Feeling Stressed

Mike always hated it when I used the word "stressed."  He would laugh at me when I said it.  He always seemed to go with the flow and never get upset, something I really tried hard to do all my life - and failed.

I'm not sure why the sudden feeling this morning.  In the 80's and 90's, when the end of May came around, that was REALLY stress, but I think I handled that okay - just routine:  End of year school parties, finding teacher gifts, dance recital and rehearsals and costume fittings, the GA coronation, final exams, and sometimes graduations.  In 1996, we had a school play with all those performances and rehearsals - plus a wedding and parties and showers and dinners.  And I lived through it, but I was younger.

This year, I have nothing outward stressing me at all, so I can't figure it out.

I know a lot of it is Stella's diabetes thing.  Elise is giving the shots and seems not to be worried at all.  There's so much, and things have to happen so often.  I have to buy a glucose monitoring kit and lancet and strips and all that stuff and measure her blood twice a day.  Yikes.  Stella has had two shots and never turned around, but actually getting drops of blood from an ear vein is just something I don't want to think about.  Supposedly, cats don't have nerve endings in their ears - or did I dream that?

I always put off writing my memories in StoryWorth until the day before it's due.  I hate to start it, but once I do, I kind of get carried away and go off on a tangent.  The question this week was, "What's the farthest you've ever traveled?"  The answer was easy - Alabama to Washington - but then I had other memories I wanted to share.  I think everything I remember and talk about, it's all the girls will know about my generation and the ones that came before.  So sorry I didn't ask more questions of our parents and grandparents.

Katherine's birthday is tomorrow - 3 years old - but I already have her cards and gift and will pick up balloons tomorrow.  Besides Emily has been sick and now Graysen, so the little party has been postponed.  She wants to ride a real train (not Thomas, because that's too scary) for her big gift, but that can happen any time.  Poor thing.  She's really been looking forward to this birthday for so long, egged on mercilessly by Graysen.  They play "Birthday Party" several times a day, so she is expecting something really wonderful.

I have also done this.

That's toward the end of the construction (by me), and it wasn't too hard.  Emily and I gave in.  We KNOW she doesn't need another toy, but this Paw Patrol Lookout is the first thing she has ever said she wanted.  Last Christmas, it was just, "A kitty and a candy cane."  She never has anything she really wants (wonder why!), but she saw an ad for this and absolutely became obsessed with it.  I'm sure Ryan said, "No!"  Emily said, "Hmm.  Maybe.  But noooo."  I knew it was over my budget so I stayed out of it.

Then last week, Emily and I decided to share the cost and have me order it so it stays at my house.  My house where I don't have a playroom and where I have 1300 square feet!  It's just one big playroom anyway.   Graysen and her friend Isabella were here when UPS delivered it, and it passed the play test for them.  Even before I started putting it together, they were pushing buttons and looking through the periscope.  I think it will give Katherine something more to do over here.  She tends to get a little bored at Mimi's house and is ready to go home sometimes before Graysen and I are.

Since Emily was sick Friday and Katherine was at school, we invited Graysen's friend Isabella to come over for a playdate at my house.  They had played together at her house once and seem to get along fine, so we picked her up.  They "chatted," as Graysen calls it, in the car on the way home and giggled and made plans.  Strangely enough - I know they're only five - but they started arguing immediately.  One person would take too much of the stuff and not share - and then someone else would grab and then someone would tattle. There was only one stroller and one bottle, and my suggestions were not that well received.   I think they did pretty well overall, but I'll be glad when all that stuff is worked out - with age maybe.

I let them have a tea party for their snack, and they did love that.

Thank goodness for having a tea set over here.  This was Kate and Graysen's version of it earlier in the week.

So back to stress.  Now that I have talked about it, I feel like I don't have more than I can handle.  I do have to work on my scanner and see why it's not working and answer long-overdue emails and clean off the balcony and get two stains out of clothes and clean the inside of my car and pick up a reserved library book and take a few things to the Food Bank - and, and ...  Luckily, I have some time to do them all.

