Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Uncle Pete
My Uncle Pete passed away on Dec. 26th. He was 56 years young. His body seemed to give out on him. He had lots of blockage in his intestines. After several surgeries over almost two months they took him off the machines on the 26th. My Uncle Pete and my Aunt Donna (my Dad's sister) were the only family members outside of our own house that supported my brother, sisters, and I as we were growing up. They attended every concert, recital, contest, program, etc. that we were involved in. My Uncle Pete has an identical twin, Alan. That was hard to see Alan at the funeral. I can't imagine what that must be like for my Aunt Donna. My Aunt Donna and Uncle Pete were married for 38 years and have one child Dianna (my cousin) and four grandchildren.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Easy Bake Fun
Alea (and I) made her first Easy Bake Oven masterpiece tonight. She used the mix and made a yellow cake with chocolate icing. I never had an Easy Bake Oven so she and I knew about the same amount about using the oven. Davin however turned out to be the expert as his sister had an Easy Bake Oven when she was a child. See the picture below of Alea with her Ace of Cake.
Christmas 2008
The great part about having young children is that they can't tell time and they can't read a calendar. Davin and I are known for not celebrating the holidays on the actual holidays. This year Santa came to our house early (since there are SOOO many children he has to see and because we are going to Grandma Jo's house for the 23d thru the 25th and then off to Texas on the 26th.) Alea really enjoyed her Christmas. She got an Easy Bake Oven , clothes, Barbies, and of couse...a baby doll.
I will be surprised if Alea makes it to the end of the week still believing in Santa Clause. When we went to Beaches in Jamaica she had just turned three and she very gently broke the news to me that Elmo wasn't real and that there was a person under there. So once again last year she gently told me that Mickey Mouse, Goofy, etc. all had a person inside of them. (Of course, Cinderella is real she tells me.) Yesterday she asked me if there was a man under Santa Clause's outfit. I asked her what she meant and she said, "MOM, JUST TELL ME THE TRUTH." I told her there was a man under there. She let it go and still believes, but I do not know how much longer it will go. Sometimes she believes so that Mommy and Daddy won't be upset. Not because we know the truth but because we still believe. She is so smart. How many four year olds figure out the santa thing?!
The strange thing is the she knows God is real without a doubt. How do children know when to have faith?
I will be surprised if Alea makes it to the end of the week still believing in Santa Clause. When we went to Beaches in Jamaica she had just turned three and she very gently broke the news to me that Elmo wasn't real and that there was a person under there. So once again last year she gently told me that Mickey Mouse, Goofy, etc. all had a person inside of them. (Of course, Cinderella is real she tells me.) Yesterday she asked me if there was a man under Santa Clause's outfit. I asked her what she meant and she said, "MOM, JUST TELL ME THE TRUTH." I told her there was a man under there. She let it go and still believes, but I do not know how much longer it will go. Sometimes she believes so that Mommy and Daddy won't be upset. Not because we know the truth but because we still believe. She is so smart. How many four year olds figure out the santa thing?!
The strange thing is the she knows God is real without a doubt. How do children know when to have faith?
Disney Cruise
We are excited to have booked a 3 night Disney cruise. We will be going at the end of my spring break in March. Right now they have a kids cruise for free offer and it is the best price I have ever seen for a Disney Cruise. I am very excited. I REALLY needed something to look forward to (that gets me away from my job.) Alea and I will probably spend the first part of the week in Texas with Aunt Becky, Uncle Pat, and Reed. She is hoping to get an extra week off and have my spring break be her last week of maternity leave. (It all depends on when Reed decides to join us.)
Friday, December 19, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
It's the Holidays
Alea gets sick almost every holiday season throughout the year. This year is no exception. She is running a fever right now. Davin will be home with her tomorrow. We'll see what the doctor says.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Ecocardiogram
Davin had an ecocardiogram on Friday. We are waiting to hear about the results. He has been feeling fine so that is a huge blessing!!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Davin
Well, another exciting Friday!
