home again, home again jiggity jig

And let me tell you, we're getting jiggity around here. What with the laundry catch up, the lice treatments, automobile issues & trying to prepare for the next round of travel, I just didn't know one person could have this much fun. Yes, indeedy, the good times are rollin' here!

So Thomas picked up a case of head lice somewhere in our travels. I saw 2 little critters when I combed his hair yesterday morning. Yes, right before we walked out the door to go to the airport. My sincere apologies to the folks at Southwest, but seriously, what was I supposed to do?? I made sure Thomas did not get a pillow or blanket and comforted myself with the thought that at least the seats were leather or vinyl and didn't really have anywhere for the parasites to hide. Oy. When we made it back into town, our first stop was the evil empire, er, Wal-Mart for lice shampoo, tea tree oil & a few groceries. Treated Thomas, checked Mike over & made him check me. I put some tea tree oil in the shampoo & conditioner as a preventative measure. I hope it works as well as internet lore says.

The a/c in my car is acting wonky. This is decidedly not good. When we left wal-mart yesterday afternoon, the temp was 106. But it's a dry heat. (Sorry guys, I think folks who live in the desert are contractually required to say that.) It runs sometimes and sometimes not within the same drive. Mike detailed all the reasons why it might do that, all of which went over my non-mechanically inclined head. All I know is that the dude has been threatened that he needs to get it repaired out before I get back in town from GA.

I think I've reached a new level of blog nerdiness - staging photos of food. I took my little white plate outside, perched them in some good light & shot away. Aren't they just perfect, though?? My first ripe yellow pear tomatoes of the season. I'm going to have them at lunch as my dessert. Dressed with a bit of basil from the garden, a touch of balsamic and olive oil. They promise to be two little bites of sheer perfection.

The garden has done well in my absence since I managed to get the irrigation timer & sprinkler heads figured out. The apricots are ripe. I have no idea what I will do with all these. Seriously, the picture is only one branch. There must be a few hundred of them. I'm thinking freezer jam and maybe about purchasing a dehydrator. I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow.

I'm sure you guys heard lots about the flooding in the midwest. My sister & her family live out in the boonies in some of the area that was hit pretty hard. Fortunately they weren't flooded, but 90% of the town where her postal address is was under water at one point. That meant lots of impassable roads her way and the wedding reception shin-dig had to be cancelled. A few of us were out there already before it got bad, so we barbecued & had a good time anyway. Here's what the kids got up to:

Good times, indeed.

back from the scope

We got back to Indy from Cincinnati yesterday. Thomas did well, with only a bit of stridor after his anesthesia. The EE, however, is back. He has furrowing in his esophagus again, so we are 99% sure his biopsies will come back with eosinophils. And as disappointing as that is, I guess I try to see the bright side of things. The fact that it is back reinforces that we are doing the right thing with his treatment -- all these food trials, tube feeding the elemental formula, traveling for scopes every 3-4 months. Confirmation that, yes, there is really something wrong. Not that we *really* doubted it. But we're nearly 3 years into this treatment plan -- nearly 3 years since he vomited every single day. The immediacy of something being 'wrong' isn't really there anymore. On the practical side, he wasn't that into this set of foods anyway so he doesn't see it as any big loss.

rescheduled

My phone rang, the clouds parted and the sun shone through. We are back on the schedule for a scope next Monday at 4:00. Yay!!! What a huge relief. Now to just keep the kid well despite facing hordes of people at Dawnn & Dave's reception.

oy

So here's how a 3 1/2 hour flight, 1 rental car, 1/2 a tank of $4 gas and a 2 hour drive culminated in tears. As we pulled into the parking garage at Cincinnati Children's hospital today, I heard the crinkling of plastic from the backseat. I turned my head so fast I ought to have whiplash. Thomas had a plastic bag with some Spree. "What do you have?!?!!!! Spit it out!!!! You're not supposed to eat!!!!!!!!!" Crap. He cried. I cried. We checked in & were escorted back to the same day surgery room only to be told what I already knew . . . they would not be able to do his scope today. 3 lousy spree. It's my fault. I grabbed the backpack, which was packed for the airplane yesterday & threw that in the backseat with him. Never thinking about the fact that there was food in it. Never dreaming he'd forget that he was not allowed to eat. Oy, indeed.

I've been assured that they will be able to reschedule him for sometime during our visit here. I'll believe it when I see it. We've rescheduled before. It took months. It's been a really horrible terrible no good day. Alexander's got nothing on me.

leavin on a jet plane

Thomas and I are flying out in a few hours. Heading to Indiana & Ohio. Thomas will have his scope on Monday to see if he passed his latest round of food trials. Mike will fly in during the wee hours on Tuesday to join us. Assuming all goes well, T & I will be back in Indy on Tuesday. We'll do a lot of running around visiting grandparents, making sure Thomas gets plenty of time with his cousins, etc.

My sister & brother-in-law will be having a big shin-dig to celebrate their marriage. They got married on Leap Day and are having their reception/party on 6-7-8. Those that know her, know that both those fit her to a T. She loves to do funny little things like that.

I'm sure I'll have a thing or two to post along the way . . . don't miss me too bad. ;-)