West Lampeter Fair

We had a fantastic time as usual. Kids got out of school early. Middle and Youngest had field trips with their respective classes to the fair. We went as a family on Wednesday night. Watched the dog show 'cause the horse show wasn't until Friday night. We even watched the Cow Show. This is when trouble started....

When your kid asks for a cow and wants to keep it in the garage, maybe ya been there too long. Yep, Youngest wants a cow and not just any cow. She wants a steer. She wants to get a 1500+ lbs steer and keep it at home. She thinks Charlie will play with it. I don't think she gets that the little ole cow she wants could drop kick Charlie into next week at the blink of an eye.

Sadly there are no photos of said cow as I chose not to take my camera this year and instead just enjoy the time with the kids. Maybe next year.

I will just leave ya with an image...this is on the Christmas list for Middle and Youngest (and we live on .25 acres!!) Crack me up! But then again, it looks like it would be some kind of fun. :-)

The good part of the visit...

Friday:
Our drive down was fast and uneventful. We left our house at 1:45 PM and made it to Mom and Dad's by 7:00ish. That was the fastest we have ever made the trip. I think it really helped that we did not make the usual stop at Chick-Fil-A for an hour. We only stopped by Wawa for a few food items and drinks. The kids were fantastic and watched movies or listened to the iPod. Had a little dinner after arriving and then set up the bedrooms for the kids.

Saturday:
The girls spent the morning in the IT center (otherwise known as the dining room.) We went to MacArthur Center for a little family time. Dad could get his walk in and the rest of us got out of the house. Mom wound up doing a little shopping at Ann Taylor and J. Jill. I found her a great jean skirt and cute shirt and was totally thrilled when she bought them. Middle and Youngest got new Webkinz - a Chihuahua for Middle and a Bulldog for Youngest. They loved them. Oldest and J hit up the Apple store.
Saturday night we cooked out since we didn't get to on July 4th. Dinner was great and easy clean-up.













Sunday:
Since we spent most of the day at the Urgent Care and the ER, dinner was great. Neither J or I had any lunch and nothing at the ER so we were famished. Mom had ordered an entire turkey, dressing and gravy from the club since we couldn't go there to eat. Eric and T came up and brought Ben for us to meet. He is a cutie. Dinner was soooo good. Thanksgiving in July.

Monday:
Ash spent the day hanging out with Amanda and Sam. They went to see Hancock at the movies and then hung out for a while. Ash then spent the night at Amanda's which was fantastic cause it gave her a break out of the sick house. Audrey hung out with J and Pop-Pop since I had to take Abs back to CHKD for a check-up. Abs got a new Webkinz (again) since we promised her with all of the tests and shots she got from her ER visit. The great part was that the Webkinz of the Month was free with the purchase of Abs horse so Aud got a new one too - a Cheeky Monkey.

Tuesday:
Ash spent the day with Amanda hanging out and watching movies. J took Audrey to the Virginia Aquarium (that name sounds so unfamiliar as it was always the Virginia Marine and Science Museum.) They had a blast and even took a boat ride in the inlet. That made me nervous as another storm was rolling thru. J said he also rode by the old house and neighborhood. Our old house is 8 years old now; apparently the landscaping has really grown and looks great. We ate turkey dinner again - always good.

Wednesday:
J. left this morning to go to Nashville. Mom was great and took him to the airport so I didn't have to get up early since I had been up half of the night again with Abs. Aunt T came up with Ben again and spent the day with us. She made the girls spaghetti for lunch and Abs ate some - which was fantastic. Mom was able to come home early since Dad went into work for a while. Aud performed another piano concerto for everyone. Ash went to the mall with Sam and then over to his house to hang out. Eric came over, so we all had dinner together. We cooked out again which was another quick easy meal. YUM!

Road Trip Time...

in less than 12 hours I (we) will be on the road to Virginia Beach to spend the holiday with my parents. The kids are all super excited to go to the beach and hang out with their grandparents. Youngest loves the Bay Bridge Tunnel - loves the tunnels and watching the boats.

