Half a Root Canal . . .

My eager anticipation turned to utter despair as the dentist said, "Man, that root is calcified.  We're going to have to do this in two visits." 

Right now, I'm writing to you with half a root canal completed.  Three roots are gone.  I have an antibacterial in the hole and a temporary filling to keep everything in place. And I get to go back again . . .  

Thankful Thursday!

I so meant to post this yesterday.  What began as just a small twinge, or maybe a teenie tiny ache about six weeks ago, kept getting a little more painful every day.  Two weeks ago, my dentist uttered the words, "Root canal".  Yesterday, I can not tell you how thankful I was that my root canal was scheduled for TODAY!  I was in pain.

Another Update on the Boss' Hub . . .

I got a text from Pat this morning saying that Duane had taken a turn for the worse last night.  They had a zoom family meeting this morning where they decided it was best to just provide pallative care until Jesus takes Duane home. 

The Ambulance

While walking Annie around the block before lunch today, an ambulance passed us with flashing lights.  I didn't think too much of it until I turned down our street and there it was - by our house!  

Note:  I was walking Annie because Sam was up on the high ladder painting our house and neighbor Chris was doing some work on the roof for us.  I was sure one of them had fallen.  

We hurried home and relief - I saw Sam still up on the ladder which meant Chris had to be fine, too.

Sure enough, it was our next door neighbor who was having issues with her blood pressure.  

The Dock Doctor

I pulled into the clinic this morning to see my doctor and it was a first!  He was waiting to see me!  We went outside, caught up on life, and then he checked out my lump.  It turns out that there's really nothing wrong with me.  I just happen to have a larger bone on the top of my clavicle.  No worries!  Yay!

The best part of the day was when I thanked him for seeing me at Lakeville rather than having me drive up to Bloomington.  He said he was getting ready to retire and is definitely thinking about going part-time next year.  He and his wife have a cabin up north.  She thought he could become a "dock doctor",  seeing people at their docks to go over their health concerns and then being paid by barter.  Interesting concept.  If he leaves, I'm really going to miss him.  

"Run for the Unreached" Lunch

Heidi, Julie, Micah and I did North Central's "Run for the Unreached" the first weekend of May socially distanced with the plan to meet up for lunch sometime later wearing our t-shirts to celebrate completing it.

Today was the day!  Here we are at Buffalo Tap in Savage:

Micah, me, Julie and Heidi

 

The Stories You Can't Make Up!

The current fifth grade plan in Sam's building this year is for Barb to teach on-line classes and Sam and Sarah will teach in the classroom, having half of their classes on Monday and Tuesday and the second half of their classes on Thursday and Friday.

Sam called Sarah yesterday to ask her a couple of questions, but the one she asked him was a doozy!

Sarah has been teaching for five or six years.  For all of those years, her students have sat at tables.  She asked Sam, "What's a desk look like?  I mean, like what's it's size?" 

Really?

An Update on the Boss' Hub

This was so NOT the text I expected to get from my boss regarding her husband!  I don't know why I'm surprised.  I asked you to pray.

"They were able to control the heart arrhythmia with a lidocaine.  The cardiologist told the hospital doctor to use it.  The hospital doctor's reaction was that he hadn't used this medication in years, but he started Duane on it so his heart has been stable.  Since his heart was stable and oxygen levels were good, yesterday they tried to ween him off the ventilator by having him initiate the breaths.  That went so well that (Friday) afternoon they took him off the ventilator.  He is breathing on his own with supplemental oxygen.  He's alert off and on and answers simple questions with "yes, no, okay, etc."  It sounds like they will move him out of ICU (Sunday).  I have been amazed!"  

Thank you!

The Elusive "E"

Earlier this summer, Micah and I were over at our friend Jana's house dropping off some of Micah's business cards for her bakery, "Uniquely ME".  Jana was looking at her card and said, "You know, you should marry a man with a last name that starts with the letter "E".  That way your bakery would have your initials in it - "Micah (M) + Last Name that Starts with "E" (E) = ME".  

