Rock Concerts, Orchestra Concerts, and Music Therapy

I really wanted to be a fountain of optimism through this whole appendicitis ordeal. We had so much to be grateful for, it seemed like my duty to simply grin and bear the additional burdens that come with a suddenly incapacitated husband. There was no justification for me to whine or complain--he was the one who had to deal with all the physical discomfort, after all.

But as soon as I was behind the wheel, driving myself and Forest down to Denver for the much-anticipated Pearl Jam concert, the intended fountain of optimism turned into more of a fountain of tears and self-pity. I guess I have never been good at faking cheerfulness in front of my husband, and when the time came for me to put on a happy face and have "fun" and "relax," I just couldn't do it. There was so much anxiety built up from preparing to leave three small children overnight, anxiety about Forest's recovery, and anxiety about navigating through Denver traffic--any emotional facade didn't stand a chance. This was not the way I had envisioned our rock concert date--or that whole week--and all I wanted to do was cry about it.

I managed to pull myself together so we could try to enjoy a late lunch together in Westminster. Perhaps I could put on a smile after all. Then back at the hotel, right before we planned to leave and pick up our tickets, I realized I had failed to pack an essential part of my breast pump, and I burst into tears again. Poor Forest probably thought we were never going to make it to the concert.

But we did. And here are some pictures to prove it. This is Forest with our tickets:

This is Forest icing his abdomen before heading into line for the show:

This is a picture of us together before the concert. Can you tell that I've been crying and that Forest just had his appendix removed?

Here is Pearl Jam:

Mike McCready playing guitar behind his back:

Eddie Vedder, always a crowd-pleaser:

We sat on the Stone Gossard side of the stage.

Here are the swinging green lanterns, just before one of them shattered (as you would expect from a good rock concert).

 

Eddie and his adoring fans:

Eddie on drums:

Boom Gaspar on organ:

I kept waiting to see if Forest would become uncomfortable enough that we would need to leave, but he really was just rocking on. There is such a thing as music therapy, I guess, and for Forest it would be a Pearl Jam concert. So I'm glad we got him there, ice packs and all, and that my tears did not completely wash us out.

A couple of nights later it was my turn to take stage for an orchestra concert. Forest, Carol, Ramona, Mika, and Paula all came to see me play.

It wasn't my best performance--I was overtired and had missed too much rehearsal time for this particular set of repertoire. But it made me happy that my family was there to support me, and it was still fun to make some music, even if it wasn't perfect. I think maybe that is my kind of music therapy.

You only get appendicitis once

The last half of October was full of ups, downs, tears, and cheers. We had been happily anticipating this part of the year for quite some time--Forest's mother was scheduled to visit us for a week, we had tickets to a Pearl Jam concert in Denver, I had my own orchestra concert, and of course there are always Halloween festivities. What we were not expecting was Forest's appendectomy thrown into this whole mix of events. Although the procedure went just about as smoothly as unplanned surgeries can go, this single occurrence was enough to send my mind spinning on the edge of sanity for the remainder of the month. At least you can only get appendicitis once.

Here is Forest two days before the surgery, out on a walk in the neighborhood with his mom and his girls. He has no idea what is coming! (neither did we)

The next day (one day before appendicitis struck) after church we packed a picnic and headed to Bobcat Ridge. It was a gorgeous afternoon.

 

Look at him, hauling a heavy cooler and chasing after our little girls. The picture of good health, right? Is he really going to double over from illness in less than 24 hours?

Yes. The next morning he came home from work at about 9:30, cringing from severe abdominal pain. By 3pm he was heading into surgery. I am pretty sure this day would have been a lot more disastrous without my mother-in-law there helping. Also, I am pretty sure Forest would not have been smiling in this picture without some very strong pain medication and the doctor's reassurance that he should be recovered in time for the Pearl Jam concert. Apparently the surgeon's wife was a big PJ fan, native of Seattle, and they had tickets to the concert, too.

After some speedy slicing (with Pearl Jam playing in the background), Forest was soon down one organ but still smiling for the camera.

And he was cleared to go home not long after. Easy, huh? Except we almost didn't get any pain meds for our patient because the doctor made a mistake when scribbling down the prescription. And that mishap, piled on top of all the other stressors that day, was enough to wipe away my smiles for the rest of the evening, and may have triggered a few teardrops into my pillow that night, too. Thankfully, that whole day is history, and no one really needs an appendix, anyway.

Hooray for Fall!

The sugar maple tree in our backyard was looking quite brilliant one Saturday. It was time to take some photos and celebrate Fall.

Happy Fall to all.

Remember September?

Remember September? That month that flew by, just before whatever month we are in now? It came and went so fast I almost forgot that we even did these things: 1) hiking, 2) zucchini races, and 3) more hiking.

On Labor Day we drove to Gateway Park and went up the Black Powder Trail. Ramona kept calling it the "Black Power Trail." It made me wonder if she is already learning about the Civil Rights Movement in kindergarten?

We had beautiful weather and a beautiful view.

We spent one Saturday morning in Old Town Timnath at the Founders Day Festival. Our family really appreciated the small-town-charm-i-ness and not-crowded-ness of the event. I played some music and was in charge of a booth for the Loveland Orchestra, but there was plenty of time to go for a carriage ride around the block with the girls . . .

. . . and watch Mika and Ramona participate in the Timnath tradition of zucchini racing.

We came home tired and dirty with second and third place ribbons. 

 

Another Saturday we made it to Rocky Mountain National Park, just in time to see some of the aspen leaves turn yellow.

We found a trail to hike on for a while . . .

. . . then had a picnic and played on a playground in Estes Park.

Strawberry-faced Paula

October--is that the current month? Ok, October, would you care to stay a while?