The wind howled around our house last night battering the vinyl siding and rattling the patio furniture. It whipped up in great gusts and then moved on while we held our breaths waiting for the next blast. The trees were tossed about, the tops bending almost horizontal before righting themselves. The power flickered a few times and I knew it was only a matter of time before it went out completely. And then it did...the whole house subsiding into absolute darkness and silence.
The stillness of a house without power is really strange. I sat in bed for a long time, journally by flashlight, and listening to the wind. A glance out the windows showed that the whole neighbourhood below and above us on the mountain was also plunged into a mirky quiet but I could see the lights of downtown twinkling in the distance.
This morning our corner of the world is quiet again and sometime during the night I heard the squeal of the smoke detector as the electricity came on. I'm always relieved to hear the familiar hum of the house coming alive again - the furnace kicking in, the refridgerator starting up, and the comfort of knowing that once again everything is back to normal.
Even though the kids and hubby aren't quite over the flu symptoms yet, this week we're supposed to be into the big push toward report cards. This means gathering all the assignments that the kids have done over the past couple of months and assembling them in a presentable manner for the teacher's visit. Some of those assignments aren't completed yet, others aren't marked, and others have mysteriously gone missing. So the task feels a little overwhelming.
After all the busyness of last week, my mood isn't conducive to beginning this daunting task today. Unfortunately, time feels the enemy and a glance at the calendar confirms that I need to get going. Is it just me or do the days seem shorter than ever since we put the clocks back? In truth, the gloomy dark weather of late makes one feel as though day never quite arrives.
People who remembered my birthday (other than my family, obviously):
Kaitlin
Maggie, my 13-year-old cousin
Emily D
Tess (she sent me a very enthusiastic email!)
Madrigal Family – they called and sang to me. I admit I teared up.
Molly – she called. So sweet.
Lori Ann – she chatted me. Still feeling rotten but wrote me anyway. I smiled.
Ms. Beth. So sweet!
Wow! So I just had the most radical and probably the most fun birthday party I’ve ever had in my life! (Pretty impressive, huh?) So for a long time I’d wondered what to do on my birthday because I wanted to do something special and I always do the same thing (sleepover). I talked with Katie some and Dad some and just couldn’t decide. However, after a conversation with Courtney, the idea that had been hibernating at the back of my mind for a few days finally came to fruition: we went camping!!
Yessiree, it was just the five – then four – of us facing the Great Outdoors. Courtney, Emily, Madison, Melissa and I hit the woods with only our very old and slightly rotten camper and the bare necessities (Muddy Buddies, to be specific).
I picked up Madison and John, then dropped John and Andrew off at home. I'd left my pillow (duh) at the house and also the cuppers court, so Jo came running out with them as we whizzed into the driveway and we stuffed them into the trunk.
Then it was down 65 for not very long to get Courtney. I realized as soon as we got to the light at CofO that I'd forgotten to tell Courtney that she didn't need to wait at the nursing home, so I drove through there looking for her but she wasn't there so I drove back to her house. Nobody there. Hmmm. Just as I was about to knock on the door I heard a honk and Ryan backed Mrs. B's car down the driveway with Courtney sitting in the front seat laughing at me.
We loaded Courtney's stuff in the trunk, along with several logs of firewood the Browns were donating to the cause. They didn't really fit very well but we got them in there eventually, thanks to Courtney's expert packing skills.
When Courtney, Madison and I got out to the State Park to scope out the campgrounds, we were pleased to find the place mostly deserted. We drove around for a while, and finally by process of elimination settled on a site in part one of campground one, in the middle of the circle and near to the bathrooms (we all decided this should be a priority). We were then supposed to deposit "significant personal belongings" on the site, which we did - in the form of all of our bags and sleeping bags. There could be no doubt that that site was reserved. :) We went to the campground office to register our site and the lady there asked us if we were college students from CofO. We found this to be amusing. It was also amusing the way she would shove the cash drawer back in as soon as it popped out (which it tended to do rather frequently).
Once we were registered we went back to the campground with little to do. Dad was supposed to get there at 1:30 with the camper to back it up and plug it in, but until then we didn't have a game plan. Melissa was supposed to arrive around 2 and Emily was expected from her violin lesson around 2:30. We had some time to kill so we played Swap, which kind of falls flat with three people, and pretty much sat around and looked at each other, eating Muddy Buddies, until Melissa and then Dad and Mr. Brown arrived (the latter were almost 45 minutes late!).
