All is well

With all that went on last week I was simply unprepared to face this week.

In the good news column; Davids biopsies came back benign.

 In the mixed news column; I managed to get the upstairs pretty clean and it made me especially reluctant to leave the house Monday morning.

Once I did manage to get out the door and into work it was a mixed bag. 

My big robots are going away and we spent much of the week cleaning them out in preparation for the scrap guys.

I have been running these since 2006.

Twin Ridge Elementary had a fundraiser night at The Greene Turtle.

We had never been there before. We looked last year and decided that there wasn't enough vegetarian food to make it worth our while.

This year we gave it a go and the kids really liked it. Megan has already asked to go back.

For Veterans Day David got a holiday from work so mom actually got to have some time to herself.

I am hoping to provide her with more mini-vacations whenever we are free from work.

Its good for her and its fun to have the kids to ourselves. 

She took Pax for a hike and tried out a Cafe in Frederick and went to a movie.

David brought Megan up to see me for lunch.

We went to my favorite pizza place.

My anxiety level had been so high the past few days that it was such a blessed relief to get out with those two. Megan just calmed me way down. Holding her and kissing her hair and smelling her beautiful not baby anymore scent were better than meditation plus medication.

When she came back into work with me I thought how out of place she seemed there,like a beam of sunshine in a deep cave. I know that sounds corny and all to Freudian but really look at her.

On Thursday Megan went in for her 4 year check up. We decided to leave a little early to grab a bagel beforehand. Once we got there a few other things got her attention.

We picked a cannoli and ate our bagels and headed over to see Dr. Liu.

I really like our pediatricians office. I really like both kids Doctors. Megan was pronounced very healthy and has moved up in weight class to a much more respectable 21%. As she started at 3% I am particularly pleased.

She got 3 big shots and some flu-mist.

I always tell the kids when they are getting shots. Usually this helps them prepare but this time it caused a fairly panicked freak out.

By the time the nurse came in with the needles Megan was a Tasmanian devil of protest. It took 3 of us to hold her down.

My poor girl. She calmed straight down once it was over and she wont need shots again until she is 11.

On Friday we had another adventure. We took the truck to my work to pick up pallets for Scearces. It was me and Megan and Pax and not enough gas.

It was very windy and fairly cold. We ran out of gas not too far from my work. I felt to embarrassed and too unsure of Pax's behavior towards strangers to ask for help.

So I carried Megan and walked Pax to a nearby shop to get Megs a hat and warm pants then we went to the gas station.

On the way back we stopped on a hillside for skittles and salt and vinegar chips and a beef jerky stick for the dog.

I carried Megan way more than I was comfortable with. Pax was afraid of the road noises so much that she wanted to poop everywhere. I took ages figuring out how to use the new extra-safe gas spout.

But

Eventually we got settled back in the truck and rolling again.

I have rarely been so happy to see a gas station.

The trucks gas gauge doesn't work and I misremembered the acceptable mileage by 100 miles.

Kathryn's dad told me later that the 2nd tank was full...

ha

It was too late to get down to Scearce's and be home in time to pick up Kiernan so Megan and I went to Burger King to drown our sorrows in milkshakes.

It was here that I noticed how very red and inflamed her injection site was under the yellow band-aid.

She was complaining whenever I touched her arm and I dosed her up with some Advil.

On Saturday we wrapped up the Scouting for Food week.

David was pretty sick all weekend (I think this is coming from that ERCP) so we had Megan with us as well.

It was chilly but didn't rain on us and we made good time checking our route. At first both kids wanted to stay in the car, so I grabbed the first 3 bags myself, but once a family came out to wave at them and thank us for what we were doing Kiernan pitched in with a vengeance.

I forget how heavy a bag of cans is to a 6 year old. He muscled through.

The people of Mount Airy gave way more than I expected.

I thought we would probably get back 1 bag of food for every 10 empties we gave out. It was closer to 4 or 5. Many families gave several bags full.

We took our haul to the food bank and sorted and stocked shelves and ran around in circles with lots of kids.

Each boy stood on a scale and was weighed with his bags to play out the competitive angle.

When we left, before everyone was done, the shelves had gone form nearly empty to groaningly full. I was told that they had to stack the food on the floor and tables outside the food bank storage area because there was too much to fit. 

We went home and had lunch and watched a video then went back out to work on the yard.

I felt pretty good about humanity and the state of the world that evening.

I hope to hold on to that feeling in the wake of the Paris attacks.

On Sunday morning we went to Scearce's to drop off the pallets and to give David a little quiet time in which to feel miserable (poor David). 

We didn't get to stay very long because we had quite a list of commitments for the day but at least we got some extra wood over there and picked up a Thanksgiving box to send to Japan.

I had promised the kids an ice skating trip this weekend and was determined to keep it.

I had expected a little more adult company and was nervous about making it all work. Last time we went ice skating you may recall Megan's elbow dislocation took us all directly to the emergency room.

I told Kiernan that I wouldn't be able to help him very much but that he could stick with me if he needed to grab me for support.

At first he did stick close and then he got a little more confidence and took off without me.

This I think encapsulates a parenting win both philosophically and practically.

It is what I want for the kids, to be there for support and then eventually to be superfluous. 

I

Megan sometimes hung onto the wall and sometimes got supported by me holding her under her arms. She had a ball and my back helped up in that awkward position far better than I had feared.

I am not a great ice skater and trying it doubled over with a windmill legged 4 year old is quite a workout!

From ice skating we drove the hour back to home grabbed a very quick and late lunch at Chipotle and dropped Megan off for her nap. Then we rushed over for Scouting event number 2 for the week.

The boys are about to have a chariot race against the other dens in their pack.

The theme is fast food. Above you see the beginnings of a very decorated cheeseburger chariot.

Kiernan had enough of business and human company about 3/4 of the way through this activity.

He told me that he was uncomfortable and wanted to go home. I was torn.

I get how tired he was and as a fellow introvert I know exactly how stressful and exhausting the day must have been for him. Also I was worried that he might be getting sick. 

The kids and I are all coughing and sneezing and sleeping poorly due to congestion but Kiernan has it much worse than Megan dose and is more tired. He had had a nasty fall off a chair leaving him with a huge goose egg on his leg and a headache.

On the other hand we got there late and I didn't want to then leave early. Plus you can't just leave obligatory engagements whenever you feel uncomfortable. This is the introverts burden. You have to stick it out. It is rude to leave when there is work to be done and when people are relying on you.

I made him stay for about 5 more minutes until the box looked done but mostly in that time he sat on my car and checked out.

We had a quite a long talk about it on the way home.

In Japan news: Look who got a surprise trip to Tokyo Disney!