Category Archives: Uncategorized

Annoying: waking up in the middle of the night to the cats thundering through our 400 square foot home.

Really Annoying: getting pinned down by Apple-Smuggler the lumberjack cat who has mastered the art of log rolling and is near impossible to toss while tangled in blankets on a really squishy bed.

Really *Really* Annoying (in a cute but dangerous way): drifting out of slumber and feeling a whoosh of air on your nose. Reaching up with eyes closed and grasping a 5 taloned cat paw poised to rip out one of your nostrils. Looking past said talons to see the half-domed apple smuggler on the floor next to your camp mattress..
Reaching to you for a little entertainment.

Gross: buddy refusing to poop anywhere but the beach.

Really Gross: buddy refusing to leave the water for said poop, and me having to go in after the butt-submarine.

Really *shudder* Really Gross: buddy getting a poop break and not pooping, then dropping a butt-biscuit on my foot in the middle of doggy-breakfast.

Painful: going for my first run of the season.

Really Painful: picking Red Hill, which is now christened Red “Hell”.

Really really painful: accidentally picking my next trail run to be much, much harder than Red Hell.

Consolation prize: biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak foe breakfast! Wheeeeee!

I’ll try to play some more later… But for now, gotta towel off the pooch. Again.

A brief picture show of our last few weeks. As you can see, our life is totally miserable. I’m not sure how we’ll survive another week. Hurricane Irene is on her way in (its 8pm on Saturday) but has yet to arrive. If anything, the weather is even calmer than usual… Oh wait. Calm before the storm! I get it now! Heh.

Made it down to Boston to pick up Melissa last Monday. Those who know me well won’t be surprised that I happened upon Fenway Park on the way to… REI. Yes. The park was an afterthought to shopping for outdoor gear.If

If the last statement didn’t surprise you, this might not either: I went to the grocery store at 640am the other day and was 20min early. D’oh. I then walked across the street and lucked into these beautiful shots of Meredith Bay.

A view from the ski lift at Gunstock Mtn. Luke and I rode up there and hiked around. A must see for summer visitors.

The blond dog has gotten waaaayyy too entitled to her twice a day swims. She goes out there for at least an hour each time. Gotta say, I’m still not sick of watching her.

Our little cabin. Can’t say we require much more than this in terms of space, but with Melissa here, there’s 7 mammals living in approximately 400 square feet of cabin. It has been interesting to say the least.

Everyone but Luke’s favorite spot. We have a little de-humidifier plugged in that blows warm air right onto the red bench. Takes the edge off a chilly morning, and takes the wet right off those dogs and towels. =)

My first- and pretty much every- morning. Like I said, I have absolutely no idea how we are surviving.

*A special shout-out to The Best In-Laws a Girl Could Ask For: Frank and Sandy are officially RETIRED!!! And about to go on a loooong and much deserved vacation to celebrate! We couldn’t be happier for them as they finally settle in to enjoy all that they have worked for. Love You Both!!*

My C-man belongs to my oldest friend, Amy. He is a hoot. His sister is 1, and well on her way to being just as funny. These kids are insane smart, stubborn, and adorable. Did I mention funny? Here’s a few Colton stories I’ve been saving:

To set the stage, this kid is about 25 pounds. He was born prematurely and will eventually catch up, but for now, it means “My Sara” can swing him around, hang him by his ankles, and swipe him up for a big snuggle pretty much whenever I want. I have to say, I loathe the day that he’s too big to hold.

The above is one of the funniest things I’ve seen. We were playing hide and seek at my Granny and Boompa’s house. We go there pretty often because (besides that I just want to see them!) the kids love the attention, and we’re fully entertained up until one of them (C-man) blows a gasket. But really, this video is worth the look. Promise!

Genius

At breakfast, Colton was properly identifying 8-sided objects, as well as counting and naming colors.

Me: “Colton. You are a genius. Can you say, ‘I am a genius’?”

