SUNDAY SUGGESTIONS

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

OKay: I don't think of you as being a nervous nellie, you are just preparing us. I can't imagine I have mono, my sore throat lasted all of 1 day and was only on one side. Plus, my temperature is down today, not once has it been over 98 so far (normal for me is 97.3) so the fever usually with mono is not there.

As for hepatitis, I was the same way about food last week but I had to make myself throw up, I just had nausea. But I identify with not being able watch tv because of the commercials.

I'm enjoying the last 3 days where food offers some joy. I can think about it. Not much appeals to me but when something does, I anticipate and then savour it. Today, after my shower, I had dh make me french toast and bacon for my lunch. Just one slice of each but it was good. I had an apple as a snack just now. It takes a long time to eat because I'm slicing it very, very, thin, but it also tastes wonderful.

Tonight will be pizza because I don't have the strength to make the stew that was on the meal plan. Maybe tomorrow.

The source for hepatitis is what is stumping me. No tattoos, no piercings, no blood tranfusions, I don't do drugs, nor do I hang around those who do. The only injury to myself was when I cut off my finger tip but that was dealt with here, not at a hospital. I have my shots against Hep A&B. So, how did I get it, if I have it?

I'm a lot stronger today than I've been for a long time. I was up from 7:30 until about 12, then lay down for about 2 hours and got up to shower and eat my lunch. I'm back in bed, but more because I don't want dh to think I'm getting all better.

There's no pain at all today, just the itching driving me nuts and tiredness. And my allergies are bothering me today but I'm not taking any meds until after my ultrasound tomorrow.

Dh is exhausted because he didn't sleep well last night. He did fall asleep when I left the bed at 1:30 but woke up when I came back and lay awake the rest of the night worrying about me. I can't sleep against him (it hurts to have my 'insides' in any position but lying on my back) and he can't stroke my arm because of the itching. So he lay there trying not to disturb me (and having to listen to my snoring.)

[OKay]

One of the ways life has change in the past 30+ years. When we sent our children to school, no nap mat was needed. They didn't take naps in school. back in the ole days.....Children did not attend school until they were over 5 years old.

I found 2" thick nap mats at WM and bought LO one. I congratulated myself on being able to check off that item on the "need to buy for school" list. silly me. How little I know. However, I just discovered this weekend how clueless I am in the nap mat selection. DDIL took me to a shop last night with over 50 choices of nap mats. Apparently nap mats are also suppose to include coordinated covers, attached blankets, attached pillows and are easily folded/rolled up by the little ones into organized storage. And monogrammed because everything must be labeled with their name.

Then there is the backpack selection. OH I have much to learn!! We went to the school aisle at WM and LO picked out a backpack ($8) and has been proudly wearing it around the house in preparation of going to school. Yesterday DDIL showed me the leather backpacks that will stand up to years of use. Apparently the $8 ones tend to fall apart with a couple weeks of use.

[Twins' Mom]

OKay, in a two-year old preschool class, I only had to send a labeled bath towel. I'm not sure whether it was used as a nap mat or a cover, tho. No help here, I'd be a confused as you! Do you know of a young mom you could call to get the scoop on the local customs? BTW, LL Bean backpacks last a very, very long time. We bought them for our kids in kindergarten, I think, and they were usable well into HS.

Back from grocery, I'm going to go again....
-fold and put away more laundry
-start the spaghetti sauce so it's ready for later
-finish polishing the refrigerator
-clean the microwave
-refill meds for the week

[OKay]

Kathryn - I got hepatitis by eating at a restaurant. DH, DSis and DBro got it at the same time/place. It can take weeks for the symptoms to show up. Any place you have eaten in the past 6 weeks could be suspect. example....

Good Ideas! Thank you! I just discovered 2 king size pillow cases fit around & cover the kindermat nicely. Hum......they are so simple to wash. I'm going to send a couple "help" messages to DNeices who are both teachers and mothers to children who are a year ahead of LO. They would have had to solve this immense nap mat challenge last year.

[Lisa B.]

Hello Ladies,

((Kathryn)) Hope you feel better soon.

Firstly, I apologise for not being on here for quite some time and I honestly cannot catch up all the posts but will see if I can at least read some of them.

Some life events have occurred that has caused me to take a little stock of family and needs in my life.

