T minus 7 hours 😬

Greetings!

So here we are, counting down the hours until we can stop being scared and anxious and nervous and start down that long road to recovery. I'll take that road any day.

I will keep a running blog post throughout the day as things happen (rather than creating a new blog post every time the nurse calls and says he's still in surgery, which she—or he, some of our favorite nurses have been men!—is supposed to do every hour).  So if you find yourself wondering how things are going, come on back to the blog!

I've had a lot of people ask if it's OK to call or  text or email or send owls to me, and my answer is "OF COURSE." When I'm not crocheting or eating gobs of chocolate, I will be obsessively checking my phone and computer, and nothing will fill my tank faster than heartfelt messages; funny memes; pictures of your kids, your animals, or your kids with your animals; videos you think are hilarious; Bitmojis; or just a smiley face to let me know you're thinking of me.

That said, to paraphrase what we used to say to beloved foster dog Cupcake, "You can't be thinking of me all the time. Sometimes you gotta do your own stuff." I know you're working, or taking care of kids, or just having your own life and maybe even your own problems. So if you don't reach out, don't worry. I know I'll pass through your thoughts tomorrow, and that will be enough for me. 💖

Let me finish as I often do, with some pictures and some mushy stuff.

First, here's a picture of Vic (and Bella) with a new blanket:

This one was commissioned by my sister from her friend Jeannie Peppel. I can tell you that Jeannie must be a really good friend, because I don't think I would make a blanket for someone's brother-in-law. It's super warm, and it complements the quilt he got last week. In fact, as I am writing this blog post, he is firmly ensconced under both of these blankets. (He tends to get cold at night.)

Next, a few pictures from a little family pool party we had on Monday:

This is after I did something that I thought was hilarious—which, of course,
it was—that Vic thought was ... let's just say less hilarious.

Me, Vic and my mom. I actually don't think we have any other
pictures of the three of us, because Vic is usually behind the camera.

I love how we're all laughing in this picture. This is, in front, my great
niece Madi and my great nephew Will. And in back, me, my great niece
Fin, my niece Margeaux, and (of course) Vic.

And what I love about this picture is that we got the photographer of all
the other pictures in with us—my nephew (Margeaux's husband) Xan. My
only regret in these pictures? My sister was there, and we didn't get her in
any of them. Whoops! Well, she did take this picture, so maybe that counts?

Margeaux made two delicious bread puddings for Vic (he loves bread pudding), and we had fun just sitting around watching the girls jump in the pool.

Then today, I got some new pictures of my Wisconsin niece Layla and nephew Harrison:

I feel like Nick and Margeaux were just this age—I don't see how they have families of their own.

Finally, tonight we had a family pizza party with Vic's family. I say "Vic's family," but they are my family too. I don't know how people survive with in-laws who treat them like out-laws. (An old family joke.) Sorry—no pictures of tonight's party, and I don't have any good pictures on my phone. You'll just have to imagine how much fun we had.

I really do have the best family—my birth family and my extended family of in-laws, in-law-in-laws (my sister's in-laws), and steps. They make me who I am—strong, resilient, loved. They allow me to be my goofy, picky self with no judgment (well, maybe a little judgment, but only an eye roll here and there). They take care of me and they care for me. They are my Drogon—fiercely protective, fiercely loyal.

But the really mushy part today has to go to Vic. He calls himself Wonder Whiner—and to be fair, he has done his share of whining (deservedly so)—but in reality, he has been more like SuperStoicMan. He continued to take care of himself and Bella and our critters (birds, skunks, raccoons) and the garden and the house long after I would have used cancer as an excuse to get out of everything I didn't want to do. He even washed my car the other day. He really doesn't like being "sick," and he's had a pretty rough road these past few years. Many people might give up, but not Vic. He told me the other day that he thinks he has more life in him yet, and that's why he's going through this horrible, massive surgery with the super long recovery. Well, that, and he doesn't want to look like a sissy. 😉

So I leave you today with this rare candid photo of me and my husband of almost 31 years, the strong, kind, loving and absolutely hilarious Victor R. Love.