Stuff and Things

Sickness: I have been sick for the last few days. It started with just feeling a little weird. I ran three days last week, and on the third day I ran up a hill (pushing all three kids) and I felt unusually winded. I felt like I had inhaled dirt, smoke, or something. I was even slightly wheezing, which I have never done before. There was smoke in the air from nearby fires, but not too bad. It was a weird, icky feeling. Anyhow, I continued on walking a bit, then slowly jogging the rest of the way home. I felt fine for the rest of the day. The next day I got ready to go for a run and I walked out the front door, but I felt slightly dizzy, and low-energy. I opted not to run, instead I just walked to a near-by park. As the day dragged on, so did I. I felt dizzy, unusually sweaty (even for hot summer) -- we are talking buckets! It has been a few days now, and I am still not great, I have a cough, and I feel very drained. I manage by taking Day-Quil and other lovely products. It is just so lame to be sick when you are a mom. There is no rest for the weary! I think that is perhaps the hardest thing. All you want to do is sleep, and recover, and that is just what you cannot do. However, I actually feel worse when I lay down, all the junk runs down my throat. Oh well . . . I will get better soon, I am sure. :-) Sickness is always humbling, and allows greater empathy for those who truly suffer with ailments. The silly thing is the very day before getting sick I said to Charles, "You know it has been a long time since I have been sick, with a cold or anything." I will never make such a dumb statement like that again. . . I was just asking for it! :-)

Spiders: I HATE spiders. I am also not very fond of this time of year, because it is spider season! All the spiders start looking for a mate, which means they start stumbling inside my house! Yuck! Ever since we have moved down to the lower 48, I have formed a new fear of the little lovelies. The fact that some of them are highly poisonous terrifies me. Anytime I see a spider I kill it, then go to the on-line identification chart to make sure it was not a killer. So far, so good. But, I know there are Black Widows, and Hobo spiders, which are both very dangerous. I have had such a fear of them lately (I think my sickness has magnified my fear) but I have had a hard time sleeping without feeling like there is something crawling on me. It happened in our other house. A spider crawled on my face while I was asleep, it woke me up, freaked me out, and then I saw it crawl into William's crib!! (next to our bed). After that, I just get seriously freaked out if I feel anything crawling on me!! Icky! I can remember the first time I saw Lord of the Rings, I thought nothing of the spider scene -- spiders had never bothered me in Alaska -- they are not deadly there. Now, I get it! I understand the fear a little spider can create! Yikes!

Along with this fear is great fascination. We have some pretty nice webs in the backyard. Last night, Charles was finding bugs for the spiders, and throwing them in their webs so we could see what kind of spider it was. It was amazing to see how quickly they move, attack, and kill their prey! As we were watching this little web spider (not a deadly one) we then saw a trap-door spider (huge!) which dwells under a hole then sneaks out to grab its prey, and then quickly (lightning speed) pulls it into the hole. It was amazing! We started feeding both of them hoping to rid of some of the bugs in our yard. So, I am trying to make peace with the spiders, because, generally, they are of great worth to the ecosystem in our yard. If they just mind their own business, stay out of my house, I will call a truce. Otherwise, it will be war, and I will call the exterminator!! :-)

Swings: We got some swings for the tree in the backyard. It is really fun for the kids. I should have taken pictures of Charles hanging them from the large branch. He climbed the tree, scaled the branch, and was hanging on for dear life. Meanwhile, I go and get the ladder, climb to the top, and hand him his tools -- he did not NEED to climb the tree. He said it would be more fun for the kids to watch daddy hang the swings that way. I was only a little worried about him hanging there. :-) Silly guy.

I will have to charge my camera's batteries so I can post some picture! I know a post without pictures is about as fun as a hug without a kiss. ;-) wink!

Love ya!
Mari