Larry looking over all the delicious Italian desserts.

This is my bowl of tripe, along with some little bread with the best olive oil I ever had, and an arincini that was better than the one I had in Rome. Larry had a roast beef sandwich that had cranberries and blue cheese on it. He loved it.

Our plates are clean!

ISS

The International Space Station is making a series of evening flybys over North America over the next few days and it is so very cool to see! Even Larry was impressed. It appears right near where Venus and Jupiter are converging.

We went outside tonight at 5:30 and could see it quite clearly for about two minutes as it raced across the sky, up, up and finally AWAY!

If you go here, and put in your zip code, it will tell you exactly what days and time to look for it. You just may feel awe-struck.

Ramblings

The weather is a funny thing. Last week was so nice, kind of warm and still pretty. THEN bingo, it changed and there's snow and cold and wind and traffic accidents and limited visibility. What in the world. I'm freezing my buns off. But, no wait. I'm not freezing. The pioneers? THEY froze. Literally. 

Two more days of prednisone. The rash is gone. The itch is mostly gone.

My shoulder is amazingly good. I worried and stewed and fretted over nuthin'.  It just couldn't have been that extensive to feel this good after a week. Monday I go for my post-op appointment, then apparently, physical therapy. 

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?

FROSTBITE!!!

Then Thanksgiving!  One of my favorite days of the year. I made the dressing last week before the surgery. Larry will have to grate the orange peel and squeeze the oranges for juice but I can finish making the cranberry orange relish after he does that. He'll probably have to peel the potatoes too, and put the turkey in the oven but he's a good sport and won't mind. He says he would eat white hots if it were up to him. That Larry. He knows this is my favorite meal so he humors me.

God Bless America.

Gratitude

What would we do without the Savior? Most days I can't begin to understand how much he loves us. But he does. I am grateful. I see his goodness and his creations and his care for us every day. It makes me feel small and great at the same time.

With friends like this.....

...how can I not feel better!

She makes me laugh, my friend since 1976. I have just the best friends a girl could ask for. You all know who you are and I am grateful every day for you.

Today the shoulder hurts a little more than it has. Really, I haven't taken any ibuprofen since Sunday but today it hurts. I probably did too much or something.

Do I have enough nerve to get the other shoulder repaired????

Could it be as easy as this one has been?

And the doctor says....

"take Prednisone for five days and the rash should be better." He was duly impressed by the extent and severity of it.

But really, this shoulder is getting better so fast. I have better range of motion every day and it only hurts if I overuse it or touch it. And NO MORE SLING!! Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Now, as you can see by the pictures, winter has arrived. Larry had to shovel today, although he really didn't have to because it all melted anyway. He just gets all worried.

And Pam, my best and eternal friend in all the world (and her family) sent this Edible Arrangement full of just the loveliest and yummiest fruit ever! Thank you my friend!

Rash

Now I have a rash. I feel fine but there is this RASH on my neck and down my arm. The itching is driving me stir crazy. It can't be from the IV medicine, can it? It would seem too long ago to be affecting me now. Calamine lotion, Bactine, nothing works for long!!!! Tonight I am taking a Benadryl and will see what happens. At the very least, it will knock me out and I will sleep!

The shoulder is doing GREAT.

Resting and reading with Celeste

My friend Sonnia sent me this little angel bear today. Her name is Celeste because she is a heavenly bear. What a happy surprise!

So the story goes like this:

We arrive at Unity Park Ridge Hospital Thursday morning at 8:15. They give Larry  a pager (!) and tell him to wait while they get me ready. I get asked a bunch of questions, change my clothes, get an icky IV, and wait. The nurse and I talk about birth. Larry comes back in and we wait together. And wait. Finally, the doctor comes in, marks my right shoulder as the one to do, shows me his own scar from the same surgery he had and told me he would do a better job than his doctor did! The anesthesiologist comes in, gives me "something to relax" and off we go to the operating room. The very last thing I remember is climbing from the wheely table to the operating table. The next thing I know, another nurse is saying, "Mary Ann, wake up. Your surgery is over."

