#1 on my list of things that suck.

Tonsils.

More than likely you had these out when you were a kid. Somehow, I missed the opportunity to lie in bed and eat ice cream for a coupla days. As an older kid, I was aware that they weren't routinely taking them out any more because they supposedly are part of the lymphatic system and supposedly contribute a useful function. Blah blah blah.

Tonsils, as far as I can tell exist for one reason. They exist to do this thing, maybe 3-4 times a year, where they get nasty and inflamed and white crud crawls out all over them. They hurt like a bastard, and make swallowing an exercise in pain tolerance. Breathing sometimes even becomes a challenge.

I'm done with this. Even my doctor finally agrees. I've been through enough with no trend towards improvement evident. I got a referral to an ENT doctor and hopefully can schedule the procedure for about 2 weeks from now. Out they come. Of course, it's supposedly harder to recover from a tonsillectomy as an adult than as a kid, but I think I'll manage.

I got strep throat, situated firmly in the tonsils, on Thursday AM. I got to take two days of sick leave I really was trying to save up. On Thursday, I was exhausted and spent all day trying desperately to sleep over my little girl's protests. She was really incredibly good. She spent almost the full day parked in front of Noggin on TV as I tossed on the seas of fever. I'm satisfied that I managed to get her diapers changed and to feed her at reasonable intervals, at the very least. It really was all I could manage.

Yesterday the medicine kicked in and I suddenly got all this energy. I cleaned house, cleaned out the back stairwell (no small job with a houseful of men and a huge black dog), dumped out the wading pool to clean and refill it, and did some laundry. I sat in the backyard and kicked cool water at my child as she splished and splashed in her fishie bathing suit. I snoozed with her for an hour. It was a great day except for the fact that I had two scaly alien hatchlings nested in the back of my throat.

This work-free sunny Friday brought to you courtesy of strep throat.

Yeah. O.k.

Anyway, my little girl is blossoming in front of me like a glorious flower - like a tiger lily where I expected a tea rose. She is wonderful and surprising. She has a sense of humor. She is incredibly stubborn and opinionated. And she is utterly fearless - of heights, of speed, of bigger kids, of anything.

This last is both a blessing and a curse. I've spent my life constrained by my fears - of speed, of heights, of being looked down upon. I hate that I can't ride a motorcycle because I am instinctually incapable of trusting centrifugal force to take me around the corner with the bike leaned in at a normal angle. I'd love to see her not be constrained to avoid things that are fun, like riding, or say, skiing. But I don't want her to get beyond herself, or even worse, to not develop that inner voice that tells her she's getting in over her head, or when a person is just plain not to be trusted. Especially that last one. And, of course, I'm afraid she will climb up something too high and fall and get hurt. It is certain to happen eventually - whether actually or metaphorically. So how shall I deal with it when it does?

She is lovely to look at, too. In my humble opinion. She is lean and athletic, straight-limbed and certain in her physicality. Her layer of baby firm/softness is sheathed in warmest, softest raw silk. Her smile alters her entire face in the most delightful way. And she is just ravishing in hats.

I bought my husband a really nice camera for Father's Day. (This was about in the same price range as the beautiful ring he bought me for Mother's Day, which never got posted about because Blogger was not working right that day). We got some nice pictures of the little girl - I'll post them soon, hopefully.