News and Notes, Not Healthy Yet Edition

I'm halfway through antibiotics for this horrible four-week nasal congestion problem I've been having, and I'm not really feeling any better.  I was getting slightly better each day, to the point that on Saturday I could mostly breathe  and the plugged nostril had some movement, and I even slept well overnight.  But then all of a sudden on Sunday, after spending the afternoon at Carter's friend's birthday party, I was suddenly badly congested and miserable again.  I don't know if I somehow reinfected myself, or if the antibiotics just aren't strong enough, or what.  It's misery, and I'm now concerned I still have a long road ahead between waiting out these antibiotics and getting new ones (or worse, steroids).  It's been going on so long and I'm barely functional right now with a blocked up head and a nose that runs constantly.  Today was pretty miserable again, but by the afternoon I felt a little better.  Still stuffed up on the one side, but if the other side is clear (which it was) it's more manageable.  Not as much nose blowing either.  But then I got home tonight and looked in the mirror to check out a red area on my face that I noticed this morning.  At first I thought it was from how I slept, then when it didn't go away I thought it might be a little skin inflammation like eczema that I get from time to time, though usually it's mid-winter when the cold gets irritating.  Well, tonight I realized it's some sort of rash--but with some Googling, I don't think it's an allergic one, but just one that seems to come around day 5 of antibiotics (bingo) and sticks around for a few days.  Lovely.  This illness just keeps getting better.

I forgot to mention in my Progress Report post last week that one of the miracles of the past couple months is that I'm actually almost enjoying my morning commutes with Jacob.  I figured it would be horrible, but I think God literally decided to make it easy for me.  There's almost no other explanation.  I actually miss it when I don't do it!  One of the benefits of it is the view along the drive.  It's been extra awesome with the fall leaves, but prior to the time change we were getting some really gorgeous sunrises...

I like the time to chat with Jacob and I love how he almost always looks back to give me a wave after he gets out of the car.  The traffic hasn't been great most days, but it makes for a better morning when it's actually good!  Maybe I just like the new scenery?

Speaking of time alone with kids...one night a little over a week ago, Carter and I dropped Jacob off at basketball and stopped at a Goodwill store to take a quick look around for Halloween possibilities.  We were walking by this artwork for sale, and my very astute six-year-old said, "How'd that cow get on the roof?"  Good question, young man.  The bigger question?  How did artwork like this ever make it out on the market?

Sometime last week, I was showing Carter some old pictures of me and he recognized my old Speak and Spell toy, which has been floating around our house for a year or so.  He hasn't used it much, but it struck me that it might be helpful now that he's reading and spelling a bit more.  We tried one of the spelling quizzes on it.  I helped him with one complicated word I knew he wouldn't know and that I wouldn't easily be able to help him sound out, but for the rest of the words I helped him sound them out.  And look, in the end, all 10 correct!  It took some work to get there, but he worked through it!

He was so proud!

A couple weeks ago Carter had his evaluation night for basketball.  Jacob did the same thing last year.  It's not really a tryout, but more a chance to evaluate skills so they can create balanced teams.  There were tons of kids there and it's always a little chaotic despite their best efforts to spread out timing and move everyone through the process.  After only seeing Jacob last year, it's hard to tell what's normal for kids this age.  We looked around and saw a little of everything.  Some kids could barely dribble, and some moved around easily.  Some could shoot a bunch in a row, some were just barely making it to the hoop.  I have a feeling these games will be a little tough to watch, between traveling and lost dribbles and off-target shots.  The hoops are lower than usual, but hopefully the foul line is closer, too.  It's definitely not going to be quite the quality we saw with Jacob last year.  As far as Carter's evaluation, I think he's probably around the middle of the pack.  He's still working on his dribbling--he can do it, but it usually doesn't last long and he tends to keep it low to the ground.  I think he just needs more power to his dribble so the ball bounces back higher.  He obviously loves to run, so that will be easy for him, and his shooting is decent for a kid under four feet tall.  He saw a friend from school and church there, so hopefully they'll end up on the same team.  I'm still not sure how we're going to fit in Carter's games with Jacob's basketball schedule (and Craig's work schedule), but he deserves his chance so hopefully we can make it work. 

Dribbling

Getting some air!

Is it headed for the hoop?

Jacob's basketball gets up and running over the next few weeks.  First up is a local elite team.  Our weekends will be quite busy starting later this month and running through mid-February.  With tournaments, we don't even get the holiday breaks we're used to in other sports.  Hopefully in the end it will be easier than we think, but right after that ends we transition into his travel team, and that will be a little more labor-intensive.  It's what he loves, so we're doing it, but I don't even want to know how far behind I might feel by June!

