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Shook is how I feel when I hear that someone who radiates life is struck down in the prime of her life.
I’m too shook to really write much except to say that she’s been on my mind since I heard the terrible news.
She has such a long road ahead but so much to live for, especially three beautiful children.
Fight hard, Anissa.
You can learn what happened and read updates here.
And, if you can help her family get through this, please click on the link in my sidebar.
I’ve sworn off of Twitter and Facebook for the week, which means that all of the little chatter in my head has just been bouncing off itself instead of finding a home in 14-point type (confession: I have no idea what size type is used on either website).
It’s been a stressful week. Fairly Odd Father has had some heavy things happen at work, and the kids have been taunting me with “I’m getting sicker!” vs. “I’m getting better!” on alternate days, but never on the same days.
On Wednesday, I brought Jilly to the doctor to check out her never-ending cough because the day before she had gone pale and tired, falling asleep on the couch at 10am. We had also heard of a friend’s son who was diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia after having H1N1, so this information was rattling around in my brain as I watched her nap.
The doctor listened to her lungs and proclaimed it was not pneumonia. Just asthmatic wheezing probably triggered by a virus. Well, hot damn! That’s like being told your flight will be landing on time after all, but you’ll be going to an airport 1,000 miles from your final destination.
Then, the doctor looked at Belly, slumped in the chair and coughing. He listened to her lungs and said she was making “bronchial sounds”, and I should make sure they don’t get much worse. Awesome. So, last night, guess who was up half the night listening to her firstborn cough her head off, thinking “is this worse?“. I’d bring her in to the doctor’s today to have him check her lungs but. . .
D woke me in the middle of the night to tell me he had thrown up all over his bed. And, he wasn’t kidding. I even have to wash his dozens of stuffed animals. His lungs sounded fine on Wednesday, but how about giving him a little intestinal distress for kicks?
The irony of all of this is that the doctor was able to vaccinate the three of them against H1N1 while we were in the office on Wednesday. Good thing that will keep them healthy this winter.
I don’t normally eat things I find growing outside.
Those black berries? Will kill you.
See these mushrooms? Don’t even touch!
But, on a recent hike with three other families, I dined al fresco on things we found outside. Things I never, ever would have put in my mouth before.
And it was good.
First we found Hickory Nuts. These round green leathery things just fall out of a (stop me if you know this) Hickory Tree (the Shagbark Hickory in our neck of the woods). The cover pulls away and there is a hard tan nut inside.
You just crush the nut with a rock (or, um, your foot) and eat the nut meat inside. We were all like little rabid squirrels trying to get the edible stuff out of the crushed shells.
Then, one of the nature-smart moms looked across the field, pointed and told us to “go!”. So, we went.
Everyone gathered around the bush with the silvery green leaves.
Finally, of all the cool things we learned, my favorite is this:
Christina is a married, homeschooling, part-time working mom to three children in Southeastern Massachusetts. She's funnier on Twitter than in real life, unless she's had a drink. You can email her directly at fairlyoddmother@inbox.com.
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