It’s Complicated

What’s complicated?  Well… right now, everything.

As I write this, I’m balancing the computer on one knee with Marin sprawled across my (still very flabby, squishy, saggy) belly.  She’s out cold, and I’d like her to stay that way, so I am not planning to put her down any time soon.  I have three bags of groceries in the back of the van while two bags of produce items are strewn across the kitchen.  Marin was frantically hungry when we got home from the store, so I threw the freezer items in the garage chest freezer–thank goodness I bagged them all together  at  the store–and tossed the items that would spoil if they sat out into the refrigerator quickly before nursing my hungry little one.

There are toys all over the house in the wake of Evan’s curious nature and incessant need to be doing something.  His latest obsession is Scrabble.  No, he doesn’t know how to play, but he is learning his letters, and the tiles make him happy.  I’m sure this game will be missing pieces, but as it was a garage sale find, and he keeps himself happily occupied while sorting letters, pretending he knows what he’s doing, I’m happy to let him play with it. 

There is laundry in various stages of completion all over the house.  It’s really hard to fold laundry with one hand, so as I hold Marin, I’m really good at cycling the laundry through the washer and dryer, but that’s pretty much where it ends.  Poor Josh ends up folding six to eight baskets of laundry at a time.  This usually happens when he is out of t-shirts, pants, underwear, or whatever it is he needs in order to be presentable for work on any given day.  I hardly notice the lack of clean laundry as it is rare for me to even attempt being presentable enough to leave the house.

The critter living in our walls has now become so bold as to scratch and thump during the day–I just heard it now.  I fear what we’ll discover if we look into the problem, so we just try to ignore it…

As if simply living were not complicated enough, I have run into some complications in my recovery.  Some of you may know that after my c-section my hemoglobin mysteriously took a nosedive.  We didn’t discover this until late in the evening on the day Marin was born.  My nurse came in and said it was time to get up and try walking around.  She was going to start with a trip to the restroom so I could freshen up.  I was dizzy when I stood up, but she helped me, and I made it to the bathroom where I promptly fell off the toilet as I nearly blacked out.  All that excitement lead to me getting two units of blood in an effort to raise my hemoglobin and get me back on my feet–literally.  It worked, and I felt better by the next  morning.  The doctor couldn’t explain why this happened… until now. 

When I went in for my six-week postpartum appointment, the doctor said, “Hm… this doesn’t feel right.”  Yeah.  Just what every gal wants to hear when her feet are in the stirrups.  Anyway, she ordered an ultrasound, and we got some pictures taken.  I tried not to let my imagination get the best of me as we waited for the results.  When she called back, she reported that I am walking around with what seems to be a pool of blood inside of me.  She, being a family practitioner, did not perform my c-section, so she wanted to get in touch with the OB-GYN that did the procedure.  Of course, he wanted to see me for himself, so we did that this morning.  Another ultrasound and internal exam later, we have learned that I have a large blood clot–the equivalent of about three units of blood–sitting inside my such and such cavity.  I can’t remember the exact name.  Anyway, the doctor believes this is why my hemoglobin dropped, and that this clot is actually much smaller than it was seven weeks ago.  (This would explain why my left side was so much more sore than my right and why I had a hard time lifting my left leg more than an inch or two for the first few weeks post-op.)  So… since I’m not in pain, and since there is no evidence of flow (no leaks, just a clot), we do nothing.  I go back in four weeks for another ultrasound to see where things are.  Hopefully we’ll see that the clot has gotten significantly smaller on its own.  I don’t really want another surgery… Time will tell, I guess.

In spite of all of this, I still feel blessed by my crazy, beautiful life. I have two beautiful kids, a husband who loves us unabashedly, a nice house (albeit a messy one), and so many other reasons to  be thankful.  I know that life happens in “seasons,” and this one shall pass.  I want to get out of the habit of wishing my life away.  I will try to relish each chaotic, complicated moment for what it is.  I believe this is the secret to truly living life well, and I’m going to give it my best.

Now what?

With Michael Phelps done swimmg, what will I watch?  I suppose I’ll try to catch the rest of the gymnastics stuff, but that’s probably about the extent of my Olympics this time around.  The track and field stuff just doesn’t interest me.  Maybe I’ll watch some more volleyball…  decisions, decisions.

