Live from Tormville!

Just another day in paradise

I've never had a smoke, and I've never had an alcoholic drink. Well, except for that one drink that one time BY ACCIDENT. If I can make it through the end of this day without succumbing to those vices - I should be able to go the long haul.

This morning, I was certain that I was going to spend the day at a hospital while Mark had his appendix removed. He was in such extreme pain - I texted apologies to the bosses, called him in, poked and prodded him for about ten minutes, then quick took a shower before the other kids left so he wouldn't be left alone.

By the time I got out of the shower and back downstairs - he was feeling better. He was laying down. Appendix will do that sometimes - so I ran him through more exercises, prodding and poking we discussed our options. 
1. We could both stay home.
2. He could go to work with me, I'd put him helping in some classroom, but he'd be close if he started hurting again.
3. He could go to school, and I'd email everyone to watch him like a Hawk. (grin. That's their mascot. See what I did there?)
or 4. He could go to grandma's apartment.

He chose to spend the morning at grandmas by saying, "I don't like to take chances, unless it's with baking, so I'll go to grandma's." I went to work. In my casual Friday aka hospital all day clothes, because after that morning, I wasn't changing again. 

But that's not all. There was work. We'll just sum it up by calling it a steady climb to the full moon on the 19th. A day that had me wondering WHY I didn't encourage option 1. 

But that ain't it either!

At 3:30 today, while at work, I got a call on my cell phone. Because I have four kids, two of whom still don't have their own phones - yes, I do answer local unknown calls.

I got chewed a new one. Obscenities up, down, left, right, wondering why I was calling HIM. I very gently responded that I have not called him (didn't bother trying to explain that spam calls are quite frequently routed through everyday people's numbers) and I was interrupted with more obscenities. I hung up and blocked the number.

Turns out that blocked numbers can still leave voice mails, so I now have an obscenity laced documentation to back up the first call.

But that's not all!

THEN. Wendy calls, and says, mom - there's some guy following me around our sub, and he's hollering out the window at people. And I'm scared. And I don't want him to know where I live, and he keeps following me. I said Wendy. Hang up and call 911 and tell them exactly what is happening. They will be more help than me in that situation.

And she did. And she waited outside of our sub while I called the boys and told them to stay put and not open the door for anyone.

When I got home I asked her how it went with the cop. She responded that they asked what kind of car it was, and she told them it was white, with a stripe, and she told them about my coincidentally timed phone call as well, and then they escorted her home. The guy was long gone. She then told me that as she got out of her car, the neighbor asked her if she saw the guy in the white car driving around hollering, looking for his dog.

Chocolate. 
Chocolate is my vice of choice. Writing is my therapy. 

Mark is seemingly fine. 

Know me, know my love for stats.

The archery qualifying season ended on Saturday with a home tournament. 

All season long, Brian has been within reach of bringing home a medal. If there were five medals - he'd place 6th or 7th. If there were 10 medals, he'd place 11th or 12th. It became a family joke. The eight year old Brian would NOT have handled this season and the family teasing well at all. There would have been talk of quitting, self-loathing and door slamming. But this fourteen year old Brian? As his mother, I feel relief, thankfulness, gratefulness and yes, pride. While some of that maturity comes automatically with age, for this kid, I am appreciative that he had a continuum of teachings by way of four years of karate, black belt camp, Leadership class and Reaching Higher, all of which taught goal setting strategies and increased self-confidence and self esteem. To me, this medal is about SO much more than his score on the 3D targets; it's about growth. And that smile. Brian is the typical stoic Finn. That smile is HUGE. 

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As for ME. Here is how Saturday went down. Brian shot 3D at 9am and Bullseye at 11am. The competition ran through 4pm, with the last heat taking the line at 3. It was a few hours before I even checked Brian's score on the 3D, and when I did, I was a little bit HEY! New personal best! And it was a sizeable point jump from his previous best on 3D. 

He quickly fell out of the medal running on bullseye, but he was maintaining his standing on 3D, so I was hitting the refresh button all afternoon. Being the end of the season, Brian knew to ask if Parker or Hartland had shot yet, because both hold some pretty regular podium archers. The good news - they had already shot, and Brian was still in the running. At this point, we were at home for a bit before heading back to medals, and this is about where my love for stats comes in to play. 

