2009 New Year's Resolution: Less Facebooking, More Blogging

Hey kids,

I always seem to drop the ball blog-wise when life gets truly interesting. Here's what's happened over the past couple of months, in a nutshell:

Your daddy had a heart attack on Nov. 1, had a quadruple bypass on Nov. 3, was in the hospital for a week and a half. Your Nana and Papa flew out the day of the surgery and were here to help us all out with the two of you, and left the week after Thanksgiving. Your daddy's mom flew out to take their place a couple days later, and has now been here for about a month. She goes home tomorrow. Daddy went back into the hospital for a few days the second week of December for a bout of pneumonia.

He's doing much better now. He's still a bit on the frail side, and wears oxygen at night, and has lost about 30 pounds (bastard!) but life is slowly returning to normal for us all.

Here's a picture, though, of your daddy about 45 minutes after his surgery. He was still unconscious, and was on a breathing machine, which is one of the freakiest things I have ever witnessed. He seemed more machine and tubes and wires and such than actual daddy.



Anyway. New year and all that. I spent most of the first day of 2009 in the kitchen. I made egg and cheese quesadillas for brunch. I made a huge pot of black-eyed pea and Christmas turkey stew for good luck. I made a loaf of banana bread with some blackened bananas that I had been saving for the occasion. I made corn bread. Hopefully all this signifies a new era of more homemade meals, frugalness and health. And less Taco Bell, frozen lasagnas and nitrite-ridden slothfulness.

You kids have been so good and so behaved the past two months. You've matured in leaps and bounds and have flourished underneath all the attention heaped upon you by all your grandparents while they've stayed with us. You're both so charming and witty and handsome and smart and I'm still star-struck by the idea that I actually exist in your world. Love you both and Happy New Year.