Post Thanksgiving Debrief

Mitch got called into work - at 7 PM on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend - so I'm taking the time to catch up on stuff.  And by stuff I mean paying bills and eating nachos.  And of course, writing here.  And eating fudge.  (It's almost gone though, which will leave a huge hole in my days.)

Thanksgiving was uneventful, which is just the way I like it.  We ate turkey around 12:30 PM, had a nap and ate some more turkey.  We went to see Harry Potter, because I mistakenly thought it wouldn't be too bad on Thanksgiving night.  Please note the use of the word "mistakenly" in the previous sentence.  Even half an hour early, the only seats we could find were in the 2nd row.  And I like Harry as much as the next person, but holy smokes, I don't need to be that close.  My neck and eyes were aching by the end.  Sara was getting a headache about 45 minutes in, so she and Mitch ended up standing further back against the wall.  (Any mention of her having a headache makes us nervous any more.)  I'd like to go back and see it another time, just to get another look.

If you didn't already know, Mitch had to go the ER last Tuesday.  He had another swelling reaction and this time it was his lower face, including his mouth.  I'd post a picture, but he'd be really mad and then you'd all be coming to my funeral, so let's leave it at you wouldn't believe it even if you saw it.  They hooked him up to an IV and gave him 4 different meds and managed to get it under control.  He's got an appointment with an allergist next week and a steroid prescription along with an epi pen.  He's also under strict instructions that if his face swells again AT ALL to take some Benadryl and come to the ER.  They were pretty convinced it's going to affect his throat next.  I'm hoping this allergist can get him figured out.  He can't keep having these episodes.

We had some snow overnight so that's been fun.  I didn't go out at all today so I can't speak to the condition of the roads.  We'll see tomorrow, I suppose. 

Tomorrow is Cyber Monday.  I'd appreciate it if all of you would stay off the Internet and away from the great deals I'm anticipating scoring.  Thanks in advance. :)

Thankful Thoughts

Here on Thanksgiving Eve, I'm sure it's reasonable to think this would be a post about things I am thankful for.  To that I ask:

Did you people learn nothing from my 40th birthday post?

I won't bore you with the fact that I am of course thankful for my husband and kids and various extended family members.  And you already know I am thankful for all my fabulous friends, who at this point in my life are spread over a great many states but thanks to the power of the Internet and free long-distance don't seem any further that just down the street.

Health has been tricky here for us the last few months, so let's just settle for I'm thankful for the degree of health we currently enjoy and hope that by this time next year, we can remember where we are now and be glad this is all behind us.  I am well aware that many, many people have health problems far worse that what we have/are currently experiencing and I think of people like this often.  A daughter who who has some deposits on her brain that don't interfere with her daily life is indeed a blessing after you've spent any time at all in a pediatric hospital and have seen what others are going through.  And Mitch's swelling face is still a mystery but as long as it doesn't explode all together, we're good.

Even though I'm not spending the holiday with family, I am thankful to know that they are all safe wherever they are celebrating, when there are many, many servicemen and women who are spending their Thanksgiving far away from everyone they love in places that are not the safest.  I am thankful for those men and women as well and do not forget what they are sacrificing that allows me to sit in my house peacefully and gorge myself on fudge and turkey.  (Okay, well maybe just fudge.)

And while many of you are surely shocked to find out I am working in a school - around CHILDREN, no less - and even though I'm only 3 days in, I am thankful to be there.  Jobs aren't easy to come by and despite my reckless disregard of the first one I had here, I do know that.  That this one allows me to be close to my kids in case Sara needs me and understands when I have to call in on my third day because my husband is in the emergency room is something to be thankful for indeed.  And I really like those 2nd graders, let me tell you.  The rest of them are pretty awesome too.  It's maybe not what I had planned on doing here, and it's not what I'm used to at all, but it's perfect for me right now.  So I'm thankful for that.

I am thankful for you, dear readers and Internet stalkers, whether you be friend or family or random stranger.  Whether you read this because I bullied you into it or because you think I'm slightly crazy or because you're slightly crazy or because you are truly interested in my little life here, I always love to look and see how many people have stopped by.  I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are.

