Written Saturday, July 10
I’m not sure even where to begin this post. There have been so many things over the past week or two that I would have loved to blog about—but didn’t have the time. And now that I have time, I can’t think of one of them. Or else they don’t seem so important. I’m not sure if my husband took a picture of the kids in the pool—he set it up yesterday. I have been sick all week—too sick to think of things like pools in hot weather—and he hasn’t been home during the heat of the day.
Sew Sew Sew
I’ve gotten 3 of those dresses for little girls in Africa done. It’s been quite educational for my daughter. Here is a sample of a conversation we have had several times while I was sewing.
“Mommy, what are you doing?”
“I’m sewing.”
“Is that for me?”
“No, it’s for a little girl in Africa.”
“Why are you sewing for a little girl in Africa?”
“Because she doesn’t have any clothes, so she needs me to sew her a dress.”
“Her mommy will buy her some.”
“No, she doesn’t have a mommy, or a daddy either.” These dresses are for orphans, many of whose parents are victims of AIDS. They may or may not have siblings to care for them, and for many of them clothing is a luxury they can’t afford.
“Oh. But why does she need clothes?”
“So she doesn’t have to be naked.”
“Oh.”
I know after several repeated variations of the above, it must be sinking in, because one evening she informed Daddy something to the effect of, “Mommy is making dresses for little girls who don’t have any clothes.” When I’ve finished the 5 dresses I agreed to make, I’m going to make one more for her. I’m not sure if I’ll make it to match one of the ones I made, or just use some other fabric. And I’ll probably use it as a summer nightgown (since she really has enough dresses but does need some nightgowns). In fact, it would make very easy nightgowns! But I hope it will help her remember the little girls in Africa who are not as fortunate as she is.
Sick of Being Sick
I have no idea how, but I caught a really nasty cold this past week. It’s kind of strange. About a week and a half ago, my daughter came down with this moderately high fever (topped out at about 103.8). It lasted about a day and a half. My temperature went up, but never reached 100, so I guess I fought and won without getting sick. But the poor thing was pretty bad off during those two days. She’d just sit quietly in the big rocking chair, getting up only to go to the bathroom or to humor me by drinking a little water—why does she hate water so?
Just as she was getting over it, her brother came down with it. His got about as high and lasted just as long. They were all better by last Sunday. So much so that I took Manny with me to a 4th of July celebration at a church member’s house. That was a lot of fun. I even made a “cheese cake” (without cream cheese) that was topped with fresh blueberries and sliced strawberries laid out like a flag. The fireworks were stunning. The fellowship was pleasant. I got to swim a little in the indoor pool with my newly made modest swimming attire. I’ll have to post a picture sometime. I don’t think I’ve taken one.
But then Monday morning I woke up with a head cold. I blamed it on all the late nights I spent madly sewing those four prairie dresses—did I mention those before or not? I spent well over 28 hours in a week and a half on those! And of course getting to bed at almost midnight on the 4th didn’t help (though even if I had, who knows if I would have been able to sleep. . .).
So I spent last week trying to get things done and not snap at my children while enduring the worst cold I’ve had in a long time. I had little energy, but staying in bed and resting isn’t an option for a stay-at-home mom with no car. Not to mention that my husband works 10 hours a day, not including the 2-hour round-trip drive, and lunch, so that means I’ve got to keep up my end of things as much as I can. So I did all the things I normally do. I cooked and did dished. I made soymilk and tofu and sandwich filling. I did go lighter on the cleaning (just cleaned the toilets instead of the whole bathroom, dust mopped only, no damp mopping, that kind of thing), but I still had to dress and bathe and feed my kids and my husband. I felt like I was a zombie, just doing things. Of course they took 2-3 times longer than they normally would, which gave me very little time to actually relax. And it didn’t help that at least twice last week Manny woke up just as his sister was going down for her nap (meaning I had no chance to nap, even though I so desperately wanted—and needed—to do so!).
Friday
But the week finally did pass. My husband was home Friday as usual. He left after breakfast, though, to go pick berries. Came back with two big mixing bowls of raspberries and a smaller mixing bowl full of black currents. The latter will have to be turned into jam—they don’t taste very good at all. The former, well, I froze about half of them, though they’re still on the cookie sheets and casserole dish lids that I put them on last night, and therefore won’t get bagged until after sundown. While he was gone I made lasagna for Sabbath lunch (I would probably be able to smell it now warming in the oven if my nose weren’t so stuffed!) and did a few other things, like dishes and putting ingredients into the bread machine so we would have bread for Sabbath if we wanted it.
When he got home, it was after 1:00 pm and I was exhausted. I told him he could season the beans (lunch was sort of haystacks, but on tortillas, so more like soft tacos, but not exactly that either) and went to bed. Half an hour later, the food was ready and I was hungry, so I went down to eat.
Then I left. I had to get out of the house. I was still sick and tired, but I just needed a break from the monotony. So I drove the three quarters of a mile to the chiropractor’s. I hadn’t had an adjustment for over a month, and with scoliosis that just isn’t something I can or should skip too much. So I filled out paperwork and secured an appointment that very afternoon, just an hour away. I spent that hour driving up and down the streets of Estacada, trying to memorize the town (not hard, considering it’s only got two main streets and “downtown” is only about 2 blocks by 3 blocks). I visited Key Bank and asked what I had to do to get that free touchscreen iPod. I picked up a to-go menu from the Thai restaurant. I stopped at a yard sale and chatted with the lady of the house about the weather here verses Florida and Texas (we both agreed that Oregon is the best—sorry Marci, if you’re reading this. 
). I took note that the only two doctors in town, both DO’s doing family practice, close at 2:00 pm on Fridays. But in one of them the cleaning lady opened and at my request gave me a business card. She was Hispanic and was very pleased that I could converse with her in her native tongue.
When I got back to the chiropractor’s, I was a couple minutes early but he was ready. I enjoyed a nice massage with some machine he has (it’s got three or four balls on it and it really digs in and feels good!), a heating pad, then a full adjustment. I felt so good afterwards! It was definitely worth it, even though my nose nearly dripped while waiting for the heating pad part to finish!
When I got home, I swept the floor in the kitchen (I always do that at the end of the day, because it gets dirty the fastest), wiped a few obviously dirty spots with a damp cloth (it took me 3 times as long to sweep as normal, and I was in no mood to give it a proper mopping), and then cut my brother’s hair. He is in the Marines and needs a military haircut whenever he has drill. I think I did a pretty good job.
And I stayed home today. I’ve still got a bad cough, but my energy is better. I took a 2+ mile walk and picked wild flowers for the lunch table. The CD I burned of sermons by Mark Finley on Audioverse.org didn’t work (bummer!), so I decided to write instead. And now my husband just walked in the door about two sentences ago, so I’m going to go set the table and make a salad to go with that lasagna while he takes a brief nap. Here’s hoping the coming week goes better than the previous one!
