Tuesday was the day of Erin’s eye surgery. We needed to be there late in the morning, so we got Kallin settled with the kids and headed out. It was a common procedure and Erin was definitely in good hands, but of course there are always nerves with this kind of thing.
We got there and got settled for prep. As is generally the case with all things medical, we of course hurried to get there on time only to wait for about an hour before things really got started. But all the surgeons and staff were really nice and professional, so everything felt good.
When they finally took Erin back, I went into an adjacent waiting room to do some work for a while. It was a windowless room, which was the first thing that struck me, but what really hit me when I sat down was that it was a good ten degrees colder in that waiting room than it was in the office.
Fortunately I had layered, and being from Wisconsin, I am no stranger to a good chill. It was kind of unusual having a few hours of total, uninterrupted silence in which to work. It’s amazing how accustomed I’ve become to constant snack requests from Henry and bits of scientific trivia from Amelia.
After a while, someone came out and told me that the procedure had gone perfectly, and Erin was doing really well, just resting. The nurse also remarked, “Wow, it is really cold in here!”
I shrugged. “Hadn’t noticed.”
But seriously, they were really nice and even set up a little space heater and brought me a Diet Coke. When it was time to go back, Erin was in really good spirits, just groggy from the anesthesia. We got our instructions and walked her out to the car and were soon on our way home.
Back home, we got Erin settled in to rest and I got the scoop from Kallin and the kids about their day. They were both excited to have spent the day with her, and Henry’s report from preschool that day noted his mood as “Happy” and “Worried.” What the “worried” part referred to, according to the notes, was that Henry had been asking constantly about when Auntie Kallin was going to come and pick him up.
So all good on that front. I then ran out to the store to get some supplies for Erin, and got hit in a huge downpour as I left the store. Somehow, about 10 steps out, the cardboard on the 12-pack of Ginger Ale I was carrying failed and cans went flying all over the Walgreens parking lot. I was able to recover most of them, though several blew up right then and there.
And that wasn’t the end of my rain issues that night. As I was cleaning up the house, I realized that I hadn’t seen my old iPad for a few days. To clarify, I have a really old iPad that we just use for a few streaming services so the kids can watch movies on it. Henry had it a few days ago, I remembered, but i hadn’t seen it and was thinking it should show up anytime.
Well, I went out in the yard with the dogs that evening aaaaaaand…sure enough. There it was, sitting face up on the lawn, having just been dumped with an inch or two of rain the past few hours.Henry had apparently dropped it and it probably been sitting out there for a couple of days.
SHOCKINGLY, it still works. I dried it off, plugged it in was stunned to see it still functioning. Lucky indeed.
Of course, the best news of the day by far was that Erin’s procedure went well and she is on the mend. She took it really easy and we’ll be taking care of her the next few days, but she is in great spirits and doing well. After I got the kids to sleep and checked on Erin one last time, I hung out with Kallin for a little while and watched a little baseball.
Took me back to my childhood days, when I was really into baseball, and got me thinking maybe I’ll give that a while again this summer. Is Gorman Thomas still playing?
