Three of us went to Arboretum today. The weather was excellent, not too hot, a light wind. Perfect conditions for a walk in a park. Of course I wanted to wander and see all of the blooming flowers, but of course my toddler wasn't in the mood. We were constantly stuck at places for a long time. When we stopped at a little overgrown pond, my son just planted his skinny bottom on the bank and refused to move. When I heard something moving in the bushes I looked around. After a little bit I located a frog which was jumping in a strange pattern, and after watching for a little bit I realized that it didn't jump on its own, on the over end was a small garter snake that was holding the frog. The frog was still alive. I am so glad that frogs are really primitive because otherwise it would be so terrifying for it to be eaten alive. But the brave frog was fighting until the end. I looked for a while and although the sight of this battle was interesting it was also quite disturbing. I called my husband, and he was fascinated by it a lot, as he never saw a snake in a wild. He also took some pictures. Now I need finally to find a wire for my camera to download images. After a bit we decided to move on.

Our Arboretum has a whole alley with lilacs and each year thousands of people come to see them bloom so usually there is a huge crowd wondering the hills. But today was not too bad, since the lilacs just started to bloom, and not all of them were in full flowers. We walked from bush to bush smelling the flowers and discussing how much different they smell. One type smelled like rice. And then we just walked around and enjoyed the weather.

As the day was ending we decided to stop buy at BestBuy to take a look at what they have, since we have a $300 gift card, and have no ideas how to spend it. Our son was thrilled and tried to climb everything in sight, I tried to destruct him with iPad. And I have to say that it is true what they say, this thing is very easy to use, my two years old, figured it out in minutes, hubby on the other hand wasn't too thrilled saying that he expected more from it. Well we spent an hour there and still not sure what we should get.

Everybody was very tired by the time we got home, but I like this kind of tiredness and it was a great family day.

Friday night. Finally I feel like I can relax, watch some shows, eat ice-cream. This is a great feeling. No rushing. I just understood how stressful last few weeks had been. This is always how it happens, the understanding comes when everything is over. All that time I felt like a long distance runner and now the race is finished, time to relax.

Two days left to my goal date. Two more posts. I can't believe it has been a month since I started. Time flies. Writing the blog wasn't as hard as I thought it is going to be. Of course sometimes I was just too tired or too busy to think, but everyday I could find time to write except one time. This is like everything else in life, you need to set the goal and just follow through until it is done by giving it higher priority. I think I should do this more often. To set small goals and achieve them by doing a little bit everyday. Now I need to find a next goal. I think I will still continue with the blog. It won't be as often, probably I will aim to write every week for a year and choose a certain day. And I bet it is going to be harder. It would be great to get some kind of ticker that would remind me how much time left. Also I probably should write in my language too. So I am sticking with blogging but finding something else. Now I need to figure out what else I could do for a month or two and have a final product.

Reporting back about our adventure today. Everything went very well. Actually we won't know if the problem is fixed or not for another week, but an important thing that everything else is fine.

The first part of the plan, getting our son to the hospital without him seeing any food, was accomplished perfectly. We kept him in his room playing until the very last minute, and than got him into the car very quickly. Surprisingly the child remembered that he didn't eat anything only on a way back home when the thing was over.

When we got to the hospital we had to wait for more than an hour, but the new environment was distracting enough to keep our boy distracted and I brought a lot of toys with us so we went through that period pretty well too.

Than nurse called our names and took us to preparation room. Our son was amazing, of course the medical staff helped a lot by giving us enough time to explain to him what is going on, and by being very friendly, also "Thomas" stickers helped a lot. Our boy took everything very calmly, as the staff took his vitals, I put him in a gown with tigers. The only thing that he didn't like is the bracelet. We asked to take off and they let us. I had to put on gown and a hat on too. He didn't freak out, although a lot of things were happening at the same time and there were four or five people in the room with us.

Than we kissed daddy goodbye and went to the operating room, I carried him there, and he kept repeating that he is going to sleep and than go home, all the way. In the room to my surprise our son didn't fight to breath through the mask, this was the part I was worried about the most. I did tell him about it in advance. To help they added the banana flavor in and apparently it smelled good to him. The weird thing happened for a few seconds before he fell asleep, he started to fight it and than very suddenly he was asleep, as nurses helped me to put him on a table my heart almost stopped, it was very hard to see him like that. But I guess they knew it and pushed me out of the door very fast. The nurse escorted me to the room where my hubby waited. She tried talking to me, and I said that I am a bit in shock, and she told me that she is sees it everyday, but it still is bothering her.

After that everything went fast. The procedure took about 15 minutes, we even didn't have time to finish eating our apples, when doctor came to talk to us about how it went. In another 10 to 15 minutes nurse came to tell us that our son woke up. And I knew he will be crying that when we will get there, and yep, he was. We were preparing so much for the procedure that it totally escaped us that we should've told him that we aren't going to be there when he wakes up but we will come very quickly. All his vitals were great, he didn't have any side affects, just crankiness. He was crying all the way to the car, but as we sat down and started driving he calmed down. We went to the store to buy watermelon as he loves them and drove home. At home we gave him some food, o how much better he instantly became. Men, after eating, are the best. Than I put him for a nap. As he woke up from the nap, he was absolutely normal himself. It is so amazing how fast he bounced back.

