Mommie Marzie

So I had some alone time today and watched almost the whole season of Shear Genius on Bravo in one go. I have an episode and a half left. Thanks to DVR I’ll watch those later. (Can’t wait until Project Runway starts.)

Joe had me take pictures of his chest today. He posted the pictures on his blog.

I registered Big Goofball for AYSO soccer. He’s old enough to play this year. I hope he likes it. Especially considering how big soccer is in our family. Really, how many 4-y-o boys have jersies for Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Real Salt Lake?

Joe’s home. Our family is complete again. But there is still a long road to being fully recovered. He’s posted a little about his surgery here. I wanted him to take a picture of his chest and post it but he doesn’t even want to take a picture. I guess it’s just too painful for him to look at it in the mirror so why take a picture.

It’s been an emotional rollercoaster. More so since he’s come home, at least for me. So I’m feeling very blah. I didn’t even feel like posting but I thought that I should just so my friends and bloggy friends can know what’s going on. Here’s my “woe is me” moment: I’m feeling neglected.

I shouldn’t feel that way, I guess. I mean, I’ve had Joe’s parents here to take care of the kids. And now Joe’s brother is here to help take care of Joe. My sister sent a care package that included fabric from her and from my mom. But I’m still just feeling bad for myself.

I’m sure I’ll snap out of it soon.

We had another important event in our family yesterday. Big Goofball graduated from preschool. Since Joe and I couldn’t be there my in-laws took lots of pictures and video taped it.

And Big Goofball had some ‘tude going on. He wasn’t being very cooperative. But isn’t he so cute?

Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. L.

Here he is with his “girlfriend”.

And here he is with his best friend, notice the ‘tude going on.

He’s my little punk and I love him. I’m sad I missed his graduation but I’m very proud of him. He learned A LOT in preschool and is ready for the big bad world of kindergarten. We all have to survive summer first! I’ve tried to tell him that preschool is over but I’m still waiting for him to ask if he has school.

Joe Update: Joe is doing better. He moved out of Critical Care into IMCU. He stood up and walked. Things are looking better.

Surgery went well. It started around 7:30 AM. His surgery was done by 10:30 AM. The surgeon said that everything went well. Joe had a double bypass with veins harvested from his leg. Luckily he didn’t have his heart on bypass and he didn’t need any transfusions.

He has been in pain but I’m told it should go away tomorrow when the chest tubes come out.

Thanks to all my friends, bloggy friends, and family who have sent your thoughts and prayers to us. We really do appreciate it!

When I was pregnant with Big Goofball I remember hearing about “Nesting”. Ya know, when you know it’s close to delivery time so you go around cleaning your nest? We’ve been nesting here in Casa Marzie.

Between Joe and me, with a little “help” from the Goofballs, we did a lot today. I cleaned both bathrooms (not my favorite chore); Joe did the dishes and vacuumed. Big Goofball cleaned the toilets. Little Goofball squirted water in the tub to help—it was just something to keep him busy. Joe cleaned up his fly tying stuff; I cleaned up my sewing stuff. I cleaned the windows on the screen door and the sliding glass doors, with Little Goofball squirting my clean windows! I polished the piano.

Joe hung my quilt rack so I could put up my awesome quilt my mom made me. (Not a good picture. I took it on an angle because it’s at the end of the hallway. And I need to refold it–it’s been packed away for almost two years and needs to air out.)

Then I wanted to put some of my bowls and crockery on the piano.

I was so sad to open the box and see broken bowls. I don’t know if they broke in the move to
Bend or the move to our new little town. *sigh*. I don’t want to throw them out. I keep thinking that there has got to be something that I can do with them. The first bowl is the largest of a set of five from Crate & Barrel. The second is a middle bowl that is part of the set on the right side of my piano.

And I want to hang up this cool bowl my parents brought home from Morocco a few years ago. It’s temporary home is on the piano. Can you tell I have a thing for bowls and pottery and crockery!

That’s all for now. We’ve got to get Joe to the hospital by 5:45 in the morning. YIKES! He’s surgery will be at 7:30. Hopefully I’ll get home early enough to post an update, but no promises. I just know that I don’t want to be driving that two-lane highway in the dark unless I absolutely have to!

For dinner tonight I made a simple chicken and veggie stir-fry. I made just enough to feed all four of us. Big Goofball ate his and then got mad when there wasn’t more. He pouted and said “I want more vegetables!” Seriously! How many 4-year-olds say that?

