A Real Pain in the... Back

I have intended to chronicle several events this past week (jury duty, getting Evie back from her weekend in Carroll, shopping outings), but have been delayed by, well, those things and the event that prompted this post.
So, I will have to fill you in later on how Evie told me on the way home from Carroll (when I turned on the cd player and Old McDonald, which we call Bill McDonald, came on) that "Grammy has Patch" or (when the sun got in her eyes when we turned onto the interstate) that "Grammy put the thing up so it isn't too bright" and (when I offered her a snack) that "Poppa bought me M-e-Ms". Nothing says, "I missed you, Mommy," like a litany of all the things Grammy and Poppa do better. Let's face it - It's hard to compete with an all-you-can-guzzle tea party and homemade spaghetti-o's. But, I don't want to compete. I LOVE it that my girls love being with their grandparents.
I will also have to tell you later about jury duty (have that post started) and the judge who admitted to not paying attention during Voir Dire shortly before the outbreak of an impromtu free-for-all forum on medical marijuana and ADD, both of which consumed time that would have been much better spent revisiting topics like super-elementary principles of government and public speaking. Or common sense. That would have done it as well.
I am probably most disappointed that I can't immediately share with you all the details of the incident during which my "potty-trained" 2-year-old (who knows when we are coming upon a gas station by smell, but apparently can only tell when she in coming upon a bowel movement by touch) filled her undies in the Valley West play place and dutifully provided direct evidence (or was it circumstantial?).

Yes, all of that will have to wait because things are a little upside-down (or should I say crooked?) at our house right now. Danny told me he was having some back pain Wednesday morning, suggested he go to the doctor right after work at lunchtime and asked me to pick him up after work because he couldn't drive a couple hours before he was scheduled to leave work for the day. If you know my husband well, you know that the fact that he was not only willing to go to a doctor, but was volunteering himself for the event was astonishing. This is the guy who wanted to try to "sleep off" what was ruled to be a probable stroke and didn't reveal that he was having symptoms of a stricture until he was almost in renal failure. Needless to say, I took it seriously.
We were very relieved to hear from the doctor that it was probably an issue of a back spasm and not an issue of kidneys or something worse. They gave Danny a shot of an anti-inflammatory and sent us home with prescriptions for pain killers and muscle relaxers, as well as orders for Danny to stay home from work until Monday. Thankfully, my mom was staying overnight for a Thursday meeting and was able to stay with the girls while went to the late hours clinic. While we were gone, Grammy had explained to Evie where we were and Evie was very curious about Daddy's condition when we returned. She asked right away if he felt better and then followed into the bedroom as we explained that Daddy would feel better soon. Evie is not used to prolonged "owies" that can't be fixed with a kiss and "soon" means to her what "instantaneously" means to the rest of the English-speaking population. So, when she processed all of what she had recently taken in (including her hobbling, half-erect Daddy) through that little mind and heart of hers, she followed him into the bedroom and announced her conclusion on the matter:
"Daddy, I will stay here with you until you feel better."

It was one of the sweetest moments I have ever witnessed.