Vacation Dates

Good Thursday morning!

The Gallery Pic is one more Bunco pic of my sweet niece, Katie. She is the best sport of all six of the kids, and her infectious laugh makes any family gathering more fun. Win or lose, Katie has a good time!

RANDOMNESS - I'm taking a short break from A Simple Life and Project 365. I will not be posting Friday through Monday on either blog. I will RESUME posting Tuesday, July 13... without fail!

And when I resume posting Tuesday, July 13, you better believe I will have stories to tell and pictures to share! Manatees, turtles and horses... oh, my! (And don't forget The Mighty Tom Selleck. No, no, no. We can't forget him!)

As promised, I'm posting the remaining little story from the archives. (I have to get some new material!)

Part Two - "Having Something Removed"

Right before I was put under, the doctor said something that I probably should have questioned, but did not. (I'm notorious for not asking questions... always hoping it will just go away.) He said, "This could be a little tricky. It's very close to a salivary gland."

If I had been a question-asker, which we've already determined I am not, I guess I would have asked, "Does that mean I'll either be a 'spitter' or a 'dry mouth' if the tricky thing doesn't work out well?" Read on for the final result.

I awoke with Mikie beside me and my tongue feeling four sizes bigger than when the procedure had started. My first blurry thought was I was having a reaction to the anesthesia, and I tried to tell someone but I was impossible to understand. "This is worse than I imagined," I thought.

"I can't understand you, Belinda. You have a lot of gauze in your mouth," Mike told me. Well, that mystery was solved. So I sat quietly with my mouthful of gauze and listened to the post-operative instructions.

I heard words and phrases as I continued to go in and out of consciousness... or maybe I was just bored... or maybe it was too much like a meeting and I just totally zoned out. "Loritab." "Suture." "Don't brush teeth for 24 hours." (Yuck! I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that one.) "Loritab." "Don't chew." "Don't spit." (Eating doesn't sound like it's going to be part of my day!) "Loritab."

Hmmm. Maybe it was just me, but the word that kept coming up again and again seemed to be "Loritab." Which also meant, if taken correctly, I wouldn't necessarily care if I ate or brushed my teeth for 24 hours.

We made it home, removed my gauze and I had a nice warm bowl of... oatmeal. I hadn't necessarily heard that, but obviously oatmeal was going to be the food for the day. When I awoke from a much needed nap an hour later, Mikie checked my vitals... Well, actually he kind of patted me on top of my head and left Austin, Josh and Roxie in charge of their invalid mother. Josh quickly brought me another bowl of oatmeal.

I wondered when I would be needing my first Loritab. A little later, and the answer to the question was made known to me. Another nap. Another bowl of oatmeal. I think you can see how the rest of my day went.

At one point, Roxie came in and asked to see under my tongue. "Hmmm. It looks like only one stitch," she observed.

"Well, it is just one stitch, but it was obviously a very, very deep incision."

"I wonder why they thought you even needed just one little stitch there. It seems like a waste," she again observed.

Okay. That was enough of Miss Roxie until time for another Loritab.

Four more bowls of oatmeal and one Loritab later, and I was ready for bed. One more "Mikie-check" of my vitals (Code for ONE MORE PAT ON THE HEAD), and I was out for the count.

I awoke the next morning refreshed... and oh, so ready to brush my teeth. Simple pleasures, folks. Simple pleasures. And for those of you wondering, as of today, I am not a "dry mouth" OR a "spitter." My doctor obviously did well with the "tricky part."

I was supposed to have my one and only stitch removed this coming Thursday, but after careful investigation yesterday afternoon, I discovered my one and only stitch had removed itself. I'm going to see if my doctor will consider a "telephone appointment."

If not, I will drive to and from downtown Birmingham, cheerfully (NOT) pay a $30 co-pay and a $5 parking deck fee for a face-to-face consultation which I imagine will result in the doctor warning, "Next time, be sure the cap is on the end of the Sharpie before you put it in your mouth." (I can hardly wait!)

Blog Linkage - Short and sweet... I didn't have much time to look for extra reading material for you this week. I'll do better next week. I promise!

1. Go to Confessions of a Pioneer Woman under My Blog List and click on Photography. She had a contest call "America" photos. These are a perfect way to celebrate the 4th of July week. Very patriotic. Very touching.

2. Go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidnelson2/journal. This is a journal kept by the wife of a young man who passed away a few days ago. She is the mother of two young children and has a baby on the way. Her courage will touch you. Her story will make you appreciate your family members each and every day you have them.

Vacation Dates

When your family goes on a vacation for five or more days, take a few minutes to plan a one-on-one date with one parent and one child for each night. Whether you go to the beach, Disney, Universal, the mountains, camping or some other exotic locale, spending time with one child while the other parent plays with the remaining kids at the pool or watches a movie in the room with them will give the "dating" parent the opportunity to do something VERY different from the usual dates at home.

We've done this when we've gone to Disney, Universal AND camping. While vacations are BIG "family time" experiences, a few hours riding thrill rides, fishing, shopping or having manicure and pedicures with the one child will be time well spent.

And remember, we did this during longer vacations. If you're going to be gone for only two or three days, you probably will not want to split up during a short stay. Being together as an entire family is just as important as dating, and not to be taken lightly!

Have a great weekend. Don't forget to check back Tuesday, July 13. I'll have stories galore AND a new recipe for you to try. (We'll get right back on schedule.)

Take care, and I'll talk to you soon.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda