They did chest x-rays, EKGs, bloodwork, checked for blood clots, damage to his heart - the works. All the tests came back negative, though, so they're not sure what happened to him. The doctor didn't want to "diagnose" him with something just to give it a label, but he told us that if it happened again, we should go to Mike's regular doctor and arrange to have more tests done. I'm praying that this is an isolated incident, because driving up from work knowing that Mike was being taken to the hospital and worrying that something horrible was going to happen before I got there is not an experience I ever, ever want to repeat. I was so scared he was going to die. I know I've joked about this being the year of the health insurance, but C'MON.

The kids and their mom sent me these lovely flowers yesterday to cheer me up on my first day back at work. When the florist rang the doorbell, the dogs went flying down to the door, barking madly to let me know that SOMEONE WAS THERE, and, as usual, I shut them in the landry room so I could answer the door without them dancing around my ankles, trying to escape. After signing for the flowers, I opened the door to let them out of the laundry room. Jordan came bolting out like his tail was on fire, in a hurry to get back to the front door to see who had been there. Maddy came cautiously creeping around the door like she was afraid of it. Max, well, Max was behind the door looking at me through the crack, and she didn't seem to realize that she could back up and go around the door. After a few minutes of calling her with no result other than more tail wagging, I gave up and went into the laundry room to show her that she could get out on her own.

I was pretty nervous pre-surgery, but everyone was really nice. The nurse who was doing most of my check-in stuff was a TALKER, holy shit. The first time she came in while Mike was back with me, he did not breathe until she left the room. There was this warm air machine they hooked my gown up to so I'd stay warm till it was time for them to wheel me back for the slicing. The anesthesiologist was way more awesome than the colonoscopy one, although not quite as awesome as the exploratory surgery one (that one won me over for good with his little tiny pre-IV numbing needle).

Post surgery was, eh. I was pretty sore and VERY itchy. My body does not like meds, apparently. I stayed in Recovery for a little bit, then they wheeled me up to my hospital room, which was arguably the most painful part of the whole experience. It felt they merrily pushed my bed over every possible bump, and when I pointed out (nicely at first, then in tears) that it hurt like mad, their only solution was to tell me to put an alcohol wipe right by my nose and tell me to breath deep over the bumps. What the hell is an alcohol wipe supposed to do? Reek the pain away? It was better once I was settled into my room and could go to sleep. The pain medicine button was a big help, too. Mike's mom sent me a lovely flower arrangement with a balloon and a teddy bear, and my mom stopped by after work to check in and bring Mike some Real Food since he'd been there all day with only bagels to subsist on.

The highlights of my overnight hospital stay: spilling my ice water on myself twice in one night, pressing the call button for the nurse when I was trying to turn on the light, and having to have help to turn off the tv. I'm pretty sure the nurse who on duty for all of that was beyond happy to go home at the end of her shift.

It was kind of iffy as to whether or not I'd get to go home on Wednesday as planned, because I had a slight fever and felt like death. In the end, the doctor decided to go ahead and send me home, which turned out to be the best solution. Once I got home, got settled into bed with a glass of ice water, and snuggled with my puppies for a bit, I started feeling better. I think part of the problem was the pain meds they switched me to after taking away the pain med button. My tummy gets really, really upset on this stuff, and I get a killer headache, which both combine to make me miserable.

Bill and Steph came over for a quick visit on Thursday and brought me some deelishus get-well-soon chocolate-dipped strawberries, which are possibly the best sick food evar.

Now that I've been home for a couple of days, I'm getting better at navigating around. Most of the time I don't even need help sitting up, although there are times when it's a bit more painful than I'd like. I'm already tired of being an invalid, though. I'm ready to do more around the house, or at least pick up my damn puppies. It's not like they're Rottweilers, you know.

My friend Jessica is a fantastic tattoo artist. For a couple of months now she and I were trying to schedule a time for her to put runes on my right wrist, and she was able to fit me in yesterday so I could get my runes before my surgery.

The first one (Uruz) means: Physical strength and speed, untamed potential. A time of great energy and health. Freedom, energy, action, courage, strength, tenacity, understanding, wisdom. The shaping of power and pattern, formulation of the self.

The second one (Ansuz) means: A revealing message or insight, communication. Signals, inspiration, enthusiasm, speech, true vision, power of words and naming. Blessings, the taking of advice. Good health, harmony, truth, wisdom.

The third one (Eihwaz) means: Strength, reliability, dependability, trustworthiness. Enlightenment, endurance. Defense, protection. The driving force to acquire, providing motivation and a sense of purpose. Indicates that you have set your sights on a reasonable target and can achieve your goals.

The fourth one (Kenaz) means: Vision, revelation, knowledge, creativity, inspiration, technical ability. Vital fire of life, harnessed power, fire of transformation and regeneration. Power to create your own reality, the power of light. Open to new strength, energy, and power now.

The fifth one (Ehwaz) means: Movement and change for the better. Gradual development and steady progress are indicated. Harmony, teamwork, trust, loyalty. An ideal marriage or partnership. Confirmation beyond doubt the meanings of the runes around it.

The last one (Dagaz) means: Breakthrough, awakening, awareness. Daylight clarity as opposed to nighttime uncertainty. A time to plan or embark upon an enterprise. The power of change directed by your own will, transformation. Hope/happiness, the ideal. Security and certainty. Growth and release. Balance point, the place where opposites meet.

I love this tatoo so much. I can't see any of my other ones without a mirror and some contortion, but this one I can just glance down at. <3

* I've apparently quit taking my Paxil cold turkey, by way of forgetting to refill my damn prescription for over a week and not realizing it till I was trying to figure out why I've been feeling so weird recently. It feels like I'm on the hungover side of a two-day binge, and, oh, does it suck. Since my original plan was to quit the Paxil a few months after the sugery anyway, I decided, what the hell? No point in going through this twice, when I can just ride it out now and just start my plan (to take better care of myself and see how I do without it now that I don't have the birth control altering my biochemistry) a little early. The side effects this time around are HORRIBLE (I am constantly queasy, my eyes can't stay focused for longer than 30 seconds at a whack, and MY GOD THE DISORIENTATION), but I'd rather only do this once, so, fine, whatever.

* I thought I had all the pre-op stuff taken care of on Monday, but I got a call yesterday from the lab saying that they didn't draw enough blood to do a pregnancy test in addition to the other stuff they did, so they needed me to come back in for that. No apologies for the mix-up and/or the inconvenience, just "Hey, you need to stop by so we can get more blood." I did, and now I have a bruise on each arm. They promised that was all the blood they needed from me, though, so I should still be okay to get my IV in my left arm (better veins = less poking with needles = much, much happier Kate).

* Thanks to the Paxil de-tox, I haven't been sleeping well all week. I was stumbling along, tired but functioning fairly well, until last night. Mike took a four hour nap after we got home, which resulted in him waking back up around 9 and not coming to bed until close to 11. Then he started talking about things that were way more emotionally taxing than I had the resources for that late, and we didn't go to sleep until a few minutes before midnight. I am EXHAUSTED today, is what I'm saying. And grouchy, too. Oh, am I grouchy. I don't do well with not enough sleep.

* I dreamed that one of my puppies died - was hit by a car while I was watching - and I KNOW it's just a dream, but the images and emotions from the dream are still with me. I gave the puppies extra loves this morning before I left.

* I think I'm getting a touch of anxiety about Tuesday 'cause, in addition to the Paxil-related stuff mentioned above, I've been having chest pains since Wednesday. I've also been itchier than if I'd been rolled around in dusty ice cubes, but I don't know if that's due to anxiety or if my allergies are flaring up for some reason and manifesting that way. Really, it doesn't matter what's causing the itchies - I itch ALL THE TIME, and most of the time, it's my boobs that are the itchiest, which is uncomfortable in public, to say the least.

I need a nap.

I feel we must have some sort of misunderstanding. I'm not near retirement. I'm not near 50. Hell, I won't even be 30 for another couple of years, and yet you keep sending me literature. Let me repeat: I am not even CLOSE to my golden years, so stop with the pamphlets, please.

Thanks,
Kate

Hearing any song from that list evokes the same response from me that most AC/DC songs do - namely, excited squeaking and clapping of hands as I reach to turn up the volume. When Mike asks what I want to listen to in the truck, the answer is almost always the same: Mötley Crüe! I can't wait till their next concert in our area (hopefully it is on a non-kid weekend. I'd love to actually meet Nikki Sixx this time.

I initially dismissed Webkinz as something just for kids, a simple site with adoptable animals to keep kids occupied, but the people who came up with the idea put a lot more thought and detail into than I realized.

If you buy an outdoor room and seeds, you can plant a garden, which you then can take care of by watering daily, raking as needed, etc. Once you harvest the produce you can either feed it to your pet (who finds it tastier and more healthy for them than the produce you can buy in the W shop), or you can sell it to the W shop to earn more Kinzcash. You can grow corn, pumpkins, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, watermelon, and strawberries. I have crops of each of those growing right now, and it is surprisingly satisfying to harvest a little pixelated pumpkin every few days.

You can buy more rooms of varying sizes (5 x 5, 7 x 7, and 10 x 10) or an outdoor room (10 x 10 only) and then you can buy things to decorate the room with. There are various room themes to choose from - rock star, arctic, modern apartment, beach, and many others - or if you decorate the room your own way, there are several different floor covering (various types of tiles, carpets, and wood patterns) and wall treatment (wallpapers and paints) options available.

