News

Saturday

Saturday was mostly relaxing. I slept in and had our weekly Skype call with my mother-in-law. Then I went to urgent care and (due partly to the save my spot function) was able to get seen right away. I had a small ear infection – most of the pain was due to pressure build-up. Then I rested the rest of the day.

Sunday

Sunday Aaron, D14, and M11 went to an escape room. They got out with 1 minute 36 seconds left. My ear was feeling a lot better in the morning, but I was pretty exhausted by the end of the day.

Monday

Monday was a cheerful day for me. It was clear skies, and I was feeling mostly better (my ear is still clogged, but no longer hurting). I took D14 to her appointment and ran Malcolm’s trombone to maintenance to remove the pen cap he’d dropped down it. They removed it for free! IL5 had swim lessons and M11 had a Boy Scout party.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a pretty quick day. I had a dentist appointment to fill my ground-down teeth (I even wore my mouthguard the night after that). Then I took dad to his PT appointment.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning I got up super early and got a CT scan of my tailbone. The purpose was to check if the tumor down there is attached to the bone or not, and if it’s attached to the bone they’ll want to remove it to biopsy it. However, the CT scan didn’t clearly visualize the tumor, so we still don’t know if it’s attached to the bone.

Then dad got the rest of his teeth removed. After that I !!!!took a nap!!!! OMG. It was glorious. Dad had an appointment with his orthopedic doctor after that. He said we didn’t have to get the potential cancer scanned in again till February, when his arm wasn’t broken anymore. So yay for that.

The day ended with Aaron’s Christmas family experience. He’d kept it a secret from us (though my Facebook ads gave me a big hint after he purchased the tickets), so it was a huge surprise to the kids that we were going indoor skydiving. Everyone had a great time. IL5 was pretty skeptical, and didn’t end up flying. But he did stand in the wind tunnel when it had a healthy breeze going. And he loved watching everyone else fly.

Thursday

Thursday was exhausting. I had my bariatric doctor appointment, even though I don’t think I’m technically bariatric anymore. I will probably see her until I reach my goal weight.

Then I took IL5 to his poop physical therapy (we worked on core strength – homework is for him to kick stuff with both legs and continue the daily sitting on the toilet relaxing). Then we went to poop psychology, where I was told he could just focus on PT and not come to psychology anymore because she had nothing to add. We made one more appointment 3 weeks out just in case, but I should cancel if he’s making progress.

Then I took D14 to her knee PT, where she was given a smaller set of exercises since she’s struggling to do all her exercises daily due to mood.

In the evening, dad was having chest pain, and took 3 nitroglycerin in sequence (the most he can take) and when that didn’t work, he chose to go to bed rather than call 911. So I went to work and slept poorly.

I’m pondering not going on the vacation to Oregon with the rest of the family over Christmas. I don’t know if dad should be alone with these chest pains. Except he’d be pissed if I stayed back for him. Royally pissed.  So I think I might tell him I was dreading the flight anyway (untrue) because my tailbone will be like torture after 30 minutes of sitting in that seat, and usually for shows I am able to stand for 15 minutes during intermission and temporarily releive the pain, but I can’t do that on a plane. After 3 hours of that, I’ll REALLY be hurting, and then I’ll sit in a car driving for an hour to get to my in-laws’ house. (After this excuse occurred to me I AM dreading the flight.)

Friday

On Friday, I took IL5 to speech and then feeding therapy. He, Aaron, dad and I then went out to eat.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Great Mythologies of the World, by various professors
• The Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
• Run, Hide, Repeat, by Pauline Dakin
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe

D13 reading

• The Boy and Girl Who Broke the World, by Amy Reed
• Exile, by Shannon Messenger – I’m reading this to her

Media Completed

Review to come

News

Saturday

Saturday I was exhausted. I woke up at 4am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I couldn’t do my weekly crock pot lunches for Aaron and me because my shopping trip time was Thursday evening, when dad had his heart attack.

After a Skype call with my mother-in-law, I took IL4 to visit my dad in the hospital. He was a little less well-behaved than Friday, but we survived. Then D14, Aaron, and I watched an episode of X-Files, during which I fell asleep. I also slept through part of dinner with Aaron and my friend Liz, and part of the play “It’s an Honerable Life,” (performed in the Klingon language).

I was sleeping fine when my rude nephew J19 woke me at 2am with a call, asking me to order him an Uber home. It took a couple hours to fall back to sleep.

Sunday

Sunday morning my voice was going in and out and I had a minor cough and sore throat. I know my client doesn’t want to get sick, so I texted him, and he said not to come in. Which was disappointing, since we need the money, but at least I was available to pick dad up from the hospital. He’s home again.

In the evening the family watched “Spirited Away” and then decorated the Christmas tree.

Monday

Monday I was very productive. I made Gumbo for Aaron and my work lunches. I did some housework, and did a virtual doctor appointment for IL4. Then I took him to school, and I ran a bunch of errands and made several phone calls.

In the late afternoon, the orthopedic oncologist I spoke to a few weeks ago called me. He said he’d discussed my case with some colleagues, and they suggested that he should give me a CT scan of my tailbone, and if the tumor was, indeed, attached to the bone (as opposed to being a nerve tumor) he wanted to remove and biopsy it. Ugh. That sounds painful. And like I won’t be able to get stuff done for a while.

In the evening, IL4 had swim lessons and M11 had Boy Scouts.

Tuesday

Tuesday was busy. I went almost directly from work to pick up D13 for her appointment. But I’d double-booked myself, so when I dropped her off, I took dad to the dentist to get his top teeth pulled. I left him there, and went back to D13’s appointment to take part in the last 20 minutes. Afterwards, I picked up dad and dropped D13 off at school.

After making phone calls and running errands, I took dad to his physical therapy appointment for his shoulder. During his appointment, I was able to run one more errand and make more phone calls.

In the evening, IL4 was rewarded with extra TV time after his bedtime routine started because he pooped in the toilet!!!

Wednesday

Wednesday was extremely frustrating. I had a nasty cold which made thinking and staying awake really hard. I was supposed to get an oil change immediately after work, but D14 texted about this horrible sore throat where even breathing was horrible. So I had to cancel the oil change to take her to urgent care. Even though I did the “save my spot” function to reduce the waiting room time, we ended up waiting an hour after being roomed.

Then I took dad to his cardiac MRI – only to realize he wasn’t supposed to take caffeine within 12 hours. I had been told that by one person, and then told 1 hour by another, and for some reason I believed the second person, even though she really wasn’t an expert on the subject. So we needed to reschedule for January. They were depending on that cardiac MRI to determine why he had a heart attack, so I’m really feeling like a failure. I keep reminding myself that I have a lot on my plate right now, and I’m bound to drop a ball, but this was an important ball.

