Life in progress

Category Archives: Parenting


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Hopefully the final update on Alex, plus the 2019 Just Jot it January update!

Alex is home!

He’s still coughing, still having a bit of a tough time breathing, but his cardiac numbers were better and we decided home was a better place to be. So I’ll watch him closely for the next couple of days, and hopefully we’ll be all back to our normal chaos for his second week of Christmas vacation.

Just Jot it January 2019!

The first of January is tomorrow already!!

Normally, I’d have gathered up prompts by now from all of you, but with the mess this past weekend has been, it just wasn’t happening. So I’m going to do something different for the first week this year.

Tomorrow’s jot will be whatever you want to do with it, though I will post a prompt post just so you have something to ping back to. Wednesday the 2nd will be the regular one-liner, and on Thursday I’m thinking of doing something special. Maybe. We’ll see. Sometime before Sunday, though, I’ll post a request for prompts from you to get us through the rest of the month.

Stay tuned for the Just Jot it January rules post coming up right after this one.

Let’s do this thing!

Happy New Year, everyone!!


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Update on Alex #2

I woke up from nine hours of sleep this morning and called the hospital before I got out of bed. The nurse I spoke to was a nice lady named Heather who introduced herself as someone who used to work at Alex’s school, so she knows a bit of sign language.

She told me he had a good night and was up early, out of bed, and following his nurse (the one on shift from last night) around in the corridors. He got tired of his IV, probably when another IV pole with his feeding pump was added to the mix, so he unhooked the IV. They left it off.

When Heather came in at 7:00, he took one look at her and knowing she had the ability to tell him off in ASL, he went back to bed.

“That was a couple of hours ago though,” she told me. “Now he’s following me around.”

He was doing okay, so I decided to have a shower and take my time getting to the hospital. Only to immediately be told to go home when I got there … by Alex. I sent this text to my best friend, John:

At the hospital waiting to see the doctor. Alex wants me to go home. I’m cramping his style. Sitting alone in his room while he hangs out with the nurses.

To which John replied:

I can sympathize. It’s hard to woo a nurse with your mom around.

So he’s obviously feeling better. But they wanted to keep him one more night for observation. His oxygen levels are still very low when he’s laying down, his heart rate is still through the roof, and he’s still working to breathe.

Hopefully he’ll be home tomorrow and all the heart issues will have arisen from the combination of the pneumonia and the extra drugs. And hopefully the antibiotics will work their miracle.

Thank you again for all your awesome well-wishes. I appreciate each and every one.


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Update on Alex

Before I go to bed, I want to leave a quick update.

First, thanks so much to everyone who left their prayers and positive wishes for us. It seems something got through.

I’ll back up a bit first, though. After I wrote my last post, my eldest son volunteered to go to the hospital for me and watch over his brother, so I did get a bit more sleep before I went.

Whilst there, I asked about Alex’s regular heart meds–I realized he was past due for them. The nurse said she thought she’d read that they were on hold … I told her he needed them every day, so she agreed to go and double check.

About five minutes later she came back with his heart meds. But. Her first question for me was, does he get fifteen mils or seven and a half mils?

The prescription is 15mg twice per day, and being liquid, it’s mixed as 2mg/ml, so he gets 7.5ml twice per day.

The doctor who’d written the order had it backwards. Had she not looked at the bottle and just read the doctor’s orders, she’d have overdosed him the medication that slows his heart rate by double.

Thank goodness for eagle-eyed nurses.

And again, thank you for your well-wishes. He might be out of the hospital tomorrow, or if not, Monday.

I left his signing dictionary at the hospital, so if they’re really stuck, they can look it up.

Oh, and he still hadn’t slept when I got there. He stood and looked out the window all afternoon–for about six hours–watching for me to arrive. When I left tonight, he’d been up for 38 hours aside from a one-hour nap. I hope he’s sleeping now.

 


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#SoCS – Pneumonia

Spent 17 hours at the hospital last night. Came home and slept for 3 hours. Going back. Hopefully not to spend another night in a chair.

The world needs more people who can sign.

Who can communicate with the Deaf when they need it most.

Wish us luck. Alex has pneumonia and I’m truly exhausted in every sense of the word.

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

Sorry for this post. I just wanted to let you know where I am. https://lindaghill.com/2018/12/28/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-29-18/


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One-Liner Wednesday – So Sorry!

I totally forgot to schedule One-Liner Wednesday last night! And now I think Alex has whooping cough. Our Christmas was good, though. How was yours?

Alex, Christmas Eve 2018

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

#1linerWeds badge by Cheryl, at https://dreamingreality646941880.wordpress.com/

 


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One-Liner Wednesday – More appliance humor

Conversation between me and my oldest son …

Me: Are you going to eat supper with me tonight?

Son: No, I’m already unthawing some sausages.

Me: You know “unthawing” means freezing, right?

Son: …

Me: That’s it. From now on it shall be known not as the freezer but as the unthaw-er.

Son: Yeah, yeah.

I have way too much fun at my kids’ expense.

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

#1linerWeds badge by Cheryl, at https://dreamingreality646941880.wordpress.com/

 


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#SoCS – Hairier than expected

Thought I wasn’t going to show up, didn’t you?

For a day that was supposed to be filled with writing, editing, maybe a little Christmas shopping, and a whole other lot of productive stuff, it kinda wasn’t.

Because I’m kinda looking after Alex again. For the sixth weekend in a row.

