Otherwise, I'm looking forward to the excuse of not doing anything but sleep it off the first day, and laying low and catching up on the dozen of YouTube videos I'm behind on. Oh, and I have to backtrack on the BBC Masterpiece show I started on, Poldark, because I accidentally started on Season 5! How in the world?! It makes sense because a few pieces of the story were mysteries to me about how and why the relationships were the way they were. I guessed correctly as I went through 6 out of 8 episodes. And season 5 is the latest season! So, back to season 1, episode 1 and then I might as well go through season 5 again. Whoops! It's just as good as Victoria, same type of historical drama set in the late 1700's with plenty of wholesome romance and bedroom scenes cutting from the first kiss to the morning after (mostly with married couples.) Anyway, I'm going to let the kids have their unlimited screen time this week, BUT, only two hours of it can be personal screen time. They can play video games together or put a movie on for 2 or more of them. That will keep them out of playing fortnite and screaming at their friends and Disney Plus shows that give them bad attitudes. And maybe, just maybe, help with relationships. So, after today's busyness of chiropractor, picking of school food, picking up one of my meds that got called in last week (by accident but it's good to have a backup in hand), and then groceries, I can relax the rest of the week.
The kids did go outside for a little bit but the heat index is 100. 85 degrees but the air is heavy and humid. Time to stay inside. They also played Monopoly together while Abishai went with us to the grocery store. Benaiah had work. Usual story. Oh, I did workout and shower. I might not get to workout later in the week, so it's important to get it in now. I'm on week 6! I don't have many pics today, so here's them all!
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| Mommy, I'm an angel! That you are, my child. |
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| And the angel had a huge can of baked beans fall on his foot from the top of the fridge! That's what you all get for slamming the fridge so hard! I was so scared that it would be broken, but thankfully, it fell mostly on his foot and not on his toe. There's a couple of tiny scrapes and you could see a bit of line matching them up in an arc shape like the lip of the can. Thankfully, some ice kept the swelling down and it doesn't look at all bad now! |
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| And this is why we got a second fridge! It took a lot less time to put things away because I didn't have to play tetris! We bought a fresh pizza to bake tomorrow and it fits in there! Plus I can keep some of my and Benaiah's food separated and anything we are saving for certain recipes. AND when I went to get the school food today, I could ask for 4 of them since I had space for 4 milks! And we can more easily rotate the new and old veggies and fruits. Yippie! |
Today was a quieter day, in fact, because the kids had unlimited screen time, they spent more time playing together instead of fighting! That's a parenting win! Sort of. I wrote something like this in a text, but basically, some days at least, I resign myself to the fact that we are just a movie and video game loving family. Screens are our "thing." We aren't crafty or sporty. We learn from YouTube videos. We talk about what we see, and sometimes those are great conversations! From Smarter Every Day to memes to why I think a historical show I'm watching could be accurate or not. And if they do learn to get along and compromise and take turns via playing together on a video game, then so be it. Who am I to stop that all the time, eh? I'm glad that I came up with the 2 hrs of personal time and the rest of the time had to be shared time. It helps with sharing the devices and/or giving the devices some rest. Although Keturah pulled out her Leappad today and asked about her gameboy. That's personal gaming, not together gaming. And the Leappad needs to be passed down fully to Abishai. No, I'm not going to get more games for it. It's an old device and kids play on iPads these days. It's not worth investing into. We did have to put real batteries into it to make it work though. The rechargeable packs were busted. And that's a gimmick a YouTube video said happens often. The batteries in the battery pack are fine, but the holder fizzles out. Oh well, we'll live. We'll remove the rechargeable ones and/or just keep buying regular batteries for it. Bummers though.
I did spend time working out and cleaning well so that in case I'm down for a few days, my family can survived. I cooked a nice dinner tonight of salmon, rice, corn on the cob and frozen veggies knowing I can't have any of the leftovers for the next week. I'm quite nervous about the aftermath of the wisdom teeth removal including dry socket, my stomach issues, and pain management. At least the anesthesia doesn't scare me. I know I'll wake up from it ok and will sleep it off later. Justin and I did a phone appointment with the psychiatrist and it was all intake information. We have a follow up in a few weeks to finish the intake and see what they can offer for help. Oh, and I finally brought home the last of the moving boxes from Gary and Leah's house 8 yrs ago. I don't know if I'll get to them this weekend, but since I can't do much in the boys' room until Benaiah goes through his things, it will give me something to do when I'm bored. Not that I'm that bored since more and more homeschooling questions keep pouring in. Those take up a lot of my time and I haven't done much for my region specifically. I think I will work on that more closer to the fall. Things like contacting the libraries. I guess I could email each branch's head librarian so at least they would have my info. I have to start doing something. I'll see what I can do while I'm recovering. It's also been hard because I've been focused on Benaiah's graduation stuff. Sigh.
