Category: Uncategorized (Page 20 of 118)

“Paige, I need you to get up and drive me to the hospital.”
Not exactly what one wants to hear in the middle of the night.

Ryan was having an allergic reaction (to what, we don’t really know) and couldn’t breathe. His chest was constricted, and he needed to go to the hospital. I got up, threw on some clothes, and grabbed my purse. I forgot my Kindle, but did grab a book on the way out the door. No waking up the kids, or even leaving a note. I must admit, I drove a bit over the speed limit. Who’s on the road at 1 something in the morning, anyway?

This was actually my first trip to the Emergency Room. Seriously. I mean, when I was in labor, I went THROUGH the ER to get to labor and delivery, and that was more often that not in the middle of the night, but I hadn’t been to the EMERGENCY room. I was a little shocked that there is only one intake person (and no doctors or nurses) there to greet you. She asked him to take a seat and give him some information before she even went and got a doctor. It’s nothing like you see on TV.

But a nurse did soon come and get us, and we later learned that they had something like 7 cases come through the doors in about 10 minutes, so I guess that’s why we weren’t greeted promptly at the door. Ryan, wheezing the whole time, promptly got a shot of epinephrine, then an iv with benydryl and a steroid. He was soon breathing much easier, which was a great relief to both of us. Then she gave us the bad news that we would have to stay for at least 3 hours for observation. They got him all hooked up to monitors and I settled in to read my book. But reading is not so fun at 2 something in the morning.

All that antihistamine was doing it’s job to make Ryan REALLY sleepy, so he dozed off. I did get a few levels cleared in Angry birds (thank goodness for that new phone!), but the fun wore off pretty quickly. At about 3:30 am, the nurse said there was a spare bed she could roll in if I wanted to lay down. Ok, I thought. An hour of sleep would do me good. But sleeping wasn’t going to happen. Ryan’s pulse oxygen monitor would beep every time his oxygen level went below something like 85. It dipped down about every two minutes. I think the boy has sleep apnea. Then I was obsessed with watching the monitor, and watching him breathing. Does he stop breathing? Does he just take long rests between breaths? Oh, could we turn that monitor down? So, no, there was no sleeping, at least on my part.

A little before 5, the doc came in and said he thought we could go. They gave us Rx for epi pens, allergy meds and steroids, and sent us on our way. (And they didn’t even give us a baby. Every other time I’ve gone to the hospital in the middle of the night, at least we got to bring a BABY home with us.) Driving by McDonald’s, I thought, “I really could go for a bacon,egg and cheese biscuit right about now.” But it was a little early for that. We came home and got into bed. I set my alarm for 6:20, hoping to get a good hour of sleep.

Megan needed a ride to a friend’s house at 6:30. She’s going to a horse competition or something. After I dropped her off, I drove the mile to McDonald’s, and got us some breakfast sandwiches. I couldn’t think of what to feed the Chinese students, since one of them doesn’t like eggs. Sausage Mcmuffins for everyone!

So, here it is 7:39 am. I’m not sure I can go back to sleep right now if I try. Megan is off, the Chinese girls are off, Jenna and John are both up, and Ryan is asleep. I guess I’ll go back to bed and try to sleep for a little bit.

yawn.

Tuesday I decided I was going to recover my kitchen chairs. I had attempted to do this a few months ago, but when I got the chosen fabric on the chairs, I discovered that I didn’t like the look. It was just too much yellow, and the light wood of the chairs kind of blended in with the floor. For a minute or two, I contemplated the fact that the chairs would look awesome with that fabric if only they were painted black. Then I came to my senses and decided it would just be easier to pick out a different fabric. So, on Monday, I bought this toille at Walmart and Tuesday felt like tackling a project.

The only problem was with my less than efficient staple gun. It’s just too whimpy to staple all the way into the wood, and I was almost out of staples. So, I put out a call to my crafty neighbors to see who had a staple gun I could use. Surprisingly, two of the five that I asked said their kids either currently had their guns, or had left it outside and ruined it. Kids! One neighbor brought one over, but it was out of staples. I sent my two errand runner kids to ACE hardware to find staples for both my gun and my neighbor’s gun. When they returned, they had only found staples for my gun. Couldn’t find any to fit the other gun. Oh, well. Must muddle through.

