Thanks For Your Present For Me

My dear, sweet husband will be celebrating his 40th birthday in November ~ and he's having a tremendously difficult time with the upcoming event. He absolutely dreads getting older! In an effort to relieve some of the self-imposed stress that Brian's accumulated, I told him that he could get his mid-life crisis out of the way this summer, as long as it was family friendly. Many plans were tossed about ~ skydiving, a trip to Vegas (yes with me!), a motorcycle, etc., but one was always at the top of his list ~ a new 4-wheeler.

Well Happy Mid-Life Crisis, Brian! He found a GREAT gently used 4-wheeler on Craig's List and bought it last week. The thing is massive. Luggage racks on both front and back. Automatic transmission. Like, a lot of horse power or something. Um, it's green. Anyway, I don't know too much of the details but I do know that the smile on Brian's face when he came home with it was priceless!

Hop on, he says. Let's go around the neighborhood, he says. We won't go fast, he says. LIE! A roller coaster goes slower than we did! OK, no exaggeration...I was FREAKING OUT! No way was I ever going to ride on that thing, much less drive it.

Now here's where I eat crow:

Saturday, Brian borrowed a teen 4-wheeler (thinking about getting it for the kids but decided not to) and took the family to his deer camp. I rode with Brian and Drew on The Big Green while Meg drove Matt on The Red Baron. We tooled around for awhile until Brian switched gears on us.

Keli, you drive mine, he says. It's real easy, he says. You can do it, he says. AND HE WAS RIGHT! Meg and Drew hopped on board with me and we hit the road. Definitely not as fast or swirvey as Brian through the neighborhood, but fun none-the-less. By the end of the day I was asking for my own, only in hot pink.

Only 4 more years until my mid-life crisis!

A Stitch Just in Time

OK, so if you read the previous entry, you know all about our personal hospital that we open here at our house for Tex. Well, I failed to mention that we had an addition to that hospital.

Meg and I stayed home from Church on Sunday to be with Tex and the boys went with Brian; they were going to go to the Deer Camp and play in the afternoon.

I get a call around 3:00 from Brian and here's how it went:

Brian ~ I've got to tell you something but I don't want you to freak out.

Keli ~ OK, what's going on?

Brian ~ We're at the hospital in Kosciusko and Matt's getting stitches.

Keli ~ What!!!

Brian ~ Don't freak out, remember?

Keli ~ What the bleep are you talking about? (I really said bleep folks)

Brian ~ We were at Deer Camp and Matt cut his pinkie finger on something. They're going to put a few stitches in and then we're coming home.

Keli ~ But Matt leaves for a week camp tomorrow morning. Can he still go with stitches?

Brian ~ KELI! Stop freaking out. He's a boy and he'll be fine.

Keli ~ Brian, please put Matt on the phone, now!

Drew ~ Mom, Matt is getting his finger looked at. I'll take care of him since you're not here, even though he threw up on me.

Keli ~ You're a very brave and wonderful big brother. How bad is it?

Drew ~ Well, there's blood and throw up all over Matt and me.

Keli ~ We can get it cleaned up. Thank you for being there and helping. May I speak to Matt now?

Matt ~ Mom, they put in four cat stitches on my finger and I threw up three times and it got all over me and Drew and the nurse. I can't get my finger wet or dirty until the stitches come out.

Keli ~ OK, baby. Just come home and I'll love on you.

Matt ~ OK, but you might want me to change clothes first.

Brian has no idea how Matt did it, but he sliced open his little finger. I got my boys home, loved on them, and made sure I knew what to tell the nurse at the boy's camp the next day. Remember, he can't get it dirty or wet.

Monday ~ I drop off the boys at camp and made sure that the camp nurse and Matt's counselor know that swimming is out, cannoeing is out, and he needs to wear a baggie on his hand during shower time. They all understand.

Friday ~ I pick up the boys from camp and find out that Matt has won the Belly Buster Contest in the swimming pool, he had a blast in the lake and canoe, he showered with one hand out of the curtain, and knocked a few of the stitches around when he got hit in the dodge ball game.

Honestly, if I survive July it will be a miracle!

I'm so ready to go back to school!

