all the exciting stuff we did on saturday

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Shanda

We drove out to NY on Saturday. We stopped at the mall in Albany because I had Macy’s money that was going to expire that day and I wanted to see if there was a good selection of fiestaware….there wasn’t. The only thing they had besides the typical place settings, mugs, plates, and bowls was a single white disc pitcher so that’s what I got. It was free so I was happy. Rich and the kids ate at the food court before we hit the road again.

Grace and Jacob were not with us on Saturday because G had a singing obligation and J had to work. They drove out on Sunday morning with Emily, Jacob’s girlfriend.

The next stop on Saturday was a very popular chicken BBQ place. The kids played on the playground and Rich took a nap on a picnic table, while yours truly ordered a chicken dinner take out.

I sat in the car to eat it because it was too cold outside for me.

We drove to our hotel. The kids swam for a while and Rich went running in the work out room. I rested (I was suffering from a sinus headache all day) and then went down to watch the kids swim.

After swimming we drove to an antique store in B. that I knew had fiestaware because my Mom and sister had texted me pictures a few days before. I will post the photo of what I bought at the end of this post. It didn’t take long at the antique store and then we went to a really popular produce stand in the area (where Rich and I grew up). We all picked out our favorite fruits to eat from this place that I have been going to since I was a child.

They allow sampling of the fruit.

The spring flowers were lovely in the sunshine.

This was pretty much the best day ever because after that, we went bowling.

And then! Pizza!

Caleb and I were both reading Harry Potter #4 but he had left his copy in the hotel so we shared my copy while we waited for our pizza to arrive. We have both moved on to #5 now and I’m beating him. (He finished #4 first) As soon as he got off the bus today I said, “I’m on page 130!” and he said “Quit reading!”

It’s always so so good for Rich and I to go back home and visit our old haunts!

(We are high school sweethearts and both our families go back several generations in our hometown)……..

AND NOW:::

I spy with my little eye ONE retired Sapphire Carafe and THREE mini disc pitchers in retired apricot, yellow, and juniper. So exciting.

happy easter family pics

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Shanda

Blessed Savior, we adore Thee,
We Thy love and grace proclaim;
Thou art mighty, Thou art holy,
Glorious is Thy matchless name!

Great Redeemer; Lord and Master,
Light of all eternal days;
Let the saints of every nation
Sing thy just and endless praise!

From the throne of heaven’s glory
To the cross of sin and shame,
Thou didst come to die a ransom,
Guilty sinners to reclaim!

Come, O come, immortal Savior,
Come and take Thy royal throne;
Come, and reign, and reign forever,
Be the kingdom all Thine own!

Glorious, Glorious, Glorious is Thy name O Lord!
Glorious, Glorious, Glorious is They name, O Lord!

~B.B. McKinney

Blessed be Thy glorious name,
which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Nehemiah 9:5

In a small country church we gathered to worship the Lord together; Mom, Dad, the brothers and sisters, and children. The people were warm and welcoming, the Pastor preached with humility and respect. My mom took my hand and held it. Dad gave me a hug. I looked at each familiar sweet face. Truly a family is one of the greatest blessings from God, and going to church together on a beautiful Easter morning is a joy unmatched.

I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Psalm 122:1

The people there had prayed sincerely with love for our Sarah when she was going through her kidney stone situation and they were so gracious to her on Sunday, happy to finally meet the little girl they had prayed for. God bless them and their wonderful congregation!

Then our family all drove to a resort hotel for an excellent Easter buffet. We all swapped kids so they could ride with their cousins.

My brother Dave, one of the most important people in my life.

My brother Nathan with his family. So very special to me. I can help but smile as I look at this picture.

My 18 year old son, Ethan.

My brother Isaac with his wife Cassandra. A wonderful couple. So happy to call them “mine”.

Nate with our niece, Abbie.

Dad and Mom with the beautiful lake behind them.

Emily and Jacob

The little cousins; Sarah had the best day, she thrives on “girl time”.

The big cousins; this picture makes me grin.

My beautiful sister, Amanda, with her family. We are so thankful that we live near each other and watch the children grow up together. I think this is one of the best portraits I’ve taken, I love how it turned out.

Guess who took this portrait???????
The Easter bunny!

