On the Mend..

Or so we thought.  Maddy started the week feeling a little bit better but kept complaining about her right ear.  Sarah started the week with a low grade fever and by Tuesday it was up in the 102 range.  My son and daughter-in-law also had high fevers like this as they all battled some kind of bronchitis according to the doctors.  By weeks end, Maddy had lost one of the tubes in her ears and was crying like I've never seen her cry about the pain.  We saw the doctor again on Friday and she had to have two shots of Rocephin (one in each leg) for severe otitis media.  He has no idea what one of her ears looks like because there was too much ear wax and he didn't want to dig in her ears when they were hurting her so bad. She is now on her third antibiotic in under 10 days time.  Marty continues to cough day and night but says he is feeling a little better.  Sarah is still coughing horribly but the fevers are gone now.

Let me just say that I'm so thankful that I have made it through without getting horribly sick myself.  Sure, I have some sinus like issues but nothing like the rest of my family.  I'm so thankful for that.

Maddy has been missing Brooklyn a LOT this week.   Every night she becomes sad and tells us how much she misses Brooklyn.  I did not think it would affect her so much since Brooklyn was an older dog when Maddy came home.  Maddy never really played with Brooklyn but I guess she just liked having her around.  She has started paying the other dogs a lot more attention lately.

Other than illness, nothing to exciting has been going on in our house this week.  Work is work and very challenging.  This week provided me with LOTS of 'managerial training" opportunities unfortunately.  I really hate the part where you have to manage staff who are being quite frankly - insubordinate! I had one of my therapists be quite rude to me this past week and almost landed herself unemployed.   I just don't understand why people think that direction from your manager is optional.  Of course, I know they are just pushing the buttons to see how far I will let them go since I'm new at this position.  Wonder what this week will bring?

What a Week - Highs and Lows

This has been a week of highs and lows at the Wh*te House.  It was my birthday on Wednesday and I enjoyed being surprised at work with homemade pound cake and fresh fruits toppings that one of my nurses brought in for me. Fresh cut flowers and a cupcake from my daughter. That evening, I got to eat dinner at my favorite restaurant with my husband, kids and grandchild.  Life was good... until we got home.

Our 10 1/2 year old Lab has not been well the past few months.  She was diagnosed with Renal Failure and we were told she really needed special food, medications etc for the remainder of her life.  We'd been doing the special food religiously but the medications to help her eat we did not do at $30/5days.  Her appetite had been good until the day of my birthday.  She had gotten sick the day before but she ate her dinner that night but the morning of my birthday, she didn't want anything to eat.  This was not like Brooklyn at all.  That evening, same thing.  So, when we returned home from our dinner, she was panting a lot.  Her skin was sweaty and she was drinking a lot of water.  I made her some steamed brown rice and even put a little gravy on top but she refused.  While I was talking to my sister on the phone, Brooklyn collapsed.   Her muscles were twitching and her breath was ice cold.  We'd seen these kinds of symptoms before when she was first ill with her Renal Failure.  We had already made the decision that we would have her put down if she got really ill again as she had lost a lot of weight and just wasn't herself anymore.  Well, at 9:45 or so that night... we had to do just that.   The LOW point to a rather good day. 

Brooklyn was a really good dog.   She loved children.  She was gentle.  She wasn't a chronic barker.   All she wanted from anyone was to be loved.  I remember when I first saw her.  She was in a pet store... yes I know, she was probably a puppy mill dog coming from a pet store but she was beautiful.  Anyway, she was in a white baby crib in this pet store.  This fluffy, soft white lab stole my heart that day.   

Brooklyn - you will forever be in my heart and sweet Maddy talks about how she misses you every day!

All that we Love deeply becomes a part of us - Helen Keller

Speaking of Maddy - the following morning she wakes up with a fever and Marty stays home with her and takes her to the doctor since I have to go to a mandatory meeting in Columbus.  Daddy says the doctor doesn't say much other than the strep test in the office was negative and he puts her on antibiotics anyway for a possible cold.  I'm thinking.. "what??" who gives a child antibiotics for a cold.  By the time I get home that day, Maddy's fever is 104.5 and she has a terrible headache. :-(
It's now Sunday and she has been running high fevers like that until today.  Today her fever has been low-grade but she had a horrible bloody nose that just started spontaneously and I had a hard time getting stopped.( took over 30 minutes to stop)  She continues to have a horrible cough and now Daddy is coughing too!  I'm just praying that Mommy doesn't get sick.  I don't like being sick - not that anyone does - but me being sick is even worse due to my issues with taking meds.  UGH!

