There! I'm in a Wheelchair.

We just had to get out of the house.  So, my friend Melissa and her boys went to the Zoo with us.  I rented a wheelchair.  I just couldn't bring myself to rent a jazzy for $25.  My boys were all too excited to push me around in the wheel chair.  While they were very helpful, the experience was a little like that Wild Mouse ride at Lagoon where you think you are going to ride straight off the track at full speed and then at the last minute YOU TURN!  More than one time I used the heel of my sandal for brakes.  Thanks to my friend for taking pity on me and pushing me some of the way - she's a trooper and more muscular for it!

 D.J., Spencer, Seth, Theo, Ethan and James.

Back to School Jumping Jacks

I know, I know.  The first thing I do after I get all kids in school is come home and blog about them.  The apron strings are still firmly attached.  I can't say I didn't a little get choked up, but there were no tears rolling down my face, contrary to Mark's anticipation.

I just have to record James' behavior this morning.  It all started at 7 AM when James came up to me with his arms open and said, "Happy first day of school Mom!"  Like it was a holiday!  Then he starts singing to me, in the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas: "On the first day of school, my Mom gave to me, a red angry birds shirt!"  We got him a new backpack so he got that out and clipped of the tags.  After he got dressed he asked if it was time to go.  I said no, but please go clip off the tags on your back pack.  "I already did Mom."  Oh, then go clip off the tags on your lunch box.  It's quiet for a minute or two.  I walked upstairs and he had clipped off all the tags on his, D.J.'s and Spencer's lunch box and set them in the doorway of each bedroom like it was an Easter basket.  He found his pencil box and wrote his name on it and his lunch box.  All the while D.J. and Spencer were saying this, "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ."  They were still asleep!

After D.J. woke up he started getting a little excited but tried to hide it.  Spencer was just ho-hum.  James was also excited that he got to pick out the one hot lunch I let them have each week - ravioli on Wednesday.  Our neighborhood has a first day of school breakfast, so they were all excited to get to that.  Too excited in fact, so Mark ordered them to do jumping jacks to get some energy out.  James learned to ride his bike this summer so he was excited to be able to ride his bike to school and asked me at least four times during breakfast if it was time to go.

When it was time for him to get in line with his class, he knew exactly what to do, he gave Dad a high five and didn't look back. Sigh.

Here are the wacky, wonderful Astling boys, whom I love and am so excited for:

Time for my pedicure!

All My Children Will Be in All Day School as of Tomorrow!

What am I going to do?!?! What am I going to do?!?!

Should I read Gone with the Wind?
Should I watch all six Star Wars movies? My Fair Lady? Fiddler on the Roof? The Sound of Music? Extended versions and all the extras of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy?
Should I eat chocolate and vanilla bon-bons?
Should I begin watching the latest soap-operas?
Should I take bubble baths every day?

Maybe not all in one day.  Seeing as how the first day of school is early out, and I have to go to a classroom meeting for Spencer during the day anyway, I think I'll just get a pedicure and get rid of the purple toenails I've had since the end of school.

I have been thinking of many projects I can do and many fun things too.  Painting some rooms in the house (after James's room, THE STENCIL APPLES IN THE KITCHEN WILL VANISH!), going through the dreaded file cabinet, organizing closets, cleaning all the dirt and pond scum that has collected over the summer.  Fun things: meeting Mark for lunches, friends for lunches, mother-in-law for lunch, sewing projects of my own, using art kits that my mother-in-law has given me over the years, helping my sister, keeping up on blogs.

Of course these things will happen after doing my regular enjoyable volunteering at the school in each of the boy's classes and with the PTA and with the local library and whatever nutrition counseling I'm called for.  So, maybe I won't get to all projects I'm listing, but I'm just saying, I'm coming up on a new part of life.  I'm just not the sort of Mom who cries when my babies leave for school.  I'm also not the sort of Mom who is desperate for them to go back to school (the last few days excepted because of intense bickering caused by too much time together).  I get excited for them to move on and learn new things and discover more about themselves.  I get excited for me to do the same thing about myself.  Because they are in a new phase of life so am I, and I'm up for adventure!

Marysvale Was Great Anyway!

After my Mom and Dad brought us from the hospital to the cabins/rooms we stayed in, she asked, "Well, did you have a good time before the accident?"  To which I replied, "YES!"  I'm glad I remember everything up until the accident!  Marysvale is a beautiful place!  We drove to the tops of mountains, played in snow, ate lunch by a reservoir, but the best thing was being around family!

 We begin to head out after a great breakfast.  Mom and Dad had the cabin with the kitchen, so that's where we ate most of our meals and snacks and more snacks and snacks.

 When we stopped at the first reservoir, Spencer discovered a patch of snow a little up the hill.  He decided that he would throw a snowball at Uncle Jesse.  The first snowball was met with laughter.  The second snowball was met with a little retaliation.  Jesse carried Spencer down to the reservoir and dipped the top of Spencer's head in!  Ahh, Uncles are great! 

 You would think that he would think twice about doing something like that again, but I suspect he won't.

 D.J. is lounging and eating lunch on the four-wheeler I was driving.

