Crimes During Glitter Season

On Tuesday afternoon, I was out in the backyard helping Savannah put glitter all over this

(it's a Valentine's box)

when two uniformed policemen walked through my back gate.

Which was shocking.  And slightly alarming.  (If I'd had my wits about me I would have taken a picture.)

They said my alarm had gone off about ten minutes earlier when I was out buying glitter.  They walked through the house with me and checked all the windows, and we found one in the front room slightly ajar.

(Shiver.)

So then the question became: Did someone try to actually open that window or did it just fall open on its own because it's old and needs to be replaced and entropy is the real owner of this house.  David pointed out that it was probably the latter because to actually get to the window someone would have to walk through our overgrown, weed-ridden front "flower" bed (which looks suspiciously like a jungle by the way), and, in his opinion, that seemed like "a lot of effort."  (His lungs are still recovering and so everything seems like a lot of effort.)

I had no idea that our neglected yard and thriving weeds were part of David's master security plan. 

Grammy-Award Winning Wheezing

My mind has been on Reuben Land this morning.

My boys and my husband are spending most of their energy just breathing in and out.

David is down to having enough breath for one-word answers: "Yes."  "No."  "Bad."

The only good part of that is that he doesn't have enough breath to pick out a tie, so he's home for the day.  When I muttered something about it being about time, he just winked at me and said, "We can play."  But this proved to be too many words at once and he started into a fantastic coughing, wheezing fit.  Careful there, cowboy.  In his condition, even Scrabble might be too taxing.

This morning at scripture study, Caleb had to stop and catch his breath every four words or so.  It was so pathetic I made him stop after a couple of verses.  I told him to put his backpack away.  He wasn't going anywhere.  Luckily, he didn't have enough breath to put up any kind of resistance.  He just closed his eyes and said, "Thank you."

In other news, Coldplay won the Grammy last night for "Song of the Year" for Viva la Vida.  Which was obvious.  Gosh, I love that song.  Reminds me of the magical days I spent with my children in the upper peninsula this summer.  And Adele won the Grammy for "Best New Artist."  David clapped.  Which was easier than using his lungs to say, "Hey, I like Adele too."  He's a fan.  Chasing Pavements accompanies his shower and shave most mornings.  What is it about musicians from across the pond?

And before I go pick up Caleb's four prescriptions and do another round of nursing, here's a little proof from David's blackberry that my Arizona boys can Klondike with the best of them.

When they got home, David took to his bed for the rest of the day and I took Caleb to a youth orchestra audition.  He got word Saturday night that he made it.

Then I took Caleb and Olivia and Ethan to the Chinese Cultural Center to celebrate the Chinese New Year for a school assignment.  My favorite part was sharing a dozen potstickers while we sat on the lawn and enjoyed a perfect February gloaming.

We had the most gorgeous thunderstorm Sunday morning.  The kids were out picking oranges for our brunch when it started pouring.  They came in soaked and giggling as the lightning started cracking.  It was cloudy again this morning, prompting Olivia to close her eyes and fervently wish for rain again today.  And even though we ran the heater (mostly out of sentiment) on the way to the pediatrician this morning, there is just no stopping that Arizona sunshine.  It is already shining again.  I understand how she feels though...there is something quite romantic about an overcast sky.

And speaking of romance, the other day I overheard Olivia wistfully talking to her friend,

"We used to have a chicken named Lily.  I hope she's happy."

Long sigh.

"I hope she met a rooster to make out with so she can have lots of baby chicks."

What in the world? 

I laid on the grass and laughed my head off. 

Nursemaid to One

David stopped breathing this morning at five o'clock and it woke me up.  And then there was a gasp and all kinds of wheezing coming from his side of the bed.

I got up and found the nebulizer and fixed him a fresh batch of albuterol cocktail.

He and Caleb are supposed to be going on a Klondike campout tonight.

He said between wheezes, "I'm going to die in that tent tonight."

I told him that in all likelihood he probably wouldn't die, but that it may, indeed, be a very long night.  Regardless of his imminent demise, he has plans to put on his tie and blearily sit through some meetings today.  Even now he is simultaneously puffing away on the nebulizer and putting his blackberry through its paces.

When Caleb came to ask what was for breakfast, he quietly added that he had thought he had a cold.  He does.  His whole face was running.  (Truth be told, I am just relieved that it's not E.coli.  I've been on high-alert ever since our little live cultures were delivered.)  I tried (hard) to talk him into staying home, but he said he had two tests.  I sighed and told him to call me after they were over. 

