The Pippi Operation

Winter used to never like to watch "real shows" (anything live action that wasn't animated), except for a while, she liked "Elf" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." A while back, I was able to talk her into watching "The Princess Bride," and she became obsessed. More recently, she has enjoyed "The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking," "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (This is the best movie I ever saw!! Why didn't you ever tell me about this movie??!!), "West Side Story," "Into the Woods," and "Annie."

Holly became interested in Pippi and Willy Wonka, too. She watches Pippi several times a day sometimes. Tonight, while I was cooking dinner, I had the Pippi theme song stuck in my head, which happens often. It reminded me of my hernia operation about four weeks back.

First of all, I was supposed to get there an hour and a half early to fill out paperwork, which actually took me about fifteen minutes. I wanted to make sure I didn't arrive late for my early arrival time, so we gave ourselves plenty of time. We, as in the whole family, because Matt had to come and take me there so he could be with the kids and also pick me up after, since I wasn't supposed to drive home. I got there almost two hours early.

The surgery center had a very nice waiting area with a fire place. I sat down and read a magazine by the fire -- something I haven't done in a very long time. After a while, someone came and took me to the preparation area. I sat in a recliner chair and talked to another nurse and answered all the same questions again for about the fourth time. Then she gave me a hospital gown and pajama bottoms and a robe. Before she started the IV, I used the restroom. They put in the IV and covered me in heated, soft, cotton hospital blankets. I reclined in the chair and read from "O" magazine.

My surgery started over an hour later than scheduled. Before I went to finally have it done, they thanked me for my patience. Patience? I felt like I'd had a day to myself at the spa. And now I was going to be put into a deep, sound, uninterrupted sleep.

As the anesthesiologist was putting me to sleep, he asked if I had a good dream picked out. I hadn't thought about that and said, "Yeah, no dream." I just wanted to sleep. That was all. Dreaming is so much trouble. It's like waking, not sleeping. Then he asked, "How about a vacation in Hawaii?" I answered, "Oh, a vacation in Hawaii -- that could be good." I think I was asleep at the end of this sentence. Actually, too, I think I still preferred no dream.

Well, then I went into a deep sleep, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up, hearing a nurse say, "You're waking up now Janelle." The first thing I noticed going through my mind was the Pippi theme. I began to wonder if I had wasted my Hawaii vacation dream on a Pippi dream. I didn't know. I didn't remember dreaming at all, which was the best. I was giggling inside because I really couldn't escape my everyday life, even under general anesthesia. I wondered if maybe I'd been singing it in my sleep or what other embarrassing things one might do under general anesthesia. Then I remembered they put a hose down my throat to keep my airway open, so I guess I couldn't have been singing at all. They do all kinds of things to try to make sure you stay alive under general anesthesia, which is kind of scary to think about and kind of comforting at the same time.

Waking up to Pippi made me happy I had woken up at all and would see my family soon. "Pippi Longstocking is coming into your world, the freckle-faced, red-haired girl. You otta know she'll throw your life into a whirl..."

And Snakes

Sometimes, when Winter's hanging out in the bedroom with me, she's really checking out what's going on in the greater world around us. She's spotted a couple hummingbirds through the bedroom window. One day, she was sitting near the window and told me she saw a snake. I thought she might be joking or maybe seeing something that looked like a snake but was something else. I asked really, was she serious, did she really see a snake. She told me she really thought she saw one. I checked out the window and thought I saw one, too. I grabbed the camera and took her and Holly outside. We sneaked around, very quietly, trying not to scare it off. I was able to get very close and stretch my arm out toward it and get several shots before it slithered off. I've never been this close to a snake in my own yard! It's so fun here.

The first time a snake was spotted, Matt was out mowing. He saw part of a snake. He had mowed over it. He showed it to Winter. The second sighting was not too many days later. He was working outside again, and Winter was hanging out with him. She asked him was this the other half of the snake he'd mowed over. He really didn't even know what she meant and went to check it out. While they were looking, a whole, live snake began to move. Winter immediately ran off, flailing her arms in the air and screaming bloody murder. I'm glad she stayed calm when I photographed this snake. She got right up close with me the whole time!