 It really was very beautiful and vibrant green!

 Cousins + lunch + six-man + outdoors = a great day!

 A map and six opinions.

 The bed of a truck and food, makes a great play pen! Miles and Wade were a little territorial about those Cheetos!

 It would be an understatement to say that Jack loves four-wheelers.

Matt enjoying a summer foray in the snow, making a snow angel.  How angelic.

 The second lake we stopped at after Wendy made the biggest mud rooster tale with her truck. 

. . . . We pause the post now for an eighteen hour emergency break. . . . . 

. . . . . . beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. . . . . 

 Uncle Jesse decides to attempt the gazillion ounce hamburger for lunch the next day so he can get his picture on the wall.  After actually FINISHING the whole thing, their camera was broken! So, Jesse, here is your claim to fame on my blog. I'm sorry there are not many single women who read my blog.

 At home after the accident, Spencer and I share a reading moment. He's reading book 9 in the Ranger's Apprentice series and I'm reading book one.

Yellowstone: A Vacation Without Accidents

In the beginning of July we went to Yellowstone with our neighbors, The Riddles.  We actually camped inside the park this year and had a great time doing it!  Thankfully, our trip was before the bear attack, so I didn't spend the time paranoid.  I really liked going straight from our campsite to the awesome, beautiful viewing areas,without having to travel and hour in and out of the park.  We went to many of the attractions that we've seen before, but either saw new things about them or different perspectives.  I love being in nature and especially being in nature without cell phone coverage or wi-fi, so that our options were enjoying each other and this amazing world!

The first night we actually stayed in a hotel in Idaho Falls, which turned out to be a great way to decompress from a busy week.  One more night with showers and pools.

There was a nice walk around the falls with all sorts of statues and artwork.

On to Yellowstone! One of the first waterfalls we saw as we entered the park.  One of our neighbors had not visited Yellowstone before and the other visited 15 years ago, so we stopped at almost everything we could.

The first animal we saw was a bear!!  We were so excited.  We were far enough away we felt safe.  Thank goodness for zoom lenses!

We didn't need a zoom lens for this one! This guy was so close to our van it gave me nervous chills!

This gave me chills of a different kind!  We are at the top of the waterfall in Yellowstone canyon.  What a humbling feeling to watch this water move sooo fast and realize that you are a tiny, puny, powerless, little spec of dust compared to this.

Have you seen the Petroglyphs in Yellowstone? Very life like.

This white spot int he picture is a wolf!  A wolf and bear in one trip - oh my!

Ice cream at Mammoth Hot Springs because it was HOT there!

Could this be a product of sulfur?

Oh, yes, it's sulfur.  The bison doesn't seem to mind though.

Old Faithful, the big attraction at Yellowstone is best viewed through star shaped glasses, on Mom's shoulders and thankfully in the shade.

Another cool picture from my talented husband.

 We had this cool log teeter totter at our second campsite.  Thankfully no fingers were smashed. Our buddy Damon loved it too!

One of the reasons this camping trip was so great was Mark being able to orchestrate the boys helping with tent building and breaking.  They are old enough and big enough to help with nearly everything! Yee-haw! Mark looks like an official camping conductor with the great hat his Mom gave him. How did she know it would match nearly every shirt he has?

 If you are a camping sort of person - Yellowstone is a great place to do it! They've got great facilities and you can't beat the surroundings! Just take bear repellant now.

Mark's Still Trying to Get Me to Drive a Jazzy; Thoughts About Work.

Still not going for the jazzy.

Other updates:
I'm feeling pretty good.  I'm still taking it easy because I don't want to risk further back injury, because back injuries stink.  I feel like I'm getting back to normal.  My injury feels like a big sore muscle that doesn't go away in a few days, but I'm confident it will go away in weeks, which is just fine with me, I'm not in a hurry, which is amazing, but you'll see why.

I've gone to a physical therapist three times now and will only need to go one more day before I'm discharged.  I mostly do exercises while laying on my back to build my core.  It feels good to do some exercise though.  I really do miss being able to have a good aerobic workout for at least 30 minutes most days.  The hardest part about taking it easy is that my blood sugar levels have increased because I'm not active.  I've had to make adjustments to my insulin a number of times and still struggle with it a bit.  It's been very helpful to have my CGM to detect trends and have alerts for highs (haven't had many lows) so that I can prevent greater highs. Again thanks to the scientists, doctors, nurses, computer people, grant givers and others who make my diabetes a little easier to control.

My head is still a little tender and bumpy, but what else is new?

I have had much time to ponder how I run my life, while I try to direct others to run a bit of it for me.  My boys have been so helpful to fetch things I need and complete little jobs.  I would not be able to take it easy if I didn't have my wonderful Mark to push me away from the dishwasher and laundry when I attempt to do them. Because of his example, Spencer now does the same thing.