1. My other grandmother (my paternal one) passed away recently, so have been dealing with grief and family grief.
2. My son and his now ex-girlfriend broke up a while back and so that wedding has been cancelled.
3. My youngest DCousin and her now fiance, won themselves a fully paid for wedding that will occur early next year.
4. My Dd14 might be a "junior bridesmaid" at said cousins wedding.
5. Problems with an investigation on my bank account where my hubbies card was cloned and bank account emptied - will have to wait approximately 10 working days to have any feedback on this matter.

I hope I can be with you all more often.

Know that I do think of you all daily but just didn't squeeze in some personal time for things recently. I'm making more of an effort to try and post here and be with you all.

Lisa

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

OKay, I have shots to protect me from Hep A (the kind you can get out and about) because of my international travel. So that's why Hepatitis makes no sense to me. Not that I live dangerously (I ate on the ship almost the whole time I was in Africa - just two meals ashore and both at a 5 star resorts.) Ten weeks ago, my liver count was fine (it is 30x higher now) and 7 weeks ago I was in Nova Scotia. For once I was not doing major travel to exotic places.

Although I'm sure questioning on whether or not we'll be on a ship in January. If I don't have a firm diagnosis, I'll be cancelling our reservation. The drop dead date for that is Sept. 5 (that's the day full payment for the trip is due.) If I get better, we can try and book later but for now, it makes no sense to think about international travel.

I'm watching the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, now. And thinking about pizza and how much I'm looking forward to it.

[OKay]

Lisa - it was wonderful to catch up with you. Hope you are able to post more.

Kathryn - Hopefully your test results will provide some answers. ((((Hugs)))) Hang in there!

I need to set cards up and get fully back into the box. Life feels better when there is some organization to it.

[helia]

Hello all!

Glad for the good visit, Harriet! That was an opportunity well-seized.
Wow! Ds and ddil's house sounds HUGE, OK. I suppose they'll need to hire cleaning help.
Ds is interested in the Bourne movie, Cowinkie. Glad to hear you enjoyed it! How funny about going to the matinee. . . .
((Lisa)) It sounds like you have a lot going on. No need to apologise! It is so good to see you again.
((Kathryn))

We visited a different church today; dh has a bee in his bonnet about the kids being exposed to different styles of worship, so today, it was a Catholic church. (Unfortunately, we are so busy that we only seem to get to visit one per summer.) Kids aren't particularly keen on this idea, but they had good attitudes anyway. We liked a lot of things about the service; we really appreciate many things about more "high church" worship. One part reminded dd14 of a ritual we have seen in synagogues, which we've only attended for friends' Bat Mitzvahs. As Protestants, we are not in line with all the Catholic beliefs, but we do share the essentials, and it was good to be there! We went to an early mass so were out by 10 a.m. Then, we went downtown for brunch. Dfriends S, R, and K (our physics prof. friend getting over mono) went with us.

I had a very low-key afternoon, some hard sudokus and some reading and some light napping.

We are dog sitting dfriends' dog Tori; she is not as settled as Pepper, so she needs more attention, more letting in and out, more petting and soothing, more monitoring when around the cat -- she will chase the cat. Pepper and Lily (the cat) at best buds. We are also pet-sitting other friends' 2 guinea pigs. This makes our current animal population: 9. 2 dogs, 1 cat, 4 guinea pigs, and 2 chickens.

Speaking of animals, we had an unusual visitor to our woodpecker feeder last night: a little flying squirrel! Ds noticed him. We had no idea we had flying squirrels here! He was hanging onto the feeder upside down happily chowing down on the peanuts. I tried to take a photo, but it was pitch black outside and light inside and all I could get was reflections from the window. We could see him very well since the feeder is only about 2 feet from the window. He completely ignored us. I googled flying squirrels and think he was a northern flying squirrel; his eyes were very large, a sign that he is nocturnal -- plus, we saw him at 10:30 at night. I think the other sort around here (southern) is not nocturnal? Anyhow, SO interesting! I hope he comes back.

OK, I should unload the dw. Dh should be home soon; he is out practicing parking with dd16. She is taking her drivers test on Thursday. We are not sure she'll pass; the parking part of the test is quite difficult here.

[Harriet]

Lisa, what a treat to get back to the boards today and realize you had been able to post! I'm so sorry to hear about the death of your paternal grandmother. You may remember that my son had reached the engaged stage (though no date set) when the couple broke up. I remember posting that he stared out of windows for quite a while back then but of course in the ensuing years has had much, much happiness. Wow, what a frustrating experience re: the bank and theft. Hugs to your (and dh) for the shock of that.

[helia]

Adding. . .I think southern flying squirrels are nocturnal too. I think by its' coloring and lack of stripes we thought it was northern -- but who knows?