It is not a regular Monday at the Smith house.
I did not get up at 4 am. I am not at my desk clad in appropriate corporate garb. I am not on vacation. It is not a holiday. I am not sick. Steve is not sick. I am not traveling. I have not resigned.
And yet I’m not at work.
I am at home preparing for . . . wait for it . . . a colonoscopy!
Oh, the joy.
I certainly hope your day is filled with more pleasantness than mine is going to be.
(Photos by Meagan, Madi, and me.)
On Saturday night, we celebrated Mother’s Day and Steve’s 69th birthday.
Just think. When I started this blog, Steve was just forty-five years old and now he’s almost seventy.
He received gifts that were both thoughtful and exquisitely wrapped. This was one was from Nathan who bought him a tool and thought he should wrap it appropriately.
For any concerned dental professionals out there, Steve did not actually open the gift with his teeth.
Gage handcrafted Steve a bow tie out of a piece of fabric that had a lot of sentiment for our family; Sarah helped with the project, as well. They were so thoughtful to create something out of a memory.
More birthday shots.
When Steve opened the card I made him, he started to read out loud, “Steve, we’ve made babies, music, and memories together.” But when he read, “Steve, we’ve made babies together,” he stopped reading for dramatic effect. Everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting to hear the rest of that line.
was for the whole family to play badminton. The majority of us are not overly gifted at badminton, which made it all the more fun. Whenever our team managed to eke out a point, great rejoicing ensued.
The opposing team responded by employing all forms of sports psychology and intimidation, standing in a deceptively disinterested manner, while all the while waiting for the chance to spring into action and wrest away a point of their own.
Chasing said point.
Victory!
The joke of the evening was that since I was wearing this shirt, Nike was my badminton sponsor.
However, their sponsorship did not seem to make a huge difference in my sporty performance. I spent my time flailing hither and yon, shrieking whenever the birdie came within fifteen feet of me, and waving my racket madly for no reason whatsoever. The birdie remained largely unimpressed and managed to evade most of my swatting. (Breaking news: Nike has since backed out of their contract.)
Throughout the course of the evening, there was laughing to be done . . .
games to be played . . .
and love to be shared.
Happy 69th, love of my heart!
What about you?
It’s free discussion time.
Whether it’s about colonscopies, badminton, birthdays, Mother’s Day, family, plans for the week, funny or sad things–this is your invitation to share with your Smithellaneous friends.
Happy birthday to Steve! And I hope all was smooth and clear with your procedure this past week!
Ok, you asked for it. Free share time! I’ve lived mostly in Ohio, with about 18 years in a few different spots. I’m used to east of the Mississippi environments, meaning moisture with green vegetation, sometimes snow, and plenty of oxygen. 2 of our grown daughters have spent time in New Mexico. I’m currently typing from Albuquerque, while we are here for a visit for our younger daughter’s college graduation in ABQ.
A few days ago, we drove down to the Carlsbad Caverns area, and southern parts of NM. Always before on visits, we’d be north – Santa Fe, etc. Wow! Since I’ve followed you for decades, I recall that Steve is from NM. You wrote some posts of a visit you made, and your thoughts on that visit stayed in my mind over the years. When you were visiting in July 2015, I’d been visiting my new grandson in Taos. What are the odds, but our younger daughter’s boyfriend’s parents are from Clovis! I got to chat with them about life in Clovis, and what it was like to discover life outside of that area, as they now also live east, but are here with us for the graduation.
I recall some posts you made from a village or school somewhere out here. Or, I may totally be thinking of someone else. With my slow internet here at the hotel, and Google, I’m not finding the posts of that. Does that ring a bell?! Ok. Enough from NM for now! Time to get outside in the heat!
Ann,
It’s crazy to read the words, “I’ve followed you for decades.” That is an honor for me to think I have such such a loyal, long-time reader.
Yes, I did write a post about a small drama school out in the rural area of NM. You have a good memory! And how fun that you’ve gotten to know someone from Clovis.
How fun that you are in Albuquerque. (That’s a tough word to spell!) I loved our visit to NM so much. I hope you are having a fabulous time–despite the heat.
Here is the link for the post about the school.
post
Thanks for the link to the NM post, Becky! It was great to re-read it! While I didn’t leave comments much back in the day, I see I did comment on that post. Your thoughts on the area captured what I often contemplated about the area!
Ann, I enjoyed re-reading that post, as well!
I’ve done three of those darn colonoscopy preps. Yuck, yuck, and YUCK!!!! I hope your test turned out ok.
We had a wonderful surprise 40th birthday party for our son on Saturday. He thought he was keeping us away from the house to come back to a surprise 45th anniversary party (our anni was that day!) but instead the surprise was for HIM! It was perfecto!!! A most wonderful weekend!
LeeAnne,
It’s always a huge accomplishment to actually pull of a surprise event. It sounds like you guys did it perfectly. Such fun!
