Dog Days of Summer

It’s almost August!  The boys start school next Monday, August 3rd.  We’re still talking about whether to enroll Alex in public school for Kindergarten.  Martin feels like he deserves a chance at homeschooling as much as Andy, I feel like he’s such a wild card that the structure of school might be a good thing for him. I’m frankly a little worried about him getting what he needs without cutting into what Andy needs.  We’re still talking about it all.  While Alex doesn’t like to sit down and work in a formal way like Andy will he never balked at it while in pre-school – in other words, he just won’t do it for us (yet.)  We’ll see where we end up.

 

We spent last weekend at Nordley with Dad and Katie, which was fun as always.  It’s exhausting though, because Jack is into everything and the house is not even vaguely kid-proofed or kid-safe, so we live on the screened in porch overlooking the lawn that leads to the river.  He gets bored, and cranky, and that makes Martin cranky.  I am taking Andy and Alex back in 2 weeks for a weekend with the cousins, but I think Martin and Jack are going to hang out at home for a change. It will actually give Martin a big and badly-needed break, and Jack won’t know he’s missing Grandpa, so it should be okay.

 

 

 

 

 

We finally have a weekend at home without much planned coming up, so I’m hoping to get some work done after my morning run with Team in Training.  I want to do a SERIOUS clean out of the dining (toy) room, and hope to make a big trip to Goodwill when all is said and done.  The clutter is making me crazy.  For that matter, my room needs a good emptying; I’ve got a corner filled with boxes that I need to do something with, for instance.  Anyway, I’m hoping to attack all that this weekend. 

 

My yard also needs attacking.  The front is in good shape, but the back is just a jungle. I  doused a lot of it with Round-Up Brush killer a couple of weeks ago but I think the mixture was off because it didn’t do much.  I need to make a new batch and have another go. I’ve decided that apart from a few things (and by a few, I mean 2 small trees, my Banks rose, and an ornamental grass I love) just about all of the rest along my back fence is GOING AWAY. I just want a clean slate and then I will think about what to do back there after I put down a weed barrier and mulch the hell out of it.  I need something relatively maintenance free but tidy. 

 

Of course, we still need to build the swing set – we have all the lumber and parts, but need a weekend to do it.  I’ll look at the weather and see if maybe this would be the time to do it, in which case everything else will take a back seat.  Martin wants it build before his parents come next weekend, since they paid for a good chunk of it. I suggested leaving it until they get here and letting his Dad help him one or two days while his mom watches the kids (while I’m at work.)  We’ll see what happens, but it would be a good project to do together.

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New favorite picture

I managed to snap all 3 boys in the chair the other night…

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Alex’s first tooth

We had a little excitement Tuesday afternoon. Andy and Alex came barreling in the front door, Alex sobbing, and Andy hollering that Alex’s tooth had been knocked out and he was bleeding.  My first thought was, “Oh great.  What fresh hell is this??” and I followed them into the bathroom.  Alex was bleeding, but not a ton, and so I told him to sit down and let me look.  Sure enough, one of his bottom center teeth was missing…but there was a new adult tooth coming right in behind where the old one was!  We never even knew he had a loose tooth!  This was way earlier than Andy began losing teeth, but now that I think about it, I think Alex’s baby teeth came in earlier than Andy’s.  Time to pull out his baby book to check, I guess. 

Of course, nothing is ever simple.  He didn’t have the tooth, no idea where it was (probably outside somewhere!)  In the past we’ve had to tell Andy that the tooth fairy won’t come unless there is a tooth, because he always messes around with it and we worry he’s going to lose it or hide the tooth fairy pillow and we won’t be able to find it to make the swap later that night.  So I told Alex it was okay, the Tooth Fairy had special magic and knew if a tooth was just lost accidentally, she’d still come – crisis averted.  Then we realized that Alex doesn’t have a tooth fairy pillow yet!!!  Crap!  So the TF left the silver dollar in an envelope with Alex’s name on it.

The next morning Alex found his coin and was very happy, then informed me that the TF was going to send him a tooth pillow.  So I dutifully went in search of one, which I found and is being mailed to him as we speak:

john-deere-tf-pillow

Otherwise all is well here.  I saw the new Harry Potter movie Tuesday night at midnight with my friend, Lynn.  Mom is going to come hang out with the boys tomorrow night so Martin and I can go out to dinner and I’ll see it again.  I’m sure I’ll notice things I missed Tuesday night – I’m getting too old to stay up that late!

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Vacation!

It already seems like a distant memory, having been back home for 4 days and at work 3, but we had a fantastic vacation at Nordley last week.

