The Queen is Coming!

Her Royal Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, is coming to Virginia next month (Sorry if I mis-referenced her. Learning how to reference the Queen and to speak to her is not taught in schools here since we have no queen.) She's coming for the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown, Virginia settlement. I saw a picture in the paper of her and Prince Phillip taken here in 1957 when she came for the 350th anniversary.

Anyway, the news around here is going nuts. They are trying to teach us what to call her should we speak to her, only to shake hands if she offers first, not to bow since we aren't her subjects, etc.

J, lost in Disney princess land, is very excited and told me she wanted to go see the Queen. I explained to her we aren't important enough to get to meet her or see her. I understand there is a lottery for 54 slots to watch her walk by outdoors near our state's capitol building. The day the lottery opened, there were 11,000 applicants.

I think it's pretty exciting, too, but I'm not making any plans. What I think is especially funny is that we (Americans) made such a point about getting rid of all royalty, nobility, and aristocracy when we formed the country, and yet today we are very, very enthusiastic about British royalty.

None

N's fever broke in the night to nights ago. It got as high as 103°F, but that didn't last. He didn't go to school Friday even without the fever because his throat was still sore, he was worn out, and he had almost no voice. I'm planning to send him on Monday.

N got me up the last two nights. In the middle of last night he wet the bed and I had to change the sheets. Unfortunately, when I tried to adjust his mattress, his box springs fell though the bed frame, and I had to try to get it back on. This happened twice, and I gave up getting the mattress on straight. It is unfortunate because I should never have been lifting the box spring and mattress after the surgery, and it caused me a lot of stomach pain and cramping. I had to get the hot water bottle bottle for my sore stomach afterwards. Hopefully I didn't damage anything inside me. I doubt it because the pain is unnoticeable today unless I'm trying to lift something (like K). I had just been getting a lot better, too. Anyway, I see the doctor for my follow up appointment on Thursday, and I hope she finds everything fine so I can go back to the gym, garden, etc., without restrictions.

I was going to write more, but K just got up from her nap, and I need to feed her a yogurt.

Wearing out

I'm wearing out. N has been sick since yesterday. He's got a sore throat and a fever. The fever has been as high as 102.6 °F. I took him to the doctor's yesterday (when the fever was lower) since he told me that strep throat is going around his school. He was swabbed and checked for it. He doesn't have it. The doctor thought it was just a cold. I'm guessing it's some other virus since his temperature has been over 102. Anyway, the treatment is probably the same unless this turns out to be bacterial.

I'm still crampy, nauseous, and sore. The soreness is getting better. The last two nights, I've been unable to fall back to sleep once I get up to pee because of the cramps and nausea. Both times I've taken an ibuprofen for the cramps and finally fallen back to sleep for a little bit. Today I only fell asleep for about 30 minutes because K woke me up, crying. Finally I took a shower in the night, and N got up and told me all about his sore throat. He knew I took a shower, but apparently he didn't understand me when I told him I was going to sleep in since I'd already had my shower. Right at 7:15 a.m., when I usually get up to shower, he began to whimper and whine in front of my door. He complained his throat hurt and he couldn't breathe (I think he's just congested). I think it's been a long time since N's had a bad cold, and he's the only one I know that's even a bigger baby and complainer than I am. Anyway, he interrupted my last chance at getting some sleep.

J fell at the doctor's office yesterday. I brought K in the stroller, and I had to hold her because she fussed so much. J took that opportunity to play with the stroller. She promptly fell on the floor and bruised her shoulder, breaking the skin. Had we been home, I'd have had antibiotic ointment, but we were in the examining room, waiting for Nick's strep test to be done. The doctor and nurse weren't in the room at the time. Jessica was already screaming (hard to notice over how loud K was crying), and I got some of the hand sanitizer (mostly ethyl alcohol) from the room's sink, and put it on her shoulder, warning her it would hurt. Her yelling got even louder. It was absolutely miserable at the doctor's while we waited to learn that there wasn't anything to be done for N. J is fine except for the bruised shoulder.

K has a funny patch on her leg. It might just be a bruise. It might be a reaction to her vaccinations a couple weeks ago. It might be an insect bite. I've noticed she's got a lot of other little red dots on her belly and now her face, but she was in the grass Tuesday and yesterday and I'm wondering if the chiggers got her. Anyway, I'm going to hope that it's nothing and will just go away for now.

