Have a heart, or a cow

Many years ago we were watching a program about medical advances. They were discussing prosthetic limbs and other artificial body parts that were creating bionic people. Jack was having none of it.
"If I need one, give me one of those pig valves. Or even better, a cow valve!"

We laughed. Who had ever heard of a cow valve?

Fast forward to last fall.
Me: "You really need to see the cardiologist. They found concerns a couple of years ago and there hasn't been any follow-up."
Him: "I didn't like the last guy we saw."
Me: "There are others. Give them a call."

Eventually, the call was made. Tests were ordered. An appointment scheduled. We never made it to that appointment. After the second test the doctor who happened to be there came in. I was at work so he recorded it for me.

(In a Romanian accent:)
"You need an aortic valve replacement plus one, maybe two bypasses. We need to get you in for a heart catheterization immediately."

The past few weeks have been a bit of a blur. That was week one. Week two was the catheterization, which was not pleasant. Watching the video of the vessel function was pretty amazing, however. I'm a big believer in alternative medicine but am properly awed - and grateful - for modern medicine as well. The surgeon on call that day said the surgery was necessary but that the symptoms weren't significant (fatigue and shortness of breath). Because of that he thought it could wait until he was back from covering other cities (Wyoming has two heart surgeons. TWO.) and a vacation. "My office will call and set you up for about a month from now."

Today is Sunday. On Monday last week the office called and said the other surgeon could do it sooner and could we come see him tomorrow? His office is two hours away. We went. He scheduled the surgery for Friday.

"Now, you have a choice. An artificial valve will last the longest. They never wear out, but you have to be on blood thinner for the rest of your life. You can have a tissue valve, which doesn't last quite as long but longer than we used to think. We used to think they would only last 10 years. Now studies are showing they last up to 25 years."

"What kind of tissue?"

"We prefer to use bovine pericardium."

We looked at each other. A cow valve??

Friday morning they installed an extra-large aortic COW valve in Jack's heart. He has been missing the cows since we moved. Now he literally carries one around with him. Or maybe more bull. 

In My Room

I don't have any before photos for this post, but I'm guessing you can imagine. Perhaps you even have a similar space in your house somewhere. You know, that room/corner/basement that is stuffed full of boxes, strewn with unwanted decorations, unheated and saturated with dust?

That one.

A couple of strands of lights never made it back into the Christmas box. A rare trip to the city yielded *the perfect* fabric. And I remembered. A room can make you happy just by being in it. 

Bright colors. Whimsy. Treasures only I care about. I piled them in and sat back to soak it in. Well, after I cleaned (how fun was it to clean those blinds? Not very. But so worth it.) 

The day before the city trip I began Amish Grace and a phrase they use resonated with me: 

JOY: Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last. 

Irony in putting that up in a room all for me? Why yes, there is. I'll go meditate upon that. In my room. 

Home makeover: Office edition

Before: 

After:

Here is the curtain fabric. It makes the green shag carpet seem purposeful instead of inherited.

Christmas 2012

For the first time I planned a facebook status ahead of time. I had to wait until Christmas Eve to post: "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight." I hadn't realized Christmas had become so empty to me until this year when it was full again.

Not even discovering most of our ornaments were covered in mold could dampen my spirit.

My mother's cousin made me the heart ornament when I was very, very young.  I made the reindeer in 4-H in 6th grade and bought the reindeer head at a church craft fair. It was my favorite because it held a Hershey kiss. The tape was my two best Jenny's playing Christmas carols on the piano, ca. 1990.

It was sad to lose them, but happy to put the tree up with the surviving ornaments. Of course they were virtually all glass or ceramic. 

The clatter that woke me that night was more of a crash as the whole thing fell to the floor. I'd like to blame the three cats and a Chip and Dale routine but it was my faulty tree stand engineering. One of the most important ornaments of all broke. 

My grandmother and I painted ceramic ornaments together long before there was a Hobby Lobby and hers were always perfect. This was one of the first. Thankfully it was a clean break, I found the missing part and super glue did the trick. Saved for another year!

Holiday tip: More is better applies to trees. I put up three. Small, medium and large. After the collapsed first try I divided and conquered. Each tree got its own personality just glowed with love, sparkle and light. What more is there to Christmas, anyway?

I learned the meaning of  faith in action from those who came into my life as answered prayers this year. A few people were Clarence to my Mr. Bailey this year, teaching me what Christmas should be. 

These ladies top the list with their compassion, grace and indomitable spirit. When I think about whom I want to emulate, they come to mind. 

Another person new to my life this year reminded me of the joy in giving for giving's sake, not for trying to impress or outspend. I got to play Santa for him, distributing gifts he bought for people he doesn't know just because. 

It inspired me to do the same. Two families got bags full of gifts this year whom I barely know and who don't know it was me. 

