Life in progress

Tag Archives: children


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What happened to Linda?

Let’s play “What happened to Linda? This morning’s edition,” shall we?

I started writing this post–read: that first sentence–before I had a nap. When it took me a full minute to decide whether the word should be “edition” or “addition,” I knew finishing the post wasn’t worth risking my career as an editor.

Even after a three-hour nap, it’s an iffy prospect. I sincerely hope I’m making sense.

Where was I? Oh, yeah.

I put my darling son Alex to bed at just after 10 last night. He fell asleep after begging me to take him to the hospital. Now, you have to realize that the hospital is one of his favourite places in the world, so I take most of his pleas with a grain of salt. Last night, though, his breathing started sounding more horrible than it has all week.

At midnight, I finally said yes. By 1am, the decision had been made by the doctor to admit him for a couple of days. He has pneumonia again.

But, of course, it couldn’t possibly be that easy. Alex’s ultimate goal was to get out of emergency and up onto the floor, where he could hang out with the nurses. For the next thirteen hours he sat in anticipation of being admitted, asking me every fifteen seconds, When are we going upstairs?

I got home at 3pm.

So that’s “What happened to Linda,” and why I was thinking I should be posting the SoCS prompt at 9:30 this morning, too far away from my laptop to do it. And, backing up, why I was thinking I should be posting my illegal-A-Z-Challenge for the letter “V” at midnight last night as I drove to my local hospital.

Where Alex is now, happily wandering the halls, chasing nurses, because his obsession with the hospital far surpasses the actual science that tells the doctors he’s too sick to stay home.

Thank you to the bloggers who volunteered their “V” suggestions for yesterday’s post that’s not going to happen. I need sleep. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.


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One-Liner Wednesday – Pavlov’s Dog

Highest level achieved.

Every day, when it’s time for Alex to come home from school, my phone alarm goes off. Then I get up and tell the dog to go in his crate (so he doesn’t jump on Alex when he walks in the door) and I give him a biscuit for going in.

One day last week, my alarm went off and before I moved, Winston went into his crate and started drooling.

Pavlov would be proud.

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!


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One-Liner Wednesday – The Moon

Can you see the moon, way up in the sky on an almost-cloudless day? Can you see Alex?

(The moon is about 7 o’clock from the highest peak on the house.)

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!


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#SoCS – Med Mail

The last piece of mail I received was from the people who provide medications to my mum’s retirement home. She doesn’t get her own mail anymore–it confuses her too much. They accidentally gave her her Visa bill last week and she’s been phoning me obsessing over it.

Anyway, this bill for meds comes to about $1.50 a month. Maybe less. I never know whether to pay it, because the bank charges more (I think) for processing fees than the bill is worth. It’s like the outstanding balance of $.79 I have on my credit card right now. Is it worth it? I dunno.

Alex and I went to see my mum today. As you might have guessed, she’s out of the hospital and back at the retirement home. At this point, though, she gets confused about where she is when she’s in her room. She’s having a hard time finding her way around the building, and everything worries her. She’s almost at the top of the waiting list for a nursing home–I think it’ll only be a couple of months–so when they get to her, she’ll be moving. Not the best situation, but what can you do? If she goes back to the bottom of the list, she won’t get one of the nicer places if it becomes a necessity.

Whatever I do, she’s not going to understand. She’s going to blame me for however she feels about it because I’m the only one she has. I’m responsible for whatever happens to her.

*sigh*

It’s much easier making decisions for your kids’ lives than it is your parents’.

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

This post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday! Click the following link to read all the other posts (you’ll find the links in the comment section) and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/03/22/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-23-19/


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March Break 2019 – Day 5

Friday, March 15, 11:24pm

Were you worried?

It’s okay. I’m still alive.

The offspring posed many challenges today.

Least of them was his refusal to wear a coat.

Such is the life of a Canadian mother. Though I had to hand it to him: it was above freezing.

Meanwhile, the dog was under the weather.

Perhaps both of them were attempting to wring sympathy from me.

… or perhaps not.

Either way, I won.

I survived March Break 2019.

*does happy dance*


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March Break 2019 – Day 4

Thursday, March 14, 7:13pm

The offspring is attempting to pry me away from the computer to do housework.

But he’ll only do it until I join in, and then he’ll stop.

He thinks he can get one over on me, but I’m smarter than him.

I’ll not be tricked!

One more day to go.


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#SoCS – Awkwardly

Verily, I say I really get myself into some messes. Like, I don’t think about what my own Saturday posts are going to look like. If you’re looking at this post and thinking, “Why the hell would I hire an editor who starts a sentence with an adverb … especially one like ‘verily,'” know that the prompt made me do it!

Yes, it’s my prompt.

I blame it on lack of coffee.

So, would you look at that! It’s Saturday already! The plan at this point is to take Alex to a movie today–either “The Kid Who Would Be King” or “A Dog’s Way Home.” I’m waiting for Alex to decide. I don’t particularly want to see either of them, but you do these sorts of things for your kids. Especially when they let you sleep in ’til 9:30. Aside from when they woke you up just to tell you they’re awake. It was still dark. I have no idea what time it was, but I told him to leave me alone and go downstairs, which he did.

Maybe he’ll sleep through the movie. I might too. We’ll have popcorn, so we’ll be sure to look “into it.”

At the moment I’m dying for my second cup of coffee. The dog is curled up in a ball on the loveseat beside me

and the kid is watching something that’s got him screaming and clapping. His laptop is turned the other way, so I don’t know what it is.

And me? I’m sitting here typing out whatever emerges from my under-caffeinated brain.

Awkwardly.

