Post-op.

I am home and not doing too bad at all. I was feeling pretty awful when I came out of surgery, and in recovery, and on the drive home, and for about an hour after I got home. Then the Percocet kicked in and I have been having a series of nice naps, broken only when my snores wake me up.

I hate sleeping on my back, because of the snoring, and because I never feel like I get into the deep, good sleep, but I'll be having to put up with that for a while.

I'm not sure what I did in Acute Recovery when I was waking up, but when the nurse wheeled me into regular Recovery, she announced, "Here's Ms. Clark, the wildcat!" She was laughing, but yikes! She told me I pulled off my oxygen mask and threw it at her. I can also remember repeatedly trying to sit up and people pushing me back down. I always seem to wake up from anesthesia in a bit of a panic, I'm not sure why.

They were really good to me, though, fetched me my mints from my purse and made sure I had plenty of water and ginger ale to drink and Saltines to eat. I was feeling extremely queasy and terrified that I would throw up and/or dry heave, which would have been painful, to say the least.

The only part that really distressed me was how uncomfortable the post-op bra was, and the fact that I have (avert your eyes if you're sensitive) these drains inserted with crazy long tubes that run to these squeeze bulb thingys that we're supposed to uncork and drain off a couple times a day, measuring the fluid each time. They are super unwieldy--I got my hand caught on one of the tubes and almost pulled it out by accident--and I have to walk around with them sticking out of me till Friday. Not real happy about that.

But once we'd gotten home and I'd had my first Percocet nap, I looked at the bra and realized they'd gotten it onto me completely crooked, plus the straps were twisted. So we unfastened it and got it moved into place, and then rearranged the drains and taped the tubes down to the bra. Much better and much more comfortable.

This is probably way more detail than anyone wants! But it feels so good to be sitting upright and thinking lucid thoughts!

Now, I really can't tell how much "smallening" has taken place yet. I'm padded with gauze and swollen up and draining off fluid. (Yucko.) Todd says there's a big difference. My neck feels better than it has in years, though, so that's encouraging!

Thanks for the phone calls and the good thoughts...I really appreciate it. If anyone catches me during a lucid moment, I may be ready to have a phone conversation, otherwise Todd will field them. Right now my wish is for Friday to come fast. I look like I'm ready to get hooked up to some demented milking machine...with really horrible-looking milk. (Yucko again.)

See y'all later.

Only half a cup, please.

I'm signing in to say I'll be away for a few days at least. Very, very early Monday morning I'll be heading in for what the hospital calls "bilateral breast reduction mammoplasty" but which I am referring to as my "boob-smallening" surgery.

I'm nervous. I've been thinking seriously about this procedure for two years, and I feel very strongly that it's the right thing to do and the right time to do it, but I'm still nervous. Hospitals are really not a place I ever like to go. When you're generally an anxious person anyway, having something to legitimately feel anxious about (as opposed to all the improbable ridiculous things you normally feel anxious about) is unpleasant.

However, my word for 2009 is "pursue," and that's what I've been trying to do, so right now I am pursuing a life with less pain and hopefully better health, too. And smaller, cuter bras!

This past week, I cooked and froze a ton of meals so that I don't have to cook for at least a week after the surgery. I washed every piece of clothing in the house so I'll have plenty of clean things to wear. Today my goal is to pull as many weeds as I can so that the flowerbeds don't revert completely to jungle while I'm recovering, and give all the rooms a fast de-cluttering and polishing and wiping-down.

I don't know how long it will take me to feel better after the surgery, but I'm figuring on at least a week before I can do the general household stuff again, and probably longer before I can get out and garden or walk in the park. Not sure what to expect, really. But I wanted to be prepared with food and laundry!

So I will check in when I can type again--whenever that will be! Probably not too long. Wish me luck!

Auction madness.

"When you come along to auctions with me, it's always fun. Because I never know exactly what you're going to do."

Thus spoke my husband this afternoon. And he's right. Strange things often happen to me at auctions. I bid on weird things, or get carried away and bid on everything in sight. Or both.

This one seemed very straightforward. It was an estate auction at a home on Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach. There was nothing there I was very interested in; I was just going along so I could spend the day with Todd. There was an anvil there that he wanted, and some old hand planes, which he collects.

