yesterday afternoon, i got the following text from my loving husband:

10 years ago i went on a date with a girl i fell in love with

yep, it was ten years since our first not-a-date.  TEN years.  ten YEARS.  it’s hard to believe that we’ve been together for more than a third of my life now.  ten years ago yesterday, i went on a not-a-date with a man who would become my soul mate.  who’d have guessed it?  we were against the odds and yet, here we are… ten years later… happily married. 

i so love this man. 

so, in celebration of our first not-a-date… dinner and bowling… we went out last night for… dinner and bowling.  he even wore the same shirt he wore that night (which i recall being extremely attractive on him). 

ten years ago, i beat him the first game (he claims he let me win) and he won the next two.  and our big moment was a post-strike high-five that lasted a little too long when i inadvertently grabbed his hand while looking in his eyes. 

last night, he won the first two (118-105 and 110-105) but i beat him on the last game (121-113).  there were many high-fives, many held-hands, many hugs, and many kisses.  it was a really great time.  with the exception of me tripping, throwing myself down the lane, and twisting my ankle and knee on my way down.  if it didn’t hurt so badly, i might have been embarrassed.  and, of course, it was my left leg that i fell on, which happens to be the leg i have so much trouble with when running.  aw well, such is life.  small price to pay for a spectacular commemorative date with my husband.

what can i say?  it’s been a quiet week. 

• wednesday night yoga has been cancelled until further notice which limits our social interaction and activity.
• the bridge run last night was… nothing to speak of.  i walked to the water table (just before the bridge), stood around and talked with mello’s son, and walked back with hubby and cargo after they had made their trip over the bridge.  hubby is still having pain with his kidney.  it makes me sad to see him still hurting and generally not feeling… right.  he barely ran his one lap over the bridge last night, walked back to the parking lot with me, and was so nauseated he just sat on a curb while i visited around for a few minutes.  we didn’t stick around long at all because he just wasn’t feeling well.  my poor boy. 
• more on that… hubby went back to the dr wednesday and they did another ct scan today.  they said his kidney and ureter look fine and they can’t figure out why he’s still hurting so they put him on more antibiotics and made him an appointment for two weeks from now when the specialist is back from vacation. 
• HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD-N-LAW!!!
• we’re supposed to be heading to wedowee after work today for FIL’s bday and a family reunion tomorrow.  everything is kind of up in the air right now because hubby might have to leave from there to visit a bank on monday and that is quite the logistical nightmare for us.  i should be packing but i just don’t know what’s happening.  for now, laundry is my excuse.  last load is in the dryer. 
• i’m getting increasingly bummed about my leg pain.  i truly don’t think it’s anything serious… just a nagging pain that a lesser sissy could grin-and-bear… but it prevents me from doing much of anything because it starts hurting to the point that i’m afraid of serious injury. 
• how am i supposed to train for that half-marathon in march if i keep injuring myself???
• more importantly, how am i going to lose all this friggin weight if i keep injuring myself???

a potpourri catchup…

• thursday hubby was still in a good bit of pain because of the stent that was connecting his kidney to his bladder.  we decided to go to the bridge run but just to walk a bit and hang out.  you know my husband is feeling bad when he says things like, “you’re walking too fast” and “slow down.”  my poor guy.  we ended up doing a slow walk to the bridge and back, approximately a mile round trip.  after hanging around to talk to everyone for a bit, hubby was very much ready to get home and rest.  my poor boy.
• some wildlife shots from the bridge run walk.

• friday night, we went to our favorite plaza’s amphitheatre area for shakespeare in the park.  the show was a midsummer night’s dream and it was directed by mello and nightingale’s oldest son.  he was also the musician.  we sat with mello, faith, and younger son, chatting before the show and during intermission.  the play was very well done, with some very entertaining actors – especially puck!  it was an excellent low-key evening out. 
• saturday and sunday were wonderfully restful days.
• yesterday, hubby finally got his stent removed.  it was both horrifying and fascinating to watch.  one of those things where i hated to look but i just couldn’t turn away.  all in all, though, it was a joyous occasion.  he had instant relief in his kidney.  he was left with… other pain… but that dissipated as the night wore on and i think he’s almost back to normal today.  here’s hoping that we never have to go through that kind of ordeal again.  it has been terrible watching my hubby in so much pain and not being able to take it away for him. 
• last night we met up with scooter, sunny, cargo, and his new chick for cheap movie night.  how did we not know before that tuesdays were $6 movies all night?  we went to see the sequel to a movie we never saw.  we went to be part of the group, not because either of us wanted to see it.  it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be and i was relieved that there was so much humor in it.

