To the thanks...
1. I am thankful for strong medicine. Poor Star came home from camp with a swollen face and a rash over much of his body. The first night home was torturous for him, and no amount of Benedryl or anti-itch cream would help. The next morning, off he went to see a doctor. He was given a steroid shot in his hip (which hurt like the dickens, but did take the focus off the itch, so that's helpful. Not.) and three medicines to take over the next 10 days. One is for an antibiotic to prevent periorbital cellulitis. Normally, I don't give antibiotics unless it is absolutely necessary (even for ear infections, I wait to see if it will heal on its own, which it usually does within a day or two), but this child had periorbital cellulitis when he was young. It was the scariest week of my life, and we do not want to even think about going there again. So, antibiotics it is.
2. I am thankful for the dollar theater. Even if we can afford it, I refuse to spend $50 for my family to go to a movie. Fortunately, we have a theater not too far away which plays movies that have just come out of regular theaters. We took the kids to see "The Croods" this week, for the bargain price of $16.
3. I am thankful for my book club. We've been together for almost seven years now, and I love these ladies to pieces. We have encouraged each other, laughed with each other, and consoled each other through so many life experiences. One of these wonderful women is going through an unbelievably difficult time right now, so we gathered round and had a night away last night. The lot of us booked a suite in a new hotel downtown to simply be there for each other. To cry. To pray. To listen. I can't say it was a ball of laughs like we usually spend together, but it was exactly what we all needed.
4. I am thankful for my responsible children. In order to have this night away, I had to leave them to their own devices from 2:30 Monday afternoon until their dad got home at 7:30, and then the next morning from the time C.O.W. left at 6:30am until I got home at 11. They took care of the animals. They made their own dinner and breakfast. They did laundry. They took care of the little boys. I am so grateful that I could go be with my suffering friend, confident in the fact that they could hold down the fort while I was gone.
5. I am thankful for gelato, and chefs who believe breakfast should have dessert. The hotel where we stayed had a gorgeous, free breakfast buffet. The staff was observant and compassionate. (At one point, every one of us at the table was crying. The waitress very discreetly placed a box of Kleenex on the table for us.) And the food was delicious. So delicious. And then, there was gelato. 10 flavors. With toppings. For free. For breakfast. And the chef himself dished it and said, "Do you want one or two scoops? Or three or four. Whatever you want."
6. I am thankful for affordable soap and an abundance of running water. Boys are stinky. Five boys are knock you on your rear malodorous. I cannot even imagine the stench that would be my house if we lived back in the day of once-a-week baths.
7. I am thankful for rain. After last year's drought, I swore I would never complain about rain again. Even if it rains every day for a week, preventing me from hanging laundry out to dry, making the pig pen a smelly, treacherous mud-pit, causing my children to either stay inside or drag in unbelievable amounts of grass, mud, and water. Which is what we've got going on now. But I'm thankful, dagnabut! Can you tell? And as long as we aren't flooded out and I get to see the sun at least once more before I die, I'll continue to be thankful.
8. I am thankful for my garden. With the non-stop rain, I haven't been out to the garden in 4 days. I went out today when the clouds were a little less menacing and was floored by how much had changed. Look what I picked!
Time to start canning!
9. I am thankful for bees. While picking all those beans, bees were buzzing all around, helping to make my garden grow. I haven't read too much into it, but I have heard there is a problem with a lack of bees in the US. We are fortunate that each year, at least two of our old trees become the homes of a large number of bees.
10. I am thankful for my country. I may disagree with a lot of what the government does. I may disagree with many things that my fellow Americans do or believe. I will always be grateful for the opportunity I have to form my own ideas, the opportunity to say what I want to say, the opportunity to worship the way I want to worship. I will always be grateful to be born in a country where I have the chance to be who and what I want to be.
Now it is your turn. Pray tell, for what are you thankful?
Your hosts
A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall,Bringing the Sunshine, Considerings, Finding Ninee, I can say mama, Steps into Parenthood, The Wakefield Doctrine
I had a lovely common or garden variety Thursday, thanks for asking :D
ReplyDeleteWait, what caused the rash? Is it due to his previous cellulitus? Does it reoccur? That's so scary and I'm sorry to hear that Star had to get a shot in his hip. I hope he's much better now. Ha to soap because boys ARE indeed stinky! Love that the hotel you stayed in believes in dessert for breakfast. We can only hope that's a trend that catches on. Wow to your green beans! Lovely!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I, too, am thankful to live in a country where we're free to worship how we chose, vote, free speech, etc. Happy Fourth of July weekend to you!
