I Get it Now

I was always kind of amazed whenever I listened to the news and heard the count of how many people had died from the flu each year.

The flu?  How do people die from the flu?  It's just a regular old cold!

Yeah.  I get it now.

This thing sucks.

I have no energy; I can barely breathe; every time I get up and do something, I end up coughing so badly I think I'm going to cough up one of my lungs.

Breathing was so difficult yesterday that I ended up having to go the doctor.  Again.  She said there's nothing more they can do for me.  I just have to wait it out.

♪ ♫ Flu, flu, go away, don't come back another day! ♪ ♫

I have been so blessed by family, this week, though.  Jesse had to work a 15 hour day on Wednesday, and was concerned about leaving me alone for so long after the whole hospital ordeal on Tuesday.  My mom volunteered to drive down and spend the day with me.  I was so touched!   She came, popped in one of my favorite movies, and spent the afternoon cleaning the kitchen and organizing around the house while I rested and slept.  I'm so thankful for her!  Between Jesse and me both being sick, our house had kind of fallen to shambles.  It's something that stresses me out, but I've been way too sick to be able to deal with it this week.  Mom was so sweet.  She washed all of the dishes, cleaned out the refrigerator, made soup to leave here for us, and brought me little meals to nibble on throughout the day.  I can't remember the last time we just had one-on-one time.  I love spending time with my mommy!  She is such a blessing to me!!!

My sister Kate was my blessing yesterday.  Jesse had to leave early in the morning for a meeting in a different county, and when I woke up, I could barely breathe.  I knew I needed to go to the doctor, but I was so lightheaded from lack of oxygen that I knew I couldn't drive myself.  Mom contacted Kate (who is attending a university 20 minutes from here) and she came right over and picked me up.  When we came back from the doctor, she fixed a steam face-bath for me with Vick's to try to help me breathe easier, and the two of us plopped on the couch and made fun of a cheesy romantic flick.

I realized again yesterday what a blessing it is to live less than 2 hours away from everyone I love.  It's just amazing to be part of such a close-knit family where we can all be there for each other.  Jesse and I had lunch with Momma B last Friday, we got to support Kate's senior art gallery exhibit the Tuesday before that, and when all three of my siblings graduate from college/high school this spring, we'll be able to be there for them, too.  I love being close to my family, and I'm so thankful that when I need them, they can come to my side!

I just love them to bits.

Crazy Times

My goodness, what a crazy few days this week has had already!

Thanks for your many prayers for Jesse and for my first day at my new job.

Jesse is healing slowly but surely, and I'm truly thankful for that!

Monday went very well for me.  The kids in my class are very cute, and I'm excited to get to be with them and to use Hought0n-Mifflin curriculum, which I love!  Even though it's a Pre-K classroom, they use all Kindergarten curriculum.  I'm very familiar with Houghton-Mifflin's Kindergarten curriculum since I used it for three months as a sub last year.  It's so nice to use something I already know very well!

Jesse stayed home from work on Monday, which I was thankful for.  Poor guy, he really did get hit with every symptom on the planet.  Fever, congestion, sore throat, queasiness, body aches, and exhaustion.  No fun!

I wasn't expecting it to hit me so hard, too, but by the time I got home on Monday night, my throat was sore and scratchy, and within two hours, I was throwing up.  I couldn't keep anything down--food, water, gatorade...for 12 straight hours, everything that went into my body came back up again.

Jesse packed me up on Tuesday morning (after calling the school and telling them that I couldn't come in) and took me to Urgent Care.  I was so dehydrated by the time that the doctor saw me, that she hooked me up to an IV and had me rest for the 3.5 hours it took for all of the fluids to pump into my body.

Thankfully, it really is just a nasty strain of the flu, and I don't have an infection or anything really serious, but it is still no fun.  I have no voice, I've had a fever for the last 24 hours, and I'm so congested that I keep getting dizzy from lack of oxygen.

Thankfully, the doctor wrote a note excusing me from work for 3 days.  Still, I can't really imagine getting out of bed and going to work on Friday.

What a great way to begin my new job, huh?  Not exactly the "first impression" I'd like to leave them with.  Hopefully I can feel well enough on Friday that I can step up to the task and show them that it was not a mistake to hire me!

In the meantime, I'm going to get lots of rest...

