Big THANKS to everyone for all the gifts, cards and calls. Gramma & Grampy deserve an extra big thank-you for letting us stay so many nights.
One special holiday gift was the time the kids got to be around their great-grandma Lena. Her Alzheimer's disease limits her experiences in so many ways now, but she still showers the little ones with love and attention.
The only drawback to holiday visits is that the cold germs and viruses are having big powwows too, smeared and coughed and sneezed between cousins, then passed on to the rest of us. I have to sneak-attack R to keep his nose (sort of) clean...
I have a feeling we may not see K until mid-January. The plans change on a daily basis. I don't know why the company bothers giving them estimated return dates! Spare the kids the disappointment please.
And give the wives some Paxil.
Happy New Year!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
no mamavan
Today was the last day of school for the girls before Christmas Break.
The morning routine went well, right up to carseat buckles, until I put the car into gear and it didn't go. It's been below zero for a few days, I don't know if the brakes froze (I looked it up, it could happen) or if the transmission is shot. What it meant at 8:50 am was that the four of us were walking to school, just like people used to do about a hundred years ago. I think the distance is about 5 or 6 city blocks, but it's no fun with bad lungs and a 2-year-old at 5 below.
I'd volunteered to help set up Christmas-party stuff anyway, so R and I stayed at school all day, up and down stairs, back and forth between the girls' classrooms. Santa showed up, little gifts were exchanged, movies watched, and everybody loved having R around. He was waaaay too distracted to nap or poop - although when the food was set up at the buffet table, everyone thought he'd loaded his diaper... He hadn't, and the culprit turned out to be a whole bowl full of cauliflower. What parent sends in a bowl of cauliflower to their kid's school party?
So it was a fun day, really, just verrrrrry long and sugarloaded. T was mortified at the thought of her (nearly) whole family riding the bus home so we hoofed it back again at the end of the day. R passed out on my back so I felt like a real eskimo for about ten minutes, haaaha.
I am spoiled and so found myself feeling a little irritated that K's not here to just fix this problem for me. And to walk the dog.
The plan is for me to get the repair process going, and to lean on the parents tomorrow for a ride into Anchorage to get K's truck.
Aside from all of that, my INR this week is a high 3.3, so I'm back to weekly INR checks. blech.
The morning routine went well, right up to carseat buckles, until I put the car into gear and it didn't go. It's been below zero for a few days, I don't know if the brakes froze (I looked it up, it could happen) or if the transmission is shot. What it meant at 8:50 am was that the four of us were walking to school, just like people used to do about a hundred years ago. I think the distance is about 5 or 6 city blocks, but it's no fun with bad lungs and a 2-year-old at 5 below.
I'd volunteered to help set up Christmas-party stuff anyway, so R and I stayed at school all day, up and down stairs, back and forth between the girls' classrooms. Santa showed up, little gifts were exchanged, movies watched, and everybody loved having R around. He was waaaay too distracted to nap or poop - although when the food was set up at the buffet table, everyone thought he'd loaded his diaper... He hadn't, and the culprit turned out to be a whole bowl full of cauliflower. What parent sends in a bowl of cauliflower to their kid's school party?
So it was a fun day, really, just verrrrrry long and sugarloaded. T was mortified at the thought of her (nearly) whole family riding the bus home so we hoofed it back again at the end of the day. R passed out on my back so I felt like a real eskimo for about ten minutes, haaaha.
I am spoiled and so found myself feeling a little irritated that K's not here to just fix this problem for me. And to walk the dog.
The plan is for me to get the repair process going, and to lean on the parents tomorrow for a ride into Anchorage to get K's truck.
Aside from all of that, my INR this week is a high 3.3, so I'm back to weekly INR checks. blech.
Monday, December 17, 2007
mail dysfunction
Christmas is a tsunami and it's rolling in.