In other news, we went to my friend Marji’s wedding today.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  She was a beutiful bride, and the chocolate brown and lime green colors were so pretty.  Not to mention, her flowers were green and white hydrangeas, and since we had hydrangeas at our wedding, they’ve always been a favorite flower.  Congratulations, Marji and Matt!

We made an early exit from the reception–toddlers aren’t designed for those types of events. 😦 Really, though, Evan held up pretty well.  Bed time is bed time, I guess.

Enjoy the weekend,

M

Vacation Photos

Click on a photo to see it larger.  Read about our highlights in the post below. 🙂

Projects, projects everywhere!

Here are some photos of the projects that have been keeping us busy lately. Click on an image to view it larger.

The first two photos show our deck painting project–this has been ongoing (unfinished) for two summers.

After that, you see three photos depicting Evan’s sandbox situation.  We inherited an old, small one when we bought our house, and now that we actually have a kiddo to play in the sand, Josh decided that he needed a bigger, better sandbox.  Given the state of the sand in the old one (full of bird droppings) and the cedar tree crowiding half of it, I consented.  My contribution to the project so far has been to trim the lower branches of the cedar trees in the new location and to help spread sand as Josh unloaded it from the truck.  Stay tuned to a future post to see the new sandbox in action.  That is, if Evan hasn’t eaten all the sand first.

The next seven photos show you the trouble that we’ve got with the foundation around our garage and the south end of our house.  Josh has excavated the dirt around our garage and house (by hand) and we now have a moat–hasn’t every little girl always wanted to live in a castle? The cement guy we have lined up to help us fix this problem has yet to show up… frustrating.

After the moat, you will see five photos of where our new dog, Chance, will live. No, we do not have a new dog… yet.  Because Faith has bad hips, we are entitled to a new dog from her breeders.  Josh plans on getting this puppy, a yellow male to be named Turkey Creek’s Second Chance, next spring.  Because it is insanity to have two dogs in the house, Chance will be stationed outside.  In short, he will be a DOG, not a pseudo-human like Faith. Anyway, the kennel that came with our house obviously housed a dog bent on escape as there are large holes and shoddy repairs that are sharp and rusty.  Because kennel panels are on sale this week, Josh decided to invest the time and money in this project now so he won’t have to worry about it during the school year when it’s time to get the new dog.

Evan couldn’t wait to check out the new sandbox, so there are a couple of photos of him “helping” Josh excavate the new site.

Finally, we had an incident with our small end table and a Bath & Body Works “Wallflower” home fragrance plugin earlier this year.  Evan decided that it looked delicious, so he pulled the unit out of the wall and tried to sip the fragrance oil on a couple of different occasions.  I had moved it, and we were good for a while, but he found it eventually.  Josh took it away from him and set it on the table.  As things go, we didn’t get back to it for a day or two, and all the oil had leaked onto the tabletop and the oil ate the finish off of the table. We were totally bummed. Fortunately, Josh had the shop teacher help him sand the old finish off–we thought it was solid wood, but it’s not so they were very careful–and I just got around to putting new stain and poly on it this week.  It turned out well, and it’s got me wondering about other refinishing projects I could tackle.

So… there you have it.  It’s no wonder I never have time to update this blog!

We’re still alive!

Contrary to what you may think, we’re all still here. Summer has finally arrived, and we’ve been settling into our new, more relaxed routines. Josh has been busy working on projects, we’ve done some housework, and we’ve also tried to experience some of the things summer has to offer. Since the weather has just recently warmed up, it’s been just recently that we’ve been able to partake of the “traditional” summer activities like swimming and hanging out in the yard. We took Evan to see his first (mine as well) turtle races this past weekend. Josh has fond memories of these events from when he was little, and he promised Evan that they will race next year.

Our vacation started with a trip to visit Josh’s grandma over Memorial Day weekend, and then we were up north for the first week after school got out. We’re preparing for another trip up north in a couple of weeks, and that will also include Josh’s fishing trip to Canada and our vacation to South Carolina with the Johanssons. August will find us hunkered down, clinging to summer’s last few weeks. Plus, I have jury duty, so we’ll be “stuck” in the area.

Here’s a couple of quick pictures. I promise I’ll try to be better, but as we head up north, dial up will prevent me from accomplishing much of anything. In our absence, we hope that you have an amazing summer!

Click an image to view it full size.
 