I realize how I run a fast paced life, thinking certain things absolutely need to be done, whether they are really necessary or not, and that I can do many things at the same time if I just plan efficiently.  As I shuffle around the house I think to myself how quickly I used to be able to do things.  Mark has always told me to slow down and take some time for myself.  While I think I have been better at doing that in the last few years, in my judgement, it's also a huge part of my nature to work hard, and I derive a great deal of satisfaction from that.  I suspect I will be able to take a little more time for myself when James goes to first grade but I'm also afraid that I'll fill up the time will needless things.  I struggle with the balance of work and care for myself.  Here's what I think about the whole issue (reminder that this is what I think now, which could evolve into something else as I learn more):

• Hard work provides a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that helps me to discover my abilities and also my limitations, which helps define who I am. 
• I can choose what work I perform.  This doesn't mean that I will only choose jobs that I like because there are plenty of things that just need to be done whether I like them or not, and if I CHOOSE, I can still feel satisfied and fulfilled by doing those.  I've found that not complaining about these sorts of jobs helps my attitude toward them. Just "git r dun" and move on.
• In my estimation, choosing jobs that I like is the same thing as having "me time".  Choosing jobs that help others is "me time" augmented.  I love helping other people and having fun while doing it.  This is why I volunteer for story time at the library and volunteer at the school promoting literacy.  There are times when these jobs become busy and rushed.  This does not mean that I do not enjoy the experience.  I am just busy and rushed for the moment, but the satisfaction usually always comes with my interaction with others and with a good job finished.
• Having a "poor me" attitude about having to work, whether it's something I've been asked to do or something I've chosen that didn't turn out the way I thought it would, sours my life.  When I make a commitment to do something, even if it's not enjoyable, finishing the task brings satisfaction as well.  Also, those jobs turn out to be the best war stories to tell.  On the flip side, having a "poor me" attitude about resting is just as sour. Come to think of it a "poor me" attitude about anything at any time is souring.
• There is a time for rest and a time for work.  Too much work may make one resentful of the work itself. Too much rest breeds a lack a progress and a lack of self-esteem.  And living in a grass-is-greener world is constant unsatisfaction with life in general. Sometimes I think society defines rest only as a lounge on a beach by clear blue waters or doing anything restful to your heart's content.  I think you find rest by training yourself to rest, even amidst chaos.  Which, ironically, takes a lot of practice and work.  This is what I think I've been better at doing in the last few years.  People may see me out and about, running around doing many jobs, but if I train myself to rest my mind or to enjoy myself doing those jobs, I achieve a great balance.  So, like Tom Brokaw or some other famous newscaster used to say, "where ever you are, be there." When you work, really work.  When you play, really play.  If you figure our how to make work play, you're blessed, or you've blessed yourself.
• I find the best way to rest your mind while working is to focus on the positive points or results of a job. Be positive.  Find the silver lining. How will this benefit me?  How will this benefit others?  There are always good things find. 

So, as you see, I've had a lot of time to think about this.  It's good to write it down.  It's probably more than you want to read though. So, I'm not in a hurry to get back to a rushed life.  Now is a time to rest and I'm able to do so thanks to so many good people who have helped in all sorts of ways.  The new school year is around the corner and I'm starting to think about all that comes with that.  But, I'll have you know that I've already said 'no' to one volunteer job because after working and resting I'm becoming more familiar with a good balance.  I hope that lasts! I suspect I'll have times in the future when I over schedule myself, but I'm glad I've had this epiphany and have written it down so I can come back to it and get perspective again.

Hallelujah Chorus from Spencer

I no longer have staples holding me together!!  This morning a kind nurse removed the five staples from the back of my head and said it looks alright.  After the staple removal, we picked up the boys from their soccer and basketball class, and Spencer started singing the Hallelujah chorus. He never was a fan of the thought of staples in my head and never did look at them, so what a relief for him to not have to imagine that anymore!  I did enjoy the serenade though because I am quite happy that I will be able to lay my head flat on the pillow and wash my hair normally.  Those two things seem silly, but they fall under the category of 'not appreciating things until you lose them'.

On that subject, here are some other things that I generally don't appreciate, but do now:
sweeping and mopping the floor
vacuuming
making dinner (though I generally like this)
sitting up for longer than 20 minutes
weeding the garden (thankfully I did this the day before the vacation)
rising up out of a chair without grunting
picking things up off the floor
lifting the garbage into the garbage can
all sorts of other basic tasks that I do every day without thinking about having the ability to do them

The other good thing about not being able to do them myself, beside appreciating that I can usually do them, is that my boys have stepped up and helped out with these things.  Spencer learned to make Top Ramen, I've taught Spencer and D.J. to mow the lawn, so we're good in that area, they take the garbage out and also put them out on the curb, help me get out of chairs and let me lean on them when I need to.  They've been able to do all the little jobs for a while, but seeing that I can't do much, they help out a little more readily.

Also, Mark's multi-tasking skills are being put to the test while having to complete multiple projects from work and also multiple jobs at home just to keep everything clean and usable. He is victorious. What a guy!

By the way, he has received a few packages of Double Stuff Oreos from very kind people.

Thank you again to all who helped helped ease my healing process and maintain my household by cleaning, baking, making, suggesting, referring, folding laundry, watching my kids, keeping me company, checking in on me and administering electro therapy.