Pain in the Back

Pain in my Back.  “Seriously?!” was the thought going through my head tonight as I felt the incision on my back rip open after picking up my 38 pound son. I reached down the back of my shirt trying to feel where my scar should be.  Nope, lovely gaping hole in my back. So gross. I showed my husband, hoping that my fears were wrong. My daughter was quite enthralled “let me see!”. “I have to go to the doctor” I told my kids. My son replied “Why?” “Because she split open her back!” my daughter informed him. So off to the doctor I went. We tried to walk-in clinic down the street first in hopes that we wouldn’t be spending another night in the ER. As luck would have it I was in and out in under an hour. Unfortunately the doctor informed me that wound was too deep to glue and too fragile re-stitch so he and the nurse, taped it together as best they could. “Try to keep it held together for at least 10 more days” he informed me. Hmmm, I just pulled my socks on and could already feel one piece of tape slipping. This is truly a ‘pain in my back’.

Eating out with Kids. Last night my husband and I had the pleasure of going on a double date with my brother and his wife.  Rather than swap gift cards (as we have in the past), we decided it would be much more enjoyable to forgo gifts between siblings and enjoy a rare night out together.

Before I get into our night out let me tell you about our adventure getting to our night out. You see yesterday the west coast was blanketed with snow. This is not typical (from what I’m told) December weather and thus caused massive traffic problems. On the way to meet my husband I was tuned into the traffic report. I heard countless stories of downed trees and large chunks of ice falling from one of the bridges on to cars below. At one point the reporter said “if there’s a hill, just assume there is a problem”.

When I arrived at my husband’s work, I got to meet his boss, who flew in from the east coast. He told me that he had been working on his laptop during his flight and when he closed it up as they were about to land, he looked out the window at all the snow and for a moment wondered if he was on the wrong plane!

My sister-in-law was coming to meet us from the city. She had to take a bus to the skytrain station and then should have had a short commute. But it ended up taking her nearly two hours to meet us. As she was walking to the bus station she first noticed that there were at least 50 people also waiting for the bus and no busses in sight. She then noticed that people walking faster than cars were driving so she ended up just walking all the way to the train. Her feet got completely soaked from the slushy snow and she was sprayed again and again by passing cars. At one point she had to stop at a store and buy extra pairs of socks because her poor feet were so wet. She said it was like walking in a slurpee cup.

In the end we were all able to meet up, despite the weather. We went to the Keg for dinner, one of my favourite restaurants. I mentioned to my brother that I hadn’t been there since last year’s Christmas double-date. “But there’s one just down the street from your house” he replied. I then had to explain how going out for meals is just not something we do with two kids. “But your kids always seem so well-behaved when we go out.” he said. It’s not that they are not well-behaved, it’s that we are constantly on edge when we are out. We know they are not likely to want anything from the menu and if we do splurge and get them a meal, they end up complaining that it’s too hot or say something like “these chicken nuggets are not the same as McDonald’s”. Inevitably we end up pulled out fishy crackers or an assortment of other snacks to keep them quiet…I mean fed. The ONE colouring page the restaurant supplies the kids keeps them entertained for about three minutes and then after that we are spending the remaining time finding other things to entertain them. And no matter how many toys you pack, it seems that they are ‘bored’ within about 30 minutes.  That’s when shoes come off and kids start climbing, under, over or through the table. At some point they are likely going to start singing loudly, especially if there the guests sitting next to you who are having a business dinner/lunch. Today my Mom and I hit up our favourite Mexican restaurant while we were shopping in the States. Again, it was a special treat to be out for a meal. But within 20 minutes I found myself saying “Jack, you can’t do somersaults in the restaurant ” “Why?” he replied. And yes this was right in front of the table beside us where two gentlemen were having a business lunch. See it never fails. So as “good” as my kids may seem to my brother. We are constantly on edge, watching the time, wondering how long until we have to grab everything and go. So going out for a leisurely dinner on a double-date, with actual adult conversation is a true pleasure!

Quick Book Review. After dinner we all went to the theatre to see the movie Life of Pi. I’m a big fan of the book. I read it earlier this fall after my brother convinced me it was worth reading. You see I have a tendency to give up on a book after about 20 pages if it doesn’t capture me. Life of Pi kind of bored me until half way through and after that I couldn’t read it fast enough. The ending (no spoilers) made the book and I thought the movie did a great job of capturing the beauty of the story. I’m not sure if my husband appreciated the movie as much as I did but perhaps he is just a little sad that I seem to be the only person on the planet not interested in seeing the Hobbit.