I pulled up which school still had left to shoot. Unfortunately, it was Lakers. At 3pm, so the results wouldn't be posted until we were back at the tournament for awards. Lakers also has a very strong team. I warned Brian that they had already shot bullseye, and five of their male middle school archers had scores slightly higher than him. I then looked up each of those five archers individually to see what their top score on 3D was. I told Brian not to get his hopes up, but he had all but one of them beat for previous high scores. He kept it in check, but he was definitely getting excited. The final scoring fell the way that the stats lined up, and Brian was bumped down to 8th after Lakers shot. 

When we got home, we reviewed the final roster. Brian tied a Hartland archer with his 269, but took the higher placement because he shot more 10's. Four boys shot a 267, two of them on that last flight. 

It was close. Next stop is Nationals, where his school's team has qualified to shoot both bullseye and 3D targets. 

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Other stuffs:

• Mark starts soccer again next week. 
• Tonight we have our Title I event at the elementary, wherein there will be medals given for the best pies brought in by our elementary students. 
  Mark, drumming his fingers together:  Ooooh,  pie baking contest? I just noticed that the rhubarb is coming up! 
• Wendy came home talking about how one of her teachers is now subbing at the library. 
  Wendy: Mom, he was the teacher that had us watch The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
  Mark: What is The Boy in the Striped Pajamas?     
  Me: Oh. You would totally cry. It's sad. 
  Mark: Of course I would cry. I cried when watching Hoarders. (Duh) 
• Mark, after the first day of the 4th quarter (new classes): Hey Brian, what does, 'a man a plan a canal panama' spell backwards?
  Brian: Mark. I have the same teacher. (Duh) 
• Yearbook has been officially submitted, 821 copies ordered. I can no longer use that as a way to avoid doing the taxes. 
• I didn't get to everything on my hoped for list this past weekend, but I did enjoy a spontaneous visit with friends. It's been a long time since I've stayed up visiting until 12:30. I'm not the night owl that I used to be. 
• I need to go get ready for work - all for now. 

Happy Wednesday! 

be good. 

Late night thoughts

It's not unusual for Mark and I to have a few moments to ourselves each evening, in which we enjoy sharing thoughts on the day. 

Last night's conversation went something like this: 

Mark: I'm both nervous and excited for Monday. 

Me: And....what is Monday that has you nervous and excited? 

Mark: It's the first day of the fourth quarter. 

Me:  And........? 

Mark: We get new seats in math and social studies, I'll have Spanish, and we start getting our music for the last concert. 

Momma bear, honing in: And why is changing your seats so exciting? Are you sitting in a bad spot now?

Mark: Well. (as in, let....me....tell.....you) In social studies I am at a table with FIVE women (yes. he said women), and NO other boys. 

Me: Hmmm. Sounds dreadful. But how bad is it, really? 

Mark, with the sigh of a guy who knows more about women than he cares to at the young age of 12: Well. One forgets everything, one talks all the time, and another is super smart and is always telling us to study study study. 

Sounds positively dreadful. 

Me: Wow. And how do you deal with all that. 

Mark: I just keep my head down, stay quiet and do my work. 

You're a wise man Mark. School teaches SO much more than academics.

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As for this weekend....

• archery tournament
• fantastic weather
• yearbook COMPLETE. I just may treat myself to fish tacos. 
• laundry, bills, blah blah blah
• I should really do those taxes
• And the week brought a new niece that I'd love to go snuggle

A young friend's honesty. Honestly.

This share requires a little bit of background. 

To know where I live, is to know I live in town. In fact, I live within the district of the elementary that I work at, which means that when I go for a walk, it's not unusual for me to bump into many of my young friends. 

Like last week, when I was walking to my haircut and I saw one of my young kindergarten friends playing up at our old elementary school. 

Hey! He called, What are you doing here? 

I explained that I lived near here, and that I was walking to my haircut appointment. This venture was during our spring break, so he exclaimed that he missed me, gave me a hug, and I continued walking. Because I'm not rookie when it comes to bumping into friends about town, I knew that this encounter has now destined me to several years of "Hey! I saw you at the park!" 

I heard that first on Tuesday, our second day back to school, when I was walking to my van after work and he was on the playground.  HEY! HEY!  I saw you at the park!!  

This morning, Wednesday, had me delivering a message to his classroom at the start of the day.

HEY! I heard, as I entered the room. I saw you at the Park!!  

Yep. 

Nice haircut, he added. Okay - that one got me. 