Full Circle

It's 8:00 the night before Valentine's Day.

My handsome man is asleep on the couch.  Poor guy, what a day.

It makes me think back to our very first Valentine's Day, five Valentines ago.

We had only been dating for about 2 months.  I kept a diary back then, and here is what I wrote:

Thursday, February 15th, 2007

He gave me quite a scare on Tuesday!  Sunday night, he said he wasn't feeling well, and all day on Monday, he kind of dragged.  He stopped by my room after his basketball game on Monday night (yes, he played!  crazy guy...) and he was drenched in sweat.  His body was cold to the touch, but he was soaked through.

Tuesday morning, I sat next to him in chapel, and he was so feverish that I got too hot just sitting next to him and had to take my sweater off.

He didn't go to orchestra rehearsal.

I stopped by his room after my night class got out, and he didn't even get up to answer the door.  Just called out weakly, "It's open."

He was curled up in bed with a hoodie, a jacket, and two heavy blankets on, and he was shivering.  I've never even seen him get goosebumps before!  And here he was trembling as if he was in the snow.  In the snow and on fire.  His head was burning up.

We're in college.  We don't have what we need when someone is sick.  I had nothing to take his temperature with, nothing to reduce his fever, no way to alleviate his pain.

So I ran to the store and bought all sorts of things.  I took his  temperature when I got back, and it was 1025.  He was feeling hot by then and had taken off the blankets and jackets.  The back of his t-shirt was wet with sweat.  I took wash cloths and applied them to his neck, forehead, and sponged off his back.  I gave him gatorade I had bought at the store (I was afraid he might be dehydrated) and gave him Tylenol to reduce his fever.  Then I sat by his bed with my hand on his arm and prayed.

Half aan hour later, I took his temperature again, and this time, the thermometer read 103.9.  It was 11:45 at night, and I had 15 minutes before I had to leave his room due to privacy hours.  I couldn't leave him like that.  Neither of his roommates were there, and there was no one to take care of him if I left.  But I was afraid to leave him, because if his fever got any higher, he could go into seizures or lose consciousness.

So we decided to go to the ER.  I drove his car (for the first time! which is funny because he had just showed me how to work the anti-theft system so that the car would start when we were at the lake on Sunday).

I was so worried for him when we got to the ER a little after midnight.  He could barely walk a straight line (and I may be tall, but there's a 70 pound difference between us!)  and when they made him stand at the counter to fill out all the forms, he could barely hold his head up.  I was afraid he was going to pass out.

No one saw him until nearly 3 in the morning.  We sat in the waiting room and he rested on my shoulder.  I read a little bit of Princess Bride to him (we're reading it together) but he was so tired, I don't know how much he heard.

What a guy!  He stayed so positive the whole time.  He would smile and squeeze my hand, and even cracked a few jokes at times.  They held him there until his fever broke around 4am.  And then he was a completely different person!  Almost back to himself again.  "Almost," he said, "Just not 110% yet."  He winked.  I love him!

I love him!

If you ever feel I say that too much, go ahead and close this book now, because I don't see a change in the forecast anytime soon!

It's the Valentine's Day curse.  Jesse says we've been lucky the last 3 that he hasn't been sick, because apparently it's been a tradition for him to get crazy-sick every Valentine's Day.  His fever got up to 103* today.  Poor guy, he very rarely ever gets sick, but when he does, boy, does he!

Today has been a quiet day.  We stayed home from church, and Jesse has slept pretty much the entire day away.  I'm glad.  He needs rest.  He's always on the go, and every once in a while, his body reminds him that sometimes he needs to slow down.  I've awakened him every half hour or so to take his temperature and get some liquids into him, but other than that, he's been lost to the world.  Hopefully he'll sleep through the night, and be able to enjoy another day of rest tomorrow.

I wish I could stay with him tomorrow!  It's my very first day at my new job.  After nearly three years of "just" being a substitute teacher, of feeling invisible, abused, and taken advantage of, I'm leaving it all behind and becoming a Pre-K teacher.  I'm so ready to have somewhere to set my things, and know that I'll be back tomorrow.  It's not what I went to college for, it's not what I anguished through Student Teaching or pursuing my credential for, but it's a position, a place to be, and a way that I can really contribute to our household.  Jesse's so good at reminding me that there's never been a time in our marriage that I haven't been working.  It's much harder to be a substitute dealing with unpredictable situations  than it is to settle into one position, and I'm thankful that he recognizes that and reminds me of it frequently.  I'm also thankful that he supports me in leaving behind my dream of being an elementary teacher for now in search of something more stable.  I'm not giving up on that dream, I'm just accepting that it's really not the time.  Not when thousands of pink slips paper Southern California every Spring and teachers are forced to give up on early retirement in order to be able to afford what life is throwing at them.  Someday.  Someday.  Just not now.

