Blessed

I've spent this past week feeling a bit like a spectator in life around here, rather than a participant... It was a good week to be out of commission as not much out of the ordinary was going on, otherwise. My surgery last Thursday came and went. I've had episodes of energy, followed by periods of dazed confusion and grumpiness because of pain and then the intense need to take a nap. I often forget what has happened to my body, and then I get a jolt when I look in the mirror. It's hard to put into words...I'm feeling relief that the surgery is over, but there is still several more weeks of intense discomfort ahead, so the joy in the change of my body is tempered with that bit of reality. It's also knowing that it will take a full six months (maybe even a year!), before the dust settles, so to speak.

As I've been laying about this week, it's been Dean running the show...which has been amusing and annoying at times. I'm thoroughly annoyed at how the kids respond to him by doing what he asks them to do, about 90% of the time. If it were me doing the asking, they ignore me the first 4-5 times. Dean says I am pushover, so that is why they don't take me seriously. Whatever. He got the kitchen cleaned up, worked through the perpetual wash-by-hand pile that is always by the sink, and got the kids to do some of it as well. He also got them loading/ unloading the dishwasher several days in a row. I am blessed with a husband that knows what needs to be done and gets it done. I am also embarrassed that he can get it done and I can't.

But. He also stated more than once this week that he doesn't know how I manage day in and day out with the kids and all that we do. He understands my frustration at how it feels like I can never get anything done. It's not that he didn't before - it just drives home the point when you actually live 'it', several days in a row. He is more than ready to escape get back to work, just as I am ready to get back into the routine again a although it has been so nice to have been able to 'check out' this past week...

I am blessed that the kids were so helpful and relatively well-behaved...poor Colin is having a tough time understanding that I can't rock him right now. :(. They have been very good about lifting and carrying things, helping with laundry, dishes, groceries and so forth.

As I was brushing my teeth a little bit ago, in preparation for bed, I noticed that a newly-revamped part of my anatomy did not jiggle around as I moved my arm back and forth. Such a small thing, but it led to a fervent prayer of Thanksgiving...again, it's hard to put into words. There have been many instances this week where things felt different, moved different (or not at all), and a wide spectrum of emotions wash over me...it's all good - no remorse here - it's just still hard to believe that I'm finally on the other side of the hurdle!

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Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

 

Outside my window... It is a cool crisp morning on what promises to be a sunny day.  Our ash tree is absolutely gorgeous right now with red, orange, yellow and green leaves, all at the same time.  I love, love, love this time of year.

I am thinking... About my surgery tomorrow morning.  This time tomorrow my PS will be taking his marking pen and drawing his surgical road map all over my chest.  I've got to remember to remind him that I don't want my nipples looking off in different directions..

I am thankful... For good friends.  Thanks for the support, advice, meals and so forth!!!

From the Learning Rooms... I've found that elusive reading piece of the puzzle for Jordan!!  On a whim I checked Satori Smiles (see my blog roll) to see if she has updated.  It has been almost a year..  And lo' and behold she had!  I have had 100% success with the different curriculum that she has recommended.  It was how I learned about All About Spelling, Growing with Grammar and a host of others.  This time it was a reading series that she had ordered for Satori from Mosdos Press.  I was instantly smitten.  I have such a weakness for curriculum.  This is absolutely what I was looking for.  It is rich with a variety of genres, vocabulary, comprehension...  Happy Sigh.  I ordered 'Jade' for Jordan, as that seems like a good fit for where he is at right now.  Check out the table of contents - what a reading list!!!  I also took the bait and looked at Sadlier, aaaand came away with five more workbooks for Owen and Rylan.  I am such a sucker...

In the kitchen...  I am prepping a couple of meals with what we have here, but a shopping trip needs to be made before tomorrow.  I honestly don't know if I can fit it in, but I don't want to leave Dean in a lurch either.

I am wearing... Standard blogging attire (robe and pjs).  The rumor that homeschoolers hang all day in their pjs is so not true.  We usually get dressed by noon.  ;)

I am creating... Not much at the moment...

I am going... on a Brownie/Daisy field trip just after lunch.  We are riding the city bus today and then playing relay games in a park so that the Brownies can wrap up their Fair Play badge work.  Rylan has ballet later this afternoon, and Jordan meets with his Lego Robotics team.  Somewhere in there I need to get some groceries and a couple last-minute things to prepare for tomorrow.


