I have to say this Thanksgiving has been one of the best. Britt and I cooked dinner here at our house and shared with his parents, Hannah and Elijah. The food was all wonderful - the weather was nice enough that Elijah was able to play outside for a bit on his swingset, and we really enjoyed the company. After the in-laws left, we cleaned up a bit more and then got a spur of the moment idea. Britt and I ran to the only store open to see if they had a Yahtzee game! They didn't have many games, but they had Yahtzee! We came home and Britt and I played three games with Elijah. It was really a lot of fun.
I have so much to be thankful for this year. I have two wonderful children who I absolutely adore, I have a great husband who is so very good to me and is truly my partner in life, I have a job that I enjoy (even though it would be nice if it paid more!), Elijah is doing well with his current treatment, we have fabulous friends and family, and Britt loves his job. I could go on and on about all that I am thankful for - but I am tired from eating too much today! I am thankful to my Lord for the gifts of life and love.
Tomorrow - I get to enjoy another day with my family. What more could a girl ask for?
Turkey Day
Prayer
I have been spending a lot of time praying lately. Some friends of ours have a "prayer corner".. just a little nook in their house with some candles and a few things to remind them of why they pray, a small table to put a bible or reading material on, and a couple of cushions on the floor to sit comfortably on. I would like to have that someplace in this house. I really don't have any open corners though! I guess I could create just a prayer spot next to my bed. I have books and magazines there anyway.
Some things I have been praying about: Elijah's healing, my health, mine and britt's stress levels, financial issues, my eating habits, and getting my house in order.
The prayer is working. My house is coming together nicely. I am gaining better control of my eating habits - and making a few better choices here and there. I wish I could give up the diet coke. I could. I know I could. I need to start drinking more water instead. I started liking a bit of club soda with lime in it. I wonder if that's any better for me than DC. I doubt it.
Prayers for today: Elijah's healing, continued motivation, diet coke to taste nasty to me.
Tomorrow
My work week is done. Tomorrow I need to get back in the swing of doing stuff around the house. I am wondering if I can get Elijah to do the 6 minute challenge tomorrow! Maybe even a couple. If not, I will do a few ten minute stints on my own. Things still look pretty good, but I really need to keep up with it and get more accomplished.
Britt built another lovely fire tonight. I love having a fire going in the living room.
I am tired so I will try to come up with something better to write tomorrow.
And my work week begins...
This is my Sunday night. I am getting ready to go to bed. I have to be up for work early tomorrow. I feel as though this has been a good and productive week, even though I still have much to do. I am starting to get in the holiday spirit!! I really want to start decorating my house for Christmas but I refuse to do so until after Thanksgiving. Britt will probably want me to wait until December 1st but we will be too busy getting ready for our trip. I may go ahead and do it the Friday after since Thanksgiving is so late this year.
It's been a good week. A busy one.. but a good one.
6 Minute Challenge
I have invented a new game of sorts. Elijah thinks it's the best - which really cracks me up. He is calling it "The Six Minute Challenge". I have a really hard time getting him to pick up after himself. He can destroy a room in minutes and I am not exaggerating. I decided today that I would just do a little bit of cleaning in each room of the house rather than focus on one room. In effort to get him to help pick up - the six minute challenge was born. We took small slips of paper and on each paper, we wrote down 8 different areas of the house. The Den, The Dining Room, The Kitchen, etc... We put them in a little box, shuffled them up and drew a slip of paper. We set the timer and went to work in that room - trying to get as much done as we could until the timer went off. Now.. honestly, I thought he would be good for one room and then I would be on my own again. HE LOVED IT! We both worked up a sweat trying to get stuff done quickly. He was such a great helper! He dusted, he swiffered, he picked stuff up.. It was hysterical! I had to stop him after 4 rooms because frankly - I was getting worn out! He didn't want to stop! I made a deal with him and took him out to play for a bit. I told him we would do the other rooms with dad's help once he got home from work. He was so anxious for Britt to get home so we could continue "the challenge"! We finished our 8 areas of the house. It's absolutely amazing how much you can do in a room in 6 minutes!!! My house is in much better shape right now that it has been in a while. Elijah decided that he wants to do the challenge again tomorrow so we made up 8 more slips of paper and will do 4 or 5 over the course of tomorrow. If we keep this up, my house will be spotless!!