About 9:00 today the secretary at school gave an all call throughout the building telling me I had a phone call. (They do not like to do all calls because it bothers the kids and teachers, so I kind of wondered what was going on.) When I got to the office the secretary was pacing the floor. I asked her what was up. She said, "Davin's..." I heard her say Davin and thought that he was calling to tell me that Alea was sick again. Then I heard the rest of her sentence and she said, "Davin's work is on the phone and something is wrong with him. They are putting him into an ambulance right now." She was very nervous. I ran to the phone and asked what line. I told her she had better not be messing with me. (Why do I think when bad news comes that people are trying to be funny. Wishful thinking I guess.) I picked up the phone and it was one of Davin's old bosses (he is over other people now) that I know from Christmas parties and volleyball games. He said, "Jen, Davin is okay. They don't think it was a heart attack. They are putting him into the ambulance and taking him to the hospital right now." I squatted down on the floor so I wouldn't pass out. He continued to tell me that Davin wasn't feeling well and that managed to let someone know that he wasn't feeling well before he passed out at his desk. They called 911 and when the EMT's put the EKG/heart monitor on him in his cubicle his heart rate and blood pressure were really low and that his EKG was not okay. By this time I had gone from squatting down, to kneeling on the floor, to sitting on my bottom and leaning against the counter in the office. As I talked I realized that there was a semi-circle of about 10 pair of legs surrounding me. As I talked and got phone numbers for people who were going to follow the ambulance to the hospital I saw that the councilor (SP) brought me my purse and the principal was jingling her keys and had her purse on her shoulder ready to go. When I got off the phone everyone asked what was going on. I gave them a quick answer and the principal and I went out the door to the hospital. We beat the ambulance to the hospital. We beat the ambulance there by about 5 LONG minutes. When they brought Davin in on the gurney he was looking around and smiling like a kid in a toy store who was admiring all of the pretty colors and lights. He looked at me and said, "What are you doing here?" I knew he was out of it. (They hadn't given him any medicine at all.) He looked VERY pale and his eyes were a strange pink color. I touched his skin and he was ice cold to the touch. I asked if he was cold and he said no. They hooked him up to a 12 point EKG, gave him oxygen, and started a new IV since the ones the EMT's tried to put in at his work would not produce blood. The EMT's said his veins were closed down tight at the "scene". I told Davin that I hadn't called his parents YET. He said not to call yet. The two nurses were taking care of him and they were looking at his EKG results. I could see the screen and I knew it was looking odd. I asked the nurse what it meant and she smiled and said everything was fine. Then she nodded for the other nurse to come look at the EKG with her. They looked at the screen and gave each other a worried look. I looked at Davin (who was oblivious to all of the subtle looks going on) and said, "I am calling your parents." He then looked at my face and at the nurses faces and said, "okay". The doctor looked at the EKG and thought that there might be something wrong with Davin's aorta or that he might have an aortic dissection so they sent him to have a CAT scan because they wanted to look at his heart and they thought by the pain he was having in his back and side that he was having kidney stones. The CAT scan came back that his aorta was okay and that he did have a 3 MM kidney stone. They took his blood pressure quite a few times. They ended up giving Davin three prescription meds for the kidney stones and told him to go to our regular doctor on Monday so that he can get in to see a cardiologist to have an eceogardiogram (sp). The think that he has a LEFT VENTRICAL HYPERTROPHY. (I think that is an elargement of the heart.) The dismissed him at 1:00. We walked out to the parking lot at the same time that Davin's parents were walking into the hospital. I had been calling them the entire time giving them updates. Three guys from Davin's work spent some time at the hospital in the waiting room. One of them was the Environmental Health and Safety guy from the plant that I talked to on the phone on the way to the hospital. The other was Davin's boss above his boss and the other man was the boss of all of Northwest Arkansas. My boss also stayed in the waiting room for a couple of hours. She ended up taking my car key back to work and my assistant principal and the other ESOL teacher brought my car over and brought me a blanket (hospitals are so cold and they also make my legs very weak) and visited with me for a couple of minutes while Davin was getting the CAT scan. Davin's bosses told me that everyone at work was really worried because Davin is so well liked at work and that he gets along with everyone. I just looked at them and said, "I know." Then I heard what I said and told them that I didn't mean to sound arrogant but that Davin has always gotten along well with everyone and that he makes friends easily. They started talking about what a goofy guy he is. It kind of felt like they were trying to boost me up and let me know what a great guy he is. I realized later that when I first saw Davin that he looked MUCH better than when the guys had last seen him. I think they were really worried he was having a heart attack. I told them that he was still pale and cold to the touch but that he was back to being Davin and was telling stupid jokes and was kidding around with me. When I called the Environmental Health and Safety guy while Davin was getting the CAT scan he asked me to repeat everything a couple of times. He said that his phone was ringing off the hook with people asking about Davin. He said that he was getting ready to go into a meeting with a lot of people and was going to tell them about Davin but wanted to make sure he had his information correct. Davin has been pain free since we left the hospital, but he still hasn't passed the kidney stone. We have had a lot of phone calls from people at both his job and mine. Even without family close by we were very well taken care of by my co-workers and his. We are very blessed to be surrounded by such caring people. I probably left something out but that is the gist of our Friday.
