Long Time No Blog
Yes, Gentle Reader, I am daring to show my face on my own blog after all this time. But trust me when I tell you that Chez Boeckman-Walker has been an incredibly busy place these past few weeks and that I haven't had much time to post.
You don't believe me? Well then, Gentle Reader, allow me to shut you up.
Chez Boeckman-Walker: Now With 33% Fewer Tonsils!
After damn near a year of appointments and sleep studies and MRIs and a month-long CPAP trial, the husband finally got the surgery he needed to help rid him of his severe sleep apnea. The surgery--surgeries, I should say, since he had a tonsillectomy, septoplasty, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty and bonus adenoidectomy--went very well, but his recovery has had a few bumps.
First, the husband wound up in post-op recovery for about six hours because he woke from the anesthesia puking blood, which had drained into his gut from his nose, and then experienced bleeding from his nose that just didn't want to stop. Not a lot of blood loss, mind you, but enough to be worrisome. And enough to require him to stay in recovery until his ENT could check things out, which took forever because he had several surgeries scheduled the same day.
Once I was able to bring him home, the husband did pretty well--until Monday evening, when his nose started bleeding again and wouldn't stop. After a call to his doc, we wound up in the E.R., where the doc removed the packing and stents from the husband's nose (which was scheduled to be done at the doc's office the next morning) and managed to get the bleeding--again, not a lot but worrisome enough--stopped. Since he couldn't determine the exact cause of the bleeding, he had the husband admitted for observation.
Once I was finally able to come home and stay home around midnight, I got about four hours of sleep then hauled back to the hospital, all hopeful that I'd have the husband back home in time for me to Spin with the world's greatest Spin instructor and have something close to a normal Tuesday.
Ahh, how foolish I was to think such thoughts! To paraphrase a useful saying, I plan; the universe laughs.
When the doc came by to check on his patient around 7:15 Tuesday morning, he highly recommended keeping the husband in the hospital for continued observation through the majority of Tuesday just in case his nose started bleeding. Come the evening, the doc proposed, he'd come by, remove the light packing he'd put up the husband's nose in the E.R. and discharge him. That what we did--and my plan for a somewhat normal Tuesday flew right out the window.
As evening approached, the husband and I tried to predict when we might get the hell outta Dodge. I think he was hopeful for his doc to return to wrap things up in the early evening (5 or 6). I said we'd probably see him after 7. We both aimed to get home in time to watch the Fox Comedy Hour at 9.
Long story short, we barely made that goal. But fortunately the husband hasn't had any further bumps, and he's thrilled to be able to breathe out of his nose to some degree once again. Because, hey, mouth-breathing really, really sucks. And he felt good enough to take part in what we hope will become a Thanksgiving tradition for the human residents of Chez Boeckman-Walker.
Run, You Turkey!
By the way, Gentle Reader, happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Don't stuff yourself stupid.
As mentioned at the end of the last section, today the human residents of Chez Boeckman-Walker attempted to initiate a new Thanksgiving tradition: taking part in the annual Thundercloud Subs Turkey Trot. We'd registered to participate long before we knew the husband would be having surgery, and even when we scheduled the surgery, we were very hopeful that the husband would be able to do the 1-mile walk he'd registered for. Me, I registered for the 5-mile run because walking is just not my thing.
So despite the fact that the husband had been in the hospital less than 48 hours before that starting air horn honked, we were downtown this morning, ready to enjoy a little exercise. The weather was quite nice--a bit balmy and overcast, but you won't hear me complain since various weather-reading newscast personalities had mentioned chances of drizzle for Turkey Day morning. Because this event is a well-established one, quite a few folks turned out, including two of the boy's old posse from daycare. Those boys were as happy as pigs in mud as they dashed around their parents, who didn't feel terribly at ease trying to make small talk. (The husband and I aren't the world's most social people, after all.)