I tried all weekend to mail the box of presents to Bemidji - it didn't happen. I had some weird delays on Saturday, some unplanned events Sunday, then when I finally was standing in line at the Anchorage airport P.O. (for 45 minutes with 3 hungry kids and about 70 other humorless people), Misterguy produced a stinkbomb. I wasn't about to wait another 45 or even 5 minutes in line with that turn of events...
I sometimes try to remember what life was like before it turned into a string of gross-out stories. From what I hear the path ahead will be mostly a string of eye-rolling, expensive, baffling teenage moments. I'll probably blunder down that path and wish I could have the stinkbomb-years back!
Life teetered out of balance again last week, K got called to fly to Detroit until December 27th. He's since flown to Albuquerque and Bangor, with upcoming flights to New York, Georgia and Florida. I'm hoping there'll be a new-hire pilot soon who'll take his place at the bottom of the seniority pile.
I'm also hoping in my grinch-y little way that the smoking crowd downstairs will go away for the holidays. My bedroom is the Chamber of Secondhand Smoke, so I don't even go in there anymore. Turning my complaint around, I'm happy they're not brandishing any firearms or taking bongo lessons...
I wonder what I'll have to complain about when we move outta here.
I tried all weekend to mail the box of presents to Bemidji - it didn't happen. I had some weird delays on Saturday, some unplanned events Sunday, then when I finally was standing in line at the Anchorage airport P.O. (for 45 minutes with 3 hungry kids and about 70 other humorless people), Misterguy produced a stinkbomb. I wasn't about to wait another 45 or even 5 minutes in line with that turn of events...
I sometimes try to remember what life was like before it turned into a string of gross-out stories. From what I hear the path ahead will be mostly a string of eye-rolling, expensive, baffling teenage moments. I'll probably blunder down that path and wish I could have the stinkbomb-years back!
Life teetered out of balance again last week, K got called to fly to Detroit until December 27th. He's since flown to Albuquerque and Bangor, with upcoming flights to New York, Georgia and Florida. I'm hoping there'll be a new-hire pilot soon who'll take his place at the bottom of the seniority pile.
I'm also hoping in my grinch-y little way that the smoking crowd downstairs will go away for the holidays. My bedroom is the Chamber of Secondhand Smoke, so I don't even go in there anymore. Turning my complaint around, I'm happy they're not brandishing any firearms or taking bongo lessons...
I wonder what I'll have to complain about when we move outta here.
Friday, December 14, 2007
exciting stuff
(from www.eurekalert.org)
Profound immune system discovery opens door to halting destruction of lupus
Lupus Research Institute funds innovative hypothesis and scientific breakthrough
(New York, NY) A researcher funded by the Lupus Research Institute (LRI) has discovered an entirely new and powerful molecular switch that controls the inflammatory response of the immune system. The major finding, reported in the December 14th issue of the journal Cell, means that new methods can now be pursued to shut down uncontrolled inflammation, restore immune system regulation, and treat chronic autoimmune disorders such as lupus.
In autoimmunity, the immune system designed to fend off outside invaders mistakenly mounts an out-of-control destructive inflammatory attack against the body’s own tissues and organs. “We have found an essential switch that controls immune inflammation,’ said LRI award recipient, Greg Lemke, PhD, professor of Molecular Neurobiology at the Salk Institute.
In this study, Dr. Lemke builds upon findings that he and his team previously reported, when he noticed that mice genetically engineered to be born without a tiny family of three receptors—TAM receptor tyrosine kinases—developed an autoimmune illness similar to lupus in humans.
In the Cell article, Dr. Lemke now illustrates how these “TAM” receptors, under normal circumstances, are so critical in stopping the immune system from mounting an out-of-control inflammatory response against invading viruses and bacteria. When chemical messengers (cytokines) prompt immune cells to attack, he explains, they also activate TAM receptors, which then alert the cells to no longer react to the cytokines. This keeps the immune system orderly as well as relatively tranquil.
But in people with lupus and certain other autoimmune illnesses, the TAM signalling network may be seriously compromised. The switch to inhibit inflammation on this network may be absent—thereby resulting in immune system pandemonium.
