Seven Random Things

I think I've been tagged. (Right, Joelle?) If I'm wrong, oh well. I've never done one of these so I should probably do one anyway.



Seven Random Things:


1. I got really tired of the word "random" about eight or nine years ago. It seemed like everyone was overusing it all the time. (Example: Sarah is dating Mike? That's so random!) I'm fine with it now.


2. I used to work at a wheel manufacturing company.


3. I took two years of German in high school. I still remember a couple of phrases. (Ist dir ein laus uber die leber gelaufen?)


4. My brother calls me "Rat". It started out as Megrat, then the "Meg" got dropped somehow. It can also be any variation of "Rat" like "Ratface" or "Ratigan". This does not offend me.


5. I haven't been to a lot of concerts in my life, but among the few I have been to are Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow.

6. I was on the swim/dive team in high school but I've never been off a high dive (we didn't have one at our pool). I wonder if I can still do a gainer.


7. I love the Oriental (or should I say Asian?) Chicken Salad at Applebee's and it always impresses Ryan at how I can finish the whole thing.

A funny thing happened on the way to the driveway . . .

The day before we left for Idaho I was packing and the kids were playing outside so I left the front door open so I could keep an eye on them. I heard Charlie wandering in that direction, and then I heard a little whimper, but not enough of a cry to really be concerned. When I came toward the front door, this is what I saw:



At first I was kind of scared, because there was no movement, and no crying or anything. I thought he'd fallen over and hit his head and passed out or something. But then I took another step and saw this:

Charlie was just lying there, mellow as can be. (Like his outfit? I must have just changed a diaper and hadn't snapped his pants back together yet.) He must have fallen over, but wasn't too concerned about trying to get back up again. He was happy to just wait and play with a piece of bark until someone found him. He even stayed there long enough for me to get the camera and take a couple of pictures.

Crunchers

The other day Benjamin was sitting at the table eating breakfast, and he says all excitedly,

"Mom! Outside! Dad's crunchers!"

Me: What?

Benjamin: Dad's crunchers are outside!

Me: His what?

Benjamin: He forgot his crunchers!

Me finally looking outside to see what he's talking about: Oh, his crutches!

Here we have Idaho (and SeaWorld)

I hope that last post didn't come off as too gloomy. I didn't really intend it to be. I was aiming more for just an update of the situation. I felt a little weird blogging about it since:

1) I didn't really get Ryan's permission before posting and it's a little personal (I don't think he minds, but still. . . ), and

2) sometimes I'm not entirely sure of my motives. I really don't want to be fishing for sympathy.

But, it's done and we're adjusting. I just have to remember to put the wheelchair inside the car before I start backing out.

Before all this surgery stuff happened we had a few family adventures. A few weeks ago my parents happened to be in California (my dad's choir was on tour) so we met up with them at Sea World.

Waiting to feed the dolphins:

It was a fun day of feeding dolphins, holding starfish, and getting wet. A few minutes after that last picture was taken, Benjamin decided it wasn't fun to be splashed, so he moved up to the dry seats. It was fun to spend a little time with my parents, and easy to say goodbye since we saw them a week later when we went to:

Idaho! They look thrilled, don't they? This was at the potato museum (of course!) in Blackfoot. I don't think the kids were as bored as they look. It was a really nice week. We were excited to see some snow, even though all the locals are sick of winter. We got to see a lot of family (three of my siblings and their families, Ryan's sister and her family, my parents and grandparents), and Ryan took the kids and my dad fishing one day. Mostly we just relaxed, went to see a movie, went shopping, etc. Ryan and I even went to a spa one day and had a couples massage. I didn't want to come home at the end of the week.

Snow!

Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Joel's overalls.

I don't know if you can see it very well, but I love Benjamin's face in this picture as he shovels in some angel food cake.

Alex is holding a bag of dehydrated hashbrowns - our souveniers.

The museum had a lot of pictures of Marilyn Monroe clothed in only a potato sack, and the Guiness Book of World Record's Biggest Potato "Crisp" (not chip). There is also a potato song, but I can't remember any of the lyrics.