I had been going to take M11’s trombone to the music shop because he dropped a pen cap down the slide of his trombone. The music shop is almost a half hour away, and is on the way to the location with the MRI, but M11 took it to school. So now I’ll have to make a special trip.

By the end of the day, my throat hurt, by eyes were bloodshot and stinging, I had a headache, and my brain was foggy. That was on top of feeling like a failure.

Thursday

Thursday I awoke with the cold symptoms again. Yuck. D14 had a video appointment, then dad had a PCP appointment. Dad’s doctor made me feel better about messing up the cardiac MRI instructions by saying that they were only doing it because they can’t run the other tests right now. That the MRI would give them an indication, but they really needed to run the other tests.

By the time I got home from dad’s appointment, I was almost convinced I had an ear infection. I asked Aaron to come home early and get IL5 off the bus, and signed up on save-my-spot on urgent care. But by the time I should be leaving for urgent care, my ear felt a little better, and I decided not to waste my time at urgent care.

It was IL5’s birthday, so we opened presents and had a cake for D14 and IL5. I don’t usually combine their birthdays, but there was a lot going on this year. D14 understood, and I think IL5 really liked blowing out candles at the same time as D14. The cake had a dinocorn on it.

Friday

Friday is kinda a blur because I was feeling so tired from the pressure and pain in my ear. It started with bringing IL5 to the hospital to get another gut x-ray. His gastroenterologist wanted to see how we’re doing at keeping his gut from backing up. To make the trip more fun, he decided to walk backwards a good deal of the way, and allowing this behavior is often faster and less stressful than fighting it.

Then I took him to feeding therapy, where he actually lay down on the floor and rolled to our location. He apparently proceeded to ignore the therapist as if she weren’t in the room for the next 45 minutes.

Then, I told him we were in a rush to get home, and that he would get to stay with M11 while my dad and I were at an appointment. He refused to move (or struggled against being carried) until I said he could come along with me and dad.

Once at the hospital with dad and me, he slithered down the stairs like a snake. But luckily we were early, so he didn’t really cause us problems.

Dad’s MRI of his arm was meant to tell us whether he has cancer. It took 1.5 hours of lying in the machine on his broken shoulder (I’d asked if we could wait until the shoulder was healed, but the doctor was in a rush for this). Then, they released him into the labyrinthine recesses of the hospital without telling him how to get back to the waiting room. So he got lost.

Meanwhile, IL5 was upset and screaming about how he wanted to go with Bobby. Finally, he tipped the round table in the waiting room over, rolled it to a new position, righted it, and used it as a footrest. But at least he was happy again.

After all of that, the results of the MRI were inconclusive, and the radiologist suggested either a CT scan of the elbow, or an MRI of the elbow. I haven’t told dad this yet, because he was very reluctant to get checked for cancer in the first place.

I got home feeling miserable and tired due to my ear ache.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Massachusetts

Reading to myself

• Great Mythologies of the World
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Run, Hide, Repeat by Pauline Dakin

Reading to IL4

• The Great Mathemachicken: Hide and Go Beak, by Nancy Krulik

D13 reading

• The Boy and Girl Who Broke the World, by Any Reed

Media Completed

When Q is sent down to show the brave Klingon warrior Baily that life is better than an honorable death, he must flashback through time to see why. This was hilarious – filled with Star Trek jokes. Performed in Klingon with English subtitles.

Chihiro must rescue her parents from the wicked witch that runs a bathhouse for spirits. This movie is so funny as well as cute and engaging. The kids loved it – even the 4 year old.

News

Saturday

I didn’t do much on Saturday. We were going to clean out IL4’s gut, but he had a fever and slept all day. When he awoke, he was covering his ears and complaining of throat pain, so we decided to take him to urgent care to get his ears and throat looked at. Aaron came to keep me company. IL4 had an ear infection in both ears – apparently a fairly bad one in the left. They gave us flavored liquid antibiotics, and we tried putting it in milk, but didn’t succeed in getting the first dose down him.

Sunday

Sunday I felt a little burned out. I worked, then tried to solve the puzzle of how to get IL4 to take his antibiotic. We finally settled on 1:1 ratio to chocolate syrup, as suggested by the nurse-line. It worked, though it’s a slow process. It might not be feasible in the morning before school.

Monday

Monday morning started with dad’s dentist appointment. They pulled 5 teeth, which only took a half hour because the teeth were already loose.

After the dentist, I tried giving IL4 his antibiotic in chocolate syrup again, and he hands-down refused it. So I’d gotten a total of 3 half-doses in him since Saturday night, and was out of options. I wanted to switch to a crushable pill, but the phone number to urgent care was out of service. I tried using their online urgent care option, but that was out of service too. I tried calling the main facility phone number, and told the computer answering service that I wanted to be connected to urgent care, and it answered that urgent care is walk-in only. I called again and asked to talk to a human, and the computer put me on a callback list which never called back. In the evening, I took him to urgent care, where (after 45 minutes in the waiting room despite my using the reserve-a-spot feature) the nurse was awesome and gave me a prescription right away without waiting for the doctor. But it was a prescription for a capsule, not a crushable pill. So we cut the tip off the capsule and poured the powder into his milk. That seemed to work. Yay!

We have at least one mouse in the house, and I put out a mouse trap behind the fridge a week ago. Monday I checked it and all the peanut butter was off the trap, but it hadn’t sprung. Good news is that a cat got one. Hopefully the sole mouse. Fingers crossed.

I made the mistake of confidently drinking one of IL4’s potions. I often confidently do so because I am not squeamish. This time, I knew he’d mixed water, chocolate syrup, and a dash of coke. What I didn’t know is he’d surreptitiously added half a tin of black pepper, as well.

Dad took a bath and couldn’t get out, so I called 911. The medics managed pretty well.

Tuesday

Tuesday started out well enough but ended with a bang.

First, I took IL4 to his poop psychologist and they worked on relaxation techniques. Then after some errands, I took D13 to physical therapy. I did a little bit of housework, and relaxed a bit in the evening.

Then, I had an argument with J19. He had opened a window in his room and was letting our heat out into the 20 degree weather. We don’t have money for that.

Next IL4 suddenly perked up, despite having already been through his entire bedtime routine. He really wanted to make a potion (though when I told him it wasn’t potion-making time, he told me he wanted to make “juice”). There was a lot of kicking and screaming. Finally, we calmed him down. He even apologized to Aaron.

Then, I was on my way to work – ready to escape the madness at home – when I got text message paragraph from someone about their mental health. The car’s computerized voice read it out, vastly missing the raw emotion that was implied by the words. It would have been funny, but I wasn’t in the mood to be amused. (It’s a little amusing now, though.) Anyway, all I could say was: “I’m driving now, so I can’t give that text the answer it deserves. Then I will be at work and unable to text for a while. Try to sleep.”

