This past weekend was one of emotional contrasts. On Saturday David , KJ, and I met with my lunch bunch group for lunch
at Casa Ole. We had drawn names for a gift exchange so we exchanged gifts, ate great food, and just generally had a wonderful
time.
Saturday afternoon, we all headed over to another friend's house for the fencing Christmas party. We had sooooo much
fun! All the kids just played and played...we hardly saw them. KJ thought playing laser tag was the neatest thing ever. Afterwards,
he said that he and Trevor were officially "good buds." The adults played Balderdash, ate yummy appetizers, played some
more Balderdash, participated in the white elephant gift exchange (that was hilarious), played some more Balderdash, ate supper,
and finally played a rousing game of Hand and Foot. I'm not sure when the three of us have had so much fun. David especially
needed this time to relax.
We actually had one more party that we had planned to attend, but there were only 4 families at this party (most people
had other obligations that close to Christmas), and the one were planning on attending was supposed to have tons
of people, plus we were having too much fun to just up and leave. On the way home, David, KJ, and I talked and laughed,
and discussed inviting everyone to our house. The whole day had been one of fun and fellowship with good friends. What more
could you want for the holiday season?
We arrived home about 10:45 and I checked our phone messages. I had one. My mother called to say that I might say a prayer
for my brother who had been taken by ambulance to the hospital with a racing heart and chest pain radiating down his arm.
This is my only brother, the twin to my only sister. He is 33. Well...I immediately burst into tears. David called my mom
back who at the time did not have anymore information. When I asked David why she had not called our cell phone, he said that
my mother had not wanted to ruin my party.
(NOTE TO MOM: This is never to happen again!)
My sister (brother's twin) called me about half an hour later to tell me that Tracey had NOT had a heart attack, but
was suffering from
atrial fibrillation. The ER had managed to lower his heart rate with meds and Tracey was being transferred up to CCU. Of course she made
me cry again when she told me how terrified my nephews, Cooper and Cason, had been. Apparently Tammy, Tracey's wife, had said
a little prayer with the boys while Tracey was being loaded into the ambulance. Afterwards, Cason, who is 5, told Tammy that
she had forgotten to ask God for something in her prayer. When Tammy asked what, Cason replied, "to not die." Oh crap, I'm
going to cry again.....okay, I'm back. Anyway, Tracey was released Sunday morning on meds to keep his heart
from racing, but it is still not beating the right pattern, and his blood pressure is still high. He saw his regular doc yesterday
and sees an atrial specialist tomorrow.
On Sunday, David, KJ, and I ran a couple of errands and were heading home. With the exception of calls back and forth
with various family members to discuss Tracey, the morning had been uneventful. I was sitting at a red light in the right
hand lane waiting for the light to turn as I was going on straight. There was an old gray Oldsmobile sitting next to me on
my left, also waiting at the light. The intersection was pretty deserted as there were no cars across from us and only light
cross traffic. Suddenly, the Oldsmobile started on through the red light. I yelled to David, "WHAT is he doing?" just
as a full size pickup hit the Olds right in the driver's door. There was the loud crunch, glass flew everywhere, and both
vehicles ended up on the far right corner of the intersection.
David got out of the car and ran over while I moved my car out of the road into the Army Navy Surplus Store parking lot
which was right beside me. I told KJ to stay in the car and got out to help too. I won't bore you with all the details, but
David did an excellent job calming people down (the passenger in the Olds was mentally challenged and freaking out about his
elderly father who was the driver), and basically taking charge of the scene until help arrived. No one was horribly hurt,
thank goodness. The elderly driver of the Olds had heart problems and was having some then. The back seat passenger in
the Olds was hurting where the seat belt caught her. There was a lot of blood as the driver of the truck had a head wound
that was bleeding profusely (I gave him some paper towels, but they did not help much) and both he and his passenger were
having neck pain. I gave my account of what happened to the police, David told the EMT's who was hurt and how, and we loaded
back into the car to head home. KJ, however, was REALLY freaked by the whole thing. He grows faint at the sight of blood which
was one of the reason's I made him stay in the car. He could still see the bleeding man from across the street though. That
night, he said that he kept seeing the crash over and over in his head. I actually think KJ seeing an actual wreck might have
been a good thing. He plays a video racing game where he crashes his car all the time, but now he knows that a real-life
accident is no game.
KJ left with his dad Monday morning to visit his dad's relatives. He won't be back until after the 1st.
Today is mine and David's 4th anniversary. We went shopping last night and now have a new microwave (mine died last week),
a cordless drill and reciprocating saw, and drum roll please.....a storage shed. We'll be putting the shed together over the
next few days...hopefully there will be a 5th anniversary.
Ok, obviously I did NOT blog when I returned home a couple of nights ago...
I've have had so many things that have happened and I think, "I should blog about this." Unfortunately, when I sit down
to do so, all those things instantly leave my brain.