*** Keeping fingers crossed. Middle took a nap today (very not like my 7 yo - the Energizer Bunny) and woke up with a severed tummy ache, headache, fever, and her legs hurt. Eventually the tummy ache subsided, but the headache, fever, and leg pain only seemed to lessen with the aid of Ibuporfen. The fever is still kicking. After my bout with food poisoning this weekend, I hope that this is a fluke of nature showing up right now.

Taking the new "Green Machine" as Dad calls it. Actually it is the 17" Dell we bought with some of extra tax money this year that Uncle Sammy alloted a little early to provoke some consumer spending. Love, love, love this laptop.

Ciao. Catch up when I am in VB and have time.

I love my kids at the beach

Never had a chance to post these from our March trip to the g-parents. Kids had a blast - I realized how much I miss living seven minutes from the ocean. I miss the smell. I miss the wind and the warmth.

So I survived the wedding

but J was sick. We left @ 2:30 yesterday to drive out to the in-laws and drop off the kids. Not a whole lot of conversation going on. I was not a happy girl. Just could not get in a happy place. I was a real B**** the entire trip. By the time we finished getting everyone where they needed to be, we had about 45 minutes to get over to the wedding site. Thank goodness there wasn't much traffic. Thank goodness for snow plows!

Jennie looked very beautiful - even at 7.5 months pregnant. Gracious. But J and I both say that Jennie and Michael are 25, very much in love, have jobs, and wonderful supportive families. They will be fine. Baby Ella is due in April. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that Michael has $$$$ so that issue that so many young couples face - won't be an issue for them. (Michael just special ordered his first car - a BMW.) First car??? Yep, he never had to drive before - he had a driver if needed. What 16 year old boy doesn't want a car??? Crazy.

OK - back to the story. Poor J - he was so ready to leave right after the sit-down dinner. He was exhausted since he woke up at 5 am for the call that school was closed and his sinuses were giving him a fit. Thank goodness for the fantastic hors d'oeuvres. Scrumptious!! The food at the William Penn Inn was absolutely wonderful too as was the open bar. :-) Didn't get to drink too much because I wasn't sure J would feel up to driving to the hotel. Luckily he was OK but he crashed as soon as he could change out of his suit. The hotel was blissfully quiet, and we both were able to sleep in since we had no kids or dog to deal with. Oh, how I miss those days. That was may be worth all of the aggravation of the wedding and the trip.

Got a guilt trip from Nana for not bringing over this kids today to visit. As J said - it was a short (guilt) trip. Just cannot squeeze it all in.

Visited with Linda and John when we picked up the younger two. Youngest made it thru without a tear shed. Maybe she is growing up a little more? Maybe staying awhile before leaving her helped? Who knows? Or maybe it was all of the X-mas gifts that Linda had for them. It was a toy explosion. She spoils them once a year. They love it! Aud was happy and that is all that mattered. Middle, of course, was in her element. She discovered Betty Spaghetti and played with it most of the night. Billy, as ususal, hated having the girls in his house. He even went so far as to make a No Girls sign for his bedroom door. What a boy - a 9 year old one at that.

Melissa brought Oldest over about 11ish along with her brand new green Converse. Why green ? Oldest's says so that she isn't like everyone else. Whoa!!! Where did she come from? I was so afraid to go out on a limb like that as a teenager. Not her. I am proud of her. OK, I digress....

Went to Lou and Barbara's after. Girls got their X-mas gifts from them. We got a bottle of wine and a new X-mas ornament with all of our names on it. Got to try to play Wii. I think we all fell in love with it. Wish we had the money for one and a new TV. Not in the budget yet. Wait until we are finished with J's doctorate classes. Then, maybe. Or I could just go back to work full time. Then we would have $$$ again. Ha. Not gonna happen yet. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Digressing, again. Sue me.

Left there about 4 to head home. Made the decision to stop out in Gap at Chilis. Much better than the one in Lancaster - but the waitress SUCKED!!!! She behaved as if she was doing us a favor by taking our order. Didn't help matters that we had to wake up Youngest. She was a bear - refused to sit down, wouldn't eat, kicked me. Finally we got her to curl up in J's lap, but she kept asking to go home. I switched w/ J after I ate a little dinner, so he could eat. Of course, Aud was soooo much better and hungry just as we decide to leave. Oy! McD's for her. Not ordering again from Chili's and waiting.