You can earn Kinzcash by playing various arcade games (solitaire, a skunk-themed version of minesweeper, and many more) or by working. There is a Webkinz employment center, and every 8 hours you can go there and choose a job. Some have various requirements, while others are ones you can do right away. Personally I can't stand having to wait 8 hours, but it's not like I have a lot of say in the matter.

If you've purchased a bathtub you can give your pet baths (there's even a rubber ducky that you can put in the tub for them to play with). If you have a sink you can wash your pet's face and paws, groom them, and brush their teeth. If you have a bed, you can put your pet to bed before you log out. In fact, you are strongly encouraged to do this, that way your pet gets an adequate amount of sleep and doesn't get sick.

Seriously, I love this concept. It's simple enough for younger kids to enjoy, but with enough detail that adults who don't mind playing a kids' game can still have fun with it too. I don't think I want more than one Webkinz pet, though. That just seems like too much for me to keep up with. Unless they put out a Webkinz doxie, in which case all bets are off.

The first band, Trapt, started playing shortly after we sat down. I enjoyed their show, although the lead singer seemed a little uncomfortable - possibly because half the seats were empty at that point. The next band to go on was Sixx AM, one of Nikki Sixx's side projects. I was so excited to finally see Nikki Sixx live I actually had goosebumps. He kept a pretty low-profile on stage, letting the other guys have more time in the spotlight, so to speak, and I have to tell you, the singer, James Michael, fills out a wife-beater pretty nicely. I was sorry when their set ended for more reasons than one.

Next up was Papa Roach. I'm not much of a fan of theirs, so I took that opportunity to run to the bathroom. Apparently it had started pouring while Trapt was playing so I got drenched on my way too and from the VIP bathrooms, which, by the way, had no line whatsoever, nor were they the icky germ-fest I usually associate with concert-venue bathrooms. I stopped to talk to Jenny and Ray for a few minutes until the downpour got the best of us and we migrated back to our seats again. Mike proclaimed me a drowned rat when I got back, and after wringing the water out of my hair, I bundled up in three of the shirts we'd picked up before sitting down and settled back to wait out the rest of Papa Roach's set. Soon after that I noticed a commotion off to our left, but I couldn't figure out what was going on until Mike pointed out the lead singer making his way down the aisle near us. That was cool enough, but then he topped it by walking on top of the backs of the seats right in front of us. Seriously, he was mere inches away from my face. He walked over to the soundboard area right next to us and finished the song from there, then made his way back to the stage. As I said, I'm not big on their music, but I was pretty impressed with that. What a way to get the crowd pumped up! They played one more song, then cleared off the stage to make way for Buckcherry.

Buckcherry put on a fantastic show. They had great stage presence, and their energy was contagious. It was impossible not to get into the music, and when they started playing "Crazy Bitch" the crowd got into it even more. Josh Todd's lead-in to the song was hilarious, especially when he called out all the chicks who like to think they're "crazy bitches" but really aren't. Energy-wise and musically, they set the stage perfectly for Mötley Crüe.

While the stage was being prepped for Mötley Crüe's show, we met up with Jenny and Ray again and used that time to get some food while we waited. After some fries, cheese pizza, beer (for Mike), and the flattest cup of Dr. Pepper in the universe (seriously, that stuff had no traces of carbonation in it whatsoever. Even Mike said it was horrible, and he's much less picky about flat soda than I am), we went back to our seats and waited for Mötley Crüe to take the stage.

I was looking forward to seeing them play live, but their show went way beyond what I was hoping it would be. They opened with "Kickstart My Heart" and went uphill from there. The singers from all the previous bands joined them onstage for "Saints Of Los Angeles," the crowd response to "Shout At The Devil" was amazing, and I had a blast watching both Nikki Sixx and Vince Neil on stage. Their stage presence is awesome to see live. Several times Nikki took a drink of water, spit some on the audience, then tossed his water bottle into the crowd, and I'll admit, I was a little jealous of the people in the mosh pit for being that close to him. I'm too old to appreciate a damn mosh pit though, no matter how much water I'd have spit on me by Nikki Sixx. I was meh about Vince before this, but seeing him live totally changed my feelings. While I don't have quite the crush on him as I do on Nikki, Vince's stage presence certainly bumped him up to crush status in my book. Watching Mick Mars play was very moving given his medical condition, and I was even more impressed when he bowed to the audience. Poor guy. I'm so glad we got to see him play. As for Tommy Lee, well, I still don't care much for him.

We had to wait a little bit for the gates out to the parking lot to be opened up, but Jenny had a VIP parking pass too, so once we got to her car it didn't take us long to get out of the parking lot and on the road home. It seemed like we were back at her place in no time, and, in spite of the rain, Mike and I got home before 1am.

Mötley Crüe was the highlight of the concert for me, of course, but I really liked seeing Buckcherry and Sixx AM play too. I've got my fingers crossed that there's another Crüe Fest next year, 'cause I'd love to see them again.