I was glad to go to sleep.

Wednesday

Wednesday I took D13 to an appointment then took dad on a bunch of errands. One of them was to buy a needle that wouldn’t break while trying to sew on Boy Scout patches. I literally stood there for several minutes trying to figure out what needle to choose. Then, in the check out lane, I discovered fabric glue! Seriously?! I can just GLUE them on? That made my day.

Thursday

Thursday I went directly from one job to another. I was happy to do so because I haven’t been able to work as much with all the appointments kids & dad have, and that cuts into income.

After work, I had planned on going on a massive shopping trip with dad, but he was feeling fatigued, and went into his room to take a nap. So I got into the bathtub for a nice hot bath. As soon as I was settled, I hear dad scream “Rachel!” I yelled “What?” But to no avail, he’d gone back into his room. So I got out to check on him.

He was gasping for breath, pale, sweaty, and complaining of chest pain. I called 911 and gave him a nitroglycerin. The paramedics came and took him away.

We found out very little in the ER – they were thinking either pneumonia (there was an “unimpressive,” but present fog that might be pneumonia in his X-ray. But he also had “unimpressive,” but present increases in troponin, which is a sign of heart damage.

They checked him in and I went to work.

Friday

Friday after work, I took IL4 to speech therapy, from there to the hospital, and from there to feeding therapy. He actually behaved quite well in the hospital. When Bobby got out of bed into the chair, IL4 got to take a ride in the bed and press every button except the red one (the nurse call button). He obeyed!

The doctor said dad did not have pneumonia, but that he seemed to have had a heart attack, albeit, a very minor one. They were going to treat him for that, and release him when he can walk around, which dad says he could do now. Of course, it’ll be a new doctor starting Saturday, so who knows when he’ll be released.

In the evening D14 and I went out to A Stocking Full of Awesome, by The Danger Committee, which is a knife-throwing/juggling show. They are also comedians, so it was a pretty good show. It was D14’s first time seeing them, and she loved it. It was her birthday! She’s 14 now!

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Maine
• 1 letter Maryland
• 1 letter Texas
• 1 letter Virginia

Reading to myself

• Great Mythologies of the World, by various
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel

Reading to IL4

• Caveboy is Bored, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
• Super Rabbit All-Stars, by Thomas Flintham

D13 reading

• This is Not a Drill, by K A Holt
• The Boy and Girl Who Broke the World, by Amy Reed
• Exile, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)

Media Completed

When a literary scholar goes to Istanbul for a conference, she finds a djinn’s bottle. As the story unfolds, they begin to understand each other. Interesting twist on the jennie in a bottle story.

I’m really confused as to what this book was about. It was probably supposed to be post-apocalyptic, but unlike most post-apocalyptic stories it didn’t write in some way for the reader to get her bearings. It just burst in with the story as if bearings had already been found. This was obviously a stylistic approach rather than a mistake. I almost gave the book 3.5 stars because I was so confused, but it kept me coming back for more – interested about how the story would unfold. I caution only complex readers to approach this book.

Weight Loss

X – 43 lbs

News

Saturday

Saturday was a lot of fun…a change-up from last week. I slept in till 9:30, played D&D, and had a date with Aaron. We spent some of it shopping for Thanksgiving, but we also spent a couple hours hanging out at our local tavern, gossiping.

Sunday

Sunday after work D13, Aaron, and I watched some X-Files.

Monday

Monday D13 had a morning appointment and an afternoon appointment, so I just decided to keep her home for the day. I managed to clean the kitchen (cleaning is always an amazing feat for me). An electrician came and changed out the outlets from two-prong to three-prong in dad’s room because he was having difficulty plugging in his oxygen compressor. Then I took IL4 to swim lessons. While M11 was at Boy Scouts finishing up his Signs and Signals merit badge, D13, IL4, Dad, and I went out for steak.

Tuesday

Tuesday we had dad’s follow-up with his primary care provider, and we had a lot to talk about. But the main issue was that he is now feeling a lot of discomfort in his legs which his doctor says is nerve pain. He says the only solutions are injection or surgery, and he’d rather not do either at this time due to dad’s other issues. He says luckily dad is already on pain meds for the arm, and that he hopes the leg pain will go away before the pain meds are used up.

Later, we had IL4’s parent teacher conference at the daycare. His teacher there said that he was a joy to have, and that he was very smart – knowing his letters and his numbers. That’s nice to hear, because I’ve told his special education teachers that I don’t think he’s cognitively behind, and they always nod as if they disagree and don’t want to say. But maybe I’m being paranoid about the meaning of their nod, based on the fact that last year’s teacher told me outright that IL4 was cognitively behind.

In the evening, J19 cooked everyone grilled cheese.

Wednesday

Wednesday I was in a reasonably good mood all day, though was feeling mildly unmotivated. I hadn’t slept well the night before because my brain was trying to process the onslaught of information about dad’s medical needs. I guess it’s finally hitting me how much there is to pay attention to at the moment.

M11 had a morning appointment with his eating disorder psychologist. He hasn’t gained any weight since a month ago, but he’s not lost any, nor has he grown taller – so at least we’re not working with a moving target weight. He needs to gain 6 pounds.

I had a lovely lunch with Aaron, then took D13 to her physical therapy for her knee. They increased the number of exercises she was meant to do at home, much to her chagrin. But she was proud of herself for walking around all day without her crutches.

In the evening, I brined the turkey and then relaxed. The older two kids left with biomom to visit their grandpa.

Thursday

Thanksgiving was good. After returning from work, I threw the turkey into the oven and cooked the feast – turkey, corn casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, and stuffing. We also cleaned our bedroom so that the electrician could work on our outlets. IL4 actually joined us at the table for dinner (though he had Froot Loops). J19 and his girlfriend L joined us, as well, so it was a nice-sized feast.

Friday

Friday was a good day. After work, dad and I went to buy the bookcase he’s buying us for Christmas. He ended up getting a dresser for M11, too, since his dresser (which is going to IL4) is too small for the way he stuffs clothes in there.

I relaxed for most of the rest of the day, even while the electrician was finishing up changing outlets in a couple of rooms. Then in the evening, we took dad and IL4 out to a fancy steakhouse for dad’s last steak before his teeth begin to be pulled for dentures.

Aaron and I finished up the day by watching the new Haunted Mansion movie.

Letters Written

• 1 letter Louisiana
• 1 letter Washington
• 1 letter Pennsylvania

Reading to myself

• Leech, by Hiron Ennes
• Run, Hide, Repeat, by Hiron Ennes
• The Eye of the World, by Robert Jordan
• Great Mythologies of the World, by Various Professors
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
• Bible
• Great Courses Saint Augustine’s Confessions, by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman
• Mahabharata

Reading to IL4

• Gimme Shelter, by Doreen Cronin
• Super Cheat Codes and Secret Modes, by Thomas Flintham
• Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party, by Shannon Hale

D13 reading

• The Boy and Girl Who Broke the World, by Amy Reed

Media Completed

The chicken squad decide to dig a shelter with amusing results.

