You Don't See That Every Day

 Three weeks have passed since surgery, and it has been a humbling time.  I am not supposed to lift anything over 10 pounds. My family has been extra cautious, not letting me lift anything remotely heavy. For someone independent like me, that has been tough. As the weather finally turns nice, and the outdoor projects call my name, I chafe at not being able to lift heavy things. I have things to build! I have dirt and compost to move! I have brush to haul. I have things to do!! But I am trying to be good and wait the full 6 weeks for healing. Because really, my family needs me back to full health by then too, not relapsing because I was impatient.  Thankfully I am healing well, and there will be no more treatments needed. I am looking forward to hiking and running again, and being back to 100% So out in the orchard this week, I was the designated driver. The task this time was to spread fertilizer on the new orchard, by hand. We did not broadcast it (fling by machine allll...

  There was a time I did not go to the doctor for regular checkups. There was a time my husband did not go to the doctor for regular checkups. Pretty sure that time is now past us.  I listened to that little voice inside of me earlier this year and made my appointment, and actually went to it. I am so glad I did. As I talked with the doctor about changes in my health, she delved a little deeper past the regular tests. And she discovered the cause of some of the changes was cancer. That was not something I was expecting to hear at my age. Thankfully my doctor is thorough. The cancer is low grade and early stage, which is another blessing from going in when I did and talking to her.  Surgery is this week (April 13) and that should take care of all of it, without needing any further treatment. We are holding onto that hope until we hear otherwise. I don't write this to gain sympathy but to let you know how important it is to pay attention to changes and to ask the doctor ab...

It's November!!! I am so looking forward to what is in store for us these next couple of months, even though I can't tell the future -  I just feel it's going to be great. I was ready for November about the middle of October. Is it because my daughters have been playing Christmas music since September? (No!) Or maybe it's because the change in the weather and the colors of the leaves, have me enjoying the cycles of life. For Halloween we walked the neighborhood for trick-or-treating with our youngest two, and some neighbor friends. Walking with friends made it even more fun this year. And the weather cooperated wonderfully. The stash wasn't as big as it has been in years past when we had 3, 4, 5 kids collecting, but there is still plenty of sugar and chocolate to go around. Little K dressed as a 50s girl, and was quite excited to get to wear make-up. The other sister went as her Dad (although he doesn't actually have a mustache). That's what she threw toge...

Growing older *can* be a lot of fun. 1. I am finally feeling more comfortable with who I am. 2. I don't mind being silly even if people are watching. 3. I have fun embarrassing my kids. Thankfully #2 and # 3 often go hand in hand. But what isn't fun about growing older is the change in my physical condition! A few weeks back when the weather finally turned sunny here in the Pacific Northwest, I was wearing flip-flops all day, which sent my right foot into hysterics. The tendons were so sore I couldn't put any pressure on my foot; I couldn't move it in any direction; I had to use crutches for the evening, and it was just incredibly painful to even touch. By the next morning, the pain was gone. My foot was basically fine - a little tiny tender, but fully functional. Fast forward to Monday morning, I woke up to a sore right arm. It hurt to turn it certain ways; I couldn't pick up my full water bottle even. Once again, the tendons were so sore it just hurt hangin...

Back in June of 2007 I broke out in hives for the first time; it was the beginning of my hive saga. I'm thankful that today, 6 years later, the hives are not much of a daily issue for me. I take an antihistamine each day and usually have no problem. That is until I eat something I shouldn't. Although, for me, I don't usually know I shouldn't until after the fact. I am slowly accruing a list of foods my 40 year old body doesn't like. I found out Monday night that cherries are now on the list. And what a bummer! I sure like fresh cherries straight from the farm. Or I did, until I woke up Monday night with a swollen face and mouth and hives all over. I had the same reaction to plums earlier in the year. Which was another bummer, because I sure liked plums too! Teriyaki is another no-no for some reason. Back in the beginning of this saga I went to an allergist, among many other specialists, trying to figure out why I have chronic hives. He was highly recommended and ...

The Princess can see! She got her glasses earlier this week, and the first thing she said, "I can see!" And then she went on to point out all the words and objects she could see that had looked like big blobs of color before. A whole new world opened up to her. We've been spending a lot of time on the farm. At least it feels like it. My son has taken to cutting the sleeves of his (old) shirts to wear to the farm. He gets on the bike and takes off down the dirt road. The one time I did NOT have my camera, he was wearing the same outfit, but with tall black rubber boots. Perhaps we're making a farm boy out of him after all. The girls like to go out and shoot their guns there, but I've been getting some resistance to weeding lately. I smile inwardly and force the minions onward. School is winding down. The girls are trudging on to the end here. We'll have most everything wrapped up this week, with just a couple of loose ends (certain subjects like math!) to...

