It's Fall Y'all!

Soon after school started, Dan was finally able to request and receive time off! He took advantage by participating in a group ride at the Tail of the Dragon in the Appalachian mountains in North Carolina. 

Getting back into the routine of school, even virtual school, can be exhausting. Here's what Cade looks like a lot of the time.

I finished yet another puzzle. I have done mostly White Mountain puzzles, but found this one at Hobby Lobby and really enjoyed it. If you look really closely, the titles of the books are are joke titles like "Planet of the Grapes" and "Great Speculations". Fun!

And after Labor Day, Cade started having in-person marching band rehearsals. Unfortunately the very first rehearsal got rained out, but now they're getting ready to play for football games in October. Not sure how much they'll actually get to move around the field given they'd usually have rehearsals every day for a lot longer, and right now they're only allowed twice a week. 

Alex continues to grow his cooking repertoire and is a huge help to me. I told him to start keeping a log of all the things he knows how to cook! This is a picture of him with his biscuits and gravy breakfast casserole he made for dinner one night. He legit does these things all by himself! It was delish!

He even wanted to make his first cake from scratch for my birthday! I helped just a little by getting him some good cake pans and asking advice from my good friend Teletha. I wanted to have a spice cake with cream cheese frosting, and it turned out amazing! I'm sure if he wants to improve his decorating skills, other frostings would be easier to work with. But I'd call his first cake making adventure a huge success! Thanks Alex for working hard to make my birthday special!

And thank you to my friends and family for reaching out and making my birthday special too! It was definitely a time of reflection for me, turning 39 and feeling 79, lol!

The day after my birthday the boys (mostly Alex) wanted to go to six flags, so we dropped them off and tried out a Korean restaurant on that side of town for a birthday lunch. It was yummy, but we prefer the one we first found on the east side of town, Kim's Galbi!

Dan got some octopus to fry up at our table. No thanks!

Last Sunday we had our first in-person church meeting since the pandemic! It had been over 6 months. Isn't that crazy? We just had a brief sacrament meeting, and that was our only meeting for the month of September, but in October it looks like we'll be going every week. We've really enjoyed our time of church at home and having weekly zoom meetings with Grandma Kathy and Uncle Kevin, and they boys sure learned a lot of hymns! Here's a picture of us in our Sunday best, which mostly still fit the boys after their growth spurts. I think Cade needed a new shirt and shoes, lol.

And I just love this picture of Alex we took for his piano teacher. Such a great smile!

And lastly, mostly as a means of documentation, I've continued my search for what on earth is ailing me. My primary care doctor changed, again, and the first time I talked with him in late August he asked for more time to study all the things we've previously tested to see if there was anything else he wanted to look into. We talked the next week and it was at that point that he put in a few more tests, but felt that at this point we could consider my lingering symptoms to be Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. There's a standard set of questions doctors can ask to help decide if a patient has CFS, but there are no other tests or way to confirm it other than the patient's description of symptoms. A diagnosis by exclusion they call it, meaning they've ruled everything else out and that's what you're left with basically. 

It's not a shock to me, but it is not what I wanted to admit to. I've been in such a strong mindset of finding what's wrong so we can fix it and get back to how I was nearly 6 months ago. Instead, a diagnosis of CFS leaves very little hope for any sort of treatment or hope of progress. 

I am still following up a few last tests that my pulmonologist and primary care doctor want to look into. I'm not terribly hopeful, though, as every avenue I've gone down has yielded 'normal' results. For example, one of my main symptoms besides fatigue is the tightness in my chest and respiratory issues when exerting myself. I FINALLY got into the pulmonology clinic (after two months of trying) and they did a Pulmonary function test and an O2 desaturation test. And even though I left with my lungs burning and wanting to die, my oxygen levels never dropped below 98% and my lungs appear to be functioning normally on paper. Every test comes back like I'm fine, but I'm far from fine. That's that hardest part for me.

