looking out to sea

looking out to sea, originally uploaded by AmyEmilia.

The end of the beach season is almost here... a cool north wind is blowing all the way down to the island. We will miss the swimming! But fall and winter beach walks are also amazing. And the beachcombing is better, for there is less competition for the shells and feathers.

Speaking of feathers, I found a couple great pelican feathers last week! There is quite a collection now housed in a San Bitter bottle on the counter. (My missionary upbringing makes it SO difficult to throw away "useful" things!)

This past week was not the best for weather but it was nice to just relax. Lots of rain and clouds. Hopefully I will be able to carve out another week towards the end of the year, when it usually is cold and windy (!). My timing is excellent.

Our House salad

Humans are creatures of habit - I don't think that is a new idea. I was thinking of habit this evening when preparing our evening meal - I guess we could call this our House Salad. 

Now, my salads are a bit different in that I don't want any greens, no lettuce, no spinach, no arugula.  Our most common salad is more of a vegetable salad.  The only required ingredient is fresh tomatoes, preferably Roma. If we have fennoccio (fennel bulb) that is a favorite.  Cucumber or avocado are acceptable additions. All ingredients are chopped at about the same size. We often add canned cecci (garbanzo beans) or canned salmon for additional protein and heft. Fresh basil cut from the pot by the garage, spicy Sicilian olive oil, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and a tiny splash of balsamic vinegar create the dressing.  Stir it up, let it marinate for a few minutes, and enjoy! 

Very nice with fresh bread and we often have a bit of wine.  DH is especially fond of any $4 Shiraz he can buy at Wal-Mart.  Surprisingly, not too awful.  The current vintage is Lucky Duck 2008 Shiraz.

The Roman stage...

DH has reached the Roman stage of his journey - all has been well. He is happy to be rid of his car although he did enjoy driving it (a Lancia Ypsilon I think). Rome is no place for a car. Now he is staying at his cousin's apartment. He say's it's hot, but my weather service says it will cool down a bit between now and Wednesday. Wishing I was walking those old streets with him.

a month...

I am without DH, who is visiting family and friends in Italy. Miss him already... hope he is ok on the big plane winging towards Milan Malpensa. Mo walks through the house looking for him too... I'm sure her day was strangely quiet. Now the TV plays COPS without sound - I had brussel sprouts with butter and lemon, with pretzels and wine for dessert - and the month stretches out before me like a sentence. It will get better but right now just feeling empty.

It's been a week and two days...

... and DH been home almost all of that time. The procedures (gallstone removal and gall bladder removal) went very well. We did spend a few hours in the emergency room yesterday evening, for severe stomach cramps - again! But it was probably too much rich food that caused it. All the blood work and scans came back normal. So we are going to stick with low fat, low cholesterol foods for a few weeks until his body gets used to having no gall bladder.

We have had wonderful care at the West Houston Memorial hospital - the staff has been kind and competent and for the most part, cheerful. Houston is famous for its healthcare options and I'm glad we live so close!

a BIG gallstone

I'm glad to report that the surgery was successful. DH came through it just fine! The surgeon said the gallbladder was quite enlarged, and there was just one stone - the size of a robin's egg! He has 4 small incisions about an inch long.

You should have seen how he attacked the chicken broth and fruit! :) That was great.

We got a bit of a surprise though, because his cardiologist has done a chemical stress test (at 9 today) and we don't have the results yet. We are speculating that the doctor is taking advantage of this time to get further information on the progress of the congestive heart failure that DH has to cope with. I guess that means he still won't be allowed to come home today though.

Anyway - the best news is that he got through all the procedures beautifully. I am so thankful.

One down, one to go

Today my husband had the gallstones removed from the bile duct. The doctor said that what he found was really like grainy sludge. He cleaned it all out, irrigated with saline, and made sure that the opening was clear. The procedure went well - took about 45 minutes. I was treated to lots of details about the machine, which apparently looks like the arched neck and head of a dinosaur. And the doctor has to wear a suit to protect against the radiation. Our patient was sedated for the procedure itself but I guess had lots of time to look at the equipment.

When I got there around 4:30, he had only been really awake for about an hour. And he was so hungry and thirsty, and still designated as no food or water! It had been more than 24 hours since he was allowed anything... So I got the nurse to call the doctor, who approved that he could have anything he wanted. What DH wanted was chicken broth and rice. After eating the whole bowl, and getting pain medication (the procedure left his abdomen quite sore) he was happy to settle into a doze.

The surgeon came to visit and discuss the gallbladder removal surgery tomorrow. He seems like a very nice guy - so far everyone has been - and explained that it will be laproscopic, with an incision near the belly button for the camera, and another small one to get the gall bladder out. The main concern is that since this is done under general anesthesia, there is risk because of the heart condition. Our doctor is confident that he will do well, and I am too.

The surgery is scheduled for noon tomorrow. The surgeon said that lots of people go home the same day, but he is going to keep the patient overnight to watch the heart and make sure the recovery is smooth. So, right now we expect that he will be home sometime on Saturday. We are both looking forward to that!

Dishwasher update!

The dishwasher has been successfully installed! It took 3 trips to Lowe's, an electrical shock, a banged thumb, and a few tries - but DH did it. He believed he could do it, and he did in spite of my doubt. He continues to amaze me with his persistance and skills.

I'm glad we have the new dishwasher - first of all, it's white, which looks better in our all-white kitchen. And it is much more energy and water efficient than the old one. I can already tell the capacity is much greater, and one of the cups that I had hand-washed came out cleaner than when it went it. So I guess it works.