Tuesday morning, I woke up with a day of plans to check off my list. I needed to buy diapers (we were down to two left!) I needed to get wood for heat. We were on the last few logs. No biggie, I knew we could get these errands taken care of. Until I got The Phone Call. Oh yeah. That change-in-schedule-drop-everything-kind of phone call. My husband went back to Washington for business on the day before. And he had a terrible deja vu, waking in the middle of the night again with intense pain in his gut. And the medicine his doctor had given had not worked at all. So he was on his way home. In Pain. I set down the vacuum and got the troops in order. I made my phone calls and headed out to meet G. My mom took the girls, my aunt volunteered her help, and we met the patient halfway, or more, on his drive. I took it from there so he could just writhe in the passenger seat. Off to the hospital we sped , fled. 12 hours after it started, he finally had pain relief. After a whole lot of ot...

Oh what a night ... So the Boy had another basketball game last night. They played hard, but ultimately lost the match. It was a little frustrating; well a lot actually. A tough team, a large team - in numbers and size. I was even frustrated and I was trying hard to sit without clenching my hands and jaw. Thankfully the refs were fair and good. I sure didn't know how to talk to the Boy about it afterwards. He had given up in his mind before the game had even begun. There's no way to teach not to do that. After the game I went to a State of the School meeting at my son's school. It was actually fairly interesting. They updated us on costs, security, and other items that affect the school and students. New this year was a special prayer time and I think it was the best part! One person in particular had a very moving prayer; But another parent said something in her prayer that really struck me. She prayed that the children in the school would be a blessing to others . And...

2 year olds have an amazing outlook on life. Everything is so new and fascinating. They are just soaking it all in, and pouring it back out in their speech and actions.  Earlier in the week Little K figured out she has pockets! She was quite pleased with this new concept. On Saturday she wanted to help me make bread. "I bake!" she kept saying   And so she did.  She stirred the flour into the bread.  Never too early to get them in the kitchen.   Later in the day, she found the sunshine - which is a rarer occurrence in our neck of the woods; and so she laid down in it for awhile, after figuring out what it was. The Boy and Dad tore into the doors this weekend. Another step in the remodeling process. They took off the door that leads from the laundry room to the addition, and added the door to the garage..   Here's the door, outside, waiting to be removed from the premises. Anyone in need of a door?? After the do...

Actually I think it's the 5th round now.  Yesterday I got to take my oldest girl to the ER after her visit to the doctor's office. The snow around here was beautiful and  ... treacherous for some. The Boy was off to school; the three girls were out playing in the snow. The youngest was nice and warm inside, keeping her snotty nose running warm. Around 9:30 the girls came in to warm up, and the oldest lays down on the floor. In pain. And she's crying. This girl is emotional (I get that) so I didn't think too much of it. I just figured she was really cold. And then Miss M tells me that S. fell and got hurt. And I asked, "Whatever do you mean my dear daughter?" or something similar to that. She told me S. fell out of a tree. Screech! What?! Now the tears make a little more sense. I asked S. directly to tell me what happened. And the more the story poured out, along with the pain, the more I began to realize there was more to this than the eye could s...

It must have been a good holiday season! I stepped on the scales at my parents' house and saw that I have an extra 20 pounds hanging on. I saw the fudge in one spot, the nightly ice cream all around and the cookies in another area. Good thing I am running, or it might be an extra 40 overstaying their welcome. I went home and wrote down my weight on several sticky notes and stuck them in the snack cupboard, on the refrigerator, and on the top of my secret stash (banana chips covered in chocolate.) I went to reach for some chips just a few minutes later, and thought about that not-so-little number there. And I realized I just wanted a new taste in my mouth. I wasn't really hungry. So I brushed my teeth. Now, I'm not going on a 'diet'. I'm not going to starve -hahahaha, no way, not how I like food! But I am going to try and make better choices this winter, and especially as I train for a super upcoming race in April. I'll probably be brushing my teeth a lot...

 Last week I mentioned I had a full weekend ahead,. Full enough to overwhelm my husband as I spewed forth information. And I think God had a good chuckle over me and my plans. As if I have any control over them. After I posted that, I sat down to watch a movie with G. and soon my throat started to feel ... icky. Like the sore-throat-before-a-cold kind of icky. I went to bed Thursday night complaining of the ache, and woke up with a fully-blown cold. SO there went almost all of my plans for the weekend! I managed to rest alot on the couch, read some really good books; my girls has a light day of school at home, and the tissue box didn't leave the vicinty. So out of the 7 of us, 3 have fallen, and are now on the mend. the youngest is now snot-nosed, and we are hoping that the boy and husband do not catch the cold! The rest of my weekend ... well actually only Sunday, was a good day. I felt better enough to run a 5k Memorial Run for 9/11. And later in the afternoon the entire famil...

