That Time of Year Again

Yes, it is that time of year again...I turned 29 again on Saturday. I had Cletus take a picture of me and the boys.

Buddy is 10 and Tdawg is 8. Pay no attention to the fact that they are both over six feet tall and have facial hair. They just look old for their age.

Shhh! Maybe I'm not 29?

Thrashed

This is how I felt when Buddy started running a 102 fever. The test came back negative for flu, but he had flu like symptoms. If it was the flu, it was over quickly. Tdawg still is not feeling well. He still has a bad headache and some nausea. The ER doctor said that he would not feel well for awhile. Tdawg goes to our family doctor this week. Some weeks I think I have more than I can handle!!

Another ten years

So, why was Cletus at the all-girl health club, you might wonder. He had picked up Tdawg from football practice and he was in bad shape! His head was splitting; he was moaning; he was shaking and sick to his stomach. I do not like anything about hospitals! I have too many bad memories there. But I knew that we had to go. All indications were that he had a concussion and that meant Tdawg needed a cat-scan.

The main ER was typical. Slow (like turtles stampeding through peanut butter) and very uncaring. Once we finally got into a triage room, the twenty questions began. I was trying to answer some of the questions for Tdawg because he was throwing up at the time. And the nurse was very rude and said HE needed to answer ALL of the questions. She was completely clueless. Obviously, he has a head injury and she is jerking him around. She did not know why he was shaking and would not get him a blanket. I ended up taking off my shirt and laying it over Tdawg.

Finally a doctor came in. He was not much help either. He did not know why Tdawg was shaking so hard. He said we would need a cat-scan. Duh, we knew that 30 minutes ago! They were going to put Tdawg on the tram to the pediatric building. The tram would take forty minutes. Are you kidding me? Forty minutes to go less than four blocks? So, I put Tdawg back in the car and drove him over: four minutes. The scariest part: he got sick in the truck and I thought he aspirated it while I was driving.

The staff at pediatrics was a whole lot nicer. Of course, every time someone came in, it was the same twelve questions. But at least, Tdawg finally got a two warm blankets! Tdawg does have a concussion. Thank God (!) the cat-scan only showed a deep sinus infection. The doctor said that the shaking was from dehydration. So as soon as the cat-scan was clear, they gave Tdawg lots of fluids, anti-nausea medicine and pain reliever.

Poor kid! The dehydration gives you a bad headache. A sinus infection gives you a bad headache. A concussion gives you a bad headache. Tdawg had all three! By 11pm, he looked a lot better and we were released to get the prescriptions filled. It was a long long night. And I've aged another ten years.

Shake it Up!

Shape up or ship out. Last Tuesday, Miss Gassy talked Miss Goofy and I into trying Zumba class. The best I can describe it is loud hip-hop and latin music aerobics with a lot of shimmy-shimmy shake. It was very high energy and a lot of fun. But I must admit that I have never felt more uncoordinated: this pasty white girl has no rhythm! I was somewhat sore afterwards…and that was only after half a class. In the middle of class, Cletus showed up (but not to take the class). That was a bit awkward…did I mention that it is an all-girl health club?

A Day of Infamy

Eight years has passed since the devastating day of September 11, 2001. It is my day of infamy. I am too young to remember Pearl Harbor and the day John F. Kennedy was shot.

This is the day etched into me...I remember exactly where I was at the time and the moments leading up to it..

I remember being amazed and proud of the southerners (utility workers, fire and medical personnel)who packed up and headed north to help.

I remember learning of the heroics on the Pennsylvania flight. I am extremely grateful for the brave men and women. What a different world it would be If that plane would have destroyed Washington D.C., as it had intended.

I remember frantically calling Smarty Pants, the only person I knew to be in New York at the time.

I remember that for a short while, everything else was put aside, we came together as a country.

And now I see how soon we forget.

Slow me down

Sometimes it does seem that the world just keeps spinning faster. What a rat race I am living in these days. So much noise, so much rushing around, so many deadlines to meet, so many demands on my time, so many things I want to do, so many things I just don't ever seem to find the time (or energy) to do. What a busy world I have. I just need to: slow me down!
• Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting my mind.
• Give me peace amid the confusion of my day.
• Break the tension of my nerves and muscles with the soothing music.
• Help me to know the magical restorative powers of sleep.
• Give me the art of taking a minute vacation, slowing down to look at a flower, to chat with a friend, to pat a dog, to read a few lines of a good book.
• Remind me each day of the fable of the hare and the tortoise, that the race is not always to the swift, that there is more to life than increasing its speed.
• Let me look upward into the towering oak and know that it grew slowly and well.
And live one slow moment at a time.

Football

If this is what happens in practice, I don't think I want to know how he is going to look after a game. Ugh! Parenting is not for sissies!!

Won't be too long before this happens to me! I have been told that I look awful by a doctor before...back in college, when I had mono. I'm quite sure that he was being nice because I looked worst than awful!

First JV Game vs Madison County

The JV played their first game and won (25-7). Tdawg (#79) played three quarters as left tackle on the offensive line and did really well!