So what it comes down to now, is trying to limit my physical exertion to hope for low and slow healing, or to not further advance my fatigue at least. I thought by pushing myself to keep going that I was doing myself a favor, but that's the difference between someone with CFS and someone without it. Normally when you've been sick for awhile and you try and get out and get some exercise by taking a walk or running some errands you are glad you made yourself get moving because you feel better. When I did things all summer, I was mentally glad to be doing something different, but I was crashing and burning after doing these things. And slowly it was not just an outing like a hike or a river adventure that was too much, it was grocery shopping, and now even vacuuming or sweeping the floor. Very simple things are wiping me out for the day. I don't necessarily want to sleep, it's not that kind of tired. It's like pure, tangible physical and mental exhaustion where I just can't go on. So, I've divvied out my household chores to my kids and husband and I'm in mode of just trying to figure this new normal out. I'll finish these last few tests with my doctors and then turn to........ i don't know, maybe more holistic approaches.

I'm just so glad that it has started to cool down enough that I can go outside again, even it is just to my back porch on my hammock. :)  Happy Fall!

 

Labor Day camping

Way back in May when the Texas State parks finally allowed us to making camping reservations again, we searched for availability at our favorite spot- Garner State Park. They had nothing during the summer, and one spot had enough days for us to stay for Labor Day weekend. Had I known that I'd be feeling worse, not better, I wouldn't have booked it, but we decided to go anyways and make sure everyone really pitched in and helped.

Since Friday was work and and school, we arrived in time to set up as it was getting dark, and make a dinner and s'mores over coals. 

Check out this sunset!

Hot dogs, spiral sliced with a cheese stick wrapped around it and held together with refrigerated biscuit dough. A pain to put together, but a tasty camping dinner!

Saturday we had a slow-moving morning with some breakfast and hammock relaxing. 

Then we made our way to the Frio River. We picked a spot that we were familiar with where we could just swim and relax, not necessarily tube and travel. We stayed there for a good 3 hours, even when it rained a bit on us! (Good thing we had packed up camp in away that was conducive to rain)

While Dan was looking for rocks to skip, he came across this teeny tiny frog! Cade found one too. Isn't it the cutest?

A few pics by the river!

We were hungry so we headed back to camp for lunch. Right as we got there it started raining again so we all made our lunches super fast and booked it into our tents. It was perfect timing for lunch and an afternoon nap. The rain cleared up around 4:00 so we played some games, relaxed and then got ready to make some more yummy camping food. 

This meal was made almost wholly by Alex. Before we left home he prepped some pizza rolls. French rolls cut in half, spread with cream cheese, pizza sauce, pepperoni and mozzeralla cheese. Wrap those babies in foil and keep in the cooler until ready cook on the fire. Success! 

Dessert was a chocolate dutch oven dump cake. Buy a devil's food cake mix, a can of sprite, chocolate chips and some mini-marshamallows, and you've got yourself a yummy camping treat.

The boys got this fire going all by themselves!

I think it's safe to say that hammocks are our favorite part about camping.

After it got dark it started storming a bit so we packed up camp again. At about 9:30 it rained for a few minutes so we thought it was time to head to our tents for the night. After a few minutes, though, it stopped so we decided to play a few more games either until it rained again or we got tired. At about 11:00 the skies opened up and we headed to bed. Thank you rain, for raining at convenient times! You kept our whole weekend nice and cool and didn't ruin our plans!

Sunday it was clear that I had zero energy left. We had another low-key morning and dropped the boys off higher in the river and set up a spot at the end for them to meet us and hang out. Dan even found a way to set up the hammock over the water!

We hung out by the river for awhile, had lunch, the boys swam a bunch and I hung out in my chair. Dan even did some rope swinging!

After that we decided to pack up camp for good and head home so we could have a day to rest and recuperate from all the packing and unpacking that camping brings. It was nice to have a change of scenery even though I still couldn't exert myself very much. And I think Dan and I might be reaching the age of RV camping vs. tent camping. Our neighbors were very loud each night and even though we had an air mattress, it's just not a very good night's sleep. We need our beauty rest! ;)

Now we're back into virtual learning, Cade has in-person marching band rehearsals this week (yay!), and Dan went back into work this morning. He's been home from the office since Spring Break too. What crazy times we live in.

