-roasted chicken, steamed carrots, sherbet, bananas, a bowl of cereal at midnight and 2 grapes he snuck in the a.m.: what paul had to eat before he had his tonsils out yesterday, "the last supper" on monday night, and an illegal 2-grape breakfast on tuesday morning.

-sno-cones, frozen jello, hydrocodone: what paul has had to eat in the last 24 hours.

-how many hours we were at the hospital: five plus.

-how many hours the surgery actually took: less than one.

-how long it take to recover: 2-3 weeks.

-how good it was to finally get home yesterday: the outpatient surgical unit is sweet, a nearly brand new facility with lots of windows and winter light streaming in. private cubicles with dark hard-wood floors, an "almost" comfortable place, but when you have day surgery, there is this unrelenting urge to just scoop your patient/family member up and get them home. the "required" hours of stay post-anesthesia are long. a warm bed at home and some quiet is welcome.

-all the things paul said to me when he was post-anesthesia (in a whisper): if i told you i would have to kill you. all of it, pretty sweet release.

-winter!: this is more like it. i know, it's cold. i know it's messy. i know, occasionally someone goes too fast and flips their car over or puts it in a ditch completely by accident. i know it means shoveling. i know it means the bird feeders get all gunked up and wet. i know it means no one ever really completely shakes off the snow or stamps their boots before coming in the house. i know the mail and papers end up getting soggy and useless. but i also know this. it's bloody f'ing gorgeous, okay??!?! it looks like real winter. it makes the day ten times brighter even if the sky is obliterated by blowing snow. it makes the night an extension of day because as far as you can see it is white, and then some. it makes kids cheeks red. it is so funny to see kids walking home from school eating snow, even the high school-aged kids. it's dreamy and scalloped when the wind ceases and well, it's the way it should be, because it's winter, and we haven't had a winter that looked like a winter in the past two years, so we deserve this, should enjoy this and should hope for more of this. it makes the planet seem more healthy.

this is my brain: on lack of sleep, missing poetry to the max when it comes to working on my own and reading the work of others.

misery loves company: my favorite "patient" is awake, i'm done with work, and we can spend quality time, staring at each other since it's best he not talk and he can't do anything that will raise his blood pressure! perfect way to end a long day transcribing and playing nurse.

tomorrow: another day, day two postop (mashed potato day, we hope!) for paul (who keep whispering, "i'm going to be so much stronger now that this is over with," and then the hydrocodone drags him down for some much needed rest), a day closer to the weekend and the end of the work week. hope to catch up at the den! i know i missed a jillion writes this past two days as my yahoo mail filled to the top with notices. :)