hubby made it through his surgery with flying colors.  he actually had a great night and no pain to speak of this morning, with no pain meds since yesterday afternoon.  we got to the surgical center just after noon and nightingale quickly took him back and began prepping him for surgery.  before long, she had them call me back to be with him and assured me that she had him “cover his junk” while she was prepping him because, afterall, she had to look his wife in the eye.  😀  when i got back there, they had him in an air-filled suit with his own temperature adjuster.  even his legs had inflated warmers wrapped around them.

feeling gooood!

all toasty and comfy, right down to the inflated leg warmers

he was happy and feeling good with whatever they put in that iv.  we sat and talked for over an hour, joking and having fun.  nightingale hung around for a while but had to clock out and leave the building when he was wheeled back to the o.r.  apparently they take a strong stance on being over on hours.  i got one last shot of us together before i had to go back to the waiting room. 

me and the drugged up lunch lady

the dr was wonderfully nice (they all were, it helps to have friends in high places).  she came out and spoke to me just before she went in to perform the operation and then she came back out afterward to tell me how it went and let me take pix of the stone.  she reassured me that the surgery was the right thing to do since the stone was still lodged in the exact same place as it was on both ct scans.  it was 5mm and not going anywhere. 

the procedure itself only took about thirty minutes but then he was in recovery another thirty minutes before they let me go back to be with him again.  this was when i first got back there.  he was still knocked out and his inflatable gown totally made him look like he had man-6006s.  it was only about forty minutes later that we got out of there and headed back home.

6006y husband not quite awake yet after surgery

of course, on the way home, i had to stop to get yet another script filled for him (has there been a day this whole weekend that i didn’t go to the pharmacy?  they’ve got to think i’m some sort of drugg!e).  when we got home, we headed straight for bed.  he’s been sleeping ever since and i’ve been snuggling him and watching over him.  i hope that he starts feeling better now but i have a feeling that’s not really going to happen until he goes back next week to get the stent out.

and now, what you’ve all been waiting for…  i give you, the little b@$t@rd that caused my husband so much pain and misery for the last month: 

with my pinky for size perspective

up close and personal with the little b@$t@rd

sylvis and peach headed back to orlando this morning to play with writersblock before their flight home in the morning.  hubby spent the day nauseated.  i worked on and off all day and night trying to get caught back up between taking care of my husband.  i even donated blood while waiting on one of his prescriptions to be filled.  while i would much rather for him to pass the stone without surgery, i am so relieved to know that it will be done with tomorrow afternoon, one way or the other.  the constant pain has worn him down and my constant concern and helplessness has worn me down.

we went to the urologist this morning.  nightingale, who i’ve been texting for medical advice non-stop since thursday, had gotten hubby an appointment with the head of the urological center.  she told me last night not to let him eat or drink after midnight and i think the plan was to take him straight into surgery this morning.  remember how bloated hubby was last night?  he sweat off five pounds during the night.  his fever was gone, the bloating was minimal, and he had no pain.  he wasn’t sure whether he needed to go in to the dr or not so he called as soon as the office opened.  they told him that it sounded as though the stone had probably passed into the bladder but they still wanted him to come in because of all the water retention.  they told him he should eat.  we got there, waited forever and a year, and the pain came back in full force while we sat in the waiting room.  of course, when we got in to see the dr, they were all ready to take him to the surgical center to take care of things once and for all.  and then they asked when he last ate.  within minutes, nightingale was texting me that she knew he didn’t eat because she told us so many times not to let him eat!  oops.  i told her that the dr’s office had told him to… it wasn’t my fault… promise!  i suppose it was all for the better anyhow.  hubby got a better explanation of what the surgery would entail and freaked and begged for some extra time to try to pass the stone on his own.  the doc told him to double up some of his meds and scheduled him for surgery on wednesday, if needed.  so, after almost an entire day at the doctor’s,  i took my hubby home in much the same condition as he started. 

while we were gone, sylvis and peach had a good time yakking and playing on the beach

peach yakkin'

sylvis yakkin'

after hubby had gotten home and gotten easy again, he wanted to try to get a little exercise.  we started out for a walk but only made it a quarter mile or so before he was doubling over again.  on the way back, i walked by his side with my arm around him for support.  my poor guy. 

playing with cobalt's macro mode

propping up my love

obligatory beach sunset pic

how do you roll a cooler on water?

hubby's extremely brief attempt at snorkeling

since pain spasms and underwater don’t mix well, hubby went back to the sun tent to take another pain pill while we three snorkeled a bit.  sadly, no dolphins flocked to us.

sylvis-fish

tiny shark-looking-guy

peach-fish

my poor hubby spent the whole time missing me like crazy.  or not… 

this is how hubby spent our snorkel time

we spent much longer out there than i expected.  i think we all spent some time napping in the tent.  it was wonderfully relaxing.   when we finally packed up and walked back to the ferry landing, we had a bit of a wait.  peach found a nice cool seat while we were waiting.  shortly thereafter, he had to give it up to hubby so that he could lay down and writhe in pain a bit. 

