Lamenting

Cough, cough . . . groan; cough, cough . . . clear throat, groan, blow nose.

My head aches, my throat hurts, my ears are congested, I can't breath. I feel terrible.

I don't think it's the flu, I think it's just a cold, but BOY, do I ever feel bad.

I'm going to have a cup of hot Theraflu and go to bed early; as soon as I get the boys down. It would be just plain dangerous to hit the sack before them.

But I feel like I could sleep for 2 solid weeks. Sure wish I could.

Round Robin

It seems to have moved through the family and lighted on me. Last week, Deanna was home sick Thursday and Friday. By Saturday, she was coughing so hard, I made her a hot buttered rum (yes, I know she's only 13, but I HAD to do something) at 12:30 a.m. so she could get some sleep. The hot drink and the little dab of alcohol I put in it calmed her cough down and she finally was able to get some rest. By Sunday, she was feeling noticeably better and we decided it was just a bad cold. Then Dane came home from his camp-out, went straight into the bathroom for a hot bath, and emerged (at 9 a.m.) in his pajamas.

"I don't feel well, Mama," he said. Gee, that wasn't obvious. "I can't seem to get warm."

I kept him home Monday, but he was feeling better yesterday, except for his cough. I've been giving him breathing treatments, which help tremendously. Without them, he has that choking, never-stopping constricted cough. But he went back to school yesterday and did fine.

Yesterday, Daelyn began complaining of a sore throat. I wasn't surprised. I asked him to have his daddy give him some medicine before bed. By the time I crawled into bed myself, my throat was sore and my nose congested.

Daelyn decided he'd rather brave school than brave spending the whole day with Mommy today, so he threw his school clothes on at the last minute and took off out the door with his siblings. I have been wandering around the house, a little oblivious, in a daze of drippy nose and fuzzy head.

My prayer is that Don doesn't get it. He's working so hard these days and such long hours, he just can't afford to be sick. It's straining him to the absolute limits to be doing all he's doing already - adding illness to that is not an option.

I guess I'm going to have to put our 10 second daily kisses on hold for a couple of days in the hopes of preserving his health. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm sure there'll be an opportunity to explain it in another Post.

Camping - without me!

Don and the boys are camping out this weekend. It's a Boy/Cub Scout thing. Last year, we did it as a family, but I couldn't handle another weekend away from home, so Don got duty.

I was a little concerned about the event with the weather turning cool and the rain. The same thing happened last year - driving rain, freezing temperatures. We slept in gloves and knit caps to stay warm. This year, I packed lots of layers for the kids, including warm socks to wear in their sleeping bags.

They came home midday today to take showers and change into clean, dry clothes. Dane was fussing about not needing a shower and how he was going to miss the knife activity where they got to sharpen a stick. Daelyn seemed happy to see me and Don just needed a bit of relief.

I know they're having a wonderful time but I'm glad I'm at home in dry warmth. Besides, this is a great opportunity for their daddy to bond with them over a male thing.

I plan to pop some corn, have a friend over to visit, and cuddle up on the couch and read for a while. We had Deanna checked out by a good friend who's a Physician's Assistant and she said Deanna's moving air well and she didn't hear wheezing or rattling, so I'm comfortable holding off on taking her to the Emergency Room this evening.

I seldom enjoy having Don gone and I can't really say I've enjoyed the quiet in the house, but I HAVE had an opportunity to get some work done that seldom gets touched. All too soon, the weekend and camping trip will be over and we'll be back to the weekly grind. So, I'm taking advantage of every minute tonight.

Where's that unopened bottle of wine?

Pending Surgery

Just a quick update. I had an appointment with my Hand doctor today and I will be undergoing surgery on my left thumb, most likely within the next month.

I have significant arthritis in the joint which has caused me a lot of pain. At my last appointment with the hand specialist, he gave me a cortizone shot, hoping it would give me several months of relief. It lasted 6 weeks.

The surgery is very successful and done under local anesthesia at a surgical center as an outpatient. They will remove a tendon from my left arm, remove a bone from the thumb joint and sew the tendon in the place of the bone, creating a cushion.

