Snow Daze

Sophie’s fever broke a few days ago, but she still has a lot of lingering affects of her mono.  She is incredibly tired, and last night she slept from 6:00 PM to nearly 8:00 AM this morning.  We had three snow days, tomorrow school is back in session, but the doctor advised that we not send her to school until the fever is completely gone.  The fever seems to disappear during the day, and return at around 6:00-7:00 PM at night, it lasts a few hours and then breaks again.  I wonder how long this is going to happen for.  We have a check up on Tuesday.

I have a half marathon scheduled this weekend.  I plan on going to the marathon, not going to race it, but just add another 7 miles to the run and turn it into a long run.  Shane is keeping the kids at home, while I race.  I’m nervous, it’s been a LONG time since I have gone anywhere by myself.  I better get used to it, however, I may end up in New York City alone.  I’m hoping Shane will at least be able to travel with me, and be able to take leave that weekend.  This race has been four years in the making.

Sophie Update Day: 8

We are on the backside of this thing.  Her fever broke today, but she is still very pale and very weak.  Good thing as there is an ice storm in Florida, and everything is closed.  Shane is driving home from work right now, and there is no school.  Living in an area where the primary employer is the base, many federal employee neighbors have been trickling home throughout the day.  Hurlburt let people off at 12:00 PM, Eglin let people off at 2:00 PM.  I have started the large task of disinfecting our home again.  At least, I can’t say that something at home caused this.  Anyway, everyone is on a mission trying to figure out how Sophie got Mono, I personally don’t really care (unless the reason is not obvious), it doesn’t matter if someone brought it into the house, or she got at Disney World– the incubation period for mono is 4-6 weeks, and that puts us smack dab in the middle of Christmas.  It could be that the illness was just going around, there were 5-6 people at the hospital with symptoms of it.  No matter what, it appears Sophie will be losing her tonsils.

Sophie Update #2

Sophie is doing much better today.  Much better equals a half of a ham and cheese sandwich, half a bottle of pediasure, and a popcycle eaten; temperature on Motrin under 100 degrees, and she’s been awake a good portion of the day.  She is still a ghastly color yellow, and we had to go in to check her blood to make sure she doesn’t have hepatitis.  Other than that there’s going to be a snow day here, and school is out for the next two days.  Snow in Florida????!!!!  Yep that’s right– snow in FL!!!  Please continue to pray.

Sophie Update… Illness Day 7

Sophie is officially diagnosed with Eppstein-Barr Virus Mononeucluosis.  Good news: 1.  All her labs for leukemia, anemia, and other conditions came out normal.  2.  Her fever is high, but is being controlled by motrin and tylenol.  3.  There is a snow storm in Florida, which will lessen the number of days she will miss of school (likely southerners + snow = certain death if driving). The bad news:  1.  She is jaundiced, which means that the infection attacked her liver and it is swollen (not damaged), and that it will take longer for recovery (which means between 14-28 days).  2.  Fever being under control means her average temperature is well above 100, but not as high as it has been 103.2 was the highest we have seen so far.  3.  Her spleen is also swollen, which means she is on nearly complete bed rest.  4.  If there is snow and she gets worse where she has to be admitted, I am fearful of driving on ice-covered roads.  Yesterday she already had one bag of iv-fluids, we are trying our damnedest to get more fluids into her.  This is completely recoverable, the only problem is she will be missing almost a month of school from her illness. She is being put on a 504-plan and I will be starting homebound education program with her, once she is awake more than she is sleeping.  Luckily, Shane is here this week, and can shuttle Ryan to school and to therapy, while I stay with Sophie.  She didn’t completely wake up today until around 4:00 PM.  So if you are praying, please continue to do so.