So it begins

 Today is the first day of school! 

It is the much anticipated school year taking place during a global pandemic. I think it will be interesting when we get to the end of this school year, to look back and see how much these kids and teachers have gone through.

For now the boys are online for at least 3 weeks. We spent yesterday setting aside a place in their rooms to do school work and getting them all connected to each teacher on Google Classroom

Here's our FRESHMAN, Cade! What a way to start high school!

And here's Alex, all set up and ready to go for 7th grade!

They've already had to show plenty of patience and flexibility since there were district-wide outages making logging in a bit spotty and inconsistent. Cade even had to trade out his laptop and now the new one has the right charging cord, but doesn't seem to like certain websites. I'm glad I'm able to be around and help. I escaped and got some groceries and now they're getting going for their after lunch classes.

Good luck boys, and my prayers and good vibes are going to all those in education this year. You're being asked to tackle the impossible. Stay healthy and safe and sane!

End of Summer 2020

It feels like the end of more than just summer, but the end of a significant period in our lives. But the truth is, the beginning of the school year, while it may bring a little more structure to our schedules, does not signify the end of the coronavirus. Here is what happened in San Antonio in July.

And now that we're mid way through August we've added another 5,000 cases and about 150 more deaths. The daily cases are declining some, but the infection rate is higher, so a lot of area experts expect further increases leading up to December.

The big debate across the country is how to handle the return of school. The reality is that there is no perfect solution. Our mayor mandated that all schools that reside in our county start the first three weeks of school with distance learning. Then an Attorney General countered that with some ruling that allows schools to go back in-person if they choose. So even in our own city with such astronomical case numbers, some school districts have started school like 'normal'. Our particular school district is sticking with the initial 3 weeks online and then is planning to wait until the city is in the Green Zone before phasing in the in-person learning. Of course, if you don't feel comfortable sending your kids to school you always have the option to do the the school year 100% online. Personally I am glad that some schools are returning before us so we can see what happens locally. Our superintendent feels strongly that he doesn't want to reopen schools until they can remain open. He doesn't want this back and forth of opening and closing.

So to finish out our summer, we did finally get to have a weekend getaway! We scrapped the idea of Corpus Christi because after two failed attempts, the AirBnB that we were going to stay at jacked up their prices and it became unreasonable for us to stay there. Instead we used a combination of some of Dan's hotel points and cash, and stayed at a Hampton Inn near NASA space center and Clear Lake in Houston. Being at that location we could take advantage of water sports at Clear Lake, be 45 minutes away from Galveston beaches, and enjoy the hotel swimming pool and other activities in a big city.

I just have to say, it's no wonder Houston is struggling with case numbers more than San Antonio. There was a severe lack of adherance to CDC guidelines which made us uncomfortable in a few of our desired activities, but for the most part we were still able to do the things we were really looking forward to.  

We drove out Friday and mostly just hung out in the hotel room, ate some pizza, swam in the hotel pool and played some games. Also, something about having cable in hotel rooms just intrigues my boys. We don't have cable at home and they love flipping through 1000s of channels and finding maybe one or two unique things to watch, lol.

On the road!

Glorious Glorious TV!

Playing Pounce, one of our favorite games

Saturday we reserved a single Jet Ski for 3 hours and took turns. Cade was even old enough to be a driver as long as one of us was on there with him. It was a great way to spend the morning. I even drove our car away from the boat ramp and to a nearby park with a pier so we could easily switch and have kind of a hang out spot if it wasn't your turn.

Glad we didn't come across any Gators!

This was the first time on a Jet Ski for the boys! I think I was about Cade's age when I did my first jet ski in Door County Wisconsin.

That's me with Cade driving. He did such a good job!

Alex and me

We went back to the hotel for showers, lunch and naps!

That evening we decided to visit Kemah Boardwalk, which is a fun area along the Lake we had just spent the day playing in. We stayed for a while to check the place out, but with the heat, the lack of social distancing, lack of mask-wearers, and cost, we ended up cutting our evening short. 

So instead of having dinner at the Boardwalk, Dan and I got the kids what they wanted [Whataburger] and we got what we wanted [Ramen]! 

