happier than on the tram

happier than being on the airport tram with cec, rye and my dad...is being together with them and making your very own trail through pristine snow, walking through a meadow that disappears into the forest of a national park in wyoming...and in snow so deep that you can jump into it landing softly as you spread your arms to make a snow angel. we've had an incredible couple of days. beautiful weather, powdery snow and just gorgeous breathtaking scenery.

happier than disneyland

YAY! We're in Colorado. And what I decided on the tram at the airport 2 minutes after meeting Dad, is that being with Cec, Dad and Ryan together makes me happier than even being in Disneyland. :)

hell freezes over

Rye and I are walking through the market this weekend, just having put kale, cabbage and onions in our basket. Mind you these are not only VEGETABLES, but ones that Rye up till last week did NOT prefer....as we're talking about this and laughing, he suddenly says, "THAT'S why it's snowing and hailing in late April! It's finally happened!" and I said, "Hunh? What's happened?" and he says, "Hell's frozen over!!"

hee hee...which is actually quite true. We had vegetable quesadillas last night (which were surprisingly yummy) and today he made vegetable risotto. All being made by the boy who originally INSISTED that salad and soup did NOT make a meal, and used to ask, "Where's the Meat?!!" :)

global warming

What's wrong with this picture? (aside for it being underexposed and out of focus)

This is what i came home to late Friday night! It's SPRING in Seattle and late April, so you'll notice in the foreground our pretty cherry blossom tree (which by the way has never bloomed until this year, i think it has something to do with mom & it being our last year in this house) BUT in the background...yup, that's my neighbor's car covered with snow! And no, there's not something wrong with my camera. Those bright white dots are big fluffy snowflakes. ;) We were all treated to rain, hail, sleat, snow...and then beautiful sunny blue weather this weekend. But boy is it beautiful when it's swirling around you in those giant cotton ball clusters.

Things I'll miss about Seattle:

• feeling like you're in a snowglobe as flakes swirl around you and stick to your lashes
• watching my kids run around trying to catch hail in their hands and screaming OW when they look up to watch it fall and it catches them in the eye
• tulips, daffodils, the bright green of spring and pale pink cherry blossoms

Things I won't miss about Seattle:

• that bitter burning feeling when it's so cold that your hands start to freeze and ache when they've been out of your pockets for over 3 minutes
• your grass growing so fast that you have to mow it 2 times a week and the weeds in your front yard are now knee high

and so it begins

i just told my first parent that i was leaving next year. we had to get out a kleenex box.

wedding cake

Almost down to the hour and minute, Rye and I have just fed each other our wedding cake...and for so so many reasons as we did my eyes filled with tears. Happy Anniversary to us. Thank you again so much to those of you who helped us a year ago today to celebrate the happiest moment of our lives...and for continuing to help us in that celebration today. When I woke up this morning, I couldn't decide whether it felt like a lifetime ago or just yesterday...and what I've come to realize is that it feels like both. Life has changed so much since that wonderful magical day a year ago, and yet there are parts of that day that seem so vivid and clear that they could be just yesterday....my guess is that it's exactly as it should be.

happiness

As cheesy as it sounds, i have to admit that there is something truly magical for me about Disneyland...that overwhelming joy, excitement and that warm feeling that fills you as you walk down Mainstreet...the memories, the nostalgia, the music...and the approach of the Electrical Parade that actually brought me to tears...the past 2 days, were the happiest that i've been in the past 10 months...

the wonder of a nap & talkitive under sedation

Whew, just woke up from a 2 hour nap and feeling so much better! Almost back to me again. I've been too tired to even watch TV, let alone do e-mail...but thought I'd update everyone here...

The surgery went as well as it could have, I think...I don't remember a whole lot before after or during cause of the anesthesia, which was really nice. I know that I do remember that the nurses were so super caring and gentle. They couldn't find my veins to put an IV in, but they use something called 'lidocane' (sp?) now so that you only get one big prick and the rest you can't feel, you just see them digging around with the needle. Talked to the nurses about my elevated heart rate at the beginning (I was pushing 90, and my resting heart rate is normally low 70), explained I was more anxious than usual and why. But that I didn't want anything more to relax me then they normally would, because I could handle it fine. There was one moment in the beginning where the monitors started beeping when they first hooked me up, that made me flashback to mom in the hospital, and that was pretty tough...in fact very possibly the closest i've ever gotten to an anxiety attack, where you just want to jump up and run away or crawl out of your skin...but I concentrated on breathing, which made me laugh cause it was like pushing through labor, and then i was fine...

The only other part I remember was them bringing me to in the middle of the surgery, and they warned me they would, because they needed me to open and close my eyes to see how much movement and how equal they could get them...that part I probably could have done without, but was interesting in itself, because as they bring me to, I start asking all these questions like, "Oh, you already started?" "How long have you been going for?" "What part are you on?" and all these things that I really wanted to know...and they'd laugh and answer, but then say, "Okay Stacy we need you to be really still now, so you need to stop talking." only I couldn't cause there were so many important things that I wanted to tell them! hee hee...so that was pretty amusing, until they started up with the cauterizer thing, and I could feel the searing heat and smell the burning flesh (which I told them so-but also added that it wouldn't have been a complete experience without - which i also remember them finding amusing)...i also pointed out to them that I could feel them stitching up my eye, and was I really supposed to be feeling that, to which they said as long as it didn't hurt...to which I replied, well I can feel your needle going in and out of my skin and if you mean the poking, stinging FEEL of the needle, then yeah it kind of hurts, but I could live with it...but they were nice and numbed me up some more and knocked me out again (must've gotten tired of my babbling).

So the surgery took about an hour longer then they thought, there was more scar tissue then they had figured...i'm a little scary looking right now, not as swollen as i thought, but super red and black and blue (well not even blue - almost a dark purple black in the corners of my eye)..and I've got a freaky centipeded looking black stitch going across the top of my lid.

But it's done. And after waking up about 10 min ago, almost feeling up to par again. Have been pretty low energy and off feeling since, but Rye said since it was a pretty big trauma to my face, and so much sedation, that it probably just takes a couple days to shake off.

:) If I'm brave enough I'll put a close up of my eye on the Yang Journal site later tonight.

For now, thanks so much for everyone's thoughts and well wishes. It was a little more emotional then I thought, but coming home and knowing people were out there sending positive thoughts, made it so SO much better.

Thank you.

Love, me