We laughed about how Micah could go through the student directory at North Central this year and begin checking out the guys who's last names started with the letter "E".  

Then we decided, it really wouldn't have to be a last name.  It could be a first names that helped make up the "M-E".  So she should be going through the student directory looking for guys who's first and/or last names started with the letter "E", all for the sake of her bakery name.

After spending a summer teasing Micah, she told us this morning that she had gotten an e-mail from one of her profs last night saying that the students in her class had been put in to groups of two.  Sadly, we're pretty sure that prof assumed that Micah was a "he" and not a "she" as Micah determined she was in the only mixed gender pair, with E-R-I-K.  

Yup, they would be "M" and "E"!  

The Doctor's Report

When my doctor finally stopped laughing about the alien that showed up on his screen Thursday afternoon, we got down to business.  My cholesterol is excellent.  My SEDrate for my PMR is normal.  If everything goes according to plan, I should take my last prednisone pill on Election Day.  However, my potassium is low and I have a lump just above my collar bone that my boss noticed on Wednesday at work.  

I love my doctor!  He said that he would be at the Lakeville Clinic on Wednesday, less than a mile from my house.  Would I be willing to drop by and have him run out to the parking lot and check out that lump?  No brainer.  Of course!  We're setting the time on Tuesday.

He's pretty sure the lump is nothing, quite possibly the result of my costochondritis, but he wants to make sure.  

We also talked about me returning to work, specifically at Sand Creek where bilateral face masks are not required.  He said it was up to me.  I might be fine.  I might not.  I needed to make the decision.

From his standpoint, I am extremely healthy for someone "my age".  However, Covid isn't following any set pattern.  He encouraged me to be safe, not sorry.

After a long talk with Sam, who would rather have me stay home and paint the house, we decided on "no masks, no work".  I sent an e-mail off to my boss who has yet to respond.  My guess is, I'll be painting. 

Sold!

Micah had baked more cupcakes for Aria's garage sale this morning.  After she frosted them, we went to put them in her car so she could drive them over to the sale.  

I had just opened her back door, when our neighbor to the south called out, "What are those?"

"Cupcakes."

"What are they for?"

"Sale."

Then came the details about Aria's cancer and the garage sale to help cover her medical expenses.

They bought a dozen cupcakes - for more than the asking price!

Thankful Thursday!

I've had one girl in class all week who was just a pill.  While we were in the classroom, she'd put her head down on her desk and sleep.  While we were teaching in the pool, she would be monotone, stone-faced and unprepared.  I finally said to her today, "You really don't want to be here, do you?"

Did I ever hit the nail on the head!  She absolutely did NOT want to be here, but her mom had signed her up for the class.  That opened the door for honest communication and you know what?  She actually did her best teaching ever this afternoon.  For that, I am thankful!

Aria

 

This sweet little girl is Aria Turner.  Aria was just a normal kindergartner who enjoyed life and loved being with her friends and family. After the New Year, Aria came down with what her mom thought was the flu. She had a fever, chills, and was extremely fatigued. After several weeks Aria was still exhibiting symptoms of excessive exhaustion and would sleep 12-14 hours at night and then would fall asleep at school. By mid-March she was losing weight rapidly and suffering from migraines and eye pain. Everyone from her teacher, family, and friends knew something was not right. After multiple doctors appointments and tests, an MRI revealed Aria had a brain tumor and she was immediately hospitalized in the ICU. After an emergency surgery to relieve fluid (and pressure) from her brain, the doctors speculated that she had a craniopharyngioma (a benign brain tumor). Further blood work and tests revealed every parent's worst nightmare - Aria did not have a benign tumor, but a malignant one. She has just finished six cycles of aggressive chemotherapy at Children's Hospital and will have an MRI tomorrow to see if she will have six weeks of radiation at the Mayo Clinic or possibly more surgery. 