Maryann's Monday Madness

Maryann posts these and tells me to do the same and I obey.  You can repost and answer on your own blog, just come back and leave me a comment so I can go read your answers.

Some people hate curse words, some people love them. Which side are you on? And what's your favorite curse (or curse-substitute) word?  Okay, I think we all know I swear.  A lot.  I don't like to play favorites.  I'm an equal opportunity curser.

What's the best thing that could happen to you right now, and if it did, what's the first song you'd turn up loud and start dancing to?  The best thing would be for all these medical issues we're having here to just go away.  And basically, I turn everything up loud and sing along.  But right now, my two faves are Taylor Swift's Mean and Sugarland's Stuck Like Glue.  (Shut up, I never claimed to have great musical taste.)  And there will be no dancing.  I don't believe in dancing. 

Who's your favorite writer, and what work of theirs would you recommend we read first?  Stephen King is my all time favorite writer and I tell everyone to read "Thinner".  He wrote it under a different name and it's not very well known, but it's amazing,.

Post a photograph that means something to you and then tell us why you chose it. (It can be your photo or someone else's.)

This picture is totally Jacob and Sara.  He would never want anyone to see him being silly with his sister, and she lives to make him be silly.  She adores him, and would rather spend time with him than anyone else.  You never hear Jacob laugh the way he does when he's with her. 

Happy Labor Day! What's the first job you ever had?  Besides babysitting?  Then Taco Bell.  For a whopping $3.35 an hour.  Oh, and the free brown polyester uniform and matching visor.  What a vision of loveliness I was.

What's the difference between men and women?   Ummm, really?  Did you not take 6th grade health class?  Seriously though, the difference I see is that women have an incredible amount of daily information in their heads - what kid needs to be where and when, what time school starts and lets out, family birthdays, their husband's family birthdays, etc.  Men, on the other hand, have an incredible amount of useless information in their heads - the price of gas in 1989, the final score of the last football game they played in high school, a "better" route that the GPS doesn't recognize.  Stuff like that.

Just a Job to Do

I started at the school today.  I'm a math factor tutor for seven classes (15 minutes per class) and the last 15 minutes of my day, I am out front helping with Track A dismissal.  I will also be doing playground duty starting on Monday, so I can add an extra hour to my time card bringing the grand total to 3 hours a day.  I fully expect to be exhausted.  But I don't have to be there until 11:30 so that will help. 

But I got my very own whistle today so that was an unexpected surprise.  Who knew this job came with accessories?  I thought it would just be flashcards. 

To celebrate my new employment - do you think maybe I should wait a few days to see if this sticks before I start celebrating, because we know new jobs aren't carved in stone with me - I went to Yogurt Bliss and it was delicious.  Obviously.

Random Things on Thursday

- Mitch is going to a dermatologist today in (yet) another attempt to determine why the left side of his face swells up.  And now this morning he said his left hand is swollen as well.  I've decided that Utah is bringing out the weird health issues in this family.

- I hate drinking out of cans.  I prefer bottles.  Glass for beer and plastic for soda.  I harbor a bizarre belief that my clumsiness will result in cutting my lip open while drinking from a can.  Which may explain my stress level this week while I try to finish off this case of Dr. Pepper cans I bought while Mitch's dad was here.

- Note to James Patterson:  I just saw your commercial for your new book "Cross Fire" and you, of all people, should know that "unputdownable" is not a word.  It's not even acceptable as "un-put-downable".  I'm making my disappointed face at you for allowing the voice-over guy to use that non-word.

-  The local CW station here follows a noon showing of "Law & Order: SVU" with "Matlock".  Seriously?  "Matlock"?

- I have a grocery list a mile long for Thanksgiving dinner and it's just the 4 of us here.  It seems unlikely that I seem to have NO SUPPLIES for this meal, yet that appears to be the case.  And I have to buy stuff to make for pumpkin pies and I don't even like pumpkin pie.  Ironic, I know.

- Tonight begins Thursday night football and it's the Bears vs. the Dolphins.  I love Thursday night football.  I won't say who I'm rooting for, since sometimes my brothers read this blog and I don't want to make either one of them mad.

