What's a labrum you ask?

On Wednesday, Brandon will be having arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

What's a labrum you ask?

Your labrum is a ring of soft fibrous tissue that surrounds the glenoid (the end of the shoulder blade) and helps stabilize the shoulder joint. Ligaments and tendons can attach to the labrum and when the labrum is torn, the shoulder becomes painful. (Yes, I totally cut and pasted this from a medical website).

What does this surgery entail you ask?

This will be an outpatient surgery - a mix of anesthesia and novocaine to numb the actual incision area. The actual surgery consists of three small (1/4”) incisions to insert small, permanent metal bone screws inside the bone. Attached to the bone screw are sutures that are woven through the torn labrum.

Why the hell did you agree to this you ask?

This is an old sports injury from college - that (surprise) "we" are just getting around to repairing now - 6 years later. I say "we" only because I fear that this next week will be a joint recovery for both of us. He - recovering from the actual surgery. Me - recovering from the alcohol abuse needed to be his "nurse" for a week.

In all seriousness - we are praying for a routine surgery and a speedy recovery. We will lay our faith at the foot of the cross in hopes that everything turns out perfect.

Here is a link to a good website that talks in detail about this surgery:

http://www.drgartsman.com/labrum_repair/index.asp

P.S. - Oh, and don't worry....all video game, softball playing, tippy cup fun can return in 6 weeks.

Our Friends Matt & Nikole....

So....this may be the last time I ever get to say those words "Our friends Matt & Nikole". I say that only because they've agreed to the un-thinkable....a road trip with B & M. We are leaving for Kansas City with our dear friends/neighbors in about 30 minutes. Now don't get me wrong - I've been looking forward to this trip to quite awhile...B & I take frequent trip to Kansas City and love all that it has to offer and are very excited now to share this with M & N.

However, we are now stepping into un-charted "couple friends" territory. It will be this very weekend that they (M & N) will find out just how crazy their neighbors (us) really are. I mean all of those weird, odd, some might say annoying things that you do that only your spouse (and for some of you - psychiatrist) knows about....those are destined to be exposed on this road trip.

For example, everyone knows that Brandon is obsessed with sports, we know it, we love it...end of story. HA. End of story for most of you. M & N are about to find out how truely obsessed he is....they will begin to witness the countless hours of checking fantasy baseball stats on his blackberry and then our discussion of some semi-witty response for him to text to Corbin. Pathetic. Yes, we actually spend time talking about things like this and they're going to witness it - first hand.

AND what about my odd shopping habits....what if they don't understand that you HAVE to look at every store first before you buy something? What if they actually expect me to make a purchase the very first time I'm in a store? The tragedy.

AND then our obsession with Kinnick - that might drive them to jump into a fountain at Country Club Plaza and make an end of it.

So stay tuned....we certainly hope and pray then can handle us and all of our craziness for 2 days. If they DO happen to survive god knows all they'll be thinking is: Wow, these people REALLY needed this vacation....where's the vodka?

R.I.P.

So....life with a puppy continues to get interesting! We had a tragic loss over the weekend, one that we're still bereaving over at our house. Brandon left his cherished Oakland A's hat on the stairs - and as anyone who are the parent's to a 1 year old puppy know, anything left in sight is "fair game". Needless to say when we returned downstairs a little while later.....we witnessed the massacre first hand.

I honestly thought I was going to have to get the defibulator out - it was like he was watching a car accident. Paralyzed, completely paralyzed as he watched all of his countless Oakland A's hat memories get dissolved into a pile of Puggle spit.

For a moment, I actually felt for the guy. But then that moment quickly passed and I found myself a tiny bit amused.....as we fast-forward to earlier in the week and I recalled Brandon's delight when he told me that my precious little nugget had sucessfully destroyed my 27 dresses DVD. You know the saying...Paybacks are a.....!

While I do feel sorry for Brandon, I must admit I am secretly a little ecstatic at the idea of FINALLY getting a new hat. Goodbye sweat stains, goodbye stink...hello glorious, new, white Hat!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful dads out there! Seeing that we now have a semi-child of our own, I have to say a BIG thank you to Brandon for being such a good dog-dad to Kinnick.

Of course - wishes are sent for a Happy Father's Day to Brandon's dad Jeff. Brandon couldn't have asked for a better dad and I couldn't have been blessed with a better Father-In-Law. Today was fun - we went to my grandparent's to celebrate Father's Day. It was a good time, good food, good company...all around a good time. My grandma will be 80 on July 2nd - what a milestone!

I tried a new recipe today: Greek Cheese Torta. I saw it in a Pampered Chef catalog at work and decided it looked good. We are a big fan of Sun Dried Tomatoes and this is one of the first recipes I've seen in awhile that calls for them, so I decided to be adventurous....as "new adventures" is the theme of the day! It actually turned out really good, I got a lot of compliments from my family and even Brandon tried some. Here is the recipe if you're interested: http://cedarmontfarms.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=85.

Here is a picture of my final presentation:

We are gearing up for another exciting week. I go to Omaha on Tuesday-Wednesday and this Wednesday marks Brandon's last week of classes for this term. Next term he will be taking one on-line class and one class at the Upper Iowa University (http://www.uiu.edu/) center here in Ankeny. Hopefully this will be better as this term he has taken two on-line classes and they are very time-consuming. I'm (selfishly!) ready for him to have a break!

A new adventure...

So...as I was lying awake this morning trying to enjoy every ounce of what has become a coveted thing around our house "Lazy Sunday Mornings", I decided to start this blog. With family and friends now spread out across the States - hopefully this will assist me in sharing the wonderful adventures that are "Life with Brandon & Megan"...