Boo!

So, I thought my sexy X-Ray might get you all in the Halloween spirit... I've learned more about the human anatomy in the last few months than I have EVER wanted to know. It's all very interesting and yet, equally disturbing.

Coincidentally, Alise is learning all about bones in school (she has a test tomorrow on all of them). My friend Kim and I were riding with our girls in the car the other day when Alise leaned over to Emma and giggled "I'm going to tickle your patella Emma!" And then there might have been a retort that was something like "Oh, no way I'll get you on your clavicle..." And so on... something about metatarsals and bonking craniums. I thought Kim and I were going to bust a sternum we were laughing so hard (another good use of a vocab word!).

Sooooo... I know you are all gagging for a hip update... here goes. (I spared you all the MRI images, you'll thank me later... you REALLY don't need to know that much about me). So, as you can see in my initial xray my femoral head has a bump on the left side (apparently not supposed to be there, who knew?)... this little gem needs to be sawed off. But wait, there's more! First they have to break my femur to dislocate it from the socket and then put it back together with some sort of nail gun! Joy of joys. Oh, and ps, it's the same on my left hip. I belong to this discussion board that is essentially a support group for people who are recovering from surgery or recently diagnosed and are headed in that direction. And, honestly, I have to tell you that ignorance would be bliss in this case. The horror stories are incredible. Feel free to check it out, if you dare... ah-ah-ah (that is supposed to sound like Dracula). http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Femoroacetabular_Impingement

I'm still waiting to hear from the "experts" in Boston. Stay tuned for all the fun and excitement.

Moving on to something a little less gruesome, but still on the topic of all things Halloween - I have been channeling Martha Stewart this year. I introduce to you Ms. Pumpkin. It was a complete joint effort between Korey and I. He put in her spine and I gave her life. It was just beautiful.
And last, but certainly not least, I couldn't possibly leave out the obligatory costume pic! This photo was actually dress rehearsal for the real thing, but she's such a cute pirate, I couldn't resist. I'll post more after tomorrow night (the "real" deal).

So, last weekend was filled to the brim with Halloween parties, birthdays, trips, etc... but my favorite part of the weekend happened late Sunday afternoon. There we were, out in the yard on a chilly afternoon raking some leaves into a big pile. Alise turns to me, out of breath and pink-cheeked from her frantic raking and says "ya know, Mama, this is better than TV..." Wow. "why's that?" I asked. "So, ya know on TV there is always a happy ending.... well all this raking, and that big pile.... jumping into that big pile is going to be the best happy ending."

Yep, she's still pretty darn cute in my book.