Home. Unpack car. Open X-mas gifts from Linda and John. Great hot chocolate maker and an electric broom. Don't laugh; I am THRILLED with both. Middle already tried out the broom for me. Works like a charm. Kids showered. Suitcases unpacked. J and Youngest are asleep. Middle and I are heading that way in a few. Just gotta break her away from her new Blendy Pens that Linda gave her.

'night.

Dad's update

Shoulder dr. wants to operate on both shoulders. Damn rotator cuff. Heart dr. says no - he needs to stay on the Plavix. Neurologist wants to do nerve conductivity test that involves dye, turning him upside down, and checking spinal cord to see why he isn't healing after six months. Damn laminectomy. Heart dr. says no.

Dad cannot continue to live with the pain in the shoulders and the knee. The lack of strength in his arms and the lack of movement. He doesn't like the chance he has to take coming off the Plavix and increasing his risk of another heart attack. He is miserable. He is depressed. He is scared.

I hate this.

The wedding that is gonna cause a divorce

Jenny's wedding is this Friday night. How inconvenient for us. I know, how bitchy of me. But, here is the thing:

1. it is 1.5 hours away on a Friday night during Rush Hour near Philly
2. it starts at 6:30 pm
3. J has to leave work @ 2
4. Oldest and Middle have to be picked up from school
5. Dog (who is now sick) has to go to kennel from Fri to Sun because of limited p/u time on Sat.
6. $$$$ for said dog in kennel
7. $$$$ for the gas and tolls
8. $$$$ for the hotel - and not one that I get to enjoy
9. drop Oldest off w/ Melissa @ salon
10. drop Middle and Youngest w/ Grandmom
11. Youngest is NOT happy about us leaving her - major tears again - I predict crying and screaming
12. Youngest still not fully recovered from ear infections
13. dinner? maybe @ 8 or so?
14. SNOW STORM forecasted - driving on Turnpike in snow storm - NOT my idea of fun

DH needs to be reasonable about this. I am not a happy camper about this. I'd rather go to Patti's and scrap. That I know I would enjoy.

School is cancelled

First J. got the phone call that school was delayed 2 hours - J got up after doing the phone tree to iron his shirt and get ready to go in. Then another call @ 7am. Nope, school is cancelled. I guess the buses couldn't make the journey safely to all the nooks and crannies of his school district with all of the ice. Following J's school districts lead, all of the other districts, including ours, started cancelling too. Middle was soooo excited. She said this was the best day ever.

The downside of this? Now there won't be a four day weekend. Friday will be the make-up day. That means I have to go with Youngest for Grandparents' Day at preschool because Lou and Barbara won't be coming and J will have to work. Drats. That screws up my work schedule. Oh, well. I get to spend the time with my four year old - maybe we will do lunch too.
These are from Tuesday. Not much in the way of snow, but they were dying to get out there.

Saturday's Happenings....

Youngest woke up at 2 AM crying - her head hurt - but she is pointing to her jaw area under her ear. Oh, NO!!! Not her ear, please anything but an ear infection. She stayed awake until 5 AM crying in pain. Threw up from all of the drainage (and maybe from the fever?)

Took her in to see the Dr. again (between Middle and Youngest this was visit number five to the peds in three weeks and dr. visit number seven between the peds and the ENT.) Temp is 101.5. Great.

Dr. took one look in her left ear (the good ear)and said, "She's got a really bad ear infection - it is about ready to burst."

Youngest then so eloquently announced, "I gotta throw up." There she blows.

The Dr. said the vomitting was more from the fever than the drainage. He prescribed a strong antibiotic and Motrin. If she cannot keep the Motrin down, then call him.

Prescription filled and in her along with the Motrin by 12:30. By 2:00 she is like a new kid. Thank goodness. Still stiffling and draining, but no more crying. Man, we have been so lucky with the three girls - never many ear infections at all. I cannot tell you the last time any of them were even on an antibiotic. We have been blessed with that part.

So here we are. Staying home again all weekend to get these children well. Maybe if the planets align and the Gods are kind, I can, shhhhh!, not too loudly, maybe I can scrapbook. Please don't say it aloud - they will hear you and someone will be ill.

