Jay is so kind to me.
I’m noticeably improved today (less tired, less coughing) and he is still staying home to manage things and let me rest.
It really is the sensible thing to do– not to quit too soon– and I’m thankful Jay has the flexibility at work to be able to choose that for us.
Pneumonia.
There. Got it right. I had a test and correction when Jay e-mailed work this morning to tell them he was staying home with me to take care of the children.
I was at 1st Care yesterday for about 3 hours (most of it waiting) that culminated in an x-ray and being called into the back room again to say yup I have pneumonia in the middle of my left lung (I think it was).
Doctor said that was why I’ve been feeling so tired lately. I asked how one distinguishes that from the general tiredness of motherhood, and she didn’t really have an answer.
But it was very nice to have a “note” from my doctor telling Jay to stay home a couple days to take care of the family and allow me to rest. I told him he’s not allowed to get sick this time– that I ought to be able to be the only one sick once in our marriage. (Okay, I didn’t put it quite that way.)
Talking with someone else I heard something that made the tiredness make more sense– the pneumonia makes the lungs less-efficient, so I’m getting less oxygen than usual, and that contributes. I’d always just thought it was plain being sick.
So I got a nice nap this morning after breakfast– Jay took the kids to the school park.
Natasha told me how much the pink and orange dinosaur liked playing on the slide (I didn’t know the thing had left the house. Funny how much they love it…).
While I was reading nap-time stories to the girls Jay came in with his pleased look and said his “1-2-3 of park, pizza, and popcorn” had worked, knocking out the boy for his nap too.
After nap Jay will be taking the kids out to Derek’s because Uncle D e-mailed this morning asking if his favorite nieces could come out and visit. Jay said he hadn’t told Derek he was home with the kids, so I pointed out this was God’s answer to our prayers for something to do (Jay was frustrated first thing this morning, finding it hard to find something all three kids can do).
So in a minute I’ll be done with my lunch and lay down again, too.
I’m on an antibiotic, so I guess I’m praying too that the pneumonia is a bacterial infection and responds to the treatment. Apparently it could be viral too– then who knows how long this would drag out…
I’ve started this post four or five times, and it keeps being more of a laundry-list than anything else.
But:
I now have my dog.
She isn’t vizsla (though she does have the compact, muscular body with the short hair– dark brown instead of russet), and she isn’t a Brittany (though she is that size and already proving quite trainable and perfect with the kids).
I just mention the above because those were the breeds I was researching/pursuing the most recently.
A lab-mix, Shadow displays the best of the mellow of that breed, and has learned since Thursday night several things that are very desirable to our family.
She has even managed to not-bother Jay, though that may be as much to Jay’s credit as the dog’s.
It was Jay who emphasized we shouldn’t consider the animal shelter’s 10-day exchange policy as a trial period.
“I expect the transition to be bumpy,” he said. “So we just need to commit to her and go for it.”
Amazingly, the transition has been rather smooth, so far. The girls are becoming more assertive and Shadow is learning quickly.
The one rough spot we’ve had was Friday night when the neighbor across the street brought her dog over to meet our new arrival. That deteriorated into awful barking from both of them, so we didn’t trust them nearer each other.
We neither of us lost control of our animals, but neither dog really listened to our embarrassed orders to be quiet or “nice” either. We might try again in a week or two, to see if Shadow being more settled will make a difference.
In the mean-time, I’m going to begin classes with her, and I’m hoping the presence of a more experienced dog-person will make a difference in canine introductions. There have been no problems with people.
Both girls have really embraced their role as the dog’s boss (something in question earlier in the week), and Natasha’s favorite thing right now is “walking” the dog– holding her leash and pretending to chose which direction they go in. She frequently tries to “sneak” the leash out of my hand when I’m talking to someone, but I will only let them walk together in the fenced yard.
Sometimes Shadow indulges Natasha’s preference, and sometimes Natasha is reminded the dog is stronger.
It is very fun to watch them together.
Went to ride the bike for the third time (confirming which I wanted) and bought it tonight.
I told Jay it could be my birthday present, and he said, “Great. I had some other ideas, but hadn’t ordered anything yet.”
Sounds like me right before his b-day.
I’m silly-excited about the new bike, and looking forward to getting more familiar with it.
I’ll be riding to our monthly women’s meeting tomorrow morning, only, I have no idea how long to expect it will take and will probably leave way-early.
Realized I have a list now, of other thing I need to buy.
Jay chose not to get one for himself “for financial reasons.”
I know he also hopes getting me a bike (a means of outdoor exercise) will reduce my immediate desire/use for a new dog as a running partner (I won’t go out running/walking alone).
