Annual Conference 2008

Susanna and I went to Annual Conference last week. We left on Sunday afternoon and returned Wednesday evening. It was in Roanoke this year (they alternate between Roanoke, Norfolk, and Hampton) so we got to stay with James' mom. We had a lot of fun, although it was pretty busy and tiring.

Here's Tuesday's schedule, to give you an idea:

7:30 a.m. We wake up, eat breakfast, and get dressed.
9:45 a.m. Arrive at the Civic Center (about 15 minutes from Nina's apartment)
9:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m. I listen to the various presentations and participate in worship while Susanna looked around, napped, and played on the floor with Chloe, Anna, and Carson.
12:00 p.m. We eat lunch with Dave, a former pastor and family friend.
1:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Susanna and I stroll around the exhibit area and the Expo
5:00 p.m. Young Clergy dinner at a local restaurant
7:30 p.m. Back to the Civic Center for a worship service, "Celebrating the Ministry of Young People"
9:30 p.m. Back to Nina's apartment.

Can I just say how amazing Susanna is? She was SO GOOD all week. Sometime she got a little bored and then got fussy, but for the most part she was happy to be strolled around, play with her toys, play with other kids, and take in everything that was going on around her.

This year, the Annual Conference's focus was on Young People. It was pretty neat. Most of the music was contemporary (including at the ordination service, which apparently ticked some people off), the lyrics and liturgy were projected onto screens (although also in the worship book), and all day Tuesday there was an Expo with tons of exhibits to give churches ideas about how to better reach young people.

It was great to see my fellow clergy friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in a year. It was also great to see some friends from Charles Wesley, the church I grew up in. I love Annual Conference, because it's a big reunion and also a great time for refreshment, new ideas, and getting reconnected.

I've posted some pictures for your viewing pleasure. The first one is of Susanna and some friends (a.ka. "the childrens' delegation") playing on the floor during a session. The second is of Susanna holding the Book of Reports, our agenda and guide for all of the sessions/presentations.

What a messy eater!

This morning, James decided to let Susanna feed herself breakfast. She took that to mean "grab spoon with one hand, put other hand in jar and go to town." The end result was slightly messy. However, she did have a blast doing it.

Needless to say, she received a very thorough bath after breakfast.

New skills are always good...

Since I am a stay-at-home mom until September 2, I have the wonderful privilege of cooking the bulk of our family meals. James is a much, much, better cook than me. He's really a natural at it, and usually makes Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. However, I'm the one at home during the day and with (supposedly) more time on my hands, so I've been given the fun task of cooking dinner. For the past two years, while things were so busy, my meal preparation involved a lot of packaged stuff and minimalist meals (slab of meat + canned vegetable = meal). Now that I have more time and less stress, I've resolved to work on my cooking skills.

So far, things are going well. Last week, I made some yummy pork chops in a cherry sauce with fresh green beans (cooked with onion in chicken broth). Tonight, I'm making chicken curry with basmati rice. I also experimented a little and discovered a way to make pot roast positively scrumptious (onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, and red potatoes). At some point I'm going to try and make craw fish or shrimp etouffee, because we're simply dying for some good Cajun food (I miss Joe's OK Bayou in Lexington!).

I've realized that I kind of enjoy cooking when I have the time and energy to plan and prepare a yummy meal. My new hero? Rachael Ray and her 30-Minute Meals. Granted, some of her ingredients are obscure/expensive, but there's a Harris Teeter around the corner, and it has virtually everything I need. I figure that with a few exceptions, it's cheaper to make a gourmet meal at home than buy it in a restaurant. The ingredients for tonight's chicken curry may have cost $30 to buy (that's including the big bag of chicken), but a) what I fix tonight will last us for two meals and b) the ingredients I bought should make another 3-4 batches of curry, easily. Definitely cheaper than buying the prepared product in a restaurant. At least I may have found one domestic task that I may wind up liking and being good at!

However, I wouldn't count on me ever saying that I like cleaning or ironing. Never, ever, ever.

I'm so excited!!!!

In less than a month, my mom, Susanna, and myself are going down to Florida to see my grandmother! We're going for free/extremely cheap thanks to frequent flyer miles. This will be the first time my grandmother will meet Susanna. It will be lots of fun.

I can't wait!!