My new books from Amazon came in:

• Pieces of My Sister's Life
• Me & Emma
• Scrap Simple

Care to guess which one I dove into first? Oh, the highlight of the day? I snuck off to Paperoni when J got home from basketball to hit up their closing sale. Picked up some more foam stamps and paint since it was all 50% off. Plus some scalloped cardstock, a little paper, some ABC letters, and rub-ons. Not much inventory left - good for them, sad for me.

Catching Up - Past

OK - pinky swear aside - I did mean to catch up the other day. Life, it got in the way again.

December:
Christmas was fantastic. Oldest loved the cell phone and was blown away that she got one. So far, so good with it.

Mom and Dad were able to make the drive up to visit. They stayed for a few days - we hit up Target and both outlets (Tanger and Rockvale.) Mom did pretty well with the shopping especially since she hates to go.

January:
1st - Middle and I ran in the New Year together. Yes, my 6 year old made it to midnight and actually even later. She realized that it was AM and thought she should just stay up. Yeah, that didn't happen.

3rd - made a road trip with Youngest to Timonium, Maryland to hit up the Recollections Scrapbook store since it was closing. We had a good time, and she was a huge help with picking out new supplies. She was great for throwing Memory Makers paint in my basket - everyone had to have their own color.

5th - Middle's first basketball game, and Daddy is the coach. She did OK - a little 'tude, but it worked out overall. The I had a date with J to Panera Bread that night. Oldest watched the younger two so we could go out for an hour. It was sooooo nice to eat by ourselves and just talk. We went over to the Kirkland Outlet and the Restoration Hardward Outlet, but didn't buy a thing.

6th - the sickness came....Middle was throwing up in the bathroom @ 1 AM. Oh, my gracious - NASTY!!! I don't know what she picked up, but it was B-A-D.

7th - Youngest failed her second hearing test. We now have the referral to the ENT doctor. Make an appt. with Dr. Tom of CHoP. He is suppose to be very good.

11th - Oldest has a tooth pulled to make the braces work this time. They better for 4 freakin' thousand dollars.

12th - went to Julia's crop in Maryland for the day. Oh, how nice to have a little time for myself. J is fantastic about that.

14th - Oldest gets the rest of the braces on. She picks pink - who knew? Last year she despised pink. Teenagers.

19th - Middle scores her first basket in basketball. Way to go, girl!! She was so proud of herself.

20th - decide it might be time to move since the new house next too us is in our front yard. Yeah - that SUCKS!!!! We are so very pissed off at our builder. Talks with him are ongoing to try to rectify this situation. We went to look at a few new houses today - but we were not blown away by any.

21st - took Oldest to see 27 Dresses and out to dinner at Macaroni Grill for a Girls' Day Out. She seemed to have a great time hanging out with Mom. The movie was good - it is a total Chix Flix.

22nd - Middle to the peds because enough is enough with this mess. I am tired of her being so sick. Not much to do but let it run its course.

23rd - took Middle out to breakfast since the "issue" seems to be subsiding. Just to be safe, she sticks with the BRAT diet. We went over to see J at school. Middle took a picture to him that she had colored at breakfast. Went to look at a house tonight in a neighborhood with tons of kids, but it was a no go. The backyard was not workable since it was straight down. The basement; however, was clean enough to eat off of.

24th - Youngest sick again

25th - Youngest too sick to sing in Winterfest.

26th - Middle - peds again. HIVES. Ugh... a side effect of the virus she has been fighting for three weeks

28th - meet with the real estate agents about selling the house. We might lose 3 - 4% due to the placement of the house next door. We are PISSED OFF to say the least. Oh, and I do NOT want to pay them $20,000 as their commission to sell my house. Ridiculous. I've never paid anyone that amount to sell my house - won't start now.

29th - take Youngest to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries and stuff for Oldest's BD Party - find a big ol' nail in the tire. The tire is going "SSSSSSSS" and going down. High tail it back in the car and go over to H&F to get it fixed. Of course, it is also raining and freaking cold. Figures.

31st - Youngest's first appt. with Dr. Tom. Tests with the audiologist. Nothing conclusive except that she has a conductive middle ear hearing loss. At the point the cause is unknown. CT Scan is the next step. Schedule that for February 6th in King of Prussia.

