My mom had surgery on her cervical spine a few days ago and thankfully it seems to have turned out well, although she is still having issues with nausea caused by the pain medication. She and I share that problem, which pretty much means we don't take prescription pain medication unless we are really in a lot of pain. We both have real tolerance for pain so this only comes into play when we have surgery, and unfortunately that is all too often for both of us.
I was talking to my dad while Mom was in surgery and he asked me how things were going with Mike. I told him everything was going well, and for the first time in my life Dad gave me relationship advice. He and Mom have been married for almost 50 years (Aug. 2 will be 50!) so I think he knows what he's talking about. He asked me if I loved Mike, I said yes, then he said then you need to make it work, because you can overcome anything if you really love the other person. He said not to expect anyone to be perfect, and sometimes its just easier to keep your mouth shut when you are angry and just go out into the garage for a few hours (at least that's what he does) and usually things can be worked out when you are calm. He also said that he and Mom had had their tough times but their love had pulled them through. Now my dad isn't one to go around talking about love, but he even got a little choked up when he was talking about how much he loves my mom. The fact that she was in surgery at the time probably is what brought that on but it was obviously heartfelt. That conversation means a lot to me and one I'll always remember, especially when things aren't going perfectly with Mike, as I'm sure sometimes they won't.
Okay, now a little funny: The other day I told Eline that I was going to the store and if she wanted anything to text me. So I'm shopping and I get a text from her and it says "I need chopsticks and maybe some cookies for after school." I'm wondering about the chopsticks, but she is in an art class and a pottery class (she has 30 more credits than she needs to graduate so she gets to take mostly electives) so I thought she might need chopsticks for that. As for the cookies, that girl can put down some Oreos! I have never seen anyone who could eat a whole pack in a day and not gain an ounce! That is one thing I will be mailing to her when she goes back to the Netherlands in June! So, I get home and give her the cookies and the chopsticks and ask what she needed the chopsticks for. She looks at them with a blank look on her face, the I see the "clue light" coming on and she starts laughing. She meant Chapstick! But when she says it she does pronounce it like chopstick and the text program on her phone automatically put an "s" on the end. :) So now we have a pack of chopsticks for the next time I get Chinese food, and Eline still needs Chapstick.
The other day we started decorating for Christmas. As you can see Chelsea the Clown is responsible for putting the beaded garland on the tree. That is one silly girl!
Eline was surprised to see that we had an ornament from The Netherlands, from out trip to Europe in 2000. I let her put that on the tree. I am giving her an ornament from Utah to take home with her, for her tree.
We celebrated St. Nicholas Day the other day. Since we don't have a fireplace the girls put their shoes in front of the tree. They put carrots in them for St. Nicholas' horse. Unfortunately Scruffy (our cute, veggie loving dog) ate the carrots so the horse went hungry.
St. Nicholas did manage to find our house and left the girls some small gifts and some treats.
On Thursday the girls made a Gingerbread house. It was Eline's first time doing this. I think they both had lots of fun.
Here's the final product. Looks great don't you think? As you can see we are all doing well and are getting along great. Life is so good!
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