Yeah, I'm in a downright bad mood again. Thanks social media. I had been all set to get this finished up quickly. Oh well. I'll binge watch my stuff tomorrow and get caught up.
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| This graphic does have a web address at the top, although I didn't check it out, but this graphic also makes sense. |
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| Stop hitting your brother with a spoon! And then, when Justin was petting Socks, he discovered how dirty Socks' ears were and starting to clean them. I joined in to make sure Justin knew how to be careful and ended up just finishing it up myself. One ear was especially bad. Thank goodness there was no irritation or bad smell besides the normal smell, which isn't pleasant but it's not the same smell as infection. |
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| Blurp! Abishai says when you push the yogurt cup and the lid goes up, it says, "eat me!" |
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| Dancing to a very old song on my desk. Justin knows it from Fortnite or memes or something. Listen to the video below. |
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| Families that game together, stay together. Playing Rocket League instead of Minecraft this time. |
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| We have all the toys, games, and books in the world. But just give them Legos and video games and they are happy. |
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| Rice and quinoa re hidden in there and I hadn't gotten my corn on the cob yet. This is my "before I go on a liquid diet for a week" meal. |
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| The crab apples are starting on Grandma's backyard tree! I had about 8 more medium sized boxes in their shed that were leftovers from our move to Canada 8 years ago. They were all supposed to go to my sisters but the truck was too full. We didn't have time to drop them off anyway. And since they are cardboard boxes, the mice have been in them. So, they are quarantined to the front of the garage until I can get to them. It's the last little bits! |
Well, just peachy. Not much chit chat before or after. I did wish they explained more of the rules than just hand me a piece of paper, but oh well. They didn't explain what they were doing and why with like the oxygen thing and when they actually started the IV meds. Again, that's just a bedside manner and I know that all doctors and nurses are busy. I did however appreciate that it was the actual oral surgeon that did my IV today. Typically only nurses do that! And after I said, "Have fun!" He said, "Why?" "Because it's typically hard to find my veins." And as I said that, he got the IV in on the first try. Woot! Woot! Why couldn't several nurses at Methodist do that back in November for my polyp surgery, who knows. Back then, they had to get out an ultrasound machine with a special tech just for finding veins to find one they liked. Go figure. This time though, they didn't tell me when they were starting the anesthetic but I could feel it start to working. Either it was a lighter dose or they gave it to me much slower than the one on November because I didn't hear any garbled words from them as I drifted off and it was much more pleasant. I woke up to them starting on the last tooth. Obviously they also numb your face but properly to process you quicker, they back off on the medication, or they only have enough for 45 minutes and we were closer to 1 hr. All I know is that I heard the drill in my mouth breaking up my upper right tooth and then felt the tongue (not the actual pain) of the stitches going in. I thought at first they were using string to pull out the tooth! Overall it didn't bother me, but I did murmur ow with the pulling the stitches together, again, not in pain, but in overall tugging motion.
