Mar. 25, 2009 - An Odd Day
Generally my life is pretty run-of-the-mill. Most days are much the same, and while I truly love my life, it’s not a life that one would call interesting or exciting. But occasionally one has a day that is different, not hum-drum; a day that makes one thankful that most days are pretty run-of-the-mill…
I wasn’t even downstairs when my eldest daughter came looking for a thermometer. She’d been complaining of a sore throat for a few days, but it had been mild and she seemed to feel fine otherwise. Her fever was mild (98) but enough that I could see this would not be a routine day.
The next unusual thing that happened was when I went to check on my laundry. I had set the timer so it would be finished at 6:30 am – early enough so there would be water for those needing to shower in the morning. But the load was not done. Instead, flashing on the display was the error message, “F70.” I reached for the manual to see what this meant, only to find that there were descriptions for F21, F22, and F23, but no F70. Instead, I found an entry for “any other code” which said to cancel the cycle and try again. I did so, and hoped it would work fine this time. Thankfully, it did.
Then we started school. We always start with our Bible lesson, followed by the history read aloud. This is my favourite part of the day. We divide the Bible reading among the children, and I read the history lesson. Today my eldest did not want to read because her throat was too sore, but my youngest did want to read because she is thoroughly enjoying her newfound (and ever increasing!) reading skills. We were reading the book of Titus, which is three chapters of 15 or 16 verses each. This divides easily among three children, but I normally give Emily a shorter portion. Today, however, she insisted on reading a full portion – a whole chapter. So with my help, she did. She is really improving and the Bible reading is a good exercise for her.
When she finished, the other two read their chapters, after which I asked the questions. In answering they often read the relevant portion. My son, of course, used a funny voice. It sounded at first like Gollum, then like Elmo, and then like some sort of combination. I asked him who it was supposed to be and he replied that it was a “funny voice.” Meanwhile, my croaky daughter was using a small white board to communicate instead of talking.
In his Gollum/Elmo voice, Matthew read, “Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech…”
I saw
We all laughed. There is no question in our minds why the Paul exhorted Titus to teach the young men seriousness!
The fourth unusual thing was perhaps the most bizarre. After our first hour I usually have breakfast. I put two pieces of bread in the toaster. When they popped I noticed a black spot on the side of one. Thinking it to be a whole grain I flipped it from my toast only to see LEGS on the under side of it! ACK! This was more than a little disconcerting to a woman who believes insects to be the scourge of nature! (shudder)
Shortly after discarding my toast and putting two new slices into the toaster, my littlest girl came into the kitchen, asking for help getting dressed. She held out her hands to me to show me that she had some spots on them. Spots. All over the palms of her hands. I checked her over and found she had some on other parts of her body, but her hands were the worst. All I could think of was chicken pox, but they didn’t itch. It was a mystery.
The two sickies stayed home while Kathleen & I took Matthew to band. When we got home I decided to take the other two to the hospital to confirm what they each had. After a relatively reasonable wait we saw the doctor who diagnosed Victoria with tonsillitis and Emily with the Coxsackie virus, which is another name for Hand, Foot & Mouth (not to be confused with Hoof & Mouth disease, which is completely different).
A strange day, indeed. And now the children have all gone to bed and my husband is watching a hockey game (Senators vs somebody). I think I will relax in my cozy bed and do some digital scrapbooking.