Patti-1, Icemaker-0

James and I are rapidly learning about the joys of home ownership. This is the second home we've owned, but the first was a brand-new townhouse, so there wasn't really a big worry about something breaking. Our new home is 14 years old, and pretty much everything (refrigerator, stove, roof, a/c unit) is original to the house. It all works fine now, but we're budgeting and planning for some major work in the next five years.

Anyway, our fridge is one of those side-by-side models that have an in-door ice dispenser. Very nice, especially for an ice addict like myself. There's a little problem; the icemaker is very slow. As in, it makes about five (5) cubes a day. I'm not exaggerating. It's been quite frustrating.

So, I figured out a solution. I made a few trays of ice cubes, and tossed the ice cubes into the ice storage bin. Voila! The ice tumbled oblingingly into my glass. I may have to be an ice-making machine for a few days, but hopefully we'll have an abundant supply of ice before long.

James spent this weekend working on our master bedroom closet. A few days after we moved in, half of our closet shelving fell down in the middle of the night. Apparently the previous owners (or the builder) hadn't placed the proper supports on it. Grr....Now half of our closet is redone, and we could probably swing from the rods and not have it collapse. The other half of the closet will be redone probably sometime this fall---after I've started work and have received a paycheck.

How to Transform Your Life in 30 Days or Less...

This blog post will either be very, very long or be split into several parts. I've been very busy for the past six weeks, which is why I haven't posted anything. So, I have a lot of news for you. Let me give you a brief synopsis, so you know what to expect and will stop chomping on your respective bits.

1. As of May 17, I am on family leave ad interim until June 30. This means I am no longer the pastor of St. John's. My last Sunday in the pulpit was May 4, and I took my remaining vacation time, through May 16. My District Superintendent totally supported me in this., and it was something that I needed to do, for a variety of reasons. I'm not going to go into those reasons here; you can e-mail me privately if you want details.
   
2. I've been accepted to a "Residency in Clinical Pastoral Education" at a hospital in Newport News. I begin on September 2. It's a paid position with benefits, and lasts for one year. After that, I may return to the local church or I may get a chaplain position. Only God knows!
   
3. We closed on our new house on May 16. The packers came to Danville on the 19th, they loaded on the 20th, and unloaded in Chesapeake on the 21st. We have about half the house unpacked, including our room, the kitchen, the family room, and most of the living and dining rooms.
   
4. Susanna turned nine (9) months old last Thursday. She has five teeth, number six is poking through, and we're hoping the teeth seven, eight, et al will wait a little bit. She's occasionally miserable, and so are we. Thank God for teething biscuits! She's sitting up by herself, scoots around on her back and tummy, and is making lots of new sounds. This includes "Da-da", which both James and I decided referred to him, since she was looking at him when she said it. Therefore, the kid has her first word at 9 months, and is looking to be as verbal as her mother. I'll post pictures soon, I promise.
   
5. The movers killed James' plasma TV. Thankfully, we had full insurance, so it will be replaced. However, in the meantime, we're back to the 10 year old 20" TV James bought in college. It's better than nothing, but we'll be glad when we have another nice, big screen TV again.
   
6. This stay-at-home mom thing is way harder than I thought it would be. I don't think I'm cut out to do this long-term. I love taking care of Susanna, but I'm not that great at domestic stuff. However, I think I will learn to be a better cook in the next three months.
   
7. James still loves his job. He's splitting time between Norfolk and Suffolk, and works what I call the "schoolyard shift" (between 6:30-7:00 a.m. and 3:30-4:00 p.m.) so he can beat traffic and spend more time with us in the evening.
8. It is so, so nice to have our family together again. It's also nice to be closer to my parents (who live less than 20 miles away) and some of our friends. We can actually have a social life now. Woohoo!
9. I feel peaceful and stress-free for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long. My marriage is better than it has been in a long time, and I hope that the next year will bring healing and wholeness.
   

Rocky Update

Yay!! Assuming he doesn't throw up within the next hour, Rocky will be going HOME tonight! My parents are thrilled about this. They knew he was doing much, much, better when the vet called and said that Rocky was pulling them around on the leash. That's our boy!

Prayers for Rocky

Please pray for Rocky, my parents' black Lab. He's 10, and has been diagnosed with pancreatis. He is currently an inpatient in the "doggie hospital", and will probably be there for another day or so. He'll hopefully be fine (although my parents' bank account may not!), but it's still kind of worrisome. We got Rocky when he was a puppy and I was in college, so he's sort of been "my" dog, too.