Recovery is a whole nother issue. I'll be in a cast for 28 days, then will have therapy twice a week for 8 weeks. Total recovery will take between 9 months and a year.

Anyway, it will be good to not have to deal with this pain long-term. However, I HATE surgery, and it seems I've had well more than my fair share.

Foggy Memories

While I was at the Reunion this weekend, I got to look through a few Annuals. At SHAPE, high school began in the 7th grade and I left in the 6th, so the Yearbooks from the year after we left had pictures of many of my classmates.

In the military, people come and go rather quickly. In one year's time, more than half of the students in the 7th grade were new. One of the guys at the Reunion told me that there were 5 families, all with classmates of his, on the same flight back to the States with his family. Five not only left the exact same day, but were on the same flight. Interesting.

Anyway, there were a lot of new faces in that one year after we left, but there were a lot that I recognized, also. It had been a very long time since I had seen pictures of my elementary classmates, and it jogged lots of memories and made we wonder what had happened to all those people.

When I got home, I decided to begin searching for some of them and was surprised to discover that one of my old friends that I had already found was in contact with another old friend. Andrea Trumbull, whose father was a teacher in the high school, lived in Belgium her entire childhood. She graduated from SHAPE and moved to the States to attend college, living with an older sister who was married. We've been in touch for about a year now. But when I went to her Facebook page, I discovered she had found the third in our trio, Julie Fossum. I've thought about Julie so often, and even tried to find her, but that was before Facebook and I had no idea if she had married and what her name might be.

Of course, I immediately sent Julie and friend request. Last night, we exchanged messages, getting caught up on each other's lives. From her friends list, I found another of our classmates, Jerry Pearce. I'm sure there were lots of kids that I didn't know well, but Jerry wasn't one of them. He was a fun-loving, larger-than-life guy, and I was delighted to discover him again. Funny thing is, though, his profile picture looked exactly the same as how I remembered him from the 5th grade, except for a little facial hair. I would've recognized Julie from her picture, too. She looks very much the same, but looks even more like her older brother looked back in SHAPE.

This has gotten me motivated. I'm working hard at finding some of my other classmates that I still remember. Not a lot of luck so far. I've made contact with a Suzy Stack and a Jerry Minerich, but both of them are not the ones from my past.

I'm going to keep trying. More and more people are joining Facebook all the time and most women seem to include their maiden names. It's the best possibility I've ever had of finding these old friends.

Another Reunion

In November of 1969, my father was transferred with the Army from Taipei, Taiwan to SHAPE Belgium. SHAPE stood for Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe. Essentially, it was the headquarters for NATO, which had previously been housed in Paris and was moved to Mons, Belgium a couple of years before we arrived. The Class of 1968 was the first graduating class from the school in Belgium.

I was in the 3rd grade when we moved. We lived there until November of 1972, when my father was reassigned to Ft. Gordon, Georgia, from whence he eventually retired. My only brother, Chuck, graduated from SHAPE in 1971 and my oldest sister, Tenny, graduated in December of 1972, early, staying behind and living with family friends so she could finish out the semester and graduate, joining us in the states for Christmas. So, our family boasts two alumni of SHAPE American High School.

The thing about being the youngest of five is that I knew all my siblings friends and classmates. On a military base in a foreign country, most everyone knew each other and there was a strong sense of comraderie, a tight bond that most Americans have never experienced. Add that to the ages of my siblings and the fact that most of the military families were large and my friends often had older brothers or sisters that were friends of my siblings, and we all seemed like one big, happy (albeit sometimes trying) family.

Since most of the graduates of SHAPE return to the States eventually, over the years there have been SHAPE Reunions hosted in different parts of the U.S. My two oldest sisters attended one in Arizona in 1989 and had a wonderful time. They reconnected with many old friends and there were even a few of my friends who attended. This past weekend, a SHAPE Reunion was held in Myrtle Beach, SC - a 4-hour drive from us. My brother, who hasn't seen many of his high school classmates since graduation, decided to go. My middle sister, Toni, also decided to go. Half an hour before they planned on leaving, I threw my name into the mix, hurriedly packed, and headed out with them.

