Live from Tormville!

Hello Doc / Day 225

Brian hopped home on one foot from the school bus yesterday. 

It seems he tripped on the sidewalk when his class went outside for the hour. Trust me, we're going to work on making up a better story than that if it turns out he needs a cast, boot and/or crutches.  Tripped on the sidewalk?  Then again, this is the same kid that ended up in a body cast after breaking his femur by jumping off the couch when he was a just turned three year old. The doctor told me then that, due to his hypermobility joint syndrome, he'd break a lot of bones in his lifetime. 

But a sidewalk trip? 

When he got home yesterday, I told him to take a Motrin, raise it and put some ice on it, then off to the football game I went without giving it another thought. He was in bed long before I got home from the late running football game. This morning he came down the stairs on his butt and his foot is still swollen. 

Me, on the phone: Hey doc. I honestly don't know what to do. 

Brian, on the way to the doctor: Isn't he a little kid's doctor?  Don't I need to get a new doctor now that I'm older?   

NO! 
We are getting at least six more years out of this doctor, and don't ever talk like that again! 

-----

Brian has grown 10 inches and 62 pounds since his last visit to the doctor (in 2017) 

Doctor to the receptionist before we left for x-rays: We're going to call this a well visit so they don't have to pay. 
Doctor to us: Use the money to go get something good to eat  for lunch

Switch doctors?  Never

-----

Doctor to Brian: Now that you know walking is dangerous for your health, you probably shouldn't do it again. 

-----

At the hospital where we went to get x-rays, they had an updated check-in procedure since I was there in the late spring with Mark. 

Now, instead of them zapping your head with a hand held thermometer, they have you walk up to a screen where you have to line up your face with the image and it scans your temperature. 

I walked up to the machine, got scolded on being confused about the new process, and the machine refused to read my masked face. 

Lady: Take off your glasses

Then....

Lady: What does it say? 

Me: Well. (DURRRR) I don't know - I can't read it without my glasses (as soon as I moved to put them back on, the reading disappeared) 

Lady: Do it again, and he (Brian) can read it. 

Repeat. 

My temperature?  96.8 

As someone that self-checks everyday before work, I have my doubts.  Then again, that football game last night WAS cold! 

------

Now we're just waiting on results of the x-ray. 

Meanwhile, does anyone have any tall people crutches we can borrow if necessary?  Turns out the ones we had in the basement were from back when my kids were all shorter than me. 

Happy Saturday! 

Conferences / Day 223

I attended high school conferences this evening for the third kid. 

I think I may have gone to one high school conference for the first kid back in 2009, or so. It wasn't fun. 
Something about the ability to sit in my recliner for a scheduled zoom conference appealed to me more than going to school and standing in the science/math/english heavy lines to wait and talk to the teacher in a noisy hallway. 

But that's me. 

I decided to ease in and just choose two out of the seven teachers. 

Teacher Number One: So. Brian told me that he doesn't like people. 

True that (In a very normal genetically inherited way) Just a couple days ago I went in the backyard and gave my non-attention seeking kid some attention by thanking him for being so go with the flow in regards to his brother moving into his bedroom so shortly after he got his own room, and for always doing yardwork without being asked. 

Brian: I like yardwork. Leaves don't talk. 

Teacher number one has made it a goal to get Brian to like her by the end of the year.  Brian grinned. 

Teacher Number Two:  So, how did the first conference go?  
Me: Well, I learned that she knows that Brian doesn't like people. 
Teacher Number Two: And I know he's on the archery team, and now..... he doesn't like people. Interesting combination. I'll be careful.

Conferences are more amusing then I had remembered. 

 

Bagpipes / Day 222

Me, loading my pictures from tonight's band performance: Hey Mark, when you get to high school, will you consider playing the bagpipes?

Mark: I don't know. How much chicken arming do they have to do?

---

Greg: Ooooh, you should do that! The wail of the bagpipes is known to strike terror in the heart of the enemy! 
Brian: The thought of Mark practicing the bagpipes strikes terror in my heart already. 

 

Mark Lunges / Day 221

This morning I asked Mark if maybe his pants were a little too small for him, as in - "Hey Mark, are those pants a little too small for you?" 

Mark proceeded to do lunges across the living room. 

Mark: "Well, they didn't rip when I did that, and I don't stretch more than that at school - so, they'll be fine." 

Defeated / Day 219

It's been a week. 

Everyone has one now and then, and this week, it was my turn. 

From adjusting to a new schedule, falling further behind on crucial deadlines, making hard choices, having an adverse reaction (as per the doctor, "I wouldn't call it an allergic reaction, but an adverse reaction") to the pneumonia vaccine that took me out of play a few evenings, racing to the store to get a new phone as my old one was dying a sure and sudden death in my hands, not even being able to find someone interested in my plus one offer to the game last night, capped off by last night's frustrating loss to Brighton, well - defeated is the one word that covers it all. 

I went into yesterday raw from the get go. As someone who has known me in the work atmosphere for three years already said, "Sharyn, this is the first time that I've seen you frazzled"   True. Frazzled isn't my go to, and it's not a good look  on me. I tend to thrive on pressure, and the week having already taken it's toll on me, frazzled was all I had left to give by the time Friday came.  Bring back the four day week, I say. 

All said and done, I did make an effort to shake off the week and get my head in the game for last night's match up against our rival. 

But I was raw. 

The emotion of having just a few more fans in the stands, the band back on the field, the Pom team finally able to perform, and the week still freshly stinging had me with tears just an nth from spilling over all night. In fact, there was a moment at the end of the halftime, where I had placed myself in the very thick of the drumline, flaming baton twirlers and screaming cheerleaders, that I was so very close to being completely overcome that I had an escape route planned to get to my van before I completely lost it. 

