Under the Knife

My dad has from suffered extreme back pain for most of the past ten years, maybe even longer. Due to the combination of many factors, including advancing scoliosis and the general deterioration of the discs and cartilage in his spine; he was becoming less and less capable of living a quality life. In addition to his back problems, he also had a bum shoulder and some issues with his neck, so; over the course of the past year, he has endured four separate surgeries, the last two-on his back-were done over the course of three days earlier this week.

Thankfully, he came through the surgeries with flying colors and is now on the mend. Granted, he will have to endure physical therapy and rehabilitation but, if he comes out of the experience with even a tenth of the pain that he had before; he will be thrilled.

As will we all.

In a little bit of irony, while my dad did well with surgeries this week, Finnigan was not so fortunate.

 A routine procedure (bye-bye, nutsack) went horribly wrong and the vet lost Finn on the table. Thankfully, she was able to revive him but, because his heart maintained such an irregular rhythm for so long, both during the surgery and immediately after, the vet suspects that Finn has a congenital heart defect of some sort. Of course, her practice isn't equipped to diagnose such a thing so; she has referred us to a specialist in Neighboring City.

The specialist charges $400-$800 to administer the ultra-sound that will tell us whether or not Finn has a bum ticker. Hearing the estimate may or may not have caused my own heart to go into an irregular rhythm but, that is neither here nor there.

So. We have a decision to make.

When he isn't on an operating table, under general anesthesia; Finn is healthy, rambunctious and perfectly normal. When he goes under, he is knock, knock, knocking on heaven's door, and, while there is a possibility that it was the anesthesia, itself, that caused Finn's deterioration on the table (although, the vet said she had never seen a reaction like his), there is also the spectre of a congenital  heart defect that will need to be treated for the remainder of Finn's life (although, the vet also said that she couldn't detect a heart murmur at any time prior to his surgery nor was she able to detect any type of irregular rhythm following his weaning from the anesthesia).

So, do we pay an exorbitant amount of money to find out, or, do we accept Finn, as is, for as long as God intends?

I really hate being an adult, sometimes.

Anyway, we have an appointment with the specialist next week. I'm going to speak with a friend of a friend-who happens to be a vet-for his opinion of the case before then, and, if he agrees that we need to keep the appointment, we will. Because, obviously, we love this damn cat and want to do whatever we have to do to keep him healthy, even if that means selling one of our own kidneys to pay for the procedure.

Or, my old Rebel, if worse comes to worse.

Still. Adulthood. Hate. Bleh.

C'mon, you know you love me more'n your luggage.

Sweet Sixteen

It's hard to believe that sixteen years have passed since Hugh and I brought The Teenager into this world. Sixteen years of laughter and tears and lessons learned on all sides. I'm grateful for every second of every day of every year that we have been blessed to know her.

Parenting is a huge responsibility, but; it's also just a ridiculously awesome privledge to watch someone grow from a squishy, delectible-smelling infant with chunky thighs and rosy cheeks into a long, lean, gorgeous , semi-adult, albeit; one with attitude.

Happy sweet sixteen, baby!

My Body is a Temple

Today is the first day of Lent and,  as usual, I have chosen to give up sweets for the duration. I have also opted to give up crap food in general and, to treat my body as kindly as I possibly can. One might hear that and think, "Well, that's no great sacrifice" and, to those people I say, "Scuh-roo, you!". You have no idea how difficult it can be for me to care for myself in the manner that the good Lord intended for His children. Life, you see, tends to get in the way. Plans go awry, the best of intentions fail to materialize into action and I fall off the good health wagon more often than I stay on it.

 Sooo...to be specific in my personal covenant with the Lord, I vow to spend the next forty days and nights eating whole, fresh foods, drinking plenty of water, exercising moderately each day, sleeping more than a few hours a night, practicing yoga or some type of relaxation exercises and thinking positive thoughts.