February:
1st - Oldest's BD Sleepover. She seems to have a good time, and they were asleep by 11 PM. What is up with that? They are 14!! It's OK - I'll take it.

2nd - Oldest's 14th Birthday. How the hell did that happen? I was just taking her to her first day of kindergarten the other day. Crazy, crazy, crazy how time is flying.
We went rollerskating as a family. This was a first and tons of fun!! Willow Street sponsored it. Youngest did a better job than Middle - and then Youngest promptly threw a fit when it was time to leave. I had a fantastic time - I haven't skated in years, but picked it up again easily. I even went BACKWARDS!!!

4th - started my One in 48 class with Hillary Heidelberg's NYCScraps. Great sketches to work with and color schemes.

5th - Middle's 100 Days of School Celebration. She had to dress as a 100 year old woman. Yeah, she wasn't too into it, but some of the other kids were. Very original costumes.
Oldest had High School pre-registration. OMG! Stop growing up so damn fast.

That is it for the PAST. Now onto the Present....

Hubby's away at an Ed. Conference

and boy do I miss him. The kids behave until 4:30/5 ish and then boom. I am tired, tired, tired of referring the fighting and name calling and hitting. Oldest is 13 and should know better than engage in battle with a 6 year old. But nooooooo, she has to fight back. Youngest and her lovely insults are just about doing me in. How did my sweet, lovable, cuddly baby become this 4 year old that runs hot and cold. One minute she loves ya, the next she tells ya what an idiot you are. Like I said, I am TIRED of all of their attitudes and behavior. Mommy needs a nanny!!!!

Report cards come home tomorrow for the older two so I cannot wait. I already know Oldest made Honor Roll as usual. Middle - waiting to see where her skills are as a first grader. Youngest's conference is in two weeks - see if there is any difference from last year.

Youngest's next hearing test is in early January. I really wish it were tomorrow - I want to know if there is truly a hearing loss and to what point. Will it get worse? Will she go completely deaf in her ear? What about the other ear? Gah....I detest waiting.

Mammogram report came back clean. Yeah - first one down - many to go. :-)

J will be back tomorrow night. We are all looking forward to Daddy's return. The kids are getting gifts; I am getting some alone time - just ME!!!!

We have a date night set for Saturday. Mom sent us some gift certificates to Gibraltars. YUMMY! The last time we went was for our anniversary a couple of years ago; it set us back over $100. Gracious it was so worth it though. I am going to indulge and enjoy every stinking bite.

Biggest news for last....got a promotion today at work. I am moving up to Teacher Monitor and get a small raise of $2 per hour. That will help with the bills. I was so darn nervous during the interview and tried very hard to answer the questions thoroughly. Guess I did OK because I was offered the job after the first ten minutes of the interview. I will be one busy chick as the company is going to hire over 1000 new teachers, and I will be one of the TMs doing the evaluations for new hires. WOW!!!!! Oh, and I love that I get to set my own hours. That will be wonderful especially with the holidays and the kids schedules - plus J's hours changing again for the last set of doctoral classes.

Time for bed. I did not sleep well last night since J wasn't here. Guess I should turn in early for a little more zzzzzzs.

'night y'all

I am so far behind....

Where do I even start? The past two months have zoomed by.

Youngest: loves preschool. Favorite words - Chop! Chop! - to get us to hurry up. Don't have a clue where she picked this up. Much preferred to her calling everyone a loser. Really needs to move up to the next size bike but still loves her tricycle.

Middle: having a fantastic year so far in first grade. Making new friends and is invited to her first birthday party next week - she is so very excited. Reading very well and really getting a grasp on subtraction. What a great kid - so very personable. Adults love her.

Oldest: really likes her 8th grade team and her teachers - 3 men and 1 woman. Grades are fantastic right now - I am proud of her diligent work every night. Trying to keep the 'tude manageable - not always easy sometimes. Has the first "boyfriend" - but since it is long distance - I am OK with it. Biggest news - the $4000 in braces needed now. Oh, my gracious. I need a winning lottery ticket here.

J: still working on the last few classes for the doctorate; dissertation starts soon. As I have said before and will say again, man, he has been an expensive hubby but I am extremely proud of what he has accomplished and how intelligent the man is.