peach was very fond of his new raft

much like the dolphins, the gators were also a no-show.  however, the stop at alligator lake did give me the opportunity to try out the cool face detection self-portrait feature on cobalt.  i turned it on, pressed the button, and took my time getting in place.   when i turned my head and looked at the camera, it recognized the new face and took three consecutive shots.  what a cool frikkin feature!!!

testing out the face-detection timer

i’m glad that we were able to get out and have a few good hours with our guests.  by the time we got back home, hubby was feeling terrible again.  a few hours ago, he spiked a fever.  a few minutes ago, i came into the room to find him asking for a scale.  i brought the scale into the bathroom and when he got out of bed i noticed that his torso and face were swollen, his stomach distended.  he stepped on the scale and was eight pounds heavier than normal.  that’s eight pounds of water bloating that came out of nowhere.  i’m very concerned and will be watching him carefully throughout the night.

after a third night/day of watching my poor boy writhe in pain on the bathroom floor, i dragged him to the emergency room this morning.  it was a long, frustrating, and ultimately useless affair.  basically, they said the original pain med wasn’t strong enough, prescribed him another, and told us to call the on-call urologist first thing monday.  um… i’m not in the medical field but i always thought that when a dr was on-call, it meant that the hospital calls them when a patient is in need.  if it was no big deal, we would have waited until monday on our own.  i was ticked.  i was texting back and forth with nightingale who agreed that it made no sense.  unfortunately, there was nothing we could do.  we filled the new script on our way home this afternoon and were pleased that it seemed to help.  after making sure that it was doing its job of controlling his pain, we decided to take our guests out for a night on the town.  around 22:00, we headed to spinnaker, our favorite hangout.

a tattooed stranger, peach, sylvis, hubby

hubby heard that lemons and limes help break up kidney stones

sylvis and me

loving on my poor, sick husband

sylvis and peach are ballroom dancers

showoffs

i think peach's big smile has something to do with the chick to the left of the umbrella

the rest of the afternoon was spent on the bathroom floor rubbing my hubby’s back and generally trying to give him any comfort i could.  i finally convinced him to take some of the pain meds that were prescribed to him so he was able to get out a bit tonight.  we’re losing another brit tomorrow so we met up with mello and hairy for a little sendoff celebration for hairy.  we started at mellow mushroom for a snack.

mello and hairy

peach and sylvis

peach, sylvis, and mello worshipping the magic shroom

we then walked across the street to ms. newby’s to listen to some music and hangout.  we had a good time.

sylvis and me at newby's

love hairy's captain pose, mello, hubby, and sylvis at newby's

i’m glad we got out some but by the time we got home, hubby was hurting pretty good again.  i’m guessing it’s going to be another crappy night…

last night was a lousy night.  hubby has had pain in his lower abdomen for several weeks now, he who hates going to the doctors had been twice in the last two weeks.  last night it changed; it moved to his kidney and was bad enough to make him sick.  i spent several hours on the bathroom floor with him, trying to make him more comfortable.  work at 07:00 was not fun.  hubby went to the doctors (again!) while i worked and waited for our house guests to arrive.  they sent him to the urgent care center for a ct scan and diagnosed him with a 3mm kidney stone in the uvj just above the bladder.  he made it home just as i was helping our guests with their luggage in the parking garage.  i finished out the work day and we hung out with our friends who we have not seen in two years. 

happily, my camera finally arrived too.  she is sleek and shiny i shall call her cobalt canon.

reflections of cobalt

 we had to leave work a bit early to go to the dentist for our cleanings.  sylvis accompanied us and then we took her to our running store so that she could get herself some new running shoes before the bridge run.  peach met us at the parking lot right before the run.  sylvis and i stayed together going over the bridge.  ironically, i slowed down for her.  by the time we started back over, however, the heat was taking its toll on me.  it was 113 with the heat index – by far the hottest whether i have EVER tried to be active in – and i started blacking out.  i let sylvis go on ahead and i slowed down.  every time i tried to speed up, i blacked out.  by the fourth time, i found myself stumbling into the railing and decided it wasn’t worth pushing myself to the point of passing out.  by that time, sylvis was already out of my range anyhow so i slowed to a walk and took my time getting back to the parking lot.  so there you have it, my first time having friends for the bridge run and they totally smoked me.  ah well, such is life.  i think my running is going on sabbatical for the summer.  i seriously cannot deal with such heat. 

after the bridge, we went to the concert in the park where we ended up meeting up with mello, nightingale, faith, and a couple other runners. 

hubby, sylvis, and peach

me and hubby chillin' at the park

hangin' with the runners

 when we got back home, it was time for some mariokart action.  i wasn’t even dead last every time! 