Bummer

November 22, 2007: Ryan ruptures his achilles tendon in a Turkey Bowl game.

November 27, 2007 (I can't remember the actual date, but somewhere around there): Ryan has surgery to repair his tendon. This means he will be in a cast and on crutches for two months, and then a walking cast for another month.

February 25th, 2008: Ryan is being a very helpful husband and watching the kids while I go grocery shopping. He has just received permission from his doctor to start walking without his cast. He is making a bottle for Charlie and slips on one drop of milk in the kitchen. He thinks he has re-torn his achilles. The kids laugh at him dragging himself across the floor since they don't know he is hurt. After a blessing Ryan feels like he'll be able to face whatever lies ahead.

February 26th, 2008: The doctor doesn't think it's a complete tear since Ryan still has a pretty good range of movement. We decide to continue physical therapy and hope for progress.

April 4th, 2008: Ryan goes in for an MRI right before we leave for Idaho for Spring Break.

April 10th, 2008: Ryan's doctor calls him in Idaho to let him know the MRI is inconclusive, and a surgery is scheduled for the next Tuesday to be able to see if he has really retorn his achilles or if it is healing okay. This should be a quick, same-day surgery and Ryan should be back on his feet in a few days.

April 15th, 2008: The surgery starts late and goes long. The doctor sees that the tendon has torn 3/4 of the way across and is continuing to tear. He patches it up with muscle and tendon from the surrounding area. Ryan is told when he wakes up that he will have to stay overnight and he is back in a cast. Any progress that has been made during the past five months is erased, and we start over.

So far we're doing okay. We have such wonderful family and friends who go above and beyond to help us. I was worried for Ryan, mainly for how he would deal with this mentally and emotionally, but I've been impressed. He's more worried for me and feels guilty that he won't be able to help for a while. We'll be okay. I think we're both learning a lot from this.

And now . . . the rest of the story

One of the reasons I started this blog is to remember the funny things my kids do. About a month ago Alex brought this home from school:

In case you can't read it, it says, "The octo(pus) livs undr water. It wus his birthday. But nun of his frens cam." When I first saw this I kind of chuckled but was secretly a little worried that I was going to have a depressed kid. Do most kindergarteners think of sad stories like this? Does Alex feel like he has no friends? What would he be like as a teenager? But a few days later Alex told us the rest of the story (think Paul Harvey). He said that all of the octopus's friends were sick, but they were really pretending because they were having a surprise party for the octopus.
I'm sure I'll still have many challenges when Alex becomes a teenager, but for now I'm breathing a little sigh of relief.

Easter and Charlie's birthday

Since we had a family get-together on Easter, we decided to add Charlie's birthday to the festivities. Whenever we celebrate someone's birthday a day or two ahead of time, I always feel like I have to celebrate it again on the real day. I guess I'm too literal. Especially for a one-year-old who won't remember it. Anyway, Charlie ended up having two cakes.

On the hunt at Nana and Papa's house.
Charlie found an egg with a "peeps" inside so we let him gnaw at it for a while.
Charlie was pretty tentative with cake #1.
He learned fast, though.
By the time cake #2 came a couple days later, he wasn't even using his hands anymore.

I can't believe he's already a year old! He is a pretty mellow and content baby and I've just tried to enjoy him this past year. So far, so good!

Joining the masses

Oh dear, I have finally succumbed. After years of hemming and hawing about whether or not to get a blog, I'm jumping in. I just figured it was kind of unfair for me to read other people's blogs and enjoy all the updates about their families while I wasn't doing the same. Plus, I really need to improve my journaling/picture taking/documenting efforts. So, here we go!

Hopefully I can figure out how to post a picture correctly. Here are a couple of the kids. Alex at his hockey class (Ryan has been forced into retirement, so it's up to the next generation now), Charlie enjoying some backyard time, and Benjamin and Alex with crazy hair.