"Whew!" ... and some other falling stuff in our house

It's a good thing I didn't commit to NaBloPoMo this year. I'd be totally screwed.

I have a really deep and insightful post - two of them, actually, that are half-written. And I can't focus long enough to finish them. So this is what is coming out on the ol' blog today.

Oh, I forgot to post about this. It was too disturbing and embarrassing in light of what had happened only a week or two before to post when it actually happened. Enough time has passed. Now I can share. Don't worry, no one was hurt. Our guardian angels are working double-time, and they're pulling through for us.

Here is what happened:

I was chatting on Google video chat with one of my favorite people in the world and in the next room I heard a tremendous CRASH. I turned quickly enough to catch this out of the corner of my eye as it fell to the hard wood floor below:
We had just started re-arranging Waverly's room (right behind that black screen) and so there was junk everywhere to begin with. Now there was a whole lot of shattered glass intermingled with the junk. Fun!

There used to be two ceiling fans in this vaulted-ceiling room.
Now there is just one. And a sign covering the light switch to prevent anyone from inadvertently turning on the other one and sending it crashing to the ground... and our piano which is directly under it.
As you may know, we have a bit of a history with these kinds of random falling catastrophes in our home. You may remember the Great Christmas Tree Fiasco of '07? But having this ceiling fan thing happen so soon after the kitchen cabinets fell off the wall in the kitchen... well, I was starting to feel nervous. Coincidentally, the location in the house where the ceiling fan fell is directly one floor above the location where the cabinets fell. Taylor's scientific explanation: We have "extra gravity" in that spot in the house.

The little ditty "Rain is Falling All Around" from the LDS children's song book kept running though my head after this happened, and I felt inspired to put new words to it.

Things are falling all around
In our kitchen,
On the ground.
Ceiling fans fall to the floor
I can't take this anymore!

But that isn't true. I can take anything. In fact, later that day more crappy day-to-day things kept happening with the kids. And instead of crying, I went into the bathroom, looked at myself straight in the mirror and said sternly to "life" in general: "IS THIS ALL YOU GOT? BRING IT OOOON!"

And life complied.

But I survived.

And I always will.

Last night Taylor and I went to a co-worker's costume party. Good (catered) food, lots of wine, a pool tournament, and a beautiful home in the hills that overlook Portland. I have never felt comfortable dressing up for Halloween. As an adult, I rarely do it at all. I usually don a hat that looks like a spider and call it "good". But we were required to arrive at this party is full couple-matching costumes. I borrowed Oscar's Super Mario costume and Taylor was a green 1-Up mushroom from the Mario Brothers games. You know - the mushroom that gives Mario an extra life if he eats it? Taylor thought it was clever because I have an "extra life" in my fuzzy-wuzzy-womb-room. (Don't worry if you don't "get it". We were surprised that so few people understood the gaming reference. Doesn't everyone play Super Mario Bros. on a daily basis?) Needless to say, we didn't win the prize for best costumes. But I kind of liked wearing the hat. The mustache... not so much. It wouldn't stay stuck to my f ace anyway. We ended up having a really fun time with a bunch of people that I usually only see bi-annually. It helped that they were all mostly drunk. They won't remember me, my awkwardness in social situations, or my mustache on Monday morning.
Last weekend we took the kids to the middle school's Harvest Festival. ("Harvest" festival! Ha! Heaven forbid they use the word "Halloween"' in the title of a clearly HALLOWEEN-type carnival complete with spook alley!) Above is Waverly dressed in her own creation that she has been planning since July: a dress made out of garbage. Hailey was a scrumptious hot dog. :)
Does the Dorothy costume look familiar? I made it for Waverly when she was Alice's age. If I weren't so lazy I would dig out an old picture of Waverly in the costume so you could see how crazy-similar they look!
They had a great, old bingo game. The kids loved playing and they each won!My favorite carnival game: eating a donut off a string!
The spook alley was very elaborate, very dark, and yes- very scary... especially for a bunch of 6th graders. Waverly and her friends spent most of their carnival tickets to be able to go in, but chickened out at the door when they started hearing other people screaming. They gathered their courage (and me for moral support) and gave it another shot. Here is their "before" shot: courage intact. ...aaand after:I also screamed like a little girl through the whole thing! It was fun to have Waverly cling to me and think that I somehow had the power to save her from the scariness. :)I'm pretty sure she had her eyes closed through the entire thing!

Tonight we went to the "Trunk-or-Treat" at our church. Alice was still feeling a little under the weather and too cold to do anything other than cuddle on Dad's lap. Always such a shame when those cute costumes have to be covered up by a coat, huh? But a mother's pride can't get in the way of her concern for her already-sick-toddler's well being, right? Sigh.
The boys with their cute friends at the Trunk-or-Treat:
Henry was a very convincing Harry Potter, and Oscar borrowed back his costume, this time opting to paint on the mustache since the fuzzy one had lost all of its "stickiness". Ah, I love my cute boys.