J was supposed to go to N's school today and register for kindergarten. Because N is sick, we can't go. All her friends are registering today. I called the school and told them my situation, and they said to bring her in June after school lets out or in August. She's been looking forward to today so she's kind of disappointed.

Boy, I've complained a lot today. I think things will seem a lot better after a good night's sleep. I hope tonight is my lucky night.

Need to bump that horrid picture down

It's creepy opening my blog and having to view my stomach. Now I'll have to scroll down if I want to see it. I must say that I probably picked the worst angle for a picture of my stomach. It looks much better if I'm flat on my back or standing up instead of halfway sitting up, as I needed to be to shoot it myself easily.

J got invited over to a friend from preschool's house after preschool yesterday. Since the friend's mom offered, I took her up on her offer to bring J back to our house afterwards. Since I didn't have to rush to pick J up from preschool since she went home with her friend, I was able to fit in a nap yesterday when K fell asleep. That was wonderful. I'm still very sleepy. I spoke to my mom on the phone yesterday, and she said sometimes it takes a couple weeks to get over the sleepiness you get after being knocked out.

K and I went to the gym yesterday after dropping J off at preschool. I put J in the child care and then sat on a chair in the lobby and rested and started a sodoku puzzle. After about an hour, I took a ten to fifteen minute walk outside the building, and then came back to retrieve K to go home. At home, I got the nap after K fell asleep.

My mom brought me an umbrella-style clothes line for my birthday (which isn't until September). She said I could have it now. I need to get a hole made in the yard in which to install it, but there's no point in rushing since I can't carry laundry outside yet. Still, it's nice because I've wanted a clothes line for so long, and the umbrella-style ones just aren't available around here. I hate running the dryer in the house at the same time I'm running the air conditioning. It just feels like such a waste of energy and my money.

Recovering

I took this shot of my navel (and the incision) after lowering the waist of my gym pants a bit and raising my shirt a bit to show my belly. For the record, I had a lovely, flat belly before I had children. Now you might mistake this picture for white bread dough.

Anyway, I though there might be a bit of curiosity about what the incision looked like. The funny color is a bruise just below my navel. I didn't see it until last night when I removed the band-aid. I knew it has felt bruised since Friday. Last night, there were still steri-strips across the cut, but they fell off in the night. I didn't put anything back on. The bruise is rather green, I assume, because it has mostly healed. The thin dark strip sort of parallel to the top and bottom of the photo is where dirt or lint has stuck to the adhesive from the band-aid. The red thing is the actual incision.

I took my last percoset Friday evening (narcotic w/tylenol). I had a lot of pain that day. The surgery director from the hospital called me that day to see how I was. She said that pain on both the left and right sides below my navel was probably my fallopian tubes spasming from the bands put on them.

I'm still trying to get my two-week follow up appointment with my ob/gyn. She's booked solid until four weeks after the surgery, but they are still trying to find a spot to squeeze me in.

I hurt some, and I'm still pretty exhausted. My mom and her fiance left for Michigan this morning. I decided not to go to church because even the weight of my purse makes my stitches hurt. I'd rather take it easy. I pretty much can't do anything I enjoy. Gardening is to strenuous. Lying on my back and letting K crawl all over is out of the question. I can't watch Rockford Files on DVD because N, J, and K seem to need me every two minutes. Mr. K is at the rental. Today is the first day since the surgery I've been picking K up. My mom had been doing it for me until she left. K's is heavy enough it hurts me to lift her.

I think my allergies are acting up or I have yet another cold. My nose is running, and I'm sneezing a lot. If it's a cold, it might explain the fatigue I'm having. Otherwise it's from the surgery. I pretty much don't feel like doing anything but resting.

Sterilized

It's done. Today my belly feels like it was cut opened, which it was. I'm groaning ever time I turn over, so I'm waiting for my husband to get up so I can have the entire bed to myself and moan to my heart's content

In general, I'm fine. Nothing went wrong. I did throw up afterwards, but I'm now wearing something (a transdermal patch) behind my ear to control the nausea for the next two days.

K was very glad to see me when I got home. I don't think we've ever spent so many hour apart since her birth.

Insomnia

I'm up and thirsty. I can't sleep. I really need a drink of water, but there won't be any for me until after my surgery, which happens at 2 p.m., but I need to be to the hospital at noon.

I hope to never need an enema again or to have to consume another bottle of citrate of magnesium.

