Keeping spirits bright: just call me Mama Jingle Bell.

I'll be honest, I would rather be enjoying my beer in a semi-comatose state while watching my favorite movie. You could say I am celebrating the Winter Solstice a little early, but some people have told me that tomorrow the world will end so I am trying to get in all the good stuff, just in case! On the other hand, if it doesn't all come crashing down tomorrow, I would like to have this post written and read tonight! My trade off is that this post will be half assed...sort of.

No frillies tonight.

Last weekend:
Papa Chris came down with some wicked stomach pain at the worst time of night...when he was sleeping. It woke him up and was bad enough to warrant a trip to the ER, which eventually shed light on some gallstones that had to be removed. He scheduled a surgery for Thursday (today) to have his whole gallbladder removed and he will be getting some of the gallstones next week as a souvenir for the whole ordeal. Yeah, it's gross and funny and it calls for a lot of "GAHH CHRIS" from Mama Lace.

Monday:
Normal day as far as I can remember.

Tuesday:
PP and I made our way over to Children's Hospital in St. Paul to start her inpatient EEG at 9:30AM. We met Chris Kluwe, the punter for the Vikings, which was a REAL BIG treat and I don't pay any attention whatsoever to the Vikings! Everything was going just fine until about 6PM. PP came down with a fever and a rash-like patch on one side of her face which led to some PP-unfriendly tests to figure out what was going on. She and I had a very terrible night. We hardly slept. Collectively, I am guess-timating that we got about 4 hours of sleep and we were both miserable the entire time. I ended up sleeping in her bed and half my body was numb all night, but being tired trumped being numb. Ish. She had a hacking cough, booger-full nose, a high fever and needed oxygen a few times. Ish.

Wednesday:
Santa came to visit with some Marines, but PP couldn't get anywhere near him because she was quarantined to her room. He HO-HO-HO'ed at us from the doorway. Santa was not willing to put on a yellow paper gown, mask and gloves so there would be no sitting on his lap to read off her Christmas list. This was her first time seeing Santa.

Shortly after Santa's disappointing visit, PP did more testing to see what was making her so sick. We were informed of test results throughout the day, all of which came back negative for things that make you sick. The doctors ruled it a viral infection, stopped the EEG test for various reasons, and decided to keep PP in the hospital one more night to monitor her oxygen/blood levels. Sadly, we didn't get any useful information from the EEG. On the bright side, during the day PP made vast improvements from the night before, so I was counting a better night than the previous. At least she didn't have to sleep with electrodes stuck to her head again. We ended up having a much better night, only waking about 4 times for inadequate blood/oxygen levels that she quickly corrected by herself by taking a deep breath.

Thursday (today):
Papa Chris had his gallbladder removed early in the morning. PP woke at 8AM making me a very happy Mama. WE GOT TO SLEEP! We hung out all morning at the hospital. PP was at her baseline: running around, playing, eating and drinking normally, being cute. It was such a relief to see her back to her old self. I hate seeing her sick! We were discharged around 1PM today. We happily went home, did some dailies and then we went to go visit Papa Chris who is recovering from his gallbladder surgery with his amazingly accommodating dad and step-mom. PP is scheduled to return to the hospital on Wednesday after Christmas to take another try at the EEG.

At this very moment, PP is sleeping soundly. Her cough is subdued because I finally figured out that a teaspoon (5mL) of plain old honey works wonders for a hack-an-a-half. Papa Chris is probably playing video games or doing something tech-y with his Papa, so I know he's having a good night. I am just finishing up my much deserved (second) beer and listening to the new Father John Misty album, which is too wonderful to describe with words...I'd have to dance out my love for this album. I am trying to figure out my favorite movie, but all I know is that it has to be good if it is going to potentially be the last movie I ever see.

Doomsday, Solstice, Friday, whatevs.

That's it.
XoX