konfessions of the Koog

When we were in the UK for a month in 2023, Mrs. Koog did all the driving. I will admit, she hit nothing and no one. She got us safely from London to Bath to North Wales to Liverpool and all over Scotland until we turned in our car in Edinburgh. And when we turned in that car, it was pristine. No dings, dents, scratches or bumps. As I have written in the past few entries my trip was magical and healing and all those things trips should be. With one exception, driving. I was nervous when I booked the trip that I would forget to stay to the left and cause an international incident on the M4. Apparently, staying to the left would not be the problem. No, my problem was staying too far to the left. For some reason, I completely lost my depth perception on the left (passenger side). This issue wasn’t a real problem on the motorway as there was a shoulder and every time I’d cross the line I was able to correct immediately. The drive from Heathrow to Conwy, Wales was uneventful until I go...

It was big. It was long. It was hard. (Get your minds out of the gutter).  Shortly before Christmas, Mrs. Koog got the 1/31 date for the autologous reconstruction surgery. We were warned to get everything done that needed 2 people because as of 1/31 she was out of commission. Strangely, I took this as a challenge. Here's what we (I) decided we needed to accomplish between 1/1 and 1/30: 1. Clean out garage 2. Order huge new television, 5 speaker sound system with only a notional plan on how to hang it in our family room 3. Due to #2, completely rearrange the family room due to both the new TV, speakers and the GINORMUS lift chair we got to assist the Mrs. after surgery 4. Move B-Koog from his current bedroom, where he and E-Koog share a bathroom, to a new bedroom so he has his own bathroom to prevent more violence due to gross bathroom habits (another blog completely) 5. Buy B-Koog new bed since new room will not fit current bed 6. Paint B-Koog's new room and bathroom...

The middle of the night antics of the exhausted continued this morning at approximately 3:45 am. We each have our own twin bed in the stateroom. B-Koog’s is the convertible bed and is perpendicular to mine with his head closer to my head. For some reason, he felt compelled to check on me in the middle of the night. Like some strange proof of life was needed at 3:45am. His way of “not disturbing” me was to stare into my face to see if I was breathing. Nope, not creepy at all. I could feel someone/something looking at me. When I am startled awake, I swing in whatever direction the startle was felt. B-Koog almost got it in the head! Luckily, I was able to stop mid-swing. His response? “Why did you almost hit me? I was just staring at you while you slept to see if you were awake.” You lucked out, kid. Talk with Mrs. Koog about the near misses she’s lived through! Back to sleep we all went until 8am when the alarm went off to begin our day at Giant’s Causeway. Both boys were exhausted and...