WHAT??

She asks me on a scale of one to ten with ten being the worse pain I can imagine, how I would rate my pain. I said, "one." She said she never hears that. What was ten times worse than pain was feeling so dang sick. Curses on you Vicodin (which I think the nurse put in the IV but I don't know) and anesthesia.

Then Larry comes in. And we wait some more until I feel like I can get up and move like a human being. But of course, I throw up.

The doctor comes in and says he was able to do arthroscopic surgery and not slice me open. There are three or four small holes and I don't think there are any stitches. Just steri-strips. He says he shaved off some thickened clavicle bone, and repaired a rotator cuff tear.

Finally....

I do feel semi-human and get to go home.

But that was just the beginning of several hours of feeling like dog do-do.  About 10pm all the junk seems to be out of my system and I sleep in the chair. Larry sleeps on the couch. The night is a little fitful, but really no pain until about 6am and it's still only about a one or two. I have no idea if my pain tolerance is amazing or if it really doesn't hurt much.

Larry says what he remembers most about Thursday was that he never saw me throw up so much. Great......

So I slept Friday on and off, ate a little bit and read "Off Season" by Anne Rivers Siddons. I give it a 9.

Last night I slept in bed with no problem until the cat stepped on my shoulder this morning at 6:30!

After a mini shower this morning with Larry's help, I finally feel semi-clean. He washed my hair, too. That Larry, what a guy. He also went and bought me a carrot birthday cake and a lemon roll and a chocolate roll. Tomorrow I am going to eat cake!!!

Today is okay. I have almost no pain. It's achy, but nothing like I thought it would be. Ibubrofen has done it for me.  I felt just a little sick today and lots tired but definitely getting better. My shoulder itches and twitches. 

Updates to follow but I promise not to mention the barf bucket again. Man.

The end.

Back from the land of the dead

Before surgery, all happy and ready to get it DONE!

AFTER surgery, at home, throwing up all evening. The barf basin was my friend.

Actually, I'm feeling pretty good today. I'll write more tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the day

Thank you, dear friends for all your kind words of encouragement! I have to be at the hospital at 8:15am and surgery is scheduled for 9:45am. We'll try to chronicle the day with pictures!

I'm not too worried.

Just a little worried.

Well maybe a little more than "a little."

But I had a blessing and I will be just fine!

Be back as soon as I can!!!

A blessing awaits (and update)

For some reason, I really like this picture. It was election night. It is so Larry. He's standing with his hands on his hips, surveying his garden and lawn, it's dusk, and he's enjoying the solitude. He was trying to figure out a better way to anchor the bench so the wind doesn't blow it down again. The garden looks kind of sad. The frost nailed it.

Later on today, I will get a blessing from him and our home teacher in preparation for my surgery. I'm a little nervous. Really though, surgery doesn't bother me. The whole hospital thing is okay. It's the recovery that I am dreading. Not being able to drive for several weeks will be AWFUL!

10:32pm - my blessing was beautiful. Larry was voice. He said although the doctor wouldn't know it, he would be guided by the Lord as he did the surgery. He said that it would not be too invasive and that I would recover quicker than expected. I love the priesthood.

Trying to ignore the news

Maybe I shouldn't be ignoring the news but the more I watch the election coverage, the angrier I get. At 8pm when the polls closed in Pennsylvania, NBC was projecting that Democrat to win with 0% of the precincts reporting. What kind of nonsense is that?

So instead of throwing my shoe at the television, I will tell you about the books I picked up so far at the library:

1. Ava's Man by Rick Bragg

2. All Over But the Shouting by Rick Bragg

3. My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Polok

4. Shopoholic & Baby by Sophie Kinsella

Let's see how good they are. Joy, would you believe I have not read even one of the books you thought I did?? They are now on my list. 

Good suggestions, because I....

...already have read These is My Words along with the sequels and Poisonwood Bible, too. Loved them all.  Maybe I'll read The Grapes of Wrath again. Actually, I grabbed Walden and Civil Disobedience by Thoreau out of the library but haven't tackled them yet. What other suggestions do you all have?