C-man [stares at me for about 5 seconds]: “Blaaaa blah blabby boo!!”

Pizza Standoff

He loves to play with his food- this led to a little incident in a pizza parlor where “My Sara” almost missed a flight to New Hampshire.  Amy and I were there with the kiddos for lunch before I took off, and Ayla (who is 1, and absolutely adorable- if even more stubborn than C-man) was too busy flirting with the table next to her to notice her head’s proximity to OUR table. One fat lip and screaming child later, and I was alone at the table with my little buddy, trying to get a few more bites in him before we left. Of course, the bites can’t just go down. That would be too easy.

C-man: “I want more sauce!! More saucemoresaucemore more SAUCE!” (he means parm cheese)

Me: “No more cheese until you take another bite. Bite, then cheese.”

C-man [takes a bite, sprinkles some cheese, then licks the entire length of the pizza slice] “Bite, then sauce, then LICK!!”]

Me [not stressing. If he wants to lick his own pizza, let him! He still has to take a bite before he gets more cheese]: “Okay, now bite, then cheese, then lick, then bite.”

I tried to give him a high-five but he wouldn’t because his hands were dirty with pizza goo. So somewhere in there we managed to incorporate an “elbow-five”.

Anyway, Amy came back in about 20 minutes later to see if I had fallen asleep or something. She walks in to, “Annnnd, BITE! Then sauce, then lick, then ELBOW-FIVE, then BITE!”

I figured she was

a)      Asleep with Ayla in the car. I totally wouldn’t have blamed her. You should see her sleep schedule!

b)      Waiting me out in a toddler standoff. You know, to see if I passed some sort of test. The only test I passed is “Don’t Have Kids of My Own or Never Would Have Sat There So Long”.

c)       At Starbucks.

Anyhoo, I made it to my flight with only one diversion to Wal-Mart for a frantic poop run… more potty-training stories on the way.

Not too shabby, and I would do it again in a second. That kid is gold.

The Drive:

The last few months have been very complicated to schedule. We had a few situations that made me chuckle, gag, say “AWWWW”, and several that I want to share.

My last drive out of AZ was solo because Luke was still in NH and I needed to get to Albuquerque to pick him up from the airport. Here are a few pics that I took. They kind of encompass what I love about the southwest.

Rush Hour on Schnebly Hill Rd in Sedona, AZ

Monsoon season is so crazy. I so rarely take pictures while driving, but this was spectacular. Traffic was light, so I slowed down and captured the moment… about 30 seconds before I was plunged into the worst monsoon storm I saw all summer. I love it!

Storm's a comin

This is a meadow at the top of Schnebly Hill Rd (my all time favorite road). The rewards of driving this 15mile rough (ROUGH) dirt road are totally worth it.

Mountain Meadow at its finest

Luke was retrieved from the airport without incident, and so we headed down to Roswell to finish (start) packing the moving truck and uhaul trailer for the long trip east.

We haven't managed to train our pack of spider monkeys to do this kind of thing for us.

You jealous? I know you are.

The drive from Roswell to Frank and Sandy’s house was pretty uneventful.

We're taking New Hamphire over THIS little slice o heaven?! (I'm kidding, because I actually LOVE the desert. You have to admit, the difference is stark)

We took two short days to try and get the cats used to the drive. It didn’t work. Apple complained for a good portion of the trip, but who could blame her? The poor girl was about to starve, going without food for 4-5 hours at a time. 😉

HOOOOONNNGRY!!

The Texas Stafford’s house was fantastic- we had several days to relax and spend time with the various friends and family in town, eat yummy Mexican food (probably 2 meals a day were Mexican- trying to get my fill!), and recharge before the drive. Here is a real impressive meal that WASN’T doused in chile.

I managed to get a pic of my head-sized pork shank from Friday's dinner, but none of all the family we saw... That's how I roll.

Here’s a view from the back patio… what a rough life, eh?