Me: really need to learn the word NO when it comes to being asked to volunteer or help out. I just spent three days at WS Elementary volunteering for the book fair, parent visitation, and the Race for Education. Had a blast and am meeting many new moms. Good news - applied for Teacher Trainer position and am applying for Team Leader at EO. Keeps your fingers crossed. I would love one of these (or both) and hopefully a raise. Tuition bills are killing the checkbook.
Going to Patti's (kaesmom) for Croptoberfest - YEAH!!!! Happy dance. I need this.

Dad: doing OK; physical therapy includes hydrotherapy; was released to drive again - he hasn't driven since last May - boy is he a happy guy; applied for Social Security - he does not want to go back to work but Mom has other ideas.

Mom: hanging in there with Dad's problems - needs a L.O.N.G. vacation now. She is so uptight that I would imagine the next heart attack will be hers. They need to find a buyer for the business or turn it over to E.

The SIL: has lost her friggin' mind. Cannot even begin to blog about this cause I don't even know what to say. Her issues have become overwhelming for all of us. I love her creativity and caring nature, but when she has issues - it isn't pretty and it just all consuming.

Meredyth: just had a fantastic turn-out for the Angel race. I am so happy that she was able to have some joy lately. She has so much on her plate - I am in awe of her strength.

Updates

Our trip to Virginia Beach was anything but what I imagined. The trip took 6+ hours due to potty stops and lunch, but we finally arrived about 4:30 pm just in time for my dad's heart attack. WTF? He knew something wasn't right that day and looking back now he knows that something wasn't right for about a week. Dad said he did not want to go to the doctor or the ER because the girls and I were on the way. He is damn lucky nothing else happened. I am soooo not ready to be dealing with my parents and illnesses. He is only 65 - still has a LOT of life left. Hear that, Dad????

So I drive into the driveway and cautioned the girls not to go running into the backyard because: 1. the brick sidewalk is askew due to the roots under it and 2. I don't know if Dad is awake or asleep. We walk back and go on the porch. Of course, he is awake, and his neighbor, Doug, is there too. (Doug has been a god send playing nurse to Dad as he has recuperated from three, yes, three surgeries in the past 5 months.) Doug grabs me and says, "Your dad isn't feeling well and won't call the doctor. Something isn't right."

I got Dad into the house and started going thru the papers on the various drugs he has to take. The drug pamphlet for Naproxen says in BIG BOLD letters to watch for heart attack signs. Um, yeah - that would be what he has. I called the dr. and left a message cause, of course, it is after hours. The nurse/dr. returns my call and says, "Go to the ER." OK, Dad. We are taking a little trip (this is now 5:30 pm) so he goes to change his clothes. Meanwhile Mom has arrived from work. Let her know I am taking him in. I think she was in total shock as she did not fight me to take him in. Load Dad into his Explorer and off we go to the new Princess Anne ER. I was a nervous wreck driving to the ER even though it was only 10 minutes from their house. I don't do medical situations well AT ALL.

The ER was great - only one person ahead of us. Great staff and doctor. ER dr. doesn't think he is having cardiac issues, but maybe a P.E. (pulmonary embolism) due to the chest pain. Nope, the blood work says "Cardiac Episode" - what a nice way to say HEART ATTACK. So the indigestion and sweating Dad had at 3 AM that morning was the heart attack itself. Ugh.... now we are gonna be transferred to Sentara Leigh cause they have the heart cath lab. At 11:30 PM he is finally transferred to Leigh. Fun part - the Virginia Beach Amphitheater is right behind the hospital and had a concert that night. Yeah - all the concert goers are leaving at the same time we are. Oh, the joy! I traded places with Mom - she went to Leigh, and I went to their house to stay with the girls. No sleep for me. I laid down about 2 am and Youngest woke up at 5:30 am. Oh, thank God for caffeine.

Oh, my gracious. I think I went into overdrive (as Patti called it) cause I wasn't emotional at all. That is EXTREMELY unlike me. I don't do medical problems very well (did I tell you that?), but damn if I didn't keep it together for my parents.