Dad backed the camper in, plugged in the electricity - which we didn't end up using - and set up the propane. He and Mr. Dave also unloaded the bikes, leveled the camper and then unhitched the camper from the van - after some debate. Mr. Dave prayed, Dad gave final words of wisdom ("turn off the propane at night, don't leave the campsite by yourself after dark, and have fun!"), and we were alone.
It didn't take us long to get the camper set up - there were five of us hard-working girls, after all - and during that time I realized how very decrepit our camper is and how much we need a new one. The nice thing about going camping for only one night with the girls was that we didn't have a lot of junk. We had clothes, food, and a few games - and that was it. Didn't have to set up the awning, didn't have to pump up the inner tubes (i.e. NO SHOP VAC), didn't even need the clothesline! Incredible.
After we got everything set up and lightened the Muddy Buddies bin a little bit we set off on an adventurous hike that would have proved to be rather boring were it not for the companionship. We took pictures by a sewer drain, a big cool rock, and various other places that begged for Kodak moments. Madison and Courtney got into a splashing/mud war down by the edge of the lake. It was a simply beautiful afternoon - about 65 with sunny blue skies and fluffy white clouds - but the trail left something to be desired so we soon decided to head back to the campsite for a rousing game of...
Dutch Blitz! :) Emily hadn't played before but caught on pretty quick. Everyone else had played and each of us were fairly vicious. Madison ended up with the crown of victory and we didn't drop even one card between the slats on the picnic table!
By this time it was about four or four thirty and we decided that, since we had no idea how long it was going to take us, we should probably get started on building the fire. Melissa had to leave at 6:30 to be at work (Peter Pan) by 7. And so began the grand fire-making excursion in which we proved that the menfolks' distrust in our wilderness skills was unfounded. Sort of.
Dad laughed as he was setting up when I told him I'd forgotten to pack an axe. We had a hatchet, though, so I figured we'd be fine... until we got the hatchet out. It was about as sharp as a butter knife. We had several large pieces of wood that we wanted to chop up but I pretty much ditched the thought when I saw how dull the hatchet was. Not Melissa. She was determined to chop up this particular log. She outfitted herself with an oversized pair of sunglasses to use as safety goggles and got right to work.
Courtney and I worked on the fire to the melodic sounds of Melissa thumping away on that log. Courtney actually was very good as nursing the fire along. We used a lot of fire-starter logs (well, only one whole log for the whole trip, but it seemed like a lot to me) and burned a LOT of leaves. The ladder to the old tree house burned relatively well once we got the fire going. It was super hard to find kindling under all the leaves but Madison mastered that technique quickly. :)
It probably took us about half an hour - maybe a little less - to really get the fire going but once it was going it was definitely a respectable fire. We stuck the chicken in Dad's little clamp griller thing, dumped some hot sauce on it - we didn't have a brush - and put it on the grill above the fire. We warmed up the potatoes and opened up the - still cold - cans of pineapple. As the chicken cooked it got darker and darker - the sky, that is, not the chicken - until we had to use a flashlight to see whether or not it was pink. We grilled a pound of kielbasa - the leftovers of which I'm going to eat tonight - and set it all on the table. It was definitely a feast fit for a king - or several princesses - and we were very proud of it. Plus it was yummy. :)
Nov. 15, 2009 - Flu Symptoms from the H1N1 Vaccine
On Wednesday evening my youngest daughter also succumbed to flu symptoms after we thought she wasn't going to react to the H1N1 vaccine. She developed a fever, a terrible headache, and a really chesty cough. Strange how this virus knows how to zero in on the weak areas. When Mady was younger she used to get croup every winter. That's the kind of cough I've been hearing over the past few days.
William is doing better but is still bed-bound. His asthma symptoms have settled down but a nagging dry cough is still hanging around. He looks better to my eye today but is still pale and lacking energy. His tummy hurts from the array of medications we keep pumping into his system, and it's also sore from all the coughing. (That reminds me that I need to heat up the little gel-pack for him to put on those aching muscles. I'll do that when this is posted.)
My husband, who is also an asthmatic, had his flu vaccines at the same time as the two children. He has been struggling with flu symptomsall week too. But, being true to his stubborn self, has been going off to work everyday regardless. I've been very thankful that the weekend has given everyone the opportunity for a few days to rest and try to lick this thing.
So much for my prediction (in the last post) that everyone would be feeling better by the weekend! I'm exhausted running up and down the stairs at everyone's beck and call. And, I pulled a calf muscle as I was jogging up the stairs for the millionth time on Friday. So I'm now hobbling up and down.