Things I Didn't Really Want to Know

1.  Just where the veins are in a cat's ear that make it possible to draw a drop or two of blood twice a day every day.

2.  How to inject insulin into a cat.

3.  How much a bottle of insulin costs.

Stella doesn't care much about it either.  She just wants her Fancy Feast Trout and Shrimp dinners back.  But unfortunately, she's doomed to a life of little low-carb pellets and twice daily insulin shots.  Poor baby.

She had her second visit to the vet today, and fortunately Elise agreed to go along and learn how to do everything.  I'm frankly not sure I would be able to handle it.

I'll do well to handle the finances.  All the visits are not free, and her food and insulin certainly are not.  Now I have to buy a kitty glucose monitor and stick (Elise, anyway) her ear twice a day to check to see how much insulin she gets.  In two weeks, she's to spend the day at the vet's office getting glucose monitoring, and I don't even want to know what that will be.

Once the initial expenses are paid though, it shouldn't be a really expensive process.  The insulin bottle should last a couple of months, and I think that food will last for years.  It seems sad, though, for a kitty who just likes to mind her own business to have to go through all that.

I saw a different girl today, and she said, "I understand that you've decided to give Stella insulin, so I'll show you how to get started on that."  I picked up on the word "decided" and asked, "Is there a choice?"  She said very sweetly, "There IS a choice to not give her the insulin, but then she would die ... ."  So that's a pretty easy one to make right now.

I still like learning new things - but not these new things.

Free Day

This is the only day of the week no one has to go to school or gymnastic, so we have the whole day stretching before us.  Winters were hard because I'm not one to get one in the cold and rain just because of boredom.  That's what books and dress-up clothes are for.

Life is looking up now though, because the sun is shining and the temperatures are rising a little.  And Graysen and Katherine are big enough now to walk on their own and pretty much follow directions.  It took a little while to finish breakfast and get dressed, but our plans were to go buy plants, go to the grocery store for milk, and have a picnic in the park - any park.  Let the arguing begin!

I put them in the back with their books and headed out.  Graysen found an old lunch bag in the garage with Emily's name on it that she used in junior high and just loves it.  She said when she got bigger, her name was going to be  Emily.

My plan was to get the plants first before all of us ended up tired and sweaty, but Graysen wanted to find out which park I was talking about "up the hill."  It was Jeanne Hanson Park, and it's the nicest one that I've seen around here.  As soon as we drove up and looked around, Graysen said, "PopPop took me here when I was 2."  She's right, of course, but what a memory.  We both took her several times, just having the best time watching her.  Everything she did was new and thrilling, and we were terrified she was going to get hurt.

So, once seeing it, we had to stay which was a good idea.  It wasn't too crowed and had several sizes of swings and climbing things.

Katherine thought swinging was the best thing ever.  Her little neighborhood park doesn't have individual swings but a big tire type swing.

Graysen did a lot of meditation while spinning herself around and around and staring at the ground.

When did this baby get so big?

We were going to North Bend to get the plants, but on the way through Snoqualmie, Graysen mentioned being carsick and Katherine mentioned being hungry, so I thought I wouldn't go all the way there and make them do uninteresting things.  

I took a side trip to visit these poppies that I saw from the road.  I've never seen poppies too much ever, but these ones were huge.  I talked to the man outside, and he has a huge yard just filled to the brim with flowers and pretty things.  I wish I could have taken a tour, but he didn't really invite me.

Instead of going back home, I took another turn and found a tiny little park about a block from Rooster Valley.  It's on the banks of the Snoqualmie River, and you can sit in the picnic area and watch it go by (if anyone wants to).  We were the only ones there, and they had some interesting and different equipment - a zipline thing and a rocking snail for Katherine.  I had packed a lunch, and we took it over to the picnic tables and tried to eat, but it got too chilly for us.

Graysen needed to find some sunshine.

