A few of my favorite things…

Kelly tagged me about a month ago for a meme to write down 7 of the things that I love in life. So, here goes (not in any order)…

1. Doug. He’s my best friend, my true companion. I love him so much and know that the day I met him 3 years ago was the day I lost my heart completely. Even when things are rough, he’s there for me.

2. Alex. It’s true what they say about your own kids. There is a kind of love that comes from deep within and spills out unconditionally when your baby smiles at you.

3. Traveling. I love to travel and am at my happiest when I am out exploring new places. Even though I haven’t really had a chance to travel in the past few years, in my heart I’m still an explorer and know that someday not only will my backpack and I be reacquainted, but I’ll have at least 2 new and wonderful traveling companions. (Who knows, there may be more if we have another kiddo…)

4. Reading. There is nothing like sitting down with a book and getting totally immersed in another person’s life experiences. (I’m a fan of non-fiction.) Probably has a lot to do with my love of traveling — exploring the world through another’s eyes when I can’t afford to do so on my own.

5. Fiber. The feel of wool between my fingers is one of the most luscious things I can think of. I’ve always been attracted to string, yarn and fabric.

6. Color. I always seem to look at the world through the lens of colors. There is no better eye candy in this world than the gray of a dark stormy sky over the mountains, the crisp variety of greens after a rain shower, or the sherbert-color of a winter sunset. When I was a quilter my favorite thing to do was pick out colors of fabrics for a quilt. The rest of the quilting experience paled in comparison to that initial tango with color.

7. Nature. If I could, I’d live in a cabin in the woods. Although I love the city and am a city-girl, when I’m on a hike or staying in the country I feel like my spirit has been scrubbed clean. It’s hard to stress out or worry when I’m sitting on a rock listening to a brook surrounded by trees rustling in the breeze. Before I was dating Doug I’d go off to the beach, take a hike, or drive to a nearby canyon when I needed to replenish myself.

Home safe and sound…

Thanks so much for all of your nice comments about Alex. She did just fine during surgery — she is such a trooper. Doug and I were the ones who I think had a tougher time.

The morning of surgery — around 4 AM –I thought Alex would be grumpy having been woken up early and without food. But she seemed really excited — like she was going on a trip. It was only a little before surgery (around 7AM) that she started to get a little fussy. Luckily they give her a sedative before taking her into the OR, so she soon forgot all about being grumpy. The surgery was about 3 hours long. Doug and I walked down the street for breakfast with a hospital beeper and then returned to wait for only about 90 minutes or so. We were then taken upstairs to wait for Alex while they were doing post-op stuff on her. At one point we heard a crying baby down the hall. We popped our head out of the door and there was Alex being wheeled into recovery. We totally knew her cry from so far away! We stayed in recovery for a long time waiting for a bed in the post-op ward. Luckily Alex was a little sleepy and out of it. It was just hard for us to sit there. It was strange but during this whole process I was unable to cry or let myself feel anything. I noticed that I had to detach from the situation in order to be strong and only cried once we were in recovery.

Alex slept a lot in the hospital which is good considering we had to share a room with a little boy who had just had brain surgery and who cried all night long. (Poor little thing, I felt so badly for both him and his mom…) Two days after coming home, Alex was rolling around on the floor and talking. Then…

She got the flu. Not just any old flu but that terrible one that is making the rounds of all the playgroups and pre-schools. The vomiting-nausea-diarrhea one. First it struck Doug the day after we got home. He recovered pretty quickly — was feeling better in 3 days. Then Alex got it the Sunday after her operation. I knew after she spent the morning getting sick all over me that it was just a matter of time before I’d get it. We spent most of Sunday in the ER. They didn’t do anything for us and we wound up back two days later because Alex wasn’t able to eat or drink anything. By this time I had gotten the flu. So, one week exactly after her surgery we were back in the hospital. We we admitted for observation. I stayed with Alex because Doug had to work. Luckily we had our own room. We were released the next day and by Saturday after Thanksgiving our little one was starting to eat again.

It’s been a long couple of weeks…

Alex & Doug pre-surgery

Alex & Mama post-surgery

Alex post-surgery. She insisted on holding her own oxygen mask.