Beautiful view from Frank and Sandy's backyard in Hill Country, TX

We met Jason and Lynley’s new kiddo- see the last blog post for details.

We also made it down to Aunt Marla’s house in Pleasanton, TX. She totally made my week by waiting to bottlefeed Stormy the calf til I got there. I had no idea, but calves literally NEVER bite. And the suck reflex is super intense… as you can see by the pictures. It was a very strange feeling to have your whole hand sucked on by a cow.

Feeding Stormy the calf

Comforting Stormy the calf. This little guy is adorable!

At this point it had been something like 1 bazillion days with no rain and record heat, and the first drive out of town was no different. It was 112 degrees on the highway out of Dallas when we realized we had about 50miles til empty on the gas tank and about 40miles to go to the nearest gas station. While pulling a trailer and hauling 4 animals. Oops. We obviously made it, but man. That would have sucked.

We managed a detour to Luke’s first college town- Georgetown, TX. Home of Southwestern University and Luke’s first (and only) frat house.

The cats were their own kind of challenge. In the hotel, Darwin hid in the nasty crack between the bed and the wall and only came out when coaxed. He would then immediately jump on my lap in the bed and drag up all sorts of yuck from the hotel netherworld. Apple complained off and on for the whole trip.

(facebook) 91 degrees, approximately 90% humidity. Apple the bear-cat won’t stop complaining. Solution: climb in the back cargo area with the litter box and trap her inside for about 5minutes. Backfire: she drops an enormous dookie and takes her time covering it up. Did I mention it’s hot? D-:

They both managed to break out of the kennel on multiple occasions, and put up a fair fight on the way back in. They spent nights crashing around the hotel rooms, plotting our demise, practicing ju-jitzu and the dark arts in an attempt to learn how to mind-bend the kennel door to their will.

If they only had thumbs to work that little zipper…

Would you be able to fall asleep with this??

(facebook) Nearing Niagara falls. Thinking about sending Black Tiger and the Apple Smuggler on an adventure. Need a bigger barrel.

(facebook) Took too long trying to pronounce Schenectady, and ended up just having to stay the night. If we don’t have it figured out by tomorrow, we’re still leaving. 😉

Schenectady was our last stopping point, and was relatively uneventful. We walked to dinner, and it would have been a real shame to get run over so close to our destination.

Not exactly pedestrian-friendly in Schenectady, NY

As a bonus for being so patient and reading this WHOLE post (it’s ok if you needed to take breaks), here’s a pic that lives at Marla’s house. How cute is that?!

Picture of Luke as a wee lil one

On that bombshell…

Luke and I had the privilege of meeting a new addition to the family of our dear friends. He is 7 years old, will be starting 2nd grade, and now owns a dinosaur t-shirt and 2 parents.

On meeting him, he informed me of most of these facts. Not only is he quick-witted, he is remarkably well adjusted. He took Mom’s camera and scrolled through, naming off pets, family (near and far), and places that he has only known for one month.

Me: “hey man, it’s nice to meet you. Woah. You have a dinosaur on your t-shirt.”
J: “It’s because I have a dinosaur T-shirt!”

Pancake Turtles!!

At lunch, I watched mom have an hour long conversation with J about various weather patterns:

J: “You know the eye-storms? Like hurricanes? They don’t have any air in the eye. It’s really calm. It’s like going into space!”

We spent some time down at the river where Luke and Jason spent a good chunk of their childhood. They now have a cool little educational building with live and dead specimens from the area (obviously any kids dream- Luke and Jason had as much fun as J did!). The “pancake” turtles and the tarantula were huge hits… Thank god J can read, “DO NOT REMOVE LID!”

He is an active, normal little 7 year old dude. Mom now has bruises and scrapes from following him down slides, over logs, through rivers, and all the way to grandma’s house. Dad and Son have matching marks on their faces- both resulting from J’s first time fishing and an over enthusiastic approach to pole maneuvers.