I'm also running out of ideas for enticing meals or drinks to make my picky patients. Let's see... we've gone through a couple of loaves of bread making toast, a couple of boxes of eggs, several bottles of Orangina, a bottle of V8 Splash, jugs and jugs of water, a whole box of vanilla Earl Grey tea, and many cans of chicken noodle soup. Nevermind, the popsicles, jell-o, puddings, and yogurts. We also used a bottle of extra-strength Tylenol, another of Advil, a week's worth of prednisone (just one dose left), cough medicine, and a shocking amount of asthma meds. Wow. That's an impressive list.
Did I mention that my two older daughters and I haven't received our flu vaccines yet? After seeing how its affected my family I'm feeling quite reluctant to go and get one. How do I chose when I think it will be a good time to start feeling lousy? I think I'll deal with my daughters first, see how they react, and then maybe I'll get one when everyone else is over their symptoms.
...after a long day in Emergency with my youngest.
We were finally able to get him his H1N1 flu shot on Tuesday night, an essential for a kid who's asthmatic. However, he didn't respond well to the shot and ended up coming down with flu symptoms that resulted in a full-blown asthma attack. He was up all through the night dealing with different symptoms, and when the asthmatic coughing started we increased his doses of ventolin.By about 11:30am I realized that I needed to take him to the ER. His asthma meds just weren't doing their job and his breathing was really labored.
Fortunately, they take breathing issues seriously at the hospital and we were whisked in right away to start on the nebulizer. After a dose of prednisone and more doses of ventolin in the nebulizer he finally started sounding better. Only...because he had a low grade fever, the doctor wanted to have a chest xray done to check for pneumonia. I was worried that we'd end up having to stay in overnight, but thankfully we were given the okay to go at around 4:30. Yeah!
So now...we have follow-up meds to administer for the next five days, and of course are keeping a close watch on his breathing. He won't be able to fly around the house for awhile but hopefully by the weekend he'll be feeling completely over this episode.
I am so glad to be home as I didn't have a chance to eat all day and I was beginning to feel rather faint. Now after a meal and a hot drink I'm about ready to have a quick bath and crawl into bed.
I think I last blogged nine days ago. Sad, I know. However, it can’t be helped. *sigh* When one is usually busy, it’s hard to find time to do something not justifiably “productive.”
Let’s see. Last Sunday was the day that the MT came home! Oh, joy of joys. It was wonderful to see Courtney and Emily again. We spent all night talking. Quite a relief to have all the SALT girls back as well, although it’s going to be a bit difficult to adjust to no longer being the sole “girl authority.” I think a lot of the parents still look at me that way, though, so I’m going to have to set them straight.
In other news… I got a laptop for my birthday!!! Well, it’s also my graduation gift, Dad says. It’s a Dell, running Windows 7. We also bought a copy of Microsoft Office because we decided it was finally time for me to graduate from using Office 97 – no, I’m not kidding. It was quite the shock, because I’d been planning on buying part or all of it myself. It came in the mail a week ago and I’ve been disciplining myself not to work on it ‘cause it’s not my birthday yet. However, I think I’ll be breaking into it pretty soon. I’m eager to get it set up!
Thursday was our first practice with the mission trip back. As expected, it was chaotic – but not as chaotic as I thought it would be, despite our lack of a SALTeam meeting. We spent our SALTeam meeting over at the Mansion setting up flags for the Veterans’ Week opening ceremonies. While we were there Tess held an impromptu SALTeam meeting in which she briefed us on the schedule, but that was about it.
It’s been very confusing recently who has been presenting what songs when. We have the Branson team, the MT team, the Response Team, and the various combinations of the three. Definitely a headache but glad we didn’t attempt to teach the Branson team all the songs we did today at the Red Roof – would have been way more of a headache!
Yesterday the older response team minus Jo and I – see, what did I tell you? – presented at a Women Veterans’ thing at the Starlite Theater. That would have been – Jarek, Josh, Alex, Charleton, Emily V, Courtney, Emily B… gosh, not very many people! But then most of our team is under 14, and everyone that went had to be 14 or over. I heard it went really well. Apparently they had a theater full of very enthusiastic veterans who cheered loudly and gave them several standing ovations, so I’m sure that was super fun!
Today was pretty fun too. The entire team was in for a presentation in the “day room” at the Red Roof – apparently the band we usually open for was replaced or couldn’t make it or something, and the new band didn’t want/need us to open for them, so we were inside before the band started. We presented America the Beautiful (RT), Honor (RT), Soldier (Branson), In God We Still Trust (Branson), America Again (RT), and God Bless (all). It happened that Jo and I were in every song (as we are on both the Branson team and the Response Team), which was nice. I sure enjoyed it, seeing as it was my last official presentation… *tear*
Yes, it has finally happened… I have decided to step down from presenting. Tragic, but the right thing to do, I think. There are plenty of girls who can do my parts – who should learn my parts – it’ll be easier to critique songs, and a good way to start working me out of things for when I leave.