I am wondering... Oh jeez... I just want to keep my mind from going into overdrive thinking about tomorrow and all the days beyond.  The time is finally here and I am just trying to keep from freaking out about all that could go wrong.

I am reading... I have my bedside table all loaded up with good reading material for the next several days.  Upon the recommendation by a friend, I have One Thousand White Women: The Journal of May Dodd, by Jim Fergus, and about three others that are halfway done... I am looking forward to the chance to rest and read!


In the garden...  Turnips that need to be picked.  I just purchased some sweet basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme to have some herbs indoors for the winter.  I also dug up a small patch of chives to bring indoors as well.  They are all at home on the kitchen table.  So far Colin has been sort of brutal with the chives, but I think they will make it.  There is a ton more outside...


I am hoping... That all goes well tomorrow and beyond.  I am pretty nervous, but doing my best to think only positive thoughts.

I am looking forward to... recovery.  I just want this over with.

I am learning...  hmm.  I've been reading about how to train for a 5K.  There is a lot of information out there!  Who knew it was such a science!?

I am hearing... Some silly show on Disney Junior... :(

Around the house... Finishing the laundry today and getting new pjs washed.  I need button-up clothes for the next several days.  I only have ONE actual shirt that buttons, but it is not ideal for surgery recovery.  I have avoided anything with buttons like the plague for years...  Then it dawned on me that I have a couple of pjs  - loose and baggy flannel ones that will be perfect.  I went to Kohl's last night to get one more pair.  I'll wear pajamas home from surgery tomorrow.  I also need to do some other cleaning and get the kids to help out too.

I am pondering... the quiet peacefulness of a sleeping dog.  Abby (husky) is curled up tight, her nose buried in her fluffy tail.  I feel a great sense of calm when I watch her.

One of my favorite things...  the Veggie Chili at McAlister's.  Yum. E.  And their new Peach Sweet Tea???  mmmmm.

A few plans for the rest of the week... surgery tomorrow.  Dean now takes over as chauffer for the next several days.  I'm afraid it will break him.  (lol).  Our schedule just keeps marching on...and on...and on...

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...

Last month, after lunch out in downtown, we stopped by this plaza and the kids played in the fountains.  Jordan was trying to see how many times he could whip his hand back and forth through the water stream before it stopped.  Now if he would only concentrate on his schoolwork with this same amount of intensity...



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Walking wi' de kitteh

 

 

 

After passing the tennis courts on my walk yesterday morning, I continued on the walking path that circles the lake.  An older lady pushing a baby stroller was approaching.  Abby (my dog) seemed unusually interested in the stroller, even though it was still maybe 100 ft. away.  As we got closer, her interest only grew.  The lady seemed very wary of Abby.  As we passed each other, I thought to myself, "Geez, lady, my dog is not going to mess with your ba - by?  kitty?  Seriously?  You're WALKING with your kitty?"

 

 

Here.  Let me introduce you to some very nice ladies who like to play tennis...




The R-rated Family Camping Trip...

Ahhh... Family camping.  You have visions of hot dogs and S'mores, cozy campfires, filthy kids, the smell of pine trees and warm sleeping bags. 

Meanwhile your campsite neighbors have visions of 2 a.m. expletive-laced drinking games, loud sex, breakfast at noon, beer runs and more. loud. sex. 

Awesome.

Let me back up...

Fall 2010
 

To me, Dowdy Lake, near Red Feather, CO. is the equivalent of Heaven on Earth.  It is my favorite place to camp.  There are gorgeous views all around the lake, you can camp just feet from the water, there are rocks to climb, fish to catch, trails to stroll and so on and so on.  I have made it up here just about every year for the past 15 years or so.  It is only an hour away from home, and there is a small mercantile close by in case you forget anything.

 

This proximity and undoubted popularity is also it's downfall.  Seniors in motorhomes as well as families flock here.  But so does another element of society.  College kids.  Or at least - 20 somethings.  Many of them, that I have observed in too-close-for-comfort-camping-proximity, I believe, have never camped before.  The call of the wild, where these kids can let it all hang out, is just too enticing for some.  So, without any regard for their neighbors or Leave No Trace, they come to the mountains and thoroughly enjoy themselves.

 

I have, with maybe two exceptions, the unfortunate luck of an unpleasant experience with such individuals on every visit to this beautiful place.  Some memories are striking - as a nanny, I brought up three young children for a campout three years in a row.  Each time I had a run-in.  Young guys drinking and swearing until 2 am, just FEET away from our tent.  The last visit we had, I met the campground host when we arrived and informed him I would come knocking if there was a problem.  And, yes, at 1:30 in the morning I came knocking, and true to his word, he kicked the offenders OUT.  It is a long story, but a good one!

