a note from a place called hiatus

The kids started school last week, missing one day on account of Tropical Storm Faye. Schools closed in order to be used as a shelters, but then the storm, which was originally supposed to come straight for us, veered and missed us completely.

Monkey has been home for the past three days with an unknown virus which has left him with a high fever and blisters all throughout his mouth. I took him to the doctor ASAP, sure it was strep throat, but the test came back negative. He has been miserable. I hate to see him so uncomfortable and know that I can't do anything about it.

In the meantime, I have realized how paranoid this cancer thing has made me. Before his mouth developed blisters, he was complaining of abdominal pain and had a fever. My mind immediately started thinking appendicitis because he wasn't throwing up or having diarrhea, just constant abdominal pain. Then, when the strep test came back negative, I researched things on the internet--always a bad idea when the panic quotient is high and the knowledge quotient is low--and found all kinds of horrible diseases that it could be.

When something you think is nothing turns out to be something dangerous, it makes you a little crazy when confronted with other somethings which are probably nothings...y'know?

sigh

I have watched a little bit of the DNC meetings, but missed the speech by Obama. My husband's groaning and eye-rolling as soon as he saw it were enough to persuade me it wasn't worth watching with him in the room. Not that I really cared about it. Speeches are just scripted rhetoric. I don't put much stock in them.

Discovering that McCain's choice for VP is a woman, who is also a governor, is kind of heartening. I don't know much about her yet, but am intrigued. However, my cynic-o-meter is jumping off the charts as I wonder if his pick is merely an attempt to seem as history-making as Obama...or maybe draw more conservative Hillary supporters to him. Either way...this election will bring a first to the White House.

I've been amusing myself by gazing at cute cats and dogs from http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/ and http://www.ihashotdog.com/.


see more puppies

I also came across a blog that I find fascinating, though I can't tell you why...other than maybe my envy at not being as well-traveled, and not having as many neat experiences, as Callie's in Japan.

On Hiatus

I'm still alive and breathing!

The desire to blog can't be mustered from me lately. I've been busy trying to get the kids ready for school starting next week, recovering from my last treatment, and making arrangements for childcare for my next treatment, which is tomorrow.

I spent a couple of days in a mad cleaning frenzy--shampooing carpets, cleaning the upholstery of our dining set--never buy white cloth chairs...even if you don't have kids at the time--cleaning our screened porch, and reorganizing our kitchen cabinets. I think this was brought on by the fact that our home was a mess when we had the break-in. DH is great at taking care of the kids while I am recovering, not so great at the cleaning of the home. The violation of having someone in our home, combined with the fact that it was a disaster at the time, made me go spring-cleaning crazy.

Anyway...I've been busy and also feeling a general malaise toward blogging.

I appreciate everyone who stops by with kind words. I will still check on the blog every once in a while, but I won't be posting regularly until the end of September when I am finally done with treatment; maybe sooner if the kids are in school and I am feeling well.

Until then...take care.

Nasty Surprise

Yesterday was the first day I had been out of the house since my treatment. I was feeling good and decided to swing buy SuperTarget with the boys. School's only a couple of weeks away and we have done hardly any shopping. They each needed a new backpack, and I had to pick up something I could make for dinner that night.

We were gone for one hour.

When we got home, I wrestled several grocery bags to the front door and got my keys out while the boys checked the mail. Once the door was opened, I was busy keeping the dog from running out the door, moving the bags inside the house, and asking the boys for help. I was multi-tasking and not being very observant.

The Rationalist spoke out,"Hey, who put all those toys on the floor?"

"Toys on the floor? I'm sure those were from you guys playing earlier."

"No," said Monkey. "We didn't use those. And why are all the plugs on the stereo speaker?"

In the few seconds that had passed, I hadn't really put anything together in my mind. The Rationalist walked into the living room and shouted,"Our Wii is gone! WE'VE BEEN ROBBED!"

I dropped everything, rushed into the living room and looked at the bare space on the shelf of our entertainment center. I looked into my bedroom, noticing the mattress had been flipped over, a few drawers dumped out, and my jewelry box was gone.

We HAD been robbed.

I was in shock.

I immediately grabbed the phone and told the boys to leave the house. We stood in the front yard while I called DH and the police, all the while looking at everyone in the neighborhood with veiled suspicion. Was it that guy working on his car? What about the cable guy across the street? Oh, look here, our next-door neighbor's thug son is visiting today.

A deputy came, fingerprinted our sliding glass doors and made a report. She was here for about 25 minutes and then left.

I'm not sure what to think about all of it. I feel horribly for the kids. They saved all of their money for a year and half to buy their Wii and some jerk took it in five minutes. I lost all of my jewelry, which I don't care too much about, other than my engagement ring; the only piece that meant anything to me.

I was grateful that the dog was unharmed and still here. The thief could have left the door open and she could have wandered off, or they could have hurt her. Doubtless, she posed no threat to them. She probably tried to lick them to death, or barked at them to play fetch with her.

Sigh.

I had a hard time sleeping last night as I pondered the fact that either it was an amazing coincidence that the only time the house has been empty in over a week, we were robbed, or someone in our neighborhood actively watched us leave, and got into our house soon afterward. The latter option is more uncomfortable. It's unpleasant to be victimized by someone who lives near you, can watch your house, and take a chance to do it again.

We think that the thief was in and out very quickly. They didn't get much and missed several things, like our digital camera, that were in plain sight. The dog gets very excited by visitors, barking and jumping. They probably didn't want to prolong her loudness.

I have to go out again today, and I already feel anxiety about who might be watching us leave.