Rainy, windy, cold…

There have been very few really nice days this spring.  As I write this, rain is pouring out of dark clouds outside my classroom window.  If it’s not raining, it’s windy or just plain cold outside.  Evan doesn’t understand weather yet, so it’s been hard on him.  One evening we’re able to play outside from the time we get home until bath time, and the next day we can’t go out at all.  His response is often to stand at the patio door and point, grunt, pound on the glass, and then just get frustrated and cry.  Poor kid.  I hope summer is more consistent that spring has been.

 

I have only 13 student days left and a teacher day (or two?!) in June.  Josh is down to 9 days, at least that’s what I think he told me this morning.  I know he has one teacher day after Memorial Day, but he’s done well before June begins.  We plan on heading up north for the first few days of our vacation, but it’s been hard to pin down exactly when we get to leave.  I may or may not have a training session on website design that first week of vacation because I have been selected to help out with “Webmaster” duties on our building’s website.  If you’ve ever been there, you know it’s in dire need of an update.  I also have to be back in town before June 9th because I have two professional development classes that I’m required to take in June. (There are two in August as well, but I am also on jury duty then, so we’ll see what happens.)

 

Anyway, we keep plodding along, waiting for summer’s blissful embrace.  It will get here…

The final countdown…

22-26 days, depending on where we work. 

Summer is coming, though you’d hardly guess that by stepping outside.  There are many things to do between now and then, but in five weeks, all we’ll have to do is enjoy being… well, just being. 

Some friends have said we’ve got it made–we do–but we work hard to earn this respite from spit balls, grading, gum stuck under desks, helicopter parents, invisible parents… and the list goes on.

So, if you have a “real” job, and you’re working in June, July, and August.  I’m sorry.  We’ll think of you when we’re enjoying our summer vacation.  Just remember, for nine months out of the year, we are the folks in the trenches, teaching America’s youth all that they need to be productive members of society.  In some cases, we’re basically raising children who aren’t even our own.  Our summer’s may seem “cushy” to you, but we’ve earned these twelve weeks!

On that note, I’m off to bed after a long evening of lesson planning and prep work for a big literature circles unit that kicks off tomorrow.

Good night, all.

Melissa

A snow day

in April!?!?!? What the….???

Out Like a Lion??

You know that old “In like a lion, out like a lamb” thing that people always say about March?  Well, this year Mother Nature got it backwards.  We’ve had two snowfalls over 10 inches in the past two weeks.  Of course, the snow doesn’t last long when the temperature climbs into the 40s nearly every day, but still.  This is the winter that just won’t die.  We’re SO waiting for warm, dry weather.  Evan runs on batteries, we think, and it will be very nice when he can get some fresh air and burn off his extra charge before bed.  Plus, how great would some warm sunshine feel right about now?!??

 Come on spring, we’re all waiting…

Quiet Easter

We had a very quiet Easter weekend.  I had invited my parents to come to our house, but when they got the OK to head home from Rochester, they took off like a shot (too bad they ended up going back there yesterday… long story). I had also invited my sister and her girls to come down, but her car wasn’t reliable enough to make the 5-6 hour trip, so we celebrated quietly at home.

I was enlisted to help with the Sunday Morning drama at church, so I was at both services.  The youth group served a breakfast, so that was the extent of my cooking that day.  All in all, it was a very relaxing holiday. 

Evan has had a rough go of it these past few days.  Our happy little boy has been so, so cranky.  I had not been brave enough to stick my finger to the back of his mouth to find out if he’s getting his molars, but I assumed it was something like that, or a growth spurt, causing his discomfort.  Last night, during a screaming/crying fit, I did do some exploring along his gumline, and there is a tooth coming in.  Hopefully it’s not long before he’s back to his old self.  Probably, he’ll be alright for a day or so and then another tooth will come.  Ugh.

Nothing else is really happening.  We’re slogging through the week, waiting for some warmer spring weather to show up.  The end of the school year is creeping ever closer, but with it comes talk of massive layoffs in my school.  I’m pretty sure I will have a job next year, but I may be reassigned to a different building–which means a different grade level–and I’m not liking that prospect at all.  I have become so comfortable in my role at the Junior High School.  I love the people I work with, and the idea of starting over again is terrifying.  Usually, though, it’s just when I get comfortable that things start to change.  I just hope we don’t have to move.  I hate moving.

On that happy note, I hope you are all well.  In spite of the snow-covered ground, I know spring is just around the corner.  (I do remember last year when I was home with Evan and we were strolling around in 80 degree temperatures about this time last year… that was nice.

Hang in there.