mariokart time!

saturday was the 2009 splash and dash race at the naval base.  it was a 1/4 mile swim and 5k run.  i had planned on doing it with my hubby but since i twisted my knee by tripping over the ladder when i was painting the week before, i didn’t register to race for fear of reinjury.  i had really wanted to…  i’m glad i didn’t.  while i am certain that i could have totally done the quarter mile swim and 5k run, i’m also aware that i would have been slow.  and these people were ATHLETES.  as in… my poor boy, who is totally in shape and athletic, was near the back of the pack.  the awards ceremony would have been over and everyone gone home by the time i would have finished.  to say i was intimidated by this crowd would be an understatement. 

however, this post is not about me.  it’s about my awesome husband and what a terrific job he did on his first swim/run race. 

numbered up and ready to race

getting in the mental game in his yellow head-c0nd0m

faith, hubby, and scooter waiting for the start

 it was a mass start meaning approximately one hundred racers got in the water and treaded in the middle of the channel until the whistle blew.  suddenly, it was just arms everywhere! 

sea of arms

this is the first race he’s done that included a transition of any kind so there was definitely a learning curve.  his official time was 42:10, which includes the transition.  i timed him myself so that i could tell him his swim time and figure out his transition time.  his swim was 10:10:72 which was significantly faster than the training he’d been doing at home.  his transition was just over three minutes so there is room for improvement there now that he knows how it’s done (not to mention that he cut his foot open on a shell getting out of the water).

fish outta water

transitioning

running off

even though the swim was faster than his training, hubby was a bit discouraged to be so close to the back when he got out of the water.  however, his run made him feel much better as he was able to pass several people on his legs. 

here comes hubby!

this was a great thumbs-up pic but for my phone's delayed response

he finished 80 overall.  considering these were military folks and serious athletes and that this was hubby’s first transition race, i think he did super!  and, more importantly, he had fun. 

and, even more importantly than that, i got the wicked cool shirt because he ordered too small!!!

dear husband,

five years ago, you made me the happiest woman alive when i walked down the aisle and saw that smile on your face.  i am so blessed to share my life with you and i thank God each and every day for bringing us together.  you are the best part of me.  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

with all the love in my heart,

your wife

i finally got a bit of sleep last night.  i laid down around 23:30 and only woke up a little while before the alarm went off at 06:30.  it was wonderful.  unfortunately, it didn’t do much to alleviate the massive headache i went to bed with so i’m still enjoying that this morning.  oh well, whatchya gonna do?  on the bright side, my hubby should be home in the next eight or nine hours!!!

as much as we enjoyed our company over the weekend, it was so nice to have a quiet afternoon yesterday sunday with just us two.  it was heavenly. 

however, we did have a good time with family.  the parentsIL and teenagers arrived around 17:00 on thursday.  we hung out on the beach for a while and wiied a bit before hubby’s sis and BIL arrived around 22:00.  wii continued to play until 02:00 when everyone gave up waiting on hubby’s bro’s family to get here.  he stayed up to greet them when they got in around 03:30.

by friday morning, there were thirteen of us in our little 1273sq ft condo.  everyone was up and raring to go at 06:30 which means i spent a couple hours clenching a pillow over my head until i finally gave in and joined the crowd.  there was wii fun before everyone headed for the beach.  i abstained, choosing to remain in my air conditioning reading a book rather than sitting in the sun since there was no chance of me getting one of my two umbrellaed chairs with so many visitors.  i feel it was a good choice.  i read and dozed and conversed with folks as they came and went for snacks and such.  as the afternoon wore on, a group of them decided to make a grocery run and the rest went their separate ways for quiet time.  hubby and i went down to the beach and napped under our umbrella for a bit.  when we all regrouped, a picnic feast was prepared and we all headed back down to the beach to grill burgers and dogs. 

thankfully, saturday morning stayed quiet until closer to 08:00.  when i got up, i got right to work on a birthday cake for nephew c.j.  for lunch, he chose a restaurant and we all had a nice meal out.  we even got a bit of a show watching the giant carp, turtles, and raccoon enjoying their lunch behind the restaurant.  the rest of the afternoon was actually fairly quiet as half the group took the teens out for go-karting and putt-putt. 

sunday morning, the crowd started packing for home around 08:00.  they had all departed by 10:15.  hubby and i walked his parents down to their car and then spent a couple hours cleaning back up.  after that, we held down the couch the rest of the afternoon (with the exception of me getting up to change laundry loads every hour or so).  it was blissfully quiet and comfortably spacious.  while we genuinely enjoyed spending time with the family, especially those we don’t often see, 2.5 days was quite enough of having that many people cramped into our cozy condo!

on the whole, i think everyone else had a good weekend too.  niece a.g. even declared that she was going to spend her whole summer break with us!