I did feel woozy but within minutes I was helped to the van. I woke up fine and was fully aware of who I was and where I was, so obviously I respond find to anesthetic. I did fine with epidurals for the most part, although I did have the shakes and was freezing but that could also be contributed to coming down from the adrenaline of birth too. We dropped off the prescriptions for hyrdocodone, ibuprofen and antibiotics and came straight home. Last time we went to CFA, but because I knew that I had kosher food for the type of surgery and for my stomach at home, I wanted to get home and eat something. I did try to eat something after I laid down for a bit, but didn't eat enough. When Jared picked up and brought home the prescriptions, I took my first hyrdocodone. I did check to see if I could take my other medications and the interaction with Cymbalta didn't sound as bad as the interaction between Cymbalta and tramadol was. Still, I decided to skip my cymbalta and just take the hydrocodone. Well, I didn't eat enough and apparently that family of medications does not play well with my stomach. I took another one 6 hrs later as directed and didn't eat quite enough food and the same thing happened. I was nauseous and laid down in the bathroom for a few minutes to be close in case I needed to vomit. Not nice. So, either the pain won't as bad tomorrow and I can back off on the hydrocodone (that's unlikely. it's more likely the pain will be worse) or I will take a dramine for the day and sleep more. Which is probably a good thing since I didn't sleep as much as I thought I would today and I need to rest. I'm switching off hydrocodone and the ibuprofen as they suggested. so I took hydro at 12, ib at 3, hyrdo at 6, and ib at 9. each drug lasts 6 hrs and overlaps. Iburprofen is one of my normal go tos anyway so I know it's safe for my stomach even in the stronger dosing.
Meanwhile, the bleeding wasn't as extensive as I thought it would be. I do sometimes taste it when I swallow, but that's to be expected. I'm not allowed to spit it out. I've been only eating liquid foods or making sure food is mashable like mashed potatoes and avocodes and not allowing it to be in between my gums. Tomorrow I might try a bit more texture. I'm just deathly afraid of the whole dry socket thing. I did find myself clenching my teeth when I was icing my face and answering emails and it hurt. I'm going to put some guaze in my mouth tonight just in case because I sometimes do grind my teeth as well. I put a towel on my pillow in case something comes loose in the night and I bleed more. I tend to drool, too. Gross, but when it's allergy season, my nose is stuffy and it happens. They say the next couple of days are worse for pain, so I made sure that I had no obligations. My next social outing is Saturday night, Fourth of July, and the group knows I may or may not come. Jared and the kids can handle any food prep for it.
Speaking of our group, the ladies sent me get well flowers! No one ever sends me flowers! And Jared, well, being out from work this morning is an inconvenience. He doesn't have that kind of care giving gene. He did ask if I needed him to stay in the afternoon, and I knew it would just be better if he'd go to work, so he did. He did stay about an hour though so I could take a little nap and see how I handled the hydrocodone. But the children are used to the routines of when Mommy is down for the count and can fend for themselves and bring me things when I ask. I even told the nurse when she asked if something was going to be home with me that I have kids that are very capable, it's not their first go around and they are older. We are good. 10 months. 4 minor (major?) procedures. I feel like a car that has hit 100,000, it's warranty just expired, and then everything starts to break down. Yikes! Or, I've just ignored all the tune ups over the years and am finally getting around to taking care of it all. Hopefully, I can last another 10 years before something else happens. What a year! Melanoma in August, polyps in November, root canal sometime in there (January)?, and now wisdom teeth. Sheesh.
Ok, back to the ladies....You'll see it in the photo, but I love how they addressed themselves on the card. It took me a minute to think about how they were! And that's why I'm trying very, very hard to not play the jealousy card and assume anything about their individual relationships with one another. I had a long discussion with Justin about his social stuff at youth group because I feel like he's in the same boat as me, not being as noticed. And I want to teach him how not to be jealous like me and make sure he's getting his social needs meet and I don't want my personality and lack of social skills to influence his social life. Benaiah's disdain of many hypocritical people isn't our fault. He has few friendships, but they are deep. However, he needs to get over it and not dismiss people no matter how many times they reject him if he's going to be in ministry. I mean there does comes a point where you have to pass the baton, but Benaiah does it too quickly. I guess he put aside his distaste for people so he could be with his girlfriend at the youth group event/Bible study tonight. I wasn't happy. He could have come home. He and Ava spent a total of 10 hrs today together. Dude. I've already made it known that he's not allowed to go to youth group events unless he's working it after CIY. Ava has other friends and her small group to focus on during those things. It's her senior year. Don't be a third wheel. Sigh. I wish that the college group didn't meet on Tuesday nights because I think it would be excellent for him to go to that group. It's a totally different group of young people because they want to be there and aren't forced by parents. And they regulate themselves rather than have the youth ministry involved. There are mentors I believe, too. But if it's anything like the college group we formed, it's a much different and a better environment.
