random thoughts

I keep thinking of random things I want to share here, so I'm posting them all in one jumble. Maybe it's laziness, maybe it's just a busy life. You decide!

• Everyone is finally healthy after about 3 weeks of passing a nasty cold/flu thing around to each other. We still have some lingering coughs and sniffles, but the fevers and headaches are gone and we're back in business! We're DONE with winter and ready for springtime.

• I've been working in the yard. We've lived in the house for 2 years and aside from a few bursts of cleaning up leaves here and there, we've done basically nothing to keep up the yard. So I just started at one corner and am working my way across one side. There is a lot of english ivy to battle with, and lots of dead wood to cut out of the azaleas. Some overgrown holly bushes and of course- lots and LOTS of leaves. I'm experiencing a love/hate relationship with the trees right now.

• My beloved 17-85mm lens was broken. And now it is fixed- HOORAY! I heart KEH Camera!! Their sales and repair staff are top notch and every transaction I've had with them has been excellent. Check out their selection of used equipment too- I've picked up some great equipment that way and saved a lot. Especially if you don't live in GA (no sales tax!) 

• I have a new toy that I want to talk about too. I've been trying to increase my activity level lately and picked up a pedometer to help me see where I was at. This thing is AWESOME.  I have amazed myself both by how many steps I can acquire on a nice brisk walk, and also by how few steps I get on days when I don't intentionally go out to walk or run. It is definitely motivating me to park further away from the store, etc. to get in the extra steps. Very easy to use, and clips onto my pocket so I don't even have to think about it falling off or getting lost. 

That's about it. Everyone have a great weekend!

sick

Well, it's that time of year. The weather was cold and now it is warming up, and the sick germs are everywhere, looking for people to make miserable. I went to bed feeling pretty rough on Friday night, and woke up Saturday morning feeling downright BAD. So I went back to sleep after Jason took Lyle & Stella out of the room (snuggles were still top priority)

Imagine my surprise when I woke up at 10:30 and was brought breakfast in bed! My family takes such good care of me!!


There were sausage and scrambled eggs, a biscuit (one of my own homemade, frozen for later baking) with honey, and the largest assortment of beverages any person could ever need! I had coffee, OJ, milk, water, and even a glass of raspberry Emergen-C, which I've been chugging in order to fight off this cold. What a fabulous breakfast! And I'm here to tell you, food tastes SO much better when it is cooked for you and served on a tray in bed.


YUM. I think I'll get sick more often. ::wink::

so, how was your wednesday evening?

Hopefully it was better than ours. SIGH.

out walking

We were waiting for the weather to get nice enough so that we could bring PawPaw outside to sit and get some fresh air and sunshine. He surprised us by wanting to go running around the yard!



With Jason's help, he has been able to walk from the apartment door in back, around to the front of the house, and sit for a while in the front yard, where the sun is shining brightly in the afternoons. He sits for a while and then is ready to head back- this can be quite a workout for him some days. They have also been coming up the stairs inside the house, especially if it is cold outside, so he can sit in the living room for a while and have a different view.



It's hard watching how much difficulty he has sometimes- PawPaw was always so active and full of life before the stroke. We really hope that getting a little exercise and fresh air will be helpful to him and make his days more enjoyable and full. Lyle sure has taken a shine to him- he drives his cars around on PawPaw's legs, shows him his animals, tickles his knees, and gives him hugs. Whenever I take Lyle downstairs he starts saying "PawPaw! PawPaw!"

I realized while typing this entry out that I did not know much at all about strokes or the symptoms, etc. So I went to the website for the National Stroke Association, and found out that May is National Stroke Awareness Month. When you have a few minutes, please take time to read a little bit about how to tell if someone is having a stroke and what to do about it. Knowing how to act F.A.S.T. could save someone's life.

sick

I feel like dead warmed over this morning. It's been only a matter of time- everyone around me has been fighting off coughs and stuffy noses and headaches. My body feels like it was hit by a truck while I was sleeping. So I probably won't get much done today. Good thing we have until Sunday- I still have 3 closets at the old house to empty, plus all that little junk that is all over the place after the majority of the stuff is out. Blech.

