Goodmorning friends

I'll say it, but I ain't really feelin' it. I am so tired! We are on our way to Georgia. We bought a piano on ebay and now we have to go pick it up. I worked yesterday. Got home at 730pm, changed clothes, hopped in the truck and we were on our way. Stopped somewhere in South Carolina at about 230am. Slept until 700am and now we are off again. We have to get the piano and get it home today because I have to work tomorrow. Wouldn't you hate to be one of my patients tomorrow? I will be GROUCHY! I'm already grouchy. Poor John. He puts up with me so well. Alright, I'm going to put this away and harrass him some. I'll post pictures when we get the piano up in the house.

ahhh...the miracle of modern technology....

I am updating my blog from the car. Isn't that fun?? I love wireless internet.

We have been to the beach this week. Love the beach! We had so much fun. Building sandcastles and playing in the water. Actually, I don't know how the kids can stand the water. It's so cold!

We also went the lost colony of Roanoke Island. History lesson ahead.....The first attempt at British settlement in the US was in 1584. The first group of all men got chased away by the Indians. And only because they attacked the Indians and killed their cheif. The second group was a REAL colony because they brought women. Virginia Dare was the first English child born in the New Land. They ran low on supplies and sent their governor back to England. But by the time he got back to England, Spain and Englad were at war and no ships were allowed to go back to the New Land. And Queen Elizabeth wasn't all that excited about colonizing the New Land anyway. Sir Walter Raliegh was the one behind colonizing. He financed the first 2 colonies himself. It was 3 years before a ship was able to return to the New Land. When the governor returned, who was the grandfather of Virginia Dare, the whole colony was gone. Not even houses remained. Only a post with the word Croatoan was left. That was the name of an island where the friendly Indians lived. The governor searched without success for the settlers. They were never found. Noone ever knew what became of them. So, that is where we were yesterday. Someone wrote a play about the lost colony. It is the oldest running outdoor play in the US. And who knows why. If you sell one of kidneys, you will have enough to pay for tickets and the play is well acted, but not really all that informative. Hard to follow. The play is called the Lost Colony, BUT they really only spend about 15 minutes of the 2 hour play focusing on the Lost Colony and what might have happened to them. But, you know, if you're there, you have to go. Have to have the whole experience, right?

And now we are going to the aquarium and then back to Jockeys Ridge Sand Dune. Off we go.

Memory Lane Part 2

I know ya'll are seeing my mom in a cast and wondering when that is going to come into the story. Just wait and see. And those pictures are horrible. That camera was on it's last legs. The next camera I got was my first digital camera, a Fuji, and my favorite so far. Alright, back to the story. So, my mom is at home packing and taking care of Emily, who is now throwing up, if you'll remember. And that was a whole days affair. Ethan broke his toe midmorning and we got to the house for good at dinner. The next day....uneventful, packing and taking care of Emily. BUT the next day....at whole different story. I am upstairs in my bedroom. Mom is down in the garage finishing up. And she is rolling up the waterhose and takes the nozzle off and sets it on the ground. I'm sure she is cringing as she is reading this. Then she accidentally steps on it and it rolls under her foot and down she goes. And my mom, if you know her, does NOT do anything half heartedly. She broke the the tibia, the fibula, AND one of the foot bones. This is Thursday and we are going to close the NEXT day. Before we go to the ER mom insists on changing her pants because they got wet from the water hose. And "bring me my lipstick". For real! Not kidding. We spend a good part of the day in the ER. My poor mom. And she is apologizing to ME for wasting time. Can ya believe it? And so the good doctor tells her to go home and REST. Keep OFF of that leg. They put a temporary splint on the leg to allow for swelling and tell her to see an orthopedic doctor the next day. But, most importantly, keep off that leg. Does she listen?? NOOO! We go home and she starts packing. There is no telling her to sit down. And Emily is still sick. But you know, there is something inside you at this point that just keeps pushing you forward. You KNOW you have to be out of this house in 2 days. That is not going away. What else are you going to do, right? I think we are all worthless by now, but we kept moving ahead and everyone is in really good spirits even. Ethan has overcome the pain of his broken toe and is keeping us entertained with his funny looking run that he does with his special shoe. My mom is so tough. She is not complaining of pain. She is joking with the kids and seems not to be deterred at all by the 3, THREE broken bones in her leg. So, the next day. Friday. Dday. I drop my mom at the orthopedic doctor's office on my way to closing. We close on the house, say a thankful prayer, and all go home to finish the packing, hopefully, before the movers come the next day. And man, we are just one step ahead of him the whole time. And he was so nice. His name was Dallas. He was so sympathetic to us. I hope he has had many blessings for all the comfort he was to us that day. And we have had some contact with John all this week. He is feeling dreadful that all of this has occurred and he is not home to help out. As it turns out he is going to be MIA for the next couple of moves. I think he planned it that way! And we send my poor mom home from her vacation with a broken leg. She won't even let us walk her into the airport. She doesn't want the kids out of the car in that "crowded place". Always thinking of her Little People. She had to have surgery to repair her bones. I felt horrible. And that was our week. All that happened in ONE week. We picked up John from the airport and he didn't even know where he lived. We joked about not picking him up. We picked him up from the airport on the way to have Ethan's cast removed. He wore it for 10 days. He was so funny looking after he got the cast off. He ran like he still had it on. Funny, funny, funny. I wouldn't have planned that week like that if I had it to do over, but it did provide some special bonding time for me and my mom and it just feels good to know that when the chips were down I didn't crumble. I'm certain I didn't respond perfectly to everything, (please don't call my mom for verification of this) but I didn't sit in a corner and suck my thumb.

