A Journey Through Life...'s Blog

Yesterday was just kind of a pleasantly surprising kind of day especially given that MK has seemed not himself lately or else is pulling back.  I miss our almost daily contact and the more humourous (spelling is an ode to him) side of him.  I'm letting him be however and continuing to work on the weight loss, exercise etc.  I was cranky tho for a bit this a.m. b/c I'm up a pound from a day or two ago and really have been watching it pretty close and exercising consistently.  What's up with THAT, I wonder?!  Muscle weighs more than fat I keep telling myself

Jaden and Ryann both had soccer games this a.m.  Final ones of the season.  It has rained so much lately that walking through the fields was like walking through a marsh.  The fields in WDM literally had water standing on them and your feet made this weird squishing sound with every step.  Kinda gross really.

After lunch I took the 3 youngest roller skating b/c Jaden hadn't been able to go to her school skating party earlier in the week.   I had brought a book and the newspaper to read but to my pleasant surprise a couple of other moms from my kids' schools were there, ladies I hadn't talked to in awhile so it was good to catch up.  One of them announced that on Monday she'd be filing for divorce from her husband of 20 years due to his gambling and alcohol addictions and his narcissistic personality disorder.  On the outside this looked like the perfect family.  I guess ya never know.  Sometimes I get so caught up in everyone elses' life looking so much more perfect than mine but it isn't always the case.

After I got home I took my daily 2 mile walk and when I got back home there was a strange van pulling into the driveway.  It ended up being GG, an acquaintance from a few years ago who was a foster parent who had a very interesting story to share about a former client.  She is a strong Christian and its pretty remarkable how God has worked through her and in regard to the little boy in question.

Ended the day by watching Billy Bob Thornton in "Bad News Bears".  In many ways, Billy Bob's character is like the male version of who I'd be if I didn't have such a strong sense of propriety (though without the drinking/smoking).  Its a movie I've watched several times and can still laugh out loud watching it.  That, and "White Chicks" are about the only ones I can say that about.

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tooth.

On Sept. 12 I had a filling put into a cavity in one of my wisdom teeth.  Yes, I'm 43 years old and until a few days ago I had all 4 of 'em!  I'm not one for much medical intervention.  I had both of my babies with a midwife and very few drugs (easier at 27 than it was at 37) and made it just fine.

Initially the tooth was sensitive to eating cold stuff.  This sensitivity increased over the course of the past several weeks until last Friday when it changed from being a 600 mg a day pain to a 600 mg every 3 hours pain.  Visited my dentist who said the cavity had been so close to the nerve that the filling probably irritated the nerve to the point of causing it to die.  Gave the choice of a root canel or having it pulled.

Over the weekend it became even worse and on Monday called to have it scheduled to be pulled early Tuesday a.m.  I was scared to death.  Ray, my rock, went along and I'm pleased to report that the whole thing went fine.  I chose to have IV sedation w/an oral surgeon and they were some of the best drugs ever!  I spent the rest of the day sleeping and very, very mellow.  I was so proud of myself for daring to do the sedation, get it pulled to begin with, etc. that I saved the tooth.  Weirdly, I'm pretty proud of it and have offered to show it to whoever wants to see it (so far have only ad a couple of takers on that one).  Really, the pain was honestly comparable to labor and it lasted longer.  That's why I feel like I gave birth to a bouncing baby tooth.

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Actually, this isn't going to be a negative post nor particuarly humorous. 

I spent this past weekend in Chicago (northern Indiana, actually) with my 2 oldest girls for Payten's soccer tournament.  We had a delightful time, just us 3 'big' girls.  Getting them away from my 2 younger cherubs for more than one night did us all some good.  I don't really think about how hard it is to raise 4 girls until I just have the two who are both old enough to really be decent human beings much of the time.  Payten and Kyler even really seemed to enjoy spending time w/each other over the weekend.  We got to eat at our 2 favorite restaurants Des Moines lacks, we got to see the city and Payten got to win a couple of soccer games.

Driving in on Friday evening we stopped at restaurant #1.  Something fancy or at least a Chicago deep dish pizza place?  No.  Steak & Shake.  We weren't even in Chicago yet.  We stopped at the Steak & Shake in LaSalle, IL.  I  believe LaSalle has  population of, oh, maybe 20,000 and they get a Steak & Shake.  Des Moines' metro population is over 500,000 and we don't.  I hate that.  More than you can imagine.  What sense is there in this?  I'd even drive to the other side of town for a Steak & Shake.  Friday, though, we were there and it was good.

Saturday a.m . brought 2 early soccer games w/a win and a loss.  Around noon the 3 of us headed to the city.  I've been to Chicago several times but have never myself driven there.  I'm soooo proud of myself for navigating I-90 into downtown and PARKING!  'Course it was in a $23 ramp, but still.  We spent some time on Navy Pier before hoofing it to Water Tower Place, the mall Payten remembers from several years ago and loves (probably 'cuz there's 8 levels of MALL).  All in all though, a really nice day with the girls.  Tired feets at the end of it but really nice.

Sunday a.m. brought our last soccer game and another win.  Free to leave at noon, we stopped at DSM-missing-restaurant #2, Boston Market.  Now, we used to have several Boston Markets, one not more than a couple of miles from where I now live BUT, several years ago they all closed and mine was taken over by Krispy Kreme.  I'd give a year's supply of Krispy Kreme donuts just to get my Boston Market back.  This visit was a bit disappointing though, because I found out that their squash casserole is a regional thing...The BM's in Kansas have it.  In N. Indiana, they don't.

We had a peaceful drive back even though it was stormy for the last bit.  Payten drove through IL and I slept.  Can't get much more peaceful than that.  The calm before having the 2 little ones home Monday a.m. 

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