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

This thirsty post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the link to find all the other awesome posts in the comment section, and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/02/08/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-9-19/


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Cathartic – #JusJoJan 2019 Jot #27

I’ve spent most of the day contemplating, trying to figure out what I do that is cathartic. What helps me purge my negative emotions. And really, I could come up with nothing.

So my next question for myself was how am I coping? Why am I not going off the deep end?

And my answer was that I am generally happy. Content, despite all the stressors in my life. It’s testament to the fact that I don’t set the bar very high when I consider myself happy that my kids are alive and safe. Are they all healthy? Not by a long shot. Do they have everything they want? No. But they generally have a lot to smile about nonetheless.

There’s still all the stress to deal with, but that I do with my little escapes. Writing fiction, plunging headfirst into my editing jobs, taking a walk, and colouring easily help at least give me a break from my worries.

And I suppose when it’s all at its worst, my writing, even when I’m not writing about myself, can indirectly help me to spit out on a page what I’m feeling inside. We can’t, as writers, effectively express emotions we haven’t felt, whether they be joy or grief, well-being or pain.

On the other hand, maybe I’m just lying to myself and I’ll explode when I turn 60.

But at this very moment, I honestly believe I have it pretty good. All things considered.

The prompt word, “cathartic,” for today’s post is brought to you by Enthralling Journey! Thanks, Enthralling Journey! To find her “cathartic” post, click here. And say hi while you’re there!

It’s never too late to participate in Just Jot it January! Click the following link to find out how, and see all the other participants’ links in the comment section. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/27/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-27th/


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Balance – #JusJoJan 2019 Jot #25

It’s a hard thing to find, balance. I spend far too much time sitting on my butt, writing, editing, and canoodling on social media. Even the balance between time spent writing and promoting is a difficult one. But what I need more than anything is exercise.

So it’s nice when there are natural consequences that lead me to doing what I should be doing. Like today, for instance, I walked to the hospital to visit my mother. (I was able to go because Alex finally went to school! Yay!) It was a choice between a fifteen minute walk and fifteen minutes of shoveling my car out of the driveway. Yeah, the shoveling might have been better exercise, but I still had to walk fifteen minutes to get home as well. AND I saved $4.50 for parking.

My mother is doing a bit better, by the way. She looked better, though her breathing is still laboured. The doctor asked me if she’d ever been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), to which I replied no. But it’s not at all far-fetched that she has it, since she’s been smoking since she was 14 years old. Her 89th birthday is in three weeks. So once I get her home, it’s going to be a matter of explaining to her that if she doesn’t quit, she’s going to die. She won’t understand, and if she does understand, she won’t remember the conversation 45 seconds after we have it.

With dementia, it seems, there is no balance.

On a personal level, I put a lot of faith in balance. I’m a Taoist at heart. The yin yang symbol is all about balance. An equal amount of black and white/feminine and masculine.

Each is contained within the other.

I miss Tai Chi. Which is something that would help my mother. If I had time to get her out of the retirement home.

Most of my lack-of-balance issues come from being the one responsible for everyone else. Being a single mother and an only child in the sandwich generation ain’t easy.

Then there’s the balance between sobriety and drunkenness.

I think I need more wine tonight.

“Balance” is the prompt word for today, brought to us by JP. Thanks, JP! Click here to find her JusJoJan post for today. And say hi while you’re there!

 

It’s never too late to participate in Just Jot it January! Click the following link to find out how, and see all the other participants’ links in the comment section. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/25/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-25th/


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Curiosity – #JusJoJan 2019 Jot #22

Well, for a birthday, it’s been one unexpected thing after another. Let me tell you about it.

It started out with the school buses not running, but I knew that ahead of time. Because Alex was starting to go stir crazy yesterday, and because he had an appointment with a speech and language pathologist at lunch time at the school, I’d decided to drive him in anyway. So I began my day by shoveling my car out of the driveway. Turned out I didn’t need to do it first thing, because my best friend, John, came to my rescue and took Alex to school.

I still needed to be there for the appointment, however, so I had a shower–my birthday present to me–and drove to the school where I met the speech pathologist. Lo and behold, she’s fluent in sign language. Wonderful! What a lovely surprise that was!

After that, I came home and tried to get as caught up on my social media and all the kind birthday wishes, as well as try to promote my book sale. Then I had to drive back to the school to get Alex, because no buses.

I got home and we had pizza for dinner–no cooking!–and I got back to my laptop for some more catching up. Then my mother called to say she spent the day in bed, she was very sweaty, and the nurse had been talking about sending her to the hospital today. But my mum had no idea why. So I put in a call to the nurse at the retirement home. Apparently–wait for it–a few of the residents have had pneumonia, and my mother hasn’t been doing so well. They’ll keep an eye on her tonight, and if they have to send her by ambulance, they will. I explained I can’t get away–I have Alex to look after.

Just as I was putting Alex to bed, I got a call from his brother. His bus didn’t show up. So off I went to drive him to work for 11pm.

Meanwhile, we’re expecting freezing rain tomorrow, so probably no buses. And I doubt I’ll want to drive either. There’s about six inches of snow on my street, and if that freezes over, it’s going to be an ice rink out there.

What does all this have to do with curiosity?

I’m not the slightest bit curious about how my day tomorrow is going to go.

I’m happy and content to spend the rest of my birthday oblivious to what might await me.

Just livin’ in the moment.

Thank you so much to everyone for their wonderful birthday wishes today! They really helped me get through what was an otherwise trying day. And it’s entirely possible that they kept it from being worse! ❤

“Curiosity” is the prompt word for today, brought to us by Pamela. Thanks, Pamela! Click here to find her signature daily quip post for today. And say hi while you’re there!

 

It’s never too late to participate in Just Jot it January! Click the following link to find out how, and see all the other participants’ links in the comment section. It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2019/01/22/jusjojan-2019-daily-prompt-jan-22nd/