Next was the grocery store for milk (and 5 other things we didn't plan on).  They do love to go in the grocery store, but Katherine exclaims so loudly about things with such joy that we get lots of looks, pleasant ones though.  They are both in awe that there are so many hundreds of boxes and cartons of ice cream and popsicles and cookies and goldfish, just there for us to grab if we want to.  And they do.

Then we came to Mimi's house so I could relax and maybe take a short nap in my chair while they played.  I wish I had more energy.  They spent most of the time again playing with kitchen items like cupcake holders and tongs and a muffin tin plus way too many pompoms.  They ate another lunch (or snack) a few hours later.  I hope they had a good dinner, because I don't see a bit of green on those plates.

 

Now all I have to do is drink a cup of coffee and read some before I go to bed.  

Shaping Up to be a Nice Weekend

I woke up this morning and realized Elise was working today.  Not that I don't enjoy having her around, but we both need days to ourselves.

I realized I had missed the actual Royal Wedding, but the replays were fine for a quick recap.  It looked like everything went well, and it was fun to see all the different things people were wearing, or some of them.  I'm not sure why people cry at weddings, except with happiness, of course, but there's just something about two people starting their lives together that make you remember your own wedding day and how the world was about to unfold right in front of you.  I guess the sadness comes in knowing you'll never know that particular feeling again and wishing you could just start over.   I know when Mike and I loaded up that car and headed for Auburn, there was nothing that wasn't possible, just the pure happiness of being able to share everything in life with another person who loved you.  Memories are good to have, to bring out and think about but not long enough for them to make you sad.

It's such a nice day to spend alone, cool and cloudy but still bright.  My few plants on the balcony are needing some sun, so maybe we'll get some soon.  And maybe I'll go buy a few more this afternoon, some herbs and a few annuals to fill in.

Stella is talking this opportunity to stretch out and enjoy the fresh air.  I got a call from the vet, and she does have diabetes.  I don't know what all this is going to entail.  He's supposed to call me back this morning with a plan.  I hope it just involves beginning with changing her diet.  I know she won't like "special" food.  

A few pictures from last week.  I want Elise to drive me around so I can take some pictures of these beautiful rhododendrons I see but can't capture while I'm driving.  

The girls have started looking out for them for me.  

The last one is at Nick Donald's where we went for our weekly treat.  It was so neat that the girls turned down a Happy Meal after discussing it and thinking it through.  I let them see the toy offering on the screen and study it and talk about it - luckily, there was quite a line.  Graysen spoke for both of them in saying, "Why don't we NOT get the toy?"  We then talked about what they wanted from this outing, and they decided in the end to get a milkshake to take home and to eat corn dogs and yogurt and fruit at my house.  Smart girls.  They just like the IDEA of going somewhere after gymnastic but don't really care what they eat.  It's just the experience, which I love.

Emily has been putting out their clothes for school, but she worked really late Thursday night and didn't get a chance to, so we were on our own Friday morning.  Emily likes to get pictures before school, so she got rewarded with these.  This is what I have to contend with for 30 minutes on a school morning.  Clothes.  Socks.  What color bow or just a barrette.  What kind of pony tail or no pony tail.  Brushing teeth and washing faces.  Then whether to wear a raincoat or not.  It's always boots for Graysen because of the barnyard, but Kate likes to be original with her shoes. The only requirement is that she can take them off and put them on by herself.  Birdie shoes this morning.

Smile for Mama.  I wrote Emily, "Stripes, plaids, tutus, and birdie shoes."  I guess it could be worse.  They seem to kind of match.

This is what was happening while I was trying to lure Kate back over for a hair redo.

We have to time it just right because if we're just 5 minutes off schedule, we get caught in one of the elementary school's morning traffic, which makes us late-ish to Rooster Valley.  Kate likes to take at least one "friend" to ride with her and wait for her in the car - some sort of stuffed animal or - yesterday, one of her dad's 1980s wooden Fisher Price rooster from the farm set.   One neat thing is to keep library books in the car and let them look at one while they ride, but they love the morning ride to school.  It's the afternoons that they're kind of worn out and grumpy until they "eat sumpin."

