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Night Four Out of Four

We made it through the last run of night shifts for the summer. The girl has taken to giving me problems at bedtime, probably due to her white noise machine quitting during the last round of thunderstorms we had. It hasn't been too bad. She gets up usually twice while I am still up and I just take her back to bed.

This morning the kids and I went to the post office, the dry cleaners, and to buy school shoes at Payless. The boy grumbled about going, but I told him if he was nice about shopping I would take him next door to Target for an Icee. His sensory issues make buying shoes difficult, but he held it together better than usual, so we all slurped our way home.

My ears are still giving me problems, but hurt less so I guess maybe I will not need antibiotics.

They boy is in his second week (ever) swim lessons. I enrolled him with some trepidation, because physical things are just so hard for him. Sensory integration dysfunction makes typical boy sports and rough-housing torture for him. For years we've tried gently to get him to tolerate being tossed in the pool, or jumping from the side. All that ususally became of this was a screaming, angry child and disappointed parents. Today Coach Bob got him to sit at the side of the pool, put arms above his head, use his feet to push off the wall, and dive in! No complaints, no meltdowns. I braced myself for some sort of screaming embarassment in front of the other parents, and watched with one eye closed. He did it! Then Coach had him stand at the side and jump into his arms. Again, something Eddie and I had never been even close to getting him to do.

When it was over, he came right up to me and said excitedly, "Did you see all the stuff I did?"

You bet I did, buddy.

Many thoughts

It has been a crazy, stressful week. My grandfather passed away, at the age of 88. He had been very sick with Alzheimer's for the last 3 years or so. I'd say it's been about two years since he has even known who I am, or most people around him. The last time I saw him, he had a look of fear that was unsettling. He'd been in a nursing home for the last 6 months or so. I felt sadness at his funeral service, but did not cry. I think what helped is the fact that he looked quite good. Everyone commented that he looked twenty years younger, and wondered what wonderful thing the funeral home had done to make him look that way. I think he was just finally at peace.

In the midst of this, the house is all wrecked because Eddie is installing wood laminate floors in our back living room. They are almost done and look great. But, he's had to deal with two wild, bored kids while working on the floor, since I've been away from the house a lot. My week has consisted of: two hours of shopping for a funeral outfit, because I have gained too much weight to wear anything I already had, going to visitation last night, the service today, taking kids for haircuts yesterday, and getting kids ready for bed (late) every night when I am done with everything else.

The boy did swim lessons every afternoon. So I took him there while everyone else napped at home.

I just really need that afternoon rest, which of course has not happened this week.

Being at the funeral has me thinking a lot about my other relatives who are not in good health. My mind wanders to places it shouldn't, like who am I going to lose next.

I have an earache, from the allergy attack that was started by Eddie removing the old carpet.

Eddie is back at work on nights all weekend, and I feel so tired that I want to cry. The idea of keeping my two high maintenance kids entertained by myself all weekend, and doing all the bedtime stuff for the next four nighs is totally overwhelming right now.

One day at a time....

Jingle Jangle Jingle

We got back from the dude ranch Monday afternoon. It was a mostly good trip, with a few kid-related and room-related difficulties.

The ranch is about an hour north of San Antonio, near Bandera. The hills were just beautiful and different than anything I'd ever seen before. My ears even popped as we rolled over them on the way in.

We followed our friends Todd and Josh. As if by magic, we met up with Bryan and Kari from Austin the last few minutes of the trip, on a small country road.

Our home on the range was located on 700+ acres, and included a main lodge/dining hall, about 10 cabins, a couple of picnic areas, a nice big pool, and a playground.

We shared a duplex-style cabin with Todd's family. It had a large front porch and two porch swings overlooking a large grassy area. Probably our only disappointment with the place was our room. It was very very dim and cave-like, with dark wood walls and floors, and even brown window blinds. The place had obvious electric problems, given that the lights barely glowed when turned on. I was not able to use my hair dryer, because it just barely whirred when I tried to turn it on. The bathroom was so dark that Eddie went to town the next day to get a stick-up light. Todd tried to plug in the dvd player for his kids, and the lights dimmed, and the player would no longer work.

The rest of the cabins in our group were just fine. I suppose it was just my typical luck that we got the absolute cruddiest one.

But everything else about the place was great. The boys just ran all over, chasing cats and frogs, and being little cowboys with their gift shop hats and guns. Our toddler girls mainly stayed on the large front porch with us or on the playground. Every night there was a campfire and marshmallow roasting. One evening a professional roper came to entertain, and the last night we went on a hayride where we learned some of the history of the ranch.

And the food was wonderful. Simple, fresh, homemade, just everyday favorites. Our first breakfast there was up on the hill, or breakfast on the trail as they called it. The chow bell rang for every meal, and the boys usually went running to the dining hall and beat the rest of us there. All the employees were incredibly friendly and helpful.

Two horse rides per day was part of our package. That first morning, the boy and I saddled up on "Bitin' Bob," while Eddie and the girl were on "Beavis." I had a small case of nerves as the cowboy described the rules of handling the horses. "Don't back your horse up into the one behind you, or he'll get bitten, and then we'll have a rodeo." Yikes! We really did not have to do much to control the horses; they knew to follow one after the other. Sometimes I would have to stop Bob from eating the weeds as the cowboys had said, because it would give him a stomach ache. I kept trying to pull up on the reins, and telling him, "No," as if he were my dog.

The boy was anxious those first moments on the horse, as he felt off balance from the side-to-side motion of Bob walking. He soon got used to it, and was happy to ride every morning. It was too hot for him to do the afternoon ride (and probably for me too) so we went swimming.

All from the group talk of making this an annual thing. I am up for it, but do not think the boy will be able to ride alone on a horse anytime soon. He physically can't hold himself up, and the panic he feels from being that way would not be good at all. But, as one cowboy commented when I asked about the age limit for riding double, he is nearly too big to do so. Not sure how we'll handle that in the future.

The kids were both pretty happy and slept well at night. They boy got irritable and easily frustrated on that last afternoon, but he had just played so hard all weekend we knew to expect it. The girl had more toilet training issues than I care to count. We had to run quickly from the pool to the cabin MANY times in hopes of keeping her swim diaper clean. That got really old. But overall the kids were well entertained and happy. I woke up the day after we got there with a major cold, but didn't feel too badly from it till the ride home.

The new Pilot did great, and was just the right size for all of our gear.

I am still worn out, but am already scheming a way to get back there, with or without kids.....