This and that

Life is busy here in our little portion of the Heartland. We are having some fun but mostly our days are spent chasing our tails, trying to get ready for “the year.” A teacher’s life runs not from January to December but from August (used to be September) to July. Interestingly, the former has never seemed natural to me; I suppose I just spent too many years either being educated or teaching. The natural flow of my life is much more attuned to gearing up for the fall and powering down in the summer.

• Hubby is preparing to have his knees repaired. He opted, with his doctor’s consent, to start with steroid injections. I gather the doctor believes this is probably a futile step and is already talking about some sort of gel injections, but Hubby, with his intense dislike of medical treatment, is calling the shots. He has, however, already talked to his doctor about knee replacement, which at one point I was sure he would never consent to.
  

• Hubby’s blood pressure medication is being upped to the highest dosage possible (for this particular pill) this week. Today he visits with his cardiologist to see what they recommend as possible alternatives if the new dosage doesn’t work.

• We are still waiting on the results from the sleep apnea tests.

• My doctor performed my TB test this morning. With the results from that in hand on Friday, I can finally start teaching next Monday. I never realized it took two days to read a TB test.

• I attended the orientation night at the local agricultural graduate school, working towards my SPED (special education) certification and out-of-state teaching certificate. I had been e-mailed specific instructions as to where to go for their metro campus, but I ended up in a course for folks trying to get their administration certifications. Eventually, mostly because the ag school kept following up with me, we determined I had been given the wrong directions. Meanwhile, I had informed the new school district that it appeared I wouldn’t be enrolled in class this semester. Today, after chatting with the ag school again, I learned that they have an on-line course I can take. On-line. Wow! Just how sweet is that? When I remember the agony I went through getting my masters – and all the work it entailed, I’m blown away! Now-a-days they seem to have this down to a pretty (easy) science.

• We picked up the back bedroom which we use as the office / computer room / closet so both Hubby and I could sit in there at once. Buried on the floor was a box of Christmas cards that didn’t get mailed out in 2005. How embarrassing is that? I thought about putting stamps on them and mailing then now or saving them to mail this Christmas, but I always include a letter in my cards and last year’s letter was about angel dogs, so . . . it doesn’t seem appropriate to send now. However, if you are one of the 17 folks that didn’t get a card from us (sister-in-law, best friends in California, church buddies) and want a 2005 X-mas card in late August 2006, let me know and I’ll mail it out to you. Be forewarned, the letter will make you cry.

• Hubby and I went to see “Little Miss Sunshine” at the movies last weekend and we rated it the best movie of 2005 AND 2006. The movie is hilarious and sweet. Yes, it has an R rating because the Grandfather (Alan Arkin, a divine actor) uses every serious cuss word in the book (and takes cocaine) but he really makes you laugh uproariously. The movie has a couple of downer moments that aren’t dwelt on but made to seem just a part of real life – and the upshot for everyone, no matter how dysfunctional, is that love conquers all. See the movie if you get the chance.

• The old man of the dog pack, Fritzy, got a bacterial skin infection, as well as ear infections. We had been treating him with over-the-counter spray but the groomer thought Fritz needed to see the vet. The vet thought he might have ring-worm, but today the tests all came back negative. We had already determined that when the antibiotics completely cleaned up his skin within a five day span. He certainly is more comfortable since his “cure.”

Life, at the moment, feels very good. I have a job, one that will challenge me and use my talents. The pay is much more than I ever expected. Hubby is still in recovery mode, taking much longer than he would like to “get back to normal” but every day he is able to putter around is a blessing. We may not have come full circle from my depression of a month ago but we are moving forward. We have each other and our boys. We are coping, just as I always knew we could do. Our family and friends have been so supportive through our trials, and that, of course, is one of the biggest blessings of all. These past months have shown me unconditionally that our well-being, even our survival, is interdependent on others. My heart, consequently, is full of love.