Having fun with this blog hop and seeing everyone's lists. And oh, you make me want to join a book club - if just to get myself reading like I used to - life gets so busy, I feel guilty if I spend an afternoon just reading. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope that Star is better soon, and may you never have to repeat your scary experience!
ReplyDeleteKudos to your kids for holding down the fort and allowing you to support your friend. I hope things get better for her. Gelato had to be a step in the right direction, right?
Thanks again for co-hosting another 10 Things of Thankful!
I am with Kristi on not knowing much about cellulitis, but it sounded quite scary and just hoping Star is feeling better. My younger daughter had what we believe in the end to Fifth's Disease and had rashes covering most of her body last summer. She too needed a steroid and then antibiotic. I was truly scared and at first was even worrying that if it was an allergic reaction or something about breathing issues. Stuff like this is nothing to play around with and agree with you on finding out and getting a medicine for this. Sounded like a great week, especially your vacation otherwise and thank you again for co-hosting!!
ReplyDelete1. I think my son had that (the cellulitis, not the poison ivy) when he was a baby, but I didn't realize how serious it could have been until it was over and I saw something about it in a book (pre-internet, people!). 2. Wish we did. 3-5: Sounds both therapeutic and fun, and you could enjoy it knowing your kids can take care of themselves when Mammy Pepper is away. 6-7: agreed. 8. That's a mess of beans! 9. As long as you don't step on one barefoot. Ouch. 10. Happy birthday, America!
ReplyDelete...home with the family unit for the entire day (which given Phyllis and my respective work schedule hardly ever happens).
ReplyDeleteAttract string beans, yo. We tried the (backyard) garden thing, but we have ninja deer that drop from the trees. When you look back...all leafs no food buds left.
Rashes are scary, if only they just seem to appear and have a wide generalized effect. (Not that anything like that is not bad, but with bee stings and cuts and scratches, at least you can oh! there's the cause.
Sounds like a good holiday.
I've nominated you for an award! Come check it out.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.momontherunx2.net/epically-awesome-award-of-epic-awesomeness/
Julia @ Mom on the Run x2
I hope Star feels better soon and really hope that it never happens again. The hotel sounds great, well, any place that offers dessert for breakfast sounds great!
ReplyDeleteI am not from USA but soon will be (if I pass the test) and I am glad that I live here and get to keep being myself with my believes and costumes.
Great list, as always!
ReplyDeleteI love that you took the time to be there for your friend in need. In rough times this is so important for a suffering friend.
I am also thankful for medicine. It cannot be underestimated, even more so when you have a medically fragile child.
I think the bee problem is everywhere around the globe. It is a problem here, too. The EU just banned some pesticides that are being held responsible for this problem.
Last but not least, I am glad to live in a free country, too!
Great list--and I share most of your sentiments! Let's hear it for the bees and responsible kids, gardens and rain!
ReplyDeleteHmm I'm making my rounds (though I REALLY wanted to have this all done yesterday) and yet there are no replies to any of your comments.
ReplyDeleteThis concerns me.
I hope you (and Star) are okay and that nothing developed between Sat and now. Considering the past issue with the affliction I would say antibiotics make complete sense (even though I am also generally against them).
I'm happy you were able to be there for your friend and that all of you could take some needed time to be there for them. That is incredibly awesome and I doubt my book club would function in such a fashion. And you can't beat having a supportive family (runts and all) allowing those instances to become a reality.
I've been wanting another good thunderstorm for some time! So far no go, though. Supposedly tomorrow one or two may hit. Pretty excited about it, even though the last one left a mini wake of destruction in its path. I just love them.
Hope you had a great 4th and are well!
Jak at The Cryton Chronicles & Dreams in the Shade of Ink
love these. we can't get more than about 17 green beans in our garden. I'm thankful this week that our daughter was not killed in her car accident. So many blessings in the middle of that mess.
ReplyDeletehttp://adventuresintheballpark.blogspot.com/2013/07/accidental-blessings.html