SUCH A THING AS TOO BUSY

Monday, September 5, 2016
Labor day - I got to sleep in! I dragged myself out of bed close to eight a.m. Had a leisurely breakfast, didn't rush into Devotional...

I cut up our only watermelon from the garden today. The vine was dried up, it looked ready. But it didn't really taste all that great.

SIGH. I thought watermelons grew well here.

But we had plans. The Barrons, a family in our ward, invited us to a picnic with them at the reservoir. We had a lovely barbecue lunch and then headed out to the water to test out the paddleboard they had rented.

(Apparently, with a permit, you can do this.) The kids, especially Jonathan, really enjoyed it.

Ken got dunked three times on his one time on the board...let me tell you, that water was full of Oklahoma red mud! His shorts were stained. Brother Barron flipped the entire board over, much to his wife's amusement. The water wasn't very deep, though, maybe waist-deep as far as they went out. I stayed out; someone had to document the event!

Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Dum, dum, duuuum! Analiese started her EPIC (charter school) online classes today. So did two of my Seminary students, but with different teachers, grades and programs. She's growled a little already, but she needs the challange. She gets bored. Supposedly, she should spend 4-5 hours a day working (which is still less than public school kids), but could do more if she wanted to get ahead.

Here's my Seminary drawing for the week (well, at least the good one).

I was very proud of my little whale!

Wednesday, September 7, 2016
More growling today, and some of it was understandable...because we (both of us) couldn't understand! So, I told her to contact her teacher. I don't know if she did or not, but she needs to know she can go to him with problems or issues. One of the issues I see her learning to deal with right now is reading EVERYTHING and following the directions. She gets impatient.

I took her and a ward member to the EXPO center today at noon to register their items for the fair this weekend. The ward member had called to ask when it was, so I offered to take her. It was really no big deal. She was entering a gorgeous quilt that she'd painstakingly made, especially since she has poor eyesight. Analiese made garden markers to display. Plus, she entered Alice into the Rabbit show for tomorrow.

Thursday, September 8, 2016
Right after returning from Seminary and quickly changing clothes, I ran with Jonathan out ot Lawton for his oral surgery at 9:30 a.m. Considering what had to be done, I was surprised to find out it took only an hour. They packed him, with his head wrapped in gauze

, into my car and away we went! He was still loopy (he was reading off license plate numbers through a mouthful of gauze) and feeling good, so I ran an errand to Sam's club and got some gas. Then we went to Carl's Jr. (my little touch of California in Oklahoma!) so that he could have a milkshake.

Actually, I got him two, one to eat there (I helped him remove the mouth gauze first) and one to take home for later.

On the way home, the anesthetic started to wear off and he began to feel pain. Before, I was teasing him, but I am not cruel (truly!) and now I was entirely sympathetic. I dropped him off at home and went right away to Walgreens to fill his prescriptions (I may have shown a few pictures to some of his co-workers). He was so miserable then, and I really hated having to leave him to go to work at 4. Analiese was going to abandon him, too, to go to the rabbit show. But our friends, the Doshers, who were picking up Analiese for the fair, dropped off their son, David, who is good buddies with Jonathan. He stayed with him the entire time Analiese was gone. They are really good friends and I felt better about not having to leave Jonathan alone.

Friday, September 9, 2016
My day off was not a relaxing one. Jonathan was feeling better, but his face was obviously swollen. His appetite was back, too. Can't keep a big boy down! Analiese and I ran to the fair to help with the rabbits at "Kids' Day." This is when the preschoolers and elementary kids bused in from surrounding towns come to see the animals. It's cute, fun, and chaotic. We were covered with fur - the rabbits were all shedding something awful - and felt pretty itchy by the end. I did get to go see the fair entries in the display hall, so I had a little fair fun myself. My friend Valerie made this pillow

for her daughter to commemorate their "evil" mini Hotot rabbit, Critter. Analiese calls it the devil bunny.  This is Analiese near a quilt square being displayed. I would love it for her:

It reads: Everyone loves an Oklahoma Girl.

At noon, I ran home (notice all the running) to do menus and a grocery list for the next week and went shopping. After that, at home, I did a little work on next week's Seminary, but ended up helping Analiese with a project due today (of course) for EPIC, fixing dinner, putting away laundry, and doing dishes! Fair time is crazy!

Saturday, September 10, 2016

I was supposed to go to work this morning. I did, but my stomach was cramping and giving me problems. After two doses of medicine (TMI, I know), a bout of dizziness, and a feverish feeling, I gave up and went home.

Well, really, first I went to United for crackers, Gatorade, and ginger ale. At home, I gave Jonathan some books and videos I'd rented for him, got in my pajamas, and went to bed. To sleep. For three hours.

My stomach felt a little better in the afternoon, but, as the sun set, I felt heavy, tired...and cold! My kids will tell you...if I'm feeling cold (except in the winter), I'm SICK!

Sunday, September 11, 2016

I'm feeling better today. But Jonathan went out with friends last night, the first time since he's surgery. That proved to be too much for him. This morning, he went back to bed and never made it to church. He's tried to act like nothing happened, but I keep telling him that his whole body is going to feel a little out of whack for a while.

It's a nice, quiet Sabbath afternoon. Analiese has a fireside tonight, but other than that, it's a pretty mellow day. The weather's like that, too. Perhaps the grips of summer are loosening?

A SAD NOTE: This week a good friend, Paul Gilson, passed away. He and his wife, Martha, were my "East Coast Folks" on my mission, and my rock during some of the hard times then. I knew he'd been battling cancer, but apparently Heavenly Father said it was time to go home. Still, I'm sad for Martha and I'll miss his funny sayings...but I expect I'll hear them on the other side, too!