We stayed in a hotel the night before Easter and Sarah slept in our room with us. The boys were in the joining room. I was already awake and just lying there in bed, hoping to fall back to sleep, and meditating on what exactly it means by “husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the church.” How does this look in practical everyday married life? And why don’t we hear as many Bible studies about this concept as we do about “wives, submitting yourselves to your husbands”. Oh yes, I was thinking and thinking, it was quite fascinating. My eyes were shut and Rich was by my side in the bed. Well, it was still totally dark when Sarah got up to use the bathroom which was directly in front of our bed. As she turned on the very bright bathroom lights, I squeezed my eyes shut tighter. As soon as I did, that very moment, Rich’s hand clamped right down over my eyes like a suction cup. I laughed as I was shown this small but endearing sign of my husband’s love.

Our girls; the brown eyes and the blue.

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened Paradise, Alleluia!

And He said to him, “I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

easter baked beans

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Shanda

“Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” 1 Timothy 1:2

“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” 1 Timothy 1:5

My soul, admire the boundless love of God to thee and others of the human race.
Worms are bought with the blood of the Son of the Highest! Dust and ashes
redeemed with a price far above silver and gold! ~Charles Spurgeon

“I will not glory, even in my orthodoxy, for even that can be a snare if I make a god of it… Let us rejoice in Him in all His fulness and in Him alone.” Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones

“It is grace at the beginning, and grace at the end. So that when you and I come to lie upon our death beds, the one thing that should comfort and help and strengthen us there is the thing that helped us in the beginning. Not what we have been, not what we have done, but the Grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. The Christian life starts with grace, it must continue with grace, it ends with grace. Grace wondrous grace. By the grace of God I am what I am. Yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me.”
– Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Good day to you, friends! It has been a lovely week at our place, although there is a sickness going around. I’ve been sick since Tuesday but am feeling better although tired out. Grace was home with me yesterday, and it was cozy indeed.

There is no school today for the children. Ethan drove to the mall with Dave, Grace, and Emily (his girlfriend’s sister). Rich and Jacob are at work. Caleb, Seth, and Sarah are home with me and playing together.

Jacob’s girlfriend Emily was taking care of a duck yesterday. While she was at school, she had Jacob bring it over to our house so he could watch it. Of course we all fell in love with the duck.

And Grace wanted to keep it. She began researching but what I told her was true; you really shouldn’t keep one duck. It would be a very lonely duck.

So after a visit and much quacking, it went to be adopted by a family of ducks.

Easter Baked Beans

(way back in October I wrote about my intention to try all sorts of baked bean recipes. Well, I finally got to recipe #2 and it was delicious)

First I’ll give you the recipe and then I’ll tell you everything I did differently. 🙂

Navy Bean and Apple Casserole

1 lb. dried navy beans, 2 cups
6 cups cold water
1 tsp salt
3 large tart apples pared and sliced
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 lb. salt pork, sliced

Wash beans and turn into a 3 quart saucepan. Add the water and salt, heat to boiling, and simmer gently, covered, about 2 hours. Drain, saving cooking liquid. Arrange beans and apple slices in alternate layers in a greased casserole, sprinkling sugar over each layer. Pour in 2 cups of the cooking liquid and top with slices of salt pork. Bake, covered, in a very slow oven (250 degrees) for about 2 and a half hours, or until beans are light brown and thoroughly cooked. If they become dry in cooking, add more cooking liquid or hot water. There should be enough liquid on the beans to make a gravy-like sauce over them. 5-7 servings.

*****

I saved out 2 cups of the cooked beans to use in a chili recipe. I peeled and diced the apples and only used 2 apples because of my reduction of the amount of beans. I sprinkled onion powder and cinnamon on the beans (about 1/8 of a tsp each). I used bacon instead of salt pork (what is salt pork???) and I diced it instead of keeping it in slices. It took longer for mine to bake, in fact, I let them go on for about 6 hours (I don’t know why it took so long, maybe my oven temps are off?). I used a can of chicken broth that I had leftover in the fridge for cooking liquid. I took the foil off for the last hour so they would thicken up and brown. Adding cinnamon made them perfect–the bacon and apple basically melted into the beans making a wonderful flavor. We all liked them, and Sarah had three bowls full. They would go well with a ham dinner, which is why I have renamed this recipe “Easter Baked Beans”.

