The end is near.

Today has been a long but productive day.

I spoke with the school to reschedule Hopper's IEP staffing. We had to cancel the first two appointments, because the kids were sick. Exploding gastrointestinal issues aren't conducive to getting out of the house for a meeting. We got the letter on Saturday saying that the final date we could have the staffing was the day I was going in for surgery. But of course. I explained how critical it is for us to have this particular staffing, because Hopper ages out of the program either in May or December of next year, and the date hinges on what happens at this meeting. I got a call at the end of the day. They made a special appointment for us 10 days after I have surgery. Hopefully, I'll be feeling well enough to go by then, but at least The Hubster will have the time off to attend, if I can't. It's quite the relief.

I also got a call from the school saying Hopper wasn't feeling well and had a headache and claimed her ears hurt. I went down to the school to pick her up, and she started crying. She didn't want to come home. She asked to take ibuprofen. I asked, if it was okay, if we tried the ibuprofen out to see, if it worked. They were okay with it, so I went home. I called back 45 minutes later, and she was apparently doing fine.

However, an hour after that the school called again. She apparently had taken a turn for the worse, and she totally freaked the teacher and aides out. When I got there to pick her up, they had her sitting in a wheelchair, and she was all slumped over. They kept talking about how they'd never seen her like that before, and they were quite concerned. They said she complained about her back hurting and that her leg or knee were also hurting her.

I absolutely believe they were very concerned about her. However, I also think she had their number. When she got out of the car, she didn't limp, and she ran downstairs when we got home to see a young woman who had come over to help me out. There appeared to be no pain at all. However, she has been asleep since shortly after she got home, so she definitely isn't feeling well. She just isn't on death's door or in need of a wheelchair. I think she's constipated and doesn't know how to say what that feels like, so it's manifested itself as a headache, ear ache, back ache and sore knee all in the course of a few hours today. We'll keep her home tomorrow and see how she does. She'll go back to school Wednesday, if she's feeling better.

We'll leave the wheelchair out of the entire equation.

The young woman, K, who was helping me out today is a year younger than Hopper. We've known her and her family for most of her life, and I just can't say enough wonderful things about all of them. I needed some help with getting as much done downstairs as possible, so I can relax knowing it's all done before I have surgery. It's the stuff that's kills my back to do on my own. Hubster and I talked about it, and we figured it was worth paying someone to help me get as much done as possible, so we can get rid of the pod and the payment we're making on it each month.

I am beyond excited! K and I worked downstairs today, and we got so much accomplished. The trim work (crown moulding, baseboards and trim) that we've only worked on sporadically for the last year has finally met it's match. K filled the last of the nail holes with putty and she filled gaps between the crown moulding and corner boxes. I worked on filling gaps, too, but I only did one of the corner boxes. The rest of the time, I was caulking the door trim.

The original door trim that we replaced must have been slightly different in thickness. It was wooden. What we replaced it with was the MDF stuff. It could also be that we just weren't sure of what we were doing, but let me just say there were gaps. I used a paintable caulking, so we can go over it all with paint, so it doesn't show, when we're all done. But I am absolutely thrilled and amazed!

The caulking makes everything looked finished. It makes it look like The Hubster and I knew what we were doing when we installed the trim. And it makes it look like the gaps weren't our fault. They've disappeared! Finally, after all this time, I feel like we're going to be able to finish the basement before I go in for surgery. I am so excited!

Tomorrow, K and I will be working on some shelving, since we have to use the saws outside, and it's supposed to be warmer. Once we get done with them, we'll go back downstairs and work on the trim. Then hopefully, we'll be able to work on painting the shelves later in the week when it's warmer. I'm just so excited that we're making such good progress.

The end is in sight!!