I am looking through a haze of a virus filled head, listening to 'Who Wants to Be a Superhero' on TV.
I am finished with the project. I had numerous e-mails and calls from classmates with questions. None of us is confident in our project. I just want to give it to him and have it in HIS HANDS. No more second guessing how I did it. Then Thursday is the LAST DAY! (a final and turning in a project tomorrow and a portfolio separates me from FREEDOM!!!!)

Then there is the group work in another class, which isn't going particularly well since we aren't sure to what to do in there either. But at least it's not assessment. It's all relevant to assessment these days.

I've been reading your blogs about retreats and vacations and fun and merriment this summer. I say....sniff....sniff.... I want to go too .....Pity land is so easy to go to! No lines, no waiting, just come on in to pity land and start complaining. Hee hee.
Good night I say through my stuffy nose fog.... :) :)

Balloons, Bible and Lost Tooth

First a quick update on my mom: She is home and on oxygen. She is a bit tired but otherwise great. I am so proud of her! She's a trooper and a half.

We went to church tonight, where Tara earned enough tickets to get her own Bible.

Emily actually gave Tara a couple of her own tickets to get it. The tickets are won by bringing their Bible to class, filling out a homework thingy, etc.. Tara was so excited.

Then we went out to eat and there they both got balloons. Tara's tooth pulled an Exorcist, twisting around and around but not quite falling out until we were at the restaurant. It seems she needs to be in public to lose her teeth.

Emily looked at her toothless sister, turned to me as serious as a heart attack and said with her hand on my shoulder, " They grow up so fast, don't they?" Jay nearly spit out his water with laughter.

Mom, NWMC, Project

The family

She couldn't wait to be free to run around. Sitting in the meeting was hard for her.

Matt. S.

Listening to the speaker

The three muskateers

Tara was not interested in the speaker so she colored.

Kirk and Jay

Mom is doing better. She may even go home today. She will have to have oxygen 24/7 for a while. She has about the same function as after the stroke when they performed a swallowing test. This is good news. This means that she can continue to eat a little by mouth but no ice cream says Mom because it melts and goes down the wrong tube. My dad has caught something. He is on antibiotics but he feels awful and is coughing a lot.

On the night that Mom got so sick, I was first at NWMC. We had fun and I wanted to show some of those pictures.

I have a final project due early next week, which is huge and daunting. I am pretty much going to hunker down and do it all weekend while taking care of Em and Tara.

Update

My mom is off the respirator and is able to speak. She will have a swallowing test tomorrow. Then she will probably be taken out of ICU into a regular room. My aunt and uncle went to see her tonight and said they were even all joking around about Monty Python! Two days ago she was in full respiratory failure. Now- Python. I love her and her tough little body!!!!

Thanks be to God.

My mom is in the hospital. She was rushed there on Saturday night by ambulance after apparently aspirating something, maybe her dinner.

It's been a hard couple of days for her. She's on a ventilator right now in the intensive care. In a couple of days she may be weaned off the ventilator if she continues to improve. She is on antibiotics for pneumonia, too.

She was more alert today. I saw her and she recognized me. I am grateful for that. They don't let you stay long in the intensive care. They are pretty strict about everything in there. I hope she gets out of there fast! But I'm happy that she seems to be improving and her fever is down. She wanted something but couldn't communicate it to me. That made me so sad.

But I tried to tell her a funny story while I was in there for the ten or so minutes. When she was brought in to the ER on Saturday night, I met my dad there minutes later and while we were sitting in triage, a patient came in from a wedding. She was apparently a bridesmaid. She broke her foot or something. But everyone who came in after her was in their fancy wedding clothes. I told my mom that I felt underdressed sitting in the ER! She seemed to like the story, even though she was having an echocardiogram and such while I was in there. The nurses laughed. It was a tiny bit of levity in an awful few days.

Saturday

Tara and I are listening to music and she is dancing. We are waiting for Jay to get home from work so we can go to church.
Em is memorizing the books of the Bible for a contest at church. She's nearly learned all of the Old and New Testaments. That's better than I can do!
Homework? Nah. I'll think about that tomorrow. :)

Done with the presentation dance

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I'd rather do about anything than public speak. Working as a college instructor has cured me a bit of the terror of it. But for some reason, I was feeling so scared to give a 20 minute presentation for my assessment class tonight. Maybe it's because it's a hard subject and I felt I didn't adequately know what I'd be talking about. :)

It's done!!!!!! People told me I did a good job, which was very sweet. Most of those in my class were/are extremely reticent to give their own presentations. About five very kind people agreed to wait to go until Tuesday, allowing me and six other people to go tonight. As I walked up to the computer to begin my presentation, I did all kinds of mental tricks to get through it.

This class is the hardest I've ever taken. It's not over; there are still tests and a big paper but for tonight I'm not concentrating on that.
Relief is a very good feeling.

Doing better. Ten on Tuesday

More minutia, but positive ones this time.

1. I got my grade for three of my classes. Two A- 's and one A. I'll take it. Two more classes to go this summer.
2. I got together with two women from my hard class and we all commiserated and are going to work together to understand what is going on for the final three weeks of class. THIS IS HUGE FOR ME!
3. Those same women happen to be in my next class that started today. We are all going to tentatively work on a case project together in that class.
4. I was feeling very isolated at school and now I'm not. See #2 and #3.
5. Jay is healing up from his sunburn and poison ivy of the century.
6. I have a break between classes today and was able to come home to study here.
7. Jay has been an incredible help with PowerPoint.
8. Jay bought me a new watch with alternating bands. I really like it.
9. My aunt sent me three beautiful dresses and they all fit.
10. The girls are healthy.