I watched an episode of Rockford Files on DVD before using the computer. Hopefully my nighttime adventures aren't keeping the rest of the house up. I'm thinking of getting a shower before I go back to try to sleep. That way I don't have to get up at 7:15 to use the shower. Once I finally do fall asleep, it will probably be almost daylight and I won't have much time to sleep before the alarm goes off.

I wonder if sleep while being knocked out counts for my body as sleep. If so, I'll catch up a little sleep this afternoon.

I think I'll go take a shower.

Not pregnant!

A nurse at my doctor's office called shortly after I returned home with J and told me the blood test run this morning showed I was not pregnant. I'm glad to hear that, but not at all surprised. I'm glad they called today and didn't wait until tomorrow.

Well, I guess the citrate of magnesium and the enema are still on for this evening. In about ten minutes I can call the hospital to find out the time of my surgery and the time I'm supposed to arrive. In theory, the surgery should be at 2 p.m., but they're never sure until the afternoon beforehand.

Waiting

I'm waiting for a lot of stuff. I'm waiting for J to be done with preschool. I'm waiting for a call back from my doctor's surgery scheduling nurse about whether or not I can take allergy-sinus-headache medicine tonight if I need it. I sure did last night. I'm waiting for my surgery, which is tomorrow.

This is sort of funny. I had my blood drawn yesterday morning for my pre-surgery screening. I got a call back in the afternoon that one of the tests was inconclusive and they'd need another blood sample to run it again. I asked which one. They said something about Beta, and that it had to do with confirming I wasn't pregnant. I'm sure I'm not. I'm on the pill, and I'm in the middle of my period so it's pretty unlikely. If I weren't in the middle of my period, I'd probably be very nervous. Anyway, they need a definite yes/no answer, so I had blood drawn today. I assume I'll hear nothing from them about it and will just show up for surgery tomorrow as planned. If the nearly impossible occurs, and I am pregnant, I sure hope they get in touch with me before I drink the citrate of magnesium this evening and do the enema.

Well, the nurse called, and I can take the medicine as long as it is before midnight. Now it's time for me to go get J.

Scared and grumpy

Well, I'm getting scared about my surgery. It's going to hurt, and I'm such a wimp. Tomorrow I go for blood work, and that will hurt, too, because a needle will be involved with the blood removal.

I'm a bit grumpy because in Friday's mail I got information from my doctor's office about "modified bowel prep" that I'll need to do. The sheet says it's for a.m. surgery, and mine will be in the p.m., so I'll call to see if I can delay some of the stuff by four hours, and at least get to eat all morning Tuesday.

It would appear I need to have empty intestines and an empty stomach for the surgery. I have to go on a diet, as far as I'm concerned. I am to eat nothing but clear liquids on Tuesday. Broth and Jello (the gelatin kind--I think it's called something else in England and probably Australia) are okay. So is clear pop. No milk or orange juice. I went out and purchased some broth, Gatorade, 7-Up, and transparent juices. The thought of no solid food just makes me miserable. But wait. It gets worse.

In the late afternoon, I'm supposed to drink a bottle of citrate of magnesium. I think that will bring on diarrhea. Then, if that wasn't bad enough, near bedtime, I am supposed to do a Fleet enema. I've never had one, and the though of shoving something where the sun doesn't shine (which is how I assume one does it) doesn't sit well with me.

That's still not all. After midnight on Tuesday, I cannot have anything more to eat or drink. No broth. No Gatorade. NO WATER!!!

The time of my surgery will be confirmed Tuesday, but I'm anticipating it will be around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. I will be starved from Tuesday, and then dehydrated all day Wednesday. I will arrive for my surgery two hours early on Wednesday, grumpy, sleepy (I doubt I'll sleep much the night before), thirsty, and weak, with my large intestine so empty it could be used for chitlings.

But, if all goes well, two weeks after the surgery, I'll see my ob/gyn again, and she'll tell me everything is fine, and I'll be very, very unlikely to have another pregnancy. All that will remain of the pre-surgery torture will be a dim memory and this post.

None again

I think I'm coming down with another cold. Maybe it's just that my allergies got so bad that I've come down with a cough, too.