The race itself wasn't too bad. Too many hills and downhills for my liking, but I survived. Hell, I managed to put in a pretty good time: just over 40 minutes. The boys reported that the walkers got off to a late start since runners were still in the chute waiting to get out on the course when the organizers were trying to get the walkers lined up and out there. The husband said he felt pretty good, sticking to a long stride so that the boy could jog alongside him. They crossed the finish shortly before I did.
Will we do the Trot again? Probably so, especially since we have nothing better to do on this holiday. There's no turkey to thaw and baste, no stuffing or other traditional side dishes to prepare, no pies to bake. Nope, we don't do traditional at Chez Boeckman-Walker. I doubt you find that terribly surprising, Gentle Reader.
Other Things That Have Kept Me Busy and Away From Blogging
I've been spending a bit more time in front of my computer doing paying work this month, so another excuse I have for not posting more is that by the time I call it a day doing paying work, I really don't want to spend more time at the computer. In addition to the work I've been doing for ParentsDigest.com, earlier this month I hooked back up with some of the people who'd started my last real job to do some editing and writing for their new Web site, DailyMeds.com. I'll readily admit that returning to health and drug-related work has been really nice.
Speaking of jobs and real jobs, I turned down one. In fact, I officially turned it down while waiting for the husband to leave post-op recovery. It was a contract editing gig downtown for 40 hours a week, and the company was offering me some flexibility so that I could still pick up the boy from school in the afternoon and then work from home.
So why would I turn down a flexible, relatively secure (even if temporary) position when I've been bellyaching and worrying about the family's financial situation, especially in light of the husband's medical needs? Well, Gentle Reader, I didn't think that my family needed me trying to juggle a full-time gig and all the things I do here at home (such as helping the boy with all the school crappola) and all the things I do for myself, such as running and blogging and cooking. I really, really would have liked to have taken the job, but I know that the boy needs me right now. School is...well, so I don't go off on some rant, let me just say that school takes a lot of out of him, and he needs to be able to come home and have a parent who can try to meet his needs. I knew I wouldn't be able to do that if I were trying to work from home after school. So, yeah, I guess I passed so that I could try to be a better mom for my kid.
A real shocker, isn't it, Gentle Reader?
In addition to the additional freelance gig I've picked up and stressing over whether or not to work outside the home again, I celebrated my birthday--the big 33 and was presented with a wonderful Le Creuset tagine by the husband, which was a total surprise--and prepared the house for Mum's arrival to help out with the boy while I cared for the husband post-op. Yeah, I know, Mum already knows I'm a horrible, lazy housekeeper and really don't care how much dust accumulates on immobile objects, but I felt compelled to at least try to not make her completely grossed out by the living conditions of my home. And it was nice to be able to celebrate my birthday with the woman who brought me into this world. We even had a chance to do a little shopping, and I got to share some more of my kitchen stuff with her. That was a lot of fun.
No, really. It was a lot of fun. I'm not being sarcastic.
Culinary Misadventures That Went Unblogged
As I noted at the beginning of the previous section, working more has left me reluctant to spend additional time during the week at my computer, thus I've not shared with you, Gentle Reader, some of the new recipes I've tried. I was stunned when I realized the other day that the camera was no longer in the kitchen. It had become a regular part of it, just like Lumpy and the 'fridge and the pile of recyclables waiting to be taken out. To not photograph dishes and their preparation was...bizarre.
Anywho, since this post is getting abominably long, here are links to recipes I've tried (to varying degrees of success):
- Rosemary chicken with orange-maple glaze (Very tasty!)
- Pumpkin mousse (Also very tasty and perfect for when you want that traditional pumpkin pie taste but are too lazy to bake one or too cheap to buy one)
- Asian chicken noodle soup (Lemongrass is fun!)
- Not-so-dull dal from Suvir Saran's American Masala (Sorry, I'm too lazy to type up the recipe, but it's a basic toovar dal with some cumin and chiles that's quite tasty but didn't look a thing like the picture in the book.)
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