Pain, insane, bane, strain, entertain

Life is conspiring against me. It seems bent on not allowing me to blog. If only that were the result of too little going on, instead of too much!

Last Saturday I spent the bulk of the day in the emergency room. If I hadn't just had my gall bladder out, I would have said I was having another attack, all sorts of excruciating abdominal pain that would not let up. A big dose of morphine later, I felt much better, but that's not really a feasible strategy for dealing with the ongoing pain on a daily basis. Plus, all my labs and ultrasounds came back normal, so we never did figure out what was/is wrong. So, it's back to the gastroenterologist for me (I'm giving up on spelling for this post--sue me). She is recommending a salmonella test, just in case, and perhaps a special test that sends a camera down into a duct that opens into my pancreas that might be spasmodic...or something. Who can keep track of all the possibilities? She also mentioned pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer, all while rushing to assure me she didn't think that was the problem. Listen, what do I care what suggestions you raise? I'm not afraid of suggestions; I just want to find the problem, whatever it is. Finally, she left me with a pain med prescription, which I will definitely be using, if the last few days are in indication of what's in store for me. UGH!

Meanwhile, Baby E has decided he just doesn't like to sleep between 3 and 5 am, thank you very much, though he is a perfect sleeper the rest of the time. Umm, not sure what to do with a thoroughly awake and perky little talkative munchkin in the wee hours of the morning. There's nowhere to hide in my house with him where we don't run the risk of waking up someone else. Oh, and I'm not to fond of being awake, myself. The only one who seems perfectly at ease with the predawnness of it all is Baby E!

Toddler J is headed to the dentist, finally, and the prospect fills him with all kinds of fear. I think he takes after his Grandeur in that way. I put it off as long as possible, longer, actually, but he fell and ripped up his gums and now must be seen. Wish us luck. And also lots of nitrous oxide!

The husband continues to job search, not because he has to leave his job but because he doesn't, making now a perfect time to look. We've stumbled upon some intriguing positions but it's still too early to tell about all of them, so I'll just say we've been looking at houses in places around the country, which is sometimes a fun activity and sometimes thoroughly depressing. And I've been thinking about ways to pack up and stage our house in case we have to sell in the near future. Most of this is premature, pie in the sky thinking, but it keeps us occupied...and only a little stressed!

And this week is our church luau and talent show, organized by yours truly. Back in December, when we thought about having an end of summer activity in addition to our annual Christmas and Halloween shenanigans at church, it seemed like a great idea. Right now, it seems like a whole lotta work. Today's tasks include making an ocean scene and palm trees out of paper for decorations on the walls, inventorying paper goods, figuring out what to do about our "missing" (aka "stolen") table cloths, finalizing the talent show line-up, and making the programs. Tomorrow's tasks include sending reminder emails about the food and buying a half a bushel of tomatoes for my lomi lomi tomato salad--yummer! We'll see how it all turns out.

And here is E, sleeping somewhere else besides his bed, during some other time than night.