Look, friends....I still have my keyboard.  Perhaps I should explain the circumstances of this last week:  Instead of driving my school bus, I was in a shuttle bus, transporting adults...and the driver's seat puts my head about ass level.  My windshield afforded a view of everything in front of me, thankfully the view was interesting.  I drove from 4-9am and again from 2-6 pm.  I was able to take the bus home 4 out of the 5 days, thus saving lots of time and gas.  Therefore, I needed lots of coffee, naps and interesting scenery to keep me awake and alert...not to mention pleasant and cheerful.  I did come up with a positive spin:  after a week of getting up at 3 to work at 4, getting up at 5 to work at 6 should be easy and delightful...so long as nobody pukes.

I can drive along, and mentally compose the most beautiful and eloquent bloggy posts, but when I get home and start banging away on this damn thing...I forget almost everything that I thought I'd write.  I take some notes, but I still forget stuff.  It really annoys me, and I'm starting to think I've had a brain injury.

I have several scars on my forehead from falls as a kid, perhaps I'm brain damaged.  It would explain so much:  why I can't think of what I want to be when I grow up, why my grades weren't too good in school, why when I go to read the directions of nearly anything my eyes glaze over, even though I allegedly supposedly had good reading comprehension in school.  It would explain why I can't explain how things work, even though I understand how it works.  I can't figure out new software or new hardware without a huge struggle, this is why I'm resistant to getting a magical map thingy, a "smart" phone, eyepods/eyetunes, and that goofy little computer thingy we bought which I can't make work.  Sometimes I don't remember conversations, I can't think of words, names, etc.  I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm a retard.

You know how facebook is always changing....well, Google bloggy thing has changed formats too.  Do you hear/read any complaining about it?  Now I can put on a post title, if I should think of a clever title.  Good luck with that one.

Some of you will remember a year ago, my Princess had a hip replaced...and that is what started this bloggy thing; after writing a couple dozen email updates, you begged and pleaded until I relented and agreed to continue the onslaught upon your eyes.  Here's that first surgery update:

In the event that you live under a rock and are not on Facebook, here's the updates that you've been missing.  Those of you lucky enough to have known us for a long time, you're either happy to see this missive or rolling your eyes and already spitting. 

On Friday, Val was told that there were 2 patients, and that she was first.  Instructions said to call on Sunday night after 8:30 for the official time to arrive.  9:30?  WTF?  That means that someone had a bad weekend, and needs emergency surgery.  I drop Val off about 9:30 and go to park (which means I took the car home and grabbed the motorcycle so I could park it free in the motorcycle parking area.  This was not an option in 2003 due to a couple of factors: 

1. it was February
2. we didn't have motorcycles

So now we have motorcycles, and a whole bunch of new friends because of that.  Wonderful!

At some point, someone came by, and said pretty much nothing.  I said:  "about how long before she goes on down for the real fun?"  Dunno, waiting for an OR.  Great.  Finally at noon a smurf shows up with a wagon and hauled her away to sit all alone, pre-op, they call it.

I should mention that this keyboard has no wrist wrest, so I'm risking carpal tunnel syndrome to keep you  informed.  You can show your appreciation with a hotdish or bourbon or cookies, or lawn mowing, if the grass ever turns green.

Ok, they took her at noon, so I went to lunch.  Nothing too exciting, should have gone home, actually, there are cookies at home.  I then went across the street to Fivebucks, found a chair under a speaker and took a nap, glad I had worn a hat to shade my eyes, because there was a 1,000,000 candlepower spotlight focused on that chair, as well.

If you're on the facebook thing, you may have seen the updates from 2:00 on, but I may insert some new drivel, so tune out at your own risk.  Went on a scouting mission, I already knew the waiting room on floor 2 was uncomfortable, with vinyl chairs and instant coffee, so I went to 8, that little room was packed, so on up to 9....much nicer....2 computers, one with the Decorah eagles on it, and one free.  There are recliners, puzzles, chatty old women, a view north of a concrete mixing facility;  I can see Taco Bell, so that means that I can probably see Tony and Patty's house.  so, I sat here, emailing and facebooking a bit, until I decided that they were not going to call....I went back to floor 2 to check in at the desk.  They finished construction on the OR, moved her in at 2:29 and THIS JUST IN, started surgery at 3:10.  They told us it'd be at least a 2 hour surgery, so stay tuned.

She'll be in room 9210, Methodist/Eisenberg hosp, phone of 507-287-5411.  Don't call till Tuesday afternoon, because she's not going to be phone worthy till then.  I doubt she'll sleep 2 winks tonight; they told us that they'd be poking and prodding her all night.

If you don't want these updates, reply in some sort of fashion, and I'll remove you from the list, and depending on the fashion, from my address book.  I know that there are some duplicates, yahoo just showed your name and not which email was attached to it....let me know which one you want removed.

For those of you clear out of the loop....Val has had/is having total hip replacement, degenerative arthritis ate it up in about a year.

Val just had a checkup on Friday, all is well in hipland.  But here's a pic anyway (yes, I stole it from facebook):

If you want, I could post the rest of them, or search thru them to see if any are worth reposting.  Someone said I should publish them into a book, but really....who would buy it?