Rainy Day
It's raining that nice, slow, steady rain right now. I love that kind of rain, but it doesn't help to motivate me much on organizational projects. It really makes me want to crawl in bed with a book. I guess I shouldn't blame that on the rain. I always prefer to crawl in to bed with a book! ha ha. I will resist. Perhaps later I will read for a bit, but not before I accomplish a few things.
Elijah had clinic today. This might sound crazy, but I love it up there. I feel so comfortable in clinic and at the hospital. Don't get me wrong - I get sick of it when we have to be there every day and would prefer that Elijah NEVER have to set foot in a hospital - but today I saw a bunch of friends and was reminded of what a great support system we have there. One of our little friends is getting ready to check in for her last chemo treatment.. That is so exciting! I almost wanted to cry with joy for her mom. Finishing chemo is such a huge milestone, but one that is followed by unexpected fear as well. It's very bitter sweet. Your kid is taking medicine that making them very sick but it is warding off the disease that is trying to kill him or her - then you stop taking the medicine. The kid feels better - but is that giving the disease chance to come back? It's terribly frightening. Having cancer isn't something like having appendicitis. You don't have it, have the appendix taken out, and then you are done. Cancer stays with you forever - even if the disease is gone. It changes you. Elijah will be in treatment for years now. After we finish MIBG if his disease is gone or remains stable, we will move on to another form of long term treatment. Elijah will be treated as though his disease is chronic. In a way, I think that's almost going to be a bit easier to cope with on a daily basis as opposed to watching and waiting for it to come back. It sounds crazy, I know..
I guess I better get busy with my chores. Lots to do!!!
TGI My Friday
I worked my short shift today. Ten hours. I like Monday's because Britt and I ride together. He and I used to ride together every day - for quite a few years. I miss having that little bit of time alone together so it has been nice. After work we went to get Elijah from the G-parents and then headed to Hannah's volleyball tryouts. She played pretty good - but was not happy with her performance. We will know next Wednesday if she made the team or not. It's nearly 11pm and we are home. Ahh.. home. I have to take Hannah to school in the morning and THEN it will be my day off. My day to rest and continue my organization quest in the house. Not sure what my project will be tomorrow. Five minutes in each of the rooms I have already done, and then find something new. There is sure plenty to chose from!!! For now.. I am off to find my pj's. I wish I had an electric blanket. That would come in handy this evening! Maybe I will ask for one for Christmas.
Another Day... Another small mountain climbed.
This day has been a busy one. For most folks, today is their Friday. For me - it's like my Sunday. My "work week" starts tomorrow. I started my day off late, as usual, because I didn't set my alarm correctly. I got Elijah to his clinic appointment around 9:30. We were able to get his labs drawn fairly quickly and then we headed off to pick Hannah up from school. I called the hospital to check Elijah's lab results because we suspected he would need platelets.(Platelets are the part of the blood that help it to clot - when platelets are low, he is prone to bruising and bleeding) Normal is around 150. Elijah's were 14 today. After a quick run through the BK Drive-thru, we headed back up to ACH so Eli could get a tranfusion. Before tranfusing a blood product, they pre-medicate with tylenol and benadryl so that took a bit.. then we had to wait on blood bank to send them. That took a while. His platelets came, were transfused, and within 30 minutes we were on our way out the door.
My sisters boyfriend called today. Some friends had a sofa they were giving my sister but she needed a place to store it so I offered our house. Joe brought it over today and I put it in the dining room - it's large enough. After I put it in there, I realized how disastrous my dining room looked! We had so much JUNK piled on the lovely bookshelf! I am starting to fear that we are becoming packrats!!!! ARRRGGHHHHH!!! So I rearranged a tiny bit in the dining room and Britt and I went to work on the bookshelf and dining room. We managed to eliminate all things from the shelf and dining room that do not belong there. It looks so much better. Some things we put in their right place, some we found a better "temporary" home for, and others we simply through out. Britt mentioned that it doesn't do any good for me to just put things in closets or drawers. I disagree! I figured that once I got the main parts of the house organized, I could then work on closets and drawers! I think that sounds like a grand plan. So.. now my room is clean, my kitchen is clean, and my dining room is clean.. I guess next week I tackle the den and the bathrooms!!! yipes! All in all, I feel pretty good about the progress I am making in the house. I am hoping that having things around me more organized will help my thoughts to be more organized and allow me some free time. Free time to actually enjoy rather than avoid things I really need to be doing.
All in all, I would say I have put in a full day.