Candy, chocolate, grease, and salty snacks will be banished from my diet and I'm really going to work on cutting out my one daily Diet Pepsi. I think I can do it. Will there be some rough patches? Grouchy moments? Pity parties? Probably. Will that be enough to derail my efforts? Not likely.

I'm a pretty loyal Lenten follower and I don't expect this year to be any different. That said, God will undoubtedly test me with the worst cravings ever.

Time to push auto-play on my new mantra: My body is a temple, my body is a temple, my body is a temple....

Longest Weekend in the History of Three Day Weekends

Our trip to Denver was exhausting, not just for me but, for the girls, who spent eight hours a day in the gym, playing volleyball. They started off a bit rough, dropping their first two games before rallying enough to win the championship for their bracket in the final game of the tournament.

We spent a lot of time sitting around, waiting for the next game to begin or for the next time our girls had to officiate other teams' games. The sitting around could get quite boring but the girls rose to the occasion, allowing me to break in my new Canon Rebel T2i; they are sweet like that.

The final game was at 3:00 which put us on the road home at almost 5:00. Thankfully, the mountain pass was free of snow and we pulled into the High School parking lot at 10:00 to deliver the three additional passengers we acquired when one of the other moms had to leave for home a day early.

It was a fun trip. We got some shopping in and the volleyball games were exciting but, man, it's nice to be home.

It's even better to be home with Champions.

Now Would Be a Really Good Time to Start Stockpiling Canned Goods

Despite my relative inexperience driving in city traffic, the children and I made it to our hotel, unharmed.

Upon our arrival, the Man-Cub joined several of The Teenager's teammates in the hot tub (and, I quote: Hellooo, ladeeeeez) while The Teenager hunkered down in my room to work on a summation for a debate that she must have turned in on Tuesday.

To recap: we are in Denver, in a fairly decent hotel and one of my children is studying, voluntarily.

Armageddon.

The Apocalypse.

Judgment day.

The Mayans totally called it.

Consider yourselves warned.

I Really Should be Packing but I'd Much Rather Complain, Instead

Apparently I didn't completely blind the appraiser, yesterday as his appraisal came in well within the range that we had expected. So, the final step left to complete in our quest for a lower interest rate was the acceptance of employee verification forms for myself and Hugh. Unfortunately, acceptance proved to be quite a challenge to obtain, given the fact that anyone who is authorized to verify such a thing just happens to share our last name, you know, because it is a family business, and; the lenders balked at having employment verified by a relation. What part of family business they failed to understand is beyond me.

Anyway, after much back-and-forth with our lenders, I finally threw my hands in the air, chanted off a quick eenie, meenie, miney, mo and, tag, you're it; made one of our store managers sign the forms.

Which, were approved. Immediately.

Let the ridiculousness of that settle in, won't you.

At least the deed was accomplished before the kids and I leave for Denver, tomorrow. As I may have mentioned a while back, Hugh is already in Denver, having left yesterday to officiate at the state wrestling tournament so; I am on my own for the drive. Aside from the fact that this means I can listen to any odd combination of music that I want to, I will miss his company, especially once we get into the city and I have to navigate the traffic whilst refereeing fights between my offspring and hyperventilating.

Yep, I'm looking as forward to that as you might imagine.

Thank Goodness I Have Invested Heavily in Victoria's Secret Underwear

Because I apparently didn't get enough fondling from strangers, yesterday; I went in for a mammogram, today; my annual Fondling by Strangers quota is now officially filled.

The mammogram went well and, by well, I mean; it was awkward and uncomfortable. You know, like usual.

Speaking of awkward and uncomfortable, we are refinancing our mortgage and the bank scheduled an appraisal of the house for today. The appointment fell inconveniently close to my mammogram appointment, causing me to rush home from the hospital. When I rush, I tend to overlook minor details, and; this time, I overlooked the top three buttons on my blouse. I'm really hoping the house will appraise better thanks to the peep-show the appraiser got when I answered the front door, however; I'm not holding my breath.

Which, by the way, I  also failed to do while having the mammogram done and, FYI: The technician tells you to hold your breath for a reason.