You Don't See That Every Day

Under normal circumstances I would not want to see my child strapped onto a medical emergency board, having her vitals taken. Except for yesterday. A plea went out on my homeschool facebook page for volunteers to help with the local EMT training class. It sounded like fun and so I signed up my girls. (I wish I would have taken my older two out of school for this). That was before I looked more closely at the time of the training class. 8:30 am. That meant I would have to leave the house by 8:00, with a 4 year old. For some families that might not seem like a big deal. For my children, it is a near miracle to get out the door by 9 am intact. And this after a late night Wednesday. I almost went back on my word. And now I am so glad I didn't! The older girls got up and got moving without problem. Little K took some work on my part. We got to the class and sat and waited, eventually the trainees started coming around and talking to the kids, asking to take their vitals. Littl...

This time of year there is a lot of talk about turkeys, and oh, yeah being thankful for all we have. I have read numerous articles on how to help your children, or yourself, be thankful! But it really hit home for me this week. But first, a little of the back-story: two weeks ago I went in to the doctor for my first ever exam-for-women-who-are-over-40. You who are over 40 know what I'm talking about! That lovely machine that tries to squish parts of you into pancakes. The lady running the machine - mammographer I believe is her title - was super nice and relaxed, and just made it comfortable as possible. I left thinking, phew, done for a year. My week was cruising along nicely; I had vague plans as to what we would eat for Thanksgiving, along with thoughts about my son's upcoming birthday, crowding around the daily feed-them, get-them-where-they-need-to-be routine that fills my life. A week after I had my exam, the clinic called and asked to schedule another exam. My thou...

I made my annual foray into the big city today. Every year I am suppose to take my daughter to the back specialist in Portland. Well, I will confess I have not done it every single year. But the time came for it to happen, and so we went. Now for many people, it's no big deal to travel to Portland for a doctor's appointment. But for me ... for whatever reason, it never goes well. My morning was rushed; and then I had to make sure I picked up the kids from school at the right time, to get to my parent's in time, to get to the appointment on time. I didn't have a chance to pack our lunches so I splurged on a fast food lunch for the 6 of us. I dropped them at my parent's home, and headed on to Portland. So I decided to go the back roads as far as I could until I got on the interstate. Well, I took a wrong turn, had to turn around, and finally made it to the freeway. I was sure glad we left 'early'. As we got closer to OHSU, I was trying to find the google d...

Oh, how I love Sundays. (The ice cream kind, and the day kind.) Sundays mean church and friends; the kids make lunch, and I get to nap as long as I want. Sundays bring family walks (sometimes) and some TV zone-out time. Sundays are family days. This past Sunday was not quite what I had in mind though. We had some relaxation, we had some family time. I got a tiny nap and there was mindless television. But most of this happened in the ER. My husband woke up at 2 am with intense stomach pain. After trying various methods of relief (I'll spare you any details) he was still in pain. I watched him writhing around on the floor, trying to find a comfortable position to fall asleep. Finally, just before 7 he said I think we need to go to the doctor. (I'm so thankful our son is old enough to be responsible for his siblings for a while until my sister could come over to supervise.) I have never seen my husband in so much pain. It reminded me of my baby-contractions; such intense, focuse...

Why do we find accents that are unlike our own, fascinating? I was hanging out in the doctor's office today, because, you know, with 5 kids, that's what you do a lot of. I had 4 of them with me, all the girls. They were getting squirrelly. It was lovely time. And then a man walked in, with an older lady in the wheelchair. Nothing exceptional about that at a Dr.'s office. And then he spoke. And the world stopped. And the children stilled. And we girls all smiled. The man had a Scottish accent. It was one of the best things I had heard that morning - only because I hadn't talked to my husband yet. As my niece said "Accents make life better." Yes, yes they do! It sure made the hours in the doctor's office a fond memory. I have to tell you a little story. It will give you a glimpse inside the life of my husband. His family knows this already about him, but for those of you who don't know him ... he can be a little funny. A few years ago, back when...

There's a show I like to watch. Probably the only show on TV now that I watch, besides my netflix movies. It's a reality show about racing around the world and having to take on different tasks. In my everyday world I like to imagine I am on that show, racing to complete certain tasks in a strange environment. Today was one of those days. It was time for our annual trek to Portland for an appointment and OHSU. My girl has scoliosis, like me, and we have to get it checked out every so often. So we had to follow directions to get there, because I certainly don't remember from last time. And we had a time crunch, because it's OK for a doctor to be late, but not the patient. Then we had to find out which floor and area to go to. That last part wasn't so hard thankfully. We were "training for the race." And then The Girl had to answer questions - basic ones, but I wanted her to answer for herself. There was a waiting period too. In various r...