Hey, hey---what do you say?

Its me! I'm back! Free!

After my ebullient last post on the great soccer cookout, I fell ill and boys and girls: it was a baaad thing. One trip to the ER, kinda blown off as having that "stomach bug that's really awful right now", returned home only to call an ambulance in the wee hours of the morning to get me directly into the attention of a doctor because I.was.dying. Gastro symptoms, high and low, horrific abdominal pain. Throwing up every contrast drink for imaging studies...bad stuff.

Finally got a CT scan that revealed, guess what? Lots of fluid in my pelvic cavity (not supposed to be there), cysts on ovaries and a small bowel obstruction (an obstruction in the small intestine, that would be, not a teeny obstruction in any ol' part of the bowel). Guess who was looking a wee bit sheepish? I dunno....might that be the gastroenterologist who admitted me on Christmas Eve and blew off my post-op complaints that eventually had me back in the hospital with a finding of ulcers?...I'm thinking that even though this guy is really cute and funny, he's not going to be my gastroenterologist anymore. After several days in the hospital, stomach pumping, rehydration, all that, I feel well enough to be home. But I've got to find a gastro specialist to help me connect the dots of all these events...I know they've got to be connected. Nobody has this kind of luck. Thanks to everyone who got the 411 before now and wished me well; sorry to you guys that I haven't kept properly informed. I suck. Sorry 'bout that.

Fun Stuff
I had my birthday. That could have been fun. Mostly wasn't but its OK. At least I was home. My Mom forgot my birthday; that's always a bad thing. It happened on my 21st bday, too. But it could be worse: I know lots of people whose Mommies can't wish them a happy birthday ever again so I'll not whine.

Rob very gallantly allowed me to manipulate our cell phone plan so that I "qualified" for the nice pricing on the iPhone 3 GS and, ya know, order it for myself for my bday. Good news, though: I sold my 3G on eBay for less than we paid for the new one. One day soon I'll schedule the spa day that he purchased for me; anyone wanna come with me?

Music
Well, I always buy myself lots of music right around my birthday. Check the sidebar for this year's indulgences. Its heavy on the roots Rock but I did pick up the Christian McBride disc that Lyman pointed out. Its hot.

I love jazz, I totally do. But you know, the first music I remember hearing as a kid was the rough and ready rock and R&B of the late 60's and 70's: Credence Clearwater Revival, Santana, The Doors, Steve Miller Band, Earth, Wind and Fire, Tower of Power, The Spinners and Chi-Lites. There's a big difference in how I listen to jazz compared to these others---I pay a lot more attention; its a more active thing. So I can't deny any longer that I'm really just a rock and roll girl when I'm most at ease. I'll never like anything more than I like great guitars, smart lyrics about love, longing and loss, solid vocals. I think this year's birthday choices make that pretty clear: give me the roots rock with a nice side helping of all the forms from which it emerges.

Kids
My kids are so cute. I'm glad they're out of school to be with me. We've taken up sewing lessons again and guitar will begin soon. I also bought three or four books of "fun" writing exercises that I thought we could all do together for pleasure and keep our little brains working a tiny bit, too.

Report cards came today: Haley is a super-duper show off: Straight A's, accelerated caseload and all. Perfect "learning skills" scores, too. She appears destined to join the long line of smarty-pants oldest daughters we encounter so often in this family. Anna has really had a great year, too and her final report card shows it: reading way above the curve for the accelerated grade level, fantastic math, science, etc. I don't think being a student comes as naturally to her as it does Haley but she seems to have hit her stride and I can tell she's enjoying that. Kinder don't get grades but I can tell that Lindsay has learned very much this year and she's more than ready for first grade. What's more, its so obvious that she enjoys applying what she learns about reading and writing to what's happening around her in the world. I love that. Sometimes at night when she's in bed, I hear her counting to herself; practicing. How cute is that?

Crafting

I have a few secret projects that are very exciting. Its very hard to not tell you about those. But there are a few things to be shared. First, every little girl's dream: a twirly skirt...

And these are some of the fabric choices I'm contemplating:







I think given the right contrasting fabrics, these could be some kickin' twirly skirts! And, perhaps my favorite project in the hopper for its sheer cleverness: a cute little dress made from a discarded button front shirt:


I found these in a collection of tutorials put together by the fine users at Sew, Mama, Sew---a truly inspiring place to point and click...