The women at our church are having a garage sale to raise funds for her family.  It's my fault that you missed it today, but it will still be taking place tomorrow and Saturday at 17123 Hollyhock Court here in Lakeville.  Micah is selling cupcakes there to raise funds.  They sold out today, so she's baking more right now.

If you hate garage sales as much as I do, there is a donation jar there if you would like to help the family out financially.  There's also a GoFundMe account at:  

 https://www.gofundme.com/f/aria039s-fundraiser

A Tough Day at Work . . .

When I arrived at work this morning, my supervisor met me at the door.  Her husband had had a cardiac episode last night while in the hospital.  Staff had given two minutes of CPR and revived him.  

She couldn't go to the hospital to see him due to COVID, so she was coming to work.  Should she get a call from the hospital, she would be gone.

She had just finished teaching her class around 11:00 a.m. when the call came.  Her husband had had another cardiac episode and was given CPR again.

The text came around 2:00 p.m. that they had found an aneurysm and he was too weak for surgery.  Their three children were coming home and should all be there by 5:00 p.m. 

We've not heard anything since then.  The outlook does not look good. Do pray.      

Alien Babies

At ISD 196, when we're teaching Parent/Child Classes, and now with COVID-19, all lower levels, we use what we call the "alien babies".  These inflatable "dolls" take the place of the children as we are training our students.

Pat made the decision that, with COVID, the alien babies could not be properly cleaned and each student could bring their baby home today.  I strongly encouraged my class to have some fun with them.  

In the less than four hours that I've been home, my alien babies (one of my students gave me theirs!) have shown up for my virtual doctor's appointment:

 This is the screen my doctor saw when he came on expecting to see my face.  Fortunately, he's known me for thirty years now and should have know to expect the unexpected.  

He couldn't stop laughing and said that was the best thing that had happened to him all day!

Just like Goldilocks, Matt had someone sleeping in his bed when he came home from work today:

 HIs reaction was priceless!  

Fair warning:  you never know when you might find an alien somewhere near you!

ISD 196

The first thing I saw when I got up yesterday morning was a text from my boss at ISD 196.  She had been at the hospital until 4 a.m. with her husband who is now on a ventilator.  He does not have COVID, but he has Parkinson's and pneumonia.  She would not be at work until Tuesday.

Teija and I would be the only two working.  She was teaching lifeguarding in the morning and helping me that afternoon only.  She had a class of eight and I had a class of nine.  

I tried to set up my computer, but the password didn't work.  Teija couldn't get it to work either.  We called Pat.  She had changed the password and forgotten to tell us.

I started teaching my class and about twenty minutes in to it, I realized I was teaching from the OLD Water Safety Aide Book, the one we hadn't used for a couple of years.  I looked all over.  Teija looked all over.  We couldn't find the right book.  We called Pat again, the woman who had been up until 4 a.m.  This was not going well.  I was winging it with zeal.  Teija had never taught this class, so she let me lead.  

We gave it our best shot and were quite happy this morning when Pat showed up with the right book for me!

All that to say, while teaching was stressful, the class was great!  By that I mean well-behaved, listening, respectful.  The downside?  They're quiet!  My goal over the next two days will be to help them find their pool voices.   

Back at Sand Creek . . .

Compliments of my PMR (polymyalgia rheumatica), I have not worked at Sand Creek since last October.  The prednisone I'm on is an immunosuppressant and my doctor did not want me working out there during COVID without bilateral face mask usage.  Since the boss did not agree with the doctor, I did not work until Sunday.

Sunday evening, we had a group of conservative Muslim women come out to zip.  Twenty seven of them!  They did not want to have any male staff touching them.  I agreed to work on the condition that everyone would wear face masks.

When I got there, none of the SCA staff had on face masks.  Anna apologized to me, explaining why she was not wearing one.  Since I had been praying for this issue in her life for the past two years, I let her know I appreciated her talking with me.  