When Princess Magnolia has a perfect birthday party, her ring alarm keeps going off. Will the princess guests discover her secret? Colorful and cute, with some humor.

When Ben is asked to photograph some ghosts in a haunted mansion, he is skeptical. But the ghosts aren’t skeptical of him. So he, a strange priest, and a mother-son duo create a team for the dehaunting of the mansion. This was a bit of juvenile fun for me and Aaron to watch. Funny, cute, but not deep with plot.

News

Saturday

Saturday had some fun, some stressful stuff. Dad was told he was going to be released Sunday because of his wheezing. Then he started having chest pain, so they moved him to the ICU and said he’d either get a stress test or an angiogram on Monday. If they find problems, they may need to put in a stent, which would be one more night in the hospital after Monday. I’m hoping he’s out by Thursday, because we have an appointment to get his MRI ordered.

In the evening, Aaron and I had a date. We went to a local tavern within walking distance from my house. We did exciting stuff like discuss whether to get a high or low deductible plan as well as everyone’s health issues

Sunday

Sunday I popped by to visit dad in the morning, before work. The doctor said he didn’t really belong in the ICU, which I agreed with. He said he figured dad may need some stents, but that we wouldn’t know till the angiogram or stress test Monday.

After work, we played Ticket to Ride as a family. Even IL4 played – he drew and discarded cards, and occasionally blocked a path by placing a train. It really stressed out D13 who wants to play PRECISELY by the rules. I figured he was just adding an extra level of complexity to the game and enjoyed being part of the family activity.

Monday

Monday was another busy day. After making croc pot stew for Aaron and my lunches, I sorted a month’s worth of 5 people’s laundry. Usually D13 does that once a week or so, but with her knee problem and being busy with every day rehearsal for the play (which is over now) laundry had accumulated. I still have to fold it and put it away, but it took me 1.5 hours to drag it all upstairs and sort it.

Dad’s hospitalist called. They couldn’t do a stress test or some other test that I can’t remember the name of because of his arm. They couldn’t do an angiogram because his hemoglobin was too low. They thought maybe he was losing blood, so they called ENT to see if it was his nose. That was in the works.

Orthopedic oncology called, too. Apparently my doctor who found my coccyx tumor by MRI decided to refer me without telling me. So that was a surprise. They triaged me to next day appointment, which stressed me out due to the apparent importance of getting me in quickly.

Then I took IL4 to school and went to the hospital to visit dad. In the evening, I decided not to take IL4 to swim because of a diaper rash that has been getting worse since a week ago. It even has blisters. He only wears diapers at night, so this is confusing. I took him to Urgent Care at the suggestion of the nurse line, and the doctor suggested that it was infected and gave us a cream. Insurance doesn’t cover the cream, and they couldn’t get it done that day because the pharmacist had to mix it.

Tuesday

Tuesday I rushed directly from work to feeding therapy for IL4. Because we’d had no luck the last two feeding appointments, I tried really easy foods and rewarded him with a cookie at the end. He was a superstar during this appointment.

After that, we went to IL4’s poop physical therapy. She’s going to use biofeedback – she’ll put stickers on him and make him do kegels. It’s hooked up to a game on the computer. When he’s clenched, the rocket takes off, and when he relaxes it docks. But we just did his biceps Tuesday, to demonstrate. Then we learned some exercises, where he stuck his belly out and hissed like a snake while sitting (which the therapist says helps you poop).

Then, I dropped IL4 off and picked up D13. I took her to her knee physical therapy intake. We learned she had hyper-mobile joints. He also told us to never sit on our feet because it’ll give us arthritis. I do that all the time. Anyway, he gave her some exercises to help with the knee strength.

Pretty closely on the heels of that appointment, I had my orthopedic oncology appointment. He said that my tumor was probably just a cyst formed after the tailbone trauma of our car accident last year. That sounds about right to me. Why would cancer form because I’d injured my tailbone?

I had been going to visit dad after that appointment, but I’d reached my capacity that day (considering I needed to go to work that night). So my friend came over and we had pizza and gossiped.

Wednesday

Dad was released from the hospital on Wednesday. We had instructions to pop by the equipment store and pick up an oxygen compressor, and get him appointments with ENT, cardiology, and his PCP. I also needed to get him an emergency dentist appointment (his fillings popped out), but had trouble finding a time at a place that takes medicare. So I made an appointment for Thursday for a check in (they don’t have enough time to put in the fillings right away). I had to move his Thursday orthopedic appointment to Friday and cancel IL4’s speech therapy that week.

Thursday

Thursday I took dad to the dentist. He claims that he hasn’t been to a dentist since the 70’s and that may be true. But some fillings fell out, and he needed to be seen. The dentist determined that he had to have his teeth pulled to get dentures. I understood that he was only getting the molars pulled, and he understood that he was getting them all pulled, so I need to call on Monday and find out. I also had a dentist appointment, but I’m keeping all my teeth. In the evening, we went to Red Lobster.

Friday

Friday I was supposed to take dad to an appointment with the orthopedic doctor to follow up on dad’s broken arm and get an MRI of the spot that could be cancer. But he wasn’t feeling well, so we had to cancel.

The rest of the day felt like it had been cancelled too. I kept trying to check my to-do list and prioritize things, but dad kept interrupting with health needs, and J19’s entertainment (he wanted to go to a concert and talked dad into buying the tickets, but then I had to make the purchase on Ticketmaster, which turned out to be more difficult than you’d expect). Then dad encouraged me to do Christmas and birthday shopping for him, which turned out to be experiences (shows) rather than physical gifts, for the most part. I still need Christmas and birthday for IL4.

Then M11 had to pack for Boy Scout camp, which took micromanaging on my part because he was reluctant to pack for some reason. He claimed he wanted to do homework.

By the time Aaron got home, I was gibbering about how I got nothing done, and felt so unaccomplished for the day. In reality, I got 20 items checked off my to-do list  – they just weren’t the ones I’d had planned.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Alberta, Canada
• 1 letter Maryland

Reading to myself

• Leech, by Hiron Ennes
• Great Mythologies of the World, by various

Reading to IL4

• Llama Destroys the World by Jonathan Stutzman
• Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse by Jonathan Stutzman

M10 reading

• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by T Kingfisher

D13 reading

• Outsiders, by S E Hinton
• Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas

Games Played

News

Saturday

Saturday I played D&D while dad and Aaron went to the afternoon production of the kids’ play.

