I wrote about my experience with trying to get a vasectomy a couple of months ago. It was a nightmare experience. Well, today I went to a different doctor for the procedure, and the result is that it was a success. An overwhelmingly easy success.

No startlement, no pain, no muss, no fuss, just a simple procedure, in and out of the office within an hour. I took a combination of Ativan and Benedryl, and they had me right on the cusp of falling asleep on the table. The doctor was personable, informative, and compassionate. The shot hurt only from the initial stick — no burn, no “kick.”

Really, this procedure was so incredibly easy, it’s amazing to me. I’d do this again tomorrow if I needed to. The difference between to the two experiences are like night and day. This time, the whole thing is hardly worth noting on a blog, it was so routine and problem-free.

So, I’m all done with it, and I’m spending the weekend laying in bed with a pack of frozen peas between my legs to keep any swelling down. I haven’t even taken any pain meds. This vasectomy was no big deal.

Bullgrit

Calfgrit11 came up with the idea of us using this Father’s Day as another boys’ movie marathon day, like we did last year. Last year we watched the original Star Wars trilogy. This year the choice was the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Because we had a couple other things to do Sunday, we decided to start Saturday afternoon. At 4:00, I put in Fellowship of the Ring in the DVD player, and we three plopped down on the couch and matching chair.

Oh my god these moves are so incredibly long! FotR is almost 3 hours. Calfgrit7 surprised me by being able to sit through the whole movie. Well, “sit” isn’t the right word. He mostly stayed on the couch, but he was all over the couch, and me, the whole 3 hours.

Then Sunday morning, at 9:00, I put The Two Towers in the DVD player. My god, another long movie! They had a play date with a friend at 1:00, so we had to pause the movie for them to go there. When they got back, we continued the movie to the end. Then I put in the third movie, The Return of the King. Long. Movie. Hell! I had to take Calfgrit7 over to a friend’s house for a sleep over in the evening, so we had to pause RotK. They will continue with it Monday sometime.

As much as I like the LotR trilogy movies, I’m worn out on them now. I didn’t get outside this weekend other than taking the boys to their friends’ houses. I feel like I’ve missed an entire weekend. I needed some sun and exercise and play, but what I got was TV, darkness, and sitting on the couch all day.

Bullgrit

I mentioned how our previous attempt to camp out, (two weeks ago), in the backyard was rained out. Well, this weekend, we tried again.

I set up the tent in our backyard, right next to the play set. The boys  gathered up all their blankets and pillows and sleeping bags, and I pulled some extras out of the closet for us. They got their showers, brushed their teeth, got a couple of books each and one toy each, and we three headed out to the tent at 8:00. I zipped up the door, and we all snuggled into our blankets.

The evening air was full of noise: birds singing, the breeze in the trees, a plane flying overhead, cars passing by on the road, air conditioners turning on. Holy moly, but nighttime outside is damn noisy. The boys are used to sleeping in a quiet room with a fan running, so this was like trying to go to sleep on a construction site. So far as noise goes, I could probably sleep at a rock concert. I ended up falling asleep before they did.

I woke up sometime in the middle of the night. The sky was dark and the sounds were relatively quiet. But the hard ground was killing me. Even with a folded blanket and the tent floor under me, I just couldn’t get comfortable. I tried to avoid tossing and turning too much because I didn’t want my movements to wake either or both boys. I laid there a long time in discomfort. Eventually I reached around and found my cell phone to check the time. 10:56. Not even eleven o’clock yet? I’d been asleep only about two hours? There was no way I was going to make it through the night in the tent, on the ground.

I slowly and quietly got up, unzipped the tent door, stepped out, zipped up the tent door, and tip toed through the yard to the back door. Once inside the house, I opened the blinds of the den so I could see the backyard and the tent from the couch where I found comfort and sleep.

Early in the morning, just as the sun was starting to lighten the sky, Calfgrit7 came in the back door and said he couldn’t sleep. He wanted to go up to his bedroom, so I told him to go on. He ended up in bed with his mother.

A little while later, with the sun fully up, Calfgrit11 came in the back door. He wanted to go on up to his room and play, so I told him to go on. I lay on the couch for probably another half hour before it was time to start the day.

So in the end, camping out was noisy and uncomfortable — everything I thought it would be.

Bullgrit

These are two side-by-side houses in our neighborhood:

These photos were taken back in December, but the general differences remain. Both the houses were built at about the same time, and have been occupied since about the same time, (4 years?). I suspect one of them might be built on an old Indian burial ground.

Bullgrit