Once I got there and walked through the house, I was even less interested. The house was about 40 years old, and it looked (and smelled) like an incontinent elderly person, and possibly one or two incontinent elderly dogs, had lived there without any type of housecleaning service for a very long time. It also smelled like it had possibly been flooded during Hurricane Isabel and never fully dried out. And apart from a few very nice old pieces of furniture that I couldn't have gotten because I have no room for them, I didn't see anything that floated my boat.

After Todd missed out on the anvil (thus ensuring a continuation of the Great Anvil Quest he's been on for about fifteen years) and picked up a small hand plane and a very heavy vise (which was spelled "vice" several times in the auction catalog, which prompted me to ask Todd whether he had bought Lust, Gluttony, or Sloth), we decided to run out for some breakfast and then come back once they got to the house items, because Todd had found two more large hand planes buried in a wooden box in the attic.

When we got back, we stood around in the house and watched various things get sold. The furniture all went for dirt cheap, which was painful to watch. Auctions always make me wish I had a bigger house so I could scoop up the bargains!

I was standing in the living room, looking through the passway into the kitchen, when I saw that someone had left the cabinet doors above the stove open, and there I saw this large bowl:

I hadn't seen it before when I peeked through the kitchen cupboards, probably because it was up so high and I am freakishly short, as I believe I've mentioned before. I couldn't see it too well, but I could tell it had Christmas trees on it, and I figured it was probably Pyrex.

And right at that moment, the auctioneer hollered that everything in the kitchen cupboards would be sold as one lot. In a flash, I threw up my card and got the contents of the kitchen for $7.50. Todd just looked at me for a moment, and then said, " We're going to need a lot of boxes."

Well, that didn't turn out to be too much of a problem, because I only ended up taking about 25% of what was there. It was like a very dirty, musty treasure hunt, opening each cupboard and drawer to see what was inside. And it could be--and was--absolutely anything.

I got a sail for a boat. I got a fire extinguisher. I got about 15 rolls of toilet paper and a bunch of light bulbs. I got an ancient and filthy Oster blender. I got an R-rated Virginia Beach mug that Todd is going to take to the office as a prize for their ongoing "Where's Waldo?" game. I got a replacement part for a toilet, and a Sylvania "sun gun" for movie filming, both in their original boxes.

I got a package of napkins and two packages of Puffs tissue (all sealed.) I got six bars of Zest soap. I got a crystal bud vase. I rummaged through a dark bottom cupboard crammed with Tupperware until I got queasy from the smell of the carpet and jumpy from the fear of what might jump out at me from the depths. So I just took a small aqua Tupperware bowl with a lid and a cool green Tupperware colander.

I stood on a stool and dug to the dark corners of each cupboard, cringing every time I touched something. I quietly gagged at the insect remnants in the depths of drinking glasses. I tried to hold things between my thumb and forefinger so my germ exposure would be as minimal as possible.

When Todd pulled down the Christmas tree bowl from the top cupboard, I was delighted to find these inside:

I already have two punch cups just like these, from some long-ago flea market trip. And they're Anchor Hocking, not Pyrex. I guess we'll be drinking eggnog this Christmas.

A few more finds dripping dry after a painfully hot scrubbing: a Lu-Ray platter, four small cracked and chipped Lu-Ray bowls, a flowered Knowles china platter, four Pyrex custard cups (I collect these), and six highball glasses etched with a Gothic C:

Blurry, sorry:

Since my last initial is C, and since I love this size of glass, I took them. There were also some tall thin tumblers and a couple juice-sized glasses with the C as well, but since those were some of the glasses that had the insect parts in them, and since they were too narrow for me to get my hand down to the bottom and scrub them thoroughly, I left them behind.

In the very back corner of an upper cupboard, I spotted this gem:

It was filthy and still had about a cup of ancient coffee grounds in it. At least I hope those were coffee grounds.

I got this huge glass vase and a saltine tin, which is so dirty I can't decide whether I want to take the time to scrub it the way it needs to be scrubbed. I already have one just like it.

And I got this tiny, badly crazed Lu-Ray sugar bowl without a lid. It's so darling! I think it would look very cute with a tiny succulent planted in it, don't you?

I also got a huge sterling silver ladle that Todd thinks might pay for everything both he and I bought at the auction. How much is silver worth right now, I wonder?