Sunday

Sunday the kids had their last show

Monday

Monday I either had an unexpected side effect from my anxiety med or I had a rather strong bout from my sleeping disorder. When I got up, I stumbled into a wall. When it came to driving D13 to her appointment, I seemed ok, so we went.

Then, while IL4 and I were sitting in the waiting room, I fell asleep. My mom brain eventually heard IL4 grabbing something from the coffee area. I looked up. He had a coffee cup and was holding a large container of sugar. I leapt up and almost face-planted in the vending machine. I backpedaled, and stumbled into the table. Then I sped forward and grabbed the sugar. His cup was half-full of sugar.

Figuring it didn’t matter if he kept the sugar because we couldn’t give it back, we went back to the table, and I lay my head back down on it. He then proceeded to suck soda from his McDonald’s cup straw and spit it into the sugar cup one mouthful at a time. Finally, he had the most disgusting “soup” I’d ever let him make.

That’s when I suddenly woke up. Like one minute I was letting him be gross because I was too tired, and the next minute I’m just fine. That’s how my sleeping disorder works. So, at least I was fine to drive, because we would have been stuck at the doctor’s office until I woke up otherwise.

In the evening, IL4 had swim lessons and M11 had Boy Scouts.

Tuesday

D13 was sick on Tuesday morning, so I had to reschedule her orthodontist appointment and take her to a COVID test. Normally I wouldn’t bother, but my dad had exposed her.

Then I took IL4 to his physical therapy intake for pooping. I hadn’t been very optimistic about it going in, but I felt really good about it when I left. She seemed confident that she could help, and gave some useful tips.

After that, I voted for school board members.

Wednesday

But that was a jump forward. Back to my time slightly after getting my MRI. I came home feeling relieved to be there for the first time all day. After about 15 minutes of chatting with the family, though, I got a call from a stranger saying dad had fallen down a hill (yes, same hill he broke 3 ribs on in late August) and thinks he broke his arm. He’d crawled up the hill with a broken arm, but didn’t know where his phone was.

I briefly looked for the phone, but dad wanted to go to the ER. I called in to work, since I didn’t know long it would take. But at least that gave me a break when I returned home at 8 for my first time to relax all day.

Thursday

Thursday was another tough day. I hadn’t slept well, so I was super tired, yet again. But I couldn’t nap because I was watching IL4. I made 2 hours’ worth of phone calls that had accumulated on my to-do list over the past few days.

Then dad, J19, and I went to the hill and found dad’s phone, followed by lunch out.

Later, I took IL4 to the poop psychologist. She seemed helpful, but I didn’t leave with new tips like from the poop PT on Tuesday. Mainly, she reinforced what PT said about sitting him on the toilet daily with his clothes on.

When I got home, dad wanted to go to urgent care because he was in “too much” pain. Dad has a very high pain tolerance, so that was worrisome. The receptionist at the urgent care pooh-poohed us, and dad got frustrated and we left.

We went out to dinner as a family, then I went straight to bed (I had called in to work the second night in a row due to dad’s shoulder pain and my exhaustion).

Friday

Friday was stressful, too. Dad woke me up at 6am and told me to call an ambulance because he was in so much pain. He said he’d taken 4 Norco (his narcotic pain med) and it still hurt. I packed up some Diet Dew and drove him to the hospital. They weren’t impressed by his use of the pain meds.

When we got into a room, they found that his oxygen was really low, and they tested him for all sorts of things to narrow down the reason. They kinda knew it was the 4 Norco, but they had to rule out other stuff. So we sat there as he was put through arm x-rays (found broken arm and potential cancer), chest x-ray (potential pneumonia or pulmonary edema as well as emphysema), CT scan (not pneumonia and no pulmonary embolism), and a bunch of blood tests (they blew out his veins twice getting this blood).

Finally, they admitted him so they could watch his oxygen. By this time, he was so confused, he didn’t remember what we came into the hospital for, and when we reminded him that it was for pain, he asked where the pain was located.

The hospitalist called me after I got home, and suggested that he might put dad into transitional care and that he would be in physical and occupational therapy – I was a little startled by this outcome, so I didn’t really ask any questions, but I assume he wants to help him not fall down and injure himself so frequently. Except, what would help with that is dad deciding not to traverse that stupid steep dirt path.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 8 postcards
• 1 letter Michigan
• 1 letter Texas

Reading to myself

• Leech, by Hinron Ennes
• Great Mythologies of the World, by various professors
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel

Reading to IL4

• Society of Substitutes Super Fun World, by Alan Katz
• Ricky Ricotta’s Mighty Robot vs the Voodoo Vultures from Venus, by Dav Pilkey
• Billy and the Mini Monsters: Monsters at Christmas

D13 reading

• Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Mass
• The Outsiders, by S E Hinton

M10 reading

• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by T Kingfisher

Media Completed

When the Worthys have to take Noah the evil ferret along on their vacation, things go wrong. Another cute installment of this series.

Ricky is the only one not watching TV the night the Voodoo Vultures hypnotize all the mice in Squeakyville. Lovely, colorful pictures in this fun book.

Will the monsters ruin Christmas? Cute and colorful.

News

Saturday

Saturday was stressful. It started out with having an attack of my sleeping disorder while on the weekly chat with my mother-in-law. I wasn’t really able to participate, and then when it was over I rushed straight to bed. I tried to update Aaron about his mid-day duties in case I wasn’t awake on time, but instead updated him about Sunday’s mid-day duties because I wasn’t awake.

So I was startled awake by a flurry of activity when D13 woke up late, and came hobbling upstairs as fast as her crutches could carry her. She needed a ride to the play, and was late. Because I was too tired to calculate, I told Aaron he needed to take IL4 because I needed to leave to watch the play before he got back to take over IL4 duty. IL4 doesn’t handle transition well without forewarning, so he was uncooperative. But they made it out and everything was ok.

My friend Liz and I went to the play. While on the way there, J19 called to apologize about taking our alcohol – dad had confronted him.

Anyway, M11 and D13 did great in the play. Yay. Afterwards, Liz and I went to dinner with D13 before dropping her off for her second show. (M11 went home with his mom.)

On the way to dinner, my sister Colette called to tell me dad was in the hospital with COVID. (He had been visiting with her when he became sick.) Colette and I have a rocky relationship, so talking to her is always a stressful thing to me. But the conversation went quite well. I was getting my hopes up that we’d be able to handle this situation in an amiable manner. But it didn’t finish up amiable.

Then IL4 wouldn’t go to sleep. We had forgotten to give him a med that morning, so he was jacked up. He was incredibly uncooperative. Finally, at midnight, I told him he could watch youtube on his phone while we slept. Starting about then to 2am, I received a bunch of dad’s test results in MyChart…getting a ding on my phone every time. Finally, at 2am I called to see if he had gotten worse, because some of the results were way off normal range. He was fine, so I asked IL4 if he was tired, and he willingly went to sleep.