Speaking of barnyards, I finally got a picture of the sheep that ran into us in the barn - or his brother.  I can't tell them apart.  I know one is Lamb-ert.  I'm not sure he appreciated my baa-ing sounds to get his attention and looks like he would love to run us over again.

I'm washing clothes, drinking coffee and doing a little cleaning.  Good kind of morning.

Stella/Molly to the Doctor

I've been putting it off, taking Stella/Molly to the vet here.  She's having some changes that bother Elise and me but doesn't seem to be feeling that bad.  From what I've read on line, her symptoms seem to be consistent with either a kidney thing going on or diabetes.  

I chose the vet's office a couple of blocks away just for convenience, although I still had to drive.  It's Snoqualmie Ridge Veterinary Hospital and very nice, although everyone who works there is a child.  

I made the appointment and then brought up the carrier.  Stella hasn't seen it since she moved here.  I'm not even sure we put her in it on the move here, because she just hates it.  Anyway, it's been years.  When I came in, she barely woke up from her nap to check me out, but when I opened that little cage door, she sat straight up and stared at it.  I cleaned off the dust and just left it there since we had a couple of hours before the appointment.  I looked for her a minute later, and she was nowhere to be seen.  

I figured I would have to dig under beds to find her, but she forgot after an hour and came out - but still wouldn't stop watching me.

When the time came, she went in with little struggle and was quiet.  It must have been a roller-coaster ride for her going down that flight of stairs to the car.  Once inside the car, though, she started her pitiful mewing and even into the vet's office.

The only thing to make her stop was when this sweet thing came in.

I'm not much into big dogs, but this was the sweetest, softest dog ever.  He had never seen or heard a cat so he wanted to nose around and see what those sounds he heard were.  Stella hissed at him one time and then just settled down to watch.

At first, he was intimidated by the hiss and went and sat on his owner's feet and leaned on him but then he came back and tried to lick her through the wire.  

Her doctor's name was Ocean - a first for us.  Dr. Skyrud in this group.  

We didn't go into detail about why she has two names and just went with Stella.

I got all the symptoms explained and let her explore a little bit.  

She was interested in the smells and sights but not really scared.

Dr. Skyrud poked and prodded a lot and said she didn't seem to have any appearance of a tumor or anything serious that he could feel and then took her off for labs.  

He suspects, like I mentioned, either an old-age kidney problem or diabetes.  I guess we'll know by tomorrow.  

She's a sweet kitty, and I hope there something that can be done for her.  She just wants to mind her own business, hide from the children, eat her Fancy Feast, and sit on Elise and me when she chooses.  

I have a feeling we're going to be offered a dental cleaning and plan, a flea treatment (although she never even had fleas in Georgia or Alabama), nail clipping, and that's not even taking into consideration medication and/or special food for whatever is wrong with her.  I'd better sell some more fabric!




I

Good Tuesday

Tuesdays are our "long day" when we don't have school or gymnastics to get us out and no parent coming home early!  It turned out to be the best day, and we didn't even do anything special.  I had several things in my mind to do - park, library, nature walk to the garden, going to buy plants or groceries, going to the apartment, all kinds of arts and crafts.  Naturally, those plans were thought up early in the morning before my energy was gone!

The girls were just back from a camping trip, so I got got tight hugs and smiles first thing and talk about the trip.  Graysen was dressed, but Katherine had on nothing, and it was awhile before I could coax her into any clothes.  This was the best I could do for a bit, and she also didn't have the patience to have much work on her hair done.

Once I got them outside with a handful of vehicles, I didn't have to do anything else but get a cup of coffee, sit and enjoy the weather, and listen to them play.   This patio cover is so nice.  You can sit out there when it's covered with snow or when it's raining, or you can just enjoy looking up at sunshine when we have it and baby clouds.