I really hope he gets better, because I don't think I can handle losing two dogs in three months.

Housekeeping

Now that my blog is 2+ years old and has over 200 posts, I've decided to make it easier for my readers (since I keep running into people who tell me that they read my blog) to access older posts. On the sidebar, you will see a list of categories...Family Life, Vocation, Furry Children, etc. Slowly but surely, I am going through all my old posts and giving them a "label", or a name that describes the content. I'll also start doing this with all future posts. That way, if you want to read a post (or posts) on a certain topic, you can click on the label name and it will show you all posts in that topic. You can also still search the archives by date, if you so desire.

It's going to take a while...I started yesterday and am only up through July 2006.

Product Reviews: The Indispensable, the Useful, and the Useless

I've been a parent for almost eight months now. Oh my gosh, that seems like a very long time. When I was pregnant with Susanna, I read books, visited websites, and viewed lists that told me WHAT TO BUY FOR YOUR BABY. They were very authoritative and convincing; some even made it sound like you were a horrible parent and were sacrificing your baby's future if you didn't provide him/her with the suggested items. After all, how was Baby going to get into Harvard if he/she didn't have a play mat with lights AND music AND nice, bright dangling things??? Truth be told, I fell for it all, hook, line, and sinker. Thankfully, James is a little more skeptical than I am, so he was able to reign in my fanaticism. Another reason why he's the best husband for me!

I'd like to prevent other people from being sucked into the same vortex as I was, so here's a list based on my experience of items that are either Indispensable (I'd rather give up a kidney than lose it). Useful (sure makes life easier, but not totally necessary), or Useless (don't waste your money). All of these things are frequently used sometime in the first six months. Keep in mind that this is just my opinion, and based on my experience.

Indispensable:

-Infant car seat: In those early months of life, when babies fall asleep at the drop of a hat, can't hold their head up well, and can't sit up by themselves, the infant seat allows you to carry/stroll them anywhere without disturbing them very much/at all. They can go from house to car to restaurant to stroller...you get the idea. The height/weight limits on most of them are high enough (29"/22 lbs) that they can be used until Baby is 6+ months old...some even up to a year old. Once Baby is too heavy to lug in the carrier, you can still keep it in the car and use as a car seat until they grow out of it. We used this infant seat from Graco, but in a different pattern.

-Stroller frame: Skip the bulky travel system and spent $50-60 on a stroller frame like this one. Heck, look on Craigslist or scour the classifieds for a used one and save money. It's lightweight, folds up easily, and has a nice-sized basket and cup holders. You can use it as long as Baby fits into their infant seat...usually anywhere from 6-9 months old. By the time you need to buy another stroller, you'll have a better idea of what you need/want, and Baby will be able to ride in an umbrella stroller, if you so desire.

-Play yard/travel crib with bassinet feature: I know a lot of people who forgo a traditional crib and use this instead, especially in a small home. Our initial plan was to use this for the first six months so Susanna could sleep in the room with us, and THEN transition her into the crib. She wound up sleeping in her crib from the beginning. However, we have used her Pack-n-Play a LOT when traveling, for nap times, and occasionally just to let her play in it. Since our new house is two-story, I'm planning on placing it downstairs so I can put her down for a nap/playtime without carrying her upstairs.

-Vibrating Bouncy Seat: I bought our bouncy seat for 1/2 price at a children's' consignment shop. It saved our sanity for the first month or two. I'm not kidding; we would place Susanna in it, turn on the vibrations, and she would calm down. As she got older, she became more interested in the music and light show that played. She grew out of it by five months, but it was really, really great while it lasted.

-High chair: Our is another hand-me-down from my cousin (God bless Lieu!). Even before Susanna started on solid foods we were using it at meals. We'd strap her in and roll her up to the table so she could be with us. Now that she's eating solid foods, we use it about three-four times a day. Look for one with a "sub bar" that's attached to the seat (keeps baby from sliding out) and that reclines. If finances/space are a major issue, consider trying this, which is cheaper, takes up less space, but still reclines.