Sunday

Sunday, I got up early and visited dad in the hospital for a few hours. Then I picked up M11 at his mom’s house. Later in the afternoon, M11 and D13 had a play. I stayed with IL4 while Aaron attended the play. When they got home from the play, we watched a couple episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and then went to bed.

Monday

Monday I woke with a headache and thought “Oh no, I have COVID,” but it was gone with a bit of Tylenol. Then I took IL4 and D13 to D13’s appointment. J19 made IL4 a waffle when we got back (that was sweet of him). Then I dropped IL4 at school and ran some errands. Afterwards, I dropped by to see dad at the hospital while Aaron took IL4 to swim lessons. Dad was supposed to be released earlier that day because he’s recovered, but he had atrial fibrillation so they held him another night.

I told J19 that he would need to be out of IL4’s room by November 10 so we can start repainting and rearranging the room in hopes of enticing IL4 to sleep in his own bed. I’d like to replace the Venetian blinds with curtains, but I can’t find ones that I like yet.

Tuesday

So dad’s last night in the hospital was awful. He had a heart monitor on, but was sleeping restlessly, so the wires kept coming detached. Then the nurse repeatedly woke him up to put the wires back on. The last time, she accused him of pulling them out on purpose. (I don’t know what tone she used, but even jokingly saying that to a grumpy old man who keeps being awakened in the middle of the night is bad bedside manner.) So he peevishly knocked off the “trash” she dropped on his bed while trying to get his wires attached. She called him rude, and he got up and stomped up and down the hallway – which he can’t do because of the covid. So they called the hospital cops on him. He went back to his room, but couldn’t sleep after that.

I had been called off work that day, so I headed over to calm him down. I was there for 4 hours, and he seemed better when I left. He had an echocardiogram while I was there, and they determined that his heart isn’t pumping enough volume, and they want to monitor it. The doctor said they wanted to make an appointment with the cardiologist.

I asked “Can I make the appointment so it fits in my schedule?” The doc answered: have the nurse call the social worker and she can make it with you in the room. So I told the nurse “Please call the social worker. I’d like them to be with me when they make the appointment because I need it to be in B– and at a time I can take him. (We were currently much farther away from home in E– because it was closer to my sister’s house, which is where he was when he got sick.)

The nurse brought me the number to call myself, so I called the cardiologist, only to be told an appointment had just been made by the social worker. It was on an inconvenient day in E–. 🤦‍♀️

Anyway, good news is that dad was released! He has a heart monitor. We’ll see how long that stays on him before he gets frustrated and takes it off. Colette took him back to her place, so he doesn’t expose my kids. At least, that’s the reason he gave. In reality, I think sometimes he needs a break from the noisiness of our house.

In the evening, we watched Episode 1 of Star Wars – half before trick-or-treating and half after. IL4 was a creeper from Minecraft. He had no peripheral vision and very little straight ahead vision. He fell over several times, and then finally gave up on the mask. M11 was Scorbunny from Pokemon. He couldn’t fit a jacket on under his costume like IL4, so he was very cold. And D13 couldn’t trick-or-treat on the ice with crutches. So she handed out candy. Regardless of all these obstacles, the all loved Halloween and were thrilled with the candy.

Wednesday

Wednesday, I took D13 in for her MRI on her knee. Admittedly, I hadn’t thought anything was wrong other than being bruised or sprained from a fall. But it turns out her kneecap had popped out of socket, bruising the tissue and ripping a tiny piece of cartilage off. She’s been assigned PT to help reduce the chance of it happening again.

In the evening, D13 and M11 had a refresher rehearsal before their final weekend.

Thursday

Thursday I worked, so not much happened during the day. Dad came home. All three kids had parent-teacher conferences, and all three of them are doing great. The older kids have mostly A’s. IL4 is making progress on his IEP goals.

Friday

Friday, after taking IL4 to speech therapy, I took J19 to urgent care. While there, I popped by the orthopedic walk-in to talk to them about the fact that my tailbone still hurts a year after the car accident. The doctor said he didn’t understand why my butt still hurt, nor how the car accident hurt it to begin with. He said physical therapy was unlikely to help, but that he wanted an MRI on Wednesday to see if there was “something else” going on. I had to cancel one appointment and reschedule another to get the MRI scheduled, but they were both easy to deal with – if it had been one of those specialist appointments that are hard to schedule, I wouldn’t have done it.

In the evening, D13 had her play, and M11, Aaron, and I watched a few episodes of Good Omens.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Texas
• 1 letter Massachusetts

Reading to myself

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Leech, by Hiron Ennes
• Great Mythologies of the World, by various
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
• Bible
• Great Courses St Augustine’s Confessions by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman
• Mahabharata

Reading to IL4

• Stinky Cecil in Terrarium Terror, by Paige Braddock
• Peanut Butter and Jelly, by Ben Clanton

M10 reading

• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher

D13 reading

• Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Mass

Media Completed

When Cecil is toadnapped by a classroom of kids, his friends must rescue him. Fun, cute graphic novel for younger kids.

Narwhal realizes peanut better is even better than waffles. Cut, funny, fun.

This is an adorable pop up book about feelings.

A book about what kindness is. Cute.

Sethe and her daughter Denver live a lonely life, haunted by Sethe’s dead baby’s ghost. But then two people join their family. One is a fellow runaway slave, and the other is a mysterious woman named Beloved. This is a haunting story of recovery.

Spoilers abound below.

These questions are adapted from Susan Bauer’s Well-Educated Mind, Chapter 5.

✏️Is this Novel a fable or a chronicle?

This story is somewhere between a chronicle and a fable. It takes place in our universe, but has supernatural elements.

🖍️How does the writer show us reality (if chronicle)?

This book had mostly psychological rather than physical details to show reality. The emotional torture of Sethe’s memories, and the fear of loss with Denver.

🖍️What is the intent of the world (if fantastic)?

When answering this question, I’m supposed to think about whether the fantastic elements are allegory or speculation. Now, I know it has to be allegorical, if one of those, but I don’t understand what the allegory is if there is one. One of the overarching themes is the dehumanization of African American people both as slaves and as free people. Another theme is the relationship between a mother and her children in African American culture of the time. And the ghost, which is the fantastic element, is part of both of those themes. The murder of Sethe’s baby is both dehumanizing and horrifically humanizing at the same time. Sethe feels it is her motherly duty to save the baby from slavery. The ghost is a reminder to Sethe of this moment, as well as the horror of slavery and what she was trying to save Beloved from.

🖍️Is the novel primarily realistic with a few fantastic elements?

Yes

✏️What does the central character want? What is standing in their way? What strategy do they pursue to overcome this block?