About 9:00 today the secretary at school gave an all call throughout the building telling me I had a phone call. (They do not like to do all calls because it bothers the kids and teachers, so I kind of wondered what was going on.) When I got to the office the secretary was pacing the floor. I asked her what was up. She said, "Davin's..." I heard her say Davin and thought that he was calling to tell me that Alea was sick again. Then I heard the rest of her sentence and she said, "Davin's work is on the phone and something is wrong with him. They are putting him into an ambulance right now." She was very nervous. I ran to the phone and asked what line. I told her she had better not be messing with me. (Why do I think when bad news comes that people are trying to be funny. Wishful thinking I guess.) I picked up the phone and it was one of Davin's old bosses (he is over other people now) that I know from Christmas parties and volleyball games. He said, "Jen, Davin is okay. They don't think it was a heart attack. They are putting him into the ambulance and taking him to the hospital right now." I squatted down on the floor so I wouldn't pass out. He continued to tell me that Davin wasn't feeling well and that managed to let someone know that he wasn't feeling well before he passed out at his desk. They called 911 and when the EMT's put the EKG/heart monitor on him in his cubicle his heart rate and blood pressure were really low and that his EKG was not okay. By this time I had gone from squatting down, to kneeling on the floor, to sitting on my bottom and leaning against the counter in the office. As I talked I realized that there was a semi-circle of about 10 pair of legs surrounding me. As I talked and got phone numbers for people who were going to follow the ambulance to the hospital I saw that the councilor (SP) brought me my purse and the principal was jingling her keys and had her purse on her shoulder ready to go. When I got off the phone everyone asked what was going on. I gave them a quick answer and the principal and I went out the door to the hospital. We beat the ambulance to the hospital. We beat the ambulance there by about 5 LONG minutes. When they brought Davin in on the gurney he was looking around and smiling like a kid in a toy store who was admiring all of the pretty colors and lights. He looked at me and said, "What are you doing here?" I knew he was out of it. (They hadn't given him any medicine at all.) He looked VERY pale and his eyes were a strange pink color. I touched his skin and he was ice cold to the touch. I asked if he was cold and he said no. They hooked him up to a 12 point EKG, gave him oxygen, and started a new IV since the ones the EMT's tried to put in at his work would not produce blood. The EMT's said his veins were closed down tight at the "scene". I told Davin that I hadn't called his parents YET. He said not to call yet. The two nurses were taking care of him and they were looking at his EKG results. I could see the screen and I knew it was looking odd. I asked the nurse what it meant and she smiled and said everything was fine. Then she nodded for the other nurse to come look at the EKG with her. They looked at the screen and gave each other a worried look. I looked at Davin (who was oblivious to all of the subtle looks going on) and said, "I am calling your parents." He then looked at my face and at the nurses faces and said, "okay". The doctor looked at the EKG and thought that there might be something wrong with Davin's aorta or that he might have an aortic dissection so they sent him to have a CAT scan because they wanted to look at his heart and they thought by the pain he was having in his back and side that he was having kidney stones. The CAT scan came back that his aorta was okay and that he did have a 3 MM kidney stone. They took his blood pressure quite a few times. They ended up giving Davin three prescription meds for the kidney stones and told him to go to our regular doctor on Monday so that he can get in to see a cardiologist to have an eceogardiogram (sp). The think that he has a LEFT VENTRICAL HYPERTROPHY. (I think that is an elargement of the heart.) The dismissed him at 1:00. We walked out to the parking lot at the same time that Davin's parents were walking into the hospital. I had been calling them the entire time giving them updates. Three guys from Davin's work spent some time at the hospital in the waiting room. One of them was the Environmental Health and Safety guy from the plant that I talked to on the phone on the way to the hospital. The other was Davin's boss above his boss and the other man was the boss of all of Northwest Arkansas. My boss also stayed in the waiting room for a couple of hours. She ended up taking my car key back to work and my assistant principal and the other ESOL teacher brought my car over and brought me a blanket (hospitals are so cold and they also make my legs very weak) and visited with me for a couple of minutes while Davin was getting the CAT scan. Davin's bosses told me that everyone at work was really worried because Davin is so well liked at work and that he gets along with everyone. I just looked at them and said, "I know." Then I heard what I said and told them that I didn't mean to sound arrogant but that Davin has always gotten along well with everyone and that he makes friends easily. They started talking about what a goofy guy he is. It kind of felt like they were trying to boost me up and let me know what a great guy he is. I realized later that when I first saw Davin that he looked MUCH better than when the guys had last seen him. I think they were really worried he was having a heart attack. I told them that he was still pale and cold to the touch but that he was back to being Davin and was telling stupid jokes and was kidding around with me. When I called the Environmental Health and Safety guy while Davin was getting the CAT scan he asked me to repeat everything a couple of times. He said that his phone was ringing off the hook with people asking about Davin. He said that he was getting ready to go into a meeting with a lot of people and was going to tell them about Davin but wanted to make sure he had his information correct. Davin has been pain free since we left the hospital, but he still hasn't passed the kidney stone. We have had a lot of phone calls from people at both his job and mine. Even without family close by we were very well taken care of by my co-workers and his. We are very blessed to be surrounded by such caring people. I probably left something out but that is the gist of our Friday.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Locked
I locked my keys in my rental car on Saturday night. Davin and I carpooled today until Pop A Lock could come this afternoon (Monday) to unlock my car. The girls at work said that they are going to stay away from me because I am having a rough time lately.
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