However, Ethan was still in his pajamas at breakfast, where he announced that he was too sick to go to school. 

"My neck hurts."

"Inside or out?"

"Inside."

He is staying home.  No cajoling needed.  Letter G can wait.  I snuggled him back into bed, with promises of soup and apple juice and a Home Alone marathon when he wakes up.

I propped David and Caleb up with day-time cold medicine and resignedly sent them on their way.  But, I'm thinking now that I should have switched the dosage to the night-time stuff when they weren't looking, because my patient-load should really be three.

Regretfully Yours

 

I put a ribbon in my hair this morning "for extra beauty," as Olivia says, and to lift my spirits.

This morning I asked Olivia how our mutual friend, Anne, was doing.  (I get an update most days while I'm doing her hair.)

She said ruefully, "She got her temper up.  And now she's got to apologize."

Poor Anne.

I know just how she feels.  We had similar nights apparently.

For a person who hates having a hard heart, I sure seem to hang on to mine tenaciously.

Sheesh.

My laptop keyboard is covered in fabric lint, as it has been stationed right next to my sewing machine for the last couple of days, with me intermittently sewing between blogging and working on my hospital benefit project.  (Will I finally get something to the printer today?  Let's hope so.  I've got my fingers crossed.)  It's kind of a nice image...my tools of creation sharing a table.  Imagine the conversations they could have over lunch.  The one shaking her head (the laptop is new here) and the other shrugging her shoulders (the bernina has been here a while and knows the drill), but both of them with worried frowns creasing their foreheads.

O'Dell: Is she always like this?

Berni: What this?  This is nothing.  You should have seen her in May of 2007.  Now that was crazy.

O'Dell:  Really? 

And then Bernina would tell O'Dell about every meltdown and maelstrom and molehill-turned-mountain she ever had the horror of witnessing.

And that would be a very long lunch.

And after that, every time I got on my laptop I would hear O'Dell tutting her tongue and mumbling things like, "Some people just don't want to be happy," and "Girl, don't get me started," under her breath.

Do you want to know the worst part?

I can't even remember why I was mad in the first place.

But don't tell David.  This morning I was still pretending to be right.

Padding My Resume

I'm not sure of the reason for my blogger's block.  Lots going on, and no way to link it all together in one clever post.  I put a lot of stock in cleverness.

That being said, there isn't going to be any in this post.  So you can go ahead and lower your expectations.  Soothe yourself by just being happy there is a new post.

After a brief lull after the holidays, real life has returned hot and heavy, as evidenced by the fact that my sewing room has once again been turned into ground zero for Caleb's new science project (by the way, throw out your hand sanitizers people, that's just a pandemic waiting to happen) and the stacks of current projects I have piled everywhere else.  

Here is my life by the numbers:

This weekend we celebrated the 95th birthday of this lovely lady (my grandmother)

and travelled 427 miles from home to watch her blow out her candles.

On the drive, David helped me work on the address list for our

1st annual "Garden of Hope Spring Tea Luncheon,"

to raise money for the 1,800 cancer patients at David's hospital who will be diagnosed this year,

and which will be held on May 9, 2009. 

Mark your calendars, though you may be lucky enough to get one

of the 500 save-the-date cards we are mailing out.

(I told David this week that he was a very lucky man to have such a wife.  I mean look at my community outreach and charity work.  I need to update my resume.  He replied by using "affinity" and "opine" in a sentence and I got all giddy and forgot about the fact that he really owes me one.)

I have spent most of the last week working on the aforementioned invitations, as they should have been at the printer's 2 days ago,

and when I wasn't, I was working on a 94 inch square quilt that will be auctioned at our event,

and helping Caleb swab 10 petri dishes with E.coli (you read that right)

and washing my hands with soap and water 100 times afterwards.

Quilt retreat is only 56 days away,

so I have also been madly working on my round robin projects (I'm only behind one rotation now)

and making a couple of trips to the quilt store and the post office.

And when I was on one of these trips to the quilt store

I found the perfect fabric for the boys' room and decided to make a few pillows for their beds,

which made me think of making a 50 inch matching cornice box for their window.

(I know that sounds ridiculous, but I couldn't help myself, and I told David that very thing, besides which you'd be amazed at what I can do with 18 inches of styrofoam and some liquid nails.)

And just because I know you are wondering, Olivia and I started Anne of Green Gables

and we are on chapter nine.