The organizer, one of Chuck's classmates, had rented several houses in North Myrtle Beach. One very-large, 3-story home with a pool (right ON the beach, as were all the homes that housed the attendees), was the hospitality suite. All the meals were served there, buffet-style. Everyone milled around the decks, living rooms and kitchen, visiting with old friends and other alumni who lived in SHAPE during a different timeframe. We got reacquainted with old friends, we visited with siblings of our friends, and we made new friends. It really was a wonderful way to do a Reunion.

I was amazed how many people I recognized. Many of them look the same. From all over the room, you'd see someone stick out there hand and hear, "Who are YOU?" being repeated over and over. It would've been nice to have had nametags, but someone said, "It's more fun this way - it makes you think and you reach out to even people you didn't know." There was even one graduate from my class, although he arrived in SHAPE after we had already left. We sat on the couch together, poring over Annuals, refreshing our memories to all the people we had spent those years with. Although he was there after me, we knew and had been good friends with many of the same people.

I found it a little surprising how many of these women had married military men and how many of the men had gone into military service. It seemed like half of them had been fighter pilots. Many had seen combat and it was a little weird talking with kids that we grew up with and hearing stories from them that sounded much like my father's. Lots of them had stayed in touch over the years. There was one guy there who had been the HUNK of the high school. He dated one of the prettiest girls in school and they married after returning to the States. She's still beautiful and he still has that easy smile although he's lost all his hair (which was very long and a lovely color of light brown in high school). The man's younger brother was a good friend of mine and had been scheduled to come to the reunion, backing out at the last minute. Saturday evening, Scott told me he had spoken to Mark on the phone and told him I was there. Mark had sent along well-wishes for me. I told Scott to tell him he'd better be at the next Reunion.

My favorite part was watching my brother, eyes shining with memories and the rekindling of friendships, sitting around with a group of his buddies from high school talking about motorcycles. Chuck was always looked up to by the younger guys and that is still happening. I overheard some women talking about taking pictures "on Chuck's motorcycle" and giggling like schoolgirls. I was standing visiting with people several times when Chuck walked by and there was a real sense of deference and respect towards him.

Toni and I were given a bedroom in another beach house about a mile further up the beach. Turns out, the other people assigned to that house were all classmates of hers. We headed back to our house around 10:30 Saturday night. The noise, heat, and crowds at the main house were a little much for us. I planned on climbing into bed and reading for awhile before going to sleep. Toni was hoping to visit with her friends.

When we got to the house, everyone had gathered in the living room. There were just enough couches and easy chairs for all of us. The whole group sat in the living room telling stories, talking about other classmates and where they are now, and reminiscing. It was such fun, I hung out for another two hours. I couldn't get over seeing my sister sitting with the same people, all these years later. Periodically, I'd glance around and couldn't hide my smile. There really was something amazing about seeing all those people again.

Someday, I'm going to spend some time thinking about the impact of three short years on the rest of my life but, for now, the dryer stopped and I've got lots of wash to finish. And, after I start the next load, I need to go to Facebook and see if anyone's posted pictures yet.

Spa Day

Today is Deanna's 13th birthday. She was born at 11:33 a.m. on a Tuesday morning. My doctor delivered her by C-Section during her lunch hour. Our beautiful baby girl was an even 8 lbs and beautiful from the moment of birth.

I asked her this morning what she wanted for lunch today.

"Can I have a ham and cheese sandwich?" she asked. I thought for a minute. No ham. But I figured I could run by Arby's and pick up a hot ham and cheese for her and drop it by the school. I put applesauce and a drink in her lunchbox so it'd be heavy enough that she wouldn't guess at my plan.

Unfortunately, I was a little late. By the time I arrived at the school to pick her up for our "Afternoon of Fun", lunch was over and her friends were very concerned about the evil mommy that didn't pack her a lunch on her 13th birthday. To top it all off, I left her sandwich, cheese sticks, and Jamoha shake in the van. She'll have to redeem me tomorrow.

