Taking Sick Days

Sam is sick. Fortunately, he's on the mend. He's had the flu since Friday. He was just miserable both days - slept most of them away, wouldn't eat. Today he's a little better, although now the congestion in his chest is starting to come out his nose - gross! Plus, he has always been adverse to having his nose or face wiped, so it's like wrestling a tiger to clean his nose! Today, he wants me to hold him a lot. I don't mind doing that, but I'd really rather work on my to-do list! He's talking more, in this weak, strained, little voice. I've only been able to get some applesauce and m&ms down him - maybe more food tomorrow. Fortunately, none of the rest of us are sick and I do hope it stays that way! He had a temp. of 103 Fri and I think that reading was low because when I checked myself, it registered at 95 degrees. So, it must go a little low. But today he's closer to normal - just a little elevated. Fortunately, he's only vomited once and had minimal diarrhea. I can handle goopy noses better than the former!

I had an endometrial biopsy Friday. That was more than a little painful! Last Tues. I had another ultrasound and that was also quite painful. So the next day the dr's office called and said they were transferring my care over to my gyno and I needed to make an appointment right away for a biopsy. I wish they wouldn't do things like that, because the first thing I'm thinking is, "cancer." And more than likely, I don't have cancer, but they just need to rule it out. However, just to be on the safe side, I've decided not to get my hair highlighted until I know for sure. My roots are showing again but if my hair is going to fall out , I sure don't want to spend $60 on highlights first! I chatted for quite a bit with my gyno's nurse, Shawna. She told me there are a number of options for dealing with my situations. A hysterectomy will be the last resort. I can't shake the feeling, though, that this is all related to my uterine rupture 13 yrs ago. I asked her about that possibility and she thought it was probably unlikely, since it's been so long, but she wouldn't rule it out, either. I should know the results of the test Tuesday.

Oh, I got to hold a brand new baby Friday! My friend Megan delivered a 9 1/2 lb baby Wednesday afternoon, so I went over to her house and cuddled little (sort of) Mason for awhile - what a sweetie!

Will hurt his wrist this week at football practice. It got slammed between two face masks. I didn't take him in because we've been in so many times with other injuries, had him x-rayed, only to be told, it's just a sprain. So unless I see a bone sticking out, we're just wrapping and icing! I don't even think he wrapped it today.

Paul got a new floor cabinet last week. He was fixing his boss' son's furnace and it was just setting in their garage. When Paul asked if they were getting rid of it, they said he was welcome to it. It's nice - lighted and everything. Paul put it upstairs by the boys' bookshelf in the hallway. I don't think it looks quite right up there. Everything is so simple up there, from the basic shelves he built me for my scrapbooks to the painted wood-planked floor, but this cabinet is a little fancier than all that. But we don't have room anywhere else for it, so I guess I'll live with incongruity. Paul is using the cabinet to show off his collection of small Tonka trucks. A lot of them are battered and rusted, but he loves them. I thought it was women who were supposed to be collectors! But I don't collect any knick knacks at all. I should also mention, for those of you that haven't been to our house, that Paul has another lighted cabinet in the living room. This one holds some of his John Deere collection. And yesterday Paul hung up his new John Deere/big buck/barn picture that he found while we were up north. Now it's official - I have no more empty wall space. Every single wall in my house has something hanging on it. Sigh...I really need a bigger house!

I discovered blue ink from a pen on our new-ish microfiber couch - courtesy of Sam. Anyone have any suggestions on removing that?

We sold our green van yesterday - hooray! It only took 6 months! Paul finally put an ad in the DM Register a week ago and we did get a few calls on it. The people that bought it are a little strange. They're roommates (I hope). One is Vietnamese and the other white. They had Paul drive the van up to their apt. on the south side of Des Moines because they didn't have a way to get down to our house. They wanted it and paid cash. Then, Paul had me drive up in his beater (and I'm being nice by calling it that) truck. I had to sign the title and used vehicle disclosure statement. The apt. was obviously low-rent and heavily stank of cigarette smoke. Ben was with me, so I'm sure that was wonderful for his little lungs! While Paul was waiting on me, he struck up a conversation with the men and as a result, they sent us home with some papers explaining their Buddhist beliefs. I read them and thought it was very sad - the lengths people will go to in order to avoid having to believe in Jesus.

The reason I had to drive the truck was because our next stop was Menards. Our neighbor is hiring Paul to put in a new sliding glass door for his garage and he was meeting us there so he could pick out and pay for it. But he didn't have a way to transport it home. So by the time we got home last night it was 9:00. Will had his big Herky in the livingroom window in honor of the Iowa-Michigan game that was currently in progress. All the guys sat down and watched it and it was a cozy way to end the evening (esp. since we beat them!)

Will woke me up at 6:15 yesterday morning. For some odd reason, his coach called a 7am freshmen practice. It was cold! And it was snowing! By the time I got home from taking him to the school, snow was sticking to the ground and to our back stoop. And the snow kept coming! All in all, we got over an inch, although it melted by afternoon. The earliest I ever remember snow before is Oct. 23 and they did say on the news that this was a new record. We were supposed to have a church hayride and bonfire last night, but that got cancelled because of the weather.

I went to a homeschool meeting yesterday, and to my surprise, it was a real blessing. I haven't always enjoyed these meetings in the past, but I had a ball yesterday. I knew practically everybody there and it was so enjoyable to talk with other moms (maybe it just shows how cloistered and narrow my normal days are!) We just started a new "sub" group for those of us schooling sp. needs learners and I particularly appreciated that. Homeschooling is not easy, but homeschooling these kind of kids is especially difficult at times. We need to lift eachother up. Afterwards, Paul and I met for lunch and it was just - nice. He was in town working. He's been working pretty much around the clock for a few weeks now between Loziers and his side jobs.

Next Sat. Ben goes to Kid's Club, which is respite care. They do different activities with the kids. The thing is, that you have to sign your child up in advance, not knowing which special activities will be on the docket the day they are going. Some kids go every single Sat, but I only schedule Ben for once a month, since it's clear up in Johnston. Ben seems to have a good time, but he's never wild about going that day and makes it clear that it is a huge sacrifice on his part to go! So anyway, I got a letter in yesterday's mail letting me know that next Sat, when Ben is signed up, they are taking the kids down to Wells Fargo Arena in downtown DM and they are going to meet and go backstage with the Disney characters who are in town for some event. I think that will be SO cool! Ben is also going to Kid's Club again two weeks later. He wasn't scheduled, but out of the blue, he asked me to email the center to see if they had any openings on Halloween. He thought it would be fun to go and do whatever they have planned for that holiday. I about fell over, since he has never shown any excitement about going before. So, I emailed the coordinator, just praying they'd have an opening, and sure enough, they do! They're just having a Halloween party at the center that day.

I met with my friend Traci Friday night. She has a son with autism, as well. We attend sister churches in the metro. It was so great, spending time with her! But she was telling me that the Easter Seals camp offers a day camp for kids on the spectrum. So I may look into that next summer.

Well, that's all I know. I have been interrupted about 15 times as I wrote this - Sam wanting to crawl into my lap. Poor baby. I think I'll go put his pjs on him and then we can cuddle for a bit on the couch. But if he shares any of his germs...ugh!