Reality Check

What?  What day is this?  What city am I in?  Where am I? 

Right, I have been a.w.o.l. for a while, but with really good cause!  I've been in Sacramento waiting to welcome a new grandson, and here he is! 

Delivered just days ago (but way better late than never!) here is little Sam, ready to go home from the hospital.  His big brother Zach is bursting with pride, and can't wait to have Sam and Mommy at home.

So as Grandma-in-residence (a temporary position), I'm in charge of groceries, cooking and cuddling!  Well, his mom and dad have cuddling priorities, I guess, but I'm claiming all the time I can before I have to head home to St. Louis.

It's really interesting to see the second-born come into a family.  With the first, you get the joy of the fresh, pure, innocent newborn combined with seeing your own child evolve into a parent.

With the second-born, you get all of the above plus the amazing pleasure of seeing the first-born becoming a big brother.  Watching the 3 1/2 year-old coo at his little brother, and pat his head and tell us how soft it is--well, it's a real thrill.

Thanks, kids, for another awesome experience on this journey.  Gulp.  And pass the Kleenex.

The Nose Knows, Part II

Thought I was the first person in history to die on the table having a septoplasty? Not so much. The surgery, as it happens, was not bad. The recovery, on the other hand, not so good.

Actually, if I had not had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic I was given, I think I’d be feeling a whole lot better by now, but we never know, do we?

So my thanks go to a fine surgeon and a terrific O.R. and Recovery staff, and the ability of the human body to recover from the assaults we perform on it! I’m getting better, and despite my expectations to the contrary, I can clearly breathe better than I expected to five days post-op.

And since I’ve taken to pontificating on the virtues of good manners in the past, I believe this is my opportunity to address the topic as it applies to the hospital room. Thus, here comes:

Hospital Etiquette for the Hopelessly Dense Inpatient

1. When your guests come to visit, lower your voices so that I’m not overhearing your family drama. I now know who cheated on whom, how many times, and why. I’m honestly not interested, and I needed to sleep more than I needed the theater.


2. Phone calls that your son needs to make about his truck repairs could conceivably be made elsewhere. I’m just saying…


3. When you take a phone call, please mute your t.v. The soap operas to which you are apparently addicted are competing with your personal spectacle, and the plotlines of the two overlap and confuse me. I have enough trouble keeping my own life straight. Don’t inject yours into my head.


4. When you leave the room to ‘ambulate the halls’ as our dry-erase board so officially puts it, that’s also a good time to mute (or, heaven forfend!—turn off!) your t.v.


5. Thanks for sharing your theory that “You could meet someone in Vegas and get married the same day, and your chances of it working out are just as good as anyone else’s.” This may have been developed via the extensive and exhaustive study you’ve made of soap operas. I’m not sure you have the (real-life) statistics to back it up.

So, while I felt your pain, got the nurse for you (when I could), tried to help insofar as I was able, and hope you’re feeling lots better, I still feel justified in making these simple suggestions. I hope neither of us ever needs them again!

Meanwhile, may all your ailments be treated in the office, and may any future hospitalizations be conducted with a maximum of decorum and a minimum of drama.