Wednesday, January 27

5 a.m. rolled around mighty early this morning. But we had to be up and ready to go to the hospital by 6:15. Fortunately, when we arrived at the outpatient surgery facility, we didn't have to wait long before Hubbie was called back for surgery preps. In about 30 minutes, I was allowed to go sit with him until he was taken to surgery.

One thing I appreciated about Hubbie's nurse anesthestist was that he called me on my cell phone periodically to keep me updated on Hubbie's progress.

While he was in surgery, I stayed in the lobby waiting room, where I visited with folks I know, who were also there waiting for family members in surgery. Since the cardiac rehab room is adjacent to the waiting room, I also stepped in there and visited briefly with the therapists, who had worked with me during my rehab two years ago.

Around 9 a.m., Hubbie's surgery was done, and he spent about 30 minutes in recovery before I was allowed to go and sit with him again. He remained in recovery until around noon, and then he was dismissed, with instructions to walk as much as he can, not drive until Sunday or Monday, and not lift more than 10 lbs. for five weeks.

We stopped by the pharmacy before coming home to pick up a prescribed pain medication. At home, Mother had made a big pot of potato soup, and I was plenty ready for a steaming bowl of it, with slices of the multi-grain bread I bought yesterday. It had been about seven hours since I'd eaten breakfast, and my tummy was letting me know it. Hubbie rested a while before he ate lunch.

After lunch, Hubbie continued to rest, while Mother and I went down to the local college, about a mile away, to tour the art mobile, which is here this week from our capital city art museum. There were about 20 pieces of art in a variety of mediums....ink drawings, including one in India ink, pencil drawings, watercolors, and photography, plus one piece of sculpture.

We particularly liked: a drawing of a flower arrangement etched into black paper; a pencil drawing of an elderly woman that showed every meticulously detailed line in her face and gray hair on her head; a whimsical picture of connected figures drawn as squares and triangles with circle heads and stick arms and legs, dressed in bow ties and floral dresses, and then connected by lines drawn from figure-to-figure, and group-to-group; and a large watercolor of a 19th century wife, shown in various poses on the widow's walk of her home , as she anxiously awaits the return of her sailor husband.

It didn't take long to view the exhibit, and we were back home within 30 minutes. Later, we had a supper of Spanish chicken, baked Parmesan potatoes, cole slaw, grape tomatoes with cottage cheese, and green beans.

Later, Hubbie and I watched the movie, "Snow Angels," a 2007 R-rated film starring Kate Beckinsale, and Sam Rockwell. The plot of the movie revolves around three couples with relationship problems. The husband of one of the couples is cheating on his wife. The woman he is cheating with is married to a distubed man. The teenage son of the third couple is working out his own awakening sexuality while his parent's marriage is crumbling.

"Well," Hubbie commented at the end of the show, "that sure was an uplifting movie."

He must have felt the same way I did about the movie, "Marley and Me," that we watched the night before my Monday morning nuclear stress test. We both needed cheerier movies.

After the movie, we watched President Obama's State of the Union address.