Spring Cleaning -- In the Fall

So now that my kids are in school and i am not pregnant and I am feeling better from my surgery, I am tackling my house. THings have been piling up on counters, under beds and in closets and I need to be free of all the junk. It drives me crazy just thinking about it. So today I did Hazel's room, because it is the easiest. I was so proud of myself. I threw away 2 huge boxes of magazines and files. Then made more piles of things to give away. THen I cleared off the counter in the kitchen that I typically drop everything on that I don't have time to deal with at the moment but is important to take care of sometime soon. On top of that I got all my laundry done!! (Pat on the back for me.) I've decided to massively simplify my life and getting rid of stuff will make my life much easier to clean and keep track of. I just keep reminding myself of the 3 months I spent in Utah a few summers ago at my mom's empty house. We had only the bare necessities and life was good. Easy to clean and the kids spent all their time outside or reading. So I am going to get down to the minimum required for me. Tomorrow I take on the bathroom and laundry room and, perhaps, the closet under the stairs!!! AAHHHHH!!! I am turning my mountain back into a mole hill!! Wish me luck. I've got to keep the ball rolling and do as much as I can before I run out of momentum!!

All Creatures Great and Small

My neighbor's dog died this morning. I felt so bad. The dog had gotten tangled up in his lead and the fence and it was nearly 100 degrees outside. By the time we found him he was in bad shape. Our neighbors were out of town. We did what we could but he died anyway. I waited all day for the neighbors to come back. It was very sad for Eddie, our neighbor. They buried him in the back yard. I have thought about Boots all day and wish we would have known they were out of town so that we could have been watching out for him. It is good to have and be good neighbors. THis could have been prevented.

Otherwise, I am doing better. Still tired and the medication is doing weird things...making me feel shaky and jittery. But only one more day of the meds. Trying to find things to eat is a little more daunting of a task. I had lasagna from a blender for dinner tonight. I never realized how much the texture of food matters. Otherwise I am subsisting on mashed potatoes and cream soups, pudding and yogurt and smoothies. And of course ice cream. It's going to be a long 3 months. By thanksgiving I will really have something to be thankful for!

Mom and Dad, I would call and talk to you but talking on the phone hurts my ear (my incisions are right in front of my ears). But I am checking email frequently. I love you.

Thanks

Well it's been 3 days and I am feeling better. Most of the swelling has gone down and there are only a few numb spots left. But the swelling gives my face a fat diamond look. The scars won't even be noticeable because they are right next to my ear. But they had to shave some of my hair off for some reason. I don't know why the incision isn't even in my hairline. BUt oh well hair grows. Not much pain - mostly my jaw muscles are just tight. Thanks to Erika, Jacob, Karl and Hester for the flowers. That was very thoughtful and I like them.

My left ear 

As some of you may know I had jaw suregery yesterday. It was just outpatient surgery. Everything went well and I was home by early afternoon. However, because I am allergic to adhesive on tape they had to wrap my whole head so now I look like I just had brain surgery. And my face is all swollen and numb. I am trying to smile but only half of my face is working. I also couldn't close my eye on the right side all day yesterday. Luckily my eye can shut now. I was pushing my eye close with my hand because I couldn't blink and my eye was drying out. Thank goodness that went away. I was worrying that I would have a funky eye for the rest of my life. Hopefully the swelling will go down soon. Nate says that I look mad all the time. I think that part of the problem is the bandage is pushing down on my eyes. Anyway, the surgery went well. I don't have too much pain. My jaw is a little stiff, but I will work that out with some stretching. I am on a liquid smushy diet for the next 2 weeks. And then slowly ease into chewing again. On the bright side I will probaby be able to lose the baby weight!! 

Hazel really enjoys this mobil toy. SHe kicks the purple arch to make the music and lights come on. Then she likes it so much she smiles and kicks her feet more. SHe'll lay under there for 20 minutes! 

Summer Vacation Is Officially Over

Toby, Aspen and Isaac went back to school this morning. We are now back to early mornings, backpacks, lunchboxes and homework folders. I walked the kids to school this morning. It's a little more than a mile. The kids are quite the troopers. Hazel liked the walk in her stroller. It wasn't too hot, but very humid. My glasses kept fogging up! They had a good day until the end. I told them to walk home. But if it was too hot I would come and get them. I meant that I would pick them up a block away from the school, they needed to start walking and I would come and get them. (It's 95 degrees and humid - not good to be out in.) Toby got confused and thought I meant that I would pick them up in front of the school. (The way they walk home is from the back of the school, so he couldn't see me waiting in the car for them to walk over.) Anyway, after they didn't show up 20 minutes later I drove over to the school. Turns out Isaac and Aspen were waiting for Toby in the back (which is what they did all last year) while Toby was waiting for me in the front. They finally worked it out and were starting to walk off campus toward home. I'm glad that it worked out. But it upset Toby. I felt bad. We tried so hard for the first day to work right. Toby has a hard time when things don't go as planned. He gets confused and frustrated. But alls well that ends well. Vacation is over.