(another) new accessory

The cast came off today! 3 weeks after getting it, and about 3 1/2 after breaking the bone. Not too bad. But I'm still a ways from having my normal arm back- it is really weak and still somewhat swollen and bruised. I will be wearing this removable splint for at least 3 weeks, taking it off a few times a day to exercise the muscles a bit and (hooray!) to take showers. I will not miss the ritual of wrapping my arm in a plastic bag before showering one bit.


*************

Thank you all so much for your congratulations- we can feel the love flowing right out of the screen, I tell you! This experience is making us both pinch ourselves to make sure we're not dreaming. We woke up Sunday morning with the idea that we might spend our anniversary driving by a few properties and if we liked the outside we would tell Joe so we could see the inside. (Joe is the husband/dad in one of our wonderful new friend families- and while we have never worked with another, we are completely convinced that he is the best (and most definitely the coolest) real estate guy in Athens. Just sayin'.) What ended up happening was we met him at the house at 12:30 and he was typing up the offer by 2 pm. It is that great. Believe me- we do not do things like this. Jason especially likes to plan, to be in complete control of things like large purchases. But here we are making the largest one of our lives, and it is happening so fast it's making our heads spin! We'll try to get some pictures soon- I promise. But the closing date is February 29th, so we have a lot happening in the next few weeks. Did I mention I'm flying to Minnesota for 10 days next Wednesday? Yeah. A lot going on. But it's all falling into place and we're just enjoying the ride!

long, rambling update

I know it's been over a week since I posted- sorry! It's a combination of things- but mainly to do with The Broken Arm. It's hard to type one-handed, it's hard to take photos one-handed, and since it's hard to do everything else one-handed too (eat, shower, dress myself, change diapers, dress Lyle, feed Lyle, pick up or hold Lyle, fold laundry, go to the bathroom... you get the idea) I just haven't found a lot of extra energy left over for blogging. Thank goodness for Jason- he helps me so much! Doing dishes as he always has in addition to lots of laundry and diaper changes when he's not at work. Daisy and Hazel help me a lot with all the little things during the day- opening jars and zipping up jackets and tying shoes. I really can't imagine being a single parent with little ones and have something like this happen! I'm so thankful for my help.

I go back to the doctor on Thursday afternoon and will report back then. I'm not in a lot of pain or anything- it's just the lack of a useful arm that frustrates me all day long. And it does get sore if I try to do too much, so I try to keep it in the sling as much as I can in order to rest it.

In other news:
Daisy & Hazel start a Spanish class today with a small group of other homeschoolers- we're excited to have this opportunity to spend more time with our new friends and learn a little Spanish too. I'm sure we'll have lots to tell about that in the coming weeks!

We've also been participating in a homeschool co-op for the past few weeks, which has been a lot of fun. Hazel is taking a bug identification class and Daisy is learning all about the northeast states of the US. They are both doing a henna tattoo class as well, and I take the younger two to the Toddler Fun class. Best of all we have lots of time to chat and play with other moms and kids during lunch and the following group craft time, and get to hear a guest speaker every other week. I dropped the girls off this past week since I didn't feel up to staying, and they learned about water conservation from a representative from the county. They had lots to tell about! For anyone local, this is the Athens Cooperative Experience (ACE), and it meets weekly for 10 week sessions. Contact Stephanie Jordan at 706-543-4474 or ksjordan@earthlink.net for more information.

prognosis

I saw the orthopedic guys today and have excellent news! No surgery will be necessary (whew!) They did more x-rays and replaced the splint with a more permanent cast, giving me more use of my hand and arm. I'll need the cast for 6 weeks, and if all goes well after that then I'll just have a removable splint for a while. I'm so thankful it wasn't worse, and that it wasn't my right hand (it has been pointed out that the picture from Friday was of my right, but it really is just a mirror image, which is what you get by default with Photo Booth. I flipped the one from today so it would be accurate!)

So, I have a bit more use of the arm but it's still tender and I'm supposed to be resting it as much as possible, so my wonderful husband is on Full Plus duty for a little longer. I won't be able to give any kids a bath or do much cooking beyond very basic stuff for a while. And knitting? Sewing? No. I guess I'll have more time for reading now- I can do that one-handed.

Thanks for all your well-wishes and love! It means a lot to me. Here's to a new adventure in parenting these next few weeks!