Here in Hooterville

OK , our small town isn't quite Hooterville and my phone is not up a pole (and if you're too young to understand these references, they are not to a restaurant with well-endowed waitresses. Let me send you my DVD's of Green Acres) but it is time for our annual festival. It is so Norman Rockwell it almost makes your teeth ache. I was just uptown. Everyone has left their lawn chairs laying on the curb to secure their place for tonight's parade. As far as I know, no one has ever had a chair stolen. We'll have a parade full of antique tractors, firetrucks, baseball teams and church floats. There will be tons of mingling and the eating of elephant ears and breaded tenderloins (a Hoosier thing). People who haven't lived here in 40 years come back for this festival. Tomorrow has kiddie games, local talent, tractor pulls, pedal tractor pulls, basketball tournaments, etc. Like I said, so wholesome your teeth ache. I admit, a steady diet of this conviviality would wear thin, but for one weekend a year, it's fun.

A Pre-Cap

or re-cap, or list of things because I no longer have two working brain cells to create an actual post.

*It's hot. I know you knew that, and maybe it isn't the heat, maybe it's the shadeless baseball seating, or the hard and splintery (shall we say vintage) bleachers, or the sweat and popsicle stained children who insist on climbing on me, nearly always kneeing my expansive belly. Whatever....

*Baseball tourney time is upon us.

*Next week is Boy Scout camp. I need to get them the stuff they need.

*They also have Friday sports physicals and an asthma check for S scheduled Friday.

*This weekend is our town's big festival. Each healthy kid seems to be in four events.

*Getting up at 2:00am with a newborn is much easier than getting up with a 15 year old. You can just feed the baby and take it back to bed. It doesn't require pain meds, it doesn't stare listlessly at the ceiling, and it doesn't do that lamaze- type breathing that lets you know it hurts while denying it.

Back

Back-the literal reason for the long abscence. E had her surgery on June 11. I'll try to give the synopsized version here. The surgery took about 7 hours. They inserted to titanium rods, pulled her spine as straight as possible(85 degrees to 20 degrees, evidently a very good correction), then chipped her spine so it will fuse. Her incision is about 18" long. Sounds fun doesn't it. On Tuesday her hemoglobing had dropped to 6.9 so she got 2 units of blood. On Wednesday they found her chest cavity had filled with blood (thus the missing hemoglobin), so a chest tube was put in. I got to be there for that at least. She remained in ICU until Friday when they moved her to med/surg. On Sunday evening I finally got to bring her home. This week I've played nurse. She is in alot of pain (though she is progressing). She is still feeling bad enough that she's not bored and isn't interested in her iPod or books. I'm almost looking forward to her whining. At least I'll know she feels better.
Anyway, I'm tired from running to the hospital and now helping her at home, plus getting everyone else to Brownie camp, ball games, birthday parties, etc. Today is finally not 95 degrees which should go a long way to making me feel more human.

Feed the Need

Sometimes you just gotta have what you're craving. Hey it's fruit, and chocolate has anti-oxidants, right? See, it's a health food.