John 12:12=24

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Shanda

Yesterday at church Seth was sitting close by my side, just where I like him to be. I gave him a pen and paper to give him something to do and it soon became apparent to me that his mind was occupied with, not religious matters, but mathematics. He was busy writing a story during the sermon and this is what it said:

The ~~lazy~~ Dog by Seth

Captr One

Once thar was a dog the dog was rily smart. The dog new what 100 + 100 is and 200 + 200 is but one day the dog didint no what something was and it was 100 + 800 and he thinnked and thinnked but he couldn’t do it so he ascked the techer. The techer didn’t now so the techer thincked and thincked and the techer got it and it was 900.

Chapter 2

The techer was smorter then the dog the techer new wat 100-15 was it was 85.

That was all he was able to get done during the sermon. It was quite a laborious task for him. He whispered a couple of questions to me when he needed some help with it. One question was “How do you spell ‘what'”(he didn’t care about the other words) and the other was “What is 100 minus 15?”

He informed me that it will be 90 chapters long. To which I replied, “90-2=88”

Then he told me that he knew what 12 plus 12 was. He told me this after staring at the sermon text for a while.

don’t curse the darkness; light a candle

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Shanda

“Many times I would go to my mother with my heart and mind terribly bothered. I had so many questions that tortured my little mind. My heart was aching. Mother would patiently listen to me, and then would tell me, ‘My boy, the Bible says that the whole world lives in evil. Everything is so dark, there is no other way than to expect God to do His grace to this world. These conditions, these evil things, make it a greater responsibility for us Christians to light our torches, to be a light of hope for many who want to see something better than what they experience at present.’ There was a Chinese proverb that she knew, and many times she would tell it to me, admonishing me to look unto Christ, who is the sun of righteousness, the light of the world. This was the proverb that she would tell me: ‘Don’t become bitter. Don’t curse the darkness. It is better to light a candle.’ So, she would encourage me to do any good act, to be ready to help man and beast, those who were in need. Whenever she was unable to go and call on some sick or on some bereaved, she would send me with some little gift (some fruit, some flowers), something that would bring some hope, a beam of light in their hearts.” ~Philotheos Zikas (b.1907, Greece)

banana cream pie

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Shanda

Yesterday after a spaghetti dinner, I asked my husband if he would take me to Agway because we were out of chicken feed. He agreed, and it was a lovely drive together. When we arrived home, he drove the truck close to the coop and unloaded four bags of feed. I got out with him and gathered eggs, there were so many that my pockets were full of them. In fact, one fell out of my pocket as I stepped back in the truck and Parker the Dog ate it. Rich drove us back up to the house and that was that.

Well, this morning I received a text from him. On the way to work he had to make a sudden stop, and when he did, out the corner of his eye he saw something fly from the passenger seat and smash into the dash. And what do you suppose it was? Yep, I had lost another egg out of my pockets and left it behind in the seat to become a missile. It broke and everything. ha ha (sorry honey!)

Another fantastic way to use up an overflow of eggs is homemade pudding.

Vanilla Pudding

In a heavy medium saucepan combine 3/4 cup sugar and 3 T. cornstarch or flour. Stir in 3 cups of milk. Cook and stir over medium heat till bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Gradually stir 1 cup of milk mixture into 4 beaten egg yolks or 2 beaten eggs.

Add egg mixture to milk mixture in saucepan. If using egg yolks, bring to a gentle boil; if using whole eggs, cook till nearly bubbly but do not boil. Reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat Stir in 1 T butter and 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Pour pudding through a fine sieve to remove any clumps. Then pour into a cooked pie shell or a bowl; cover with plastic wrap, pressing wrap to touch the top and prevent a “skin”. Chill.

Chocolate Pudding

Prepare as above except add 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder along with the sugar. Use 2 T. cornstarch or 1/4 cup flour, 2 2/3 cups milk, and 4 eggs yolks (not whole eggs)

RECIPE SOURCE: Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (mine is falling apart, it’s well used)

NOTE: The part about the sieve is not in the original recipe. But, although I am sure no one in my family would even notice a tiny clump or two, I cannot stand little tiny clumps of cooked egg and so far have not perfectly mastered the technique of cooked custard. So I use the sieve just in case. Also, I know I mentioned that I would be sharing recipes that used five or more eggs. But I figured that you will want to double the recipes because homemade pudding is so nutritious and delicious.

