Sad Week

It has been a week with some very sad news.

James has a friend, Kendra, who had a baby, Trystan, almost 3 years ago, when she was 20.

Due to a whole variety of medical complications at birth, she was extremely ill and so was the baby. They both survived but Trystan had quite severe development disabilities. Kendra says the doctors said he had the mental ability of a 6 month old but I think even that was optimistic – he couldn’t follow movement reliably, couldn’t roll over by himself, his only way of expressing frustration was to cry or arch his back, etc.

To make a long story short, Trystan died last weekend, in his sleep and his funeral is today so I have taken the afternoon off to attend. Kendra is a very sweet young lady and none of this seems quite fair. After spending the last three years of her life with her sole focus being the baby, she has lost her child. She now needs to reinvent her life.

The second sad news was another death. One of the families at our church have 2 adult children who are about the same ages as Melissa and James. About 2 weeks ago, the kids were both feeling under the weather on Friday so they went to the clinic. Laura was prescribed some antibiotics and Jon was told he probably had a mild flu but would be fine. Jon wasn’t getting better so on Wednesday he went back – they gave some antibiotics because of his asthma but nothing further was done.

That weekend, his parents helped him move into his new apartment but on the Monday, apparently he fainted at work so they brought him home for a few days. On Wednesday, he started to be delusional so they took him to the hospital. By Friday, he was on oxygen and a ventilator but he was given drugs to make him unconscious and paralized so that his body could work on repairing his lungs. The doctors were testing for H1N1. They did diagnose Influenza A.

On Saturday, they took him off the paralytic meds to see how he would react trying to breathe on his own as opposed to forced air into his lungs. He was better for a while but then seemed uncomfortable so they put him back on the meds. He had a reaction to another drug he was given so that was stopped. On Monday, he seemed stable in the morning but the afternoon was not good. Tuesday was a reasonable day but then he died on Thursday morning.

“They” say that children should not have to bury their children – that is so right!

Basic Training

John and Carley were in town on the weekend so we met them for breakfast on Sunday.

He appears to be quite looking forward to heading out to Montreal. Not acutally Montreal, but St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, but close enough from this distance.

Steve and I were talking about it and maybe he will do well. He has always liked things to be predictable and for rules to be followed. From what I understand, Basic is very orderly and that will suit him. I don't know what will happen after that but all we can do is keep him in our prayers.

He was talking about maybe continuing on to Officer Training School after he has done his basic training then his armoured vehicle training and whatever else needs to be done. All we can do is wait and see.

The Five Point Chaos Scale

I received this in an e-mail from my partner in crime Ellie - otherwise known as Louise as in Thelma & Louise - I can't improve on this!

LEVEL ONE the house is relatively tidy ( dust bunnies are resting quietly) there is enough food in the fridge to cobble together the next three meals, husband is lurking..but not offensively so, kids are healthy enough, pets are fed and happy, job is tolerable.

LEVEL TWO the house is tidy-ish ( understanding friends could come over, all others not-so-much) there is food enough for dinner as long as the family doesn't mind a 45 minute wait for you to defrost last month's turkey from the bottom of the freezer, husband is still lurking but he is now muttering that life would be better if (insert stupid male proviso here, i.e. had a thinner wife, had a wife that made more money, had no wife, if he WAS the wife), kids are quiet...never a good sign..this usually means that they are keeping something from you...something that is going to cost you mentally, emotionally,physically,financially. pets have come up with a new way to throw a kink into your day (chewed something, gotten sick on something, broken out in some pet-ish rash), job is a pisser-today was just not a good day.

LEVEL THREE the house is disordered, nothing that a good sweep through wouldn't bring back to a level one, but mucky enough that you can't find your purse.( the dust bunnies are unionizing) food...there has to be cans of something in the cupboard,right? Husband is an ass-hole...why the hell did you marry numb-nuts anyway? Kids have been texting you from the emergency ward of the local hospital. Pets have run away and that chip they have in their neck that is supposed to be a fool-proof way to find them seems to be experiencing a meltdown. Job is @*$&@()*$ awful, and that gay freakazoid who has the cubicle next to yours is driving you crazy with his constant whining.

LEVEL FOUR the house is a disaster (the dust bunnies are now actively leading a revolt, their leader "Che" is calling for social change)Food; scrabbling for forgotten change in the bottom purse you pray that there is enough accrued wealth so that you can order something on your cell phone on the way home from work. Husband has packed his bags and is threatening to move out, you offer to help him bring his luggage to the car, shit head! Kids are now calling for bail, something about a grow-op in the basement ( well, you did tell them to be a little more ambitious!) Pets bit the child of a local lawyer known for his litigious nature when it comes to everything, you disavow ever owning "Spot". Lawyer says he'll see you in court. You freaked out at work and told them all where to shove it, shit heads.