There is still some time before an adoption is final; but at this moment, we can all be grateful and happy for this little family of three.

Lynley, Jason, and Jeremiah

Good vibes, everyone!

Wow, we really pulled this one outta our… Well. You know. As a public service announcement, we must tell you not to try this on your home. We’re professional Real Estate Idiot Savants/ Evil Genius (mostly just Luke) and wouldn’t want to jeopardize any of your living situations by implying that our actions were a) Smart, b) Correct, or c) Anything but idiotic.

I’ll start by saying that we hadn’t planned to buy. We wanted “simple” this go around and were going to rent. I even flew out specifically to get us a rental house. After 3 months of finding absolutely nothing that allows pets (I was NOT being picky- you know how much I hate shopping for houses), we sold the house in Roswell and were able to shift gears.

We took a novel approach to house hunting this time, as I almost bit Luke when he stated we’d be going to look at anywhere from 25 to 75 houses on our 3 day “shopping trip”.  I HATE comparison shopping for big ticket items. Houses, cars, even appliances are not exciting to me when viewed in bulk. I just get frustrated and bored because I can’t remember which was which and why it’s better than all the other ones that are exactly like it. Luke is the opposite. He can’t stand the idea that he may have let “the one” slip by without a 2^nd look. I can grasp this, but I just can’t make myself care. If we pass it over, we pass it over, ya know?

Solution: We timed the trips so that Luke would get out there before me, look at a whole mess of houses, and pick out 5-8 houses that I needed to see. Then I joined him a day or two later and looked at those houses, we picked, we signed, and voila! We own a new house! Doesn’t that sound simple? Even a little sane? Well.

I absolutely LOVE the house we picked, but it is farrrr from simple. If anyone has ever tried to buy a bank owned house at a loss to the bank, you know. While we were in the house for my first time, Jane (our fabulous agent) got a call that the house had received another offer, so the bank wanted us to bring our “biggest and best” offer. Of course we couldn’t know anything except that the house was now in play, so we decided to offer below asking, but higher than what we would have if we were making the first offer.

TIME LAPSE… musical montage of phone calls and disappointed faces as we haggled back and forth…

The bank returned to us probably 5 times with higher offers- basically, “We have someone else who wants to buy it. You should offer us 10k more!!” The problem with this is they refused to admit that the other buyers had offered higher than us. Luke, being the Evil Genius he is, refused to play ball. As the bank’s offers got lower and closer to what we originally had offered, it was obvious that we had played correctly. They finally accepted our offer about a week after we made it.

It then took about 1.5 weeks to get a signed contract, they failed to de-winterize the house prior to inspections (postponed until later), and are driving both our agent AND her broker up the wall.

*****SKIP TO HERE IF YOU LIKE PRETTY PICTURES AND SHORT SENTENCES****

Long story short, we have had to fight tooth and nail to get into this house. We don’t have the keys yet, but really all that can happen now is a delay in closing, which we can handle.

THE DIRT: The reason there may be money in the walls is that the old owner was a big time embezzler. It made huge news up here, but we had never heard the story. Luke did the research, and it was a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. Kind of adds to the… character? The great thing is that he loved to have the house worked on and took really good care of it. And now the house sale money can go back to the people he stole from- not that it would make much of a dent. And he’s in jail.

THE PICTURES: Here are my favorites, and some links to videos I took. You’ll see why it’s so important that we live here. =)

The crazy cool ceiling in the foyer/entryway. The brick is that huge four sided chimney in the center of the 1850s house.

Apple Tree... Very Large and Very Full apple trees. CHOMP!!

The house from the road. Pretty unassuming, but not for too much longer. We're thinking twirly slide off the chimney?

Maybe the Happiest photo I've ever seen. I can't believe we're going to live here.

Master Bedroom... complete with loft library, secret attic passage, and 2 bay windows.

Here are the videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eafibxy-uG8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft6BsxWkn34

And the reservation center is now open for calls! Book now and receive complimentary stay at chateau de hatch corner!