Plus carpet tape, masking tape, a small espresso percolator, a plastic cover for microwaving food, two Christmas candles with fake greenery around them, and a giant lazy Susan with wooden wedge-shaped bowls that fill the whole thing, and a cup for the center to hold dip, I suppose. I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do with that, but it was too cool to pass up.

But I did pass up a lot--a LOT--of stuff...a wok, a Cuisinart, a cast-iron pot, coffee pots, baking pans, Tupperware, glasses and mugs and plates, most of which was rather disgustingly dirty and sticky. Some people came along behind me and took a bunch of the things I left behind.

Todd missed out on the lot that held his hand planes, but then was able to buy the planes from the bidder, because the bidder only wanted the wooden toolbox and a couple of the other things inside.

A dealer bought most of the contents of the attic as one lot and mentioned that people could dig through it after he'd taken what he wanted. I went upstairs and picked up:

A couple of booklets about crocheting doilies, not that I know how to do such a thing, but as you can see, now I can "Learn How!"Leaflets with instructions for crocheting a "Jolly Santa" and a "Perky Poodle" bottle cover. I do not know why someone would want to make such things, nor what their purpose might be. Maybe to decorate Aunt Myrna's annual Christmas present of peppermint schnapps?

Some cool vintage wrapping paper and a kid's science book.

A children's dictionary and a Reader's Digest condensed book (1961), which caught my eye because the cover is Christmassy and very pretty. Might look nice in a Christmas display, no?

And a small stationery box with a few old cards and tidbits--I'll flip through them later on.

I didn't expect to come home with three boxes of...well, let's be honest...junk, but that's what I like about auctions. You never know what I'm going to do!

Nephew and nieces love.

The last evening that we were in Ohio visiting, my family got together to have a family portrait taken. The last time we had a formal picture taken was seven years ago, and we have two more family members now, so it was time for an update.

I don't have the pictures we had taken that evening yet, but here are a few Todd took of me and the kiddies.

And finally, one of me and my sweetie:

Outdoors.

On our last day at home, I got to spend a gorgeous day outside with Tanner and Kylie, and my brother Jeremy, and Todd. Jeremy and the kids and I looked for a few geocaches at the lake where Todd's folks live.

It's hard to explain how a small man-made lake in southern Ohio could have such a hold on my heart, but it is one of my very favorite places in the world.




Then in the afternoon we headed to Beaver Creek State Park, which is a gorgeous hilly spot along Little Beaver Creek. You can canoe, hike, fish, and also see remnants of the old Sandy and Beaver Canal from pioneer days. I hadn't been there since high school, and we didn't have a whole lot of time, but it was really idyllic.

Kylie has a dragonfly captured in her hands here.

We practiced skipping stones.

It wasn't super hot, but it still felt great to take off the shoes and socks and do a little wading in the cool water.


Wish I'd had time to get a few more pictures, but no photo can capture a perfect summer day, the wind blowing in the trees, the sound of the creek flowing, the sight of puffed white clouds floating past in the blue sky...aaah. I want to go back!

Building bears.

While we were home, I took my niece Kylie to Build-A-Bear Workshop. We always try to do something special with my sister's kids while we're home, since we only get to see them once or twice a year, so while Tanner went to the flea market with Uncle Todd, Kylie and I headed for the mall.

I have to confess that I've always wanted to go to Build-A-Bear. I first saw one 8 or 10 years ago at a brand-new shopping center in Columbus, and I was so envious of all those kids and their stuffed animals!

Kylie and I had a blast. First you pick out what kind of animal you want to make, and get a limp "pelt" from one of the bins, then you take it to the fluff machine and have it stuffed. You can also insert a special heart that you wish on. Here's Kylie with her bunny...I made a bear.

Then you get to dress your stuffed animal--and boy oh boy, there are a million options. Sports uniforms, jeans, halter tops, Disney princess costumes, pajamas, you name it.

We had SUCH a fantastic time trying all sort of clothes on our bear and bunny. The store was empty for most of the time we were there, so we had lots of room to pile up outfits and tiny shoes. And the employees were really sweet and helpful to us.

We decided on play clothes for them, and then decided to get party dresses...and then pajamas. I couldn't resist the cuteness.