They spent well over an hour with those truck and cars, hauling in rocks and grass to build the "best house ever!".  I took some pictures, but they don't show how really pretty and peaceful it is back here.

This beautiful maple tree leafed out all of a sudden while I was gone and is going to be the best shade.  I'm not sure what will grow under there.  Emily and Ryan want to give it one summer to see what develops and then start with hostas and shade-tolerant things.

We used to enjoy it from other side of the fence.  No one has had time to do any work out here yet or found homes for all the stuff.  The hot tub is to the left, and I know it's been already enjoyed a lot.

I recognized this as a clematis and have been anxiously waiting to see if it came back.  And it did.  Looking healthy too.  My favorite that I can't seem to grow well.  Can't wait to see what color it is.

So much happened that week I was gone.  This Japanese maple tree and rosebush are competing for space.  I don't know...  The roses are going to be red, but they're all over the place.  I like roses, but I love this maple tree more.

None of us know about roses, but I doubt those black spots on the leaves are good.  We'll have to find out.

There are hydrangeas by the windows that are starting to bloom and wisteria in pots near the trellis bench that are just sitting there.  We still have hope.  This first summer will be just settling in.

But the day.

Here's the best house ever.  I love their imaginations and how excited they become at these little accomplishments.  I see some pulled-up grass, dirt, and rocks, and they see a house with roof and doors and bedrooms for two ants that happened by.

Before the home-building started.  This one have gas!  The fire truck is an old one that was in the attic for years, around 45 years old.  The others I found in a huge bag at a consignment shop for almost nothing.  I had a feeling girls would find a use for vehicles.  Besides they have a couple of little boy friends who will be coming to play this summer.

Graysen was excited to find this dead roly-poly and was very interested in hearing about how live ones roll themselves up in a ball when you touch them.  She wanted to do this video for Mommy.




After they cleaned up outside, they ended up having a snack and then going upstairs to play for another hour-and-a-half.  I'm so thrilled at how well they play together, making up stories and dressing each other up.  I hear a lot of, "Pretend you say _____, Kaffrin," and then Kaffrin will say whatever Graysen says.  She does have a mind of her own though and insists that her ideas get used too.  There is a lot of wedding talk lately, and they were dressing for a wedding, and we ended up wearing some of that to the library.

Graysen loves the library so much, and Katherine will as time goes by, but now she sees it as a place to practice her skipping and exclaiming pretty loudly over things she sees.

This little girl crawled up and sat beside Graysen for awhile.  Their dresses and hair were so similar I thought it made a good picture.

They could not stop picking out books they just had to check out.  Graysen found a Where's Waldo one that I never would have thought she would like and is obsessed by it.  

Katherine is more into National Georgraphic animals.

I'm so glad they love reading and the library.  I put on my calendar all the preschool activities in Snoqualmie, North Bend, and Fall City over the summer.  Now that Katherine will be three, she and Graysen can go together.  I'm also getting a membership for a year for Cougar Mountain Zoo, so we should have some places to go this summer.  If nothing else, we can go to the Outlet Mall and sit in the ice cream truck.

Family

It was so good visit Andalusia and some of my family members.  There are precious few of us left, and we're scattered everywhere, but it was good to catch up some.

Staying with Kathy and Alan is always such a comfort.  I don't have to worry about anything.  I just have my little space and a key (and the garage door password) and come and go as I please.

New to the family since last visit is this beauty.  Allie.

She kind of accidentally came to live with them during the winter but has really added a lot of fun.

The first time I met her, she was scared of me and didn't really warm up that night but would take a treat from me and run.  I'm not sure how scary you would have to be to make her turn down a treat.

After that, day by day she came to accept me, although I don't think she let me pet her.  It was more like tolerating me for the treats and Nerf ball throwing.

Her little routine made me laugh.

She would run around and around with the ball and then go throw herself on the pinestraw - but not before stopping for a couple of seconds to stare at the vent on the side of the house.  Every time.  SO cute.






