A Tower in Pisa

I love this picture!

There was a huge area of grass around the Tower surrounded by chains and with signs that read (in ENGLISH) "Do Not Step On The Grass". So, of course, there were hundreds of tourists all over the grass!!!

We did the right thing and stayed on the sidewalk. :)

Christy suggested this pose and I am glad she did because I loved it the minute I saw it in my camera! It only took us one try to get that shot!

Choosing European pix

We finished our 7th infusion today. Hopefully, we will complete the LAST one tomorrow morning. Then we are off to St. John's for bloodwork and hopefully, the PICC removal!

Today I sorted through my pictures from Europe and determined which ones I want to print. I also sorted through Christy's and "stole" some of hers. I sorted through about 1700 pictures and chose only 90-some pix to send to mpix for processing. :P

I think my choices are unusual from what I normally would choose. I chose people pix with the monuments, some of Tyler just being himself, and where we posed in front of a great scene/backdrop. But the majority I chose were architectural... Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Leaning Tower of Pisa... but also just doorways, windows, views we took from heights, etc... I'm going to put some of them together in a wall collage, but I chose a couple of shots that I'm going to enlarge and put on my classroom wall for those "mini-mental vacations" I try to take about once an hour. :) One of my favorite shots is pictured here... I took it from the top of the castle that Tyler, Christy, and I climbed in a little town in Northern Italy.

To Blog or Not To Blog...

So many thoughts... do I really want them all out there in cyberspace for all to read?

Self-editing has to occur... and I can't self-edit very well (as can be confirmed by my English-teaching colleagues who must edit my written work -- LOL!). I really need someone to pass my ideas by and that person can say "nope, you can't write that in your blog!"

So... I stick with "safe" topics that won't offend or get me in trouble with anyone. Hmm... kind of boring.

But what to write about today??? I could discuss football helmets that don't fit... or entertaining a restless 6-year-old i.v. transfusionist... or DirecTV's "service"... or the fact the dogs barked at something all night long...

Everyone needs a way to communicate their ideas/feelings/concerns/frustrations. A blog seems a peaceful way to piece everything out... and then... if you are feeling adventurous... you hit the "publish post" for all the world to see.

I was told today that it's a lot cheaper than therapy and that's certain! It also saves me from verbalizing something "from the hip" and gives me that time to "self-edit" that I so desperately need :)

Christy's blog

Christy is writing great blog material! Follow hers too!!!

http://skinnygirlconfess.blogspot.com/

Facebook

I have a co-worker (that would be Kevin Rentel) who swears Facebook is the work of the devil. Being Catholic, I'm sure he has more knowledge of the Devil and his works than this life-long Methodist, so I've got to listen to his reasoning :)

Kevin thinks nothing good comes of using FB, and after he's had to rid my computers of the viruses encountered through my FB usage, I will contend that he could be correct.

HOWEVER...

(you had to know that was coming Kev...)

I have 372 FB friends. I used FB to communicate each day's progress while Jake was hospitalized in Springfield. Some of the people who followed it...

my other son
my family, including some family I only see once a year these days
my friends in El Do
my friends from elem/high school/college days
my co-workers/friends
my former students, some of whom I had not heard from in a long time

...and all these people followed the posts and sent well-wishes and most importantly, offered prayers in Jake's behalf.

They also conveyed prayer requests at their churches in El Do and Nevada and I know the power of all these combined prayers helped heal that horrible infection. We are so grateful.

A dear friend of mine also used FB to challenge all of HER FB friends to make their daily post a get-well message to Jake. I read over 40 posts to Jake that night from people of all ages. It certainly brightened Jake's night to hear what people were wishing for him!

So... Kevin might be right that FB is the work of the devil and where the viruses are concerned, I might agree. But I also think that God is at work on FB, providing a way for people to convey needs and having those needs spiral through our community :)

(just think of what FB did for Makenzie's Google Doodle!!! :) )

Here's to careful FB usage :)

Greetings From The Funny Farm

I rode a school bus for nine years and seven of those years, I was driven by a fantastic guy by the name of Mike Clark. Since I was one of the last kids to be let off the bus each afternoon, I got to know Mike well as we would move to the front and visit with him after the large group of kids got off in Harwood.

Our bus was outfitted in a stereo and speakers in the front, middle and back of the bus. I rode a lot of miles listening to WHB out of Kansas City. All of the kids knew each other well, but sometimes fights would begin and Mike would dole out his punishments to the offenders.

One year, I gave Mike a Garfield poster for Christmas. It was Garfield and Odie in a padded room with the phrase "Welcome to the Funny Farm" written on the bottom. Mike put that poster up in the front of the bus and it was still hanging there the last day he took me home on the bus before I transferred to Nevada for high school.

I've been thinking about that poster. I think I'm going to be placed in my own funny farm before school starts. With Jake feeling better, he's able to talk, talk, talk and complain about not being able to do everything he wishes to do... like play with his construction vehicles in his compost pile. My sanity might be iffy as it is and I'm not sure I'll survive until he's fully recovered. :O

IV's

From the hospital, we arrived home with a PICC line inserted in Jake's right arm.

It's my job once a day to infuse my son with two medications via the PICC line.

Day One was nightmarish. My training occurred 30 minutes after I arrived home from St. John's (and after 6 days there... and several days of a sick kid... and 12 days in Europe... and 18 hours of trans-Atlantic flight). It was a blur as our home health nurse ran thru the instructions. She left him hooked to the machine and I got to disconnect and cleanse.

Day Two and it's my turn to do this solo. I had several questions and no luck calling the support staff. Thankfully, I have the cell number of an RN in my phone and he was able to answer my questions and reassure me that I could get the job done. (He's always been one of my best cheerleaders! :) )

Day Three went smoothly as I felt more confident in what I was doing.

Day Four had the nurse visiting while Jake was doing his infusion. Jake's vitals were great, the PICC line looks great, and she told me I was doing a great job with the IVs. If only the patient were not feeling so spirited!!! It's getting hard to keep him slowed down!

Only four more days to go! It takes nearly 3 hours for the entire process from start to finish. The nurse gave me permission to speed up the IV a tad and we are going to start earlier each day so the patient won't be as restless as the time wears on...

I'm praying that his blood work will be terrific on the 21st... otherwise I have another week to look forward to of infusions. School is going to start soon and Jake hasn't even been in the water... pool, lake, White Water, anything!!! Poor kid!