Empty Nest Feathers
Hey, wait! I'm still living here!
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
How Terribly Strange To Be 70
Thursday, September 26, 2024
Winifred and Me: A Five-Week Report
Back at the stove! |
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Meet Winifred!
My surgeon apparently favors the button-and-zipper incision.* |
When I left you three weeks ago with a photo of Tom Walz's Award-Winning Tater Tot Casserole, I had intended to be back within hours with news that I was an award-winner as well, having earned the prestigious A+ Hip Replacement Patient Stellar Recovery Award.
Spoiler: I am not an A+ Hip Replacement Patient Stellar Recovery Award winner. But I also have not failed hip replacement recovery--maybe a solid C shading toward C-?
The good news is very, very good. Here are the things I feared most, in descending order and warning my sons that this list contains TMI:
- Death. I probably had a higher awareness of this possibility than most hip replacement patients, given my clotting disorder and the distinct shadow that passed over my (excellent) surgeon's face when we talked about this. I distinctly remember our conversation: "You won't even be aware of it if things go wrong," he said. "I'm the one who'll have to tell your family you didn't make it through." Well, alrighty then.
- Anesthesia-prompted dementia. My mother, the Best Woman Ever, went into her second knee replacement with slight signs of dementia but came out of the anesthesia fighting the IV and catheter and convinced President Lincoln was in the next room. She never completely recovered. I had discussed this with the surgeon and anesthesiologist and they assured me that if I were not already showing dementia symptoms this was unlikely to be a problem. Still...
- (TMI AHEAD) Post-surgery constipation. I know. But IT'S A THING!
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
The Newest Addition to the Family
Tim Walz's Award-Winning Tater Tot Casserole, now in my freezer |
the acetabulum and right femoral head."
Monday, July 8, 2024
Not at All Smokin' Hot. No Less Delighted.
Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Perfectly Different, and Perfectly the Same
Monday, February 12, 2024
Chiefs Victory Celebration
Now that we live in five different states the MomQueenBee all-clan celebrations are technology-assisted sagas--text threads with shared reactions, memes, re-tweets, links. As last night's game drew down we depleted our annual allotments of exclamation points and fireworks emojis, then exchanged video captures as all four Boys pulled out their bottle sabers to open what I am quite sure were celebratory bottles of 7-Up.
The bottle sabers don't emerge every day: The Fours' saber has been moved a couple of times and wasn't immediately at hand so Lovely Girl#4 pulled out her high school twirling knives in order for that state to be represented in the celebration.
But when the hoopla had almost died down, Lovely Girl#1 sent the perfect benediction to the event, a three-text interaction between an almost-4-year-old and his dad.
"(Baby Wonderful#1) was awake when (One) went to check on him because of the fireworks. But also One wanted to remind BW that the win record during his lifetime isn't normal."
Then she sent the picture you see of the baby monitor that shows a loyal Chiefs fan whispering to his son, whose superhero cape is hanging next to them.
"Then they watched fireworks out the window."