And then, a hug, along with - again, I missed you. Released from the hug, he paused and added, You're sqwoooshy like my mom. Complete with a little pinch of my arm for emphasis. 

He just may end up with his own page in my school journal. Right next to the friend who saw me at Walgreens. 

Otters and Autism

This morning is a rush of sorts. 

It's one of those mornings that had me utilizing my brother's wise trick of using the dryer for an iron. As I ran downstairs in my bathrobe, towel still wrapped about my head, I mentioned something about having to wear blue for Autism Awareness Day today as I yanked my bottom of the drawer cardigan out of the still tumbling dryer.

As I was rushing back up the stairs (this having to be at work an hour early for M-STEP Proctor training AND not having the forethought to lay out some blue choices last night is throwing off my morning routine. Just a bit) I overheard Mark say: Well, I don't care about that. 

I thought, huh. That doesn't sound at all like our empathetic, sensitive youngest. I made a mental note to touch base with him later. 

And then I overheard Brian: Mark!!  She said Autism! Not Otters! 

Mark:  OOooooooh!! That makes more sense.

Brian, muttering: Otter Awareness Day? Seriously, Mark. 

Happy Tuesday! 

 

Crushing Spring Break

We didn't go anywhere for spring break this year, second year in a row, and I'm thankful. I needed some time at home to catch my breath. The last few days were spent working on yearbook, scrubbing corners and being downright domestic. So much so that that husband of mine is going to start getting used to meals and a clean house and will soon be asking "Remind me again - why are you working?" 

They forget how I get when I have the home to myself too much. (I tend to start harping on keeping the shoes and towels lined up just so. I'm easier to live with when I don't have time to keep up at home) 

In an attempt to keep the balance, enjoy the sunshine and fulfill one of Mark's spring break wishes - today we took a break from the scrubbing and headed out to do the Kensington loop. Mark has been asking to do this for several months now. I've tried telling him several times how long 8.25 miles really is, and how it's going to feel when he's done. 

We packed a lunch, I filled my hydro-pak and we headed out. And yes - I'm wearing Mace. I have very vivid memories of the last time I did the full loop. It was back in the early 90's, before cell phones, and I had just about finished the whole loop on my rollerblades when I was met by a flasher at the top of a long hill. I flew down the last hill to get to my truck. 

So yes. I carry pepper spray. 

Maybe this will be the summer that Greg and I accomplish kayaking the entire Huron a bit at a time. 

However. Sigh. I did not get a good report at my shoulder check up this week. Thirteen weeks post surgery, I have yet to regain full range of motion and it still hurts to sleep. It seems I have a substantial build up of scar tissue that I need to bust through. The hope is that I can work through it doing my physical therapy repetitively at home during the next four weeks, otherwise - they'll put me under a light anesthetic and manipulate it through the scar tissue while I'm out. 

I'm stretching my arm through every doorway I go through now. It's been a bit of a rough winter. 

Today's walk did me good. I felt like I had my pre-pneumonia energy back. I kept wanting to break into a jog. Mark? Not so much. 

We started at mile 3, so this was mile 5.25 for us. This was about the point where Mark forgot that the whole thing had been his idea. 

A couple times I wished I had my zoom lens, but I did NOT want to carry that around the whole loop. I am glad that I carried a full daypack. I'm gearing up for backpacking season! 

Come on Mark! We've got this!  I SEEEEE the van!  

He took off his socks and shoes the second he sat down in the van. 

Home - he made himself a grilled cheese, and I made my favorite breakfast of redskin potatoes, a chopped up sausage link, spinach, 2 eggs over easy, avocado and a side of fruit. 

I like today. 

Spring Break, Day One

Okay, so the photo is actually from over a week ago - but Spring Break this year for me is about catching up. This is a good place to start. 

