Sunday, March 26, 2006

Spring Cleaning

I want to update the look of this blog. I've found some really pretty things on other people's blogs, but I don't quite know how far I can go in tweaking this template; I might mess up some javascript or css and then I'd be up a creek not knowing how to fix it. (CSS and javascript illiterate, though I'm ok with html).

Update on kids: Influenza B lasts 7 to 8 days before the 102-103º fevers return to normal. I had to take S in to the Dr. on Thursday because she acquired a secondary infection: pinkeye!

Poor kid.

Thursday night A. coughed all night long (sleep was but a fond hope, not a reality) - so Fri. I got him into the Dr. to get some meds for bronchitis. He walked out of there with 3 prescriptions - 1 inhaler, 1 cough syrup with codeine, and 1 gel pill. Plus a sampler for another inhaler.

Friday night, loaded up with medication, A. proceeded to cough all night long. PFUI!
Saturday morning, with his temp at 101.7 º we made arrangements for a "substitute preacher" for today, and he "slept" last night in the living room partially sitting up in the recliner---still coughing.

So for this particular bug, Albuterol, Tessalon, and CoTylenol are not effective.

Praising God, though, that D and S are 98.6 and 99.5 (and coughing) That's good enough to start school again tomorrow! We're now a week behind. Spring break is the first week of April and I don't want to skip it, so we're going to double up as much as possible this upcoming week. We'll see how much grief I get from D and S. I think I can pull off 3 history lessons and 3 science lessons - then if I do that on two other days, I'll be in good shape. Then on the short days (Tu and Wed) we'll do some extra LA, Math and Art. (Just thinking out loud here... now I'll be able to remember what I've planned!)

I went to Sunday school alone this morning, but came home right afterward, because really, A was in no condition to be the "adult in charge" of two kids on the mend. I figured I had about an hour, then I didn't want to risk it any further.

I am so sleepy right now. I think I might just sleep in the living room myself, first putting in some earplugs to tune out all the hacking.

I keep reading Tammy's blog and thinking I need a hobby that I can do sitting down. (those monthly ladies' craft saturdays are nagging at me). I guess I don't have the sticktoitiveness though; all I've ever managed to crochet (and it was a BIG DEAL, I assure you!) was some scarves for D and S. I was proud of those! But it seemed like they took forever. So I don't think crochet or knitting is the way for me to go. (sigh)

I'll just sit here at the computer and play neopets I guess. :)

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Tales of Blah in Vivid Language

I haven't posted in quite some time! Not because I haven't had anything to say; I HAVE, but just have been unable to get here to jot it down. Now that the kids are in bed (again) I've a few spare minutes to sit in the La-Z-Girl recliner with my laptop and relax a bit.

Yes, the kids. D had fever and chills Sat afternoon; S woke up Sun. am, threw up, then had fever and chills. We're talking 102, 103 degrees! Yesterday afternoon I took D in to the Dr's office with a 103.5 fever; motrin, liquids and bed rest were doing nothing for him--he was still sleepy, feverish, and miserable. Dear Doctor tells me if only I'd brought him in Sat or Sun we could ahve started him on Tamiflu, but as it is, D will have to just be miserable for another 2-3 days. Both kids are pretty miserable, and it's been very quiet around here, except for the sniffing and coughs.

I am keeping an eagle eye out for any symptoms in A or myself; I will GO GET THE MEDICINE rather than be knocked on my rump for 5 straight days, which is what's happened to the kids. They migrate between their beds and the couches, very little else.

Yesterday we got a call from someone in our old youth group - John! He, his wife and daughter are up here in WA visiting his parents (who now live in Sequim) - and they were going to come to Puyallup to catch up! Too bad that my family's under quarantine. A. was able to go to Cattins with them for dinner tonight, though. John hasn't changed much. :) His wife and daughter are beautiful; he's a fortunate man. I did get a chance to chat with them for about 15 minutes, standing in my driveway in the rain. (I didn't want to expose them to any lovely virii that are floating airborne in my home).

Last week or so A. gave me the evening off and I went out to Borders to sit and read a book. I remember now, it was March 7. (Eeeep! It HAS been a while!) There was a ginormous number of teens there in the coffee shop (Seattle's Best!), so the noise level was pretty high, even in the back of the store, where I usually roost.

Overheard: "Dude, did you hear about the guy who shot himself in the leg TWICE??"

"No freakin' way!! Why!?!"

"Like, he said he wanted to find out if it hurt as bad the second time!"

Me: *snort, snort, snicker*

I do not know if the shooting was an actual event, or if that was supposed to be a joke, but I certainly found it funny!

Last week (now I have my dates on straight) A. went to the FBFI conference up in Monroe. Kids and I had a pretty good time holding down the fort. It's amazing how one person less makes a big difference in the dynamics of the family. First, I was able to get all caught up on laundry. Second, I made it to the gym every single day, because I made reservations in the Bally's Kids' Club for my halflings. We also went out to dinner at Pizza Hut (which makes A. sick, so we never go there when he's home). AND best of all, he came home early Weds morning, instead of Weds. night like I was thinking. Probably with all the outside running around I did with the kids, they picked up the flu during that time; it hit on Saturday, so the incubation would be about right, I think. :( The disadvantage of homeschooling: they don't always develop immunities to common illnesses.

Then again, do I really want them to be in an enclosed bldg. all day getting exposed to who-knows-what? I was reading an article today re: public schools needing to make emergency plans for pandemic outbreaks - just HOW will schooling continue if the school needs to literally, physically close down for a month or more until the outbreak is controlled?

Praise God that we currently have the answer to that, and it's called the Steilacoom Virtual Academy. We go online, we communicate by email, telephone and Elluminate, and we complete our coursework at home. I'm tellin ya, it's great. I think more public schools should use this as a viablel, reasonable option for education.

D. has just migrated again back to the living room couch. "I feel weightless," he declares, snuffily. He wants some applesauce to eat. I think this is the first thing he's asked for today; everything else has been a concerned mommy giving him water, banana, toast, yogurt, WHATEVER he'd nibble... and it's all pretty much been nibbled once or twice then put aside. So this means I'm closing for now. I will leave you with some doggerel I wrote back in 2002 which I found this morning while perusing an old journal: (sorry about the formatting, I can't make it do what I want to!)


1. A life: boiled down
vaporized, wafting
extracted painfully
puffing a phrase here
thought there
fragment, fragment, fragment
to find what?
Meaning? Pattern lost amid
myriad insignificance
Tale of blah in vivid language

2. I write,
therefore I have nothing to say.


3. Carpe diem! Before I forget
Just what the heck I've ever done
worth writing about.
Carpal tunnel! Too late.

4. Create, my heart said.
What? my mind replied.
A chasing of the wind, a desire to leave a mark
indelible
on the heart of another
touching mind with
penstroke

5. The phrase that
escapes me at present
will surely
come back tonight
in spectral garb--
A dream forgotten later--
but
leaving the shade
of a soul
unexpressed--
unshriven.


6. Blunt-tipped words
Held in place by
an obliging piece of paper
and corresponding blunt wit.