A Book And A Benadryl

I’m home.  Not really home sick, but “home under the weather.”  (Hmmm.  That just doesn’t have the same ring, does it?)

I am SUPPOSED to be at church right now, playing the piano for a few opening songs and then sitting entranced in the congregation to listen to my husband’s Wednesday night teaching. 

But thankfully, I have a wonderful back up piano player as well as a husband (and a congregation) who don’t believe that the pastor’s wife is required to be in church every time the door is open.  (Hurray and hallelujah for understanding husbands and congregations!) I’m going to post this quick update and then jump into my pre-heated bed with a book and a Benadryl. 

Chills, running nose, fatigue?

Woeful.

Staying home and getting to pamper myself? 

Wonderful.

Before I sign off though, I’ll address a few things from the Comments area.

Rachel signed in with a wonderfully easy recipe for chicken enchiladas.  Rachel, I am ALL about easy recipes; thank you so much for sending that one my way!

Stacy asked why we didn’t have more than two kids.

That’s a good question, since we both wanted at least four.  However, I had some health issues with both kids.  With Nathan I had pre-eclampsia;  I gained 65 pounds, my shoe size went from a 7 to a 10 (due to water weight) and I lost 35 pounds overnight when I delivered him.   I was high risk and labor had to be induced toward the end of the pregnancy because of dangerously high blood pressure.

With Sarah, I wound up with a life-threatening complication called H.E.L.L.P. Syndrome.   (H=Hemolysis, the destruction of red blood cells.  E.L.= Elevated liver enzymes.  L.P.=Low Platelets.)

Bottom line?  When the mother is diagnosed with it, the baby has to be delivered immediately regardless of its gestational age.  So Sarah was born at 36 weeks and I ended up in emergency surgery and blood transfusions.

And then the doctor looked at us and said, “No.  More. Babies.”

Sigh.  I would have loved a house full but at least our two Smith Sibs have given us a heart full.

Megan asked why drummers sometime have a Plexiglas shield around their drum set.

Megan,  drummers do that to keep the volume of their drums down.  The shield sort of “contains” the sound a little bit.  Actually, drum shields are usually quite a bit larger than the one you saw around the drums in the recent picture I posted.  In fact, some drum sets are enclosed entirely in a Plexiglas room and then have mikes on them so that the mix and volume is easier to blend with the other instruments.

Okay!  I think I’ve covered all the stuff that needed to be covered!  And I’m sorry to report I have no lovely or funny pictures of anyone or anything to share.  My brain is beyond the point of coherence right now so I shall sign off before I start blabbing and blathering.

Which would not be pretty.

At all.

And now . . .my book and my Benadryl.