I got her around 12:30, had her change into the clothes she had packed in the van (Pierre Cardin pale yellow sweater, blue jean skort, and high-heeled brown sandals), and headed out for a Spa Day. I had booked her for a facial at 1:00, a massage at 2:15, and we were both having pedicures at 3:15. Then we were supposed to go to Olive Garden at 5:00 for dinner and the prayer meeting at 7:00, where she would be sung to.

Suffice it to say she had a wonderful day. I've never had a professional facial OR a massage, but I felt like I was having one just sitting in the room with her. The sconces were dimmed, candles were lit around the room, and soft music with ocean sounds in the background played. There was a small waterfall tinkling in the corner and they had a steam arm that directed warm mist at her face to open her pores. I almost fell asleep sitting in the semi-dark listening to the music and relaxing.

On the way to dinner, I got behind a very slow and dangerous driver. She came to a dead stop at the end of the Interstate on-ramp when both lanes of the Interstate were clear. I almost rear-ended her, then had to wait several minutes for a new break in traffic before she ventured out. Finally, I was able to pass her.

"Thank goodness!" I said aloud. "She was SO-O-O-O slow, it was making me very nervous."

"I'm not nervous at all," Deanna said. "I'm totally relaxed!"

I would be, too, if I had had the treatment she got today!

Garden Woes

I'm in a bit of a quandry over my gardens. I've never planted a winter garden before, but I decided to try it this year. I started plants inside from seeds. Once they were tall enough, I moved them into large styrofoam cups with holes for draining and put them outside to harden. Most of them are now ready to go in the ground and, since I don't expect anymore really warm weather, this is the perfect time to get them in the gardens. However . . .

It seems my summer crops aren't finished producing. The bell peppers and banana peppers are doing quite well. Dane's cowhorn peppers are producing much better than they did during the summer. Even my tomato plants, which did very little during the summer, are thriving now. But I can't get my winter plants in the garden without pulling out the summer ones first.

And I may have gone a LITTLE overboard with my winter seeds. I just wasn't sure how many would really make it, so I have something like 10 bean plants, 14 cauliflower, 20-something broccoli, peas, and I still haven't planted cabbage.

I need a new garden. That would solve all my problems. I can let the summer vegetables continue to produce until they freeze and die but put the winter plants in a new garden. Next year, since you're supposed to rotate crops, I could switch gardens and plant the summer things in the winter garden and vice versa.

But it seems a huge impossibility to put another box garden in right now. There's just too much to do, between Silent Auction, Dane's soccer, Deanna's volleyball, preparing for Christmas, putting up the summer vegetables, and trying to settle back down into a routine.

I'll have to give this some more thought. Maybe a solution will present itself yet.

Revisited

My husband sent his mother an e-mail suggesting that she read my Blog to stay up-to-date on what's happening with us. She wrote him back and told him I hadn't posted since the beginning of September. At dinner, Don asked me about the status of my Blog.

"Since I began using Facebook to stay in touch with people, I've almost completely discontinued blogging," I told him. However, that got me started thinking.

Why did I begin a Blog in the first place and why have I moved away from blogging. It took a little bit of time, but I realized that the social elements of Facebook are what draw me. It gives me an opportunity to keep in touch with people who I wouldn't otherwise - my goddaughter in Korea, my nephews in Alabama and California, friends from high school, etc. My Blog wasn't about socializing. But it WAS about a permanent record of my children's growth, a journal about our life, an extended "baby book", if you will, as well as a chance to write again.

The joy of Facebook is interaction and brief status lines. Could I not put the same brief status lines on my Blog and refresh that keeping of that permanent record? Of course I can. Even if all I do is repeat on Mercy Drops Falling what I put on FB and expound a little from time to time, at least my children will one day be able to go back and read not only their mother's writing but, also, stories about THEM.

It's time I took the time to return to blogging. Even if the posts are short, at least they capture moments from our lives.

So, here goes. Today, I'm cleaning out the middle shelf of the fridge. I've had such little time lately that I've resorted to taking a shelf at a time. If I can get the fridge finished and wash up our bathing suits from our beach trip this past weekend, I'll have two major projects finished. And, perhaps I'll even have enough time to begin putting some of the beach stuff away in the closet.

If I get off the computer, that is.