That's not the beginning to my "Dear Santa" letter; it's more like the beginning to my weak explanation for why my on-line ramblings have been scarce lately.
Benjamin was diagnosed with pneumonia last week. Monday night/ Tuesday morning, around 1:30 a.m., he woke me up crying. I stayed up with him until he fell asleep around 4. He didn't seem particularly sick- just not particularly wanting to sleep either. The next morning, I was the human-form of The Walking Dead, so I called out sick and with questionable judgment sent Benjamin to pre-school because he seemed fine. About 11:30 a.m., the school called because he had a fever. So, we picked him up and Jason stayed home with him Wednesday. Driving home from work Wednesday afternoon, Jason was concerned that he seemed rather lethargic, so I called the pediatrician, who wanted us to bring him in immediately. We were sent to the hospital for stat x-rays and blood work. Benjamin was not at all happy about the viciously viscous shot he was given in the doc's office, but he was a real champ at the hospital. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess that I wasn't thinking at all, but I was rather shocked when they took his blood like they would do for a grown-up- a big one! I was even more shocked when Benjamin did not cry, or even flinch, as he watched the blood fill the vials. The pediatrician stayed at the office for us to come back for the x-ray results. He said it was pretty severe pneumonia in both lungs. Thankfully, the meds he had before going to the hospital had already broke the fever and had returned some of his energy, or else the doc was going to admit him. Instead we did a lot of cuddling... and a lot of meds at home... and after a couple of days, he was back to his inquisitive and rambunctious self.
Missing two school days during a very busy week for Key Club and curriculum were not quite as easy and pain-free for me though- especially since the following week was the 1.5 day pre-holiday break week. So, poor Juliet, Romeo, Brutus and Cassius all had to die at a bit more of an accelerated pace. And the Key Clubbers had one Manic Monday, indeed. The morning began with a 6:30 am run to Wal-Mart for sodas and paper supplies (leading to a pledge to boycott Wal-Mart in 2013, which I will go into on another day). Then, we had two morning activities going on simultaneously. In my room, Kristen was leading Christmas Caroling practice to prepare for the day's field trip. In the library, Savannah and other volunteers were accepting and cataloging donations for the Holiday Teacher Luncheon. During second block planning, I squeezed in a field trip to the local nursing home with about 15 Key Clubbers to sign carols & visit. Then, during 3rd block, the Key Clubbers hosted a luncheon for teachers & staff, which meant setting up before 3rd block, restocking between lunch shifts, and cleaning up everything after last lunch. During the very same 3rd lunch, Key Clubbers were taking "Pictures with Santa" as a Relay fundraiser. AND, all members had to check in at Santa's station to sign-out their Breakfast & Chili fundraiser tickets. Fourth block, in addition to cleaning up from the luncheon, Candy-grams were delivered to classes- ONE of last week's fundraisers. Then, did I collapse in my chair under a wave of exhaustion at 3:15? No! I raced to the store for last minute Christmas gifts for Cameron's teachers the next day and then raced home to get ready for the Key Club Holiday party. After hours of pizza-making, dance partying, and pictionary drawing, the night finally ended around 1:00 a.m.-ish, after the kitchen was pretty-much cleaned up and I went on-line to order the pics from Santa so they could be picked up by Jason in the morning and delivered to kids the next day.
I have many busy days. My brand of crazy is far more insane than most folks brand of crazy. But even for me- that was a busy & crazy day! I told Jason I wasn't sure if I felt like Santa with a workshop full of elves, or Donald Trump with a tower full of Apprentices- but it is a powerful feeling of achievement to know that I work with a group of students that have grown into the type of leaders that can make all that magic happen without direct supervision or instruction from me.
Ah yes, but let's footnote the end of that night with one not-so-smart misachievement of my own. Justin had a blue flash drive laying around, showing up here & there all the time, so I popped it in my laptop to see what was on it. A virus. Of course, a virus. So, after the holidays my sick baby of the digital type will be visiting the doc of the technical type.
So, the explanation? Life's been rather busy.
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