I took all the kids to the gym this morning so I could work out. We also went yesterday. I decided to go today because tomorrow morning we are going to visit a friend of mine who has twin daughters between N and J's ages. They get along well. The strange thing is that they have chickens, too. It's strange because all the people my age where I used to work thought I was nuts to get chickens. Some of the older people grew up with chickens, though, and didn't think it so odd. I met this lady at playgroup after I had quit my job. She and her husband had just moved here from San Diego. He had asked to be transferred because the cost of living was so high there, he'd never be able to own a house. His company has its headquarters here, so that's why the transfer was to here. Her husband built a 6-foot privacy fence around their back yard, and first they got rabbits. Then I told them where I got chickens, and they got some pullets, after building a nice hen house and making sure their immediate neighbors wouldn't care.

Tomorrow afternoon, I have to take all the guys to the doctor's office. J and K have their annual physicals. I think K will begin her chicken pox vaccinations, and J will get the rest of the stuff she needs to start kindergarten in September.

N likes to say that K is his favorite sister, which I think is mean, and it upsets J. N and J play together a lot. They fight a lot. You could pretty much say they are best friends. N and K have very little in common except an address, parents, and last name.

N got e-mail. Now he nags me endlessly to let him check his e-mail. I've made him limit his e-mails to his uncle who set up the account to one a day. He loves to pester him with questions about his favorite computer game, Nethack. I don't limit his e-mails to my dad (who is retired and spends most of the day watching stuff on the computer such as TV shows and U-tube), and to his cousin, who is almost 10.

K is waking up so my time on the computer is over.

Happy Birtday, Kate!

A year ago, I was in the hospital, hooked up to an IV that was supplying pitocin (or something like that) to cause contractions to bring on labor. Just like with J's induction, the pitocin made me extremely nauseous so phenergan was added to the IV. The phenergan left me in a sleepy state between here and there, but I wasn't nauseous any more. Mr. K was in the room, and I wasn't sure if he was going to stay for the whole thing or not (he did). I told him this time I wasn't afraid, so he could leave me and go to work if he needed to. Mr. K and I watched stupid shows on TV. Early on we saw a home and garden show. Then we saw at least one episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. I think we saw at least two episodes, but I was pretty out of it from the phenergan. I think Matlock was on. Around 10:35, I had my first "real" contraction. I remember making the comment that if I had felt that at home, I would have begun timing them immediately. It was obvious that it was a real contraction. At some point, I asked for painkiller to be added to the IV. My doctor just wanted to start the epidural, but first she was going to break my water. I grumbled a bit, because with N and J she had broken my water, and it hurt A LOT both times. She said it was unusual, but there was no reason she couldn't break the water after I had the epidural.

The anesthesiologist came in to do the epidural. In all other deliveries I've done they had made Mr. K leave the room. He was so happy watching TV that she left him in the room. I yelled a lot as she did it. She had to do it twice because I guess I moved too much the first time, and she wasn't sure it was in correctly. It hurt so much going in, and there was the horrid, POP, POP, POP as it went up my vertebrae. I swore to myself as she did it, I would NEVER have another epidural. I already knew I was done having children, so I figured that would be a pretty easy promise to keep to myself.

Well, the epidural only numbed my right side, so the doctor had my lie on my left side in hopes the medicine would drain to the right side. As I was lying on my side, I felt myself get all wet. I called the nurse and told her I had either peed all over or my water broke. She came and concluded my water had broken. It hadn't hurt a bit this time!

My left side still hadn't numbed, and the contractions were getting bad. I wanted painkillers in my IV, but the doctor decided to add them to the epidural instead. At least twice, I had a catheter inserted to empty my bladder (it fills fast with the IV in use). I shrieked with pain each time. It hurt so much, even with the epidural, and the contractions were getting so much worse.

My doctor came in and concluded the easiest way to end the pain would be to deliver the baby, so she wanted to begin having me push with the contractions. I asked if I could watch. I hadn't seen a baby delivered before, and I knew this was my last chance. The nurse got a mirror on a stand out of the closet.

It was fascinating, although extremely painful (and that was with an epidural). K's head would try to come out but then suck back in. This happened a few times. The doctor said she was going to do an episiotomy (can't spell it), and she suggested I close my eyes just for the snip. I did, but I don't think it was necessary. I was numb enough that I didn't even feel it, but boy, did the contractions hurt. Finally, enough of K's head came out so the doctor could just twist her a bit, and the shoulders and the rest just slid out abruptly. She delivered the placenta, and I think I got to cut the umbilical cord. I know I did with J, but my memory is still fuzzy about that with K. I know Mr. K was given the opportunity, but he turned it down, as he did with J. I know I wanted to, so I'm sure I did, but I just can't remember the act as I did with J. I remember being so surprised how sharp the scissors were, and how easily they cut the cord.