Breast pump: If you're planning on breastfeeding, buy a double-electric breast pump. Buy one even if you're going to be a stay-at-home mom, because you will want/need to leave Baby with a sitter/relative/friend at times. Buy it BEFORE Baby is born; don't wait to buy it. Why? Because if for some reason you have trouble nursing (with latch, inverted nipples, whatever), you can still pump to build your supply and provide your baby with breast milk while any issues are being corrected. A manual or single electric pump won't be adequate to build/maintain supply. And if worse comes to worse, you can pump exclusively, which is what I did. For six long months. My breast pump (another hand-me-down from Lieu) was the Medela Pump in Style, which I highly recommend. Yes, it's expensive. However, formula is more expensive, and not nearly as good for Baby as "Mommy's milk." Even if you buy a breast pump and breastfeed (by nursing, pumping, or a combination) for just the first six months, you've probably saved $400 more than if you had only fed baby formula during that time (assuming you're using a brand-name formula with DHA and ARA).

Useful:

-Swing: Ours was a hand-me-down from my cousin and the style resembles this. I've heard a lot of people like cradle swings like this, too. Anyway, for now the swing has replaced the bouncy seat as the "soothing device" for Susanna. Who knows what we'll do when she outgrows the swing (very soon) and gets fussy/inconsolable? And for the record, we do hold, rock, talk to, and walk with Susanna when she gets fussy. I don't want anyone thinking that we just plop her someplace once she starts crying. No, we put her in this stuff AFTER we've tried consoling her ourselves, to no avail. It gives us a sanity break.

-Play gym: Beginning around 2-3 months old, this has amused Susanna very, very well. Even at almost eight months, she's discovering new things about it (like the cute baby in the mirror) and is becoming much more interactive, rather than just staring at the nice hanging things.

-Exersaucer: Another hand-me-down from my cousin, ours resembles this, without the arch thingy. It amuses her, it entertains her, and it exercises her legs. It also gives her a safe place to "hang" while Mommy and Daddy take showers and get dressed.

-Baby carrier: We use the Baby Bjorn, which we like and is useful for keeping Baby close to you and your hands free. James has used it in church, so he doesn't have to keep juggling her while getting up and down. I've also heard good things about the Ergo, slings, and some of the lower-end carriers (like the Snugli). It's nice when a stroller is impractical and you need to transport Baby.

-BundleMe/Car seat cover: Great if Baby is a fall/winter baby, because you can zip this baby up and keep them warm without worrying about loose blankets or a coat. Costs between $20-40, but I thought it was well worth it.

-Baby Monitor: Ours is a hand-me-down that we really don't need right now (the parsonage is a ranch, so we can hear Susanna easily unless we're outside/in the basement). I mostly use it at night and keep the receiver on my nightstand. However, we will be using it a lot more once we move since we'll be in a slightly larger house that has two stories. If I was going to buy a monitor, I'd buy this one because it has two receivers and is rechargeable.

I think I'll save the "useless" items for another post. This has gotten way too long.

We found a house!

Last week, Susanna and I met James in Chesapeake to go house-hunting. Over the past two months, James has been working with a realtor and looking for homes in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. He probably looked at 50+ homes and narrowed it down to about eight that he liked and thought that I'd like. We spent Thursday looking at all of these houses. James had done a great job; I wouldn't have minded living in any of them! However, we did settle on a mutual favorite and wrote out an offer for it. The sellers sent back a counter offer, so we sent them our own counter offer. Finally, Kim (our realtor, who is simply amazing) called us this morning to tell us that our offer had been accepted! Yay!

The house is one that we'll hopefully stay in for a while. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, and is in the best school district in Chesapeake (very important now that we have Her Highness). It has a nice yard for Simon and a lovely master suite for Mommy and Daddy. We're hoping to close shortly after Memorial Day. It will be so nice to be homeowners again; we've already begun thinking about improvements and landscaping.

Been to the Emergency Room

I don't think you've fully experienced parenthood until you've made a middle-of-the-night visit to the ER with your child.

Less than four hours after I wrote Thursday's post, I woke up to hear Susanna sounding like Darth Vader over the baby monitor. When I went to check on her, I could hear her wheezing from the doorway of her room. The on-call nurse had told me if her wheezing got that loud that I needed to take her to the ER. So...in the next thirty minutes I did everything possible to avoid doing just that. I fed her some Pedialyte, ran the shower for 20 minutes, and kept her upright to help her breathe easier.

Why did I want to avoid the ER? No, it wasn't for financial reasons. Nor was it laziness. It's because the ER at Danville Regional Medical Center is legendary for being S L O W. I've heard of people waiting FIVE HOURS in the WAITING ROOM, giving up, and heading to another ER (there are about three others within an hour's drive). I didn't want to take her there unless it was absolutely necessary.

