Living in Munchkinland

When we got home yesterday, we were dirty, exhausted and ready to relax and enjoy the kids. Unfortunately it didn't work out. Davis suddenly spiked a super high temp and we rushed around getting him settled and comfortable. I spent today frantically trying to catch up from the weekend. I was taking care of Davis, doing laundry, washing dishes, picking up, grocery shopping and working on both my real job and fundraising job for the school. I pushed it too hard and basically collapsed in the kitchen around 5. Michael has taken over and I am parked on the chaise lounge. Davis is still so sick and the fever has stayed high all day even with lots of ibuprofen. We'll take him to the doctor tomorrow. I'm so frustrated that I'm not back 100%. I'm ready to move on from the whole surgery already. Sigh. I know, I know what you're thinking. I'll do better. Think cooling thoughts at Davis would you? My baby is so seldom sick, it's hard for all of us.

When Michael and I found out that the Food and Wine Festival was coming to Austin we were very, very excited. A couple of years ago we went to the one in South Beach and it was fantastic! We were so excited that we could do another one so close to home. We immediately called Michael's parents and asked them to babysit even though it was still six months away. The morning that tickets went on sale we bought them. We were disappointed when we found out that you couldn't buy tickets to individual events like we could in South Beach, but the "Weekender" Passes were less money than we spent in South Beach so we figured we'd try it. When I scheduled my surgery I was so worried that it would ruin the festival, but with everything else on everybody else's calendar, we had to book it when we did. I was thrilled to get the go ahead from my doctor on Thursday and Michael promised to help me take it easy. Martha and Clark came in on Friday afternoon. I had...

I've been doing better. I'm having a really hard time with my irritation levels. If my normal tolerance level is a 10 then I'm at three. I'm also extremely emotional and have found myself in tears often this week. I am feeling much better physically, though I really need to keep working on taking my time on getting better. I pushed it way too hard on Friday. I started the day by walking a mile and then sitting down and crying realizing that I had to walk a mile back and I didn't bring a phone and I was too exhausted to walk another step. After a rest, I did manage to walk all the way back, but the day was already shot before it began. It is very hard for me to realize how weak my body really is. I am having a hard time being fragile. I don't mind being thought of as fragile on occasion, but it is inconceivable to me that I would really be so fragile. By the time I was waiting for the kids to get out of art class on Friday afternoon around five I w...

I am doing better. Everyday I feel better. I need less pain meds and I hurt less. My incisions are healing and the swelling is way down. I am still exhausted. I need one or two naps to make it through the day and I'm still exhausted by 6pm. That's probably the worst of it physically, is the exhaustion, but I know I'm getting better. The menopause thing is kicking my butt. Hot flashes are awful and unpreventable. I go from being just fine to sweltering. I sweat all over and people seem to not notice and want to continue on as they were while I need to stop and stand in the refrigerator. I am also extremely irritated and emotional. You know that icky feeling you get inside when you've messed up or hurt someone's feelings or had really bad news? That's the feeling i have all day long. It sits like a lump in my throat. This vague sense that something is wrong and bad. And I'm on the verge of tears. And my temper is short. The doctor said I c...

When we were last in Taos, we discovered the most wonderful place ever. It's called KTAOS. It is a solar powered radio station serving the Taos area. But it is more than that. It is a big building backing up to the reservation about 4 minutes from our house in El Prado. It has a large full service bar and restaurant. The drinks are huge and reasonable and food surprisingly delicious! You can sit and watch the dj's play. They have a large solar powered auditorium where they record musicians live and you can go sit in and watch and listen. And the best part is, they have a huge, fenced in backyard with tables surrounding individual fire pits and tons of kid activities. The views are fantastic. The boys loved it. We loved it. I plan to spend every happy hour that I can there. Check it out here. Now, how do we get one of those in San Marcos?