Sethe, the central character, wants to love her children with every fiber of her being. But she can’t do this for Beloved, who is violently taken away – until she comes back to claim more love than is healthy for Sethe to give. She can’t do this for Denver, because Sethe is distracted by the ghost as well as by Paul D (i.e. her past). She can’t with her boys, because they ran away. She was unable to overcome this block – the ghost took all she had.

✏️Who is telling this story?

The story is narrated by an omniscient storyteller which mainly focuses on the actions and thoughts of Sethe and Paul D, but also on Denver, Beloved, and a bit character to a lesser extent.

✏️Where is the story set? How does this setting convey the character’s relationship to the world?

The story is set almost entirely in Sethe’s house, with some references to the place she was a slave and very few references to other places. This accentuates the loneliness and isolation of Sethe and Denver.

✏️What style does the writer employ?

Beloved is poetic in style, despite technically being prose. It’s full of symbols and lyricism. Words are beautifully chosen for meaning and sound.

✏️What are the images, metaphors, and allegory?

I already discussed what allegory I could see. As for images, mother’s milk repeatedly shows up, meaning mother’s love.

✏️Do you sympathize with the characters? Which ones and why?

I have a strong sympathy for Sethe and Denver. Obviously, I don’t know what it feels like to escape slavery, but I can visualize the horrors at some level. I also don’t understand what it feels like to grow up alone with a murderer for a mom, but I feel bad about how her life was lived.

✏️Does the writer’s technique give you a clue as to her take on the human condition?

It definitely gives an idea on her feelings about slavery and how an escaped slave would feel about white people.

✏️Is the novel self-reflective?

Yes, in the sense that it connects her to her slave ancestors.

✏️Did the author’s time affect her?

Yes. Books written about the evils of slavery are much different that those written around the time of abolition. For instance, it is easier for a person of slave ancestry to write a book, both because of education opportunities and because of the audience reception.

✏️Is there an argument in this book? Do I agree?

I don’t really think so.

News

Saturday

On Saturday I worked for a while. Then I was supposed to go to Feed My Starving Children with M11, but I was super tired, and it turned out that M11 wanted to go with his dad anyway. I dealt with some slight jealosy that he didn’t want to go with me, but mostly I was relieved.

After FMSC, M11, Aaron, and I watched a few episodes of Good Omens Season 2.

Sunday

Sunday started with taking my dad to Mass for the first time in a long time. J19 walked around looking for applications to jobs in the area – which kind of suggests he plans on staying longer than just the weekend. I’d rather he didn’t stay longer, as he’s already drunk half a bottle of our Fireball, forcing us to hide our alcohol in our room. Plus, IL4 will want to go in his room since all his toys are in there. But I also don’t want to kick J19 out because he’s been combo couch surfing and sleeping on the streets for over a year.

I decided to ask on the Facebook page for my suburb where was a good place to apply, and mentioned that he was walking around looking for one. Most people answered helpfully, but one said he was lying if he said he was walking around looking for applications because they’re all online. I told her politely that he wasn’t lying, he just didn’t know what he was doing. A couple people came on and said the commenter should be nice. She came back and apologized if she was wrong about the paper applications. I answered that I wouldn’t let her narrow and negative assumption cheapen his attempts at getting on his feet, but if she’s sorry, she should be more cautious about what she says in the future. Then I got scolded for not accepting her apology, even though she didn’t actually apologize for accusing him of lying. People on the internet!

Later, I took J19 to Urgent Care for a non-urgent matter. But he had been planning on walking 4 miles to a bus stop and taking a 2 hour bus ride  to the ER downtown for this non-urgent matter.

Afterwards, D13, M11, IL4, Aaron and I carved pumpkins. J19 was excited to do so, too, but then wandered off and didn’t carve his. His loss. 🤷‍♀️

We watched some Grey’s Anatomy, and then I went to bed early because I’d had a headache all day.

Monday

Monday started with breakfast with IL4 and dad as well as a trip to the pet store. I got IL4 a cat toy to call his own since D13 has claimed the two cat toys Polyphemus came with and only lets IL4 play with them under her watchful eye.

After dropping IL4 off at school, I took M11 to the dentist to get his cavity filled. He says he’ll brush his teeth from now on. That resolution probably didn’t even last till that evening, but it was nice to hear.

After dropping D13 off at dress rehearsal, I took IL4 to his first swim lesson in the big pool. He was reluctant to get in the big pool – not sure why, since he’ll get in a pool with me or Aaron – but maybe because he’s with a few other students and one teacher?

Tuesday

Tuesday IL4 had an appointment with his GI specialist. Aaron joined me, because he (like me) was getting frustrated by mixed messages. The specialist said that the tortuous intestines weren’t a permanent problem, that they’d hopefully clear up when he stopped withholding. So psychology was what we should focus on now (besides the regular cleanings, which will also hopefully be unnecessary when he stops withholding).

D13 also had an appointment later in the day. Then D13 and M11 had dress rehearsal in the evening.

Wednesday

Wednesday I got a bunch of cleaning done because an appointment was cancelled in the morning. In the afternoon, IL4 had feeding therapy. He was absolutely refusing to go in to the office – he threw a temper tantrum on the sidewalk outside – but I told him he didn’t have to eat any of the food in the lunch box, and he grudgingly went in. He sure didn’t eat anything from the lunch box.

I then took a nice walk and brought D13 to rehearsal. Aaron took M11 and IL4 to get their hair cut, and now they both look handsome and sophisticated.

Thursday

Thursday I worked most if the day. In the evening D13 and M11 had rehearsal. It was the last rehearsal before the play. But D13’s knee buckled and she fell and is now in pain.

Friday

Friday after work I took IL4 to speech therapy while Aaron took D13 to urgent care for her knee. IL4 didn’t want to go to speech therapy and threw a massive temper tantrum. I managed to pull the kicking and screaming child into the atrium between outside door and inside door. Is that a thing in warm places? Places have a heated atrium area so that cold air doesn’t blow into the office whenever the outside door is open? Anyway, I got him in the atrium because neither of us was dressed for 35F degree weather. Then I tried to talk sense into him as he rushed me trying to get out the door. Finally, I let him exit.

He continued his temper tantrum outside, now running around in tight circles on the sidewalk. Finally, the receptionist walked out and asked if I wanted her to go get the therapist. She did, and Jill, the therapist, calmed him down by saying they could go to the OT gym.

D13’s visit yielded more action than I expected, too. I figured she’d be glanced at and sent away with RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) instructions. Maybe an X-ray. Well, they did the X-ray, and decided there was some “fluid in the knee” (no, I wasn’t there to ask what that means). So then they needed an MRI, but our insurance needed to pre-authorize that so it’s not scheduled yet. She’s proud of her crutches though.

In the late afternoon, IL4 had a trunk or treat at his daycare, which he really loved despite the cold. He loved handing out the candy just as much as getting it.