 

The week of June 22nd was Vacation Bible School at St. Matt’s and Martin once again taught Science.  He had so much fun, but he also worked his fanny off, as he does every year.  I took Friday off to allow me to spend the morning doing last minute errands and packing up while all the boys were at church (I can cover so much more ground on my own!) but Jack whacked his face on a piece of furniture in the living room at 6:30am, so I lost a chunk of time in the ER with him, bleeding like a stuck pig.  As it turned out, he didn’t need stitches – the wound stayed together pretty well on it’s own, it just kept oozing all day.  It could have been worse, but he was a mess, poor kid.  We got home just before Martin, Andy and Alex were about to leave for church, and of course I couldn’t send Jack with that wound, so instead he went to run errands with me. 

 

 

It was actually fun having Jack along to run errands – I don’t get a lot of time alone with him, as the other guys are always around it seems.  We stopped for a bagel first (man that kid loves a bagel!) then hit Target when they opened at 8am.  We were at BJ’s when they opened at 9am, and at the Wine & Beer store at 10am when they opened.  By that point, Jack was ready for a nap (having screamed his head off for an hour in the ER that morning!) so we went home and he went down while I finished packing and loaded the Odyssey.  By the time the guys got home a little after noon, I was done.  Martin changed clothes and had a drink to cool off, and we finally woke up Jack and got on the road by 1pm.  1 hour ahead of when I expected!  YAY!

 

When we got to Nordley, part of the family had already arrived – most all of my late step-mom’s family were coming for the weekend for a family reunion. We had the best time!  We had 23 people in all, and it was a hoot.  The boys had a great time playing with their cousins, and loved seeing their aunts and uncles.  Martin made margaritas Saturday night (whoo!) and we had great food.  Can’t wait for next year to do it all again!

 

 

On Sunday the extended family decamped by noon or so, and it got very quiet at Nordley.  Ah!  Relaxation!  The afternoon was fairly lazy, as Dad and Katie both napped, and I think I even dozed off for a little while, as did both of the bigger boys.  Too much fun had been had!

Monday was very exciting:  we went bike shopping!  Grandpa and Katie decided a couple of weeks ago that hauling Andy and Alex’s bikes back and forth was too much trouble, and they needed bikes to keep at Nordley.  So on Monday we set off to find bikes.  Alex’s came from Wal-Mart and though it’s nothing special he loves it, and it’s what he wanted.  Andy’s eventually came from a small bike and skate shop in town (who knew?!) and is really nice and should last him for a couple of years.  I’d bought them new helmets that I’d smuggled into the van somehow, so they were set and spent much of the rest of the week zooming up and down the driveway.

 

The rest of the week was just great.  The weather was much cooler than last year, and though it got hot during the day the humidity was always reasonable and in the early mornings and in the evenings it was actually noticeably cool.  Heavenly! I got my long Saturday runs in on both weekends (5 miles, then 6 miles) plus a few 3-4 milers in during the week, doing loops up and down the driveway in the early morning then jumping in the pool to cool off afterwards. 

 

Tuesday night Andy went with Grandpa and Katie on the little boat up to the yacht club where Dad was scheduled to marshal the Tuesday night race series, and he thought that was pretty cool.  Alex was upset at being left behind, so I took him to town for dinner at Sonic and a carwash and all was well in his little world!  On Wednesday night our friend Sherrie came after work to spend the night and we got a swim in after dinner before the only rain of the week washed in.  Thursday saw our friends from Georgia arrive for a swim and lunch, and the kids had fun playing together.

 

The new neighbors next door at Lowlands Cottage were around a lot over the week, and the boys got to know the son, Saunders, who is 12.  He was very nice and didn’t seem to mind playing with my boys, despite the age difference.  He came over to swim and Dad took them all out on the boat with his new river tube, and they had a good time getting bounced around.  On Saturday afternoon they came over for a visit and a cookout, and then we went out on the river that evening to watch the fireworks.  It was a great day!

Sunday morning we got packed up and actually on the road by 8:15. It was overcast as we left and we drove home in the rain, but Dad needed to get the mowing done as he and Katie were leaving the next morning for New Mexico.  It was good to get home and have Sunday to get stuff done and settled.  Monday was still a holiday for me, though Martin and I spent most of it in dentist appointments. 

 

Overall, things are going well.  I’m still training for the half marathon, if I can get my fundraising finished up, and otherwise am just staying busy.  Happy summer, everyone!

 

 

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Ahhh, summer!

I’m glad it’s here, but also can’t believe we’re almost to the middle of June already.