People with lupus tend to have low levels of a blood factor (proteins S) that TAM receptors require to carry out their job. Giving modified versions of protein S, or its related TAM activator Gas6, to people with lupus may represent a means of halting the immune system destruction of precious organs and tissues. “This is definitely something we intend to investigate,” Dr. Lemke said.
Profound immune system discovery opens door to halting destruction of lupus
Lupus Research Institute funds innovative hypothesis and scientific breakthrough
(New York, NY) A researcher funded by the Lupus Research Institute (LRI) has discovered an entirely new and powerful molecular switch that controls the inflammatory response of the immune system. The major finding, reported in the December 14th issue of the journal Cell, means that new methods can now be pursued to shut down uncontrolled inflammation, restore immune system regulation, and treat chronic autoimmune disorders such as lupus.
In autoimmunity, the immune system designed to fend off outside invaders mistakenly mounts an out-of-control destructive inflammatory attack against the body’s own tissues and organs. “We have found an essential switch that controls immune inflammation,’ said LRI award recipient, Greg Lemke, PhD, professor of Molecular Neurobiology at the Salk Institute.
In this study, Dr. Lemke builds upon findings that he and his team previously reported, when he noticed that mice genetically engineered to be born without a tiny family of three receptors—TAM receptor tyrosine kinases—developed an autoimmune illness similar to lupus in humans.
In the Cell article, Dr. Lemke now illustrates how these “TAM” receptors, under normal circumstances, are so critical in stopping the immune system from mounting an out-of-control inflammatory response against invading viruses and bacteria. When chemical messengers (cytokines) prompt immune cells to attack, he explains, they also activate TAM receptors, which then alert the cells to no longer react to the cytokines. This keeps the immune system orderly as well as relatively tranquil.
But in people with lupus and certain other autoimmune illnesses, the TAM signalling network may be seriously compromised. The switch to inhibit inflammation on this network may be absent—thereby resulting in immune system pandemonium.
People with lupus tend to have low levels of a blood factor (proteins S) that TAM receptors require to carry out their job. Giving modified versions of protein S, or its related TAM activator Gas6, to people with lupus may represent a means of halting the immune system destruction of precious organs and tissues. “This is definitely something we intend to investigate,” Dr. Lemke said.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
I'm still laughing
We spent last night in Anchorage, my parents graciously invited us and it helped me get better quickly. K had a 10-hour round trip flight to some Aleutian island so he was tired.
Back home today in our cramped quarters, we had more of Mom's caribou soup for dinner, yummy stuff even if I can't really taste it. K got the kids' bedtime routine going before he went to hockey.
Our oldest child is a night-owl, and constantly reports to us "I can't sleep..." long after the other ones are out. Tonight was the same, "I'm too hot, blah blah blah" until I finally set her up with a make-shift bed on the floor.
Within minutes of thinking I'd finally closed out the bedtime epic, through the window came none other than the sound of someone's happy, carefree bongo drumming. At 10:45pm.
So I put on my shoes and coat, walked outside, stood by the idling car parked just below our windows, and asked them nicely to stop making so much noise. The guy in the front passenger's seat had a drum in his lap, but the guy in the back seat was the one who politely said they'd stop. Of course they stopped - and started right up again after I'd huffed and puffed my way back up the stairs. They kept it up for maybe five more minutes when I finally lost it and yelled out the window, "COULD YOU STOP YOUR DRUMMING PLEASE!!!!"
That was much more effective.
Back home today in our cramped quarters, we had more of Mom's caribou soup for dinner, yummy stuff even if I can't really taste it. K got the kids' bedtime routine going before he went to hockey.
Our oldest child is a night-owl, and constantly reports to us "I can't sleep..." long after the other ones are out. Tonight was the same, "I'm too hot, blah blah blah" until I finally set her up with a make-shift bed on the floor.