 

But this most recent visit, last weekend, blows any previous negative experience out of the water.  We had blocked out the weekend of the 20th for camping.  I don't know why I chose the weekend.  The two GOOD experiences were on weekdays, and that is what makes the difference.  I guess I forgot that bit, because I set aside this particular September weekend back in July.  As per usual, we arrived late... like set up camp in the dark late.  We wound up in the RV section, and our site was a $50/night DOUBLE FEE electrical site.  Whoops.  But it was night, hard to see, and we couldn't find any other open sites.  A neighbor down the way was out playing his mandolin and it was so beautiful to listen to, so it wasn't all bad.  And everybody in that area went to bed at 10pm.  Perfect!  But the next day, as I went down to pay for our second night (we had decided to stay put, rather than move everything) I spied another open site, right on the lake, in our favorite loop.  So we moved.  Now I know why that site had vacated....

 

So here we are, at gorgeous site #20.

 

 

 

See what I mean?  It is right on the water.  You can sit by the campfire (behind the table), watch the kids play by the water, or climb rocks (just to the right of the picture).  The bathroom is 100 ft. away, as well as the parking area.  Totally ideal.  This is my favorite loop.  There are five sites around the perimeter, and then two interior sites.

 

Let me back up again....

 

When we arrived the previous night, we set up our tent in the dark, had a quick campfire and roasted marshmallows and then went to bed.  As we went about our business, a few late stragglers were arriving and looking for sites as well.  Two cars in particular were practically racing around the different loops, looking.  You could see them and hear them as they circled and circled.  At about this time I had the little kids relatively settled, and Dean and Jordan went to go fill out a payment envelope for our site.  When they got back, Dean reported to me that the two cars had showed up at the payment area, and seemed totally confused as to what to do.  They asked him, "So how does this work?  Do we just pick one?  Do you know of any *secluded* sites?"  It was one guy from one car, and one girl from the other car.  I joked it must be a late-night tryst sort of thing...

 

So, come to find out, these same two cars arrived and parked in our area after we had set up in our second site, site #20.  I didn't see them when I had staked it out earlier.  If I had, I would have never moved.   It's not like I was totally focused on these people, but there were things you had no choice but to be exposed to.  When I had initially arrived, a bedraggled guy and girl were in their pjs, looking forlorn, stirring a smoking campfire at that site.  Then the others showed up.  Throughout the afternoon things just got weirder.  They all took a nap.  Then they got up.  They discussed their various drug escapades and juvenile delinquency for all to hear for the next few hours.  Two wandered over by the bathrooms and started madly making out.  What a romantic spot... just a couple feet away from stinky bathrooms.  It went on, and on, and on...  Later, Dean remarked that maybe they were high on Ecstasy.  A friend had told him (years ago) that the drug made you lose all inhibition like that..  Then they started a new campfire by using an entire roll of paper towels.  One guy made a big display of pulling off huge armfuls of towel and throwing it in the fire.  Idiots.

 

So - back to our family experience...

 

The kids fished and fished and fished.  Rylan caught her first fish ever, and so did Colin.  Jordan caught 10 in all.  I got to take a walk around the lake by myself AND read.  We had hot dogs, S'mores, cocoa and a nice fire to round out the evening.  How ever horrible this night was, I need to remember that we really did have a fantastic day.

 

 



 