- My most recent "completely attainable, yet highly unlikely I will actually do" goal is to read my camera book and find out how to use all those features past "Easy".  Because since they went to all the trouble of putting those features on the camera, it seems that the least I could do is try one of them.

Eight Days a Week

Again, where have I been?  Ugh, as soon as I wrote last Tuesday's post, things went crazy!

I had a job interview that day.  It went well, except it was about 30 minutes away and only paid $7.50 an hour.  The hours were not fabulous, 9 to 5:30.  I was pretty sure I wasn't taking it when I left, though you never can tell with me.  I do have a history of taking weird jobs.  Funeral home receptionist, anyone?

Anyway, I got home and was goofing off, waiting for it to be time to pick up the kids from science club, talking on the phone to Jenni, when the call waiting beeped through at 3:20.  I didn't recognize the number, but thought that I should.  (Do you ever have that?  Hmmm, the number isn't immediately recognized, but I think I SHOULD know it, so what to do?)  Good thing I answered, since it was Sara's teacher.  He said Sara wasn't doing well and wanted me to come get her.  I could hear something in the background and finally said, "Is that her crying?"  and he said yes.  I clicked back over to Jenni, changed out of my yoga pants into something more publicly acceptable, and drove over to the school.  Luckily, we're only 2 miles away.

Kids were getting on the buses when I pulled in and I went straight up to Sara's classroom.  She was sitting on the floor with her teacher, holding a trash can.  I said "Hi Sara" and she looked toward me and then back at her teacher and said "Is that my mom?  Is she here?" 

I could tell from her voice that it was another temporal* lobe seizure.  When she stood up and came to me, she started saying "I need to go home, can we go home, let's just go home" and variations of that theme.  She said she was going to throw up and she needed to take the trash can with her.  I knew she wasn't going to, that it was a symptom of the seizure, and convinced her we couldn't take the school trash can home.  There was another teacher in there and she went to the science club room to get Jacob.  We took the elevator downstairs since she wasn't in any shape to take the stairs and I didn't feel comfortable carrying her and got her out to the car. 

She was a little better in the car, but still agitated and saying she needed to go home.  We got home and she barely made it in the house before collapsing on the couch.  She slept for 3 hours and woke up with a headache, but it wasn't too bad and some Motrin took care of it. 

I called the neurologist's office Wednesday.  They said they don't necessarily need to see her since she has an appointment already scheduled for the end of December, but if she has another one, they will want to.  They also said to make sure she stays hydrated and gets enough rest, because any kind of compromise to her system may contribute to a seizure.  They confirmed there isn't anything to do while she's having one, except wait it out and be there.

SO that kept us freaked out for a little bit.  Then Mitch's dad and Annette came on Thursday and stayed until Monday morning.  It was a great visit.  We went up to Salt Lake on Friday and to Antelope Island on Sunday and ate at the Red Iguana  twice.  Seeing her grandparents was just what Sara needed and took her mind off the seizure. 

I had a job interview at the school on Friday and they called right after to say I got it.  It's just as a Math Fact Tutor, 2 hours a day, but it's close.  And maybe too close, but until I feel more comfortable about Sara, I need to be close.  And with any luck, it will lead to something else with the school district next year when hopefully everything is back to normal.  Or back to acceptable anyway.  I went for fingerprinting today and will be starting soon.

So while we're in Salt Lake Friday morning, the agency called about the receptionist job.  I had no intention of taking that job, remember, but I wasn't going to tell HIM that. 

So I said, "Well, Mr. Job Guy, you said you'd call me on Wednesday.  I didn't hear from you so I figured they weren't interested.  I took a job with the school district an hour ago." 

Mr. Job Guy:  "Oh, no.  They called yesterday and they think you'd be perfect."

Me:  (To myself:  Well, of course I'd be perfect.  Duh!)  Out loud: "Sorry, but even if you'd called yesterday it would have been different.  Like I said, I took this other job this morning."

Unnecessary?  Yeah, probably.  But whatever.  I have few opportunities to be snarky anymore, I gotta take what I can get.

What have YOU been doing this past week? :)

* Corrected from earlier post:  I had written frontal lobe seizure which is not correct.  It's a temporal lobe seziure. 

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