A Close Call

Ok, had a close call tonight! Cael and his team went to Cedar Rapids today for their team retreat. They are camping at a farm and tomorrow morning they are going to work, on a home, I believe, to help those affected by the floods earlier this year. Cael did something similar a little earlier with his assistant coaches and said there was still a ton of work that needed to be done in the area. Great service project!!

Anyway, my mom and dad are on a mini-vacation in the area golfing at various golf courses and staying in Ankeny. They invited me to come to Ankeny and have dinner, so Tater and I headed over. We ate at Chili's and I had a delicious chicken taco and a half and then I quit eating because I was breathing fire, and it didn't go away for at least 45 more minutes. My mom and I headed to Pier One, and then to Target...and somewhere in this time, I lost my wallet. I didn't realize it was gone until I got home and went in the house with Tate and my diaper bag, which felt unusually light. (Seriously, my wallet weighs like 10 pounds by itself--I keep a ton of change and Cael, Inc. receipts in it--not money.)

So I searched the bag, then my car, the trunk, and Tate's stroller, and started to panic when I couldn't find it. So I called my mom and after retracing our steps I came to the conclusion that I might have left it on the top of the car as I strapped Tate into his car seat to go to Target. I called Pier One and they searched their parking lot to no avail--they were really nice about it!! :)

So I was talking to my mom again, and I noticed a police car gliding slowly past our house...it kind of creeped me out. A few seconds later, the doorbell rang. I am such a ditz that I was trying to figure out what he could possibly want (can't believe I just admitted that) when my mom got excited and thought he might be there about the wallet.

Right she was!! Someone found it in the Target parking lot and turned it in to the Ankeny Police Department!!! The Ankeny police then called the Ames police and gave them my name and address. The policeman was really nice and gave me the info. I called the Ankeny police and they were also awesome--they drove my wallet over to my parents hotel and waited in the lobby for them!!

The best part is that the policeman gave my parents the name of the man who turned my wallet in, and his number. I guess they had talked about the fact that Cael Sanderson was my hubby--I carry a picture ID of Cael from when he was at Fargo in 2002, loves loves loves the photo, he is so cute--and the policeman mentioned the guy was a fan. So I plan on calling him tomorrow and thanking him and giving him some sort of signed Cael memorabilia!! I am so glad, it makes it so much easier to show my gratitude!! Not many people in today's world would return my wallet, much less drive it to the authorities to ensure it got back to me. Awesome, awesome, awesome!!

Tate's surgery

Tate's surgery this morning went great! We got to the hospital around 6 am, and had to talk to 100 people before Tate actually went in for the procedure, but it only took about 40 minutes. I really thought it would be more difficult for me, but Cael is so calm during stressful times--he was relaxed and a little excited, he couldn't wait for Tate to be able to hear better and not have to deal with constant ear infections. His attitude wore off on me, which was wonderful!! We waited in a patient room and watched Fox News, which was also an entertaining distraction. Tate was pretty inconsolable when they brought him back to us as the anethesia wore off, but I have never been more happy to see my crying baby! :) We went home and had breakfast with Gma and Gpa Hranac, and put the little fella to bed....and we went to sleep too!

When Tate woke up from his nap, he was much happier, more like the old Tater. :) He had a good day and dealt with having ear drops put in twice really really well! He was back to his old self...until 7pm! Then he got a sudden burst of energy and was running all over the place, laughing like crazy, and playing with Cael and I. It was awesome! He was being a little goof, running full speed at us--Cael is strong enough to lift him right up above his head, I am not, and Tate was loving it. Tate was so rowdy I was worried that he was going to tear his stitches on his ear! Anyway, I am glad he had the surgery and am incredibly relieved that everything went well.

In other news, Tate finally figured out how to say "Uncle Cyler." He's been saying "Uncle Cole" forever, and he finally figured it out. He even said it when Uncle Cyler was at the house. But today at lunch he was repeating it like crazy. He loves his red-headed uncle!

I posted some pics of Tate from today, as you can see, he was in great spirits only a few hours after surgery. The pictures of him in his diaper (at the end of slideshow) are from earlier but I love his goofy smile so I included them.

Later all!

Tate getting tubes Thursday morning

Hello all! Just an update, Tate is scheduled to get tubes tomorrow morning around 7 am. They are also removing his "external ear lesion" at the same time, so he will only have to be under anethesia one time. While I believe that both procedures are necessary, I am not looking forward to it!!!! Tate is my little pumpkin, I am trying not to cry everytime I think about it!