Until I write again…

Shay

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

It’s Always Something. Nothing like going to the doctor  to have MY stitches removed and the first thing the doctor says is “so before we get started,  let’s discuss your son. Because I was up all night reading his test results”. That’s re-assuring. Sigh. Short story is on top of whatever else seems to going on with him, he now also has a UTI. He is on medication and it looks like we will be following up in the new year with more tests including an ultra sound. I can only pray that one of these days they are going to get to the bottom of my son’s ailments and we will finally get some answers. For now he seems happy today despite a runny nose.  I let Jack sleep in our bed last night because my husband was worried about him. I can’t worry about him because I am on this “I refuse to freak out and worry until I get some answers quest” but my husband was worried, so Jack slept with me. I know some people LOvE sleeping with their kids. I’d like to say I do. I mean, when they are sleeping I think they are the most cute and precious creatures ever imaginable, but get them in my bed and ug. I’m getting an elbow here and a foot here (if it’s my daughter). My son on the other hand sleeps sideways with his head shoved right in my arm pit. I tried moving him but he was like a spring and within seconds had sprung back to his arm pit position. Not comfortable. It’s no wonder since he was sideways in my stomach my whole pregnancy. Took a c-section AND forceps to get him out. He’s a stubborn one if nothing else.

So anyways, back to my stitches. No big deal, just a biopsy on a weird-looking mole but it resulted in five stitches in my mid back. Right where you can quite reach so of course they were agonizingly itchy. I asked my husband if it was going to leave a scar since i can only sort of see it when holding my hand mirror over my shoulder while i stand with my back to the bathroom mirror.  He replied “some people get tattoos, you get scars”. It’s so true. My back and stomach are like a road map from all the minor and major medical procedures endured. Seriously though, it doesn’t bother me. My doctor recently asked me where the giant scar on my stomach came from. “The last two times were c-sections and the first was exploratory surgery from a ruptured appendix. All the same scar” I said proudly. “Alright then” he replied. I think for me they are a right of passage. A sign that life tried to throw something my way and I threw it back.

On a more serious note though, I have to say that my five-year old was pretty upset about my recent surgery.  “What do you mean you can’t carry my back pack?”  For the last week I have heard her say with great concern “is your back ok? Does it hurt?”  It truly shocked me how she was affected by it. Add on a flu stricken head-cold sniffling me and now she is truly unhappy.  “mommy I don’t like it when you’re sick”.  It’s funny how we overlook how our health effects the short ones in our life. It reminds me that I am being watched by my kids all the time. They hear me when I’m on the phone. They notice when I’m in a bad mood. They are always there watching, listening, learning. So to this point I will be making an extra effort to keep them in mind as I go about my daily routines. Maybe I can keep my mood a bit lighter even when I’m in pain or unhappy. Maybe I’ll take an extra minute to share with them something great that’s going on with my day. Maybe I tried this today and my five-year old said “are we done taking yet? Can I go play?”

Let it Snow! We had our first snow fall today since January. I know a lot of the areas around us have had snow earlier but we seem to live in what I call “the weather bubble” and are rarely if ever affected by snow. But today we have snow! My daughter was so excited all she wanted to do was to skip school and build a snowman. Since living here we’ve managed to build a snowman once. Back in January it snowed one day. But as we were building our snowman, it was raining. Never done anything like that before. Building a melting snowman. And the next day it was hot and sunny so we watched it finished melting. Today seems like the snow might actually be sticking. My son had a great time playing outside. I got out all the beach toys and his big truck. He did fall down once and could not get up. I guess his bulky cloths and snow pants made it difficult. I being the good mom, of course, laughed and then took a picture before I actually helped him. I also built him a soccer ball sized snow ball I thought would be fun for him to stomp. He got quite upset when he tried to kick it like a ball and nothing happened. I guess I should have clarified what I meant by snow “ball”. He soon discovered how fun it was to throw snow at me. Especially with his giant shovel. So we had some good laughs there. At least until he tried throwing it at himself. Not a big fan of wet, cold, snow in his face. Oh well. It’s suppose to warm up and start raining so I’m not sure how long it will last.  But we’ll enjoy it while it’s here.

