First off, let me apologize for my unexplained and unusually long absence. I have not been myself lately.

The reason? I've been slightly ill. Last week, I came down with some sort of a bug. Let's just say I've made many a trip to the bathroom... I was also experiencing severe stomach cramps which, though short in length, were quite excruciating and occured several times during the course of the day. I called the surgeon who believed it was unrelated to the surgery and directed me to take some painkillers. By the end of the third day, the cramps were accompanied by minor chest pain, followed by back pain that worsened greatly by the fourth day. This pain was oddly like the pain I experienced during those unforgetable pre-surgery gallstone attacks. So I called the hospital to speak to the surgeon on duty. He reassured me that since I didn't have a fever and I wasn't throwing up, that it was not an emergency. Again, painkillers was the only offered solution. The next morning, I woke up terribly nauseous and ended up throwing up. Seeing as my last meal(s) was water and crackers, it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. (I haven't thrown up in YEARS! I hate it so much that I'm pretty good at keeping it down, as gross as that may sound...) I had a communion party to attend and I really didn't want to miss it so I opted to stay home during the ceremony in order to recoup for the dinner party. I felt much better and was quite content to fill my belly with some good ol' Portuguese cooking! Since then, my trips to the bathroom have been cut back significantly but the nausea and slight fatigue still remain.

So I'd like to thank Mama D and Dawynel for expressing their concern for my well-being. I didn't think I would be missed so it was nice to read your comments. And I would like to reassure you and all my other readers that I will be back soon to catch up on all your blogs. I hope this post finds everyone healthy and happy.