1. Dilaudid is a great drug. If you are having the worst pain of your life, ask for it. It's way better than morphine. I miss it. 2. I'm afraid that the first sign of menopause that I'm experiencing is a lack of control over my emotions. 3.There are a lot of things my husband can do when I just let him. 4. A common side effect of having an IV is that your wrist will swell up to twice it's size and be hot and painful. 5. When you wear your pajamas all day, people don't ask you to do things. 6. Sitting in bed all day while on drugs is a dangerous time to look at travel sites online. 7. My mom is a saint. She cut her vacation short to come home and help out. She kept the boys the night she got back. She had unexpected guests come the next day to stay in her house for the weekend while she took care of me, my dad, my grandparents (who had just let their caregiver go) and threw a birthday party for her god daughter. She remembered to call and check on me during t...

I'm done with my surgery and home in bed. The doctor found endometriosis and fibroid tumors. Those are all gone now along with the rest of my lady parts. It was was the worst pain I had ever felt after surgery, but I got some great drugs and soon felt better and able to rest. I spent yesterday mostly sleeping and taking pain meds. I'm covered in purple bruises and very sore and very tired. I spent the night in the hospital and was so glad to be there instead of home with easy access to drugs and automatic beds and kind nurses. I got some flowers (thanks Carnes'!) and a gift basket (thanks Liffords!) at the hospital and while I was there a red tent was put in place for the week with all my closest girl friends signing up to bring me dinner. I felt very loved. Mom and dad came home from Taos early and kept the boys. They came over last night after Michael went home and brought me cookies and empathy and encouragement. I was discharged this morning and came home and w...

We didn't end up going to the sledding event instead we enjoyed the perfect weather and let the kids play. We had a wonderful patio lunch at The Gorge and then we wandered around the plaza and bought a hula hoop for the Taos house. the kids all spent the afternoon playing in the yard, dying eggs, blowing bubbles and doing practice easter egg hunts with empty plastic eggs. Davis and Cruz are inseparable. I made the awesome black bean soup from the Graham's Grill cook book and Marcie made a big salad for dinner. We dyed more eggs after the kids went to sleep and stuffed eggs and Michael and Ann went outside to hide them. I woke up at six to catchnAndres sneaking out to see what the Easrer bunny had brought. I put him back to bed and then went outside in the below freezing temps to hide the hard boiled eggs and fill the easter nest. The kids got up a half hour later and tore into their Easter baskets. They were all pleased. We assigned the kids each their own color for the ...

We flew into Taos Thursday morning. Our flight left super early so we arrived in Taos by lunchtime. We stopped at Orlando's and had wonderful food. I had vegetarian burrito covered with red and green chili sauce. Then we went on to the house and we all rested. The combination of altitude and lack of sleep knocked us all out. After nap, we went to the grocery store and then I made supper. The kids fell asleep instantly and then we sat out on the patio by the kiva, drank wine and enjoyed the fire. Yesterday we went on a walk around the neighborhood. Then we drove over to the other side of town to the Indian drum factory. We had a great tour and the kids loved it. They have tepees outside and the kids enjoyed playing in those as well. Mom and dad bought two drums and the kids got some cute finger puppets. Then we split up and we took the kids to Kit Carson park to play on the playground while mom and dad hit the local Walmart. We met up again for lunch at El Monte Segrado...

This weekend Davis turned seven years old. That seems so old to me. Seven! These are the golden years, where my kids love to be with me and I love to be with them and and we can do lots of fun things together because they are not babies anymore. Davis has really matured this year. He is smart and loves to read and do math and science. He's very social and independent. He cares about how other people are feeling and about how they are perceiving him. He remains athletic and loves to swim, run, do gymnastics and ride bikes. He has also found a love of puzzles, mazes and legos. Over the last few weeks we've passed into a phase where he is extremely mercurial. He goes from happy to full on tears in a moment. We have daily fits where we had almost none for the last year. I'm figuring it's hormonal and trying to patient through this phase. We had a party for Davis on his real birthday this year. Our book group had been wanting to do a spring campout at the river ...