One thing that was kind of funny or at least KJ and I thought so...David didn't though, so maybe you just had to be there...well,
here goes. I have been teaching KJ about protists and fungi. On Thursday, we were having a very nice discussion about them,
doing research on the internet, and KJ was asking excellent, thought-provoking questions. All in all, it was one of those
lovely homeschooling moments where everything is just picture perfect. That changed, however, when I handed KJ three workbook
pages to label. They were all "label the parts" type pages, one of an amoeba, one of a euglena, and one of a paramecium. KJ
was sitting on the couch looking at the workbook lying open on the coffee table. He had not yet actually touched the
book or picked up his pencil, and was eyeing the book as if it were a poisonous snake.
Me: "Ok, now you just need to label the parts of each protist."
KJ: "I've forgotten them."
Me: "You just told me the names in the computer room. Let's review." (We review each part and its function with me pointing
them out on the workbook pages.) "Now, you just have to write the names of the parts on the lines."
KJ: "Why do I have to write them down? Why don't I tell you and YOU write them down?"
Me: "You'll remember better if YOU write them down. I already know their names. Besides, it's your work, not mine."
KJ: *Hmmph!* (glares at me and flops dramatically back onto the couch)
Me: "It won't take you long."
KJ: "Do I haaaave toooo?"
Me: (somewhat louder) "Pick up the book! Pick up the pencil!"
KJ: *sigh* (picks them up) "OK, this is the food vacuole...(writes it down)...this is the water vacuole...(writes it
down)...this is the nucleus...(writes it down)...this is the cell membrane, but I like to call it the cell's skin...(writes
it down)...that just leaves the false foot. Why is THIS one the false foot? Couldn't THAT one be the false foot?" (We discuss
false feet for a minute and KJ writes it down too.)
Me: (thinking what a wonderful teacher I am and glad we're back on track) "Great job, next page is the euglena"
KJ: *sigh* (looks at me pleadingly)
Me: "Write."
KJ: *longsuffering sigh* "eye spot...(writes it down)...nucleus...(writes it down)...flagellum"...(writes it down)
Me: "Do you know the word 'flagellate'?"
KJ: "No."
Me: "It means to whip someone like flogging. The flagellum of the euglena looks like a whip"
KJ: "Hmm, wow."
Me: (Damn, I'm good.)
KJ: "What's this thing that looks like a turtle?"
Me: "It's a contractile vacuole. It looks a little different from the photo we looked at."
KJ: "It's the thing that moves water in and out to regulate pressure so the cell won't explode, right?"
Me: (basking in the genius that is my son) "Right!"
KJ: "hmmm...and it looks like a turtle..." (breaking into song) "Go turtle go! Keeeeep euglena from exploooodiiiing!
Go turtle go!" (adds a little shoulder movement, a hand flip and repeats his song)
Me: (laughing) "That's funny. Good job. (I sing it too.) Now, what about this last part?"
KJ: (blank look)
Me: "It would be green if the book had color."
KJ: (blank look) "Go turtle go! Keeeeep euglena from exploooodiiiing! Go turtle go!"
Me: "What's the stuff in plant cells that makes the leaves green?"
KJ: "I don't know."
Me: (exasperated) "Yes, you do! It's chlorophyll. You learned that in 2nd grade."
KJ: "2nd grade was a long time ago. This must be a chloroplast." (writes it down)
Me: "Right. Last page."
KJ: "Where's the turtle!?"
Me: "It looks a little different on this one. Here it is."
KJ: "Looks more like a star fish."
Me: "Maybe it is a more streamlined turtle." (did I just say that?)
KJ: "It's like Rayman! He has hands and feet but no arms or legs. His hands come out of his shoulders." (moves his
arms in imitation)
Me: (blank look)
KJ: "I can call turtle man 'ConVac'...get it?...ConVac?"
Me: "For contractile vacuole."
KJ: "Go turtle go! Keeeeep euglena from exploooodiiiing! Go turtle go! Go ConVac go! Keeeeep euglena from exploooodiiiing!
Go ConVac go!"
Me: "Okkkaay, now write it down."
KJ: (writes 'contractile vacuole aka turtle man')
Me: "Let's finish up here."
KJ: "food vacuole...(writes it down)...cilia"...(writes it down)...Go turtle go! Keeeeep euglena from exploooodiiiing!
Go turtle go! Go ConVac go! Keeeeep euglena from exploooodiiiing! Go ConVac go!"
Me: (For the love of God, stop singing!) "Focus. What about this part?" (pointing in book) "What does that look like?"
KJ: "I don't remember." (looks at word bank at bottom of page) "I guess it is the mouth opening...what has this thing
been eating?" (breaks into laughter)
Me: "That's right. It looked more like a groove in the photo, remember? Last two parts now Focus!"
KJ: (in a very gravelly weird voice) "I am TRYING to focus!"
Me: "Please don't use that voice with me. It's freaky."
KJ: "I sound like Yoda."
Me: "No, wouldn't that be this?" (I make a horrible vibrating howling sound)
KJ: "MOM, THAT's Chewbaca, not Yoda! We need to work on your Star Wars knowledge."
Me: (sheepishly) "Oh yeah, you're right. Wouldn't Yoda have said, 'Trying to focus, I am' or something like that?"
KJ: "True."
Me: "Last two parts here."
KJ: (hmmming his song) "Why is there more than one nucleus...small and large?"
Me: (suddenly tired) "I don't know, just write them down and we'll look it up later."