Updating for Future Remembrances

These past few weeks have been a whirl-wind for my family. I've come to rely on my blog as personal journal and have been lack in adding any new entries. So the following might contain gory details of what has transpired lately. If you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip this.

Two weeks ago, our Church conducted Vacation Bible School. On the very first day we had record numbers of attending kids, a great thing for a small country Church. I led the Opening Worship and taught the 10 and up class (we averaged 13 in my class). It was turning into a fabulous week for all involved.

Until Wednesday.

Our VBS started at 6:00 and ran until 9:00 which meant that Brian had to leave work early everyday and rush to the house, pick us up by 4:30 so that we could get to the Church by 5:30 and get all our gear ready for the night. By the time we got home in the evenings it was around 10:00 and we were EXHAUSTED!

Wednesday night was going to be our lazy night. Brian had taken Thursday off so that we could stay at the Church, get to bed early, and sleep in on Thursday. We were going to play on Thursday and just enjoy being together as a family, all 6 of us, Tex included.

The house we stay in at Thomastown is right beside the Church, with a huge field directly behind the house. We've attached a running line for Tex going from the back porch of the house to the field that allows him the freedom of roaming (albeit in a straight line). Our Recreation for VBS is also in that field. Wednesday we had attached Tex to the runner ~ Brian was in charge of rec and was going to keep an eye on Tex (plus Tex loves watching the kids play ~ he's like the mascot of the Church).

My group was the last one in rec on Wednesday night. We were out there from 8:00 to 8:30 and had a great time playing. After our rec. time was over, we went into the Church for snack. Brian came in as well and was going to leave Tex out on the runner for a little longer, nothing unusual, we've done that many times. We had not been inside for 15 min. when a Church member came running inside to get Brian ~ Tex was being attacked. This man had just stepped outside to make a phone call and heard something screaming, he thought it was a child. He went around the corner and saw a bull mix on Tex. By the time Brian got to Tex, the bull had Tex on his side, had one paw on Tex's side, and his mouth on Tex's neck trying to pull it off. Brian saw red and charged.

I had heard that the bull was over with Tex but didn't think it was bad, I seriously thought that Brian was going to take care of it...we've had problems with that dog before. Not two min. later a lady came to get me saying that it was bad and that I needed to get over there before my kids saw it.

I took of running not sure what I would find. Brian had grabbed Tex and put him in this big laundry room at the house so he could get some help from a few men. I can not tell you the amount of blood that was in that room when I opened the door. It was a literal blood scene. I don't know why Tex wasn't in shock from the massive amounts of blood he was loosing.

We made some phone calls, wrapped Tex in towels, and jumped in the car. By now it was 9:00 and we had found a vet in Kosciusko that agreed to meet us and look at Tex. My poor kids had to walk into the house, see the gore, and just wait. Thank goodness for my friend who stayed with them and cleaned up the mess.

We met the vet who was surprised that Tex wasn't already dead. There were numerous DEEP puncture wounds on the right side of his neck and the inside of his right ear had been shredded to pieces. When the vet would put a stick of gauze in Tex's ear to find where all the blood was coming from, the stick would come out of his neck. I am so grateful for that man, he worked on Tex for 2 hours before we left. If Tex lived through the night he might just have a chance. We decided that since there was still a lot of bleeding, and Tex was sedated, we would drive back to our own home and take care of him there.

By the time we drove back to get the kids and our stuff, and then drove home, it was after midnight and we were exhausted. I put everyone to bed, made a pallet for Tex in the living room (we've got tiled concrete so clean up is easy), and then started my nursing career. Tex came home from the vet with a drain tube and open wounds that leaked, no poured. My washing machine and dryer worked over time that first night.

So, from Wednesday night until Monday morning, someone had to stay with Tex. We needed to make sure he didn't scratch at any of the puncture wounds and rip them open further, keep an eye on the drain tube in his neck, and clean up behind him whenever he left the pallet. It was a family act of love. I would usually carry Tex, or walk with him in case he couldn't make it outside; the boys were on "blood detail", having to clean and sanitize the floor from anything that dripped out; and Meg was on scratching detail, making sure he wasn't opening any new holes. Definitely gross, something that not all people understand ~ Tex is just a dog after all, but we did anything and everything because Tex is a member of our family.