Since we live on a gravel road with only 3 other houses, we decided to go back to our old neighborhood to hit up the houses there for some candy. Our first stop: the house we still own, but rent to a nice little family. It was surreal to be trick-or-treating at our own house! And lets be honest... I kind of miss it.
The neighborhood has really great decorations every year!
We made our regular loop around the block and got some good stuff. (Waverly was not with us because she was trick-or-treating with her friends for what we have informed her would be her last year. 12 is too old for trick-or-treating, right?)
We finally went home to sort out the loot and eat some soup - which the kids did not touch, of course. After a good, filling dinner of Kit Kats and suckers, my already ill children had no problem falling off to sleep with their low grade fevers.

We hope you also had a Happy Halloween!

If only swine flu smelled like bacon...

So there you have it. I'm pretty sure H1N1 has invaded our home. It isn't diagnosed and confirmed, but in chatting with my doctor, that is the most likely conclusion. So far it is just Waverly and Alice, but the sooner the rest of us get it the better - so we can get on with our winter and not worry about catching it. Am I correct in thinking that once you've had it you can't get it again? I'd rather we all have it now then when the new baby arrives in January.

fever
congestion
headache
chills
cough

upset stomachBless their hearts!

Could one single virus produce MORE symptoms? I think this one takes the cake. Can we blame Waverly's newest outbreak of hives on this? That's right: the hives came back after a 3 day sabbatical. Yippie.

I hear Alice in the next room and her cough is taking on the classic Giles Family croup sound. Just lovely. I wonder if I should bother trying to go to sleep, or if I should go get the bathroom steamy now in preparation for the "breathing treatments" I am all too familiar with.

And being as contagious as this thing is supposed to be... what do you think the chances are that my boys are walking contagions? Is it irresponsible of me to send them to school when they appear to be perfectly healthy, but are more likely than not harboring and spreading H1N1 germs?

So as far as seasonal illnesses go, this one isn't all that different. We are relatively healthy people who have access to health care, so I'm not too stressed about this virus. But if (or when) I do get it, and something terrible goes wrong and I die... could we all please agree not to associate my last days and my passing with the word "swine"? Feel free to say, "It was so tragic... she was taken in the pandemic of '09." But please, no references to pigs. However I DO request that bacon be served at the luncheon after my funeral. It's my favorite.

Fall, Please do not LEAF us!

We can't get enough of autumn's beauty.
But the leaves are falling too fast!
Do you have to leaf so soon?

Loose Ends

Pictures from the pumpkin patch that I forgot to post:The misspelling of "pumpkin" is pretty funny. Very "rural authentic".

We have a little tradition of picking the most deformed pumpkin in the patch and taking it home. A kind of "Charlie Brown Christmas"... Halloween style. To be honest, I was a little disappointed in their selection of non-round pumpkins. Usually we're able to find some doozies. This one was the bumpiest we could find. Still... very endearing. We decided it looked like a very old man.

We love our friend, Hailey :)I love this one of Hailey! Kind of cute... kind of creepy.
It was such a treat that Taylor was able to join us!
Alice has a deep affection for pumpkins. She was in toddler heaven.

All of the kids playing nicely:
In other news:

After six weeks, it appears that Waverly's hives are clearing up. She hasn't needed Benadryl in a few days, and she has only had a spot or two here and there. We never figured out what was causing it. But whatever it was must be leaving town! (Hopefully for good!)

While I can't claim that I sewed this costume from top to bottom.... I am rather proud of how I pulled it all together. "I'm-a-MARio!" Oscar loves it too, which is most important, right?

"R" is for...

Oscar brought this home from Kindergarten.

H1N1: To vaccinate, or not?

Where do you get your information when you decide whether or not to have yourself or your children immunized against the H1N1 virus?

According to what I have read, my family falls into the highest priority level for persons who should receive the vaccine first: I am pregnant and I have small children. Our doctor has the nasal-vaccine in stock and is willing to administer it to my husband and children this week. They want to administer the injection to me as soon as they receive it. (The nasal spray method is not recommended for pregnant women.)

There are plenty of opinions out there. I've received more than a few emails that site seemingly random "professional opinions" on the matter. They have the air of authority, but how is one to know for sure? I'm not a doctor. And when you ask a handful of medical professionals their opinion on the matter, they are pretty much split 50/50 in their opinions as to whether to vaccinate or not. (That is not a scientific study, just my own observation. ) I receive my prenatal care from a clinic where there are 2 midwives. One advocates getting the vaccine. The other does not. One plans on getting the vaccine herself. The other does not.

Where do the medical professionals get their information on the subject? And why do they all reach differing conclusions?

How am I - someone who is not trained in medicine - supposed to come to a scientifically-based conclusion if the medical professionals can't even agree with one another? I have been doing my own kind of research on the internet, but frankly I don't know what sources are legitimate and who I can trust to be unbiased. I did find this: the inserts put into the packaging of the actual vaccines themselves. I just wish I understood everything I was reading. (Having a degree in art education is not coming in handy here!)

So where do you get your information regarding the H1N1 virus and vaccinations? I don't mind hearing your opinion. But I am mostly interested in knowing how and why you have come to the conclusion that you have.

Will you be immunized against the H1N1 virus?

Will you immunize your children?

Why?