The thing about having kids, there are so many "firsts" - from the first smile to the first word to the first ER trip. We've been through all of those, a few times over. Today - and last night - we added a couple more firsts Our first broken arm - Princess girl fractured her forearm while running with the dog in the backyard. Can you see the fracture right near the "x" in the photo? (do you know how hard it is to take a good pic. of an x-ray?!) She calmed down once I got some ice on it and ibuprofen in her. So we took her in this morning and got to take a peek at her arm bones. She has the splint on now - a beautiful pink to accessorize with her outfit. Later in the week we'll go back to the doctor for a cast. Also last night, G took the older two swimmers to their awards dinner for swim league. They both came home with medals like this: that say Most Improved on the back of them. And I'll have some more photos later of the third day of destru...

June of 2007. We went to Colorado and Montana for a visit with my husband's family. But - you might be saying to yourself - this is May . Why on earth am I thinking of June ? Well, it was in June of '07 on that very trip that I broke out in hives. Hives which have continued for nearly 4 years. There have been terrible times, frightening times, exhausting, frustrating times. I have had tears and anger. I have had to deal with not only physical health problems but also other problems that came along with this "illness". Chronic hives are not fun. I have lived in fear at times of food. Will it make me sick? Will it make me itch? Will it make my throat close up? I have had to live with self-consciousness, wondering what people think of my face when it is puffy like my husband might have slugged me (he doesn't!!!). I have lived with fear of how the hives and medicine affect my baby while I carried her inside me, and while I nursed her this past year. I have sought ...

"She has strong legs." "I didn't expect her to kick like that." "Oh, she is so strong." I heard these comments from the nurse as I held Baby K and the nurse gave her her immunizations this morning. K was having none of it!; although I had ahold of her arms and upper body, her little legs were flying! Poor baby - she had 5 shots today and was crying to break my heart. Her overall stats look pretty much like her older sisters - long and skinny. With a big head. We also discovered she had an ear infection. No wonder she hasn't been sleeping well. I'm hoping tonight will be a bit quieter, even with the pain of her shots. We've got some pain-relief medicine in her, and right now she is snoozing away in her crib. Overall she is developing well, and for this we are thankful!

There's a saying about clouds and silver linings. It came to me this morning that there is a benefit to having the hives like I do.  Yep, you read that right, there is actually something good about these hives! I don't get the sicknesses that my kids and husband get. My immune system is so weirded out and hyperactive that I might get a tickle in the throat, and have a few sneezes, but this 3 week cyclical cold didn't really touch me like it has the rest of the family! So thanks God for that little blessing. In other news, S is teaching baby K to carpet surf. You may have heard of mattress surfing (eg. Princess Diaries 2) and the famous Hawaiian surfing. But here in Oregon when it rains so much, we have to find other ways to do things. So big brother is teaching little sis to carpet surf. She'll catch on to it eventually.

I waited all week. Friday night was going to be great! I was so looking forward to it. Not only was I going out with my husband (and baby K, since she is pretty much attached if I am gone more than an hour) but the other 4 children would be out of the house. For. The. Whole. Night.! Now, I love my kids, and the house is not the same when they are gone. But, oh, we were sure looking forward to some time to relax and talk without interruptions. So I dropped the kids off at my brother and sister in-laws house, and came home to an empty house. Baby was napping and I just did not know what to do with myself. I didn't have a whole lot of time to tackle any projects. And I sure didn't want to do any chores! So I read. Oh so nice! We made it to the company Christmas dinner/ party just as the food was arriving. (good timing!) We were able to eat in peace - a friend held and played with baby while we ate. Well, baby K has had cough and runny nose all week. We figured she had a cold and...

It's a few days past when I *normally* post this, but then I found out today how not-normal I am ... so it all works; anyway, In my corner of the world this past week: I left the house too much. I was gone more than I was at home; I watched my baby "creep" forward using her arms; I read Runner's World, well part of it, I haven't read a book in I don't know how long! I made English muffin bread and graham crackers; I bought a baby gift for a baby shower; I threw caution to the wind and took off for the coast for an afternoon; I learned that I need to be spontaneous a bit more, that I can strike a balance between organized-scheduled and free-and-wild. Now to explain the first sentence, I went to a new doctor today to see what he would say about my chronic hives; I was so looking forward to a "cure". No such luck. I am a medical mystery; most people have chronic hives for a few months in his opinion; 3 years is quite a long time in his words. So ...