Becoming the Bionic Woman

I had surgery on Thursday. Things went well. I am back home. This ice pack is my best friend for the next few days.

Thanks to Nate for taking me on a great date the day before the surgery: good food, temple, more good food, a double feature, and a super nice hotel. Thanks especially for staying with me in the hospital on that very hard "bed" to help me.Thanks to Amy for taking care of us this past week and for the next few weeks while I recover. She has been a life saver. I am just wiped out and sore. I know she is tired too. 8 kids and all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, referreeing, and bedtimes for everyone is a daunting task. Amy does it with a smile! I'm very grateful she came.

I am now the proud owner of a bionic artificial titanium jaw joint (just kidding on the bionic part). Lots less pain than the last time (I was very worried about it - I don't deal well with pain). The numbness is nearly gone. But I still have a bunch of swelling. I always wondered what I would look like with a round face. My smile doesn't work too well because of the swelling.The nerve at the top of my face is still asleep, so I can't close my eye on my own or lift my eyebrows/forehead: Looks like BOTOX gone wrong. I really hope that is temporary.
There are incisions next to my ear, under my neck and on my belly (fat graph for the joint). The scars will be very hidden when they heal. The other marks are pen marks. Purple ink on my jaw to show them where the bone was. Hurts to much to scrub off so I'll just leave it for now.

That's all for now. I've got to go do my jaw re-hab exercises.

High Adventure. . .

This year for high adventure, Toby's troop did the Cavalry program at Buffalo Trails Scout Reservation in west Texas. I went along as one of the adult leaders. We were up on top of Mount Forbidden at our own camp. They provided uniforms and the tents that the cavalry would have used in the 1800's. They based everything on the 9th cavalry, which was based at nearby Fort Davis, which we visited on Friday.

The flag represents the states that were protected by the cavalry at that time.We learned to crack bullwhips.

There was a swimming hole with little fish that liked to nip at the swimmers.
We shot some black powder.

We had horses (and one mule) at our camp all week. This is Toby on Dr. Pepper, the mule. The boys took care of the horses, and went riding a few of the days.
We also had a rattlesnake wander through camp--the highlight of the week, if you ask Toby.