Things are cruising along here.  I am feeling MUCH better in the last week or two – only one headache in the last week, though I still get a little buzzy when I get tired.  I can live with that, it’s just nice not to go into an actual headache.  I went on my first training run with Team in Training last weekend and though I couldn’t run the entire 4 miles, I felt better than I expected to, so I was pleased.  I’ll get it done this weekend, since we’re covering the same distance again on this week’s long run.  It was nice to meet my teammates, and the coaches I’ve been emailing with for weeks. I also started back to bootcamp this morning, and am excited to be getting back to work on shaping up.  I wasn’t ready for so long after the encephalitis, and even over the last week or two I’ve thought about it but was worried it would hurt me later in the day – that I’d bonk at work and wouldn’t be able to finish the day.  But so far, so good!

Boy updates…

Jack had his 18 month appointment week before last and got a good report card.  He’s up to 24lbs even and up to 31 inches I believe (don’t have the paper in front of me at the moment.)  He’s still the shortest of the bunch but Dr. W says that puts him on track to be 5’8” or 5’9”, which is exactly how tall Martin is.  Jack still isn’t talking much, but he understands almost everything and he follows commands when it suits him to do so.  I think being the youngest he just hasn’t needed to talk, since we all give him what he wants or needs anyway!  Both Andy and Alex talked late, too, and Dr. W suspects we’ll see a verbal explosion between now and his 2 year appointment.  He babbles constantly (and squeals, laughs, etc.) so the motor skills are there.  He’s just not in any hurry to talk.  I’m not concerned.  Yet.  Jack continues to be a joy, he’s very happy-go-lucky unless he’s been told “no” or a door has been closed.  Then the 2-year old tantrums have begun to surface, which is developmentally appropriate, and hilarious to watch.  He’s not nearly as dramatic as Alex was, he at least doesn’t bang his head on the floor the way Alex did!  Now if we can just get him to like the swimming pool at Grandpa and Katie’s, he’ll be in business.

Alex has become a bike handler extraordinaire!  He was resistant to his new bicycle at first, until he saw his friend from 2 doors down riding hers without training wheels (and she’s only 4!) and suddenly he was inspired to get off the trike and get on the bike.  Now he is all over the place and doing things that scare the crap out of me yet impress me at the same time (like standing on the center bar instead of pedaling, while careening down the street!!!)  We’re still trying to figure out how to approach school with him come August, since he’s so opposed to sitting down and learning.  We’ll figure it out, I hope!


Andy is 8 going on 40.  He gets frustrated when he can’t do what he wants when he wants, and he and Alex drive each other completely bonkers 90% of the time.  All normal sibling stuff, but it’s exhausting sometimes, I swear.  He’s casing out new bikes, since he’s beginning to outgrow his…why this couldn’t have waited for this growth spurt until closer to his birthday??  He did a book report on the Titanic last week, just for the heck of it, which impressed me. How cool is that?  He’ll start 3rd grade on August 1st

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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One month later…

So here’s the bottom line:  meningitis/encephalitis sucks.  It all started a month ago and I’m still not entirely right, which is frustrating, but I’m trying to get back on track a little more each day.

Now for the back story (warning: some of this I actually remember, some if it I’ve only been told by my family, because I wasn’t “here” for about 3 days during this 2 week period…and I’m sure I’m leaving stuff out and muddling other things, but you’ll get the gist!)

Tuesday April 21st:  At some point that morning I realized I had a headache. I felt okay when I went and ran with my bootcamp girls that morning (3 miles) but as the day went on I developed a headache.  I took some Excedrin, which normally does the trick for me, but to no avail. Finally around 2pm my boss Mark told me to get out of there and go home and take a nap – I looked as bad as I felt, apparently.  I was functional, just ineffective.  I talked to Dad that night, mentioned I had a headache I wasn’t able to shake, and I thought I might be coming down with a bug or something. Looking back now, it’s ironic – I had no idea what was coming.

