Wrap Up

Let me see… what has happened in the last few days? The beginning of the week was pretty normal, but it becomes increasingly noteworthy.

Monday: Chris’s birthday. We went to his parent’s house for dinner. His mom, Donitta, always makes the most delicious meals and prepares enough to feed a platoon! There is never any lack of interesting conversation, and now that we have a small one at the table, our nephew Gavin, who is nearly a year old, there is no end to the entertainment.

Tuesday: In order to fulfill my attempt to celebrate Chris’s birthday all week, I made him lasagna and enough chocolate chip cookie dough so that I could make him cookies all week. He loves my lasagna; I don’t use ricotta cheese. It’s just meat lasagna. Feed him meat, and he’s happy.

Wednesday: I woke up around 4:30 with one of the worst migraines of my life. I’ve had ones that last three days, and yet this one that only lasted for nine hours was worse. I could hardly see, hear, breathe, or speak. When I get migraines my five senses often become super sensitive, and when intense pain is involved that sensitivity only enhances the pain. It’s a vicious cycle. Needless to say, the pain was quite severe. I was barely able to reach over to brush Chris’s hand and whisper his name so that he could help me. He had to call my boss early in order to let her know that I would not be able to make it to work and needed a substitute which apparently worried her a bit. I guess it’s not normal for a spouse to call in sick, but I could not talk at that point. Finally, I was able to get myself together enough so that he could help me get to the school to leave lesson plans. Finally, around noon, I broke down and took a pain pill, the ones I only take in dire situations, and finally got some relief. So wonderful! I started feeling so great that I got up, cleaned a bit, did some laundry, and baked the rest of the cookie dough making two huge platters of cookies. Later, I was able to make it to my sister’s baptism! Eva and her husband Matt were baptized last night at the church in Portland. At least I think it’s in Portland. Anyway, it’s near to where they live. Apparently the church doesn’t have a service on Wednesday nights, just choir practice. So, we interrupted their practice and held a semi-private baptism, such a precious evening. Their pastor baptized Matt, and Dad had the distinct privilege of baptizing Eva. She was sweetly tearful and yet playful, as, of course, was Dad. He actually baptized me when I was a little girl; I’m sure that he was able to play such an integral role in that special event in each of our lives.

Thursday: Thankfully, today I woke up feeling fine. Today was our annual trip to the Parthenon here in Nashville. If you don’t know, we have a full sized replica of the Parthenon in Greece, complete with a 42 foot gold plated Athena. Anyway, we take the 7th grade class, and then we play “Olympic” games on the front lawn. Actually, the students make up these totally crazy games, and each of the homerooms compete against one another. About half way through the games, the sky opened up, and a light yet steady rain began to come down. We all proceeded to get wet, but nobody really cared. Finally, we finished the games and headed to the mall for lunch. As soon as we arrived back at the school, I had a meeting, and then I had to leave that to go to the dentist. I hate going to the dentist. Really, I hate it. The entire time the hygienist was cleaning my teeth I had a firm grip on the arm rest, and I tried desperately to concentrate on anything but the awful scrapping noise and the strange pointy utensils poking at my teeth and gums. Finally, after the stressful ordeal at the dentist, I made my way back out into the rain and started on my journey home. But I didn’t really make it there right away. As I drove away my windows started to fog up a bit, so I rolled down my window a bit in order to help defog the truck. When I tried to roll it back it, it just fell out! Thankfully it didn’t fall completely out of the truck; it ended up getting stuck at a weird angle hanging half way out the door. I didn’t know what to do, and after calling Chris I ended up making my way over the Rover shop to see his brother and dad, hoping that they would help me fix the door. Of course they helped me but only managed a temporary fix, and about an hour and a half later I finally headed home. It’s been a long day, especially since I ended up breaking the shower head when I was cleaning the bathroom, and we ended up having to go out and buy a new one.

I really hope that tomorrow is calm and uneventful. Who am I kidding? I teach 7th graders, am married to a wonderfully crazy man, and am part of an always interesting family. I don’t have many commonplace days.