| It’s almost 1 a.m. and I cannot sleep. That’s because I slept way too much today. Woke up at 9 a.m. in pain. Chapin took Pumpkinhead downstairs and made us all breakfast. I took a pain pill, ate an egg and half a bagel, and, at 10:15, told Chapin I was going to rest a while, begging him to take Pumpkinhead out with him while he ran errands. I had wicked bizarre dreams and woke up at 3:15 (!!!) when my friend Denise (who, coincidentally was in my dream) called me. In my dream, Denise had just turned down half my bonus check I was going to share with her after she didn’t receive one (she’s had some horrible luck with jobs lately) and she was throwing a juice-bottle-shaped soda bottle at my head. She laughed her head off when I told her.
I visited my surgeon on Thursday. She removed my staples and put steri-strips on instead. She was concerned about my back pain and drew blood to check my liver enzymes (could be elevated bilirubin levels). Fortunately the bulge next to the incision line was not a hernia but rather collected fluid. She said that I need to be very careful not to lift more than 5-10lbs and that I should expect to have pain for the next 8 weeks or so because they did some major digging around. Bah. 
Anyway, I’m going to try heading back to work tomorrow. The surgeon said that I should see what I can tolerate, but that I was cleared to drive. I’ve given the nanny notice (one month under her contract terms because she and her two daughters live with us) and she is sticking around for now. Pumpkinhead starts camp tomorrow at the local YMCA where they will have having Wild West week. He is super excited. He has to lug a ton of stuff with him, including a change of clothes, a blanket, a bathing suit and towel, two bottles of water, spray-on sunscreen, snacks and lunch. Fortunately my mother found a great rolling backpack from Big Lots for $15 so hopefully he can handle it all.
I’m hopeful that I can make it through tomorrow with no problems. I’ve got Advil and Tylenol packed so I can alternate them throughout the day. I’m not supposed to take NSAIDs but I don’t think I will develop an ulcer if I use the Advil for just a few days. If I have too much pain, I suppose I will come home early but I just can’t see taking a full month off of work. This past week was my third week away and I’m certain that, as great as my boss has been about all of this, my presence is badly needed to get the work accomplished. They’ve already put off a major decision we were going to make the week I went into the hospital. I had a presentation all set for the GC and now I have to come back and finally give it. Hopefully my brain will kick into gear quickly so that I can get back in the swing of things. I’m just glad I don’t have school on top of everything. Now that I’m facing a new week and evaluating my pain, I know there is no way I could have done both.
Chapin leaves for his trip this Friday, I think, and is returning in early August. He went and bought clothes for himself and gifts for his family so I feel confident that he intends to carry through his plan this time.
Pumpkinhead sounds like he’s going to have a lot of fun . . . you? Significantly less so. But at least it sounds like Chapin is leaving!
I really hope you are starting to feel better and that Pumpkinhead has a great time at camp!!