Then she shared that two of the female staff she had expected to work were not coming.  One was at home awaiting results for a COVID test, the other after promising to work, chose not to.  We were horribly short staffed.

I prayed, asking God to protect me and keep me safe while I worked.  The women wore masks (for the most part - a few needed reminders).  My boss did not.  I truly am very disappointed with his behavior and choices.  I'm not sure where to go with it.  

And it got worse.  We had another group after the women, a deaf family.  I knew Anna had driven an hour to work and really wanted to go home so I stayed.  Did my boss even mention face masks?  No.

I was even more disappointed.  

I meet with my doctor on Thursday.  We'll decide if I go back to work or not.      

Laura

My friend Laura asked if I wanted to hike the Ritter Farm Park (here in Lakeville) with her today.  Of course, I said, "Yes!" 

We got there and Laura said, "Let's do the Mader Trail.  All we have to do is take a left!"

Sounded great to me - I hadn't been there for years and had no idea where to hike! 

Unfortunately, that trail wasn't well marked.  We made some good guesses, walked the same small portion of the trail a couple of times, laughed a lot and survived: 

Next up?  She wants me to bike or lake swim or both!

Claire Olivia

Sam's co-worker from Marion W. Savage, Michelle, has a four-year-old daughter, Claire Olivia.  I have been praying for Claire and her health needs since she was born.  This past month, she has been at Gillette Children's Hospital having surgery, recovering from surgery and preparing for more surgery.  I decided, having never met Claire, that maybe I could encourage her by sending her a card every week.  This was posted on her Caring Bridge site yesterday:

That's Claire with the card I sent her this week.  What a surprise!  

If you'd like to pray for Claire along with me, here's the link to her Caring Bridge site:  https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/clairelindell/journal.

A Rockin' Order

A few weeks back, Micah and I painted rocks for our little neighbor girl and her family.  While we were giving the rocks to her, her cousin, Mac, asked if we could make him a rock, too. 

Micah made him a cool cheetah rock and I gave it to Hazel to give to him.  

This morning, Micah got a text.  "This is ______, Mac's mom.  You made him a rock.  I would like to place an order with you for his birthday on . . ."

Yup, she did put a business card in with the rock!  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The Other Day . . .

. . . while I was getting groceries at Cub and Micah was working, I stopped by the bakery to ask her a question.  She wasn't there, but a co-worker said she was in the break room.  She wasn't there, either, so I decided NOT to talk to her.  

About that time, she came running up to me, saying her co-worker had said someone was looking for her.  She answered my question and went back to work . . .

. . . Where her co-worker asked her who the old lady was that was looking for her!

"Ummm, my mom."    

Sheryl's Cakes!

What do you do when you have a baker in the family?  You let her bake two cakes for the party!

A flourless chocolate cake

Chocolate Oreo Cake

Happy Birthday, Sheryl!

We had an even dozen of us at a pool side birthday party for our friend, Sheryl, on Tuesday night.  Check it out:

Not quite enough candles!

Practicing social distancing

Sheryl, Ann and I

 

Thankful Thursday!

It's always a thankful day when the dentist finishes your check-up and says, "No cavities!"  Unfortunately, that line came with a "but" today . . . "but you need to call the specialist to schedule a root canal . . ."  Oh, happy day!  Two weeks from tomorrow, I will hopefully have survived my first root canal.  And I will most definitely be thankful that it is over!

Since March 13 . . .

It has been almost twenty-two weeks since I last went to work.  Life changed dramatically over the past two days!

First of all, at Sand Creek, they have a conservative Muslim women's group that is coming out next Sunday night.  Could I work it?  They say they can guarantee bilateral face mask usage, so I will be there.  If it's not happening (face masks), I'll leave.

ISD 196 called today.  They are not only guaranteeing bilateral face mask usage, but they are putting more safety steps in for me than I could have ever imagined, so yes.  I am going to teaching the water safety aide class next Monday through Thursday. 

