Life at the Academy

I went to the doctor today because I was having some tooth pain which I was sure was caused by a sinus infection.  There are lots of things I don’t like about my doctor, but the one thing I do like is she actually tries to talk to you to see what’s going on in your life.  So, when she asked me how I was doing, the only answer I could come up with was, “Amazingly well.”  It hasn’t been the best 8 months of my life.  My uncle died of lung cancer.  My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer.   My grandma (their mother) died two days after my dad’s surgery.  I had to drive with Doodles to Iowa and back for the funeral that I knew my dad couldn’t be at.  I was diagnosed with an ulcer (no surprise there).  My sister-in-law had her baby at 27 weeks.  My nephew then had to undergo 2 surgeries on his brain.  Boxman traveled for basically 3 months straight.  I have been getting Doodles ready to go to high school after homeschooling her for 8 years which has left me worrying about a variety of things ranging from testing out of algebra to buying the right school uniforms.   Those are just the highlights.    There was a time I don’t think I could have handled all that in such a short amount of time.  Anxiety would have kicked in.  I would have crawled into the hermit hole and hid out until I was ready to deal with the world.  This time, I just kept going.  And I’m doing amazingly well.

I’m at the dentist office for the second time this week. Typically, it’s a relatively calm place with the occasional cry of a toddler or a happy squeal of a child playing while waiting for his turn. Today seems to be a day of extremes. Soon after we arrived, a little girl was called back. She quickly turned around and ran back to the play area in the waiting room. As her mother carried her back, she was wailing loudly. I’m not sure if she was crying because she was scared or because she wanted to keep playing, but the crying lasted a long time. Soon after that, a woman came in with her daughter who looks to be around 8. This child had a huge smile on her face and seemed excited to be here. It didn’t take long to realize that this was a special child. As she danced around the waiting room making noises, I couldn’t help but smile at the joy she had. I kept thinking how happy her family must be to have that joy around them all of the time. I wanted to say something to her mother about how she brought some happiness to my day today, but was afraid the right words would escape me so I sat there watching the girl, taking in the happy noises that were coming from her, and smiled. I’m grateful for that little girl today.

I was stopped at a stop sign behind an F-150 with the big off-road tires. It had one plain bumper sticker on the tailgate that said, “I am not wearing pants.” I couldn’t help but snicker over it. As I turned to go the same direction that he was, I started wondering what type of person would have a bumper sticker like that. I passed him slowly while trying to inconspicously look his way. He wasn’t wearing a shirt either!

Yes, it’s time for yet another martial arts tournament.  And once again, I can’t decide whether I’m going to compete or not.  I’m sure this discussion is getting old since I do go through it everytime there is a tournament.  I guess the only reason I’m considering it is because it is a national championship tournament and a first place win includes a national champion patch to put on my uniform.  I really could care less about the trophy as my closet is already overflowing.  The kids aren’t competing this time because Buster has an all day troop meeting for his Boy Scout jamboree contingent and Doodles has a piano competition.  I will be at tournament to help judge whether I compete or not.  However, it does cost $5o to enter.  So, should I do it or not?

Today was a big day for me.  I was put under for the first time in my life.  I was scared to death.  The procedure was a pretty minor one – just an upper GI endoscopy where they stick a tube down your throat, into your stomach to take a look at things.  I didn’t see why I needed to be put under for it.

Since they were putting me under, Boxman had to drive me there because they don’t allow you to drive afterwards.  We arrived the 45 minutes early that they requested.  After a bit, I was escorted back to a very small room where a nurse asked me a few medical questions that I had answered before.  She then left me sitting there alone with my anxiety while she went to see if there was a room available for me.  It seemed like an eternity while I worried more and more about getting put under.  Finally she came back and took me to another small room with a bed.  I stood there unsure of what I should be doing and knowing that I didn’t want to do whatever it was.  She left me again, only to come back and encourage me to lie down on the bed.  She didn’t stay long before leaving me again.  I was about ready to cry at this point – I did not want to be put under.  Another nurse came in and started an iv.  Once again, I was left alone.  Eventually a doctor came in and I was puzzled to start with as it was not the good looking gastroenterologist I had seen a couple of weeks ago.  I didn’t want this doctor scoping out my inner parts.  Ah, he was just the anesthesiologist on duty.  Apparently one of the nurses told him how uptight I was about it as he seemed to be trying to get my mind off of things.  It wasn’t working.  I didn’t like him.  Another man came in and wheeled my bed to the procedure room.  He had a bit more personality and did a better job of calming me down.  Once in the room, another man joined us, the nurse anesthetist.  The two of them were the best medicine possible – as they were hooking me up to the monitors and preparing to put me under, they joked around making me feel much more at ease.  About 20 minutes after my appointment time, the good looking gastroenterologist appeared.  The nurse put what looked like a big pacifier with a hole in the middle of it on my mouth to keep it open so the doctor could put the scope through the hole.  They started the medicine, asking how I was doing a couple of times.  I told them things were starting to get blurry and then I was out.  The next thing I knew, I was in a recovery room, they were waking me up and fetching Boxman.   It was over just like that.  The cute doctor came in after I was a bit more aware of things and explained that he found an ulcer, lots of inflammation, and a little polyp that he wasn’t concerned about at all.  While he was in there, he took a biopsy, is testing for h. pylori, and he was going to have them draw some blood to test for celiac disease and a wheat allergy.  He gave me a prescription for something to help heal the ulcer.