The day ended with the usual trying to get Abishai to stay in his bed and Justin on a screen this time playing with Keturah. I'm banning the use of the PS4 after Abishai is in bed. It's too loud and too distracting unless Jared is using it. End of story. Actually, the other two and I need to settle down at 8:30 as well, so that Abishai can read stories with Daddy and be asleep by 9. Everyone to their rooms with teeth brushed by 9. It doesn't help me settle down either. And I was hungry and needed some carbs so I was making mashed potatoes at 9:15 so that didn't help. Jared was highly annoyed and in his room with earphones at 9. Well, relationship talks are inconvenient and surgeries and upset stomachs are inconvenient. so, get over it. Yup, 11:30. Time for Poldark. And Jared is blocking out the tablet now, too, so I can't stay up. It's very annoying. But I wanted to write this out while I was feeling ok and to remember the details.
Let's see. I told you Benaiah was out all day. Keturah went to Grandma's house to finish the shredding project and came home at supper time. She had her screen time in the morning. The boys had their screen time in the afternoon and I found out they went swimming while I was gone. I need to reiterate the rules that I would prefer them not to do it OR Justin has to be the one in there with Abishai, not just Keturah. I'm glad they swam. I just need to make sure they know the risks. Yup, that's pretty much what the three of them did. When I had my first episode of nausea, I had gotten out the ingredients for my smoothie, but couldn't take the 30 seconds to make it happen. So, I instructed Justin to do it, knowing it wouldn't be prefect but good enough to chug down. And it was, thank goodness. That helped a ton. It's the Shakeology one from Beachbody, which is pea protein and stevia, so it will give me a slight stomachache by itself so I dare not drink it twice a day, but it helped get some protein into me and a banana, which always helps as well. Bananas are more beneficial to me because they have a higher carb index than other fruits and vegetables. Otherwise, I'm been drinking the pre made fruit smoothies, beef collagen with strawberry flavoring water, and mashed potatoes with a different beef collagen in it. It's a good thing that I had some leftover things from doing the Trim Healthy Mama diet and Whole 30 diet. Oh and I had another bananas and an avocado.
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| Someone sent me flowers! |
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| The Lady Barn Ladies? At first I was thinking of a friend whose last name is Barnes, but then I remembered that we call the Smiths shed the Bible Barn, or Lady Barn, and several other things. Gotcha! This means the world to me! Who sends flowers anymore? Awesome! |
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| Hey, look, y'all. I got a new style of mask! It works to keep the ice on both sides. Not perfect, so I hope it's enough. I do like having pressure on my cheeks though to combat the pain. I don't feel too swollen, but I do have a bruise on my left cheek. I think the one tooth I felt him pull was being difficult. I did expect some bruising and swelling even with following all protocols. That's just the nature of procedures. |
Normal day for everyone else. Screens. Pool. Reading. More screens. Pretty calm day. I think they ate ok. I made sure Abishai had protein at lunch. I was bored and did the trashes for him and cleaned Benaiah's trash bucket. You gotta love planing a few days of doing nothing and then being able to putter around the house because you feel ok to do so. I didn't want to be tied to my screen, although I still need to keep binge watching things. There wasn't as many homeschooling questions today, thank goodness. But some recommendations by the state came out today and next week, the schools were finalize their plans, and then the week after, everybody is going to want to homeschool. So, yes, it's crazy. We added over 100 people to our discussion page in the last 6 days. I approve 3-4 people for the curriculum sale page every couple of days. Most of the questions I answer come from the non IAHE pages because on our pages, we pre approve posts and the admins typically answer them as soon as they approve them.
I'm tired. There's not much else to report. Oh, this morning Abishai said he heard Doc tell Lightning McQueen that McQueen is so good, he could race with his eyes closed! So Abishai wanted to try to play on round of Need for Speed racing video game with his eye closed! Bwahahahahaha! Well, we let him try and he quickly realized he couldn't. I'm glad we are smart enough parents now not to stop him midstream and let him experiment. I'm glad you have a plan, son, and you get to try out that plan, and then realize it doesn't work out so well, so you try something else. Keep going! I was pleased to see the kids took breaks from screens a couple of times today. We'll see how long this lasts.
