Our Week

• Brandon sprained his ankle.  It was a minor sprain, but it required him to use crutches for a few days. He actually became quite good on the crutches.  He missed his flag football practices and games, but thankfully, it is healing and he is now able to walk somewhat comfortably.  Lance and I got into a disagreement because Lance said I was making Brandon into a “wuss”.  Maybe I was, but he is my baby, and I would rather be conservative with his treatment and follow the doctor’s recommendations then have him get out and start running for a touchdown and worsen an injury.  I am a mother, and I will always be a protective mother.  Fortunately, there is no game this weekend so he has more time to heal.

• I had strep throat.  Well, it is my self-diagnosis because I did test negative at the doctor’s office.  I have had it before and what I experienced last week was strep throat.  It seriously felt like a knife was being driven down my throat. Horrible. Horrible. 

•  Lance had a tympanoplasty. What is that? It is surgery to repair/reconstruct his perforated ear drum.  Lance had suffered this injury in  childhood, but it never properly healed because he was continually exposed to plane engines, loud machinery, and water.  As he got older, he began to suffer from frequent infections.  He had an infection when we were on vacation this past summer.  The ENT highly recommended surgery.  It was a lengthy five-hour surgery, but I felt he was in the best place to have this surgery and with a very skilled surgeon.  He was nervous, and I was too.  After taking him to the doctor, I returned home, and I kneeled at the foot of my bed and prayed.  It was not a simple procedure.  The anatomy of his ear made the surgery even more challenging, and five hours is a LONG time.  A week has not yet passed.  He was in excruciating pain, but it has subsided substantially and is now just “moderate”.  He has difficulty chewing/eating and has lost even more weight.  His ear is swollen and sticks out dramatically.  It basically looks like his other dopey looking ear.  The doctor said the surgery seemed to be a success, but he will have to check up in his post op visit next week.  Hopefully, Lance will regain some of his hearing back.  He has lost a lot, and with the surgery and all of the packing inside of his ear, his hearing sucks.  He locked me out of the house.  We both walked out to the front door, and he returned inside with the dogs. I followed moments later.  The door was open, but the screen door was closed and locked.  I screamed and banged on the door.  Lance was downstairs, but he didn’t hear a thing.  The dogs heard me, and my poor babies were perplexed and didn’t know what to do.  

Lance before his surgery.  I love the little cap with the pink gown.

• I  registered for the LA Marathon.  It will be my third marathon, and I have been anxiously waiting for registration to open.  I wanted Dylan to do the race with me, but this year, the LA Marathon has a minimum age requirement of 16, and Dylan will just be three months shy of that.  Lance and I reserved a room at the finish line (Venice Beach), and we are going to spend the weekend celebrating our 4^th anniversary.  LA Marathon is especially sentimental to me, because we married (eloped) two days before the 2011 race.  Normally, we have a room at the start line, but I would rather Lance not have to drive and deal with parking, traffic, closures.  Instead, he can just walk a half mile to the finish line to see me cross.  He has never done this.  I want to run into his outstretched arms.  There is going to be a huge group of friends doing this with us.  Training officially begins in a few weeks for me.  It's going to be alot of long, lonely Saturday and Sunday mornings running.....

• Dylan got his braces off! He looks so incredibly handsome.  Yes, it’s been almost three years and a few thousand dollars later, but the time and money spent has been well worth it.  He use to have the most gigantic teeth.  His nickname use to be “Mo Tater” from the film Cars.  All you saw were just teeth!

Mo Tater aka Dylan Bivens

Leaving the Orthodontist office with balloons and a beautiful smile

Got a haircut to go with his smile

• We got ourselves a 900 watt Nutribullet.  I bought one for my brother and his sister in law last Christmas, and I wanted to try it myself ever since.  I make Lance and myself a drink every morning.  It is so easy, natural and healthy.  We just mix half raw, fresh veggies with half fresh fruit and fill with water.  I’m loving it. We do not get enough vegetables in our diet, and this is the perfect way to incorporate it into the diet.  This morning, our drink consisted of spinach, chard, kale, cucumber, broccoli, pineapple chunks, and a half of a banana.  My poop is turning green, and I pee like gallons after drinking one of these.