What I did Today
Today, I cleaned my room. To some that may not seem like much. If you had ever been in my room, sadly, you would realize it was quite the task. I took several stacks of magazines, books, Elijah's artwork, notebooks, etc out of my room. I had Elijah help me since a good deal of what was in there belonged to him anyway. He made several trips to his bedroom hauling toys back where they belong. I eliminated any and all laundry out of my bedroom. I don't know why our bedroom always ends up being the laundry room. Baskets of clothes that need to be put away, dirty clothes that need to be sorted and washed. Yuck. It's no wonder neither of us sleep very well. I removed all the clutter from on top of the dresser and the chest. Receipts for things that I have no idea why they were being kept are now safely in their resting place in the garbage. Now.. not only did I elminate clutter in there.. I CLEANED IT. I dusted everything and even shampooed the carpet in there. The bed is made, the carpet looks great, most everything is in its place. Why can't there be more hours in the day when I am in the mood to get things done like that? If there were more hours in the day, do I think I would do more? Probably not.
A time for Change...
It appears we have elected our new President. I have to say that I voted for Mr. Obama. I think it was the right thing to do, even though I had my doubts. The reason I had my doubts was because of race - but not in the way most would think. The headlines today were huge.. "First Black President".. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't he just as much white as he is black? His mother was a white woman. He is half white. It angers me that there were people who voted for him simply because of the color of his skin. To me... that's just as racist as those who did not vote for him just because of the color of his skin. Some of those who voted for him have no concept of the issues or what is at stake in a presidential election. I refuse to believe that "gangster lite" that was on the elevator with me today, sportin his black and silver large as life OBAMA face t-shirt hanging down to his knees took the time to read up on the issues. I am happy that he has someone he thinks he can better identify with - but President Obama does not wear his hat to the side, he pulls his pants up, and he doesn't say "shee-it"
I don't do sick very well.
So I watched the movie with Britt (The Mexican, by the way) and went to bed a bit later than I had originally anticipated. I woke up around 3am with the most horrible stomach pains and nausea. Oh.. it was awful. I threw up so much that my ribs, my back, and my stomach muscles are so incredibly sore today. I stayed in bed (or in the bathroom) all day yesterday. I slept a good deal of it with the help of some phenergan and must admit that I do feel loads better today. I have the "sick hangover" today. The little big hanging on to remind me that I am still not quite up to par just yet. My head aches along with my muscles from hurling. Here is the sad part - in the midst of all of this I am thinking to myself that I should at least lose a pound or two while suffering through this stomach virus - right? Today I woke up not even hungry which is really strange after not eating a thing all day yesterday. I have had a bowl of cereal and a sandwich today. Maybe a stomach virus was God's way of getting me started on eating smaller portions. ha ha. Something needs to. I had a friend who is not much older than I am suffer from a heart attack a few weeks ago. Talk about scary stuff.
I voted today. It felt good. I like voting. I feel like it gives me the right to complain about the state of our country if I vote.
I am worn out now. I have done very little today but am wiped out so I think I will take a nap. Being sick is really suckish.
yeah, not so much.
I read on the blog of a friend of mine that she was going to try to do an entry every day. I decided that I would aspire to the same. Todays entry, however, will be brief. My day today sucked so I don't feel much like writing. One of our little friends from 3 Gold (oncology ward at ACH) passed away today. I had to have a little breakdown in the bathroom at work. So.. rather than dwell on it and write a bunch of stuff that really doesn't matter to much anyway - I am going to go watch my husbands favorite movie with him and then call it a night. Maybe I will feel more chatty tomorrow -
Can you at least say "Trick or Treat"????
Okay.. Last night was Halloween. We stayed home for a few minutes to pass out candy before we took Elijah out. Now.. We have been very consistent with teaching our kids trick or treating etiquette. #1. Wear a costume. #2. Say Trick or Treat. #3. Say THANK YOU. Our neighborhood was invaded last night by children who were not taught any of the above. Their parents drove in to our neighborhood and let their costumeless children run wild up and down our streets and through our lawns! It was terrible! They just come up to the door and hold their bags out. If it weren't for fear of retaliation, I would have said something. A few times I just said "Trick or Treat" to the kids to see if they would at least say it back. Britt won't even answer the door now, it angers him so. A few kids nearly knocked Elijah down trying to get in front of him at the door. I think I liked our Halloween party last year better than the whole trick or treating experience of this year.
Election day is coming up. Most of my friends have already voted. I guess I will wait in line on Tuesday and cancel out my sisters vote. ha ha.