Wednesday, April 22nd:  Woke up to the alarm at 4:45 (for bootcamp) and knew immediately I wasn’t well at all.  My head was killing me, but I didn’t realize just how bad it was until I went into the bathroom and turned on a light.  I immediately thought I must be having a migraine, with the light sensitivity.  I sent a text to my coach to say I wasn’t well and wouldn’t be there, then went back to bed. My plan was to go into the office and see the doctor there at 8am when he arrived.  By 5:30 I knew that was a pipedream – I was in way too much pain to wait that long, and I couldn’t possibly drive myself anyway.  Alex woke up around that time, as did Martin. I told him I was worse and that I needed to go to St. Mary’s, but couldn’t drive and didn’t think I could walk over, even though it’s only across the street.  We decided to leave Alex and the other sleeping boys for the 2 minutes it would take (literally) for Martin to drive me to the door of the ER and come back home.  (And that should tell you how desperate I was!)  I checked in a little before 6am and they took me straight back to an exam room, where they doused the lights and kept the door closed.  My temp was 102.7, I think – I know it was close to 103.  I hadn’t even realized I had a fever; I was so distracted by the pain.  I kept shushing the staff when they talked to me louder than a whisper.  They did a CT scan, blood work, and urinalysis and then started an IV for pain and fever control.  Dilaudid is my friend.  They finally let me go after about 6 hours, with prescription Motrin and a painkiller called LorTab, and said I needed rest, sleep, fluids and to keep my fever under control, and to come back if I got worse, or see my regular doctor the next day.  The doctor talked to me about doing a lumbar puncture but ruled it out when the blood and urine came back relatively clean (I think a few things might have been slightly elevated, but not alarmingly so…the diagnosis was ‘virus.’)  So I went home, slept all afternoon in my narcotic-induced stupor, and talked to my mom (the nurse) that evening and filled her in on what was going on, what meds I had, etc. I also talked to my Dad at some point that day; he’d called the office to see how my head was and when he didn’t get me, called the house.

At some point overnight between Wednesday and Thursday April 23rd, things got bad.  I began vomiting every 45 minutes or so, which was excruciating given how painful my head was again.  I couldn’t keep down my medicines.  What I didn’t realize and don’t remember even now is that Martin was up with me every time I was up being sick.  He kept trying to talk me into letting him call one of my girlfriends to come stay with the boys so he could take me to the hospital, but I wouldn’t answer him.  I’d just shake my head and go back to bed.  Towards morning I started doing other weird things, like I tried to fill a Dixie Cup to rinse my mouth and I held the cup 3 inches to the left of where the water was, and just waited for it to fill – I couldn’t tell I wasn’t close.  I was kind of checking out, so to speak.  My mom called around 8 to see how I was doing (or Martin called her, I’m not sure) and when he told her I’d stopped vomiting and had been asleep for several hours she told him he needed to go wake me and see how I was, and call her back.  I was still out of it and not really communicating, so Mom left work and rushed the 65 miles between Charlottesville andRichmond to get here.  I do remember Martin waking me up a few minutes before she got here to say she was coming to take me back to the hospital, and I remember her arriving and getting me to the car. I remember getting to the hospital, I remember the second CT scan in 24 hours, the chest films and I VIVIDLY remember the lumbar puncture.  The next thing I remember was my Rector, Chuck, talking to me, sometime around 5 or 6pm on SUNDAY afternoon, April 26th. I lost the rest of Thursday, all of Friday and Saturday and most of Sunday.  *Poof!*

From what I’ve been told by various family members, here’s what happened once I finally checked out of my head on Thursday morning in the ER:

The spinal fluid was clear (I remember the doctor saying that during the procedure) but when it came back from the lab an hour or so later my white blood count was elevated..  The doctor said they were admitting me under isolation, with probable encephalitis, possibly meningitis.  (Isolation meant anyone who came in had to wear a gown, mask, gloves, etc.)  It took hours to get me a bed up on Neuro and get me moved (I think it was late afternoon or early evening by the time that happened.)  Meanwhile my Dad came up to stay with the kids, and I think he eventually took Andy and Alex home with him that night to get them out of the house.  One of my 2 best friends, Regan and her husband Dan, were either at the hospital or at the house with the kids over the next few days, so Martin could go back and forth.  (Thank God they’re retired!)  Sometime late Friday my step-mom Katie (whose first career was as a nurse, though she isn’t working as one now) got in from
Montana and she spelled my Mom so Mom could go sleep – one of them was with me around the clock, with Dad and Martin in and out.  Friday was apparently a very bad day – the IV they’d started in the ER fizzled out, so they decided to put in a PICC line, which didn’t work.  They finally brought in anesthesiology and put in a central line (in my neck.)  That took much of the day, but in the interim they weren’t able to hydrate me or medicate me (they’d started me on about half a dozen different antibiotics, not knowing yet whether this was viral or bacterial, or fungal – they were covering all the bases because apparently the first 36-48 hours are critical with ecephalitis…)  Late Friday night they finally got an MRI – I fought them the first time, and they finally put me under, intubated me and did it under anesthesia apparently.  They tested me for dozens of things – various equine flu’s, various fungal and bacterial infections, you name it.  The list of labs on the itemized hospital bill I got this week was shocking.