Alas, none of my measures worked, so I got dressed, bundled her up and off we went. Please note that I had the presence of mind to write down her Social Security # before we left. We arrived at 1:50 a.m. Thankfully, we were taken back to a room within 45 minutes, saw a doctor almost immediately, and within 30 minutes Susanna was receiving a breathing treatment. She was still wheezing a bunch after her first breathing treatment, so they gave her a second one. Thankfully, the second one did the trick...mostly. She wasn't breathing normally, but was showing enough improvement that the doctor said she didn't need to be hospitalized. He wrote a few prescriptions and told me to take her to the pediatrician that day (Friday). The diagnosis he gave us was: bronchiolitis (click on the link if you want more info).

Thankfully, she's doing much, much better. She's sleeping through the night again, is wheezing very rarely, is coughing less, and has regained her appetite. I'm keeping her home with me for the next few days until she's fully recovered. In the meantime, several times a day we "drug her up" with Amoxocillin (for the ear infection), Albuterol (for the wheezing), and a cough syrup.

I'm hoping and praying that she stays healthy for the next two months. I can't handle too many more weeks like this past week. Of course, I'll deal with it if it happens again. But I'm hoping that it doesn't.

Mama's Girl All the Way!

I am so freaking tired, yet I can't go to sleep. Don't you hate that? I haven't gotten a full night's sleep all week. Susanna is sick. She developed a cough over the weekend. Monday night, we woke up about three times because she kept coughing. Tuesday, I kept her home from daycare "just in case." On Wednesday, a church member had surgery in Winston-Salem, so I took her to daycare, so I could go down there. She seemed to be a little better. When I got back on Wednesday night, she was much worse. She hadn't eaten much at all, she was extremely clingy, and her cough seemed worse. So, I took her to the urgent care clinic. Turns out that in addition to her cold (or whatever it is), she has an EAR INFECTION.

That's where the "Mama's Girl" comes in...I had tons of ear infections when I was little. My very first one ocurred when I was about Susanna's age. Amazingly enough, Amoxocillin hasn't changed in 20+ years...I recognized the smell as soon as I opened the bottle of oral suspension liquid. They also gave her another cough syrup, and I'm running the vaporizer whenever she's in her room. She was sounding sort of wheezy/raspy tonight, but she's asleep now. I'll probably call the doctor in the morning if she's not better.

It's very difficult to get work done while taking care of a sick child. Thankfully, she slept more than usual today, so I was able to get some things accomplished. I'll probably keep her home with me tomorrow, because I don't want her spreading anything to the other kids (or getting another bug). Hopefully she'll be right as rain by Monday!

Time Flies

Wow, here we are at the end of March and it's been over a month since I posted a blog entry with any real content. Lots has been going on. As you can see by the picture, Susanna is growing by leaps and bounds. She now has two bottom teeth and she likes biting anything (and anyone) she can. At her six-month checkup she was 26" long and weighed 17 lbs, 4 oz. We've moved her out of her infant seat (which will soon be going to her still-in-utero cousin, Jacob) and into a "big girl" car seat. It's a Britax Boulevard, which tends to be pretty pricey. However, we got a great deal on it (30% off or something like that) during their annual sale. Yay for Baby Bargains and their cool blog. Besides, she'll be in it for another 3 1/2 years (according to VA law), so it's a worthy investment. Susanna also started on solid foods about a month ago. I'm adding a new food every 4-5 days, to check for allergies. Her repertoire currently consists of: rice cereal, baby oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pears, carrots, bananas, peas, and applesauce. She loves solid food and can't wait until she can eat some of Daddy's pancakes.

Speaking of Daddy (a.k.a James), he's doing very well himself. He loves his new job...did I mention that James has a new job? Silly me! Let me back up about six months...Last summer and fall, James began to get very fed up with NCCU. They were making incredible demands on his time (teach 3 classes a semester, work with 3 or 4 graduate students, maintain the computer server, AND publish one paper a year). It got so that he was working 50 hours down in Durham, driving 75 miles home, and then working for another hour or two. He'd even have to work (at home) for 5 or so hours on the weekends. He was utterly miserable and exhausted. Of course, things got even worse when Susanna arrived. We were at each other's throats a lot. Finally, we realized that things needed to change. James began looking for an industry job in either Tidewater or Northern Virginia. We were hoping that he'd find something by the spring, so he could begin in May or June. Then this job at Booz Allen Hamilton (an international firm that does a bunch of government contracts) literally fell into his lap. He applied, he interviewed, and they wanted him to start ASAP...which meant right before Thanksgiving. We decided that this was too good of an opportunity to pass up, so he took the job. He LOVES it. The only hitch...the job is in Norfolk, which is four hours away from Danville. So, he stays in an apartment in Chesapeake during the week and comes home on the weekends.

