Beware of Mother Hen

Sorry I haven't written all week.  I feel like we've been extra busy although we probably haven't been more busy than normal.

We had nurses out to the house every day this week which is a lot more than normal.  They were checking his blood to keep tabs on his coumadin levels and the dr decided to increase his dose since his body doesn't seem to react much to it, he's on his third type of antibiotic for a persistent bladder infection which is finally getting better,  he is on chemo this week which makes him more tired so he hasn't been out of bed at all since last sunday. He's almost off the steroids, YAY!  I borrowed a carpet cleaner and spent a day deep cleaning the area rugs and our bedroom rug which was much dirtier than I thought.  Whew!  Maybe we are a little busy.

Owen came home from school early twice this week.  One day he had a bad stomach ache and the next day he got in a little tussle at school.  It wasn't much of a tussle, a kid had been on his nerves for a while and Owen finally pushed back, literally.  He told me what happened and wasn't proud of himself but he just had enough of this kid and stood up for himself.  That part we're proud of him for although we wish there was a better way to do that, sometimes I think maybe there's not.  Anyway he excused himself from class to collect himself and when he blew his nose he got a bloody nose.  That's not all that uncommon, I got a lot when I was a kid too, so he went to the nurse to get cleaned up.  That's when he told them about what happened in choir.  Apparently two girls from class came to the office to say that they saw the whole thing and that kid had been on owen's case lately and he doesn't deserve that.  They were protective, that's so incredibly sweet.  When the nurse called me I talked to Owen and decided that I was just going to come get him since he was pretty stressed, which is likely what caused the upset stomach the day before.  We just needed a little time to regroup.  I feel kind of bad about it like if you have a problem your mommy will take you out of school and let you hide from it but it's not really like that.  Or is it? ;)  My mother hen instinct is pretty high right now and if that's what he needed then that's fine.  We got his homework from his afternoon teacher and went home.  I talked to the vice principal and she assured me it's getting taken care of.  They really watch out for him there.  I know they watch out for all the kids but I've always felt they take good care of Owen, especially since Dave has been sick.  I count my blessings all the time that I got so involved this year and that they are such a fantastic community.  I think taking him home was a good choice and he spent some time talking with Dave and I about what happened and why and about our stress levels and how to deal with it and stuff like that.  It was at least a productive afternoon playing hookie.

Speaking of being a mother hen...  I haven't said much about it but my new little chick (Ariana) has an ex that is a little bit of a... well... I'll just be nice and say he's unwelcome here.  He showed up today out of the blue and caught her off guard because she happened to be walking outside when he pulled up.  I noticed after she'd been outside for a minute and just as I was slipping some shoes on to go out and "invite him to fellowship elsewhere" I saw her motion for him to leave and as I was about to open the door she came in.  Good girl! She's so incredibly brave and strong for sticking to her guns.  We're proud of her.  But seriously?  Who shows up like that?  He's lucky she was going outside because if he had come to the door I would have been the one to answer and I'm sure that's not what he wanted.  I don't think he or anyone he knows reads this but I wanted to make it clear to our friends and family that have been concerned about her/us that if he makes a nuisance of himself I'm more than happy to initiate a restraining order and he's absolutely not welcome here.  Period. RAWR  Sheesh! 

Oh, I ended up hiring the company that has been doing the housekeeping to do the backyard.  Well actually they're just cleaning up, not landscaping or anything.  Serious invasion of the blackberries going on back there.  They're going to come out on monday and spend the whole day, 2 people, clearing out the edge of the yard of blackberries, weeding the raised beds, trimming some butterfly bushes and whacking out some ivy.  They cut me a sweet deal.  There will still be a lot to do but I'm hoping to corral friends and family into helping do some of that other work at some point.  Yardwork party anyone? ;)  I'll just be happy to get those blackberries at least whacked back to the point where we can spray them with crossbow or something.  Also it will be nice to be able to plant something besides mint in the raised bed.  My Nana warned me that it would take over and boy was she right! 

I haven't been sleeping all that well. I get most of my sleep in 2-3 hour naps here and there.  I've always been a night owl but it's been worse lately.  I have so much to do and just no energy to do it.  Not even big things, just things.  I need to get some exercise, not sure what or when or how but I have to do something.  I know I'd have more energy although at first I'm sure I'd have less.  Heh.  I would love to start back up at boot camp but I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet, plus I'd have to be careful because after starting that I can barely walk for a couple of days and that won't do anyone around here any good! 

I've been talking to a friend of mine that I met years ago playing World of Warcraft.  He has been in a wheel chair for years after a diving accident and gets what we're going through right now.  It's been so helpful talking to him, it's really given us a little hope and lifted our spirits.  Next month he's trying out for the paralympics swim team!  That's so awesome!  I don't think Dave is quite at that point where he's wanting to be an athlete but at least it gives us hope that if his tumor/swelling is held off for a while he can still have as much of a life as we put effort into.  It took my friend a couple of years to realize that and we may not have a couple of years to make that mental shift but maybe that will be a motivator to shift sooner.  Thanks, Yianni! <3

Oh yeah, we tried to watch Jaws with Owen but apparently you can't stream it online anywhere!  Netflix has failed us! We might have to actually buy it.  Ew!  ;)