Slightly overdone...

For those who didn't know, I was in the hospital for 5 days, from last Saturday to Wednesday. I woke up with excruciating abdominal pain early Friday morning, it lessened some through the day but remained sore while Skye and I got Reimond enrolled in college at SWIC (Southwestern Illinois College), but by Friday evening I was flat on my back in bed, and wasn't much better Saturday morning, so around noon we headed to the ER. After numerous tests, morphine for pain, and being poked and prodded, they couldn't find a specific underlying cause because almost everything came back normal (my blood pressure and pulse didn't always cooperate by being in the normal ranges). so they labeled it "gastritis" or "irritable bowel syndrome" and sent me home on an additional 4 medications.  I am feeling better, and haven't needed any pain meds stronger than Tylenol since Wednesday, so I am cautiously optimistic that whatever was bugging my system has worked its way through. I am still easily tired and my pulse remains too fast (90s to 120s) at rest, but I will be following up with my own doctor this week and the gastroenterologist in another couple of weeks. I am on high blood pressure meds now, which has me kinda freaked, but I know it's necessary.

I have to admit to being fairly stressed though over being gone so long--there are things to be taken care of that didn't get done, and Eric did an amazing job of keeping Skye entertained and loved while I was incapacitated. They visited me at the hospital every day and Skye was happy to "take care of " me. I am almost 2 weeks behind on my assignments but I kept in contact with my professor and she said as long as I stay up on the current ones, I can submit the late ones without penalty so long as it is in a timely manner. If I am honest I hardly know what day it is right now because they all blended tedogether when I was in the hospital. I am extremely grateful nothing serious was found, but a bit concerned that it wasn't easily identified so that I know how to prevent it from happening again.

On Thursday Eric gave me permission to go on the last chance summer yarn crawl for metro St. Louis. He drove and helped with Skye while we went to the first five shops on the list, then I finished up the last four today with Skye, which was far more challenging, although she was as good as can be expected for almost 3. I did my best to keep my purchases focused on specific objects or colors of things I really liked so I have more sock yarn and lace-weight yarn for making shawls. I also finished spinning my roving into two balls of singles, so after plying them together yesterday I now have 151.5 yards of my own spun yarn to make something out of.  I am very excited to figure out what I want to make with it--obviously nothing too big because there isn't a lot of yarn to use... Skye and I spent some quality time sitting outside today enjoying a shared ice cream cone and watching people, dogs, and babies go by; we also saw a couple out with their macaw and cockatoo, and she was thrilled to be able to pet both. The lady even gave her a feather from the macaw that dropped while they were out and about which made Skye's afternoon. We did a lot of walking today though because St. Charles MO is a very busy and historic place, so parking is at a premium and we didn't have a stroller.  Passers-by seemed to really enjoy Skye's exuberance as she danced, flew (flapping her arms like wings) and waved her magic wand at things (a stick she picked up), all the while singing to herself and bouncing along.  She really is quite entertaining and engaging. Now though, I am glad to be home and able to sit, along with hoping that Skye goes down to bed at a reasonable hour.

I am a bit disappointed that my two grandkids from MN won't be coming down to stay with me for a couple of weeks after all. It's both an issue of money for two round trips, as well as concern that it might be too much for me (which I strongly dispute, but they are the parents, and I don't have the funds to finance the trips either). I am sure the kids are going to be crushed too when they get told because I know they were counting on coming down to see me and all the things we generally do when they are here. I will have to go out and pick out belated birthday presents for them to send north as the plan had been that they would pick out what they wanted while they were here with me as one of our outings. I am sad, but understand completely where they are coming from. I just am disappointed because I treasure my time with those two little ones and having them to myself for a few weeks.

Brie should be home sometime on Sunday afternoon to get Skye, and I don't know yet if they will be spending the night here or not. I am sure they are exhausted from all they have been doing. She is probably going to be disappointed in me that we didn't push potty training harder. We did the first week, and she did well, but once I went into the hospital diapers were just easier for Eric to manage and deal with, plus the stress of change made it harder for Skye to be sensitive to her needs, hence lots of accidents. I have really enjoyed my time with her here though, and we have played and laughed and danced and cuddled.

Everything else with all the other kids is pretty much status quo, with Rei and Aurora getting ready for school to start mid August, and hopefully Patrick and his girlfriend will find jobs so they can move forward with their lives too.  Anyhow, that is the update for today. Tomorrow is Liisa and Zack's first wedding anniversary and what a year it has been for them!  Hopefully as things settle down with the house (and the roof getting done finally) they can have a peaceful second year of marriage.  Now it's time to get some dinner for the little one, and as I said before, I hope it's an early night of baths and bed!

Mid-July and summer is here!

I am posting this picture because it makes me happy. This is a sunflower that was more than likely planted by the birds in my planter, but it is lovely and makes me smile.

June got away from me with being sick, and at my doctor's appointment a month ago my pulse and blood pressure were high. I was put on an antibiotic, which took care of the sinus infection, but I continued to have random episodes of feeling light headed and easily winded. At my follow up appointment my blood pressure and pulse remained high and my doctor started me on a dose of blood pressure medication, which I began taking today. I also bought my own blood pressure cuff and she wants me to track it for the next three weeks, with a follow up appointment in early August.  I am grateful for the medication and look forward to positive results from it, but am concerned with what brought it on (other than a family history of heart disease) when there have been few significant changes in my life over the past few months (other than stress, perhaps). Eric is of the opinion I need more exercise, which I don't dispute, and I would like to lose some weight, but while I don't see myself as an athlete by any means, I also don't see myself as terribly sedentary either.  I agree in principle that I should step things up a bit (to which end I have my sisters old school Nordic track) but I will also admit to being very self conscious about exercising where I have an audience because of bad experiences when I was young in gym classes and so forth...  I do enjoy walking, and I wouldn't mind getting out more to go to the base gym if I had a regular way to get there.  

Skye is definitely keeping me active right now though. She has been here for a week and we have spent lots of time swimming in the smallish pool we put up in the back yard (emptying it and moving it around every couple of days). It has been a god-send inn burning off her energy by mid afternoon and getting her outside and keeping her cool over the heat of the day. She is also practicing riding her two-wheeler on the sidewalk once the front half of the yard is shaded and she is getting the hang of it. As much as I am enjoying her, she is wearing me out too and I look forward to bedtime.

My class is going well and I am keeping up despite the interruptions to my days. I am really enjoying the subject matter (counseling skills and procedures) and feel like I am refreshing rusty skills. Of the kids Aurora is the only one with a job still, and she is working her butt off at the kennels. Reimond is getting organized for school and is (I think) looking forward to it. I am still riding him to get thank you notes written for graduation before the summer ends, but he has his own time tables and they don't necessarily reflect mine (although I guess that could be said for all the kids). Eric is back on overnights so our sleep schedules are a bit screwy as we navigate who sleeps when, and I am doing my best to keep distractions to a minimum for him.

Liisa is starting to get he work done on her house and got her first insurance check to pay for things. The electrical is done, the central air is limping along while parts get ordered etc. and the roof is still under negotiation between her roofing contractor, the city, and the insurance company. Slowly but surely it is coming together for her and I am so happy for her and Zack. Tony and Andrea are doing fine. My kids are in summer school and seem to be enjoying it. We still need to coordinate schedules for the kids to come down to me, but we are still looking at the beginning of August for that.  

I am getting drowsy so I think I will go for now. I am still around and we are doing ok, just busy busy busy!