Bed Rest

I had all of these fantasies about bed rest-- that I'd lounge in bed all day and people would bring me my favorite foods, make sure my water glass was refilled and I'd finally have time to catch up on the 20 or so books I have piled next to my bedside table, on my "to-read" list. Well, so far the first couple things are true (thanks, Mom and Dad and the trusty nursing staff at Northwestern Hospital). And even better, my hospital room, and now my apartment, has become a virtual florist (thanks Aloha, Noa & Nea, Jen, Eddie, Salomea, Jeff, Lynn & Cam, Aunt Anne & Uncle Dan and the Daves, Harry and Tucker, and Kristina, Emmet & Will for the gift basket of goodies). And I love flowers... such a nice excuse to get lots of them.

But lounging has yet to come to fruition... nor has reading. First, I failed to consider was the whole pain thing. Doesn't lead to much of doing anything except grimacing everytime I move (and I thought it was bad pre-hospital). Second, any act of movement, including sitting up, exhausts me. So by the time I get to a seated, or god forbid, standing position, I'm ready for another nap. None of these things lead to easy book-reading; or even magazines for that matter (and my Conde Nast Traveler, Chicago and Real Simple have been painfully neglected for the past few months). Magazines are too heavy to lift.

So instead, I just sleep... and sometimes get up to slouch around the apartment (hunched over, mind you-- it's very attractive) in order to give my poor tailbone a rest-- sharp, shooting pains in your backside from lying down too long?!? How come no one told me about that?!). And between snoozes, watch movies and tv downloaded from iTunes (thank you, GCC)-- the only thing that seems to be able to capture my as of late gnat-like attention span. My mom keeps reminding me that I had major surgery 4 days ago, so I'm bound to need some recovery time. Okay, okay. But that doesn't negate the pre-surgery fantasy I had of long walks in the park, enjoying the Fall weather (that is apparently near end, as the high at the end of the week is expected to be 39. 39!?! My poor Hawaiian family), and reading. Reading! Can't a girl catch a break??