It's nice to have a positive outlook for a change. I am savoring this moment.

Laundry Laundry Everywhere

The laundry has gotten-well- a bit backed up. It's clean but not folded or put away. So I thought I'd bite the bullet and put it away. I got the clothes upstairs from the basement to the living room, where Millie took a look at the big pile of clothes and plopped her furry self right down in it. Then Em joined. Millie was shooting me dirty looks as I pulled the clothes out from beneath her. You just have to laugh. :)

Playing Guess Who

I got this game for 1$ at the flea market. Good times.

Millie looks on. :)

You know how you get a test back and you were expecting better than you got? But at least you see what you did wrong and try extra hard for the next test? It's a small consolation but it gets you through. Well, I got less than I thought I'd get on a test and then STILL couldn't understand what I'd done wrong.

So, I tried to redo the math with still no understanding. I went to the teacher at his office hours. He didn't know either on a couple of the questions. He looked it up on the web right when I was sitting there! I found this really irritating. He gave us a test, from a test bank, and he didn't even understand some of the questions and answers. So I showed him in the book where I found my answer. He read and re-read the text and said it was confusing. No kidding, really? Confusing? NAH. IT'S ONLY WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO TELL HIM FOR FIVE WEEKS NOW!
I didn't fail the test but I got an 80%, which is a C. He agreed to give me credit for one question because it was a confusing one. (not even the one he looked up; this one was different.) So now I have a B-. But he didn't open the gradebook while I was sitting there. I wonder if he really will give me the points.
When I am sitting in class, it takes all of my concentration to try and understand what's going on. I'm not used to this. In most of my other classes, I usually follow right along and keep up. This class is testing every level of frustration I have. I do take solace in the fact that most everyone is struggling in there. I have class in a few hours and the struggle will continue.

On another really negative note, Jay not only has a really bad sunburn but poison ivy as well. He thought he was immune to it. So we were trying to weed and I tried not to touch the ivy. I still got a touch of a poison ivy rash. But then a few days later, poor Jay got this huge rash on his arm blending in with his sun burn. I feel so bad for the guy; somehow he even got it in his eye and his eye is swollen like he's been in a fight.

Yeah, things are ducky around here. This post is such a breath of sunshine.
Well it's the truth.

I'm in finals week for two classes. One class continues on until August and I start another next week. Five start at the end of August. I am in the thick of it, so to speak.

The girls are sunburned a bit, despite Jay putting sunblock on 4 times. Jay, on the other hand, limped his crispy self into work today.

Thought I would post a pre-crisp picture of Jay and the girls from a few days ago. They were lounging around while I worked on the computer. Millie is in her usual place-someone's lap. :)

More pictures now. The first one is Em playing putt putt golf. There seems to be a twisted swim suit and her shoes are on the wrong feet. But who cares about that when you are having fun?

One of the smaller slides

Emilina

Overcoming a fear of the water.

Sponge Bob was kinda scary. They wanted to get away fast.

Snow cone hits the spot.

Putt Putt. Tara Woods

They got back from Pioneer Water Park safe and sound.

The blog is not cooperating with pictures. I'll try tomorrow to post more. Jay is so sunburned, poor thing. The girls had a great time. Tara said it was the best day of her life.

I got loads of schoolwork done.

I'm supposed to be studying. La la la la la. I don't want to. I want to do almost anything but study right now.
Jay took the girls swimming today to give them a day of fun, but also to give me a nice quiet place to study. Whoops. I better get back to it. You see, I've been studying all morning. Really. OK not really. OK not at all.

I took the girls to JC Penney's and got them new swim suits yesterday. They both love them. I think they'd sleep in their suits if they could. They were so excited to go today. As they were leaving, I was calling out to wear sun screen,not to leave their dad's sight, not to get sun stroke. Can you tell that the sun is not my thing? Thank goodness for Jay. And now I am going back to working so hard on my school work- for real this time.

But so that Jay doesn't get a big head for being the favorite parent, I'd like to show exhibit A. It's a picture of Tara back in the day. I picked Tara up from day care with that outfit, that Jay picked for her. He'd take her in the morning and I'd get her in the afternoon. Nice patterns Jay! ha ha.

All joking aside, it's mighty nice of Jay to take the girls swimming and to give me time to study.


Pictures to come from the swimming when they get home.

The fashion of it all

Tara speak.

So I was playing Go Fish with Tara.
"Tara, do you have an 8?"
"Gold Fish"
"Oh sweetie it's Go Fish, not gold fish."
"MMHHMMM"
Two minutes later.
"Gold Fish, Mommy."
"Tara, it's..."
"I know, Mommy. I want to call it like this."
That's Tara. She has definite opinions and is not going to be influenced by semantics.
Later she took the "Fly Swapper" and tried to "Swap a fry."
:)

So proud of her

Jay took the girls to another Radio Disney thingy at the mall. He is great about finding free stuff to do with the girls.

I am so very proud of Emily. She volunteered to speak in front of more than 50 kids and parents. I would have never done that as a kid, and would be reticent to do it even now. She had to talk as fast as she could on a pretend phone and had to go FIRST. The other girl won but the point to me is that she volunteered to get up there and followed through. I heard that public speaking is the number one fear, sometimes ranking higher than death! You go my brave Emily!

We are all in the living room now watching American Inventor. It's good bonding family time. Before that Jay and I watched The Last Comic Standing and were laughing so hard that we were doubled over. Doing that, and this blog are so relaxing to me. Now back to work on a million school projects and papers and reading.. At least I had that fun time to see me through.