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O-M-E-N-T-U-M

Since we last chatted Jason ended up back in the ER on July 4th and we finally found out the cause of his agony. Apparently he had a twisting and infarction of his greater omentum. And no, I didn't mean to type momentum.

What in the name of Pete is an omentum? Yeah we asked the same thing. Let me attempt to summarize. It's basically a layer of fatty tissue that we all have over our intestines. I guess it kinda sorta protects the intestines. What's also neat is that the omentum can often be found wrapped around areas of infection and trauma to isolate and basically kill off those areas. Kinda cool. Anyway, apparently in rare cases, the omentum can randomly become twisted up and then infarct (the tissue begins to die off).

So when we got sent home from the ER the first time, my poor husband laid on the couch in misery the whole weekend. He woke me up at 6 am Monday morning and said he couldn't take the pain anymore, which I knew to take seriously. At this point we thought it was his gallbladder acting up. Well after making it back to the ER they looked at his original CT scan and said they actually did see a small abnormality after all. So we did another CT scan, and the inflamed omentum area had tripled in size in 3 days. The surgeon called the size of Jason's twisted tissue "quite impressive". Basically the size of an orange.

Go big or go home Jason.

So, Monday early evening he had laparoscopic surgery to remove infarcted tissue. Jason immediately felt better (mostly because of the pain meds) and is still recovering very well. He is supposed to take it easy until next week. Thanks to our sweet friends for all their help and to the Maiers for mowing our yard for us!

Jason was a trooper and went with me to my best friend Adrienne's wedding in Crested Butte this past weekend. It was such a wonderful time. Adrienne was a gorgeous bride and all the wedding festivities were fabulous. Just wish J had been in prime condition so he could have hiked and biked like i know he wanted too. We also shared a condo with our wonderful friends Meagan, Jeremy, Sarah, and Huynh. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! I will post more pics when I see Adi's professional pics, but here are a few from the weekend...

me and the bride...

bridesmaids!

Adi and Garrett!

me and the hubs.

ROPES COURSE!

Quite the Scare and a yummy recipe.

So.... Jason scared me to death Thursday night.

We had gone to the Astros game that evening and Jason was having some stomach pain. Well, he woke up at 2 am tossing and turning. He got up to go to the bathroom, and we he came out, he was completely white, covered in sweat and passed out. I was beyond terrified. I really think it was the scariest moment of my life so far. I depend on Jason. He is my rock. To see him temporarily unconscious on the bathroom floor was overwhelming. I really need to work on keeping my cool. I was such a mess. I started to dial 911 (twice), but then hung up immediately (twice) after J convinced me he could get up and ride to the ER. He was still white as a ghost, but appeared to be pretty stable, so we got in the car and I drove, um, quickly (with my flashers on!) to the ER.

Five hours later, after a CT scan and some blood work, they cleared Jason of appendicitis, kidney stones, and gall bladder issues. We had mixed feelings. It was a huge blessing that he wouldn't need surgery, but what the heck made him pass out?!?! Well, we still don't know, which sucks. Poor Jason has been laying on the couch resting for ~2 days straight. He's definitely better, but still having stomach/abdomen/back pain. We are hoping to get him to see a gastro specialist tues or wed before we leave for Colorado thursday. It's always hard to see a loved one in pain.

Anyway, we are glad he was cleared of some of the serious stuff, but I am definitely looking forward to having my husband in normal form again!

Let's lighten this post up a little now...

I thought I would incude a yummy recipe for you guys. The few of you that read this probably have been over when I made this dish, so it shouldn't be anything very new or exciting.

Texas Trash Bean Dip (don't let the not-so-tasty name detract you. it's DE-LISH)

Ingredients (I never measure, and just eyeball everything. This recipe rocks because you just add more of the things you love and less of what you don't. Highly customizeable!)

-approx 2 green bell peppers

-approx 2 red bell peppers

-a couple green onions (or scallions to you fancy pants people)

-~half a red onion (you can sub in shallots too)

-1 jalapeno (I de-seed)

-~1/4 cup of cilantro

-~1/4 cup of parsley (I think parsley tastes like sticks, so I do not add this)

-1 can of golden hominy

-1 can of white hominy

-1 can of black-eyed peas

-1 bottle of zesty italian dressing

-tortilla chips

Directions:

Chop up all the veggies nice and small. The bell pepper...

Green onions and shallots (the red onions at my grocery store the other day were not looking so good)...

Cilantro and Jalapeno too (not shown because I am sure you are sick of pics of chopped veggies). Next rinse and drain the B.E.P.s and hominy, and add them to the bowl of mixed veggies. You can just use one color hominy, but I love the vibrant colors, so I mix it up.

Here is what you have... (don't mind the pudding pie ingredients in the back of the picture. I am currently obsessed with chocolate pudding).

Isn't it a vibrant dish? I promise its as yummy as it is colorful. Finally, add in ALMOST all of the bottle of zesty italian. (just depends on the amounts of veggies you have used). I recommend adding a little at a time so it's not too soupy or to dry. Not to toot my own horn, (although this recipe is out of my mom's cook book, so I wouldn't really be), but this dip is the bomb. It is ALWAYS a hit. And it's fresh and pretty healthy.

My mom likes to use to cans of B.E.P.s and one can of hominy, so feel free to tweak it to your liking :)

nom nom nom nom...