Well, the time has come. I’m sitting on a welcome mat… in the grass… as we are no longer welcome in our own home. It’s still ours for a few days, but the entire trailer has been loaded up and we’ve been left with a mattress, a laptop, a few boxes of clothes, and a welcome mat.

How I spent the last day of my Summer Vacation

FS is now doing her “FS” thang back at my old school- which means she’s getting pulled in every direction and yet STILL had time to come spend yesterday with us. Not only that, she brought the clan- Luke had 2 strong young bucks to help load the truck, and I had 2.5 lovely ladies to help me load the boxes (Meghan is pregnant and counted mostly for entertainment value, hence the 0.5).

Brandy managed to get hold of an official “Alien Death Ray Gun” complete with lights and sound- we lost her to that toy for a little while, but who can blame her? =)

A few days ago, FS also helped me clean out my pantry. We played a few rounds of “Chopped” with the resulting bags of groceries. For those who haven’t seen it, Chopped is an addicting show on Food Network where 4 professional chefs compete at cooking to win money. The catch is that the ingredients they get to cook with are totally unrelated. Raw oysters, gummi bears, and bourbon. OR, jicama, panko bread crumbs, and peanut butter. It gets pretty disgusting, but the concept is fab. Anyhoo, we had plenty of fun with that.

I can’t decide if the situation is made worse or better with all the together time we’ve had this summer. On the one side, we’ve cemented a friendship that was already strong. I can’t be more grateful for that. On the other side, I’ve been fighting strong (very, very strong!) urges to trap her in my moving truck and not let her go til I can plunk her down in our new house. I promised her I’d let her out every few hours to stretch and potty. Not sure if Luke is on board, but he likes me to be happy, so I’ll be sure to bring it up a few more times before we drive away.

I’m feeling pretty enthusiastic about the move though, because we have a pretty awesome pad waiting for us in NH. I’ll write a new post with details but it’s safe to assume that someone probably died of a colonial disease in this house, and that there’s probably money stashed in the walls. SOLD!!!!

Now, for one last look at that beautiful NM sky:

Please don't ask why I was up at the buttcrack of dawn... just glad I had the mental capacity to go outside and look up.

Hello All!

Some good news on the home front: We’ve sold our house in Roswell! Our fantastic neighbors across the street are going to take it so that their son and his wife can raise their first baby right across the street. I’m so happy for them, and also so happy for us, as this has been a very stressful summer. At least one thing is crossed off that very long list. I have to say, I’ll miss the house terribly, but I couldn’t have picked better people to pass it to. Wes and Michelle have two big, rowdy dogs and an appreciation for outside space. One last look at my favorite room:

*sigh*

We still haven’t found a place to live in New Hampshire, but there are a few prospects. I have my super-agent-extraordinaire, Heather, on it. The good thing is that we now have the option to buy. There are several sad little houses with good bones and good locations that need a lot of TLC.

Who knows? We may end up flipping houses up there- we certainly flip enough of them when we don’t even mean to.

On a lighter note, I spent the night in Durango to visit with some of my favorite people. Melissa and Andrea were up there at Andrea’s parents’ house on the Pine River. I also met the lovely Cat, who is old friends with Andrea (and a heck of a lot of fun!).

Obviously, there were meals shared at the house, lots of sitting out on the deck, and lots of catching up! Our activities were pretty fun too:

In 24hrs, we:

-Jumped in a bouncy house:

Note: These things are not made for adults.

-Jumped in the Relaxation Station (think large round couch floating in the river)

-Watched karaoke in a dive bar (I didn’t sing, but did dance the “Cupid Shuffle”- which might as well have been the Electric Slide).

-Played endlessly with the little golden retriever puppy at the house:

I have the same pic of zephyr. Too cute!

-Ate an amazing brunch at Casa Linda in Durango:

Best. Birthday cake. Ever. Happy 30th, Andrea!

