>May as well be 25 days left. I’ll never catch up. Today’s plan–formed in my head–went horribly awry. DH’s procedure went without a hitch. Laproscopic in-and-out at the hospital. That’s the good news.

Bad news is the hospital personnel seemed to think I needed to be by his side at the oddest times. Every time I settled in with my Alphasmart, they’d come get me and take me back to his room. Maybe it’s because we’ve been married 26 yrs, maybe because it was a routine and relatively minor procedure, maybe just because I was functioning on 3 hrs sleep since they required us to be at the hospital at 6-freakin’-thirty-a.m.! Who knows, but I found it odd. I mean, I wasn’t allowed to go into the room while they prepped him (this includes changing clothes–which, yanno, I’ve never seen him do–and inserting an IV, also not a huge invasion of privacy or anything) but afterwards I can sit and watch him watch the news.

Yawn. I can write in silence or a lot of noise – like at a coffee shop – not with music or TV.

So I go back out to the waiting room while the procedure is done. Re-read a few pages to immerse, start typing and another waiting wife begins a conversation about my nifty way of taking my work with. I sense she’s a bit nervous and try to be nice, but the concentration is shot. I put aside the Alphie, make a few notes by hand and the doc comes out to tell me all is well and he’s in recovery.

Whew! Great news – now I can relax and write. Oh, wait. I’m needed in his room – this time to watch him sleep. Having had a post-anesthesia conversation with DH once before, I’m assured he’ll retain nothing of any conversation we have, so no point there. I let him sleep and pull out the Alphie once more. Time for a vitals check with cheery voice. At this point my cup of strong tea at 6:15 a.m. is rapidly leaving me with the need for a looong nap. No can do. The trip home includes driving tips from DH and a stop at the grocery/pharmacy for pain meds and liquids to sustain a grown man for 2 days.

Back home around noon. DH goes down for a nap and so does one tired woman who’s supposed to be writing madly.

Now it’s late afternoon and I have MAYBE managed one page. But DH is still sleeping, and the dogs are sacked out in my office and it’s Q-U-I-E-T.

Hey! Yoo-hoo! Tyson and Cal-lie! Yeah, y’all. Come whisper in my ear like good little story people.