Happy Birthday Grandpa!

I was driving Ethan (my 13 year old son) home the other day when he said,
"Hey Mom, y'know what I was thinking about today?"

If you know Ethan, you know that this could have been anything from  a new app to finger-boarding obstacles to a new shirt at Tilly's to  magnetic roads that wouldn't allow cars to crash into each other.
So I answered, "No buddy, what?"
"Well, I was thinking about when I had the flu, and I threw up like every 5 minutes  and I thought I was going to die.   And then you called Grandpa and he got you that little pill to give to me  and I was all better in like....7 minutes!
(Grandpa is a retired pediatrician...just wanted to throw that in there...)
I think that makes Grandpa a superhero."
I smirked and said, "Grandpa is pretty awesome isn't he."
And then he changed the subject to space travel...but while he was dreaming about rockets, I was still thinking about my Dad.

Ethan didn't really know how close he was to the truth.
My Dad has always been Ethan's superhero.
The kind of superhero that got out of bed in the middle of the night when his  pregnant daughter's water broke two months early and his son-in-law was working in Sweden, and drove like a bat-out-of-you-know-where to get me to the hospital.
The kind that held my hand during the emergency c-section and watched  every single move the surgeon and neo-natologist made.
The kind that watched over that little baby that couldn't breathe well when  they took him to another hospital for better treatment.

The kind that walked into the NICU and made sure every single nurse, doctor and administrator knew that the little soul in the 4th incubator was HIS grandson,  and they all better do everything they knew how to do to get him home safely.
And after a few weeks....he came home....perfect.
But he never stopped being that superhero.

He kept track of every milestone and measurement.
He has treasured every smile, every giggle, every hug.

Hs rushed over for every cough and fever so that my boys would never have to go to an urgent care.
He'd say, "you don't want to take them there honey, too many germs.  I'll just come over."
He's done all this countless times, and every time I am beyond thankful. 

Happy Birthday Dad. Thank you for always watching over all of us. Your care and attention has never gone unnoticed, not even once.
But you know what....even if you never had magic feel better pills, even if you'd never made one house call, you'd still be our superhero, just for loving us.

Corset Cookies for.....Cliff?

So now that I'm out and about, I've started Cardio Rehab. What's that you ask?
Well, its like the gym,  but with lots of nurses who stick wires on you to monitor your heart rate.

No...the nurses don't wear the corsets.

They wear regular workout clothes.

But they are adorable.

Fun and chatty and happy and upbeat.

They make working out a pleasure.

And they are all rock stars in their own way...

Patty just ran the Boston Marathon,
Karin's son has the same teacher that my son had! (and she is one on our favorite people in the world...Hi Mrs. Potter!)
Hillary has a similar last name as mine... which means we have TONS of silly cultural things to chat about.
Teresa is just plain lovely and always lifts everyone's spirits.
(There are even more ladies behind the computers watching our hearts beat!!)

(again with the corsets....what's with the corsets!)
Well, its a motley crew of exercisers at Cardio Rehab.
Mary and I (Mary has 8 great-grandchildren!) try to stick together on the Nu-steps. Before Mary gets there, I have some time on the treadmill and Cybex machine.
I have a GREAT view of all the older gentlemen that come to class.

They are a wild bunch.

Quite lively for men that all have some sort of cardiac issue.

How lively you ask....

This was my view from the treadmill last week...

Yup.

I'll be sad when my time here is done.

Next time I'll try to get a picture of the guy with the naughty socks.

On the other hand...I think a few of them are single.

Anyone have any frisky grandmothers who could keep up with these guys?

I'm Baaaaa-aaaaack!

HI!!!!
I'm all better! Yay!
YAY!!!! (doing a little clappy-happy dance)
I still have a little way to go. Lots more cardio-rehab. The ginormous bowl of medicines on my night table isn't going anywhere.
But more or less...I'm doing GREAT!!!!
No more leaky heart!

Before I show you more cookies, I'd like to be a little bit serious for just a minute if you don't mind....


When you hear something serious from a doctor, something that you know is going to affect you and your family, it's scary.
It's really, really scary. And that's okay.
I had to learn that. (it's one of the many things I've learned) I had to tell myself over and over again. It's okay to be scared.
Because....when you're scared, and you let yourself say it out loud....
"I'm Scared" and  "I Need Help"
.....something happens.
The people around you, the ones that love you, hold you up.
They hold your hand, give you a hug, make you laugh when you want to cry.
And the scared bit....starts to get a little smaller everyday.
Pretty soon....I wasn't crying with fear, or pain. Almost everyday there were tears of gratitude.
There will never be enough words to thank the friends and family who have taken care  of me and my boys over the past few months.
I have so many stories to tell you about them all,  and I can't wait to celebrate them and their generosity.

Thank you to all of you too.
For sticking around and waiting for me to return. For the overwhelming amount of emails expressing your concern. For the countless prayers and well-wishes.
I'm a very lucky girl.

All these cookies were baked the day before my surgery. I packaged them up in three big batches  and my husband brought them in for the nurses every other day.
Nothing like bribing the lovely ladies in charge of the pain meds.

Which reminds me...

Time to find that big red bowl.
Hugs and kisses to everyone!!!

Hearts!

Love day is coming and so are the hearts!!!
Heart cookies are beautiful and don't need a lot of decoration to get their point across.


Sometimes they're a bit bossy....

'Be Mine Valentine Cookies'

....some are very chatty and talk all night...

'Conversation Hearts'

...while others are quietly cute.

'The Heart of the Matter'

These like to go 'au natural'...

'Jack's I Love You Cookies'

Some hearts belong to someone right from the start.

'Valentines for My Rock Star'

Unfortunately....some have a hole where they're not supposed to 

and are leaking all over the place.

...and that would be mine.

Yup, I have a leaky heart.

I didn't always have one 

(or if I did, it was so tiny that my doctors couldn't quite hear it)

but I do now, and boy....is it ever a doozy.

So that's where I've been for the past month or so.

I've had lots and lots of pictures taken of my insides.

Tests and measurements galore!

But these doctors aren't quite done yet.

My little leaky heart needs a fix 

(technically a mitral valve repair)

that is going to move me out of the kitchen for awhile.

I've got a couple weeks until it gets fixed.

But before and after, I'll be at home with my feet up,

 watching every single show Bravo has to offer 

and getting all caught up on my reading and photo editing!

Hopefully, I'll be spending some time here sharing lots of pictures with you all.

But, since I've never been through this before, I'm not sure how I'll be feeling.

So if I go missing for a bit again, now you'll know where I'll be!

Good thoughts, prayers and well wishes are always welcome!!!

Much love to you all!