His dad was going to pick him up Friday night. He really was going to. But he got stuck on the highway for two hours, waiting for the fire department to put out a truck.

Source: Twitter-OPP EAST

So he turned around and went back home the moment he had the chance.

And I will be seven weeks without a break. Or maybe eight. I dunno. I never know.

So it’s been a hairy day. Doing stuff with Alex that he’d been expecting to do with his dad. Like playing Wii Party.

Yes, we had fun. But I didn’t get much writing done, nor much editing. And I didn’t get to the store.

I really have to start my Christmas shopping soon. Do you ever wish you could leave it all until everything goes on sale after Christmas? Do things go on sale after Christmas in the US? Here we have Boxing Day sales. Boxing Week sales. A hairy time in retail. It’s the Black Friday of Canada. AND, there’s no Christmas music. Bonus.

And no hairy-chinned guy in a red suit, which means Alex isn’t afraid to go to the mall. Now there’s a real bonus. 😉

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This very very late (almost 2 in the morning) post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link to find all the other hairy posts and join in! https://lindaghill.com/2018/12/14/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-15-18/


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#SoCS – It’s the Most Musical Time of the Year

Is there a more musical time of year than Christmas time? Whether you’re Christian or not, whether you celebrate the holiday or not, if you go shopping, you’re subject to the music of Christmas.

I worked in a department store one year–Eaton’s!–for the holiday season as a temp. Drove me around the bend. I loved working there, though. My helpful side is never brighter when I have someone to help and engage in small talk with in person.

There are always a few songs I hope to hear, but most of them are sooo overdone.

Did I talk about this last year? I think I did. My bad.

The only other time of year I think of as remotely musical is the summer. Certain songs, whether they’re actually about summer or not, remind me of summers past. I think it has to do with listening to the radio a lot more when I wasn’t in school, when I was a kid. I only listen to the radio in the car now. It’s funny that I often know the latest songs before my son does.  This is the last song I introduced him to.

Apparently I’m the cool mom.

At least I like to think so.

You try listening to “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas” after that one.

Heehee.

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This “about to get heavy” post is brought to you (early!) by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the following link to find all the other posts in the comments and join in yourself. It’s fun!! https://lindaghill.com/2018/12/07/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-8-18/


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#SoCS – Crunchy roll

You might be wondering to yourself, what is it with that woman? She posts prompts and half the time, she can’t even make it on time to her own party. (That woman would, of course, be me.) Not that I think you think of me much. I probably think of me, much more than you think of me, in fact.  My commas are all over the place tonight. Oops.

But I think what’s really wrong with me, other than my recent comma disability (it’s late, that’s my excuse), is that I have too many roles. Let’s see …

I’m a mother.

And a father, kinda, because it’s a one-parent household.

I’m an author.

I’m an editor.

I’m a housekeeper.

I’m a picker.

And a grinner.

I’m a lover.

And I’m a sinner.

… wait. Those last four might have been an earworm.

What it comes down to is I’ve got too much to do on the weekends. Silly of me, I suppose, to think I could keep this blogging stuff up indefinitely, what with everything else. The more I take on, the more I fail, it seems. (Ignore the commas.)

So, I try to roll with it all. But it’s a crunchy kind of roll, with far too many bumps along the way to make it even seem like a smooth roll.

It’s more of a rutted roll. Slimy in spots …

Okay, now I want sushi. I tried to get away from it, but the craving is there.

A nice crunchy roll would go down so nice as a midnight snack.

Oh, and I’ve also got a head cold.

I’m blaming this post on that.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This rather late, rather munchy (no, I’m not a midnight toker!) post, is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link to find all the other fabulous posts and join in. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2018/11/16/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-17-18/


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#SoCS – Meanwhile …

I’m hiding out in the kitchen while Alex is on the computer in the living room. I’m not a mean mom, but he does like to keep me busy doing things when I’d rather be doing other things.

He likes to keep busy. I keep stressing to him that it’s okay to be lazy once in a while (because that’s when I get work of my own done), but I keep being undermined by one of his teachers (don’t know which one, or maybe it’s all of them) who keep telling him being lazy is a bad thing. Problem with Alex is it’s all or nothing. He doesn’t understand nuance and perspective.

Take the Grinch, for instance. Alex is convinced that he’s a mean one, full stop. So we probably won’t be going to that movie. He wants to see “The Nutcracker” today. And he wants to go to the mall, not only to buy birthday presents for his brother, but to spend his own birthday money too.

Meanwhile, Mom’s got a novel to write.

I was caught up on my NaNoWriMo word count as of yesterday, so that’s a bit of a relief.

Finishing up the first draft of Book 3 of “The Great Dagmaru” is proving to be tough. Not because I don’t know what to do with it, but because it’s so angsty. It’s going to be a tearjerker right to the end.

So when I went to start my NaNo project, I rebelled. It’s a romantic comedy. I had to get myself out of the mindset of dark.

I sincerely wish I could decide on a subgenre and stick with it. I may have to publish one under a pseudonym in order to keep my “brand” intact.

Having a brand and being a human being at the same time is difficult.

How boring would I be if I was only dark or light?

Yin and yang would be waaaay out of balance.

Not good for the psyche.

Well that went totally off the rails, didn’t it? Time for the mall…

SoCS badge by Pamela, at https://achronicalofhope.com/

This post which was meant to be about something else entirely is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link to see all the other posts (in the comments) and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2018/11/09/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-10-18/