Wednesday was the cath lab, angiogram, and angioplasty. The Obtuse Marginal (??) is a sub-artery in the back of the heart. It was 90% blocked, so it was ballooned and then a stent was inserted. Dad was an absolute bear after because he was in so much pain from his back/neck where the laminectomy was and the oxycodone withdrawl. This coming from a man who is usually so laid back and gracious. Two hours in the cath recovery then off to another room for more intensive nursing. By Thursday morning he looked and acted so much better. The doctor was helping him eliminate the oxy by giving him Ativan for the anxiety. I was happy it was working really well cause he needed to come off the oxy. What an addicting drug!

Friday morning Dad was released to come home - but the dr. barely gave him an indications as to what kind of damage was done by the heart attack, what to do as far as exercise or eating, or his meds. We were even sure about wearing the bone stimulator for his neck. We took matters into our own hands and started calling and researching. Gracious - you would think that the doctor would be a little more concerned about the next 2.5 weeks until the follow-up appt. I am not too impressed with the discharge. The dr. who did the discharge even forgot to tell Dad to take the baby aspirin every day. OMG - that needs to be taken with the Plavix everyday. A blood clot could develop around the stent otherwise. Moron!!!

My poor girls got the brunt of this. My sister-in-law, Thierry or "T", came up from Carolina and kinda took over the younger two. They had lots of fun making Barbie clothes, going to Aunt T's house and playing, and getting new Barbie furniture. She was a blessing. Ashley was OK on the computer or hanging out. She finally got to spend some time with Sam too - they hung out at his house, and I took them to the skate park at Mt. Trashmore so Sam could teach her to skateboard. Sam's family was great to her while we were in VB. Very accommodating about having her over and spending time with them.

Once Dad was home, Mom became a not so nice person to be around. I think all of her emotions over the way this year has been really came to the surface. I know she is mad, scared, frustrated, disappointed, and any other negative emotion. Taking care of Dad so intensively is not what she bargained for in addition to running the business. The heart attack was kinda the final straw. I really hope that for both of their sakes that Mom will come to terms with Dad's physical issues and be more compassionate. I know she logically knows he did not do anything to cause his injuries, but I believe she is very angry at Dad for how it has affected her life. She is such a Type A personality and likes control over everything - which isn't going to help in this situation. Dad needs someone who is motivating and gentle. Not the steamroller she can be. But with all of this said, she did "brag" to her best friend how Thierry and I took over the meals, laundry, cleaning, etc. so she didn't have to do anything while Dad was in the hospital. I just wish she had told Thierry and I this instead of telling us we were doing stuff wrong.

I did get Dad to take a walk on Sunday; however, I think he pushed it way too much and told him so. He walked too far, so today he walked just around the court and then worked on the rehab exercises for his knee and neck. Much better. Mom was in a better mood when I talked to her tonight. Hopefully it will last.

OK - I think this is most of the heart attack info. I will edit if I remember more. God, what a week. Not fun. I am not ready to deal with this yet - my parents are still too damn young to be pulling this mess. Straighten up!

My dad had a heart attack

I am beyond tired so this will be short. I brought the girls down to my parents' home for a visit. Drove over 6 hours from PA to Virginia Beach. Got here at 4:30. By 6 I was in the ER with my dad. This sucks!!!!!!!!

The Coolest Wedding

J and I took Middle and Youngest to a wedding this weekend in Hershey - the wedding itself was held in Chocolate Town Square in the middle of Hershey. J's friend / co-worker got married; he is the school resource officer at J's school, and the bride is also a cop.
The square is set in a park with lots of trees and was decorated with tulle and beautiful flowers. Right as we are pulling into a parking spot, Middle chimes in - you got it, bathroom. Great. Where is there a bathroom in the middle of the square? There isn't. Luckily the Hershey Fire Station was right behind the square (and some of the guests were firefighters) so I quickly ran the girls to the fire house to take care of the bathroom issue.
Perfect. Now we can get our seats just in time. We heard the music of the harp begin and saw the groom and best man (another cop) take their place. All ready - where is the bride? Why is there a fire engine coming? Oh, my gracious. It is the BRIDE!!! Since the groom is also a volunteer firefighter, the fire company brought the entire bridal party to the site in a big red fire truck with the horn blaring and the sirens on full blast. It was AWESOME. Middle and Youngest didn't like the loud noise, but the rest of the guests clapped in excitement.
The wedding ceremony commenced and even included the bride's children. Once the vows were completed, the fire truck blew its horn again and left with the sirens on. Everyone clapped again and even a few cars honked away. It was fantastic. Not too formal - lots of fun memories. Oh, then my wonderful husband says, "Hey, we have time. Want to run by the scrapbook store at the outlets?" Don't think he had to ask twice. So we made a side trip to Times to Remember. YEAH!! New black and white paper that I wanted.
The day ended with a BBQ / reception at the matron of honor/best man's home. Yummy!! We left early since it was getting late, and Oldest was home from the pool. We ran by the house to pick her up and go get gelato from Rita's since there wasn't a wedding cake, and Middle was disappointed. I think the gelato made up for that. :-)