Speaking of Breaking News...

Let's walk down memory lane, shall we? Long ago in a land not so far away. Georgia to be specific. My mom came to see me. This is really a good story....I dropped John off on one side of the Atlanta airport to go some Army class in the land of cheese (Wisconsin). Drove around to the other side of the airport and picked up my mother. Little did she know we had negotiated the sale of our house the day before and we were scheduled to close on the following Friday. The buyer had cash and wanted to close in one week. And since houses were not moving at that time, right after the 9/11 attack, we said we could comply with that request EASILY. Famous last words! We thought it would be a piece of cake. After all, my mom was coming and the woman can work circles around me STILL. And so, she got in the car and I told her the good news. I thought she was going to get out of the car and walk back to the airport. Because helping your daughter pack up her house with 3 small children running under your feet is exactly what you want to do on vacation, right? Especially when her dear husband is MIA. First we had to find a place to move to. Found a place. That took all day. But we had started packing the night before, so some things were done. Thankfully, John had made good friends with a mover that had done some things for him at work and he agreed to move everything if we would pack it up. The next day I was packing inside and my mom was packing the garage. Ethan was in the garage barefooted. He lifted a heavy can to hand to Nana and dropped it on his big toe. OH MY WORD!! You would have thought someone died in our house. That poor toe turned black immediately. Poor Ethan. I laid him on my bed and sat there beside him thinking the worst of the pain would subside in a few minutes. You know, like when you stub your toe. Well, 30 minutes later he was still peeling the roof off the house. Everyone else was glad to be in the garage despite the heat. So, I finally decided to take him to the doctor. Let me just say, his car seat was right behind mine. My nerves were shot by the time we got to the doctor's office. Dr. Beeber...I'll never forget him. We had the immediate attention of everyone in the office. And, as luck would have it, Dr. Beeber declared he could do nothing for Ethan. We needed to see an ortho doc. AND as luck would further have it....all the ortho docs in the area were either out of town or out of the country. Ethan is still screaming. REaLLy. And so, suddenly we have to see an ortho doc on the other side of Atlanta. So, thankfully, John wants to go. He provided a little distraction for Ethan. Home to get John and off to Atlanta, and hey don't forget, it's the OTHER side of Atlanta. More than an hour one way. The xray revealed that the toe was indeed broken, and I'm still wonderin' what the heck they can do for a broken TOE. They casted his leg from toe to knee. Truly. They built the cast out about 2 inches from the toe to protect it. The doctor said big toes are important for balance and it needed to be immobilized while it healed. The tech comes in to cast Ethan's leg and I thought I was going to have to take him out. He kept asking Ethan why he was crying, because, yes, Ethan is still crying. Not screaming, but still crying. He kept harassing Ethan and at first I try gently to tell him to back off, then I really have to tell him to back off. After the leg is casted and we are on the way to check out the tech comes back to ask him again why he is still crying. I unleashed on him. What the heck??? I did feel better afterwards, though. He provided a great outlet for my very distressed nerves. And would you believe the doctor did not prescribe any narcotic pain reliever for Ethan. Motrin. Well, that was not going to do it for me. So, when we get in the car, Ethan is hurting more. It did come in waves, so now he is back to screaming. Poor John, he was such a champ!! And remember Ethan's car seat is right behind me. I called Dr. Beeber and asked for narcotic pain reliever. And he said "I think Ethan is a convincing argument for the use of narcotics in children". AMEN!! We got pushed right to the front of the line at the pharmacy. Oh, and my mom called to tell me that Emily has been throwing up for a couple of hours. And she would continue to be sick for the entire week. We took stock in Calgon that week! I told you this was a good story. It is a long one, though. I think I will do it in installments. Enjoy part one for now.