So... nightfall comes, Colin falls asleep in his chair and the kids get cranky and tired.  Colin wakes up when Jordan pokes him, and fussed very loudly for a long, long time.  We struggle to get the kids in bed, clean up for the night, put the food in the car and tamp down the fire.  It is late, like 10:30 pm.  Another ridiculous display of paper towel flinging has begun as a spark-filled campfire grows 20 ft. away - it is time for more beer pong!!  Joy.  We crawl into bed, and the party is now revving up.  My head is on my pillow for barely 30 seconds before Colin wakes and begins to cry.  The neighbors are banging pots, digging through the coolers, shouting, laughing and carrying on.  Colin keeps crying.  Dean pulls him out of his bed and puts him between us, and he finally settles down.  The loud mayhem continues, but I drift off.  At 1 a.m., somebody hurts himself.. maybe a stubbed toe or something.  Every other word for the next half-hour is the F-word.  It is loud.  Beyond loud.  Now he's pissed about anything and everything.  He goes on and on...  I drift off again.  It is now 4 a.m.  I hear unmistakable grunting.  You've got to be kidding me.  Seriously?  It goes on for an HOUR.  Dean and I are awake the whole time, trying to decide what to do.  That's not all... as one pair is in the tent, grunting away.. the other pair and what I am sure is a third voice is still around the campfire, banging pots, digging in the cooler, and talking loudly.  I just can't wrap my head around this one.  Who in their right mind would do that?  Either party in this case?  I would be mortified!?!?  Then I smell the unmistakable smell of pot smoke.  I am itching for confrontation soooo bad at this point.  But these individuals are in a whole other class than previous parties I have delt with.  They are beyond approach.  Jordan stirs in his sleep with all the noise going on, and Rylan is talking in her sleep.  Dean has his iPhone on, and eventually gets a white noise app downloaded.  That really helped to drown out everything else.  But once you hear it, you can't not hear it.  At 6:25 the crows start up, I wake up and I immediately hear more grunting.  AGAIN??  wtf??

 

So - what is the best revenge for lost sleep?  Noise.  And lots of it!  I made about 10 trips back and forth to the water tap between 7:00 and 7:30.  That big boulder that was 10 feet away from their tents?  yeah, I may have accidently hit it with my pan, each and every time I walked past.   Dean and I had loud conversations.  Right by their tent.  We sent the kids to climb the rocks right by their camp site.  Our kids are not the quiet types.  Now don't worry about the other campers in the area - they were already up, so no - we weren't bothering anybody else.  They all looked as bleary-eyed as we did.  A lot of these campers are there to fish too, and early in the morning is the best time for that, so they are up anyway.

 

When these fine neighbors finally got up, the girls did the work of packing up and they left.  They never once acknowledged the entire time that anybody else was in earshot.  No eye contact, nothing...

 

We enjoyed our last hour of peace and quiet.  Almost every site had vacated.  That was when I had realized our sad mistake.  The other camping trips when it did go well?  Always in late September/Early October, and ALWAYS during weekdays.  We're homeschoolers, for goodness sake!!  We have the freedom to be flexible with our schedule!!





I have four kids..I have four kids..I have four kids..











 

I am a mathematical genius.  I routinely forget how to count.  This morning I took Jordan in for a quick appointment at the dermatologist.  They were upgrading their patient records system to a portable - laptop based system, (so five years ago) and needed to scan Jordan's medical insurance card again.  I dug through my wallet, only to discover that it is missing.  ??  That is weird since I almost never have to show our cards (save mine) to anybody.  The thing is, it took counting through the medical cards (I have mine and all the kids) repeatedly to figure it was missing in the first place.

And when I finally figured out it was missing, the thought "I have FOUR kids?" kept repeating in my mind.  I have had FOUR kids for the past three years and 235 days, and it only just creeps into my conscious thought now?  Not really, but the gravity of the situation has...

I am officially losing my mind.

On My Way..

 

 

 

So... I've been totally preoccupied lately.

 

 

To read about what I've been up to, go here.



Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

 

 

 

 



Outside my window...

 

 

A whole lotta this....  This picture was Thursday morning.  The rain started spitting on Tuesday, and then started to get down to serious business.  On Wednesday night, I got nervous.  The news on TV was pretty bad.  Boulder, CO, which is 45 min. SW of us was already witnessing catastrophic flooding.  I patrolled our three basement window wells on a frequent basis.  At 1 a.m. Dean and I donned our rain jackets and visited this drainage ditch behind our house.  (You can see our roof behind the spruce tree).  The water level was at about 4 ft. on that pole there.  See those bricks that line the backside?  The water was even with the third row of bricks down from the top - so it was over the front wall there, by that grey metal screen.  Once the water breeches this wall, there is nothing to hold the water back from our house.  The geniuses that graded our yard when the house was built directed the water toward the house.  Luckily there is also a slope that drains the water toward the left of the picture, where we are bordered by a street.  That is our only saving grace.

 

A friend posted that it seems like our little area of the Front Range is in a bubble - impervious to the death and destruction that is going on around us.  I feel like that too.  The images that we have seen are horrendous, and the mountain towns that are less than an hours' drive away are getting the worst of it.  Yet here, we can drive around (mostly), enjoy our dry basements and our running water and electricity.  The only complaint we have is that the bridges that connect the southern side or our city to the northern side have been closed periodically due to the dangerous flooding of the river and the stresses it places on the bridges.  Water isn't topping the bridges, but the flow rate is dangerously high at the moment.  The worst may yet come for us.  Today it is supposed to rain ALL day.  An upslope has parked a storm system directly above us, and won't budge any time soon.  We'll see what unfolds... For now we are counting our blessings, and I am ansy to get stuff off the basement floor.

