Update: Craziness

Well, it's been a couple of crazy weeks since Laura and I got back from the YSA conference in Harrisburg. We came home that Sunday evening to find that Mom's leg was all swollen and bright red from the knee down. It had started happening the day before when she was coming home from the hospital. Mom's had some recent issues with the non-fatal kind of blood clots in her legs and so we didn't know if it was a blood clot or what was going on. Dad and I wanted her to go to the hospital, but would she go? No! Here she was, swollen, purple, and in a lot of pain- and she wouldn't go! She wanted to wait and see her blood clot Dr on Monday. What a brat.

So she went to her Dr that Monday and got immediately shuttled off to the hospital. Told you so! It was some kind of infection, they never did figure out what but they wonder if it was a strep infection. She spent a few days in the local hospital and then got shuttled off to the hospital in Erie where they have an area more specialized for infections. After a week in the hospital, Mom got sent home- with an IV port in her arm and bags of massive antibiotics that my dad gives her. Her leg is slowly getting better- the redness had spread all the way up her leg and is now mainly concentrated on her shin and calf. She has a sore on the back of her calf that is black- we call her The Black Spot (Muppet Treasure Island is one of our fave movies!).

It was a crazy week while Mom was away- she's generally much healthier then the rest of us and I don't think had been hospitalized since she gave birth to Laura. It was really odd to see her so sick and weird not to have her home. We teased her that she wanted attention like Grandma had this summer! Dad was able to get off of work and be there with her. Laura helped hold down the fort at home and I was busy with school. Oh, and did I mention I had a nasty sore throat/cold while all this was happening? I wasn't too functional myself.

I worried a lot about Mom because we have family friends where the wife got some kind of nasty infection in a hospital- and wound up having to have limbs amputated.

It was pretty crazy getting ready for Mom to come home- we keep a decent house but nothing makes you see the imaginary bugs like knowing your mother is coming home with an infection and an IV port! It was crazy trying to disinfect the entire house- not an easy task when you have a little house filled with three big dogs, ceiling fans that drop dust, a wood stove (our only source of heat) that kicks up dust and the fact that Laura and I were sick. I scrub scrub scrubbed the house the weekend before she came home.

Mom's gorgeous gam in the hospital:

...and taken this week:

Mom came home on Monday while I was away at school. That day was insane because the dog was scheduled for surgery to remove a cyst from his eye. Normally that would have been Mom and Laura dealing with that, but Mom was down for the count so that meant that I had to reorganize my schedule and deal with the dog. Laura drives, but not very far and not in complicated areas. We took Hank to the vet in Titusville at 8 am, came home and finished getting things ready for Mom. I went to school and then from school went to go pick up Hank- by myself. Did I mention that Hank is an 80 lb mastiff mix? Somehow I got this 11 yr old half asleep huge dog in the car- he'd only fit up front with the big cone around his head! And somehow I got home with a big conehead dog in my lap! Getting him out was a real challenge! And then Laura and I zipped off to Erie for fhe...of course the one day that my life was so crazy was the one fhe that a bunch of my friends that I haven't seen for awhile would be at...so we made the trip. I was tempted to stay home. Thankfully we had a really fun time, I needed that.

Hanky, you're such a goober!

Trying to hoover his food:

It's been a crazy week. I had to turn in an Earth Art proposal in Art History, teach a group of middleschoolers with a partner at the Erie Art Museum, and have a metals crit, no less. I was really thankful to get a good group of kids- they were so much fun to talk with! They asked me all about school and what we do. I wish my partner had been better- I pretty much wound up doing everything, it was almost like she wasn't even there. At least I knew this going in, so I tried to prepare myself beforehand. She didn't know how to connect or communicate with the kids, either. She also really wanted to do this lesson plan that I had qualms about- and sure enough the kids didn't like what she wanted to do (discussing really freaky paintings of Chris Marrs) and so I steered them to the lesson plan I had wanted to do (learning about color symbolism and looking at how works of art can influence how we feel). Sure enough, they liked that better. The day kindof became a blend of our two ideas.  They were great kids, I would have loved to work with them more. Thank heavens for my experience in teaching Primary and YW- the church's way of teaching you how to teach is so much better than how they teach you in college.

At the end, we had the kids each draw a section of a monster, then put them together on the wall. I thought they did a great job. The girls who did the hands kinda copied one another but overall it was pretty unique.

There's been a bunch of little miracles in my life recently, I'm very thankful. I needed to go buy wood for my table in woodshop- and then Mom got sick and everything went to pot. My friend Angie in class wound up accidentally buying the wrong stuff for her project- which just happened to be exactly what I needed. I bought it off of her- it really was as if she had picked out wood for me!

I had also really prayed that my teaching experience in the museum would go well, and overall it was a really great morning. I left the museum feeling really invigorated. It was so foggy that morning that I was worried I'd be late, but somehow I made it on time.

Metals crit was not so great this week, the assignment was for us to learn how to design and solder boxes and most everyone (including me) showed up with unfinished work. It was pretty depressing. Some people didn't show up at all! At least I had a decent excuse, right? I felt bad because I am normally prepared for critiques, but I just had too much going on. Thankfully I have an extension to get it done. Anyhow, we wound up talking about how things were going to be, not how they turned out since there were only like two finished projects. Some people didn't pace themselves, others bit off too much.

It's pretty true, trials make you stronger. That's how we learn and grow in this life. I feel stronger and have a deeper love for the gospel and for my family. It was pretty sweet watching my dad put everything aside to take care of Mom. Usually it's her taking care of him.

Today is Mom's birthday, we'll have a low-key celebration at home, since she can't really go anywhere. She's getting better, slowly. I just hope that this doesn't become a pattern for her!