Oh, and last night we learned that we all agreed to postpone the Israel trip to sometime in 2021. I'm not disappointed. I'm relieved. Between my cyst not changing and not knowing if I can get my passport renewed in time and the Covid-19 stuff probably going to peak again, I'm glad we are postponing. There's a few options for next year, including maybe over Thanksgiving. Yes, Benaiah will be in college. But yes, he can skip a couple of class periods per class like I could with every college course I've taken. We might have to pull some strings. But I'm not worried about it. But now, I'm dying to do the New England trip I had planned for this fall. But, will all the attractions be closed? Will I only get to do half of it? I need to do some digging and I don't have much time. And we keep finding ways to spend our IRS tax money in ways I hadn't anticipated. So, we'll see. I wasn't going to figure that all out today. Doing a week long road trip seems a bit more doable, so maybe do the middle corridor, i.e. Philadelphia and Boston. Skip Niagara and Virginia. PEI is in a bubble with other Atlantic provinces so that's a no go. Yup, I'll work on that later.
Instead, I'll finish with what I wrote last night before I went to bed. I was getting a bit teary eyed with the pain, the late hour, the fact that the dentist hurt my lips, and that I don't get treated romantically like the women in the shows I watch, so I wrote a grateful list:
Jared took care of my prescriptions and asked if I wanted him to stay. I told him to stay one more hour so I could have a nap, and then he could go back to work.
Abishai got my pillow when I was in the bathroom and checked on me often saying I love you and giving me hugs
Justin jumped in and helped by making my shakeology, he also took Abishai swimming and played video games with him. The boys were pretty quiet all day
Benaiah said nothing and was gone with Ava from 1-10pm and went to Bible study to be with her and said he hates everyone else there; Justin enjoyed swimming and found someone to talk to
Keturah was gone most of the day, but happened to follow me into my room and offered and carried my laptop for me back to the sunroom
And lastly, the Bible Barn ladies sent me get well flowers. No one has ever done it that. I took pictures and sent them to them to say thank you and then went to bed to nap. But I could cry if I wasn’t so selfishly thinking about what I’m eating and my pain meds. I told Justin this is why my jealousy of their relationships are unfounded and he needs to not follow in my footsteps. This is why I keep going back and trying. I hope beyond hope I get to hang out with them on Saturday and make coffee date plans soon before school starts. I need these ladies to help me navigate how to be a better friend.
I am blessed.
I’m also thinking of how dr. Harty pulls peoples teeth in Haiti without the luxuries I’ve had today. He sends them home with antibiotics. But they don’t have ice packs. They don’t have pain meds. They have no time to rest. I’m privileged. And I’m blessed to have a credit card to pay for it. And extra funds just in time for these surgeries. My fellow people downtown do not. And I’m blessed that benaiah’s surgery will be fully covered. And he will get private insurance this year for under $1 a month. What a blessing!
Car insurance went up $400 a year but we have a new vehicle with way less miles and it factors in benaiah’s accident. Benaiah’s scrape vs Ella who lost her live and Owen fighting for his and two other teens with survivors guilt from the crash into the pond on Frye road, a road we travel often. My teen driver is alive. Ella is not.
And I have a peppy five year old and Alison has lost two babies and yet still loves on others.
We have much to be grateful for. Amen
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| Yes, it hurts like it looks. Keturah keeps pointing it out. I don't feel like it's overly swollen, and there's no extra heat. |
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| Same side, different camera/mirror image. |
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| This would have been Benaiah's last week of Move in Holland, Michigan. Another sign that Covid-19 screwed up everything. I wish I could delete this but it's synced to the church's youth group calendar and they control that, not me. The abridged CIY at the Creek is July 21-24th. |
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| "Ah, this feels so nice!" Sunbathing! |
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| Grateful that Jared will get in the little pool with Abishai, although it bothers his skin a lot. |
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| And grateful that Jared will play games like this and video games with the kids. I might not get the romantic bits I like, but I certainly got a guy that loves to play with his kids. I'm grateful. |
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| I was the one with the laser pointer coming out of my phone when I was taking the photo. I got Abishai and Daddy had to help him escape. |
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| I let him spend another $25 on Fortnite characters (Marvel character bundle) so I could get this photo. His zit popped on it's own and he's using a Paw Patrol band aid to absorb the gunk. At first I thought it was vegetables, like red pepper and cauliflower or garlic or onion. Nope, it's just Marshall. Bwahahahaha! Also, when he has an A-D-D moment, we are now calling him ADD as in the opposite of subtraction. It will be our little clue word/inside joke. |
The End
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