• I slept until EIGHT O' CLOCK this morning. This is unheard of. I don't remember the last time my body slept until after 6, unmedicated. EIGHT! 
• I've been sitting in my recliner ever since. Sipping my coffee, playing with yearbook and watching videos that make me cry. 
• I cry over pretty much everything, so pretty much any video. 
• The biggest challenge for me this break will be keeping some balance. I would be perfectly content to just sit right here and play with pictures all week long. But the body needs sunshine, movement, and people as well (I got that from a video this morning) so I will make a concentrated effort. 
• Besides, we do have things like dentist, doctor and dog grooming and stuff. 
• The above photo was taken on Brian's 14th birthday over a week ago. Brian is behind the hat. They love him. 
• Brian's archery team qualified for Nationals this month, so we'll be dividing an conquering to cheer the kids come the second week of May. 
• Mark gave Brian a sign for his birthday that said, "Do not disturb me, I'm sleeping! And even if I am awake, I probably don't want to see you" And Brian Laughed, and Cheered, and claimed it was perfectly HIM, and the best gift ever. We all enjoyed a good laugh. Love a kid who knows himself well. 
• Allan came home for a quick trip last weekend. He's in the home stretch! He was home so quick, that I never did see all four kids in the same room.
• This past week, I attended concerts four nights in a row. Probably why I slept until 8 this morning. One was Mark's band concert, the others were elementary. I bit of a push for group yearbook photos during the last week crunch. Success! 
• Brian, choosing his courses for his first year of high school had to pick two electives. "I think I'll choose this one about Global Issues and Current Events. It looks interesting"  
• It's like he's not my kid. Current Issues and Global Events? Over photography? Or art?  He outsmarted me a long time ago. 
• Time to go swish some laundry and make some lists. 

be good! 

 

 

Howell Wins!

FINAL: @yogipalo sends @Howellbball to the BRESLIN!

Howell - 57
Saginaw - 56 pic.twitter.com/IxgV9kY6Xj

— ESPN 100.9-FM (@ESPN1009) March 13, 2019

 

A tie game with 2.3 seconds remaining, our team has 2 free throws on the line, and their team calls a 60 second time out. 

First shot is a miss, second shot goes in, we're up by 1 - and Saginaw takes the ball, fires it from halfway down the court and HITS THE RIM. But it misses. 

Howell wins!! 

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My mom and I have been attending the boy's varsity basketball games all season, including the barn burner of a regional championship. 

Tonight was the State Semifinal, and I chose to stay home and attend curriculum night. For our third high schooler. 

I'm not very bright. 

I ended up begging the counselor for a condensed version so I could get home in time to listen to the game (Thanks Val - and hey, turns out that language is one of the requirements, so we still need an elective. Who knew?!) 

THEN - I couldn't find a way to listen or watch the game for free. Following Twitter, it was quickly apparent that it was another barn burner. I ponied up the ten bucks so I could watch the second half online. The sound stunk, and the scores and time weren't visible, but it was still worth the ten bucks. Great game boys!! Howell is headed to the Final Four State Finals (at the Breslin) for the first time since 1927! 

Snowshoeing, Tubing and Arrows that Fly

Brian had an archery tournament in Gaylord this weekend. 
I made a two night reservation several months ago, thinking that two of us would go - weather permitting - and that it would make things easier if he had an early morning flight. 

As it turned out, four of us went, and the weather was great for traveling. 
We left after work on Friday and got up there by 9, after a stop at Meijer for food. Brian got a new personal best - and Greg got some coaching time in. 

We had enough time left after the tournament for the boys to get in some tubing at Boyne (where we stayed). Parking at Boyne in the winter is a much different adventure than it is in the spring, fall and summer. We chose to walk from our unit over to tubing just to avoid having to struggle for a parking spot again. 

Mark walked up the hill more often then he took the tow rope. He just didn't have the patience to wait for it.  He did use the tow rope a few times, though. 

Mark: The worker at the top says he admires me for walking up the hill three times in a row. So I think I'll take the rope  this time. 

The winter back home has been such a dud this year, it was good to get some snow play in. 

This morning, Sunday, we checked out at ten and headed out for some more winter fun. I worked hard to keep my mouth covered. My doctor would be pleased. 

Greg and Brian rented some cross country skis, while Mark and I headed out on our snowshoes. Our trail was 4 km, and we got back to the van just about ten minutes before Greg and Brian. They had to do the whole rental process after dropping us off, and we a little bit lallygagged, but for the most part - about the same time. 

I figured I shouldn't overdo it TOO much, still not 100% after that round of pneumonia, so we followed the BST (Beginner Snowshoe Trail). There were several trails we could choose from. We crossed paths with the fat bike and cross country trails several times, and back at the van we did learn that we saw some of the same points that Greg and Brian did, but we never did see them while out on the trail. 

I want to go again. And again. And yet again when the branches are covered with freshly fallen snow. 

Mark worked hard to make this little hole in the snow. He was disappointed that Greg and Brian didn't notice it on their trek. 

I loved that the trail went right towards this old home. Mark: I am NOT going in there.  He was totally freaked out. 