It was quite a process to take the seats off, clean out all the crud that has collected between the chair and the seat (makes me just want to bag the whole project and go buy new chairs. Ick), take off the plastic that was protecting the chair, put on the new fabric and the new plastic, then screw the chair back together. It didn’t help that only half of the staples even made any dent in the wood, and then I would have to hammer them in. Half of THOSE staples just collapsed flat. There was much grumbling and complaining going on, I tell you.

I had to stop with 4 out of 5 chairs done to go to Provo to pick up our students, but after dinner, I grabbed every inch of willpower I could find to finish the last one. And I’m so pleased with how they turned out.

Here is the old covering.

And here is the new covering.

Even though they are not perfect and I can see where I did a less than stellar job, I like how they turned out. We thought about it and the plastic covering we put on when we originally bought the set has lasted over 10 years. I guess if I only have to do this every 10 years, that would be good. Maybe by then I will buy a new staple gun.

My husband got a new fancy phone. He’s very happy. My 12 year old daughter will also be very happy when he gives his old phone to her. Me? I’m wondering what his number is and why he didn’t give it to me. Hmmmm.

When Ollie’s daddy, the Reverend Everlasting Love, pulls their travel trailer into Binder to lead a three-day revival, Ollie knows that this town will be like all the others they visit— it is exactly the kind of nothing Ollie has come to expect.

From the first page of this book, I really felt like I was in Binder, Arkansas. “Fields of soft green barley laid themselves out across the earth in perfect rows–as if God had reached down and combed them just so.” Hilmo’s descriptive language is beautiful and helps the reader picture the scene. Although Binder is not a town that takes too kindly to visitors. They are not all friendly, especially the shopkeeper Mrs. Carter, who did everything she could to make them feel unwelcome in town. “Folks ’round here don’t take kindly to strangers with too many questions.”

Ollie meets Jimmy Koppel, a boy who could really use some love, and some help. His mother is in jail for murdering his no good father. Jimmy insists that his mother is innocent, and Ollie believes him. Still, even if she can convince her daddy to stay in town, how can two kids free a grown woman who has signed a confession? Ollie’s longing for a friend and her daddy’s penchant for searching out lost souls prove to be a formidable force in this tiny town where everyone seems bent on judging and jailing without a trial.

This story is a wonderful page turner. While I really wanted to find out what was going to happen, I was pulled in even more by the characters. There’s the preacher, who was pretty much destined to go into the ministry with the name of Everlasting Love. And his lovely and caring wife Susannah, who somehow manages to support and assist her husband in his calling, even though it means constantly traveling and living on the road, without the wonderful “modern” conveniences of 1957 available to the townsfolk. In fact, when the family visits a new friend in town, the five year old sister exclaims, “She’s got a flusher! And honest-to-goodness flusher!”

The five sisters have a wonderful sisterly relationship. Thirteen year old Ollie and her twelve year old sister Martha seemed to have an especially hard time getting along with each other. Just like my own three daughters do. But even among the bickering, these sisters try to take care of each other, and to help others as well.

Without giving away too much of the story, I have to say that Mrs. Mahoney was my favorite character. She becomes like a grandmother to the girls, one who is willing to share her life and her home with strangers she has just met. I would love to be more like Mrs. Mahoney in my own life.

Written for the middle grade audience, this story is sweet and simple, yet beautifully written. The imagery and language style are well crafted and wonderful. It’s easy enough for a young person to understand, but interesting and compelling enough for adults to find it a wonderful book, too. Not an easy thing to do, especially on a debut novel. In a time when so many books geared for young people are all about the fantastic, the violent, or the vampires, this book is like a breath of fresh air. It’s a well written and charming story that is clean and unoffensive. I could recommend it to both my daughters and my mother.

I received an advanced copy of this book for review. Look for this book available for purchase September 27.