Of course, that means that since November, I've been a single mother during the week. Thankfully, Susanna is a very easygoing and healthy baby, so I've been doing just fine for the most part. There have been a few difficult weeks, such as last week, when Susanna had diarrhea, I wasn't feeling too hot myself, and it was Holy Week. There was also the week that I had an upper respiratory virus (complete with fever). I hate having to cart her to every evening meeting at church, but thankfully there aren't too many of those. I also worry about what would happen if someone from church had an emergency in the middle of the night. I would most likely bring her with me to the hospital, and hope that her presence might diffuse some tension. Hopefully that won't happen, though. Generally, it's been very manageable, and at least I know that a) James is only four hours away if something MAJOR happened, b) James will be home on Friday night, and c) this is only for a limited amount of time.

You may have figured this out already, but in case you haven't...I'm leaving St. John's in June and will hopefully receive an appointment in the Tidewater area. Obviously, our family needs to be together again and resume/establish some semblance of normal life. However, I probably would have been moving this year even if James hadn't gotten the new job. Without going into details (you can e-mail me if you want those), the church and I have mutually agreed that I'm not the best pastor for them. I have loved my time here, and have learned a great deal about ministry and about myself. St. John's is full of wonderful servants of God and I will always hold them dear in my heart. It's time to move on, though, and I hope that their next pastor is able to stay for more than two years. I think that they need and deserve someone who can stay a while and really help them grow in ministry.

This post has turned into a novella. The princess (as I call Susanna) will be up between 6:30 and 7:00, so I'd better turn in so I can get enough beauty sleep. Toodles.

A successful marriage...

A marriage and family therapist offered this advice to a group of young clergy that I meet with on a regular basis:

"If you want a successful marriage, marry your emotional opposite, your intellectual equal, and have different hobbies and similar values."

I think that describes James and me very well. After 6 1/2 years of marriage, it's always good to know that you married the right person!

Hodge-Podge Updates

The main point of this post is to move Woody's slideshow down, because it makes me sad when I bring up the blog and see it. We're doing better in that area; last week was pretty tough at times, but Simon and Susanna have helped distract us. I'm glad that we have Simon, so that we still have one dog left. And now that we have a human child, caring for her and loving her takes enough time and energy that I don't think about Woody as much as I would have two years ago.

Our human child and canine child are essentially growing up together. It's sort of fun to watch. Simon enjoys giving Susanna "kisses" anytime she's accesible to him. He's become much calmer and obedient in the past month or so. It's been a while since anything has been "Simonized" (i.e., chewed beyond usage) , he sits at the door before going out and coming in, and I might even begin letting him have the run of the house when I leave for short periods during the day. I think we'll wind up getting another dog sometime this summer or fall, because James wants another one and Simon wants/needs a playmate. We are NOT getting another puppy; we'll go to a shelter and rescue a dog that's already grown.

Susanna is changing every day, it seems. She turns her head very well, sits with support, has discovered her toes, and delights in making sounds. We started her on cereal last weekend, and she LOVES it. She still hates "tummy time" with a passion, and screams when placed on her tummy for more than 10 minutes. I've tried getting down there with her, placing toys within sight and out of reach, and placing her on the Boppy pillow. She still screams, and I still give her "tummy time" because I am a Mean Mommy. However, she'll never learn to roll over or crawl if she doesn't spend time on her tummy. She was 16 lbs 8oz when she went to the doctor on February 5 (for a diaper rash), so I'm expecting her to be around 18 lbs at her six-month checkup next Friday.

In Loving Memory of Woody

I made this slideshow as part of my grieving process. I also thought that some of you might want to see pictures from Woody's life. This is just a sample; we have many more, including more from our time in Danville. These represent some of our best memories, however.