Another NOTE: Rich’s favorite is a pie made of vanilla pudding over a sliced banana! I’m also going to try pouring cooled but not too solid yet pudding into a popsicle maker.

*****

David got home while I was finishing up this blog post and he showed me two Barnes and Noble gift cards that he won today at school. The first one was given because he was the student who had read the most books this school year. Then, he won another when his name was taken out of a raffle box. He also told me that he looked swag today. I said, “I do not know what that even means.” And he said, “It means I looked cool.” This was his outfit: jeans, a blue t-shirt, a black jacket with the sleeves rolled up, a bracelet worn on his wrist, neon green socks, and black hyperdunk sneakers.

This is the first I’ve ever heard of him even caring to look swag.

*****

Happy Friday!

I am so sorry to have disturbed you

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Shanda

The first photo is of a rainy day duck (in our pond) on a very cold day, poor thing.

The rest of the pictures are from today…….when…..

…..all by my lonesome, I went for a ramble in the forest by our house. The air was sweet, woodsy, smelled of moss, and was gentle on the face. The tops of the tall trees swayed softly in the breeze. I stopped to look up up up at the blue sky and bare branches bending and waving, never stopping yet almost rhythmically, like the ripples of water in the pond which are never still.

I picked and chewed on wintergreen.

I walked as quietly as I could.

I noticed that the Mountain Laurel was brightening up.

I had my camera and put things in my pocket; acorns, moss, and a piece of bark.

I thought it would be nice if Joanna was with me, too.

Or a cat.

Or Grace.

I saw a tree which had woodpecker holes all over it (the photos are all of the same tree) I guess it’s full of nice tasty bugs.

I was following the voices of wood-frogs.

I saw something in the water that looked too big to be a frog. It was rolling around just underneath and small breathing bubbles were popping at the surface. Alarmed, I stood and observed. Soon I realized I was witnessing three or maybe even four frogs mating all together in one clump. They were almost silent the 10 or so minutes I stood there….only one of them let out one very small froggy-groan. I don’t think things were going well.

I moved on.

The beaver dam pond was full of mating wood frogs but the moment they sensed my presence they stopped their callings. “I am so sorry to have disturbed you”, I said, but I was rather offended, too. I wished there was some way I could let the wildlife know that I am a friend. I sat under a pine tree for a long time. There was a babysitter in the nursery of frog eggs staring cautiously at me.

Then, just as I was almost home, I came to a running spring and saw the marvelous sight of a robin thoroughly enjoying a bath.

“I took a walk in the woods
and came out taller than the trees”
~Thoreau

I want to read allllll the books

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Shanda

I would be most content

I dropped of David at school after an appointment and went to the library to return books.

I wandered the aisles and realized…..I wanted to read all the books. I imagined being stranded and locked up, in a library and I didn’t mind the image. So many books. It’s amazing how many have been written, how many are contained at the library, free for the borrowing.

if my children

a stack of my own books by the bathtub

grew up

what we listen to in the car

to be the kind of people

reading in a coffeeshop

who think decorating consists mostly of

currently reading:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

and

The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hamelin This book is the published diary of a German Jewish woman who began writing it at the age of 44 in the year 1690. She was compelled to write because her beloved husband had died and it gave her something to do during the long lonesome nights. She had 14 children and she wrote the diaries for them. In it, “She tells how she guided the financial and personal destinies of her children, how she engaged in trade, ran her own factory, and promoted the welfare of her large family. Her memoir, a rare account of an ordinary woman, enlightens not just her children, for whom she wrote it, but all posterity about her life and community. Gluckel speaks to us with determination and humor from the seventeenth century. She tells of war, plague, pirates, soldiers, the hysteria of the false messiah Sabbtai Zevi, murder, bankruptcy, wedding feasts, births, deaths, in fact, all of the human events that befell her during her lifetime.”

building enough bookshelves.

~Anne Quindlen

father and sons, etc

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Shanda

Rich and Ethan worked together on Sunday morning. But first, they gazed into the waters of the pond, longing to see their beloved fish. They saw three under the dock, two by the pipe, and one near the shore.