Last Friday we went to our first Amerks game in a while.  I think my last game was at least a couple years ago.  Since Craig is part of the organization again, we once again have tickets to every game.  The kids aren't really into it, though, so it sadly won't happen to often.  It's always interesting to go back and see what's new and what's still the same from my time there, which is now more than 13 years ago.  There's still a handful of sponsors and promotions that are either the same or similar, but so much about the experience has changed.  Crowds definitely aren't the same, and it's a bummer.  I don't know who any of the players are, either.  I realized as I sat there that I truly do miss loving hockey.  I still like it, of course, but there's something special about the period from when I was 13 until at least when I left that job at 27 (and maybe as long as a little after Jacob was born) where hockey was life.  Once Jacob got more active, I simply had less time and concentration to follow it as closely, and as the players we knew personally moved on to Buffalo and then on to other teams (or retirement), things changed.  The Sabres being terrible for many years hasn't helped, either.  But back in the day, I loved knowing all there was to know about it--old players, new players, random trivia, and later on, lots of inside stuff from working in the industry.  I loved meeting people I had only admired from afar, and I loved being in the middle of it all for a handful of years.  A lot of dreams came true during that time.  I maybe never had more fun than when I was a teenager and my cousin Kim and I rode the subway to Sabres games by ourselves.  There was something so special about that time, and I realized as I sat there on Friday that I miss that feeling of Friday nights being best spent at a hockey game.  In many ways I'm sure that I could be a fan again, but certainly some parts of it would be different--I could be the players' mom at this point, after all--but it'll definitely take more time and effort than I can muster in this current stage of life. 

 

Interestingly, today marks 20 years since the day Craig and I met.  It was the day I got interviewed for my internship with the Amerks.  I'm actually not 100% sure on the date, but I'm about 99% sure as it was the day after my roommate's birthday (so I remember sort of having that as a reference point) and I remember repeating the date a lot in the weeks that followed, because every time someone asked me about it, I was like, "Yeah, the interview was on November 4th and I still haven't heard back!"  Craig was the one that interviewed me, and he took forever to get back to me to confirm I was hired as an intern.  That I even got to the interview was a win because I had to find a way to get from Geneseo to downtown Rochester without a car. Fortunately one of my Intervarsity friends stepped up to help.  It was a solid couple hours out of his day, and all he asked in return was that I pay it forward (which I did once I had a car myself).  I was so nervous about the interview and had no idea what to expect--and that poor guy probably had to listen to me obsess about it for the entire 30 minute drive!  If you look in that arena picture above, see in the opposite corner where there's a lit-up scoreboard panel and a light-colored banner on the wall?  We sat in a handicapped seating section right below that spot.  I remember Craig looking pleased to hear my "grammar police" claim, but other than that he was very business-like and hard to read.  So imagine my panic weeks later when I still hadn't heard back and needed to register for my last semester of classes!  Multiple calls went unanswered, and it wasn't until I got home for Christmas break that he called me back to let me know I was hired.  That started a frantic month of car shopping!  It was definitely a whirlwind time of life, and I'd never have guessed that 20 years later we'd have 16 years of marriage, two houses, and two kids under our belts.  Crazy.  Oh, and for the uninitiated, we didn't date when I was an intern...although in the post-Bill Clinton era we've heard a lot of comments along those lines!  I'd already been an official employee for over a year (in a different department) before the friendship evolved to more, which seemed to be a common theme for those of us working 60+ hour weeks together!  A couple of my current co-workers just mentioned how they could never work with their significant others, and yet we did very well in those days!  Probably because we wouldn't have seen each other otherwise!  Looking back it was definitely an important day for both of us--for me in more ways than one--and it's hard to believe it's already two decades past!  Time flies when you're having fun--or too tired to keep track!

Otherwise, we're still settling into the new furniture.  Jacob insists he hates it but he does spend a lot of time on it.  I love the big chair.  The couch is comfy, too, though it is still a very different feel.  I wish the footrests were a little quicker to move up and down, but perhaps that will teach me patience.  I'm also still adjusting to the look, but overall I'm happy with them.  Our old La-Z-Boy is getting quite the workout, though, as it's the only chair anyone is allowed to eat or drink in!  The jury's still out on how to style the room around it all, but no rush, I guess!

I guess that's all I have for today.  Time to get some rest and hope this congestion is just a little more gone in the morning!