What a week to say the least!  I'm glad it's over and we are starting on a new one.  I hope the mothership of wellness decides to hover over our house for a while!

Chocolate Pink

That is the name of the wall color paint we chose for Maddy's room.  She was tired of the ladybug theme and swore to us that this was the reason she didn't like sleeping in it. Or playing in it for that matter.   So, I'm changing the room to soft pink, chocolate and ivory.  When I found the paint color, Chocolate Pink, I couldn't resist.  I'm not sold on the new quilt just yet as it's a lot lighter than I thought it would be.  Maddy picked out the blanket at the bottom of the bed and I'm not totally sold on that either but she is the one who picked it out so it's there for now.  I'm hopeful to find some little pink and chocolate pillows and a soft pink blanket.  Her shades were already pink so I'm ordering some pink, brown, ivory striped valances.  Such a big girl room compared to her sweet little lady bugs.

Ending our week with painting was actually quite therapeutic after the work week .  Monday morning I had 3 state surveyors walk into my office at 9am for our official Ohio Dept of Health State survey.  By the second day I had 4 surveyors and by day 3 there were 6.  Mamma Mia!  What a week!!

On a good note, Monday morning also brought good news for Sarah.  She was offered a job as the Epidemiologist for two counties.  It's not dental school but it is a full-time job with excellent benefits.  She is still hopeful she might hear from a dental school so she can start that in the fall but in the meantime, bills for school loans will come due and this will be so very helpful!

Here are some photos of Maddy's new room.  

 Maddy puts on the first stroke of paint

 Maddy was a big helper when it came to rolling too

Here is a small glimpse of Maddy's room before (with Sophie and Hannah who were visiting)

Here is the new wall color and the start of her bed accessories including a new mattress and box springs

And here she is in her new room that she helped to paint.  Let's see if she will actually sleep in it now.

A New Year

I can't believe it's a brand new year already.  So much happened in 2010 and yet looking back, it feels like it just flew by.  I guess that is what happens when you get older. I can remember when I was young that time just seemed to stand still. When you are in school, you can't wait for summer break and it feels like it takes FOREVER to come.  Yet, as an adult, where there are no summer breaks for me, it feels the like the years just come and go and come and go.  50 is right around a couple of corners for me.  Remember when 50 was so old? It's looking younger and younger as each year passes.

In this new year starting I already have things to look forward to and the time will most likely pass quickly.  Maddy will be starting kindergarten this year.  She will ride the school bus for the very first time. She already lost her first tooth at Christmas and she is changing every single day. She is starting to be less passive where she tries to please, please, please everyone all of the time.  She is starting to get a little bit of attitude and assertiveness.  She wants to play soccer.  She doesn't like ballet but she loves hip hop.  Turn the radio to country music and it's hurting her ears but put in on R&B station and she is in heaven.  She loves hats and is starting to get quite the collection.  She loves Jesus and lets everyone know it.  I hope she never looses her Love for Christ and her love for sharing his good news with anyone she sees. 

In this new year, I hope to see Sarah accepted to a dental school.  It is her passion and her dream.  It's very hard to get accepted and she is already experiencing the rejection of schools.  I also hope that this new year will bring her a "big person job" as she likes to call it.  While she waits to hear from schools, having a full-time job will bring back to her some self esteem and confidence.  It will also reassure her that she didn't go to school and get two degrees for nothing.  And, it will lessen the burdens on her shoulders for paying off loans and medical bills.  She will also finally get to be back on her father's medical insurance.  She will be able to get her eyes checked and go to the dentist herself which is something she actually looks forward to twice/year.  Tell me, who LOVES the smell of the dentist?  NOT me.  But she does.  She loves the smell, the sounds, and the thought of having her teeth cleaned.  She truly is meant to work in the field of dentistry.

I'm not sure what this year will bring for Marty or myself but I pray that it is just a simple, healthy, fun-filled life with our children and grand-children.  We were told recently that there might be another grand-baby in the year 2011.  That will make 6 for us.  Bring it on I say!  We love our grand-children.

Here's to 2011 and all that it has to offer!