I spent the entire day on Saturday worried about Sarah because she was running a fever and complaining of a headache. After her surgery on the 3rd and her procedure on the 10th, everything in me wanted to rush her to the hospital for fear she had an infection, but logic and my husband held me back. Thankfully, on Sunday she woke up fine but pale so we stayed home from church to give her a day of rest. (Rich didn’t want to go without me because he’s going to be away half of this week on a business trip.)

The chicken coop needed its spring clean-out. Rich let Ethan drive the tractor for the first time and the two of them scraped all of the old bedding and hen droppings out of the coop and drove them in the bucket to the vegetable garden.

I watched from the porch as Rich coached Ethan VERY thoroughly in turning the tractor back around. I wondered why so much laughing was happening, and why Rich was so interested in Ethan turning around “just so” when Ethan has been driving for over a year now……

And why on earth Ethan found it all so very funny……and then…..I saw what was happening…….

Rich was instructing Ethan to back over my shoes which I had kicked off while cleaning up my flower beds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good boy, E, for not doing it!

After they got all the old bedding into the garden, Rich rototilled it all into the dirt. I asked him three times NOT to disturb my beloved rhubarb, and he asked me to come over and show him exactly where it was. And what did I see through the window when I was in the house making lunch? Something that very much looked like running over AND digging through the very spot I had showed him NOT to disturb. “Did you dig up my rhubarb?” I asked as soon as I got the chance. “I might have,” he said sorrowfully. I. could.not.believe.it. “Why did you ask me to show you where it was when you were just going to run it over anyway?” I cried. He said, “You are acting like I did it on purpose! I didn’t! I just forgot it was there!”

I cannot tell you how many times over the years that this man has forgotten “something was there” in the garden or lawn and ran it over, mowed it down, or dug it up. And then he wonders why I get upset. After all, it was only an innocent accident!

(You would think he would be more understanding when I ACCIDENTALLY put his clothes in his son’s dresser! )

David went to his favorite “junk” store downtown and bought an army jacket for 15 dollars. He said there was a name on it that the lady picked off with a seam ripper first, because the man didn’t want his name out in public. David had me wash and dry his jacket, although he did enjoy smelling like the store for a day. (aromatherapy)

David was instructed to prune back branches and briars from the edge of the property and guess what he did? Because he is his father’s son, he also cut down one of my favorite white birch trees! And then when I reprimanded him he got offended and hurt that I was upset and bringing it up repeatedly. He thought I had a mean expression on my face and was treating him unlovingly! Am I really expected to hold these men in my arms and soothe them by saying “there, there” when they accidentally destroy all my plants? He spent a bit of time with his friend Michael cleaning up the tree and all the many branches. There is a pile out by the driveway to be burned.

I didn’t get pictures of Grace’s first driving lesson. She drove my car (with her Dad in the passenger seat and Ethan in the back) from the top driveway to the lower driveway. Sarah and I leaned over the porch railing clutching our hearts and watching, running from railing to railing to keep an eye on her. When Grace got out, Sarah yelled “Good job, Grace! You only made two mistakes!” She was very proud of her sister. Ethan got out of the back with a look on his face that said, “Did you see that mom it was scary.” Grace had a bounce in her step and thought she did well. “Although I don’t think Dad realized at first that when he yelled at me to do something it would make me do it faster.” (like brake?)

Grace read her book all over the place. On couch, on porch, on patio, on swing. She was reading a Janette Oke book, remember those?

I began planting spring bulbs. I saw worms! I accidentally cut one in two, as a matter of fact.

Rich took me to admire the freshly cleaned chicken coop.

Caleb was coaching his friend Logan across the stream. Logan was yelling nervously, “Caleb! I’m on a wobbly rock!” Once he was safely to the other side, I heard Coach Caleb inform him that it had taken entirely too long.

I sat on the back of the truck and watched the birds come to the feeder which I hung in the bushes by the driveway. They were chirping and peeping and fluttering all over the place. It was quite dizzying. As soon as one took a seed, it flew to a branch to eat it while another bird quickly took it’s place at the feeder to do the same, and over and over they took turns.

There was a male cardinal moving about in the leaves underneath. I did so want a photo– but they all looked like this:

FINALLY, after much patience on my part, the cardinal went into an open space:

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The neatest thing happened while I was watching. All of a sudden, another cardinal way off in the distance called, and this one IMMEDIATELY without hesitation flew away to see what it wanted. I wish my kids were like that. 😉

another sarah story

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Shanda

I woke from a deep sleep and opened my eyes in a pitch dark room.