Couple last thoughts about the whole experience. It went very well. Our son is a brave little person. All nurses and doctors said that they have never seen a child his age dealing with the situation that well. We behaved pretty good ourselves, no fighting or any other irritating behavior although we both were worried and nervous. Also we masked it well enough not to worry our boy. I really liked all medical staff in the children hospital we were in, they were so good and helpful its amazing. If I was a person who does this kind of thing, I would write them a thank you card. This whole experience has one additional bonus, it gave us more knowledge about how hospitals work, and in the case if something happens we will be better prepared. I probably need to work on my upper body more, because I was carrying my boy a lot today, and I think I will have some sore muscles tomorrow. He is getting heavier and heavier but I will need to carry him in some situations at least for five more years. I hope the procedure worked because we probably won't be doing any further steps to fix this, since the problem is not serious enough

I apologize in advance, if this post has mistakes. It was a long day, and it is a long post.

Tomorrow will be a tough day. I am preparing myself to be calm and patient to get my son through the day in a best way possible. We are going to a hospital for a small procedure. The doctor says it is very simple, but still they are going to give him an anesthesia and as with any trip to a hospital there is always a threat of an infection. Usually the trip to a doctor is not a big deal for us but tomorrow my son won't eat, and will be probably very cranky, as any man he doesn't like to be hungry. I thought that maybe in solidarity we shouldn't eat either, but nor me nor my husband are great when hungry and we will need all of our strength to support him. So we are going to eat in closets.

My little bear is healthy so we go to a doctor only once in a few months and for a child it is like forever which means he is not used to hospital environment. We saw the doctor who will be doing the procedure three months ago and I hope my son will remember her, so it won't be too scary for him. Although I am prepared that my child will amaze me and will be brave and calm and collapse only when we will come home because he has shown a great deal of strength of the character on quite a few occasions. With him preparation is the key, when he knows what kind of situation is ahead, he is much more relaxed. I hope we talked to him enough. Now we also need to be as brave as him. To see your child in this kind of situation is heart breaking.

As I see it, tomorrow can go both ways, it can be a piece of cake because actually nothing major is happening, or it can be a disaster as our child will be crying all the way through and afterward, as he will be freaked out and hungry. Of course it probably will be somewhere in the middle, some calm moments, some crying and a lot of sitting on mommies arms. Ok lets see. Wish us good luck.

The city is blooming. White, pink, purple, yellow, and blue flowers are everywhere. As I am passing by white petals from the cherry trees shower me. The light wind is playing with girls skirts, there are more and more of them with each day. Girls are blossoming, they are pulling stylish cloths from the closets. The painted toenails are competing with flower petals lying on the side walks. This is spring. It is very elusive and shy here and summer is strong. Any day now as you come out on the street and summer had taken over the scene in one night. This year I am lucky, spring has started earlier so it seems to last longer than usual two weeks. I love this time of the year, when trees and people are waking up from the long winter dreams. The leaves and eyes shine. The voices of birds and people are resonant. The smells are more fragrant and colors are brighter. Spring is a rebirth that we can experience year after year.

Another day is over, as my husband is procrastinating, I am going to bed. Well, actually I need to sort laundry and then go to bed. I am going to leave with one of my favorite quotes. I think this is how we should live our lives :)

"In my next life I want to live my life backwards. You start out dead and get that out of the way. Then you wake up in an old people's home feeling better every day. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, and then when you start work, you get a gold watch and a party on your first day. You work for 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You party, drink alcohol, and are generally promiscuous, then you are ready for high school. You then go to primary school, you become a kid, you play. You have no responsibilities, you become a baby until you are born. And then you spend your last 9 months floating in luxurious spa like conditions with central heating and room service on tap, larger quarters every day and then Voila! You finish off as an orgasm! I rest my case."
-- Woody Allen Los Angeles 2008 January

Mommy's happiness is...

When you are waking up on your own. Not from the sound of alarm clock, not from somebody is jumping up and down on you and yelling: Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy....Happily you listen that your husband is saying:"Don't yell mom is sleeping" And then they are taking off to the store on the MEN's mission.

The house is empty. You can slowly get up and brush your teeth, nobody is hanging on your leg or trying to destroy the bathroom shades as fast as he can while you are doing it. Put your music up loud and work out a little to wake up. Go to the kitchen and discover that you have a breakfast and that somebody emptied the dishwasher, saying with the smile:"Good job honey." Eat your breakfast, drink a cup of coffee and finish finally the story that you started to read a week ago.

It is wonderful doing everything without a rush. Going to the basement to load the laundry then draw yourself a bath. Take a bath and almost finish it as your boys return. I feel so relaxed, and I don't remember when was the last time it happened.