If you pray, pray…

Sophie has been sick.  Not common cold sick, but really really sick.  It started in May, when she had strep throat.  Since May, she has had strep five times.  Wednesday we went in for another throat culture and it was negative.  We went again Friday, and she again had a negative throat culture and so were her influenza a and b tests.  Her lymph nodes are swollen, she can barely swallow, her spleen is also swollen, she’s had a fever going on 7 days now.  The doctor suspects mono.  She could be out of school for a month.  There’s also a possibility that I don’t even want to think about.  Shane and I grew up in an area of Brooklyn Park where there are cluster illnesses.  Some of the kids of the kids that grew up in Brooklyn Park are coming down with rare cases of leukemia and cancer.  My brother had cancer, my childhood friends daughter is at the Mayo Clinic as we speak getting a bone marrow transplant.  This is truly terrifying.  It’s scarier than when Ryan was diagnosed with autism, scarier even when he started having seizures, I’m trying to keep my shit together right now.

 

It hath begun

I restarted writing again.  This is like the 12th time I have restarted writing, but I think this time it’s going to stick.  Though, last night, I decided to scrap chapter one, as it jumped right in the middle of a plot point without explaining how the characters got into the situation they got into.  So I figure I’ll either rewrite chapter one, or go to the beginning of chapter one and elaborate on chapter one.  Either way, I have started.

An Open Letter To A Friend

Dear Friend,

You know who you are.  I have been looking at your professional Facebook page.  You do beautiful work.  I sincerely apologize for my part of our falling out.  I wish you and yours the best.  The problem with relationships online is that you can’t read between lines, you can’t predict what people are going through, and you can’t read conjecture, emphasis, or facial expressions– and I have a hard enough time reading them when a person is looking at me.  You are right, in some regards I have moved on, in others I feel like I’m stalking you (LOL).  Korea looks lovely.  Best of luck, and if the military happens to put us in the same zip code, know that I will greet you warmly.

I’m busy, busy, busy like a bee…

I have been meaning to stop by, say hi.  But per typical me, I’m the awful person who never picks up the phone, never calls anyone, doesn’t want to be a bother.  2013 sailed by like a boat in The America’s Cup Challenge.  2014 looks to do the same.  We have a busy year ahead of us again.  We are awaiting word on Shane’s next job– no matter what it is, we have been reclama’ed.  It’s a made up word in Air Force which means we aren’t going anywhere.  This is the first time in 16 years that we have not moved like clockwork every a little bit less than 24 months.  February we have races every weekend, Ryan’s Blue and Gold banquet, and camping on the USS Alabama.  March gives us another few races, spring break, and a-I-wouldn’t-count-on-it visit from my deadbeat father-in-law.  April is Autism Awareness month, which makes me a busy little beaver.  May is Shane’s boss’ change of command, which either means we are taking command, or there will be a new commander taking charge.  June we are going to Disney World again, because my gosh you can’t have annual passes and parents living in Orlando without taking advantage of their hospitality on numerous occasions.  July we might throw another trip in there for good measure too, plus I start training for New York.  August, two weeks in the Twin Cities, to remind me how close I am to 40.  September third grade in the same school system.  October there is nothing going on now, but I’m sure that will change.  November– the month I have been looking forward to– New York Marathon.  Then we start all over again with 2015.

So let’s review last year, per Bridget Jones style:

Lowest weight: 129, highest weight: 137

Units of Alcohol:  Let’s just say I have single-handedly kept a certain wine shop in Destin in business.

Marathons: 3, half marathons: 6, 5Ks: 0, 10Ks: 1; I got a PR of 4:05 in the marathon, and 1:48 in the half marathon

Number of times I have stuck my foot so far down my throat that my toes have come out of my arse: at least 52 (once a week, probably more).

Number of memes I have taken of my dog:  I didn’t even know what a meme is until someone mentioned that one of my pictures of my dog would make a good meme, so I count that as 1.

Number followers on Twitter: 1-2, I actually got put in Twitter Jail.  

Number of letters to congress, the President, and various representatives: 23

Number of times I was published: 5.

Number of times I was paid: 1

Number of times I started writing a book: 23, number of books I actually finished 0

Number of cross stitch projects I started: 3, number finished: 0

Number of miles run: ~1,820