family
From Sister’s munificence to a Future’s uknown
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 | family, work | 2 Comments
The drive back home from my sister’s was a breeze. When I got home, hugged kitty and unpacked I then opened my purse to retrieve the envelope my sister gave to me that was intended to “help” with my efforts. In it was cash to pay for gas and to buy something special for me. All in a gesture of thanks for my help these past few days. I was floored to discover $200 smakaroos in there for me.
I called her immediately to embellish her with THANK You’s for her extreme thoughtfulness and generosity. While she gave me the envelope before surgery I knew it was a conscious gesture and I couldn’t have appreciated it more. It definitely helped.
What is great about having a sister, or a sibling, is the reassurance we find in each other when certain apparent behaviors are displayed and we both wonder why the heck we are the way we are. I know she and I share certain traits of our parents (ones in which we are not proud, but they are simply a matter of fact) and we both recognize the value and fault simultaneously. I find it incredibly heartening to know that there is nothing wrong with me and that “it is what it is”.
Which brings me to the next half of this blog which addresses one trait in which I am not incredibly proud of but am an innocent victim to its charm… “obsessiveness”.
Remember when you were in Junior High at recess. You either dreaded or couldn’t wait for recess. I, personally dreaded. So here’s the scenario, you are with your peers at recess and you are planning to play soccer. They pick the team leads and members of the teams start to get chosen. There is nothing worse than being the last one to be chosen for a team. You stand there jumping up and down screaming “pick me, pick me…oh please… pick me”. Alas, you are still the last to be chosen and its usually you that has to balance the teams. Therefore, the team lead may not “want” you but they “must have” you to make the teams equal.
I would obsess over the team picking time at recess. Yes, at this time I’m obsessing over the job picking time.
At this moment in time and in the midst of this interviewing madness I am currently the one being looked over against the team-mates and I am screaming “pick me, pick me”. I just wish I knew if they could hear me.
So, this future holds a sweet beautiful orange carrot in front of me and it’s not mine to grab, unfortunately, it is up to fate to either allow me a nice big bite into that carrot or a new journey to find a new delicious carrot that will one day pick me.
It’s just a matter of time.
Road to Recovery
Thursday, January 31st, 2008 | family | 3 Comments
So, my sister had a successful surgery and is now on the road to recovery.
She’s a trooper. The surgery was a mere hour and the doctor was just as sweet as a Georgia Peach Pie, as were the nurses. I didn’t even feel like I was at a hospital.
I got a bit queezy when I went to see her immediately after the surgery. She had gauze under her nose filled with blood and her eyes were teary. She said, “you are seeing me at my weakest” and I said, “I disagree, I am now seeing you at your strongest”. The pain meds and all the blood in her stomach made her very nautious, but I was able to keep my composure and all of sudden I felt like I could take on anything, I think this is what moms experience with adrenalin rushes when something happens to their child. You forget yourself and focus on them completely, so my queazyiness completely vanished and I just rubbed her shoulders and talked to her to try to comfort her as best as I could. The nurse was so nice and gave her a nausia suppressent and soon after my sis was feeling better, she had to just get all the junk outta her tummy and she felt better. The lemon-lime soda helped her as well.
It’s always hard to see our family members in pain, but this will be for the better, for sure. We just have to get through the hard part to make our daily life that much better. Any chronic discomfort is not fun and can really make the day a little tougher to get through, hopefully she’ll be breathing easier and stronger and then she’ll start the allergy shots.
In the diagnosis of her chronic nasal problems they conducted a myriad of tests to see what she was allergic to. They discovered that my sister is allergic to a number of kinds of mold. Go figure! Living in the NW we are surrounded by airborn particles such as mold because it is such a wet environment, so that basically sucks. Therefore, they will institute a shot regime to help her become acclamated and possibly immune to the mold allergens that can be attributed to the development of her polyps. This will be a good thing.
I only thank God that I have not the allergy issues that my sister has. I know I have horrendous seasonal allergies especially during late May and all of June, but year round I tend to do okay, unless of course I visit Az. Go figure! 
Serious about surgery
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 | family | No Comments
Today I leave to Lacey, Washington to care for my sister after her surgery which is scheduled for tomorrow (30th). It’s relatively minor, but enough to put her out of “super-mom” mode so here is ” super-aunt” to the rescue. You all may be wondering about “super-dad”. Well he’s working on saving our world by going to Korea (he’s a military big wig or sort of big wig, anyway).
So, my sister has a deviated septum and inside her nasal sinus linings polyps have formed. These are grapelike inflammations and can be caused by a few things. The most common cause is allergies and chronic sinus infections, which my poor sister has been a victim of almost all her life. So she has to go in and get those removed, without too much pain involved we hope.
So, I get a crash course in mom-hood, I get to learn the parent juggle of picking up and dropping off the kids at different times and locations, for school, sports and a myriad of other activities that kids seemed to be swarmed by these days.
At least I get to spend some time with my sister and the boys which isn’t ever enough throughout the year.