The healing has begun, at least for me. Saturday night and Sunday I just felt shocked and overwhelmed with grief. Today I've felt a void, but also acceptance. We had a wonderful three and a half years with Woody, and I know that he was happy. I'm glad that we were with him when he died (as horrible as that sight was) and that we had the funeral service for him. Simon's presence has helped greatly, too. At least we still have one dog to greet us and cuddle with us.

By the way, I have to give a big shout out to Dr. Kay Geyer at Brosville Animal Clinic (Woody's regular vet), who was wonderful on Saturday. She called down to the Emergency Center for us and even gave us her home number so we could let her know how things went down there. Dr. Jenny Clark and the staff at the Animal Emergency and Trauma Center in Greensboro were also great; they did everything they could to save Woody, and really accomodated our desire to be with him at the end.

Rest in Peace

Woody Elijah Money
December 15, 1999 to February 9, 2008

Woody died last night, at the Animal Emergency & Trauma Center in Greensboro, NC. James and I were with him, holding him when he died. We're not really sure what killed him; he had seemed to be recovering well from him kidney infection, and was even playing with Simon and running around yesterday. Around 4:00 p.m. we saw him begin to breathe very heavily and realized he had a fast heartbeat. We decided to drive him down to Greensboro, since our vet was closed. When we arrived, Woody was able to walk on his own, so we thought he might be OK. Twenty minutes after we arrived, the vet told us that she thought he was dying. His breathing was worse, and he was full of fluid. We insisted on going back to be with him, and he died about five minutes later. We got to spend some time alone with him after he died and they pulled all the tubes, etc out of him. We're having a funeral tomorrow afternoon, and will have him cremated. We're not sure what we'll do with the ashes yet. We just didn't want to leave him behind in Danville.

There's a lot of numbness and sadness. It doesn't seem real...please pray for us.

The other patient

I mentioned in an earlier post that Woody is sick, too. He's been diagnosed with a kidney infection, which will hopefully be cleared up soon. That's been an interesting aspect to the drama of this week...

On Tuesday (remember, that's the day I was sick as a dog and running a fever), I noticed that Woody was walking sort of funny. He also seemed to be in pain. This worried me, so I called the vet, who told me to bring him in. So I took him to the vet after Susanna's doctor's appointment (she's fine; she just had a persistent diaper rash). The vet wanted Woody to stay so they could "observe" him. Sure, no problem. Five hours later, I called to see how he was doing. The receptionist said that the vet was out (maybe on a large animal visit) and would call me when she got back. Two hours later, the vet called me and said that she thought that Woody might have a urinary tract infection, and his kidney function was below normal. They wanted to keep him overnight.

When I picked Woody up Wednesday morning, the vet told me that it looked like Woody's kidneys weren't functioning as well as they should be. She thought it might be due to an infection. So, she sent Woody home with two weeks' worth of antibiotics and a special food to help his kidneys. I get to bring him back in two weeks, when they'll check his kidney function again.

He seems to be doing OK, although he's obviously not in top form. He hasn't engaged in the usual play with Simon. Hopefully this medicine and special food will make him "all better" soon. We want our healthy boy back!

Welcome to Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday, the official beginning of Lent. Normally, I would have just come home from leading my church's Ash Wednesday service. However, I cancelled my church's Ash Wednesday service because I am sick.

It all began with a sore throat on Sunday night. I figured I might be coming down with a cold, so I sucked on a zinc lozenge before I went to bed. Sure enough, I felt fairly stuffy and "icky" on Monday morning. I continued to suck on zinc lozenges throughout the day and drink plenty of fluids. I felt well enough to continue my normal activities. Then came Monday night...

I developed a cough which kept waking me up. Around midnight, I woke up and felt feverish. I checked my temp; it was 99-something. Around 3am, I woke up again, checked my temp, and it was 100-something. By the time I woke up, I was feeling worse and was still feverish. So, I went to the doctor...and they said I have an "upper respiratory infection", which is basically a bad cold. I've never heard of having that high a fever with a cold, but OK. They sent me home with instructions to take it easy and drink lots of fluids.

Since I was feeling uber-crappy, I followed directions. Based on my history, if I don't take care of myself, a cold will develop into either a sinus infection or bronchitis. I've slept as much as possible, in between eating, taking Susanna to and from daycare, caring for Susanna, and caring for Woody (who has a kidney infection--more on that later). The end result; the fever has broken and I'm not feeling nearly as "gunky" as I was 24 hours ago. I'm hoping that a good night's sleep will enable me to be fully functioning tomorrow.