I’ve heard colonoscopy prep regimens have gotten more manageable in recent years. I hope you’re on one of the new not so awful ones and not the drink 120 gallons of gross liquid ones. I’m 44 so I gotta face this music myself next year (although my doctor mentioned Cologuard as an option). I was around 20 or 21 when I started reading Sarah’s Spot, and now here I am nearly where Steve was when you started!
Ellen,
So amazing you were around 20 when you started reading. We are incredibly honored you have stayed around so long; thank you!
My prep was drinking 16 ounces of nasty stuff–one at night and one the following morning. It wasn’t too awfully bad although I do feel a little nauseated just thinking about it! Why can’t they make it bubble gum flavor, or something? 🙂
My best colonoscopy prep advice – keep at least one good book with you at all times! And as everyone says, the prep really IS the worst part. It looks like your birthday/mother’s day celebration was really fun. I think it would be fun to play badminton again; but like many things these days, I’m probably much better playing in my memories than actually physically trying it again. I hope the rest of your week after your colonoscopy is wonderful !!
Sue Ellen,
Yes, a book or a phone definitely makes the whole process a bit more bearable. Don’t have to worry about it for five more years.
I like your line about being better playing in your memories; that’s where I’m at, as well. Oh well. Let’s just be great sports people in our memories. Works for me!
Yay for the 5-year plan!! Since I had a couple of small polyps, I’m on the 3-year plan (at least it’s better than yearly!)
Sue Ellen,
Yeah, I’ll take 5 years over 3 any day!
As unpleasant as a colonoscopy is, I’m sure grateful for the medical advances that show us all that stuff before it turns into anything serious!
Ah, Colonoscopies – hope everything came out OK! (Haha!)
Jeff,
Love the humor!
Boy, do you know how to have fun! Have not had a colonoscopy, but did the in-home kit for many years, Am all done with both of those. Did play a few games of badminton years ago, but ours was horseshoes and softball. My mom was a semipro baseball player when I was a youngster, so it was always fun to watch her play. Now I think we’re into more of the board games. Actually, where we live there is no room for badminton, or even bocce ball. Love the pictures of Steve and grandkids. A very late Happy Birthday but the Lord continue to bless him and keep him and his fingers safe!
Sharyn,
Now horseshoes is a game I can do. I have pretty good game and it does not require running, bending, stopping, or starting.
How cool that your mom was a semipro baseball player. You must have gotten at least a few of her sporty genes!
Happy birthday to Steve!
I, too, am not sporty. I like to sit (in the shade, with a cool drink) and watch sporting events. Sometimes. If it’s not too hot or too cold or too rainy or too outsidey.
Ugh on the colonoscopy prep. I’m such a delicate flower (read: I can’t tolerate most prep solutions) that I have to do a three-day prep process. Last time, I had the pills instead of the liquid, and those worked – they stayed down AND did their job!
Stefanie,
Hah. Outsidey. Love that word and understand it completely.
A three-day prep? Oh my. I wonder why they don’t prescribe the pills for more people. Would certainly be an easier process.
Happy Birthday Steve, you are a year behind me.
With colon cancer in my family history, I get a colonoscopy every 5 years. Prep is never fun, and I have tried several methods. I found the gatorade/miralax method is the best for me. Make me really dislike gatorade though. Prayers yours goes well.
My family game was always croquet and I miss playing that. Tried with my husbands grandkids, but they just weren’t into it. My dad, in his last two years, played badminton with his great grandson. That was a special memory for them.
We are going to a church members 70th anniversary party Saturday. As I turn 70 soon, I find it hard to fathom being married for 70 years!
Patti,
I know. I was drinking Gatorade in between drinking the prep and now I don’t even want to think about the stuff. Yuk. Bad memories.
I haven’t played croquet in forever but I remember enjoying it a lot. It’s also good for many ages and skills so it might be something we need to look into.
A couple married seventy years deserves a HUGE celebration. Congrats to them!
Happy Birthday to your Honey and Mother’s Day to you!! Celebrating holidays is so much better with family. We had the blessing of having our newest grandbaby dedicated back to the Lord at church yesterday. It’s a tradition at their church to do baby dedications on Mother’s Day. Their pastor researches is the meanings of all of the babies names ( first, middle, and last) and puts it all together. It’s the neatest thing. We found that Drew is going to be a mighty worker and warrior for God.
Prayers for clear results on your colonoscopy. The prep really is the worst part of that whole deal.
Lisa,
I love the pastor researching the meaning of each baby’s name. What a special gift to give the family.
And mighty worker and warrior? Love it.
When we used to have the guys for Thanksgiving Dinner from Dare Challenge we always put the meaning of their names on their place card. They loved reading it and often, took the place cards with them.
What a special way to honor them! I had not considered doing this for an adult, but that’s really special.
Lisa,
Special, indeed!