This past Monday the drain tube was removed but the puncture wounds are still open and leaking, though not as bad. We took Tex to our vet the Thursday after the attack so they could begin treatment. It was their advice that none of the wounds be closed, that they be allowed to stay open and drain out instead of keeping all that fluid in and risking possible infection. Tex is more mobile now, still not eating much of anything, there's still swelling around his right jaw, and he's lost hearing in his right ear. The vet is talking possible reconstructive surgery in his ear because the ear canal is destroyed. They want to see how well the ear is going to heal before we take that step, though.

Here it is Saturday, a week and four days since this ordeal began. I would post some of the pics I took but they are definitely too gory. We've always said that Tex was more cat than dog. If that's the case then he's about out of lives. This is the same dog that almost went blind in one of his eyes due to a thorn scratching it. This is also the same dog that was run over ~ ON HIS HEAD ~ and lived. This is also the same dog that smiles when he's with his family, that likes to sing, "I love you" with his mom, that loves to go riding in the truck with his dad, and will spend a little of each night making the rounds to check on his kids.

Praise the Lord that our friend went to make that phone call and heard Tex.

Praise the Lord that it wasn't a child that was attacked.

Praise the Lord that we found a vet that would see us after hours.

Praise the Lord that Tex is still with us.

Praise the Lord!

Chee's Back!

So those who know me know that I have bad chee. It's not always evident, but if you look real close at my life you'll see it. Bad chee, the bain of my existence.

Brian is always reminding the kids not to park their bikes too close to the driveway, one day we'll hear a crunch while backing up and bye-bye bike. Well, last evening I heard a crunch as I was backing up but it wasn't a bike that I hit...it was Brian's truck. Yep, chee.

One of the kids had not followed Brian's advice and instead of moving the bike and then parking, Brian just pulled in behind me; not all the way behind me, but just enough that I would have to do some fancy swerving to maneuver away from his mode of transportation.

I thought I had cleared myself from Brian's truck and had turned to look over my left shoulder to make sure that I didn't run over any power or TV boxes when I heard the gut-wrenching crunch. As bad chee would have it, Meg and a friend were with me. GREAT! We jumped out of the van, assessed the damage, and then jumped back into the van with my threat, "GO GO GO" filling the air. Then my words changed to, "Crap" and Meg followed with, "OOOOOHHH. Now you've got to tell Dad. I'm gonna call him."

Through much schmoozing, Brian was told (although AFTER I got back from the video store). Now I have matching bonks, both on the right side of the van. So my advice to you, if you see me and feel like being in a collision with me...please hit the left side of my van ~ I don't think the right side can take anymore!

Are You Ready?

Not much time left now, what is it ~ 24 days for faculty?

While I've enjoyed my summer, I'm ready for the routine of school.

So to all my teacher friends...live up the last few days of summer!

So Simple

I woke up this morning and decided that a good dose of hard working, sweat dripping, yard cleaning medicine would be just what I needed to chase away the blues of missing Meg while she's at camp. Call me crazy, but I absolutely love mowing and weed eating.

I begin my morning with mowing the front yard, only my lawn mower is having some technical difficulties. Hhmm, wonder what's going on with that? Putting on my detective hat I discovered that the problem probably lies with the STICKS that someone has put in the gas tank of the mower. Well, shoot, so much for mowing. I'll just move on.

My next job was weed eating. I drag out this monstrous machine that Brian bought to ease the burden of weeding. Perfect ~ except I can't work the thing! After several aggressive tries to start this technological wonder, I give up. Plenty more to do, right?

My next attempt at the front yard is to trim the bushes. I'm fighting the heat, slinging sweat out of my eyes, have asked the boys to help bag the debris, and feeling like I'm finally accomplishing something this morning.

After a few minutes, I notice that it's very quiet in my yard, a little too quiet for my taste and experience. I turn around in time to see the boys running down the street to a friends' house while yelling over their shoulder, "It's too hot to work in the yard, Mom. We're going on a slip-n-slide. Be back for lunch."

And you know what? They've got the right idea. It is too hot for yard work. I'll finish after Church tonight when the heat is hopefully not so oppressive. So, if you drive by my house please overlook the half mowed front yard, the angrily discarded weed eater, and the shaggy bushes. My heart was in the right place but darn I still miss Meg! Wonder if there's any chocolate in the house?