By Sunday the 26th enough lab results had come back that they knew it was viral and not bacterial, so they lifted the isolation.  During the 3 days I was ‘out’ I’ve been told that I would “wake up from time to time” but I wasn’t really responsive.  I would sometimes tell them something (like I was dizzy, etc.) but I wouldn’t always answer questions and when I did, it was rarely lucid.  Whenever they woke me up to try to do anything to me I’d fight them and say “No Mom, no!  No Mom, no!”  But basically, I was on another planet.  My boss came twice on that first Friday, and he said in the morning I was just asleep in the bed.  When he came back after work to check on me he said I was awake and they had the head of the bed raised up.  He said I’d look at him sometimes when he spoke to me, but I didn’t respond in any way. Truly “the lights are on but nobody’s home.”  Marcey and Regan have said much the same thing, as have my parents and Martin.

The first thing I remember after I really “woke up” late Sunday afternoon was that my Rector was there, and Martin and I think Katie were there.  Dad and Mom both came a little later.  My boss, Mark, and my friend Blakely came by that evening, too.  Everyone seemed really happy to see me, and I recognized their relief (heck, most of them cried at one point or another.)  I knew who I was, and where I was (if it was a hospital, it must be St. Mary’s) but I couldn’t believe it was Sunday night.

I stayed in the hospital the rest of the week until the last culture came back negative – and thank goodness it did.  If it had been positive I would have had to have a port put into my arm and though I would have been discharged, I’d be going to the outpatient infusion center daily for another couple of weeks for antibiotics.  But finally it came back negative, and they stopped the last drug – acyclovir, which is a really nasty antibiotic.  They released me on Friday, May 1st. I spent 9 days there, not counting the 6 hours of my first ER visit the previous Wednesday.  They never were able to pinpoint any particular strain of encephalitis/meningitis, nor do they know how I contracted it.  It’s a mystery.

I was off work the following week, and under orders from the docs to take it easy (I had a neurologist, an infectious disease specialist and a regular internist…it was nuts.)  Taking it easy isn’t a problem because I had very little energy and until the second weekI wasn’t really able to even read for any length of time because my concentration was still a bit MIA.  My brain just feels sluggish – like it’s a weak battery.  In the morning I’m in good shape because it’s been charging all night while I was asleep, but once I get up and move around, I start to wear out, and if I push it too much I get a headache. That apparently can happen for quite a while - the Neuro was vague about it.  The second week I went back to work in stages:  the first day for an hour, the second day for 90 minutes, etc.  Everyone at work is being great, in fact my boss is watching over me like a hawk, he’s afraid I’m going to do too much too fast.  I haven’t gone back to my morning bootcamp workouts yet; I hope to try next week but will just see how it goes.  I missed my first Team in Training group run this last Saturday and will miss this weekend’s too (not allowed yet) but my TNT coach swears he’ll get me back up and running soon, not to worry.  Overall I feel more like ME than I have in weeks, it’s just frustrating to wear out so fast and have so little stamina.

I think the worst part of all of this is that it scared the ever-living poop out of my parents and Martin.  On the positive side, I’ve had a big fat reminder from God about what matters, and that reminder was shared by most of the folks who know me.  There were literally people all over the world praying for me, thanks to friends and family who got the word out and asked for prayer.  I know that my Rector and Assistant Rector (Chuck and Mario) were at the hospital frequently, and they brought me tremendous comfort, and I knew from them how many people were praying that I would be healed.  And I was.

So there you have it.  The inside truth about meningitis/encephalitis.  It sucks. Don’t get it if you can help it, that’s my advice!

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Older Than Dirt Am I!

Dear Lord, I’m 38!

I’ve been really busy at work (good busy, not stress busy) but I’ve also made some major life changes over the last month that I’m excited about.  I had a full physical for the first time since I went to college last month, and overall it went pretty well, but of course it confirmed that I need to lose 45 pounds and start exercising (I knew that before I went in there, though!)  My vitamin D3 is way low, so I’m supplementing that, and my cholesterol # is okay overall, but the ratio wasn’t where it needed to be.  The practice I go to has a nutritionist/dietician on staff, and I started seeing her, and she put me on an eating plan.  The first 2 weeks were a detox called a “liver shrinking diet” which sounds really horrific, but it wasn’t that bad.  It was very low cal, no sugar, no caffeine, low carb, and it’s meant to get your liver back to where it needs to be and get you off all that junk.  I lost 8 pounds and felt really good after the first day or two.  I’m sleeping better than I have for years.  I started back to “real food” on Sunday but I’m following a plan called NutriPoints (www.nutripoints.com) that has me eating a lot more veggies and fruits than I’m used to eating, and so I’ve got tons to eat and am never hungry.  So far so good!