Sunday was our designated beach day. It was the day I was most looking forward to, seeing as how I had already tried to plan two trips to the beach. We slept in and lazily made our way to Galveston and spent our day at Stewart Beach. We spent about 5 hours in the sun and sand. The kids did everything from swimming, digging, getting buried to kite flying. I spent most of my time either in the water past the break or relaxing in my chair. Dan decided he's glad we're not stationed in Hawaii. It was awfully hot, even in the water so it was exhausting and relaxing at the same time. 

How does he look so grown up all of a sudden?

On Monday we checked out of the hotel and headed to downtown Houston for their Science Museum. We tried to get there nice and early so there wouldn't be any crowds, and that worked. None of the interactive features of exhibits were on or allowed, but it still was a great museum. I think my boys loved the gem and mineral section the most because I have a bajillion pictures of different rocks. My favorite part was the Faberge exhibit. I had heard of the Faberge eggs, but hadn't really seen any of his other style of jewelry. Good thing I'm too poor to even think about owning any of it because it really caught my attention! Also the Egypt exhibit at this museum is by far the biggest I've come across. I wish it wouldn't have been the last exhibit we came across because it was just a little too overwhelming to look at every little glass curio and each item inside. There were some great mummies and even a Rosetta Stone replica.

This is a video of an area called the Cabinet of Curiosities. It was roped off so you could explore and open each little drawer and cabinet, but it was still pretty cool. 

It's not every day you can hold Mars in your hands. This globe was huge!! Sometimes it displays the moon, sometimes Earth, but for right now it's Mars.

Sloths sure have changed

I'll share this singular rock picture with you because everyone in our family was pretty fascinated by this natural cube of pyrite emerging from a stone. Crazy!

A few Faberge pics. Such ornate detail, and the inlay used on so many of their pieces is just fascinating.

A Faberge metronome!

We paid a few extra dollars to visit their special exhibit- Death by Natural Causes. It was an eerie display of all the ways you can die naturally; arsenic, diseases, poisons, deadly animals, etc.

I'm not sure if it's because of Hollywood, but often times Ancient Egyptian things just seem so fictional and unreal to me. But there's obviously an overwhelming amount of evidence that a people really lived this way. It's just so much different than a lot of other ancient civilizations. Cade took a lot more pictures so be sure to check out his blog post as well.

Right outside the museum was a gorgeous little park with an awesome fountain set inside a hill. Selfie time! 

We had a great trip, and Covid only ruined it a little bit here and there. It was great to see the kids smiling and having a good time instead of wanting to claw their eyes out at home. This week we're just enjoying the lack of schedule because online school will be totally different this time around. Wish us luck, and send prayers and help out to all those who work in education this year!

**Disclaimer- anytime you see us without masks in pictures, it was just for the sake of the picture and they were put right back on. In fact plenty of times the masks end up in pictures because we forget we're wearing them**

***Health update for those following that story- after several appointments being cancelled due to the uptick in cases in San Antonio, I fought for another phone appointment with my doctor. Of course my PCM has changed (the original doctor has moved, ya military life), so even though this doctor could see all my notes leading up to this point, it was like starting over while talking with him. He's the one that ordered the more extensive lab work looking for inflammatory markers and auto-immune disorders. That all came back negative so his kind of last resort thing was to do a CT scan of my lungs since shortness of breath and tightness in my chest is STILL and issue. I was finally able to do that scan on August 6th and the doctor called me Monday on our way home from Houston. He wasn't able to clearly identify what he found on the scan, but said it was either an atypical infection or inflammation. (duh!) So I will get my second referral to pulmonology and not be ignored this time. Hopefully the experts will be able to get a better reading of my CT scan and know what's going on. Maybe I'll get some answers and help. I'd love to be back at 100%. I've been taking Aleve which helps me more than I realized. For about 4-5 days leading up to my CT scan I stopped taking the Aleve so it wouldn't mask anything that was going on, and holy cow- my fever came back, my fatigue went from like 40%-80%, my body hurt in so many ways, had trouble sleeping and more. We need to get this figured out!***