No Snow at the Beach. On my way home from the doctor’s office I drove down to the beach. I love the beach and still can’t believe I get to live 10 minutes away. I’ve never been to the beach when it’s snowing so I thought it would be really fun to go check it out. Apparently the beach is also in the weird weather bubble because it was not snowing there. But I went for a little stroll anyways. It was amazing. The water is usually so calm, almost never any waves. Today the tide was so high and the waves were crashing all over the place. I took a bunch of pictures and stood back in awe. Then I watched some people walk along the promenade and get hit by a wave. It was awesome. What were they thinking? Standing back I could clearly see that the waves were crashing so high it was splashing all over the picnic tables and such. Did they think their umbrella would help them? I know I shouldn’t laugh, but it was really funny to see the shock on their faces. The people next to me laughed too.

Umbrellas for Snow. I forgot how people here use their umbrellas in the snow. I spent seven years living in what felt like the coldest place on earth where it snowed every day for about 8 months and I’ve never seen anyone use an umbrella in the snow. But out here on the west coast it is very common. As I dropped my daughter at school I saw a few moms with umbrellas and even more as I drove around this morning. It looks completely weird to me yet makes so much sense. Especially when the snow here is so wet. That’s what I find so weird. When it snows, your coat gets soaked. Not used to that. Back home its dry snow. Hard to even make a snowman.

Alright I gotta go. Lots to do now that my head-cold seems to be winding down. If you are reading this somewhere its snowy keep warm and drive safely!

Until I write again.

Shay

Wacky Wednesday

Wacky Wednesday. I’m writing this post as I sit in the tea-cup chairs of Chapters book store. I’m not sitting in the kids section because I’m with my kids. I’m sitting here because the power just went out and they’ve locked us in the store. Just as I was thinking to myself “I’m just about done my Christmas shopping and can finally go home” BAM, power out. And so goes my day. This morning my daughter declared today “Wacky Wednesday” and I think got it right.

Here’s how my day begun. 5am and my two-year old son comes in to my bedroom “Mommy, I have to pee”. Sigh. “Ok” I say and drag my butt out of bed and him to the bathroom. After which I promptly return him to his room explaining that 7am is a much more reasonable hour upon which to rise. 3o minutes later and he’s back in my room “Mommy, I pooped”. “You have to go poop, or you pooped in your pajamas?” Want to take a guess on his answer? Ten minutes later, I’ve got him cleaned up, my bathroom cleaned up and thrown out his pjs (they did not survive the disaster). By now it’s nearly 6am and I’m wide awake.

On the way downstairs I dropped my son’s stainless steel water bottle. BANG, BANG, BANG, CRASH, it went down the stairs slamming into our hardwood floors. That’s when my daughter declared it Wacky Wednesday. And so the tale continues.

A few hours later I’m laying on the table at my doctor’s office having minor surgery and the fire alarm goes off. Again and again and again. Thankfully no one seemed to be too alarmed about …the alarm so I was able to stay put. Can you imagine having to leave while your half-naked and being stitched up? And now here I sit writing this blog entry. I’ve just been informed that they want us all to leave but they seem to have some type of back-up power on the cash registers so we should be able to pay for our items on the way out.  Wacky Wednesday indeed.

Paper Towel Dress. Last week I was at the my doctor’s office for my yearly check-up. The nurse tells me to undress all but my socks and hands me a ‘gown’ to put on.  Ok seriously, what is up with this ‘gown’?  I looked at that thing and all I could think was it looked and felt like a giant paper towel. And not even the expensive kind, the cheap no-name brand.  When the doctor enters he asks me how I’m doing. My reply “well I’m basically wearing a piece of paper and I’m freezing cold”. “I meant how are you feeling these days? Any concerns?” “Oh…”

A Bit of Gratitude.  When I put my daughter to bed tonight she decided it was a good time to have a serious deep discussion about religion, where babies come from and cancer. Awesome. Just the conversations I want to have with my five-year old at 7:30 at night. I did my best to answer each of her questions with just enough information that I felt was age appropriate. Once she seemed satisfied and no longer curious, she was content to go to sleep. As much I was feeling a little overwhelmed and surprised by the conversation, I am grateful that she was comfortable enough to ask me questions. I hope to be able to sustain this type of communication in the years to come. Maybe just not quite so late at night, and not all at once.

Until I write again…

Shay