That bass drum gets me every time. 

But I made it. 
And I'll make it through this day, this week, this election, this year and this pandemic. (I'll be fine, mom) 

But not all days are easy. 

And with that, I'm taking two Benedryl for my lingering adverse reaction and crawling back into bed as it was at 2:30am that these thoughts had me tossing and turning. 

Be good, be kind. 

Plus One / Day 213

I hadn't originally planned to attend Friday's football game, being that it was an away game - but once I processed that my going allows me to get one more fan into the game (being a holder of a plus one pass) well - how could I not go?  Seats are coveted this year.  It was a fantastic game, I got another favorite shot for my files, I hitched a ride with my plus one, the weather was phenomenal (I didn't pull a layer over my t-shirt until the beginning of the 4th quarter) and we won!

The week caught up to me when I got home, and it was the first time I didn't get pictures loaded the night of the event, as I had nodded off in my recliner with my laptop in my lap. 

Every day I'm grateful to have the opportunity to take pictures. It feeds my creatively, keeps me active and out while socially distanced, and it feels productive. So perfectly me. 

My mom typically gets in free as a senior to the volleyball and basketball games that she enjoys, but not sure how that's working this year so she gets dibs on my plus one for now. I picked her up for the  Volleyball game this week.  While we lost in three, it was the best match to date - with one match going point for point up to 27 before Hartland took the win. 

-----------

This week:

• Starting Week NINE of in-person school. The final week of the quarter!  Starting the school year, my prayer was for one full week. We've exceeded everyone's expectations. Has it been a lot of work?  YES.  Is it still a lot of work?  YES. But so worth it. 
• This is Mark's last week of Rec soccer. Playing on a team of 5th - 8th graders, he's the tallest on the team and has been holding back for fear of hurting any of the kids half his size. He's a gentle giant. This Saturday's game he apologized to the opponents several times. I do a LOT of counseling during my evenings/weekends. 
• Brian's Archery starts this week.  
• I also need to get him signed up for Segment 2. We've been piling on hours with our Sunday afternoon joy rides. Today we went pumpkin shopping. 
• I'm subbing a few days
• Volleyball
• Football
• Cross Country
• Wendy's birthday
• I still need to stop at the pharmacy and see about getting a pneumonia vaccine. 
• I also need to upgrade my phone before it dies.  I tend to push things right to their maximum. 

Here's to a new week! 

Be Good
Stay Safe!

Covid-Era Outing / Day 210

I was on the phone with Wendy, our daughter, the other day and she informed me that my blog has become boring. 

Sigh. It's true. 

It's always hard for me to maintain a writing schedule once I go back to work. The days are going quickly right now. 

Yesterday, I picked up my mom after work so she could join me on my run to the dentist, with a plan to do some shopping afterwards. As soon as I picked her up, I realized that I had no way to access any money to actually do any shopping - as my card had to be canceled after that last away football game. We swung by home, and lucky day my new card was in the mailbox waiting for me. Quickest authorization ever. 

So far, even though I'm throwing up a new blog post, Wendy is still going to say it's boring. 

BUT. It gets better. My Covid-Long tooth repair is finally finished!  The should have been filling that turned into a root canal + crown = DONE. 

We celebrated with a lap around 12 Oaks. I hadn't been there since last fall. Our first stop was Fossil. I had to replace a battery on Mark's watch. (Mark: Mom, I really need to wear my watch to school, because - sad to say, the clocks there? Well - they just aren't reliable")   I pulled an old person move at Fossil. 

Me: I actually used to be the manager of the store that was in this space back in the 80's. 
Two very kind, polite Fossil employees:  Really?  That's cool. What was the store?  

I went on to tell them about the store A.J. Cheers, the floor plan, the differences between now and then while they acted interested.  

Then, because this is now - I asked them how late the mall is open and what I should expect different - not having shopped in over 210 days.  Well. They said. It's hit or miss. Starbucks isn't open today but we don't know why, some stores are only open on the weekend, some stores are open until 6 and others until 7. I had gotten out of my dentist appointment just before 5. 

Okay then. While we walked, we noticed doors roped off so to wait for approval to enter, the line out the Apple Store (not new) was now across the hall, some stores were dark and closed, other appeared normal with the only visible change being the spacing markers and distancing reminders posted everywhere. 

My mom and I split up so we'd each be able to hit our stores, if they were open, before 6. Eddie Bauer for me.  I was hoping to find a new jacket for Mark and a birthday gift for Wendy. I found a shirt for me. They took the time to stress that their dressing rooms were open.  (Marshall's and Kohl's dressing rooms are still closed)  I know my size. I bought myself a shirt, and nothing for Mark or Wendy.  After discounts, it came to just over $10, so I dug out cash - and was told that it had to be exact cash.  I came within a penny and we called it good. 

We missed J.Jill by ten minutes. They closed at 6. 

We thought we'd check Cheesecake Factory for dinner, but they had a 40 minute wait, we were starved, and they appeared busier than either of us were comfortable with, even though it was only full to the currently allowed capacity. We headed to Red Robin instead, which was more suited to our comfort level. 

It was a very Covid-era outing. Including receiving the news, while sitting down at Red Robin, of another family friend suffering a Covid-related death. Pete played a huge role in our lives ever since I was a young girl. He will be remembered and missed by many. 

My mom has lost a few of her peers recently, and we've heard of others that are currently hospitalized, still fighting. My mom is remaining careful with her choices right now, keeping her circle small. While believing when it's her time to go, she'll go - but hoping to retain her quality of life without having to fight that battle.