I should be putting in at least thirty hours of paid work next week and at the end of it all, I have a PMR appointment with my doctor.  Could be interesting . . .      

Benessa

When Benessa was born, her mother had a simple wish for her daughter’s life.

 

“I want her to be like a diamond — to shine bright,” she said. Unfortunately for most of Benessa’s life, the light inside her was overshadowed by a tumor growing on her face.

When she was just a baby, her parents noticed a small lump growing above her left eye. By the time she was 5 years old, Benessa’s tumor was drooping over her forehead and was beginning to dislocate her eye.

Benessa’s differences led to bullying and name-calling. Other kids would call her “sick” and avoid playing with her because they were afraid of her. As a result, she refused to go to school, even though her parents desperately wanted her to have an education.

“She was so scared… she said everybody would laugh at her,” said Benessa’s mother.

When they heard about Mercy Ships, Benessa’s mother was overjoyed. It was the first time that she’d dared to believe her daughter might receive surgery.

The family traveled for hours to get to the Africa Mercy, but the end goal was worth every arduous mile.

Soon, a volunteer plastic surgeon removed the tumor Benessa had carried for years. In the weeks following her operation, Benessa spent time onboard being showered in love and friendship by the nurses and other patients.

Freed from worry, the sweet 5-year-old slowly emerged from her shell, and her inner diamond began to shine through. Thanks to her growing confidence, Benessa is no longer afraid to start school and will begin her education next year.

 “When we came to the ship for the first time, I was just thanking God over and over,” said Benessa’s mother. “There is no gift greater than good health.”

Joel 2:12

Annie's Fifteen!

Fifteen years ago today, Annie, our black lab wanna-be, was born on Sam's family farm.  To celebrate, we loaded up the car . . . 

And drove up to the North Shore for the day, stopping only in Duluth, that Covid hot spot, to pick up a new leash and collar for Annie.  Yeah, guess what we forgot to pack.

Here we are in Two Harbors.  Note that awesome collar and leash for only $2.18!

 

FIve Inches!

When my chiropractor gave me the sunflower seeds, the package said they would be five inches.  I assumed tall.  I assumed wrong.  The flower is five inches wide.  The actual plants?  Over five FEET tall!

 

Thankful Thursday!

Today I am thankful for neighbors - good ones!  Ones that trust me with their trash bins, ones that help me move shelves, ones that have birthdays!

It's a dancing penguin wishing Neighbor Nancy a "Happy Birthday!"

We are blessed with a terrific bunch of neighbors.  Case in point:  We were walking Annie tonight when David and Erik came running up to us with thank you cards they had made.  Their mom had said they enjoyed playing with legos.  We had a lego collecting dust.  The cards were to thank us for their new lego table that their dad brought home Monday night.   

Smiling with Memories of Mom

My mom was one of a kind.  To know her was to love her.  I was driving through some road construction this morning and thought of her.  (She died in 2007.) 

I remembered the time she picked me up in Jackson, MN (pop. 3200) when a friend from college dropped me off there.  She ended up driving the wrong way down a one way street.  People were honking at her and trying to signal her.  She just smiled and waved, saying, "They sure are friendly, aren't they?" 

Then there was the time we were in Sioux Falls, SD, driving down a major four-lane road, one that had a fifth lane in the middle for turn lanes.  She drove right down the middle of the turn lane for a couple of blocks, saying, "Well, if they pick me up, I can honestly tell them I'm lost."  

I was telling my dad this this afternoon.  He started to chuckle.  Then he said, it was even harder to teach her how to drive!    

A 14!

Note:  Not a fourteener which would be a mountain in Colorado.  No, the number fourteen!  That was my hemoglobin today so I was able to give blood!  Last time I tried to give, I only hit 12.3 so this is a victory in more ways than one!  I can take a break from eating spinach for lunch.  Higher hemoglobin means my PMR (polymyalgial rhuematica) is on the decrease.  Someone out there who needs a transfusion may now have blood available!