Space Lobster, Part II: Zombie Edition

I'm sitting in a surgical waiting room, mooching wireless internet off the next-door doctor's office (which is backward- it's the surgery center that should have internet). JP is having ear surgery. I'd tell you what kind but I really don't know; the inner workings of the ear are the one thing (well, that and geography... and organic chemistry) that I absolutely cannot make my brain understand. Every time JP tries to explain why his ears don't work (something about having a hole he shouldn't, or not having one he should, or something), I try so hard to memorize everything, but it just doesn't work. When I was at the ENT with Landon on one of his many visits I mentioned that my husband had ear problems. The doctor was of course very interested to hear what they were, but all I could manage was "Um, they don't work. Wait, I mean he can hear, but they don't drain... stuff, and there's something about a hole..." JP takes Landon to all ENT appointments now.

Anyway, this surgery supposedly has a 90% chance of curing the ear problems that have plagued JP all his life, and since our family deductible was paid in full this year (Landon's ear surgery, my pregnancy, Claire's birth, etc.), he decided to go for it. I really hope it works - it'd be so awesome for him to be able to jump in a lake or swim without an ear plug, cap, and immediate ear infection. Less awesome is the recovery and the fact that he can't drive for a while and this scares me because the reason our life works right now - why I can bill 230 hours in a month and have that be okay - is because he does all daycare drop-offs, pick-ups, errands, and nearly all the cooking and household chores. This week is going to be all me, and probably with a grumpy husband who has some very uncomfortable packing in his ears and a big bandage on his head.

But still, I'm very excited and optimistic about the surgery and the hopeful fixing of the ear problem thing. He's been in the OR for just over 2 hours and I'm starting to get anxious. Not that I think anything is wrong- JP's had about 14 ear surgeries in his lifetime, plus major jaw surgery, and surgery after his lung collapsed in college (and his wisdom teeth out), so I know he tolerates anesthesia just fine, but there's something about sitting for too long in a waiting room thinking about the father of your two kids, the love of your life, and your very best friend that makes you want the doctor to come out right now and say everything went great and then give me a lecture on incision care.

So - Halloween pictures!

After all the pumpkin patch parties and daycare parades and whatnot, I thought actual Halloween night might anticlimactic. I need not have worried - Landon was SO excited about "Trick or Treat Night!" and it was a blast. A good friend of mine came over with her daughter to take advantage of our awesome little neighborhood (and the fact we live on a circle) and the two kids had so much fun. Clairebear did too. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew that a lot more people were smiling at her than usual and she liked that a lot.

Despite his sweet tooth Landon has never had much candy, so he didn't really understand what was being put in his bucket, but he was excited nonetheless. Here we have the "double reeses dance". I think it was initiated because his favorite color is orange, and not because Reeses are delicious, but soon he will know that the combination of chocolate and peanut butter is a magical one:

We walked all the way around our circle, which is quite a feat for a 3-year-old and 18-month old (though no problem for the 4-month-old in her stroller with her favorite toy duck to chew on). The kids did great and had their "trick-or-treats" and "thank-yous" down. Most of our neighbors do a great job with the decorating and treats. Here we are at a yard much cooler than ours:

It was a great night and Landon got some great candy (not that I've already gone through it and taken out my favorites or anything). He loved being a spacer RANGER and I've promised to wash his costume so he can wear it to daycare later this week. He was a little concerned that JP and I didn't dress up. Hmm, maybe with the bandage on his head, we can tell Landon that JP is a mummy!

P.S. The surgery ended up being 2.5 hours long, but JP's doing fine. He's home, somewhat comfortable (courtesy of percocet), and sleeping while I'm at work, trying not to fall asleep before I go down to speak to a new set of contract attorneys for a doc review I'm heading. And then I'm probably going straight home because after a 220 hour month and last night's 4 hours of sleep, I'm owed a half day off.