Ice is Beautiful - My Monday in Six Photos. Posted on a Tuesday as I Begin Recovery & Pray for the 48-Hours So I Can Shower. Hendrick. Take That!

If ever I invite you to eat at my house, I don't recommend you eat the broccoli I put back in the freezer. It probably should have been tossed it, but it was frozen and worked. 

Whatever is anesthesia must be a stimulant, because when I awoke from surgery, I was super-hyper and alert (which is a lot, because I'm always super-hyper and alert). This is the second time, and I so so so wanted to sleep. Nope. I might have had 3 hours of sleep because my brain was on overdrive.

The surgery went well, but different from the first time, and I love that Dr. Crombie put on Scary Pockets while she operated (that's my kind of surgeon). Similar to the last time, I remember the slight prep, which quickly turned to recovery because I was out. She chose to cut me open again, which is okay. I trust her. My dermatologist was telling me that she is not only the best hernia surgeon in the state, but she's also the go-to person for gun shot wounds and stabbings. When he told me that, I sort of tell lame that I was only bringing her Hendrick.

I was home by noon, and am forever grateful to Kaitlyn Kelly who took care of me for the day. She went to CVS for me to get the medicines and also to Big Y to get dog biscuits and ginger ale. While she was gone, I found The Match Game from the 60s/70s and started to watch. When she came in, I asked, "Blank Margaret"...She was like, "What?" I went with, "Are you there God? It's me Margaret?" Of course, no one said that. That book came out several years after the show was taken off the air.

Whe Kaitlyn returned, I flipped through channels and found something about Louisville on the Food Network, which was featuring flavors of the state. I got hooked to the show (which went to Cape Town, Houston, and Charlotte, too), but this soon turned into Champion Chopped, and I was addicted. What a great, alluring show. Such talent, so amazing. So wonderful. So narcotic....maybe even neurotic at times.

But I was in pain. The ice-packs I bought for Hendrick were bad. They were "spoiled" I believe. They never became cold after twisting them. Faulty. Then the ones given to me by the hospital began to leak. So I looked for my old ones, but couldn't find them with all the stuff in there, so I opted for the broccoli...an open bag (but sealed) bag of broccoli that came to the rescue before I found the old icepacks I bought for Henry.

Cynde's left-behind salad and Edem's grilled chicken saved me for dinner, but the hit of the day for me was Chopped. Oh, and then there is Karal. Edem walked her for two hours, but then needed to sleep, and Kaitlyn entertained her while she was here but she had to leave, and Karal could only last a few moments before she wanted me to play. She knows something is up and was careful, and I'm forever thankful for the box full of squirt guns sent by Julie. They kept her in check. She wanted to be in my lap so bad, but by 9 pm the long walk with Edem kicked in and she went out. That, and I'd lift the gun when she wanted to leap on top of me. Then she'd stop and go after something else.

And, of course, I texted Alisha all (she is my new-found culinary-genius friend) and she asked how I was doing and I responded, "Ice is Beautiful."

Indeed it is. Here we go: Day 2 for Recovery. Sitting still is nearly impossible for me, but I will try....and thank you Great Whatever for the intense, miserable heat coming our way. Ugh.