It’s been a whole lot easier than I thought it would be to eat healthier. We were able to have a little Cinco De Mayo feast, we had tasty homemade turkey burgers (YUM), chicken and veggie shiska-bobs, and so much more. It really hasn’t been that hard to adjust.

And I can tell a difference. My belt is now on the last hole. YAY! I’ve worn some capris I bought last summer but only wore once. It’s been nice. I hope this trend continues!

Nothing crafty and very fun around here. We’re just waiting for Wednesday. It’s not good anticipation like going on vacation or Christmas. It’s full of all sorts of worry.

I only want to think positive and hope for the best. I don’t like imagining what the worst case scenario would turn out to be. Not that we haven’t thought about it and talked about it.

Joe and I do a lot of talking about his impending surgery at night before drifting off to sleep. I don’t like to think about the what-ifs, but Joe has. He says he hopes that he has told me and the boys that he loves us enough. He’s been trying to play with the boys more and to be more patient with them. And it makes me cry. I really do hope that no matter what that they know how much Joe and I love them.

And this morning Joe was trying to fill out his living will that the hospital provided him. Wow. Those are some tough decisions to make. It’s really scary to think about.

But his cardiologist said on Friday that this is pretty straight forward, or as straightforward as open heart surgery can be. I’m just afraid that we’ll be the abnormal case where something will go wrong. With the way our luck has been going lately it scares me.

Hopefully with a whole lot of faith and prayer things will go OK. I’ll keep you posted as I can. I’m not sure how much computer time I’m going to get between driving back and forth between Bend and here and trying to spend time with the boys.

We had borrowed a tent from our friends Jared and April a while ago. It’s just been sitting in the living room. Joe set it up inside for the boys. It took up a lot of space. We had to push everything out of the way. But the boys have had a blast!

Both Goofballs would run and jump in it. Silly boys. Here is Little Goofball. In his PJs and wearing Big Goofball’s belt. New fashion statement or something.

Here is Big Goofball. He actually slept in the tent with Joe two nights in a row. It makes my back ache just thinking about it!

Big Goofball went on a field trip today to visit a kindergarten class. He was at school by 8:30 AM and didn’t get home until 2:30 PM. I had to pack him a lunch. His teacher said that he was very good and she thinks he is ready for kindergarten. So we just have to survive the summer!

Other than that not much else is going on. We had the missionaries stop by and mow the lawn for us. Such nice young men. We unloaded some food on them so they were pretty happy.

And I’ve not been in the crafty mood. Very depressing. I have a whole list of stuff I want to do but I just don’t feel like pulling out the sewing machine. I think the skirt disaster has me feeling un-crafty. I need some insipiration.

Joe goes for his pre-surgery appointment on Friday. He also has an appointment with the cardiologist. One week from today is the big surgery. Joe says he’s not really nervous about the surgery, but more about the recovery. He’s not going to be able to do a whole lot while his bones try to heal and reconnect. No lifting, no driving, no to most stuff. And I’m not looking forward to it. It’ll be like having three kids that can’t do much to help me out. And I’m guessing Joe will be one ornery guy too. I guess I’m going to be needing to pray for even more patience. *sigh*

So I ended up going fishing with Joe and the boys on Saturday. Little Goofball would have been very upset if he would have been left home. I packed up stuff to make lunch and off we went. The boys had fun. Joe’s friend Matt went with us and the boys just followed him around. I caught two fish, Joe caught about 10 and I think Matt caught around 12. The boys were getting tired so I took them to the truck and Joe said he would be a few minutes after us. He didn’t come for an hour. Big Goofball was ready to leave him. I was not happy. The boys and I were ready to get home.

Joe had put sunscreen on the boys before we left. He didn’t use the stuff I usually use on the boys. As a result, Big Goofball’s skin broke out in hives. Anywhere the sunscreen had been he is covered in bumps. All over his face, ears (that’s what bothers him most), arms, back of the neck. I feel bad for him. He just has the most sensitive skin. Poor guy!

And Mother’s Day. Don’t even want to talk about it.

Today is a better day. It’s still weird having Joe home. We cleaned the truck inside and out. And that’s about it so far. I really want to head to the store and buy the Better Homes and Gardens Quilts and More magazine. I really like the magazine, plus, Monica has the cover. How cool is that?

No new skirt. It wasn’t meant to be. I don’t have enough fabric. I’m really bummed. No new clothes. And I’m pretty sure I’m not getting anything for Mother’s Day. Not that it is required, it’s just nice.

And Joe is going to take Big Goofball fishing at our friends bass pond. So what am I going to do all day stuck at home?

So bummed.