Within minutes of thinking I'd finally closed out the bedtime epic, through the window came none other than the sound of someone's happy, carefree bongo drumming. At 10:45pm.
So I put on my shoes and coat, walked outside, stood by the idling car parked just below our windows, and asked them nicely to stop making so much noise. The guy in the front passenger's seat had a drum in his lap, but the guy in the back seat was the one who politely said they'd stop. Of course they stopped - and started right up again after I'd huffed and puffed my way back up the stairs. They kept it up for maybe five more minutes when I finally lost it and yelled out the window, "COULD YOU STOP YOUR DRUMMING PLEASE!!!!"
That was much more effective.
Friday, December 07, 2007
sick sad sack
Newsflash, I got R's cold. I had one for most of the month of November but I'd recovered before getting hit by this one. It's sort of like the flu but not nearly as bad - I can tell because this only makes me cry while the flu made me want to die.
I can't smell or taste anything, my body aches, and I can't sleep because of the coughing and pain. I went to the Native Primary Care Clinic here in Wasilla and got some sympathy, antibiotics, albuterol, and pass-out syrup. Yay!
We worked things out so that my parents could take care of R & T today while I got LittleK to and from school out here. T had another dental appointment and this time it sounds like it hurts alot more. I'll just head into Anchorage after picking up LittleK, so I can down some liquid codeine and conk out at Mom's.
I can't smell or taste anything, my body aches, and I can't sleep because of the coughing and pain. I went to the Native Primary Care Clinic here in Wasilla and got some sympathy, antibiotics, albuterol, and pass-out syrup. Yay!
We worked things out so that my parents could take care of R & T today while I got LittleK to and from school out here. T had another dental appointment and this time it sounds like it hurts alot more. I'll just head into Anchorage after picking up LittleK, so I can down some liquid codeine and conk out at Mom's.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Happy December
CONGRATULATIONS to the Ogles and the Renneisens!!!! Beautiful babies!!
Here we are together again!
After a couple of weeks of single-parenting, the veneer wears off in places. The kids start asking "When will DADDY be back??" as if I need more reminders that I'm the Dud Parent. I'm just happy that everybody's happy and some of the layers of stress have melted away. I guess the jet lag is wearing off because K took T to the sports complex for a run around the track.
R has a cold. He's a fountain of snot and I can't keep him from sneezing and coughing on everyone. We're just waiting, watching, wondering who'll be next to get it.
Today LittleK and I went to Daisy Girl Scouts. I felt sorry for the leader the last time we talked and I volunteered to be her permanent co-leader. Then I forgot to do all the things I said I'd do, like look into a different meeting place, pick up an activity guide, buy some things for the uniforms, etc. Procrastination, neglect... not exactly stuff I can blame on medication!
Speaking of medication, I'm taking 14 pills a day plus one early on Fridays, plus Advair puffs twice a day (I luuuuuv Advair). I see people once in awhile with portable oxygen tanks and it seems so strange now to think that I was in that boat.
Here we are together again!
After a couple of weeks of single-parenting, the veneer wears off in places. The kids start asking "When will DADDY be back??" as if I need more reminders that I'm the Dud Parent. I'm just happy that everybody's happy and some of the layers of stress have melted away. I guess the jet lag is wearing off because K took T to the sports complex for a run around the track.
R has a cold. He's a fountain of snot and I can't keep him from sneezing and coughing on everyone. We're just waiting, watching, wondering who'll be next to get it.
Today LittleK and I went to Daisy Girl Scouts. I felt sorry for the leader the last time we talked and I volunteered to be her permanent co-leader. Then I forgot to do all the things I said I'd do, like look into a different meeting place, pick up an activity guide, buy some things for the uniforms, etc. Procrastination, neglect... not exactly stuff I can blame on medication!
Speaking of medication, I'm taking 14 pills a day plus one early on Fridays, plus Advair puffs twice a day (I luuuuuv Advair). I see people once in awhile with portable oxygen tanks and it seems so strange now to think that I was in that boat.
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