Catching Up with the Summer

I am so very far behind in blogging. The summer just caught up with me - I guess three kids home for the summer will do that to you. Here's a rundown of what we have done from June until now:

• Middle & Oldest: Katie's End of the Year
• Family: Amanda & Rob's wedding
• J. & I: Teacher Appreciation Dinner for the Middle & Youngest's school
• Family: The Moorefields found us and came for a quick visit (like 2 hours)
• Oldest: field hockey camp
• Middle: 6th BD
• Family: Father's Day (the day did not work out - so we had a re-d0)
• Me: clean out scrap area and reorganize basement so that I have a bigger scrap area
• Girls & I: Sonic - yum
• Girls & I: free movies - Everyone's Hero
• Middle: Charlotte's BD Party
• Family: Parade of Homes - saw a new one in a new subdivision that I fell in L.O.V.E. with
• Family: pool
• Me: haircut
• Girls & I: Herr's Chip Factory Tour
• Family: free movies again - March of the Penguins - not our first choice - but the other one was sold out; then met J. for lunch at Ruby Tuesday's
• Girls: haircuts (some I am not happy with)
• Family: fireworks with friends
• Family: Grandpop's 58th BD
• Girls & I: Virginia Beach to visit Mom & Dad; Oldest to camp (see below)
• Oldest: Critter Camp at VBSPCA
• Girls & I; out to dinner @ Surf Rider w/ Mom & Dad (man, I miss fresh seafood)
• Me: dinner w/ Amy & Susan (I miss them so much!)
• Girls & I; school shopping in VB
• Girls, Mom, & I: visiting Meredyth, Drew, and baby Brady
• Ashley: spending week with her dad
• J.: painted the office
• Me: moved furniture and decorated office (that furniture is friggin' H.E.A.V.Y.)
• Charlie: got a good short haircut
• Family: Father's Day Re-do - playing mini-golf (yeah, I kicked butt with three (3) holes in one - ha! ;hiking at Chickie's Creek (not such a great experience - trail way too steep and SNAKES) not Mom's best moment; lunch at Friendly's; shopping for curtains for office
• Girls & Daddy: sleep-over at Nana's when I drove to pick-up Oldest in Maryland
• Family: lunch at Sugar Bowl
• J. & I: clean out storage area of basement; look into furniture refinishing for bed set
• Family: IKEA w/ Melissa and Aaron; the girls got balloon animals - Middle's was an elephant hat - tell me that didn't attract some stares.


• Family: Mt. Gretna Lake - a fantastic family day



• Family: more pool mixed in
• Oldest: check-up and three shots
• J.: back to Ph.D. program after 6 week break (there is a light at the end of the tuition tunnel)
• Great news about Dad's healing - neck brace can be removed some; physical therapy can be started on neck, back, arms, and knee. Mom finally sounded happy again.
  

Good gracious - that is a lot for the past nine weeks of summer. We still have another two and a half weeks to go with a wedding, an Eagles Pre-Season game, another VB trip, and an adults' only End of Summer party. Yeah - I need a vacation. Where's the damn nanny?

Maybe I can do a better job of keeping this up once the kiddos go back to school. Oldest and Middle will be gone all day - poor Audrey - what is she gonna do without Middle? Maybe I can teach her to blog? Done for now. Another blog to follow after lunch.