In the evening, D13 had her first performance. (M11 is “part time,” so he’s only in half the performances. His first is tomorrow afternoon.) They had to make some minor changes to her on-stage time so that she didn’t have as much walking. She took not being in the combat scene pretty well. She had been really excited about the combat.

Week’s Photos

Letters Written

• 1 letter Virginia
• 2 letters Maine
• 1 letter Pennsylvania

Reading to myself

• Beloved, by Toni Morrison
• School of Fear, Gitty Daneshvari
• Great Mythologies of the World, by various professors
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Bible

Reading to IL4

• Inspector Flytrap, by Tom Angleberger
• The Candy Caper, by Tom Watson

D13 reading

• Throne of Glass, by Sarah J Maas

Media Completed

Sethe and her daughter Denver live a lonely life, haunted by Sethe’s dead baby’s ghost. But then two people join their family. One is a fellow runaway slave, and the other is a mysterious woman named Beloved. This is a haunting story of recovery.

Theo is afraid of dying. Lulu is afraid of confined spaces. Garrison is afraid of bodies of water. Madeline is afraid of bugs. They meet at the School of Fear, taught by an eccentric recluse. This book was both cute and funny. I loved it, though I found the basic idea (not the details) of the ending predictable.

Some major shark jumping in this season, and it’s only season 2.

When Mollie must find out the number of Skittles in Principal Shelton’s candy jar, her friends Simon and Rosie help her come up with a plan to help her count them. This is a cute little chapter book about embracing your differences and being you.

Weight Loss

I’ve plateaued two months in a row, so I need to add something to my weight loss efforts. I’m going to start counting calories again. I will continue to increase my weekly step goal (I’m currently pulling off 40k per week, and am trying to increase by 5k per month.) I will also add in a 15 minute body weight exercise daily. My bariatric physical therapist said I needed 30 minutes two times daily, but I didn’t try very hard at the time because I couldn’t move from 0 to 60 overnight, and she made me feel guilty about only moving up to 60 minutes 3 times a week. Anyway, (I’m apparently still bitter about her motivation-shaming.) Anyway, I thought 15 minutes daily for a month would be a good start.

News

Saturday

Saturday was fun. After D13 got her COVID shot, we all went to a fall festival for the day. It was a lot more expensive than the last time we went, and I blew my entire fun budget on it. It’ll take months to save up that much money again. Regardless, the kids had a blast. There was a gigantic potato sack slide, camel rides, a corn pit, a corn maze, a zipline, pumpkin cannons, and a bouncy house.

After all that, Aaron, dad, IL4 and I had dinner out.

Sunday

Sunday after work I took IL4 and to a McDonald’s Playplace for a playdate with his friend L4. M11 came along because he’s grounded and he had been busy reading all day. He wanted a change of scenery.

I really like L4’s mom. She isn’t head of the PTO, cub scout master, girl scout leader, perfectly -clean-homed mom. She’s real.

The playdate ended abruptly when IL4 pooped himself. And I had wipes and a change of shirts, but not pants and underwear because I’d used my spare on another day and forgot to replace them. So he went home commando in wet pants. 🤦‍♀️

That evening, I read to M11 and D13, and then I read to IL4.

Monday

Monday morning I had to scrape the frost off the car windows. Yuck. I took D13 to her appointment, and then took IL4 to get a scan of his gut to check for anatomical abnormality. They said they didn’t see anything obvious at a quick glance, but the final results were not immediately released. In the evening, I read to D13 and then to IL4.

Tuesday

Tuesday was awful. I had to leave work an hour early to go to a 6 hour training. It was pure listening, with 2 5 minute breaks and no lunch break. In case you don’t know, I have ADHD. By 3.5 hours in, I was literally shaking with the effort of listening. I had to take my highest dose of anxiety meds to try to allieve the shaking, but it didn’t help.

By the time I got home, my brain was fried. But the M11 was crying because of an unresolved argument about whose turn it was on the TV. I just needed a break, but IL4 wanted to bake a cake with 2 pieces of bread, an apple, some peanut butter, and the ketchup. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, so I hid in the bathroom and tried not to cry while Aaron took over.

In the evening, I read to D13, and then started reading to IL4 before petering out and taking a nap before leaving for work at 9:30.

Wednesday

Wednesday I went to Perkins with my dad, and then to the mall. He bought shoes and a Nook (the Barnes and Noble tablet). He wants to read books again, but his eyesight isn’t good enough for normal print.

The results to IL4’s scan came back. It said there were no anatomical abnormalities, but that his tortuous intestines explained the fecal loading, and that he had mild fecal loading at the time of the scan. So, I guess that at least suggests that the GI specialist isn’t full of poop, even if IL4 is. (Both Aaron and I were seperately wondering whether the GI specialist didn’t know what she was talking about, but I had already convinced myself that she probably did. Aaron needed some reassurance, though.)

Thursday

Thursday I took M11 to his dietician. She set his goal weight (he needs to gain 5 pounds). Then I just did my own thing for the rest of the day – and by that I mean I went through my to-do list to my heart’s content, not being interrupted by other people wanting me to do stuff. It was glorious. I went out to lunch with Aaron, and dad took us out to dinner while D13 was at rehearsal.

Friday

Friday, I took M11 to Historic Fort Snelling. He really loved all the history. I hadn’t known Dred Scott lived at Fort Snelling, so there were some things I learned too.

D13 went to see her mom in the evening. While M11 was at rehearsal, my nephew J19 came over. He is currently homeless, and is going to stay at our house a couple of days. We all had a lovely dinner once M11 was back.

Week’s Photos

Reading to myself

• Beloved, by Toni Morrison
• How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel
• Bible
• Great Courses: St Augustine’s Confessions, by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman
• Eye of the World, by Robert Jordon
• Run, Hide, Repeat, by Pauline Dakin
• Great Courses St Augustine’s Confessions, by William R Cook and Ronald B Herzman
• Great Mythologies of the World, by Various Professors

Reading to IL4

• Sydney and Taylor Explore the Whole Wide World, by Jacqueline Davies
• Inspector Flytrap, by Tom Angleberger
• The Invisible Fran, by Jim Benton

M10 reading

• The Keeper of Night, by Kylie Lee Baker (I’m reading this to him)
• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, by T Kingfisher
• Zombies vs Unicorns by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (I’m listening with him)

D13 reading

• The Akhenaten Adventure, by P B Kerr
• Exile, by Shannon Messenger (I’m reading this to her)

Media Completed

Sydney and Taylor decide to go on an expedition but find that it’s hard being out in the wild. This was a cute early chapter book with wonderful pictures.

Franny wants badly for her friends to be mad scientists, too. But they aren’t cooperating. Definitely a cute addition to the series.