YUM!!

-Took wild west photos…

This leads me to my second FLIPPER. The one in my mouth. I’m currently wearing a retainer with a front tooth on it. Once my mouth heals from the surgery, they’ll put a tooth right where it belongs. I have a very short window of opportunity to enjoy the reactions of friends and family when I pop that bad boy out. Of course, I couldn’t refuse when my friends insisted I take one of our wild west photos with a missing front tooth. When else would I get to add this much “love” to such a silly event? Here are the two favorites:

By far the cutest of all of us. And no, Andrea's Bro is not naked. =P

Here's the toothless one. Oh yes I DID!!

I already knew this but it helps to say it again: Find the humor in every situation, because it’s there waiting for you. Don’t take yourself too seriously. And for God’s sake, wait til the camera’s rolling to make a fool of yourself!!

–

Hello All!

Last week I flew to New Hampshire to try and wrangle us a rental for our first year. You would think that an area comprised of mostly RENTAL homes would have some options. There are a few options out there. Emphasis on FEW.

The first is a little red house in Meredith. It’s incredibly quaint, but the owner is kind of a nutbar. I can’t decide if she’ll be the type to sneak into the house and sniff the carpet. She went on and on about how she hates cats because they pee all over… I would hate them too if that’s what mine actually did! Anyhoo, It looks like an old schoolhouse, was built in the 1850s, and is one of the original homesteads in Meredith:

Another option is a more traditional house right near the ski resort. It’s got more space and a pretty kitchen. You can’t blame a girl for wanting a pretty kitchen. 😉

Look familiar to anyone who visited us in Winston-Salem?

I also had quite the adventure on my solo trip. I made it a point to make friends with as many people as I could, with intentions of plying every bit of info I could about the area. It worked.

On day one I met Heather, who is a rental agent up in Meredith. What a doll! We went to breakfast, had a great time, then she invited me to join her with another one of her clients to go on his boat for the day. It’s about 50 degrees, with a nice little breeze and constant drizzle. Luckily, the boat had a heated cabin and Kenny was a gentleman. This was important, because the cabin was itsy-bitsy. We entertained ourselves chatting while we crossed part of the lake, parked at the dock, and walked to a restaurant on the shoreline.

Now, Kenny is a character. Over nachos and beer, he proceeded to whip 3 word questions at Heather with alarming speed. His volume is stuck on 11 as well, so I’m sure it was quite a spectacle:

Kenny: RENT OR BUY?!

Heather: Buy.

Kenny: RED OR GREEN?!

Heather: ummm… green?

Kenny: YEAH, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS!

This continued until Kenny looked over and noticed a life-sized cardboard cutout of the “Most Interesting Man in the World” dos equis guy. He jumped up, went to the waitress and asked her for it. The crazy thing is that she actually said yes! So Heather and I (and several tables full of diners) are watching in amusement as Kenny is trying to pry the guy loose with a fork. Turns out he was attached too well and Kenny would have to come back another day with a staple remover. Which he fully intended to do.

Our ride home was relatively uneventful. We were cold, full, and tired. Kenny deposited us back at Heather’s place and I moseyed back to the hotel. I think both of us needed to imbibe in a little silence.

I also met a wonderful couple out at a nice restaurant. We were all seated at the bar. Me, because I wanted someone to chat with, and they because the bartender happened to be a good friend. This turned into a 3hr party. The food was positively delicious. I had a “side” of mac and cheese, a bowl of clam chowder, and an appetizer of scallops that had been seared in a maple syrup glaze. I know it sounds weird, but believe me, it worked:

I also did quite a bit of driving- up to the ski resort where they now offer zipline, ski lift, and hardcore segway tours on the trails around the area. They also have a separate ropes course, and something called a Model-T Snowmobile. I don’t know (or need to know) anymore than that I really want to ride in a Model-T Snowmobile.

I checked out a local farm stand and found the most delicious strawberries I’ve had since I lived down the road from a u-pick in NC.

