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.

4th of July

Fruit kabobs to celebrate the 4th of July! These went like hotcakes at the BBQ we attended! And, they looked very similar to the picture I followed. Double win for me!

Anniversary camping trip

Husband and I recently celebrated our sixth anniversary. We decided to go camping to celebrate the occasion. We camped in the Blue Ridge Mountains and had a wonderful time. The weather was absolutely perfect for camping. The setting was beautiful. We went on hikes. We visited an old homestead/farm. We read a lot. We relaxed.  Best of all, we had no cell phone reception so we were able to unplug for a couple of days and just enjoy being together without any distractions.

The Great Smoky Mountains

A couple of weeks ago, we headed down to Tennessee to spend a couple days in Gatlinburg and The Great Smoky Mountains. We had so much fun that as we were driving home, I was already planning our next trip down there! It is a beautiful park. We hiked to a couple of waterfalls. During one of our hikes, we saw a BEAR!! He was off the trail a bit, and seemed more interested in finding some food than the people walking by. The weather was perfect as well. We saw some ice on the rocks on the side of the road in some places, but no snow or ice anywhere else. As we drove back home, we were blessed with a beautiful sunset. It was a great ending to a great weekend.

Forecast gone wrong; very, very wrong.

Last night we went to bed knowing that we would wake up to a dusting of snow. The forecast called for light snow, followed by mid-morning rain. By 8am, we knew the forecast was wrong, but we had no idea how wrong it was. It snowed all day, finally ending around 5pm. When it was over, we had about 6 inches of snow. So much for the "dusting" they called for.

Taken about 11am. This is our front yard and the road.

Definitely more than a dusting!

The poor tulips! I hope they still bloom.

Ice and water on some tulip shoots.

Robins mean spring right? Not so much.

I cut these daffodils from our flower bed on Saturday. I like how they looked in front of the window with the snow falling outside.

Because it was spring snow, it was perfect for making a snowman!

Duck lips!

Ouch!

It was bound to happen sooner or later. The wood stove claimed me as its first victim this week. Thankfully, the burn isn't too bad. My arm BARELY brushed the stove and I got to cold water right away. It will probably leave a scar though, so I should come up with a cool story about how I got it. Any ideas? Oh, and don't worry, it won't happen again (I hope).

Little house on the prairie?

The house we moved into has a wood burning stove. We absolutely love it! It heats up the house quite well on the cold, cold nights, thereby cutting down our use of the heat pump. We often joke about hauling the wood to the fill the wood box, saying we are living like they did in Little House on the Prairie.Well, except for the fact that we have electricity and our bathroom is inside the house! A common refrain around our place is "I'll get the wood, and then I'll milk the cow and churn the butter." We have both become very proficient in building fires. That old boy and girl scout knowledge is coming in handy!

Husband doing the hard labour bringing wood in from the wood pile.