In other news, Cael returned safely from a speaking engagement in Singapore last night. He made it to our house at about midnight, after an 18 hour flight just to get back into the USA. Then he had to go thru Milwaukee to get to Des Moines. Things went well for him, which is great! Cael had a first class ticket, and he said his chair reclined so it was like sleeping on a bed. He was also able to watch a bunch of movies that I don't think have been released on video yet. Cool!

Lastly, for those of you who are aware of Cael and my obsession, The Office returns tomorrow night. We are so excited!

Later all!

Fishun'

Howdy all! We are back from our fishing trip in the Boundary Waters (Northern Minnesota for those unfamiliar). We had a pretty good time--we basically go to an outfitter in Ely, MN, and buy a permit, rent a boat and chart a course through the lakes for fishing and camping. It was kind of cool driving the boat back through the lakes--one side of the land was Canada, and the other was the US.

This year we did it right--we rented a motor boat and didn't have to portage it ourselves. To portage means to carry the boat over land. (Last year we had to portage with a motor boat. We had it propped up on two wheels, but that didn't necessarily help. It was unbelievably difficult, and at one point I thought for sure Cael was going to get seriously injured by our runaway boat. But miraculously, the boat steered itself right into the lake and about all we had to do was jump in and take off.) Anyhoo, there was one portage this trip, but for $12 each way, a lady would prop the boat up on a trailer and haul it across the trail for you. It was awesome!

In the boundary waters, camping is actually pretty cool--there are designated campgrounds set up in different places--they have an area for building fires and a bathroom area, complete with toilet seat and privacy. We picked a pretty big campground, with lots of flat area and lots of places for Bonnie to explore.

Unfortunately, we did not have the best luck fishing. The last few years have been that way, and Cael and I have come to the conclusion that the best way to do it is to cross the border into Canada and fly out on a float plane, which is what we've done a few times.

However, Cael did catch a few fish the first day so all hope was not lost. When I caught a Northern the next day, I was pretty much satisfied and considered it a successful trip.....then a day or so later, as Cael was baiting my hook, I kind of told him I didn't care to fish anymore that day (I always bring a book and I was totally absorbed--I will sit on the boat all day and read), and he told me just to cast my line. So I cast it behind me, without even looking or paying attention, and I landed the biggest stinking fish of my life!!! (With the exception of the Alaskan halibut, but come on.) I caught a monster Northern that felt like a rock!! He fought me for a few minutes but eventually gave up and I got a few pictures of Cael with it. A little while after that, I caught a pretty big Smallmouth Bass. That was awesome! The Smallmouth fought harder than the Northern! By that time Cael was ready to fish all night to get one bigger than me!! I did actually feel kinda bad because I could care less if I catch big fish--I just go on the trip to chill and read. But Cael said he is glad when I catch fish--he feels like he catches it because he does 75% of the work--he sets up my pole, baits the hook, gets the fish off, etc...ok ok, maybe he does 90%--love him for it!!

Anyway, a few interesting things...we had to get up and move our tent at 3:30 am one night. The wind was blowing so hard that one of the tent walls was touching us as we lay there. And it was incredibly loud.

Tate ended up getting sick and we decided to go home on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Well, it started raining on Tuesday, but we still packed up and got ready to go...and as we started back, it really started to come down. We got to a point where we could see the rain ahead of us and we toyed with the idea of just sitting tight until the rain passed. But we went forward, and it was crazy! In the words of my little sister, we were stuck in a "torrential downpour." It was insane! And just as we got to the portage, we saw lightning. The lady told us it would be in our best interest to get our boat across and keep moving because it was only supposed to get worse, so we did, in our little metal boat. The rain on the last part wasn't coming down as hard but it was pelting us--we thought maybe it was hailing. All the while, Cael is not wearing his rain gear and is soaked to the bone, yet he is still laughing and hootin' and hollerin' from the back of the boat. It was pretty funny. :)

And when we finally got all the way home, poor Tater was not doing great. :( His ear infection returned while we were gone and just totally wiped him out. My mom said all he did the whole time was lay on her lap, which is totally out of character for him. Even when he has been sick at home, I can never get him to just sit in my lap and relax. He stopped eating almost altogether and was just drinking tons of milk. We changed his antibiotic, but then he developed bad side effects which included a rash from head to toe. Unreal. He finally ate a real meal today--I gave him about 30 choices and he ate!! Mac and cheese, a crumbled granola bar, cocoa pebbles, and cinnamon bread! Hallelujah! Hopefully he will continue to get better, but we have an appointment to see and ENT next week to talk about tubes in his ears. I have never seen him so wiped out so if tubes will help, I am all for it! Wish us luck!