Hodge Podge of Highlights

The past week has been fairly typical. Nothing too out of the ordinary for me. There have been some nice highlights, however.

Sunday, we got a little snow. Sam promised the kids that we could go out and play in it. So we all bundled up and went outside as the snow fell.

Andrew LOVES being outside in the snow. He is a lot like his sister at that age. He tends to just be in awe of the snow.

Ella wanted to build a snow “castle.” We grabbed one of her sandbox toys thinking we could make bricks, but the results weren’t so good, despite the fact that the snow was a bit wet.

We attempted to build a snowman, but Andrew kept tackling it or picking up the snowballs to throw. Ella was in the middle of the yard and said, “Let’s take a walk, daddy!” So we did.

Andrew held my hand for most of the walk, but occasionally wanted to run up to Ella. She was happy to see her puppy friend, Louie. He was out on the porch (waiting to be let back inside!). She was yelling, “Hello, Louie! Merry Christmas!” It really was a nice little walk.

On Tuesday morning, Ella had her third birthday pictures taken. She won’t be three until the 10th of next month, but we got her in at our photographer friend. Sam and Ella went out looking for a dress and she actually picked out the one she wanted pictures in.

Sam asked her if she wanted to take her Elsa dress that she got for Christmas for an outfit change. She said she wanted to wear the Belle dress that she wore for Halloween. We may have gotten more pictures in that dress. Urgh!

The area got hit with a good snow that started Tuesday Night and continued through the day on Wednesday. Sam had a physical on Wednesday morning. She had to drive in the snow there and I was driving home from work in it. I met her at the doctor and picked up the kids so they weren’t running around during her appointment.

When we got off the expressway, we were passing the row of restaurants and Ella says, “Daddy? I would like chicken nuggets and French fries. I chuckled and said, “Baby, it is 8:30 in the morning. I don’t think they have any made this early.” She paused for a minute and then blurted out, “Are you serious!? Are you kidding me?” It was hilarious.

Having to stay indoors can be boring for the kids. So we took the “nugget” (which you can see on the floor to Ella’s right in the picture above) and built a mountain for them to climb and play on. I tried to get some pictures of them playing on it and I snapped a cool one of Andrew.

I wish it wasn’t so blurry, but I love him jumping up on there!

They have been at each other’s throats all week. The sibling arguments have been plenty. My wife shared a fantastic photo of them, today. Proof that they really do love each other!

I finished The Word is Murder this week. I really enjoyed it. I timed it perfect as the library emailed me to let me know that the author’s Sherlock Holmes story, The House of Silk, was there for me to pick up.

I just started that tonight. I will let you know how it is.

Later today, I have a follow up with my doctor. Blood pressure check/Medication check/Weight check. I’ve tried to be careful, but I know I have gone over my points more than enough times. I know I have put back on some weight since the holidays. I really need to get back on track.

I hope you are having a great week! The weekend is almost here!

Another Weekend Recap

Some sort of bug hit our place last week. Poor Ella woke up with a very deep cough. Friday was the worst of it. She had the cough, a runny nose, and puffy eyes. Thankfully, she did not have a fever. After a visit to the doc, she said she had the croup. She was very snuggly over the weekend.

Sam and I weren’t really feeling great either. Sam got it worse than me. I’ve seen her sick before, but I could tell she was really feeling terrible. She had the cough and runny nose, again, no fever. I just had a cough. I’m glad that the baby didn’t seem to get any symptoms outside an occasional cough.

We laid low over the weekend. I was going to meet my son for lunch on Saturday, but when I started coughing, I thought it best to not expose him to anything. I guess I still freak out a bit about being sick, because it seems like every symptom is connected with Covid. Better safe than sorry.

Monday, I had a follow up appointment with my doctor for my blood pressure. It was up when I went in for my physical and she wanted to check me again before making any changes to meds. I took the baby with me and Ella stayed home since she still had her cough.