 

 

I am thinking... about all of the displaced families and animals, and all of those who are still waiting rescue.

I am thankful... for the moisture, but this is such a deluge!  The weather forecaster said that if we were to convert the amount of moisture we have received in rain into snow, it would be the equivalent of 100 inches of snow.  We.  would. die.

 

 

From the Learning Rooms... Another good week, but we lost it at the end, with all of the rain.  Jordan and Rylan were supposed to take the fall MAPS testing at a district's testing location on Friday, but it got cancelled because the district closed the schools on Friday.  Rylan started a weekly art class on Tuesday, and really enjoyed it.  Owen has decided to give gymnastics another try, so his first class was on Tuesday as well.  Rylan looked wistfully at all of the girl gymnasts that were doing their classes and begged for her chance as well.  I looked at her like she was crazy.  She is already doing jazz, tumbling AND ballet!!  To her credit, she has mentioned that she has wanted to on at least a weekly basis for the past three years.  So.  On Thursday afternoons, Rylan and Owen will be taking their respective gymnastics classes at the same time.  A scheduling win for me, but a loss for the pocketbook, and another. damn. trip. to. Loveland.  :(

 

 

In the kitchen...  Nothing fantastic going on there, I'm afraid...

I am wearing...  Standard blogging attire.  ;)

 

I am creating... A household binder.  An organizational wonder that would make a few of you gag or roll your eyes, so I'll stop right now.  But it makes me happy.

I am going... Maybe to the store once more.. although we are pretty well stocked up, in anticipation of a run on milk, eggs and bread by those who fear the end of times has come.

 

I am wondering... About our Girl Scout meeting we have on Wednesday, which is on the other side of the river.  Hope the bridges are open by then.

I am reading... I opened Cold Mountain the other day, and read the first couple of chapters.  Not really drawn in...  I did hear about an interesting book from a friend last week called A Thousand White Women.  I am going to see if I can find it at the library.

 

In the garden...  Water?  I did pick some rhubarb early last week to make a strawberry-rhubarb crisp.

 

I am hoping... What everyone is hoping for now...

 

I am looking forward to... this coming weekend, if things dry out this week, when we have planned to go camping.

I am learning...  About a fun way to go internet geocaching.  Pick a famous landmark - anywhere in the world - and get it's exact mapping coordinates.  Come up with some questions about it (use Wikipedia).  Send your teen on a geocaching excursion to locate the site by it's coordinates, answer the questions and copy and paste a picture of it.  Pretty neat stuff.  Thanks to PLATO science for the idea.  (I really need to write up a review about PLATO... long overdue!)

 

 

I am hearing... Rain.  Yesterday it was endless helicopter traffic - Black Hawks and Chinooks - as they ferried supplies and did rescues up and down the Front Range.  Today they can't fly, due to low visibility.  For a lot of these canyons, there is no way in or out except by air since the roads are completely washed away.

 

Around the house... There are 15 boxes of flooring waiting to go in.  Dean needs to get the underlayment today and then we can get started on finishing the other half of the ground floor.  After several long months of a halfway finished project, we can finally begin!  We also met with the first of a few house painting contractors to get price quotes for painting the house.  We only have a few more weeks to get this done!  Also, the part for the washer came on Tuesday and Dean put Humpty Dumpty back together again.  I'm glad I can drop the washing-in-the-bathtub-business - we were about to run out of towels!

I am pondering... how I am going to get my walk in.  I'm tired of soggy walks.

 

One of my favorite things...  Well... rainy days.  But not six of them in a row.  I could not live in Seattle.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Normally, I would say violin, jazz, boy scouts, Dr. appt., art, tumbling, Lego robotics, homeschool PE class, girl scouts, ballet, gymnastics, Lego robotics and fitting homeschooling in and around all of those things, but I am not really sure.  It all depends on various road closures.

 

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...





This is the storm water retention area that is across the street from our house.  The night before it was an additional two feet deep.  Owen (in the yellow rain jacket) was able to walk across it, though the water came up to his chest.  Normally this area is dry and neighborhood kids use it to play football or soccer in.

 

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