“That was NOT knocking on my door I just heard,” I reassured my very sleepy self and turned over to drift….away…..

The door opened slowly.

“Yes?” I said, politely. (I’ve trained myself through the years not to shriek)

“My stomach hurts!” said Sarah’s small voice.

“Are you hungry?”

“I….think so!” she said, uncertainly.

I didn’t realize at the time that she was looking for a different answer and simply wanted to sleep on the couch. But yesterday was another procedure day and she had to miss meals for it and I automatically thought that a stomach ache would make logical sense from lack of food.

It was 5:15 in the morning and soon she was munching on cereal but offered up this piece of information, “Usually when my stomach hurts you say go and sleep on the couch…..”

Ah.

When the cereal was gone she said, “It still hurts.”

I knew just what to say this time. “Let’s go get you on the couch.”

She smiled.

I asked Rich why she didn’t just get on the couch in the first place rather than wake me up.

“She’s not that type of girl. She needed to get your okay first.”

This is a photo she asked me to take of the Lego man at the hospital. We were there on Wednesday to get her stent removed. Unfortunately, she was very anxious about it and when it came time she started passionately crying. The doctor asked us to come back the next day so she could be sedated. At a children’s hospital every member of the staff knows the very best way to treat their small and vulnerable patients. They explained that because Sarah was so young, it was important for us to avoid any procedure that would cause any lasting fears or trauma. Even something as simple/quick as a stent removal needs to be done thoughtfully and with Sarah’s anxiety reduced as much as possible.

She liked the lego man because he was holding a picture of someone she learned about in school. “It’s a ferret? I mean, a fairy? And if you catch him he will take you to the end of a rainbow for a pot of gold.” This is what she was in the process of explaining when I took the picture.

It was 73 degrees that afternoon and we went to the woods and she played with her animals while I leaned against a solid, friendly pine tree and read a book.

A flock of chickens came walking out of the woods.

“Who’s chickens are those?” she asked, confused because they seemed to have journeyed from far away.

“Ours!” I answered.

She sat next to me and ate an orange and made me shoo away the hens if they came too near. Which they did, because they wanted oranges, too. We threw little bits of peel and laughed when a hen ran to pick it up and then drop it back down again, only to have another hen do the same thing because chickens don’t eat the peels either.

We were directed to not give her food after midnight and to only give her jello, ice pops, gatorade, apple juice, or water up until 11:30. To take our mind off food we went shopping. I don’t take her shopping too often because she absolutely LOVES it. She carefully looks at everything in the store and makes honest, careful decisions about what to buy. I had to remind her yesterday that there are limits and she, after all, has no job.

She picked out the pink sneakers that have lights from Target, and the sparkly pink braid from Justice.

We went back to the hospital at 2:30. The sedation entailed two syringes of clear fluid inserted into each nostril at the same time, with four of us holding her in position. She sat in my lap as she cried and sniffled and fidgeted with disgust, holding a towel over her nose and mouth to catch any drips. A VERY DREADFUL way to take medicine. But soon it did the trick and she was relaxed and smiling. The stent was removed in less than five seconds and the two of us were absolutely exhausted by the whole ordeal. A whole lot of fuss for a 4 second stent removal. UGH.

After we observed her and gave her a slushy I left her with the nurse and went on my way to the parking garage-6th floor-to get the vehicle and drive it to the hospital entrance where Sarah arrived in a wheelchair. She was confused as to why we wouldn’t let her walk, “Don’t my legs work? Can’t I walk?” “Yes, you’re just a little wobbly right now.” “No, I’m not!”

They said the medicine would make her forget the procedure but I keep waiting for her to forget and she hasn’t. The main purpose of the sedation was to make it less traumatic and it certainly did do that, she was calm and cheerful for the whole rest of the day. We drove through rush hour traffic to the nearest Wendy’s (she always craves a #9 after a doctor’s appointment–which is a grilled chicken sandwich *no fries*) and I got a big waffle cone with strawberry topping from across the road at Sonic. It did it’s part to soothe my nerves.

After we came home she was full of adrenaline and we had to make her stay somewhat quiet. However, this morning she’s all tuckered out. The excitement finally caught up to her. We look forward to a nice day together. (Right now she’s watching Gordimer Gibbons).