Bunny Breath and a Cookie

Last week we woke up at 5 a.m. and Bunny was having a hard time breathing. She was working really hard just to squeeze a wheeze out. We didn't have any Albuterol for the nebulizer, only the steroid Pulmicort and when I called the pharmacy for a quick refill I found out we didn't have any left. Beeman had just done a mask the night before and I didn't realize that was the last one left.

I brought her in to the doctor's office at 9:00 and 5 breathing treatments, 6 suckers, and 4 times of watching Toy Story over and over later we were sent to the hospital. She hadn't gotten worse during the day, but none of the treatments made her better either.

Doesn't she look like she needs to be hospitalized???

They really shouldn't have parked that wheelchair in her room. It was the hit of the day when the kids came to visit her. Note her gloves and tippy toes. Tee hee!The floor was covered with black marks after they left.

The hospital staff was AWESOME. Because of her food allergies there wasn't a lot on the menu she could have so the Dietary staff even went out that night and got her some Rice Krispies and rice milk for breakfast the next morning. That was above and beyond, I thought. I hope they send me a survey to fill out.

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SSB got up at 4:30 a.m. on Black Friday and went and bought us an awesome new TV because ours petered out a few weeks ago.

Of course the best part for the kids was the big box it came in. They got in it like a big sled and slid down then stairs over and over and over. Each time they added a twist that made it a little scarier. Right before one particularly harrowing ride down I heard Beeman say, "If we don't make it, put a cookie on my grave."

I don't know where he came up with that one, but it cracked me up!

Honor

A couple months ago Bugaboo received a letter saying she had been nominated for the National Honor Society. I didn't think she'd want to do it, but the day the application and essays were due she scrambled to get it all in on time.

A few weeks after that I got a letter saying she had been accepted. Woo hoo! I thought it was very exciting but she didn't seem to share my enthusiasm. She took the letter and put it in her room.

As she was leaving for school on Monday the 3rd of this month she said, "Are you going to be there tonight? It starts at 7 and I'm supposed to work until then, but maybe I can get someone to take my last lesson and cover for me." Huh? SSB was out of town for the day and Taz had a guitar lesson from 6:45 to 7:30. That's all I knew about.

As I stared at her blankly she said, "The NHS ceremony is tonight." I told her the obstacles in the way but that I would try. Really hard. She left saying OK and still acting like it was no big deal.

I got Dupree to take Taz to his lesson and Pootie watched the younger kids so I got to go to the ceremony. As I was driving into the parking lot Bugaboo texted me, "Are you coming????" Geez. For someone who wants to seem like she doesn't care about this, she sure was caring a lot about this!

Her boyfriend The Cradle Robber met me at the auditorium door and we sat as close to the front as possible. We saw her over on the side and made faces at her, which got us both an admonishing text message. :)

I texted her to just wait because we were going to jump up and down and scream when her name got called.

We didn't do it though. The ceremony wasn't too long or boring and she didn't trip as she walked across the stage to sign her name in the book so it was all good.

All of us are very proud of her.

Shedding A Shivery Tear

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the smell of the cooler air and of ripe apples. I love keeping the window open at night and burying under the warm covers. I love seeing the leaves all over the sidewalks and lawns and watching them skip down the streets like they’re racing with the cars that go by.

Pumpkin patches, scarecrows, geese flying in V’s, homemade potato soup and bread, and thick sweaters. Dark evenings perfect for curling up with a book and a blanket under the soft glow of a lamp.

But amid all this loveliness right about THIS time of fall I get angry. The day after Halloween all the stores drag out the Christmas booty. Half of Wal-Mart is red right now. Red ribbons, red dinnerware, red candles, red dish towels. Everything is red and Christmas-y and I’m thinking “What about Thanksgiving? Why does everyone gloss over the best holiday of them all?”

And it IS the best holiday of them all. No spending money on costumes or presents or baskets full of chocolate tooth-rotting bunnies. Just family, friends and food. I don’t have to worry about disappointing someone by not giving them the exact right thing that they wanted. All I have to give is thanks and that’s easy.

If you look hard you might find some autumn/harvest/orange-ish items on an end cap or in a corner back by the bathrooms and it makes me sad. I know a lot of people get started early on their Christmas shopping, but that is on GIFTS, not décor. There should be more time dedicated to Thanksgiving in retail stores and maybe there will be more time dedicated to in society. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people focused on being thankful and grateful for weeks at a time instead of focusing on what they want to add to their Christmas list?

Shoemaker's Elves

Blah blah blah. Halloween costumes.

Blah blah blah. Trick or Treating.

We've all heard all the stories. Except this one.

The area dentists have some deal with Payless Shoes in which they exchange candy for shoes for the less fortunate. I don't know exactly how it works but its Candy For Shoes. Our elementary school promotes it and we can donate the candy straight to them and they'll get it to the dentists. Last year I let the kids keep a pound of candy each and then we donated the rest.

Apparently the teachers have been talking it up to the students because BeeMan knew all about it. Last night while trick or treating he kind of ran out of steam and said he was done. He had enough for himself AND some shoes. I said all right, he didn't have to go to any more houses.

After we got home and they had their booty all poured out on the floor making Wall Street-worthy trades with each other, BeeMan asked if we could make the leftovers into shoes ourselves.

Suppressing a giggle, I just said no.

He said, "Yeah. I guess you need a special machine."

Yes. Yes, you do. Or some elves.