I watched the doctor stitch me up. I didn't feel a thing. If I had, it would have been too hard to watch. Before she began, I remember she made a comment to the effect of, she does a great job of stitching if she says so herself. She began with a torn, bloody mess, and when she was done, it was a clean, tidy row of stitches that didn't look the least bit scary.

When K was cleaned up enough to wrap and hand to me, I was stunned at the recognition I felt, which I didn't feel with N or J. It was as though I knew her. She looked like a plumped up version of N. She was immediately mine, and I knew her.

I spent most of my waking time at the hospital talking to K, looking at the menu, and eating. The rest of the story isn't important (how well I was treated by the nurses, the nursing students I allowed to bathe K the first night, etc.).

I've finally written down the important part of K's arrival. I thank God every day for giving me such a great family. K is the icing on a fantastic cake. It's taken me a year to feel up to writing this story, but now I finally have.

Happy birthday Kate!

Back of house

snowday (4)
Originally uploaded by greycharleigh.

This is the back of my house after the surprise April snow.

housefrontsnow2

housefrontsnow2
Originally uploaded by greycharleigh.

This is the front of my house after the surprise April snow.

Snow today

I woke up to snow today. I had no idea it could snow here in April. Back home, sure. It can even snow in May a little there. Since I'm in the south now. I was quite surprised.

Yesterday I noticed the overnight freeze the night before had killed about 2/3 of the leaves on my hardy kiwi. I couldn't tell yet if the buds survived. Our apple had just started blooming. I'm not sure how much damage to my plants the cold this late will do. Hopefully none.

We took K out this morning to see the snow. It was her first snow. This year we really haven't had any accumulation, so this was probably the biggest snow event of the season, although there wasn't much. Here's my picture of K.

We had a very minor problem with lunch yesterday. Mr. K's parents were here, and we couldn't have meat because it was Good Friday and they're Catholic. I made shrimp fettuccine and baked some frozen rolls in the oven. I have a galley-style kitchen, which means there is only room for one person due to the narrow width. Well, I was there, Mr. K's mom, Mr. K's dad, N, J, and K. I tried to open the oven to remove the rolls without letting K into the oven (she loves to play with the door of the dishwasher when it's open, and she doesn't understand about "hot.") I tipped the rolls into the oven. They fell on the heating element, and the parchment paper they were sitting on caught fire. I tried to get it into the sink (across from the oven) wearing my mitten-style pot holders. Mr. K's dad was in the way. He made me throw it in the oven and closed the oven door and turned off the oven. That was good and put the fire out, but I was flipping out because the rolls were still in the oven up against the heating element. Finally, when the fire on the parchment paper was mostly out, I opened the oven (which Mr. K's dad kept telling me not to because we needed to smother the parchment paper) and grabbed my tongs and pulled each charred roll out of the oven. I wasn't particularly concerned about a paper fire. I was concerned the rolls would catch fire, and then we'd have a much bigger problem. I was able to get them all out before any ignited. Mr. K's mom and dad promptly grabbed a half burned roll, and at the part that wasn't burned. I finally did the same, and they were fine. Another surprise was that we didn't set off the smoke detector. I almost always do when I saute or stir-fry anything on high heat.

Dinner went better. Mr. K's dad brought some walleye (a fresh-water fish) he had caught. He had filleted it. He also brought a can of mix for beer batter. We traded the promise of some fried fish with our neighbor (who always has a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other) for some beer. Fortunately Mr. K did the deep frying. I don't do deep-frying well. Also, Mr. K's dad brought us his mother's cast iron skillet. I'm not sure why she was giving it away, but I was delighted to have it. I found a recipe for southern-style cornbread and baked some in the skillet to go with the fish. We didn't have any disasters with that meal, and there was plenty of fish to share with our neighbor.

Still none

N and J had their last day of school until after spring break. Mr. K's mom and dad will arrive shortly. I'm delaying getting into pajamas so I'll still be dressed when they arrive. They plan to drop off a bunch of stuff and then go to their motel. They don't want to leave the stuff in their car over night.

