Hopper. My hero.

Spent the day running around Denver to help keep Hopper's mind off the surgery. She was doing great until just a minute ago, but she's still doing better than she ever has before when she's had to have dental surgery. She's trying so hard to be brave, and it just breaks my heart when she's scared like this. I'm just so very, very grateful for the Theanine. It's worked wonders. The meltdown she had tonight only lasted 3 minutes or so, and she was able to pull herself together. That's huge for her!

We didn't buy a lot today. For the last several years, I've tried really hard not to bring anything home that we won't actually use, so it was easy to pass up things that years ago I would have just had to have.

We bought the girls a couple of bracelets each that were on clearance, they each got a t-shirt, and I got a lined sweatshirt that is really warm. Other than that, we got some calendars and a transistor radio for Hopper. We've looked for one for her for years, but we haven't been able to find one. Seriously. Who'da thunk a day would go by that transistor radios were impossible to find? They're one of the most handy little things you can have around, and it's not like they use a lot of battery power. Sometimes, simple is just nice. Plus she'll be able to carry it around. Can do a lot worse for $13!

Hopper loves listening to Country and Christian music, talk radio (she loves listening to politics of all kinds - she's a funny kid), and sports of all kinds. She's had a few boombox-type radios over the years, but they don't seem to last. They get dropped once, and the antenna breaks off or the CD player stops working. Something always seems to happen to them, so she starts tuning my radio in the kitchen into her stations, and, well, let's just say we don't listen to the same things. We have the same taste in music, but that's about it. I think this will be the perfect solution, and we won't have to worry about her plugging it into the outlet. She always does fine, but it's still not something we care to have her doing. So the little transistor radio we picked up today should be the perfect solution for her.

I need to go to bed. It's early, but we have to be at the hospital at zero dark thirty in the morning. That means a quarter to the backside of dawn reveille, since the crack will be nowhere in sight. :)

Melting children.

So. We found out today that we need to replace the electrical panel. Remember how the window air conditioners kept flipping the breaker? Well, even though we had dedicated outlets installed shortly before we left on vacation, the breakers are still flipping. The outlets are rated 15amp (although tomorrow they will be 20amp after the upgrade), and the air conditioners are only rated 11.5amp, so they shouldn't be overwhelming the circuits at all even now. But we're still having a problem with the breakers flipping. Apparently, it is because the current electrical panel is as old as dirt and is overheating enough that it's flipping the breakers when it shouldn't.

By noon tomorrow we should have stable breakers that don't flip every 10 minutes. I'm very much looking forward to that. It will be nice not to have to stop what I'm doing to go push the breaker back on. Yep. It's going to be nice. Thankfully, both tomorrow and Thursday are supposed to be cooler, so it won't be too hard to deal with the complete lack of cooled air for a few hours.

The technician came out today to look at the air conditioners as part of the extended warranty protection. The one air conditioner isn't working worth a darn. He figures it's because it needs removed from it's case and cleaned well inside. He and someone else will be coming back out on Thursday morning to thoroughly clean the units. If that doesn't make the one window unit cool like it's supposed to, he'll charge the coolant. We may make it through summer after all!

I'm so glad we'll be able to have a cooler house in the next few days. I need to make a birthday cake for Scooter. Can't believe our baby will be 17 already.

It's been a very long, emotional day. I'm glad it's over. I had to deal with a couple of melting children today. I am thinking they maybe the hubster forgot to give them their Theanine last night. I need to check with him to make sure. It would definitely explain the meltdowns they both had today.

I'm looking for the new start that the morning brings, a cool house, and no melting children!

Bummer. I missed a post.

I supposed I didn't technically miss writing a post. I just technically missed posting, because after I fought my phone to get my post ready last night, the cursor froze, and when I tried to publish the post it was erased instead. How frustrating! I was just too darn tired to try and type it up again.

We've all had fun. Lots of fun. But we've kept insane hours and everyone is absolutely exhausted. It's finally hitting Hopper pretty good this afternoon. In the craziness that was last night we forgot to give the girls their theanine. It's very apparent today.

Hopper has been having a rough time with her dad's desire to go running today. This happens fairly frequently at home, but it hasn't happened nearly as often since we started her on the Theanine. She has these meltdowns that are so incredibly frustrating, because there's nothing we can seem to do to stop them or prevent them.

Every 3 to 10 seconds during the course of the meltdown, Hopper asks, if she can 'opi it' (open it). It doesn't seem to matter how often either my husband or myself answer her 'yes', she can't seem to stop fixating on it. Within a few minutes, she is in the middle of a meltdown feeling very much misunderstood, even though we repeat exactly what she says back to her, and she agrees that we have understood what she wants.

