Seven quick takes

1 I'm still on vacation! And taking advantage of my Grandmother's wifi to check my email for the first time in over a week.

2 We spent a glorious week in a cottage on the aptly named Swamp Lake near Plevna

3 I love kayaks!

4 If you are ever at a cottage without a bathtub and you have small children, you can totally convince them that a hot tub is a big bathtub.

5 Both my children are missing any sort of fear of water. This means that Thalia spent her last canoe trip leaning over the side and had to be pulled back in by Jamie. Then he had to circle back and fish her hat out of the lake.

6. The wind was so strong that it blew the canoe off the dock and all the way across the lake. So I got to kayak across and drag it back.

7. I am so grateful both my Grandmothers are around and able to spend time with my kids. I think it is amazing that Liam and Thalia have the chance to know their Great-Grandmothers, and they have lots of fun visiting.

It's all in my head

I had another MRI today. That brings my total up to five; three with contrast, two without.
It doesn't get to be more fun. It is still loud, cramped and stressful. I don't like needles, and there are needles. I don't like loud noises, and there are loud noises. I'm not fond of cramped spaces, and they have yet to invent a spacious and airy MRI.

I tried to describe the experience to Jamie once, and this is by no means perfect, but here goes...

Imagine you are lying on a skinny cot with a hockey helmet screwed onto one end. Once you are comfy, they lower an old-school cage-type face shield over your face. They hand you a stress ball, then raise the bed up and slide it into a tube. You have some ear protection, so when the technician talks to you, it's a little muffled. They warn you not to move, let you know how long the next test will be and then the beeping starts.

Remember Space Invaders? Or any other vintage arcade game that had that beepbeepbeep noise when you shot at someone, or that high pitched whine when the game froze? That is the noise the MRI makes. And depending in the test, the whole machine rumbles as if your cot was inside the engine of the biggest Mack truck you have ever seen.

Part way through they pull you out just enough to plung a needle full of contrast into the IV lock they were kind enough to give you when you arrived. Then there are a few more episodes of your very own eighteen-wheeler Atari game. After they pull you out at the end you get to put your own clothes back on and hang out in the waiting room to make sure you aren't going to have any sort of reaction. Then they pull the IV lock out, tape a cotton ball to your arm and send you on your way.

And now the waiting game. My follow up appointment isn't until Sept 11, but there is always the chance of that phone call. The scary, heart stopping one that says "We found something, and you need to come in now."  I've had one of those, and have no desire to ever have one again.

Seven Quick Takes

1. I am at the point of no return in cleaning my room. That lovely place when you have pulled so much stuff out of drawers and off flat surfaces that you have a huge pile on the floor you have to walk around. I want/have to be done tomorrow because
2. We are pulling the matress off the box springs and are putting it on the floor and sticking the crib matress that Thalia never uses in the corner against the wall under the window. This is a compromise, co sleeping but encouraging her to have her own space too. And maybe it will help with the napping situation too.
3. Liam was up a few too many times last night (7quick complaints about sleep maybe?). I think that will make today a day of making cookies, lists, and cleaning my room.
4. I have to make a food list of groceries to bring to the cottage. Or a menu plan, or something. I have a feeling cookies and cereal won't fly. At least for more than one day.
5. It's raining. Up side, my grass is finally growing again. Down side, I can't hang out my laundry.
6. I am really looking forward to going out to Starbucks tonight. By myself! Hooray for Mommy's night out!
7. Thalia now has 5 teeth, and number 6 is almost through. I can't wait until it cuts, because she bites while she nurses when her mouth hurts.