Here we are with our dressed animals. Kylie's is named Valery and mine is named Lizzy. You get to print out a birth certificate for them and everything.

Then that night we had a sleep-over and the animals wore their matching nighties and robes.

It was so cute to listen to Kylie talking to them like a little mom, and watching her take care of them. I don't think I could have come up with anything more perfect to do with an 8-year-old girl!

The only problem is, now I want to go back and make some more animals! They have a cute turtle, and they just came out with an owl...I can see where this could be addictive.

More Fourth of July pics.

The kids in Todd's family are all growing up fast...which is a little sad, but also great fun. This year they are five, six, seven, and eight years old--perfect ages to play card games, have interesting conversations, do jigsaw puzzles, and make very funny jokes. I adore the baby and toddler stages, but there's something even more satisfying about seeing them grow into very interesting people.

My niece Gianna, the seven-year-old, asked to borrow my camera one afternoon, and I let her take it. I'm definitely going to have to remember that trick--she got more interesting pictures than I ever would have and all I had to do was sit back and relax!

And grown-ups give much better smiles when it's a cute kid pointing the camera at them.

Of course she had to get a shot of herself in there, too.

The neighbors gave my mother-in-law some bubbles for the kids, and that was not only fun for the kids, but also for Roscoe the dog, who apparently loves to chase--and eat--bubbles.

Anna, being the smallest, often gets left out of the older three's plans and schemes, but she's good at finding a willing adult to play with her.

I don't seem to have any pictures of the endless games I played with the kids--Big Fish, Little Fish, Go Fish, Uno, Slamwich, Twister...I was too busy playing to run my camera, I guess. But we had a really great time together. And the grown-ups played cornhole, and took out the kayaks, and fished. I played a couple of cornhole games, but spent most of my time hanging out with the kids.

At night we had fireworks, which I never bother trying to get pictures of--but I almost wish I had tried, because it was by far the best fireworks display we've ever seen at the lake. We take our chairs down to the water and see various people setting them off all around the lake, and this year, five or six groups really outdid themselves. We had fireworks of our own for the first time, too, courtesy of Andrew, Julie's boyfriend, who brough a nice stash to set off. My family never bought fireworks when I was a kid, not even sparklers or bottle rockets, so I was thrilled to have some of our own to light.

So it was just about a perfect Fourth. Great weather (maybe a little too cold at night, but I'm not complaining!), great company, lots of laughs.

I'll share the other things we did later on.

Fourth of July pics.

I just went back through my memory card for the first time since we got home and wow! I'm so happy I got some good shots this year.

We spend every Fourth of July weekend at Guilford Lake State Park at Todd's parents' house, with all the family. This Fourth of July was about as perfect as it gets.

The residents have a boat parade every year, where they decorate their pontoon boats. The entries were pretty good this year.


Since the parade always comes to our side of the lake last, we let the kids swim while we wait. The highlight is the pirate boat, with "real" pirates who throw candy to all the kids along shore. This is very highly anticipated by the four kids in our family.


There go the pirates!

One of them told me later that they've been doing the pirate thing for eight years. I hope they never stop...we've enjoyed it every year since we started our Fourth of July get-togethers.

I thought it would be fun to do a little holiday activity with the kids, so I baked a big sheet cake the day before, and we decorated it like a flag with berries.

I gave a tub of frosting to each pair, and a knife for each and let them go to it. (I smoothed it out a little after they were done.)

Angelo and Anna's job was the blueberries in the corner; Evelyn and Gianna took care of the raspberry stripes.


When we got it all done, I squeezed fifty "stars" onto the blueberries with a tube of white icing, while everybody counted to make sure we had the right amount (and nibbled on extra blueberries--the raspberries were deemed "too sour.")

I used a Barefoot Contessa recipe for the flag cake and it made more batter than I needed (my sheet pan was smaller than hers), so I used the leftover batter to make some cupcakes, and let each kid decorate two, with the leftover berries and some red, white, and blue sprinkles. The cake recipe was quite good--sturdy enough to hold up to all the knife-poking as the kids frosted it, but tasty as well. I cheated and used canned Betty Crocker icing--my Contessa-hood only goes so far, especially on vacation.

What a bunch of fun that was! And the clean-up wasn't bad at all.

More later.