From 2008 08 23 Bo...

Okay, I had been waiting to do this picture for some time -- I wanted some nice pics of the boys in front of corn to welcome our fans to our new world. My car accident and Dave's appendix, plus Jake starting school, kept putting this little mission in the back of my head.

Today I decided I could get the boys to a nearby cornfield this afternoon and try to get the sunlight correct for a nice photo to include in some of the "We've Moved" cards for those who don't have computer access, such as my 95-year-old grandmother in FL.

Unfortunately, Jake was in a pretty bad mood, from lack of sleep last night, and it was tough to get him in the right mood to do this at first. The first photo was from about 11am, the one above was from about 1pm, on the way to the movies to see "The Clone Wars". The movie was all right, from my perspective, but the boys LOVED it...full of action.

Cellos were playing what????

I found a pretty good radio station here, better than anything I could find in NC or in FL.

"The River" plays a nice variety of newer rock music (Audioslave, Beck, Flogging Molly) with some "classics" mixed in (I heard some R.E.M. from Document, U2 from War, and old Offspring today). I typically have to reserve listening to that station for when there are no kids in the car.

The neighbor who lives behind us, Alissa, watched Timmy briefly today while I ran some errands by myself (a first in a LONG time!) I watched her kids briefly this morning so she could go to an eye appointment. When I was pulling into the Post Office on the Air Force Base, I heard a gorgeous -- I know, strange word in this context -- cover of "One" by Metallica. Cellos. Lots of cellos. I've always liked that song and many others by Metallica (you learn something new about me every day). This version was mesmerizing!

I sat in the small parking lot until the song was over, and the deejay said that the group playing was called "Apocalyptica" from Finland. Four cellos and a drummer. Classically trained at Finland's equivalent to Juilliard, the Sibelius Academy. They specialize in covers of Metallica, but also dabble in other "heavy metal" or "thrash metal", such as Slayer and Rammstein.

And it gets better -- this group of cellos from Finland will be performing in downtown Omaha next month. It's on a Thursday night, but hey! Jake doesn't have school the next day....hmmmmm.....

I checked some of their music on You Tube and, based on the videos, the same crowds who frequent Metallica concerts would also probably go to a concert such as this, so I'm not sure I'm going to make an effort to go. I mean, look at these guys! Could you see ME at a concert featuring guys who look like that???

*A Side Note: How many of you knew I'd been playing violin since I was 10 years old? And I used to be pretty good? And I was truly torn between majoring in music or meteorology in college? That was a very tough decision. Reflections of my violin teacher and other music mentors in picket lines while I was in high school helped make my decision. I found ways to keep up my music up until Timmy was born in 2005...I haven't played at all since. Need to break out my violin!

Dave's Home!

He was discharged tonight around dinnertime. That "original pain" mentioned in the previous blog post, that sent Dave to the ER on Wednesday night in the first place, hasn't returned since about this time last night.

A Gastro-Intestinal specialist worked with Dave's case today and presented this as the cause: mesenteric adenitis. Basically a virus affecting the lymph nodes near the appendix. Read more at the website I linked. I'm anything but smart when it comes to such medical issues. Dave seemed to fit the bill according to the article, though.

He doesn't regret losing his appendix, we figured it would have hit him at some point in his life. Call it preventive medicine.

Dave's probably on quarters (i.e., at home on doctor's orders) for the week, which is fine.

So What Else Could POSSIBLY Happen to Us Here in NE?

Dave went to the emergency room at about 4pm Wednesday with pains near his appendix. After a CT scan at 7pm, it was inconclusive whether it was really appendicitis, but Dave and the doctor made the decision at about 8:30pm to perform a "laproscopic appendectomy" Wednesday night. The surgeon (an Air Force doctor, actually, with privledges at the hospital) was able to look around quite a bit with the camera and couldn't see any other problems, it's most likely that Dave was responding to the earliest stages of appendicitis. They removed the appendix. At least that won't bug him in the future!

Dave's been in recovery since midnight Wednesday night/Thursday morning. He spent all of Thursday at the hospital with hopes of coming home Thursday afternoon. I spent several hours at the hospital Thursday over 3 visits (Timmy and Jake can only tolerate but so much time in a hospital room).

Unfortunately, he's still at the hospital. The original pain that brought him to the emergency room in the first place is still present even after the surgery. He's currently on Vicadin and that's keeping the pain at bay (and his brain at bay, too!) His surgeon has elevated his case to the next level and on Thursday night a GI specialist is supposed to come in and do a consult.

The response from the families in Dave's office has been astounding! It's a little awkward since we just moved here, so in many ways I'm receiving all these offers to watch the boys and cook meals from complete strangers, but they won't be strangers for long, and of course we're all family: they're all part of our Air Force Family!

Tonight Dave's group commander (a Colonel, it's his boss's boss) and his wife brought over spaghetti with (bison) meat sauce that was TO DIE FOR! Too bad the boys took exception to the spaghetti and sauce already being mixed together, and also too bad Dave couldn't taste it when it was fresh out of the pot. I've heard from several other wives asking how they can help out...the meals are great because I'm using the time I would spend preparing meals visiting with Dave.

So that's where we stand: Dave's appendix is out, but he's still in a lot of pain in his lower abdomen. I'm trying to keep busy with the kids and the house -- last night in the emergency room, and today while Timmy was napping and Jake was at school, I worked on stamping "We've Moved" cards. Cranked out about 50 of them!

Memories II

Memories

I'm so happy about this! The past couple houses we've had, we've hung up a few pictures of the family, but nothing at all like what I'd like. I had many...many....many pictures in frames that you'd prop up on a table, but those had to come down once the curious kids came along. They'd been put away for some 5 years now.

But then I discovered 3M Command Adhesive Picture Hanging Strips! They're basically Velcro strips that you attach to the picture frame and the wall. Now I could hang non-hooked frames up on the wall!

I asked Dave if we could do a mosaic-style stairwell, and I was thrilled when he offered to put up all the pictures himself! I didn't know how I'd arrange them, but I just told Dave, "Doesn't matter the order, so long as they're all up!". I think he did a wonderful job.

It looks eccentric, I know, but I love seeing all of our friends and family there.

The next blog post is the wall on the other side of the staircase, which has plenty of space for more pictures. I have several from NC that still need frames.

The Offutt AFB Airshow!

We didn't want to fight the crowds, so we watched the show from the levee of Papio Creek on the bike trail near our house. We had a great view of the Thunderbirds show, Dave and I have seen it enough times that we didn't need the narration anymore :-)