Taking Care of Each Other

This cold has been the Monster of the Decade for me. It has congested my sinus cavity, my ears, nose, throat and lungs. I have experienced fever and fatigue and from there went to having to sleep in a half-sitting position due to the drainage. I can no longer taste or smell anything, which makes eating a total boring experience...Lola had 'the cold' for about a week, but only had a minor sore throat and a little coughing. Then, like magic, it was gone. Her immune system must be like that of a Sherman tank. I am thankful for that! Kimmi had started the symptoms of this thing the same time I did, but she was battling mostly the sinus infection part. She came over on the weekends and the three of us played on the computer, played card games and watched TV while recuperating. I was determined not to miss work (as I was still trying to fix all the little things that had gone awry during my leave of absence) and I'm certain my fellow employees were wishing I had stayed at home. I was coughing and sneezing and was the Queen of Kleenex for the better part of three weeks, but I was not the only one. There were a couple other people in my department who had been battling the same thing. At this point in time my taste buds and sense of smell are back about 80%, and I'm just taking each day as it comes and hopefully soon I will be able to say I'm WELL AGAIN!!

While battling the Cold of the Decade we have had to take Kimmi to the emergency room a couple times due to her severe anemia (which started before our trip to Mexico) and her constricted throat issues (which has been going on for many years, but had gotten progressively worse due to scar tissue forming after an injury to her throat) making it impossible for her to eat anything but soft, mushy foods. We have also endured the remnants of Hurricane Fay, who decided to dump rain on Georgia for about four days straight, causing the windows on the courtyard side of our house to leak profusely and in the process soaked the carpet and caused damage to the ceiling. The windows are due for replacement anyway (I had the windows on the front of the townhome replaced in January this year, and was waiting until autumn to have the back of the townhome done).

We have tried to make the best of it all by attending a Braves game once we all felt better, and Kimmi and Lola were experimenting with their hair color using Garnier (Kimmi is now dark brown and Lola a muted auburn). I am still too chicken to mess with the color of my hair. Well, I guess the word is not chicken, but the fact is I rather LIKE the color of my hair. I always have. I have started to go gray a little, but it's not enough to make me want to change my whole hair color scheme (as if I successfully could) to cover the gray...besides, I looked in the hair color aisle and I have to admit no hair color out there even comes close to my own shade. I have found a rinse/conditioner for blonde hair that seems to improve the gray, and I'm sticking with that. Nothing else!

As of now (and I apologize for being so horrible lately at keeping up with the blog- - being sick makes me so listless and unmotivated to do anything) the cold is beginning to subside and I'm feeling like part of the living human race again. WOO-HOO!!!

The Long, Loooooooooong Hallways

I am quite pleased that at the middle school 'entry' level there is a program that takes place before the school year begins that allowing parents to register their children in school, buy the required Phys. Ed clothes, and allow a tour of the school and a 'meet and greet' by the teachers. I think Lola and I had equally as much fun wandering the long hallways of the middle school together exploring every classroom and meeting her new teachers. I am totally impressed that a class in Engineering and Technology is offered at the 6th grade level. Hmmmm, I wonder how long I could attend classes before they find out I'm not really a 6th grader?? ha ha ha
I have developed the weirdest cold over the last week or so - - it began with a bit of a sore throat and some stuffiness in my nose. But a couple days later the sore throat became so intense I couldn't eat or swallow without great pain! That lasted three days. Then after the sore throat subsided I was left with a great amount of congestion in my nose! Right now the congestion is beginning to feel as though it has moved on to my lungs. This pattern (minus the intense sore throat) is pretty typical of the usual cold I get, which occurs maybe about one time every year. Somehow this one has taken more of my energy to fight than the usual cold. We'll see where it goes...

Middle School or Bust

Well, the day of my conference with the staff at Lola's elementary school was quite surprising. I was told by Lola's teachers that she puts forth much effort in class and is always happy to participate, and retaining her in the 5th grade would not really be doing her any good. They pointed out that with a greater understanding of the English language she will quickly fill in any gaps needed to be up to level in the 6th grade. In addition, there is a great amount of ESOL support at the middle school level as well so she should be able to transition smoothly. WOW! Imagine the look on Lola's face when I went home that afternoon to tell her she was going to the 6th grade after all! I told her also that she needs to try a bit harder in making sure she tracks her homework and if she does not understand something to always ask the teacher to explain it (quite often in 5th grade she was too shy about her English to ask questions, but over the summer her vocabulary has developed quite nicely)
The mad dash for school supplies has begun!!