I must admit the whole ordeal was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  I’m almost looking forward to going back for another one in 3 months.  Getting put under was not a big deal despite my anxiety about it.  I do wonder what they were saying while I was under though.  Were they commenting on my pretty curls or discussing how big my butt was?  Eh, maybe they were just focusing on their jobs.  Did they think I had the ugliest esophagus ever?

I don’t really have much to say, but don’t want to let my 2 loyal readers down by not writing for too long.

I had to take Doodles to the doctor today.  She has an ear infection.  After the doctor noticed the acne on her back, he gave us a prescription for it too.  I’m hoping it helps clear it up on her back and face.

I had the joy of going to the doctor yesterday.  I finally went to a gastroenterologist since my meds weren’t helping my reflux anymore.  I will experience even more joy in a couple of weeks when I go for the upper g.i. endoscopy.  At least the doctor was cute, but quite young.

We got a new dvd recorder with a 160 gb hard drive and digital tuner.  Buster will be happy to be able to record some shows he likes which are only on a digital channel.

I’m up to 50 friends on Facebook.  This amazes me.  I was very excited when I got up to 10 friends.  Sure many of them are family members but I have found it a great way to keep in touch with cousins that I seldom see.  I feel like I know them much better.  I have also found some old schoolmates.  The kids were laughing hysterically the other day when I was chatting with one of them who now lives in Australia.  The first thing he said to me was along the lines of “Hi, hot momma.”  I tried to explain to them that it was just the way he was.  They called me that for the rest of the night.

Buster has only 2 more weeks in Cub Scouts.  I had my very last Pack Committee meeting last night.  The new advancements chair is all trained and taking over.

Boxman got to go to Massachusetts for work last week.  I don’t think it was fair that he went without me.  He loved it and suggested that maybe we could move there because they loved him at the plant there.  I went to realtor.com and found only 2 houses listed for sale there – both around $300k and way too small.  I might like to go visit sometime though.

We have another martial arts tournament coming up.  Buster can’t compete because he has a Boy Scout National Jamboree training day.  Doodles says she doesn’t want to compete.  I thought I had retired from tournaments, but everytime we approach another one, I can’t help but reconsider.  Maybe.

I’m researching accounting software for our TKD school.  The current program costs over $200/month and we don’t even need most of the features.  Perhaps if I find a new one and get it up and running, he could actually pay me $200/month…. eh, probably not.

Doodles has been grounded the past couple of weeks.  This has meant no computer outside of school work, no cell phone, and no ipod.  I have been asked why I didn’t take away video games.  She didn’t play video games much prior to losing the computer, but I have found that the video games aren’t nearly as bad because we tend to play them together.  Having the interaction with her made it better than letting her hide in her room by herself.

I want to go to Disney World again.

Doodle’s friend from dance called this morning.  By her reactions while she was talking to her, I figured something bad had happened.  Of course in a 13 year old’s world, that might mean that someone’s cell phone got lost or some other trivial thing.  Somehow, I didn’t think it was something quite so trivial this time.  When she got off the phone, she informed me that Miss Jennifer, the tap teacher who has danced with our studio for a long time, died this morning.  To start with, I didn’t realize that it was the Miss Jennifer that I knew.  Perhaps it was denial.  This was a young lady who was in her junior year of college.  She was a dancer so you would think physically she was in good shape.  She also was quite open about her faith in God and for that I’m grateful.  They don’t know what happened to her though and I don’t really have reliable information as a 12 year old telling a 13 year old what she heard who then relayed it to me is probably not the most accurate source of information.  From what I gathered, she was in her room and started making strange noises.  They called 911 and she died enroute to the hospital.  She was a young person with so much life to look forward, so many adventures to go on, so many lives to make a difference in.