He’s half-right in this.
I still do want a dog, but with a bike and Jay not leaving for Antarctica in the next year my main two reasons to get a dog this spring are dissolved.
If we don’t get a call from one of the breed-specific rescues before fall, we’ll probably end-up waiting again until spring and reevaluating.
Jay and I are looking at road bikes. The skinny-wheeled, self-propelled kind.
Visited all three of our local bike shops today. Interesting how each of them have their own personalities….
I thought the one I test-drove was just *amazing* and probably would have bought it on the spot if dividends came in spiring.
Jay says I could have ridden anything in that shop and it’d feel better than what I have.
Really, I just went with Jay at first in a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses sort of way. I don’t dislike my bike as much as Jay does– I’ve just only ridden it 5 times in the last two years.
Interesting to me, that shop had the least-expensive bikes, but the least-expensive was still nice quality.
At the next shop the sales guy assured us that nothing came cheaper than $100 over what we’d already seen, and was nearly junk at that price.
I refrained from asking if he ever checked out the competition.
The second two places suggested hybrid bikes as being more suitable for Fairbanks, but those are 50-70% more expensive too, and don’t have the rams-horn handlebars we both wanted.
I’m ready to go with the first bikes at the first store.
I rode something from the mid-range rather than bottom (as Jay did) because that was what they had built-up that would fit me.
If I decided I was serious (something Jay’s not yet sure about) I’d need to call the shop back and have them build up something in my size, so I could see if what I’d be buying was as good as I expected.
So, here they are. I have a detailed version of this on my fridge as a reminder. (I also have this on my fridge.) I included the details under #1 to explain why my list from yesterday was so encouraging to me.
- More planned activities in the home (e.g. crafts w/ Mama)
- More including of the children in housework.
- Reading at non-sleep times.
- Music practice as a matter of daily-life
- Memory verse rehearsal
Long-term: Work in habits to make them automatic and make life easier.
So there they are:the bare minimum
I hope to accomplish this year.
I have others, of course.
Many others.
Always.
But to declare (and try) for too much would be discouraging, I think. So I’ll just focus on this for now, and if it all becomes natural and thoughtless (in a good way) I’ll have room to add more.
(Posted simultaneously at Untangling Tales.)
I am officially limiting myself.
I “flipped a coin” (it wasn’t a literal coin, I was driving) and– as I’ve noticed in the past– found while it was in the air what it was I really wanted.
Jay and I have always known we wanted to homeschool our children, and Natasha is definitely ready and willing to learn new skills. So this conscious limiting is directly tied to the research and preparations I have begun in order to lay the groundwork for her schooling.
It is not so much the schooling that I see as the challenge, but maintaining a smoothly-running household at the same time. I have come across some very nice resources.
(Posted simultaneously at Untangling Tales.)
Can’t say I’m done, ’cause I’m not, but I did make the 50,000-word “finish line.”
Two nights ago, actually. And yesterday I spent much of the day cleaning house because we were having company for dinner, so I didn’t write anything before “validating” my 50,267-Word document this morning. (You are such a nice little document!) It came in as 50,116 words.
Good enough for me. I did what I set out to do (make word count) and have had a “highly educational experience” that was not frightening or humiliating (I understand many highly educational experiences are one or both). I now have more words on a single story than I ever have before, and I spent more consecutive days on a single project (excluding marriage and children and eating) than I have before in my life.
Since it’s still not done I’ll have to spend some more hours on it before it’s complete, but I’ve got those penciled in for January or February.
The plan for December is to create order in my physical world (this was already manifesting itself toward the end of the month as my word-count slowed and my house got pretty) and enjoy Jay’s time off.
The whole month. *WooHoo!*
I’m hoping to have some time in there to create a semi-formal “pre-school” lesson plan for Natasha. She it just chomping at the bit right now. She has loved poetry since she was 2 1/2 and fell in love with that rabbit poem. We read them between chores this morning, and she was never ready to let me get back to my clothes-folding. Then she went off “playing school” and “reading” both by herself and with Melody.
Well, I’ve missed two Sundays in a row now.
Last week the girls were sick (Natasha had that fever I think I mentioned), and Melody had an awful sounding cough.
This week I (thankfully) didn’t have the fever but had everything else– the leaky nose, cough, sore throat, sneezes (I can’t remember sneezing so much in my life!) and general tiredness.
Jay (Bless that man!) stayed home today and ran herd on the kids all morning so I could sleep some more. I still feel a little below normal, but *loads* better.