LEVEL FIVE the house is now being looked at as a potential training ground for Emergency Disaster Response Teams. ( The dust bunnies have all left citing mental cruelty, they leave behind dust elephants) there is no food anywhere in the house..in point of fact you are looking at the dog kibble wondering if Jaimie Oliver has a recipe that you can adapt for dinner. You have hired a contract killer to take out the husband, got a bulk discount as the guy is going to do the lawyer as a freebie. Kids have left the country but left your three grandchildren who are all delinquents in your care. Pets are now rabid, something they picked up from the lawyer's kid. Work, what work....!

Sleep Apnea

About 2 weeks ago, Steve saw the sleep apnea doctor again. Based on his hospital study, he does not have classic sleep apnea but the doctor is concerned.



Because Steve slept better with an oxygen he suggested that Steve rent an oxygen machine for a month. Here is what it looks like.

I don't mind the looks - not great but so it goes, it is the sound that is driving me insane. I don't think the sound comes through on this clip but I can only try. It is about 15 seconds but if you listen carefully, you might hear the sound it makes. And it repeats the bu bup sound every 8 or so seconds. He has to wear a piece in his nose through which the oxygen flows.

Poor Steve. On Friday night I was exhausted and not in the mood to listen to it. I went to bed early but after about 5 minutes, I stormed into the living room and demanded he IMMEDIATELY clear the guest bedroom so I could sleep in there. All the empty boxes from the telescope are in there so there is very little room to move. He decided it was easier to go one night without than it was to clear the room. We also slept without it on Saturday night but there is no point in having it if he is not using it.

I guess we will try again tonight - I hope I am tired enough that the sound will simply be white noise and I manage to fall asleep quickly.

Which of these things is not like the other?

I have had a number of watches over the years. When I turned 21, my parents bought me a special present and I chose a very nice dressy Seiko watch. Because it is a wind-up watch and has a metal bracelet, I only wear it on special occasions.

I have had Timex watches and a few better quality watches. I have a Timex watch with a very narrow band but the bands kept breaking and each time I replace one, it costs me about $20, which is kind of silly for a $35 watch. One day I was in a mall and needed a new band so I wandered into a nice jewellery store – they said they had one – something like a Dolce & Gabanna, for the mere sum of $125.00. Needless to say, I kept going. I even contacted Timex about ordering a band but they never responded.

I have another Seiko watch that hasn’t worked in years. I have replaced the batteries but no go. Finally, a few weeks ago, I asked Steve to take it into the watchmaker when he was out and about. He did and it has been fixed so I can wear it again. He also bought a new band for the skinny watch so I have that one in my desk drawer at work for days when I forgot to wear my watch.

Steve was online a few weeks ago and decided I needed a new watch. The watch he ordered for himself is a Rolex lookalike. The family of a friend of ours has been in the jewellery for several generations. Fred had a look and said the only way it is possible to tell that Steve’s watch is not genuine is the fact that it is possible to hear the automatic movement inside the watch. My watch is not quite the same size as we expected. I have worn it a few times but I find it bigger than I am accustomed to wearing so now I have my nice discreet Seiko back and working, it is back on my wrist.

Wild Wind and Missing Heads

Melissa’s attempts to clear the front yard came true. While I was home 2 weeks ago on a flex day, the man from the City came and talked to Steve about moving the art in the front yard. On the Tuesday, they came out and off went the pieces. They even took a huge steel storage vault that has been sitting in the yard since the summer of the carved head. We still have a few rocks that need to be moved but they will be a bit easier to locate.

Tuesday night there was a huge wind storm. I was watching our Russian Olive tree blowing in the wind. A few seconds later I heard a loud cracking sound and realized the tree was no longer there.

This past summer, we realized that a large part of the top was not looking healthy. James and I had cut a fair amount off but we thought a part of it might grow back next year. Now it won’t!

It was too late to really see anything and I figured there was nothing I could do anyway. I decided to simply wait to the next day to see the damage. Fortunately the tree fell primarily between the van and the car so there was no damage to either. We were also lucky it didn’t hit the windows on the house or it might have been quite costly.

Our formerly 20 foot tall tree is now about 8 feet tall. Steve says that because the head was protecting the house and is now gone, we lost the tree.

We did lose some shingles on the roof in the wind but when we called out a roofer, he said we can replace just a few shingles so it will cost us less than $150. It’s nice that is it a fairly cheap fix.