thebeetgoeson

Why so quiet Chez Beet? you ask.

In truth, I don’t have much to report. The beet . . . er, well, life, anyway . . . goes on.

The Spouse is continuing his physical therapy. His progress is slow, but there is progress–measurable progress–every day.

There is also pain, which is why when he had his stitches removed on Tuesday we asked if there was anything else he could be taking.

I still have that bottle of Percocet after all. read more »

Okay, my day started off a little weird in that the first thing I did was run to the pharmacy, buy a bunch of medicines and bandages and stuff, and then inject The Spouse in the abdomen with an anti-coagulant.

But I had coffee first. read more »

Facebook isn’t the best place to explain anything in detail. So excuse me for a minute while I indulge in some details on my day.

It has been difficult, no doubt about it. And I was surprised at the wave of emotions that hit me like a tsunami this morning. (I will warn you now that one of the affects of today is my inability to say anything without metaphor and hyperbole. Again, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.) read more »

The antique carousel

So we made it to the opening day of the Schueberfouer.

It could not be easier to get there. read more »

Fun Fair Opening 2009 with "Decorated Sheeps"

During my trips back and forth to the hospital, I keep this mental list of all the other crazy stuff that is going on in my life that is probably more blog-worthy than the Broken Arm Crisis.

Like the Infestation.

I knew about the Infestation before we went to the US. The kids came downstairs one day and said, “We have bees in our rooms.”

I went and looked, and sure enough, outside Baboo’s bedroom window is a hive. In the window frame. That is, in the exterior wall of the house. And they aren’t bees.

They are yellowjackets.

Sigh. read more »

I had commented on how chipper The Spouse was Tuesday afternoon after surgery.

Well, it seems that was because he was still hopped up on pain meds.

Before he went in, our big concern was all the stuff they had to do to him pre-surgery. The insertion of the catheter in his neck seemed the most distressing because they wanted him to be awake for this procedure.

But he remembers none of this. read more »

I have now had a good six hours of sleep (finally fell asleep at 1:00 a.m. and slept through until 7:00 a.m. this morning) and a chance to reflect a bit on the cultural differences that exist in medical care. And when communication fails.

When The Spouse was in the hospital in Russia last November, they never told us ANYTHING. Nurses would come and go and change medicines that went into his IV drip. But when we asked, “What is this? What is it for?” the answer was always a smile and, “Ask the doctor.”

The doctors were always busy. No one ever really gave us a full explanation of anything.

As a result, it has been very difficult to grasp the seriousness of that experience. read more »

Photo of Frank Schleck by Andy Schleck

On Sunday (yesterday) we flew back to Luxembourg after our visit to Ohio.

As is our habit while we are there, we got up that morning to go for a bike ride. We were having a great ride, too: lively conversation, a fast speed (for me), and, um, mist.

Drizzle, actually. Not rain. And that is probably why we didn’t think much of it. With real rain we’d just head straight home. But this was like riding in a cloud.

So when The Spouse sprinted up ahead, I didn’t think anything about it other than I was glad we only had about four miles left to go. That was when I rounded a corner and saw two figures: one down on the ground and the other standing over it.

I remember thinking, “I hope the one standing is The Spouse . . . but those grey bike shorts on the guy on the ground look like his.” read more »

So how was the visit with the in-laws, you ask.

Very good, actually. That’s the short answer. We got to see a lot of relatives, and our kids played nicely with their cousins, and there was a family reunion that was good fun, and the weather even cooperated. We only went to see one movie instead of hiding out in the theater.

But there was one rather blog-worthy moment.

It started when we arrived in The Spouse’s ancestral village, and he realized he had no Blackberry service there. read more »

On the left here is some glass by Dale Chihuly. You can see a lot of it at the Franklin Park Conservatory, which was where we went for lunch and a little look-see this afternoon. The main exhibit currently is something called Savage Gardens and features carnivorous plants.

You know, Venus Fly Traps and the like.

Here are some pictures. As always click on the image to biggen it. read more »