A good sport

My dear Scrubs. He has been a great sport and has handled his collar much better than he did when he was a tiny pup. He regularly takes Benadryl for his skin allergy. We are giving him an extra Benadryl or two a day to help him stay a bit calmer and not want to play so much (his favorite thing!) So far, so good. It's a bit frustrating as I can't take him outside and can't really leave him alone so we have a bit of cabin fever. He really can't go into his kennel with this thing on (how could he turn around?) and we also don't want to risk him managing to get to his staples until the wound is healed more. But we're coping just fine. He's pretty pitiful looking and has thus garnered an extra helping of ear scratches from both JB and I. It is especially pitiful when he tries to scratch his ear and just ends up hitting his collar. He gets this look on his cute puppy dog face that seems to say, "My ear itches so badly and I'm completely helpless here." One of us tries to help with the itch whenever we can.

Cabin fever was alleviated a bit yesterday when the wifia came over for lunch. I can't say enough good things about the six wives who help ease the loneliness of being on a military base while our husbands work long hours. They have been such a blessing in our lives. We continue to meet every Wednesday for a potluck and one Thursday evening a month (without kids) for a book club. They were nice enough to come to my house yesterday so I could keep an eye on the little Scrubby. Keenan is really starting to walk now! He's getting taller and getting thinner. William is running now -- forget walking! And Della is managing to keep up with daily big-boy antics that accompany those two active guys as best she can. She's very easy-going.

As for JB, he found out yesterday that he passed his Step III Boards that he had taken with Matt in Asheville. (Not that I doubted he would!) But good job JB. I'm proud of you. He's been on a surgery rotation for the last five weeks and has one week more to go. He is not a huge fan of surgery in general but does enjoy when he gets to do a lot of stitching and suturing. When we brought Scrubs home from the vet the other day I remarked what a great job the vets did on his stitches and what talent they have. JB just looked at me and mumbled, "Wendi, this is what I am doing everyday."

It's difficult when your husband leaves in the morning and you truly have no concept of what it is he does everyday. My mom can watch my father coach or pop in on him as he teaches in a classroom. But I can't just peer into one of JB's surgeries or examination rooms to "see what he is up to." I get stories at the end of the day -- edited to avoid things that are too sad, too gross, or too private. I do know that he is currently doing a lot of breast reconstruction surgeries and post-gastric-bypass-plastic surgeries. He tries to explain to me how these are done (moving skin from the one place to another, etc.) but I truly can't even picture it. He left early this morning as one of his patients (he has about 70 of his own during intern year) was admitted into the hospital last night. I was barely getting out of bed when he was running out the door and had just enough time to page him so that he could find his pager before Scrubs and I were waving at him as he pulled out.

The other thing that JB and I say to each other about six times a day is, "Can you believe baby ___ will be here in just ___ weeks?!" Today, the counter starts with a 5! Yikes! We are continually, literally, pinching ourselves to remind ourselves that this baby actually exists and is going to be sleeping in the little room in our house. I'm sure Bri is not having to pinch herself to remind herself that he is real. I'm sure he kicks her enough to accomplish that reminder just perfectly.

It's getting really, really, really close!