Elise picked out these toys to take her, and she showed how much she liked them by squeaking them and getting busy on those ears.  Supervised toy only!

Kathy caught me taking pictures inside and outside the house and I think is worried about what I may have captured while she wasn't looking.  No worries.  If I had taken inside-the-closet pictures, they would have been perfect.  I didn't though.

Most mornings Alan picks Kathy up a Sonic tea and brings it home, and he was sweet enough to bring me one - or several.  I could get used to that.  The coffee was extra good that week too.  I usually had Folger's (Classic, I think) and liked it enough to order several boxes when I got back.

This cross-stitch picture is an oldie, and I accused Kathy of putting it up when I came, but she insisted she kept it up all the time.

Looking from the kitchen into the den.  So pretty and inviting.

 

A beautiful new staghorn fern just Alan just brought home.  I think I'd like to have one of those.

Nice screened porch and deck outside, but it was surprisingly cool for that time of year, so we didn't spend much time out there - except for playing with Allie.

Pretty breakfast room.

I was proud that I had planted a tomato this year on my balcony, when  I saw this.  Now THIS is a tomato plant!  I saw on the porch table a label that said Bush Goliath, so I guess that's what it is.

Carol and I saw each other most days and ate lunch and went shopping and hung out at the nursing home, but the last day I went over to her house - or her former house/Allison's house.  She and David are living in Aunt Nell's house now and liking that just fine, but this is a beautiful place - perfect for three little boys to ride and swim and jump on the trampoline.

I really didn't get too many good pictures because no one would be still!  Except for Gus.  He looks a little subdued, and I heard he may have gotten on the counter and demolished a whole rotisserie chicken earlier after lunch.

Another dog cousin.  This is Tallulah, and she belongs to Meredith and Tim.

Sweet folks.  Meredith and David.  You can tell they're related!

Carol and their oldest grandson, John David.  He was trying to get to his ballgame, and these people kept trying to take pictures of him.

I'm not sure what was happening here, but it was funny.  Allison, Wilson, and Spencer.

Spencer did stop and give me a good pose - kind of willingly.  

What a good time with good folks, all of them.  Almost makes me want to move back.  Almost.  It hasn't gotten hot there yet.

I went by Dean's Cake House to get some cake for Mama's little party and asked if I could take some pictures in there.  Not only did Mrs Jacobs agree, but she went running to the back to bring out more cakes.  

I got a lemon cheese and a caramel.  Mama didn't eat any, so we took home a piece for us and left the rest for the nursing home staff.  I chose caramel, of course!

I guess that's about all I can think of from my Andalusia visit, but it's a little bit.  

For Mother's Day, I got something called StoryWorth.  I may have been elected the family historian.  I just hope I can remember enough things.  I think it will be fun.

Here’s how it works.

• Every Monday, we’ll email you a question that Emily has chosen for you, for example “How did you get your first job? or “What were your friends like in high school?”
• All you have to do is respond with a story, either by replying to the email or by calling the number we send you.
• Emily gets emailed each story you record. You can add more recipients if you’d like other loved ones to receive your stories.
• All of your stories are saved privately, and will be printed in a beautiful keepsake book.

My people are off camping in Eastern Washington (I think).  I got one picture, and it looks beautiful.  I thought it was going to be more of a forest, but it looks like a river and open spaces with mountains in the background.  Another family with two little boys joined them, and Graysen has been planning a wedding between her and Camden.  They're been friends since birth - but that's not very long.  And maybe Katherine and Branson, the little brother.  She's seriously been planning it, all the activities, drawing pictures of flowers and her dress.  

Just a couple of sweet videos of the girls.  Those little moving cars/truck/airplanes/animals on the sidewalks outside stores have never held any interest for the girls because they're a little scared of them.  But last week, we've learned that you can just sit in them without the money going in to make the music and shaking, and it's a fun play place.  Cheaper than a bouncy house.

It's time for the girls to start preparing their own meals.  It's a start.