It definitely causes one to reminisce. I’ve been presenting for four and a half years (since February 2005). In that time I’ve gone on five mission trips – two with ACTION, three to China. When I started we had about forty people on the team – thirty on two older kids teams, and then on the younger team. We modulated to a team of sixteen and no younger team, then to a team of eight, and now we have twenty-two presenting members. I think. Let’s see:
Jo, Josh, Jarek, John, Caleb, Kyle, Alex and Charleton
Courtney, Emily B, Emily V, Emily D, Sadie, Maria, Rachel, Amber, Madison, Moriah, Britney, Jessica C, Amanda, and Makayla
Nope! Twenty-one. Emily D just does sound and whatnot and I’m no longer presenting, so 21.
I guess stepping out of presenting is kind of reminding me that in about six months I’ll be saying goodbye to AIM, maybe forever. It’s definitely a sobering thought. So I’d better enjoy the time I have and make sure the team can run smoothly without me (that’s not meant to sound like it does).
On Sunday night I slammed the car door on my thumb. I stood there in shock for a moment before managing to extricate it and then caught up with my husband and friends who had gone ahead into the restaurant, not realizing my distress. They could tell by my face that something was wrong, and I'm surprised in hindsight that I was so quiet about the whole episode. No screaming or tears. I simply held my breath and waited without success for the wave of pain to pass.
I spent the meal in hazy distraction with my thumb immersed in an icy-cold glass of water. A couple of Advil also helped to mute the throbbing. Still, by the end of dinner I was happy to be heading home until everyone suggested that I get it checked out at Emergency. Unfortunately we were too late to stop by a clinic which in my opinion would have been the lest dramatic of my options. After several hours, avoiding patients who seemed to be smitten with flu and drenching our hands in anti-bacterial wash, the doctor announced that there was nothing broken. However, he did puncture the nail to allow the blood that was pooling underneath to have a way out. Lovely. Truly.
So, for the last couple of nights I've been sleeping with my hand carefully laid on the pillow and trying to avoid bumping it on anything when I turn over. During the day I've discovered a renewed respect for this particular digit as I didn't realize, until it was incapacitated, just how much my thumb is involved in most everything I do. Although the pain has significantly reduced, it still remains bruised and swollen and I'm unable to put pressure on it. Just another reminder to slow down and do less during the strange season of learning to live life differently.
Well, gotta finish that presentation ‘cause we have another one tonight and then they’ll all run together. The lineup – which, incredibly, we had a few weeks beforehand and which everyone was to have memorized – was There is a God, End, Via, Courtroom, Heal Our Land. For There is a God it was just Jo, Alex, Charleton, Maria, Emily V, Moriah and John. Same for Via except plus me.
So they presented There is while Sadie and I tried to keep the rest of the team quiet “backstage.” Kyle knocked something off a desk, which made a big racket, and Jorge came out and gave him the eyebrow. Then we went on for End.
Tess placed me as a second stewardess in End because we needed someone to set the aisle, so I stand center stage and direct people to their seats and also set the aisle. In theory. It didn’t work real well at the presentation, though. Other than that and staging issues (we were too closed to the audience, not to mention too close to the audience) that song went well.
Via was weird and intense. I don’t think I’ve ever put that much into the Mary part, and Jo and Charleton had whipping issues ‘cause everyone was at tables and they were going to whip up but Charleton tied him down and then Jo swung the wrong way… it was kind of a mess. And we were too close to the audience. But no major catastrophes.
The jury had staging issues in Courtroom and we had signing issues but otherwise it was good. MAJOR signing issues in Heal Our Land… most of the newer kids were pretty clueless, and they didn’t see Tess in the back mirroring the sign language, so we need to work on that. Accordingly, we pulled more songs from the entire team’s repertoire so we can focus down on the few songs we have. They’ll learn more songs at the Christmas training.
All in all it was a very good presentation and very well received. Everyone there was excited to have us come back on Halloween night, which we did last night, which I’ll write more about… later. :) But when I do write about it, I’ll have pictures, thanks to Ms. Sharon!
Well, I'm a Mom, a Medical Assistant, a knitter, kite flyer, nature lover...Around here we have special needs, ( Asperger's, ADHD, Bi-polar) a few animal pals, some tattoos and a homeschool. It's our 6th year. This is my 16th year of marriage to a Mr. Visionary who happens to be a walking miracle.