Last week I started bootcamp (www.divabootcamp.com) – I need someone pushing me, I just don’t have the willpower or whatever it is to make myself exercise as hard as I need to be exercising, because I just really don’t enjoy it at all.  I quit too soon when I do it by myself, and I don’t really enjoy the classes at the Y and I hate the gym.  This is a program that’s been around for 4 or 5 years in my part of town, and it’s owned/run by a lady from Trinidad who is a fierce athlete – she’s just phenomenal.  The first two weeks are every weekday, 5:30 to 6:30am.  Starting next week it will just be M-W-F but they seem to get together to run on Tuesday mornings, and also do longer runs on Saturday mornings, so I will definitely do the Tuesdays and then have Thursdays off which will be nice since those are my long days with choir practice.  The workouts are tough, but thorough, and it’s all women.  Everyone is very supportive of each other – if you finish your run and there are folks behind you, you turn around and either run or walk back to “catch” them.  No one finishes last, no one finishes alone.  It’s all outside, which has been chilly some mornings, but we’re never cold for long because we always start with a run or power walk of at least a mile (though yesterday was a 3 mile run, since it was Tuesday.)  We meet at different places each day, but they’re all within a 5 minute drive from my house, so I have time to get home, grab a shower, say good morning to the guys and get to work by 7:30 or 7:45.  I’m actually LOVING being out that time of morning, and watching the sky get lighter.  It’s beautiful, and peaceful, and the feeling of being DONE by 6:30am is phenomenal.  Today we were at the University of Richmond, by the lake.  We did a 1.5 mile run, and then mostly upper body (Monday was a lot of legs.)  We all bring gloves and yoga mats, and so we started on our mats doing push-ups, then did some sprints up and over the bridge and back, then another set of push-ups.  Then we did presses, which we pair up for and a partner provides the resistance by kneeling over our heads and holding our hands.  Providing the resistance also give us a workout, so it’s kind of nice.  Then we did a series of arm exercises with our partners using resistance bands looped together – we’d get about 7 feet apart, drop into a squat, and to curls, pulls, etc.  Not sure whether my arms or my thighs were screaming the loudest, to be honest.  Then we did abs for 15 minutes, including 60 second planks x3.  OUCH!  Anyway, I’m loving it, and I think it will dovetail nicely with my half marathon training…

…which is the third part of my Turning 38 makeover plan!  I’ve joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s  Team in Training program and will be doing the Rock N Roll Half Marathon at Virginia Beach over Labor Day.  This is a big big big thing for me, as I’ve never run more than an 8K without having to walk (and that was 3 years ago!)  Training runs with TNT don’t start until May 9th, but since I’m such a wimp I am starting early trying to get more comfortable with my 3 milers, and trying to build overall body fitness.  I have started my fundraising – the way the program works is we get training, plus our race entry, lodging and gear, and in return we raise funds for the LLS.  So I’m asking everyone to please consider making a donation:  http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/rnrh09/lharrisjve  It’s a fantastic organization, and they have the highest percentage of their fundraising going directly to research and patient support of any charity in the country.  I know times are tight, but imagine having a child with leukemia in this economy.  It’s terrifying.  Lots of corporations (like the one I work for) have matching gift programs, and if yours does I’d be happy to take the paperwork and get it turned in for you if you want to mail it with your donation.  Thanks, everyone!

The boys are all doing well.  Andy’s doing his end of the school year testing this week, he’ll wrap up today and 2nd grade will be behind us.  We’re still trying to figure out how to tackle Kindergarten with Alex in the fall – he’s so resistant to organized learning.  He doesn’t want to sit at the table and do lessons, he just isn’t into it and trying to force that headstrong boy to do something he doesn’t want to do is counter-productive.  I’m struggling with whether we should just enroll him, since he seems to behave for non-parental authority figures (pre-school wasn’t a problem) but we’d rather figure out his learning style since he’s smart as a whip and I know he’ll be bored in public school.  Decisions, decisions.

Jack is doing great, after a double ear infection last week. I’ve lost count of how many he’s had, and I suspect our ped will talk to me about tubes at his 18 month check up in May.  We saw one of the other doctors last week so she didn’t get into it.  We’ll see.  He’s climbing and laughing and running and playing and jabbers constantly but doesn’t really have any “words” yet.  Neither of the other boys did at this point though, they were both late talkers who never stop talking now, so I’m not really worried and knowing the other boys, neither is the ped. Jack understands a LOT of what we say and is quite effective at communicating what he wants, so it will come when he’s ready. 