N and J had to go to bed. I wouldn't let them stay up until 10 p.m., when their grandparents will be here (or probably a bit later). J has fallen asleep. I don't know if N has--he's up in his bedroom possibly still reading books.

We're having a freeze again tonight. We may have freezes for the next three nights. I brought in my banana plant from my porch along with the few seeds that have sprouted for me. I'll put them out for sunshine tomorrow, but hopefully will remember to bring them back in at night.

N and J came home from school with lots of Easter candy. For the last couple days, J has been tracking the days until Easter. She is very excited about the candy she's planning that the Easter Bunny will bring her. Unfortunately, I just found out she doesn't like jelly beans. The Easter Bunny, who already went shopping, didn't know that. She's the pickiest candy eater I've ever seen. She doesn't even like chocolate. I'm sure she's my daughter, though, because as soon as she was delivered, I noticed her left ear was folded over. I used that defect to make sure I had the correct baby at the hospital each time she had to leave me.

Mr. K has suggested I plant my soybeans this weekend. I think it's a bit early, but he thinks it won't matter. After this cold spell passes, we probably won't get another freeze until autumn.

I picked up my taxes from the accountant today. We owe. We owe a lot. I'm not up to discussing it right now. Yuck. I wish I could at least direct the money. If I could, it would go straight to our military.

Out and about

K and I went to "Club Mom" at the mall today. We met with some people we used to see at playgroup. I started going back to playgroup two weeks ago since J didn't have school and could watch K. With K walking, she no longer looked helpless, and Biter Boy stayed away from her. K and I went on our own last Thursday, and Biter Boy again stayed away from K.

Talking to the moms I breakfasted with at "Club Mom," Biter Boy is one of the reasons they haven't shown up at play group in a while. I'm hoping we'll be okay to attend now with K old enough to walk. We'll see. Playgroup is canceled for the next two weeks. The room is needed for something related to Holy Thursday this week, and next week the parish office is closed for Easter Break.

I put some black beans, olive oil, onions, peppers, broth, cumin, and garlic in the crock pot before leaving this morning, and when I got home from the mall, my house smells delicious if one likes that sort of smell, which I do. Sadly, Mr. K hates it so he won't be so happy when he comes home.

Here is a picture of Mr. K, N and J with our little red wagon taken in our yard a week ago. I like seeing pictures in blogs. It's always interesting to see pictures of the things people write about.

None

Mr. K and I got our wills done earlier this year. Now he's working on a list for his sister of the location of all our assets, insurances, and contact people. I'm glad he's taking the initiative on this. It needs to be done, but I'd never get around to it. His sister is the one who inherits all our children if both of us die simultaneously.

N was home sick today from school. Actually, he was complaining about a bad headache this morning. First I gave him one Tylenol. He kept complaining. Once the first had time to work, I gave him a second. He kept complaining. Once it had time to work and he was still complaining, I gave him some Advil and rushed him out to meet his bus. Since I knew he had a bad headache when he left, I stopped by his school after dropping J off at preschool to see how he was. He said he still had a headache, so I brought him home, where he's gone from being fine to complaining about his headache to having a stomach ache and back to fine. I've had to yell at him a lot to keep him in his room. He wants to come out and play with J and K.

N has had headaches off and on for a couple months now. Last week I finally made him a doctor's appointment last Friday, but I told them no rush since I've waited this long. His appointment is tomorrow. I'm guessing there won't be much a doctor can do for something as nebulous as a headache unless it turns out to be something simple like a sinus headache from seasonal allergies or the need for glasses.

The following week, during spring break, J and K have physicals (and get shots), and I think it will be time to take Brenna (the cat) in for her annual checkup and shots, too. If the kids behave and help at the vet's, I'll take them out for ice cream.

The week after spring break, on April 18, I am supposed to get sterilized. Hopefully that will work out okay. My mom's plans have been disrupted again. She's going to have to leave earlier than she planned. Her sister is arriving three days earlier at her house than she had been led to believe at first. I don't think it will interfere with her watching the kids during and after my surgery, but she'll have to rearrange when she'll go to Colonial Williamsburg (the same place as in Trixie Belden #14) to fit it in. She's got to get back home before her sister arrives.

Not that anyone cares, but I live about an hour from Colonial Williamsburg, and I think two hours from Washington D.C. Washington (I'm the only one I know who doesn't call it D.C.) has way too much traffic and way too many people. I don't think about going there much. Mostly I pretend it isn't there.