More Breaking News...

So, the splint came off. But, the xrays were HARD to get. Hard!! She was having painful flashbacks of the initial xrays. The xray technician was very sweet and finally won Emily over. Too bad that was not the only hurdle we had. The doctor wanted her to stretch out that arm to test her range of motion. Only, too bad for him, because she was very determined by then that her arm was just fine frozen against her side. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't brattty, just very scared. She didn't really need the sling, but the nice doctor put it back on her to make her feel more comfortable. We have to go back in 4 weeks and then again in 6 months. And since then she has gradually gotten distracted enough to move it. And just look at that dirty hand, would ya?

Jamestown Fieldtrip

Got to go on a fieldtrip with John this month. I think, well, actually, I know he did NOT want me to go at first. Thought I would be an embarrassment. However, he was wrong. We had a lot of fun together. Made some good memories. And learned some things too. I also took a beautiful picture of John. I'm certain it would have won an award......but, I accidentally deleted it. Way to go!

I'm ashamed to say I thought the 3 ships that landed at Jamestown were the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. I learned that the ships that Captain John Smith and Christopher Newport sailed into Jamestown were the Godspeed, the Susan Constant, and the Discovery. Silly me!! And most people think Pocohantas really married John Smith, BUT, did you know.....she really married John Rolfe. John Rolfe is the man who cultivated successful tobacco in this part of the United States. Before him, tobacco grown here was bitter and not very popular.

It was a great day. And the best part was getting to spend some precious valuable time with John. It's getting harder and harder to do the older he gets.

A celebration of John

Today is John's birthday. It's hard to believe it has been 12 years ago!! What a special boy! Born ON his due date. Hardly cried. Just happy to have some elbow room. He didn't curl up like most babies do after they are born. He stretched out and just laid there. The nurses and the doctor thought something was wrong with him for a minute. He was being too quiet. But he was just happy to be here.

I feel it a great honor to be John's mother. He has always been so mature for his age. He's been mowing our grass since he was 6. John drives the tractor better than his dad does. He loves to tinker with things. Loves big equipment. And so smart. If it were possible for a 12 year old boy to live on his own, I know John could do it. He's very good with his money. Very cautious with it. He's very tidy with his room. Does his own laundry. If he wants something done, he doesn't wait for someone else to do it for him. He just does it. He's such an inspiration to me. It was a great birthday. Lots of friends. Lots of cake and ice cream. Not much in the way of nutrition, but on your birthday calories and nutrition don't matter much. He got a new fishing pole. A new favorite pasttime. If only the fish were hungrier! Happy Birthday John. Mom and dad love you so much!

Shame on me! I am so behind on my posting. This should have been posted back in April. I wrote it, then I just didn't finish it. Too much to do....so little time!