When they called me back, I walked with the diaper bag, the baby, and my coat. They walked me to the scale and got my weight and then walked me to the exam room. Once I was there I set the baby down, set the diaper bag down and when I turned around, the nurse wanted to take my blood pressure. I was literally out of breath and hadn’t even sat down yet.

160/95! Well, what did you think it was gonna be?! I told her to wait a few minutes and take it again! She put the pulse oximeter on my finger and my heart rate was 118. So she went through my med list with me (which took 3 minutes) and she took my blood pressure again. It was lower, but it was still high. My heart rate had come down to 98. I finally told her that I’d have the doctor check it when she came in. “Good idea,” she replied! LOL!!

When I had my surgery a couple weeks ago, they had the blood pressure cuff on me prior to and after surgery. It takes your vitals every 20 minutes or so. Every time it took my BP, I looked at the machine. The numbers were all within normal values. So I was pretty happy to see that. Now, here I am at the doc for a BP follow up and it’s skewed!

The doc came in and had the med student take it again and it was 130/85. I’m guessing it would have been lower if I hadn’t been freaking out at what the doc would say about those early readings!

The best part of the visit – I had some weight loss. The doc was pleased with that. She wants to see me again in 3 months and wants me down at least 10-15 pounds. I should be able to do that!

Highlight of the Past 24 Hours

Last night, when I was getting the kids ready for bed, I started our normal bed time routine. We usually read books and then I put Ella to bed. Andrew fell asleep right away in my arms, so I placed him in his bed and went back up on our bed with Ella to keep reading. Once we finished all the books, I told her it was time for bed.

Usually, she will grab her blanket and I take her to her bed, say prayers, kiss her goodnight and she is off to sleep. Last night, after I told her it was bed time, she looked at me and said, “Snuggle, daddy.” So I turned out the light and laid next to her. She snuggled right up to me. She looked up at me and said, “What’s the matter, daddy?” I’m not sure how she knew, but she did. I was just mentally and physically exhausted.

I told her, “Nothing, baby. I love you.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I lost it. I had to hide my tears. That meant so much to me. She then said, “I stay here, daddy.” She snuggled closer and we hugged for awhile. When she was ready, she said it was “time for sleep” and I picked her up, hugged her extra tight, kissed her and went to bed.

That little girl has no idea just how special she is! I hope when she is old enough to read this, she will know that this is just one of the many times that she has melted her daddy’s heart. I am so lucky to be her daddy.

Just Running in the Rain

I shared this on my Facebook page today, and thought it worthy to share as a short blog entry.

I had a doctor appointment this morning. There were some sprinkles and rain showers on the drive there, but they had pretty much stopped when I arrived. They must have been busy, as I didn’t end up leaving my 9:45 appointment until around 11:30am.

As I exit the waiting room, I looked outside and could see that it was a full blown thunderstorm and that it was pouring rain. As I walked out the main door, I stood under the huge awning protected from the rain. There are about four or five people all standing there pondering what they are going to do.

There were older people are sitting on benches saying there’s no way they are walking to their cars in it. One husband said he would go get the car and pull it up for his wife, but she insisted he stay. This led to him saying he wasn’t “going to melt.” There were a couple people my age debating whether to make a break for it, and discussing it with the older people, who encouraged them to wait for it to let up.

As I am observing this, a young mom with two girls about 4-5 years old walk out and the girls are squealing in delight. They are thrilled that it is raining cats and dogs. They both yell, “Yay! It’s raining!” They are not wearing raincoats and have no umbrella. There mom looked at them playfully and says, “Here we go,” and they run out into the parking lot holding hands splashing and laughing together.

My car wasn’t parked to far that a little rain would hurt me, so I followed their lead and rain in the heavy rain to the car. The parking lot was full of puddles and my shoes and socks were soaked by the time I got into the car. For 10-15 seconds, I was 5 years old running in the rain! “Yay! Rain!”