Otherwise, things are good.  Easter was glorious, we had 2 beautiful services at church with fantastic music, and now that it’s Wednesday I have my voice back!  Our music minister and his wife (our organist) are moving to Chicago and their last Sunday with us will be May 31st, so we’re all really sad about that.  I was asked to sit on the search committee for a replacement, which is taking up a lot of time but I feel like it’s a really important calling since music is such a huge part of our parish life.  I’m humbled by the responsibility, but it’s a good committee (5 of us plus our Rector) and I know the Lord will bring us the right person, we just have to be patient, and listen. 

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Happy 1st Day of Spring!

I took vacation starting March 6th (which was a Friday) through the following Thursday, and it was so productive.  On Friday the 6th we had the 4 front windows replaced, which was a shocking experience…four guys with hammers and crowbars busting the windows out of your house is a bit over the top! But they got the new ones installed and they are fantastic.  So easy to clean, so much better insulated, and the road noise is decreased!  Our sales guy measured the same day for the next 2 windows – the second window in our bedroom on the side of the house, and the bathroom window.  I got the call last night that they’re here and will be installed on Monday, so the turnaround is pretty much 2 weeks right now.  They’re going to measure the next 2 on Monday afternoon as well – either the 2 in Andy and Alex’s room or the 2 in the kitchen.  It depends on whether Andy and Alex get their room sufficiently cleaned up to let the guy in there to measure!

 

 

The same Friday we also had a 20 foot open-topped dumpster delivered.  It was impressive to say the least!  We then spent all of Saturday, Sunday and Monday clearing out the garage and the attic.  Cathartic is an understatement.  In the attic I had boxes for tv’s and computers we no longer own, not to mention boxes for 12 place settings of wedding china, and all other kinds of crap.  We FILLED that dumpster to the brim before they came back for it the following Thursday.  It was awesome and totally worth the $300 to rent it.  Whew!  We’ve agreed we’ll do it after our 20th anniversary, and it will become out 10 year habit.  I still need to do some more reorganization up in the attic, but now at least I’ve got room to move up there!

 

 

 

Also on Friday the 6th we paid a little visit to the Emergency Room.  Alex took a fall off the top bunk and got a deep cut at the end of his left eyebrow. Bled like a stuck pig!  So that was a 2.5 hour adventure we didn’t need on a Friday night, but he’s fine and the stitches are already out and forgotten.  I need to upload photos, poor kid!

 

We did manage to have a little fun on my week off.  On Tuesday we went down to Nordley for the day to survey all of the construction.  It was a pretty gray day, but it was nice to be down there.  All that’s left to do are the tops of the seating walls, and the landscaping.  It’s going to be great this summer!! There are a ton of photos in Flickr (—–>) but here are a few:

 

 

 

Also that week our new bed arrived!  I’d been watching for the UPS tracking to update, I knew it had shipped from
California, but it never gave me any info about where it was or what the estimated delivery date was.  Wednesday morning I checked it and bam!  It was in
Richmond and on the truck for delivery!  Martin wasn’t exactly thrilled to find out he wasn’t getting the day off, but he was a good sport about it.  After we finally got everything out from under the old bed and the mattresses moved and the bed disassembled, I got to get the floor good and clean and then the waiting began.  UPS of course was late that day, and didn’t get there until after 1pm, but Martin still got it all assembled and it’s been great.  It’s nice having drawers underneath.  And we got the old bed into the dumpster before it was picked up.  I love it when things work out smoothly!

 

The boys have started swimming lessons again on Monday and Wednesday nights.  They’d forgotten a lot but have caught up quickly and are doing well.  Soccer was supposed to start last Saturday (the 15th) but got rained out, as did Andy’s Tuesday night practice this week, so we’ll start tomorrow hopefully.  They’re both excited, though it’s going to take some juggling to get them to their games which are in different locations at roughly the same time.  

 

Otherwise we’re all doing well. I went for a physical this week, for the first time since I went away to college nearly 20 years ago.  I’m curious to see my blood work, and see what my cholesterol and all that jazz looks like.  I’m going to a nutrition class with Dad on Tuesday night since Katie is out of town, which should be interesting.

 

Jack’s on a developmental spurt these days.  He’s suddenly clapping, waving and trying to blow kisses, which is a lot of fun.  He’s also developing a temper when a door is closed or a gate put up and he can’t go where he wants to go.  Get used to it, buster!  He’s currently addicted to The Bee Movie, which is a shame since Jerry Seinfeld’s voice annoys the crap out of me…

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Check-Up Report

I finally remembered to dig out the sheets the pediatrician gave us on the boys’ check-ups on February 20th!  