My dream winter would be one that I could get out and do this every single day. 

 

Here I am, stuck in the middle with you

I'm sitting here, in my recliner [I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of this recliner in the past few months] and this song is stuck in my head. The lyrics in my head, though, are different. They go something like - Vaporizer to the left, diffuser to the right, here I am....

I've got pneumonia. I didn't believe it at first when I finally dragged myself in to get checked out Sunday morning. I'm susceptible to pneumonia, having been born with it, and getting it numerous times as a child and teenager, but I've kept it at bay now for a good 20 years. I've been feeling crummy since Thursday evening, but finally went in when it hit my ears. Nailing my own diagnosises (should be a word) for years now, I was certain it was an ear or sinus infection. Not. 

I grew up in the 70's. A time wherein it wasn't yet fully realized that in the house smoking and living in an old plaster home in a constant state of remodel might be, well, bad for me. That was just life as it was. It was an era where ashtrays were given as wedding gifts, a kid's chore was to empty the ashtrays and they knew when I walked my pre-teen self up to the counter at the corner store with two dollars in my hand that it was for one pack of Kool Longs and one pack of Pall Malls. They also knew to save the 50 cent pieces for me, because every time I 'got lucky' (wink) and got a 50 cent piece instead of 2 quarters for change - mom and dad let me put that in my piggy bank. Somewhere around here is a scrapbook layout about my childhood tobacco runs.

Where was I....

A large part of my childhood was spent playing Atari (LOVED Breakout!), in the office of our home, while attached to my breathing treatment machine. The office was a room we had to have permission to go into. It was also the only room on the lower level that was actually finished. It had a wall of bookshelves (where my mom hid her childhood diary), a large desk, orangish shag carpeted walls and slate topped end tables and coffee table. It was on that where both the breathing machine and the Atari sat. I sat on our classic 70's woodframe couch. 

The other memory I have of frequent lung problems was percussion for lung clearance. I Googled it last night, and it's still a thing. An evening routine in our home would be for me to toss the couch cushions on the floor, position myself so that my head was lower than my middle, and my mom would begin pounding my back and sides for what felt like forever. I'm sure we had the TV on, but I also suffered frequent hearing loss and often had tubes (still do), so with the pounding going on - I'm sure I didn't hear a thing. Brady Bunch, even then, was often reruns anyway. 

For kicks and giggles, I had Wendy try percussion on me last night. I didn't notice any immediate relief, but we had fun chatting. My hearing is better today than it was in the 70's. Then again, I'm often guilty of starting rumors for hearing things incorrectly.....

But anyway. 

On Sunday I went to Redicare, and I guess I was just a smidge away from being sent to the hospital. I made a promise to go to the ER if I felt any worse, and I went home and crawled in bed. When I went for my follow-up yesterday, I showed slight improvement, while someone else was being hauled off in an ambulance. True story. 

Me: So....what are my limitations? Can I go to work? (PT? Anything?) 
Dr: Where do you work? 
Me: The elementary schoo....... Dr: Hahahahahhaahhahaha. NO. 

Mandatory two days off. NOT good timing. 

I'm a little dumbfounded too, because I'm super careful just knowing that I'm susceptible. In 8th grade, the doctor told me I had to quit track because often practice was in the rain, I was overexerting, and getting pneumonia. It was heartbreaking at that age to quit.  I live pretty cautiously now - choosing layers (better options now than back then) appropriately, I'm a fair weather runner - or I set myself up to get into a hot shower Instantly after a rainy run - and I don't overdo it. 

And then I remembered. The one thing that I've let slip - probably since I've started wearing progressive readers - is wearing something over my mouth in the cold. I'm sure that's it. Something to get back into the habit of. 

So. Here I am, in my recliner for several days with very limited activity options. Hello blog! 

Wendy, who has co-op, so a shortened day, arrived home just a bit ago. We had a few minutes of conversation, I said something stupid, and she rebutted with something along the lines of, "Mom, this is MY quiet time and if you're going to be here you have to at least be nice" 

And I laughed.  Her: What's.so.funny? 

Me: What's funny is that I was so enjoying the quiet and thinking...oh, Wendy is going to be home soon and I won't have the house to myself anymore. But Oh - Wendy has that senior thing tomorrow - so I'll have the house and quiet to myself just a little bit longer on Wednesday!

Neither of us are even noisy, or even on the same floor - but we are so much alike. 

Peace out.