Missed the memo?

This afternoon we had about 20 wild turkeys pass through the woods behind our house. They were good and plump too! They looked perfect for a Thanksgiving feast. Maybe the missed the memo about Thanksgiving being next week, or maybe they need a calendar. I know if I was a turkey I would be hiding this time of year!

Guilty

On the morning of Halloween I posted this status on my facebook page:

"Just walked into Walmart where my ears were assaulted with Christmas music. Halloween isn't over yet! One holiday at a time please people! One holiday at a time!"

Comments on the status were mixed. Some people agreed with me, while others thought it was wonderful. Someone (who will remain nameless!) even went so far as to call me a Grinch (don't worry, I knew it was all in good fun)!

I would like the record to show I am not a Grinch and I am just as guilty as the next person when it comes to starting Christmas a bit early. Tonight Husband was at work/church, and I decided to restock our supply of frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "What?" you say, "You can freeze PB&Js?!?" Oh yes you can! It is amazing. Husband takes PB&Js every Sunday to church/work and let me tell you, having some in the freezer has made my Sunday mornings easier. Find all the information you need about freezing these sandwiches here. Anyway, I digress. Back to my "not a Grinch" post. I decided that I needed some music to keep me company while making the sandwiches so I logged onto Pandora. For some unknown reason, I was overcome with a great desire to listen to Christmas music. Before I knew what was happening, I had clicked on a Christmas radio station and sounds of Michael Buble singing "Let it snow" filled my kitchen. For the next 30 minutes, I put together sandwiches while singing along to Christmas music. And you know what? It wasn't all that bad. In fact, I actually enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that the music is still playing while I type this post.

See? I like Christmas as much as the next person, but I do prefer to wait at least until sometime in November to start listening to the music. I'm not ready to put up my tree (those who put their tree up in November are just plain crazy. Yes, I'm talking to you CR and NP!), but I think there is something to this whole listening to Christmas music after Halloween. Now to find a way to convince Husband of the same thing...

Halloween

We decided to dress up for the trick or treaters that came to our house. Husband was a monk and I put on a 1970s style dress and wore a ton of purple eye shadow. We also carved pumpkins. Husband went with a classic happy face and I made an owl.

Where I've been

My faithful readers (haha!) will have noticed a huge absence from posting over the past couple of months. I had plans to write a post about my summer and I actually started to write it, but it didn't really come together the way I had hoped, so I scratched it. I do feel that some explanation is needed, so here is the short version. I spent the entire night of July 23 puking my guts out. When I say "the entire night", I mean the ALL NIGHT LONG. I slept on the bathroom floor in between meetings with the toilet. By morning I was exhausted (so was Husband who stayed up all night with me) and I knew something wasn't right, so we headed to the doctor. The doc gave me a shot to stop me from throwing up (the bill for that shot was $33...best $33 I've ever spent!), and sent us to the ER. After blood tests, CT scans, and hours of waiting, it was determined that my bowels had fused to my uterus and were kinked (like a kink in a garden hose). The course of action to correct the problem: surgery. The next morning (July 24), I was wheeled into the operating room and opened up. After surgery, I spent 9 days in the hospital recovering. I was home for 10 days when I spiked a fever and headed back to the ER for another round of blood tests and CT scans. The problem this time? An abscess deep in my pelvis. The course of action to correct the problem: insert a drain and put me on some heavy duty IV antibiotics. I proceeded to spend the next 6 days in the hospital as we waited for the drain and drugs to work their magic. Thanks to modern medicine and the prayers of many, many friends and family, the abscess completely disappeared in a matter of days. The doctors expressed surprise that it was gone so quickly--there had been some discussion about sending me home with IV antibiotics, but that wasn't necessary. Instead they sent me home with some STRONG oral antibiotics to kill off any lingering infection.

That pretty much sums up my summer and explains where I've been the past couple of months. It took me a long time to recover. I was exhausted all the time for weeks. I couldn't eat very much and only a few things appealed to me. I pretty much lived off of McDonald's cheeseburgers and Walmart deli potato salad for a couple of weeks. Everything else would turn my stomach. Thankfully my appetite picked up and the pain and exhaustion subsided. I went back to work the middle of September and except for the occasional pain, I am all better, although I still play the "I had surgery" card if Husband tries to get me to do something I don't want to do!

We are so blessed to have great people who were a tremendous help during the summer. From the best visiting teacher in the world who brought us  many meals and vacuumed for us and cleaned our toilets, to our great neighbours who brought in our trash can on trash day, to everyone who sent cards and dropped off meals and goodies, to those who prayed. We felt the love and support of so many people. We were truly overwhelmed by the support. Thank you.