Mothers' Day 2019

Between the fact that I was recovering from surgery and the fact that it's been almost a year since it happened, I don't really remember the details about Mothers' Day this year.  I know I stayed home from church.  I think David cooked steak for dinner.  That's about all I can remember.  So let me just copy and paste the post I wrote on social media that day:

May 12, 2019:  Life is crazy and loud and rowdy and often dangerous in our house. I spend a lot of my time putting out fires or bandaging wounds from the fires that I didn't get to soon enough. But I'm loving it. And I know that someday this house will feel very quiet and empty so I'm trying to embrace the chaos! I love these little punks with all my heart!

#happymothersday #mothers #beautifulchaos #livinthedream

Surgery Time

Back to my medical woes.  I finally found a specialist that would take on my case AND that I liked.  She was located in Salt Lake City.  Her name was Dr. Hunn.  She specialized in Gynecologic Oncology.  She was good.

On May 2nd, I finally had my surgery.  My parents stayed at my house, holding down the fort and running the children to-and-fro.  David took me to the hospital. Everything ran smoothly. It being my third surgery in three years, it's interesting to compare the way each hospital does things a little differently.  Like, they all have their own flair. This one made me do a head-to-toe wipe-down with disinfecting wipes as I got into the gown.  You know, it's the little touches that really provide flair.

I don't remember there being a long wait or anything.  Pre-op was pretty typical.  I had lost so much blood in the earlier part of the year that the nurse said I borderline needed a transfusion before surgery.  I'm not sure if that's the best way to calm a nervous patient down, but you know, I'm not a medical professional...

I think everything went well in the surgery.  She performed it with a huge robot arm.  That was cool. After I was set up in my room and David was sure that I was feeling okay, I sent him home to relieve my parents and take care of the kids. I knew that I'd just sleep the entire day anyways.  And I did - except for two things.  One thing was that my room was at the end of a hall with a large window looking out over something beautiful, I guess.  Because families kept congregating right outside my door, looking at the view and my room door was open so basically, I was part of all their gatherings.  That was strange.  I even made eye contact with a child or two. But I was pretty drugged up, so I just thought it was funny.  The other thing that was a pain, and I do mean literally, was my catheter.  Man!  Something was wrong with that thing!  The hose wasn't positioned right or something and it hurt!  Every so often, I could move the hose and drain it a little bit to relieve the pressure, but it made it difficult to sleep for very long.  Once they removed it, and the window gawkers left, I had a very pleasant stay. 

I stayed in the hospital overnight.  For me, that's like a mini vacation.  I have people waiting on me hand-and-foot, and I sleep most of the time. I love it!  David came and brought me home the next day.  It wasn't until we hit our first bump in the road that I realized how tender and sore I was.  The recovery was pretty long and slow - it's hard to be patient.  And I had the pleasure of being thrust into instant menopause.  Ugh.  Hot flashes are the worst!  But I was glad all that endometriosis stuff was behind me!

A Lovely Morning

At the end of April, I learned that the Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City was having an Earth Day celebration.  I am ALWAYS open for a celebration, so I packed Quinton into the van, and we went right over!

 I had never been to the Red Butte Gardens before.  All I can say is, I was really missing out!  They're amazing! Look at this amazing pot!  And that's just one pot!  In April!

 It was so pretty, Quin and I had to pose in front of it!  Quinton is holding a tree sapling, which they were giving away.  Sadly, it didn't live very long at our home.

 It was a beautiful, blossomy day!

 Quinton had an absolute blast wandering around and exploring the gardens.  There were so many cool things!

 Look at Quinton climbing under a waterfall by the lillypad pond!

 And this kid's garden had a winding "dragon" that kids could go inside!!! It was covered in vines.

 I bet the "dragon" would be super cool in the summer when these vines leaf out - I could barely see him when they were bare!

 And what are these Geckos all about? I don't know, but they're fun for kids to climb on!

 Quinton took a picture of me with my tree.

And what a pretty view of the Salt Lake Valley!  One problem for me on this outing was that the whole garden in set on a hill.  It is in the foothills of Salt Lake City. I was still dealing with a pretty low blood levels, so this was a serious WORKOUT for me! But it was SO worth it!  They are beautiful gardens!!! And I LOVE gardens!

I Grew These

Nothing brings me joy like gardening.  Nothing.