A Fun-ner Way to Play the Waiting Game

Oh man! I am so frustrated! I wrote this entry last night, but then it didn't get posted because I was trying to upload the video of Miss Sassypants reading the story to me. It didn't work out, so if you want to see it, you'll have to view it on my Facebook page at the link included below.

It seems to be the story of my life in my blog recently that all my posts come later, almost a little after the fact. But better late than never, right?!

In my post last week, I talked a little bit about my time with my niece in the hospital. That was pretty early on. All of the times my niece has been in the hospital to date (while I've lived in Salt Lake anyway) have always been on weekdays. That means I usually come home from work and head straight up to the hospital and then come home sometime that evening. I was slightly worried about the sheer amount of hours I was going to be there on Saturday. It seemed like it would be really long, and after seeing Miss Sassypants' sad eyes the night before (it nearly broke my heart because she looked so hopeless), I decided to do anything and everything I could to help cheer her up.

First off, I decided this meant checking out a bunch of books from the library so we could read. And it turned out this was an inspired idea. She LOVED the books, particularly one by Mo Willems called "The Pigeon Wants a Puppy." Here's a video of her reading to us. It wouldn't upload, but I can't delete the box for whatever reason. Oh well! I was going to put a link to my Facebook page, and blogger is stupid and refuses to let me do it. Ugh!! I guess that means you'll just have to go there to check it out.



I was surprised and delighted when one of the many hospital volunteers brought her service dog into Miss Sassypants' room on Saturday. His name is Rusty and all three of us--my niece, my sister and me--enjoyed petting him. And thank heavens for kind people who are willing to do things like this for children in the hospital. Here are a few pictures.

We also spent some time out by the fountain in front of the hospital. Don't worry--since this is a children's hospital playing in the fountain is very much welcomed and encouraged. Besides, it made Miss Sassypants happy to discover her toe water flicking technique is so much better than mine. She took great delight in getting me wet. The happy look on her face was worth every drop that landed on me :) And we enjoyed seeing these pigeons washing themselves in the fountain. I don't think any of them wants a puppy though.

Finally, do you remember the Angel Garden I mentioned in a previous post? It's a beautiful little place in front of the hospital that's just peaceful. Here's my sister and my niece sitting in it.

So, really I worried unnecessarily because the day filled itself up much easier than I thought it would. :)

One of those Moments

I had an important realization today. I suppose it's something that I should have already known, but today it was just reinforced to me.

While our lives are often defined by relationships, events and places we've been, another part is also defined by moments. I should clarify what I mean. By moments, I refer to times, which may be large or small, when we realize what is most important or we just feel content. We may or may not recognize the significance at the time, but in retrospect we may be able to recognize why it was so important.

I had such a moment tonight. My niece is in the hospital this week. It was kind of a last minute change of plans on Wednesday morning when my sister and my niece were getting ready to leave for her doctor's appointment. I'm not going to go into detail, but suffice it to say they had to change one of her medicines and put her on some intravenous nutrition which meant she needed to be admitted to the hospital. Anyway, she hates being in the hospital, so it's been hard on her.

Tonight, my sister and I and her father and mother-in-law, who were visiting, went down to the cafeteria to have dinner. We got our food and headed out to a place my sister referred to as the Angel Garden. Basically, it's this really nice little garden spot just outside the entrance to the hospital, complete with a little waterfall. You can sit out there on benches and enjoy the atmosphere and see the mountains peek over the top of the hospital.

As we ate our dinner, we sat outside enjoying the beautiful night, listening to the sound of water and just relaxing. There's something so soothing about the sound of running water. My niece, whom I'll call her Miss Sassypants, had to bring a tower, with three IV bags and various other medicines to be able to leave her room, but just for that short time, she was able to relax and lay her head on her mom's lap. She's looked so sad all day (a side effect of the medicine) that it was nice to see her have some relief even for a short time. And I recognized this experience as one of those "moments" that only come along so often. I hope that I was able to enjoy it for what it was--and the peace it brought.

A Special Visit to the Hospital

Wow! Welcome back to me! It's pretty much been forever since I've posted anything here and to anyone who faithfully reads my blog, I apologize. The only excuse I have is being sick (which meant I didn't feel like writing) and then just plain being busy. Yes, I am finally feeling better, and I heard it from a doctor's lips on Thursday--I did NOT have swine flu, which I was pretty sure of anyway, but I felt so validated when he told me that!

Anyway, I meant to write this post Monday night, but I stayed up too late talking to Smirk and Speak. Last night I was working until a ridiculous hour of the night, and by the time I got home, I wasn't up to posting in my blog. I might write a separate entry about that though.

Moving right along. The whole point of this post is that I wanted to share my experience from Monday night. Anyone who knows me well probably also knows about my sweet n' sassy niece who has a serious heart condition. She hasn't been doing well at all lately and had actually requested to be put in the hospital. To put this into perspective, she hates the hospital so the fact that she was requesting to be put in is a testament to how horrible she's been feeling.

Anyway, my sister and her husband brought my niece up to PCMC on Monday. She spent most of the day in the clinic having all kinds of tests before they finally admitted her overnight for observation after reducing the dose on one of her meds.

I was surprised on Monday when my other sister, who lives a short distance away, asked if I would be around that night because she wanted to bring her three kids up here so they could visit their cousin in the hospital. I was surprised for several reasons but said I'd be around, so up she came. Of course with small children, it gets a little crazy, but I was so happy to have them. Honestly, having them come up made what would have been a very hard thing into something more bearable. My two sisters and I enjoyed visiting for awhile, the kids had fun seeing each other, and even though he'd never admit it, I'm sure my brother-in-law was happy to see us too. Being the queen of pictures that I am, I have a few I'd like to share here. Sorry about the length of this post--sometimes I just have a lot to say, but I'll stop now so I can post the pictures.

Here's Trellie (with the shades) and the Bumblebee (my nickname for her) on the way to the hospital.

Mr. Gamer teases his younger sister.

Ahhh-- cousinly love and the three girls have a party on the bed. Okay not really, but they did all climb up there. Check the sassy look Trellie is giving me!
Entertaining our patient.
Check out my beautiful sisters. They're so great!