Honestly, that brought more joy to me than even baking cookies with these two did (though it was close). 

Their portrayals of Mary and a shepherd came pretty close, too.

After our church service last Sunday we went to theirs to watch her suck on her teeth like an old man (one front tooth gone, one loose, though two front teeth were not all she wanted for Christmas) and him sing Gloria In Excelsis Deo like a miniature Pavarotti.

Monday we took them shopping to buy Christmas presents for their parents (wait, for them? not for us? huh?), ate out, wrapped said presents (their sister is a master bow girl) and made cookies. We don't see them often, but I hope these little moments make an impression. 

Our Christmas Eve service will be memorable, that's for sure. We were asked to come early and be ushers. I wore my new silk scarf that is shiny pale green on one side and shimmery red on the other with lots of fringe.

When we arrived, it was discovered that a dozen people had been asked to be ushers. We sorted that out - I thought - until just before the service started and someone else came and asked us to serve Communion. So when it came time to usher we sat a few beats until we got "the eye" and rushed up to do our job.

When it was Communion time eight of us came forward to do the job of four. On top of that, someone had to be dispatched to the kitchen for more bread and two wine goblets was nowhere near enough.

I served the overflow crowd bread while Jack stood as arm candy at the front of the line. We were all glad it was over, especially when we opened the doors and found it was snowing!

Christmas morning I made Jack his pie-spiced latte and we settle in to savor our tree. He opened lots of packages connected to his big gift (see Home Makeover: Office Edition) and I opened a giant box. A real sheepskin and a set of pearls!

After the tree we picked up someone with nowhere else to go and went to the community dinner at the Catholic school gym for which Jack helped cook nine turkeys. My dessert was this impromptu performance of several hymns by my mustachioed Pavarotti and his merry band (aka members of our church choir).

I am so grateful for so very much this year. Christmas illustrated the sweetness in our new life. So many of our prayers have been answered. As we look to a new year, I pray to be a vehicle for someone else's answered prayers. Amen.

His & Hers: Breakfast

On the left, we have hashbrowns, sausage and fried farm eggs.
On the right, we have cantaloupe, cucumber, sunflower and flax seeds.
Guess whose is whose?

I'm pretty sure men have evolved to only feel satisfied when eating something they could have killed on a hunt and women are satisfied most eating things they could have grown or gathered. At least, that's the way it seems in our house.

This was my first foray into raw food. Day 3 now. No day has been completely raw, but let's just say my birthday present to myself was a dehydrator. Last night it made me kale chips and dried cantaloupe. Right now it is making me banana chips and pancakes.  

In the spotlight

Jack was asked to perform a poem to introduce a TEDx Jackson Hole session. He wanted to do the newest in his repertoire (milk out yo ur nose funny) but it was too long for the time-sensitive event. Instead, he did "Larry the Banker" (merely humorous) which came in under a minute.
"Most people get 15 minutes of fame. I got 50 seconds."

Honey Do's

I have a talented husband. He could have been an engineer. He can see anything and figure out how to build it. The apple didn't fall far from the tree. His 93-year-old mother wishes she could come to Wyoming and help him rebuild this house. As she has done to many other homes before. By herself.

The problem is that when you have a talented husband such as mine it is easy to pile on the honey do's. A farmhouse table? No problem. Light fixtures? Yep. A custom bureau/closet? Sounds great. Homemade butcher block counters? Definitely.

You see where I am going with this. Where do I stop? How can any one man get all of this done?

Interior design

What a fun toy! I discovered Homestyler this weekend and am having a great time playing with it. It will even do 3D! It doesn't have everything (the lineup of chairs will be a long banquette, the two woodstoves will be one large wood cookstove facing the hallway), and thought Jack would love it, I doubt we will have this many large pieces of leather furniture. Even so, what fun. On to the yard next!

You can see better version here, or try your own free: http://www.homestyler.com/designer

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Joel Salatin enjoying Jack's poetry.

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Jack telling Joel Salatin he can't. produce grassfed beef as well as Wyoming producers do.

Simon the Zealot

Jack got zealous for Easter this year. Well, for Maundy Thursday. He was picked to play Simon the Zealot in our church's production of the Living Last Supper. It was his first play and he had a big monologue to memorize and even more difficult, he had to wear shorts!

And sandals!

But thankfully, not this. This was reserved for Jesus. Which is why Jesus is invisible in all my pictures. Jesus as Cousin It doesn't photograph well. Or maybe his disappearance from the pictures is more of a spiritual metaphor. Oooh. Deep.

Jack had to grow a beard for the role, but it just couldn't keep up with the 'stache. And he is zealous about that mustache. (Note the atrocious wig on our friend Gene. Why? Why?)

The tableau. Jack is seated at right. Roger, playing Peter, looks like a Greek statue. So regal.

The cast in the afterglow of their success.