Once the hubster takes off on his run, the sobbing tends to stop, but the question of "Done. Opi it?" lasts awhile longer. However, it's not stopping quite as easily this time. I'm not sure what the problem is. I do know it's exhausting for everyone involved. I so wish I knew what to do. Hopefully tonight's dose of theanine and some extra sleep will get things back on track.

I do know that part of her problem is anxiety. No doubt about that at all. She said goodbye to Bugster today when the newlyweds started out to drive back home. It's the first time her sister has left earlier than her to return home from vacation. She also has had to say goodbye to several cousins, aunts and uncles over the course of the last few days, and it's just been a bit much. Just when she starts to get to relax and spend sometime with family, they have to leave. It's heartbreaking, and i really wish we lived closer to family, so she wouldn't have to go through this each time.

The other thing was pretty major. The town the hubster and I grew up in had a tornado hit it in the last week. It was pretty major. We weren't anywhere near it when it happened, and we were in fact about 50 miles away. In spite of this, it's been a bit overwhelming to hear about the storm and see the devastation. She's always been very interested in the weather and often gives us her own version of a weather report, but this was a bit over the top.


So. That's what's been going on in my neck of the woods. Hoping for a little more sanity in the next few days! Hope things are on the saner side for the rest of you!

An update here. An update there.

We never got a call back yesterday from the code enforcement officer. It must have been a really busy day. It made for a restless night last night. Very little sleep. However, the phone rang at 7:45 this morning, and it was her.

When my husband explained things to her, (that the neighbor was upset about dandelions more than anything) she was very understanding. She extended the time we have to the end of July without hesitation. Apparently, the 'setback' that was mentioned in the letter just meant that the storage pod was too close to the street. However, it's not blocking the sidewalk or anything, so she said she can let it go until we get it emptied out. We will be done for sure by the end of July. She'll come back out and inspect then.

She also said that the next time the woman next door starts giving us grief about things in our yard to just call her, since we have her phone number. She said that it's almost always someone who's mad at someone else who makes the calls. And she said she doesn't have time to deal with dandelions. She also said that the pile of pallets we have stacked up on the side of the house can stay, if it's 'usable wood'. It is.

I was talking to a friend about the whole situation today, and she said someone called on them a few years ago. She happened to go outside when the code enforcement officer was there to talk to her about things. The woman was very friendly and gave her an extension as well. She said that in her case the person who was calling was likely a realtor. Apparently several houses up and down the street had been reported, and when that happens it's usually a realtor who's trying to sell a house.

Jerks.

Breathing a little easier from the whole code enforcement situation.

Holding our breath on another.

My husband tested positive for TB when he had his physical a few days ago. We got the results right before the close of business yesterday. So we had to take the girls in to be tested this morning, and I'll go tomorrow. We won't have all the results until Monday.

Apparently, the positive result just means that he's been exposed to tuberculosis not that he has an active case. His chest x-rays must have shown that he does not have an active case, because the doctor said he's not contagious. Regardless, he has to be on antibiotics for 6 months in order to eradicate it. Even with antibiotic treatment there's a relapse rate of 2 to 5%. Not too bad, I suppose, but he'll have to be monitored with x-rays for the rest of his life.

It makes sense that he was exposed to it given his line of work, but I was surprised to find out that the bacteria can live for several months in the dust and air or on a hard surface. Makes those antibacterial wipes at the grocery store they put out to wipe your cart down even more appealing, doesn't it?

Onto a totally different subject...

I'm very thankful somebody mentioned D-Ribose for my fibromyalgia. Between that and the L-Theanine my friend mentioned, my fibro is not flaring. And considering the stress we've been under the last few weeks, that's absolutely amazing! So thanks to both of you!

My body and I appreciate it more than you can know!

Hope.

Very, very thankful that our middle daughter has not had a meltdown with her dad being gone. Considering that twice earlier in the week she almost melted before school, this is huge. It is just a huge breakthrough, and I believe it has to do with an antioxidant we've started her on about a week ago.

Normally when she starts to ramp up into a meltdown she gets to a point where she can't stop. Both times this week she's gotten to *that* point, but she's been able to pull herself out of it. And it seems that she has at least one meltdown monthly that is uncontrolled. I know hormones are involved, but the Theanine really seems to make a difference, and I'm so grateful that my friend told me about it.

I am going to start taking it myself as well, as it has immunity boosting properties. Besides that, it helps destress a person, and it's like fibromyalgia feeds on stress. I figure I'll know how it helps me in another week or two. My friend has noticed that she has less body pain after having been on the Theanine for awhile. That sounds wonderful.

I'm hopeful.