An Accidental Extrovert

Guess what I learned about myself (at the age of 39) this last month?  I'm an extrovert.  I can hardly believe it.  You see, as soon as I learned the definitions of introvert and extrovert way back when, somewhere in late elementary school, I pegged myself squarely as an introvert.  Why?  A couple reasons.  I liked to read books by the schoolhouse door during recess instead of playing on the black tire jungle gym with the other girls.  In fact, I preferred books to any social interaction-- and I was academic and everybody knows nerds are introverts.  And I wore glasses....big ones... But now that I think about it as a rational adult, I can factor in some other issues---such as 6th grade girls are mean and have secrets, especially to girls who wear cokebottle glasses and sometimes use big words, while characters in books are rarely mean to the reader who is always privy to their deepest thoughts and they never leave you out, nor comment on your personal attire.  Plus the tire jungle gym smelled like rotten rubber.  I am sensitive to smells.  

Early this April, I took yet another personality quiz which indicated that I was an extrovert....an occurance that has puzzled my strong introvert identity my whole life.  Honestly, I've spent a lot of time over the years trying to figure out why an introvert like myself had so many extroverted tendencies.  Was I a "bivert?" (You are supposed to laugh here.) 

 Anyway, after taking the aforementioned quiz, and then reflecting on my forced time alone in a hospital room (with a sleeping drugged out child granted) for six days, in which I clung to facebook messages like an addict, I realized that I love interacting with people!  It really does energize me.  Could I really be the opposite of what I've always thought I was?  Like the lens that the eyedoctor flips over your eyes in an eye exam, suddenly so many things become clear....why being a stay at home mom is an emotional challenge for me and why it's getting harder as my house empties out (during the schoolday) instead of easier....why I get depressed when I'm not in Bible study with other women even when I am still studying the Bible privately.... why I LOVE reading and writing blogs even though I've never enjoyed private journaling.... why I MUST have a book to read if I do have to be alone even for very short timespans... All these things suddenly make sense, that never made sense to me before. 

I love my new identity.  I love that I just realized this.  I love blogging, and that's OK because God made me to love it and it's not just that I don't want to do the laundry...or sweep the mudroom AGAIN...or clean out under the kitchen sink...  Although that is true too.

I'm curious....what do you consider yourself...and introvert or an extrovert?  And are you SURE?

Recovery Road

Finally about day 4 or 5 at the hospital, I decided that a few pictures might be interesting to Lily later on.  Once she'd passed  her cognitive tests and all that, and we knew she was going to be ok, the blogger in me peeped her head up and snapped a few photos.  Since nobody under 5 could come up to the fourth floor, they let us wheel Lily down twice...once to see friend Cora and here to see cousins Annika and Mari and Aunt Kirstin.  Also pictured is Lily's Nana who spent many hours with Lily that week... So I could eat....and go for a few walks....Because eating and walking was necessary after awhile.

These were taken right before we went home.

Mostly she did this....ALL week.

And then she'd do this....only with IV tubes that kept getting tangled.  The IV came out the night before we came home...

And here is the meal that did it!  Toasted cheese sandwich.  If she could keep this baby down, she could leave the hospital!  If she couldn't, it was another night in the brig!

We prayed and wished her the best!

Here goes nothin'!

A little encouragement from "Horton the Elephant" was administered after a couple of bites...

And believe it or not, she ended up eating a WHOLE HALF...and kept it down!

They handed us SEVEN different drugs.....(in the bags)...looks like she really needs them, huh!

...we gathered our balloons....

...and our new family members and took off!

The older kids were SO happy to see Lily HOME! 

They had to examine her themselves...make sure the doctors didn't miss anything those six days...

Lily had a few stories to tell of her own!

Then the next morning....

"Teacher Heidi" (who in real life is a fabulous hairdresser) came and gave Lily a short new cut!  (We had dreadlocks going in back.)

Do you think she likes it?

Lily has loved Teacher Heidi since her first year at "Mom's Day Away."  Thanks Heidi.

There were many cards and gifts the next couple of weeks!

And, unbelievably, I don't have a picture of Lily with Grandma Marsha who came and took care of ME for the week....and played a million games with Lily too.  She was our hero!  Thanks Mom!

There was another trip back to the hospital for a follow-up MRI..

...NOT too sure about all that...but it came out as expected..

And for those of you who keep asking if we still have a dog...

We do.  It wasn't really her fault.  She's a dog.

And she's VERY VERYsorry.