 

Andy (8 year check-up):

65 pounds (75%)

50 and 7/8” (50%)

Eyesight 20/20

Blood pressure 100/60

Andy got his second HepA vaccination

 

Alex (5 year check-up):

48 pounds (90%)

43” (50-75%)

Eyesight:  R 20/30 L 20/40 but he was distracted during the test

Hearing fine

Alex got his 2nd HepA vaccination as well as the Varivax, plus hematocrit and  urinalysis (usual pre-K stuff)

 

Jack (15 month check-up):

22lbs 8oz (10-25%)

30” (10-25%)

Jack got his 1st HepA, plus DTaP and Prevnar

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March comes in like a snowy lion

Busy week or two.  I need to blog about the boys’ annual checkups (and Jack’s 15 month) but I keep forgetting to bring their stat sheets with me, so that will have to wait for another post.  Andy and Alex also recently had their semi-annual dentist appointments. Turning 5 has done wonders for Alex – he now will sit through a haircut without crying, and the dentist was a much happier visit as well.  They finally got x-rays, and he didn’t fuss a bit about his cleaning or the molar sealant they applied.  His top 6 year molars are already in and she showed me where the bottom ones are about to make their entrance.  No cavities for either boy, and when they go back at the end of August, Jack will have his first visit.  

Our fence is done!  The guys did a great job, and will be back next week to build the play structure.  The boys can’t wait!

 

Marcey and I had a road trip on Sunday – we headed up I-95 to Potomac Mills and had a little spree.  We started at IKEA where we both did some damage:  I got a dresser for Jack’s room, and a new duvet cover and comforter for our bedroom.  Marcey also found new bedding, which looks great.  I haven’t unpacked mine yet and probably won’t until next week when I’m on vacation and have a chance to wash it all first.  Photos to come, of course!  After 2+ hours in IKEA we headed across the road to the outlet mall and grabbed some lunch before power shopping our way through the mall.  We both ended up with a pair of shoes (though I struck out on pumps for work…I found the perfect ones at Nine West, but they didn’t have my size in anything but red!), I got some good stuff for the boys at Gap and for Jack at the Carter’s store, and everyone got a little something from Lego.  I also loved the Ann Taylor outlet though by the time we got there we were both whipped and so we didn’t do more than a casual browse.   We both picked up a great sweater that I’ll love for work, but I would have liked to have had the time and energy to take a closer look and try on some stuff.  Next trip.  Oh, and I scored an Easter outfit, complete with tie, for Andy at the Children’s Place outlet.  The back of the Odyssey was stuffed by the time we got back to the car, between bags from the outlets, 2 big IKEA boxes (the dresser) and 2 totally stuffed blue IKEA bags for each of us.

The drive home was interesting.  It was overcast and dreary when we got on the road around 4:30 but by the time we got to
Fredericksburg it was a blizzard.  Within the space of 5 miles it went from dry to the ground being covered in snow.  It was slow going the rest of the way and having not driven the Odyssey in those conditions before, I had white knuckles the whole time.  I drive well in that stuff, having spent a few winters in Michigan and Indiana, but it’s the other freaks and maniacs on the road that make me so nervous.  We made it home safely though, and I got Marcey unloaded and was home in my own driveway by 7pm.

Yesterday was a good old-fashioned snow day. Our power was intermittent overnight Sunday night, and was out for several hours before dawn, but came back on for good around 6am, so I really can’t complain.  Andy and I went out around 6:45 to start shoveling sidewalks.  We had at least 7-8 inches, though there were deeper drifts in places.  It finally stopped around 11am, but we really didn’t get any meltage yesterday.  Today the sun is out and I made it into work, but the temps aren’t expected to get out of the mid-30’s.  Its going to be in the teens again tonight, so tomorrow will surely bring black ice.  Yuck. The first night of swim lessons was cancelled, which really upset the boys.  Hopefully tomorrow night they can get started again.  (Some of these photos are grainy because I took them with my BlackBerry, not the regular camera…)

It should start melting in earnest by the week’s end, as it will be in the 60’s on Friday.  We’re having a 20 foot open-top dumpster delivered on Friday, which is the first day of my vacation.  We’re having 4 windows installed on Friday as well, and having the next 2 or 4 measured.  We’ll definitely do the 2nd window in our room and the bathroom window, but I’m contemplating doing the kitchen as well.  We’ll see.  I’m taking off Friday through the following Thursday the 12th to do a massive purge and spring clean.  After 11+ years, we need to clear out the attic and the garage in a big way.  I’ve got boxes for computers and tv’s we no longer own, and we kept all the china boxes and stuff from when we got married, and they just need to GO.  I want to get the attic cleared out and then re-organize what’s left up there.  The garage is completely out of control – and totally Martin’s domain.  I’m actually really excited about it, though it’s a daunting task.  

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