I also headed up I-93 to check out the white mountains. Definitely not the same as the mountains in the SW, but considering we’ll be living right next to them, we’ll cut some slack and enjoy them as often as possible. Plymouth, NH is a tiny little college town along the way, and when y’all come visit, this is one of the required stops. More good restaurants than I could count. I have some dining to do.

At the mouth of the white mountains, I can see many meals eaten here on the way home from a cold, wet hike.

I also managed to go to Dunkin’ Donuts approx 75 times, found the original Devil Dogs snack cakes for FS (and she was right on both counts: there really is no substitution for the original DD Coffee OR Devil Dogs). Side note: Devil dogs are 2 longish flattish devils food cakes with a yummy white cream in the middle. Think Ding Dong but (of course) better. As there is also no replacement for HER, this was fitting.

I wrapped up my trip with a walk to the lake to check out the view and came across some ducklings with mama.

I don’t recall much from the last 24 hours. What I do remember, I apparently remember incorrectly. While not exactly “Hangover 3: Schnaggleteeth”, I had a fun enough weekend to recount it here.

FS and her 2 daughters were awesome enough to drive me to Albuquerque on Sunday for dental surgery that was to happen Monday morning. We turned Sunday into “Girls Night” complete with too much food, pedicures, and the movie, Bridesmaids (which is absolutely hilarious, btw).

On Monday morning, I was taken back into the oral surgery suite, where Dr. Sparks was about to hack lots of holes in my mouth for the sake of beauty. I’ll say one time: Girls are stupid. Regardless, I’m thrilled to be getting this work done, so I was practically skipping back to the chair/iv/scalpel/other unknown torture devices. Dr. Sparks inserted my IV and gave me a mini dose of versed. I have to say, this was exciting, as it was my first drug since becoming a nurse and I was interested… from a purely clinical standpoint. 😉

I have a few memories from throughout the 4hr procedure. Once waking up yelling in pain, and Dr Sparks saying, “Hey there! Guess you woke up for that one didn’t you?” before giving me a little extra juice. I also recall asking on the progress of the surgery, and getting answers from the MD and assistants.

What I DON’T recall is a little more interesting:

After I woke up and was getting ready to stand, I couldn’t find my phone, which I had left in my lap. Dr. Sparks then informed me that I managed to eek off a text message and a phone conversation before they took my phone away. How embarrassing! They said I talked to my mom, and only this morning was I able to get from her that while I didn’t say anything totally crazy, she could tell I was feeling drunk and happy. I giggled. Anyone who has seen me with a few drinks knows that I’m a happy, giggly drunk. Apparently this is also true for Versed (which is nicknamed, “I don’t care juice” by people in the healthcare profession)

The text was to Luke and read as follows: “Holy crap dude that I am at the place I have drug nasaq…MMA”

Really? Glad I could put a little confidence in my poor husband who was 3hrs away and had to work. Sorry babe.

Anyhoo, the devil tooth has been exorcised, never to return. My gums have been “trimmed” to look more natural, and I will be missing that front devil tooth for about a week. It a great thing that I’m out of work at the moment, but I have to say I would have enjoyed the kids’ reactions to my hillbilly alter ego.

We drove the 3hrs home, where Luke was waiting. I showered, sat on the couch with him and promptly fell asleep. 2.5 hours later he dragged me to bed, where I continued a 16 hour catnap, waking every 4hrs or so to pop a pill and crash again.

I awoke this morning to a few random texts from close friends I must’ve texted after I got home, including a reply to a text I sent at 6am. I’m really surprised at how little I remember even from last night. My favorite exchange was relayed by one of the nurses:

Me (after the first dose): *giggle* “You have 2 noses”

Nurse: “Oh, really? How many eyes do I have?”

Me: “FOUR”

Nurse: “Very good! Now how many mouths do I have?”

Me: [still giggling] “Two pretty ones!”