Now is the time for my favorite nursery songs, fingerplays, and picture books.

I'm looking forward to it!

Please pray that Jesse continues to improve and that he'll be ok tomorrow without me.  And please pray that my first day goes well tomorrow!

♥Bethany

Date with God 2011

Thought you might want to see pictures of this year's Date with God, too!

(in case you missed it, here are pictures from last year)

We had a wonderful night...I think we were all pinching ourselves afterward.  Just so happy that it went well, and so thankful to get to work with such wonderful ladies!  God has really blessed me by putting Stacey, Jenny, Mary, and Emily in my life.

Here are pictures of the evening!

Emily, Mary, and Stacey working on the centerpieces

So pretty!

Don't you love hearts?

Dessert table

Stacey giving the message

Breaking up into stations to learn about women of the Bible

My gorgeous sister, Laura, came and lead all the worship music.

Two different jr. high girls asked me that night if we were twins...lol, there's a 6 year difference between us, but isn't that a wonderful compliment for me? :-)

Exhausted after the event, but victorious!

I love these girls!!!

I didn't include any close-ups of any of the girls (I don't have their permission to do that) but it was so much fun to have a room full of 30+ jr. high and high school age girls flitting around in their prettiest dresses and each holding the pink rose that was handed to them at the door.  They were all so cute, and it just made our hearts smile to see them loving the evening!

I need to call him and tell him not to call me because I lost my phone, but I can't...

....because I lost my phone.

Don't you love it when your brain works like that?

The silliest thing happened to me last night!

When I pulled into our driveway last night, I was especially careful to park as close to our neighbor's bushes as I could so that Jesse would have room to pull the trash cans past the car when he got home.  As soon as I opened the car door, I realized I had really parked too close, because I could barely open my door wide enough to squeeze out!  I had a lot of things to carry, so I held them all close to me as I wiggled out of the car and squeaked along between the car and the bushes.  When I reached to close the car door behind me, I heard a thud and knew that I had dropped my cell phone.  That poor thing gets dropped more often than Donald Trump gets to say, "You're fired!"

After I had opened the front door and set down my armload of things, I walked back out into the darkness to find my phone.  Tough cookies.  It was pitch black, and I couldn't see the phone anywhere.  If only I could call it so that I could see the screen light up in the midst of our neighbor's crazy overgrown bushes!  But...I didn't have anything else to call it with (we don't have a home phone).

I even brought out our flashlight, but it was no use.  I couldn't find it.  It was too cold to wait outside for the offchance that Jesse might call me to tell me he was on his way home.

I headed inside, but felt bad, because I knew Jesse would be worried if I didn't answer the phone when he called me.  My phone is an attachment of me!  I always have it within arm's reach.

I kept thinking "I just need to call him and tell him not to call me because I lost my phone.  Ack!  That doesn't work!"

So I went inside and sat in defeat until I heard Jesse's car come up the driveway.

I bounded out the door with the flashlight to kiss my hero and have him find my phone.

My hero met me at the door with a bouquet of tulips.

What a guy!

He was just as surprised to see me as I was to see the tulips.

Apparently, he was going to hide them and give me one tulip each day til Valentine's Day.

Such a sweetheart!

Well, he found my phone as soon as he called it, and now there's a beautiful vase of tulips in our bedroom reminding me that I have a man who loves me enough to do anything for me.  I love him so much!

I'm back!

Whew!  It's been more than two weeks since I've been here.

I missed all of you!

It's been quite the time.  I have a lot to catch you up on!  (And a lot that I have to catch up on too...laundry, dishes, dusting, oh my!)

Jesse and I spent the last week in January with his family in Kansas.  We had a wonderful time!

Here are some favorite pictures from our time out there:

[caption id="attachment_661" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Hanging out at the lake by Jesse's dad's house"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_662" align="aligncenter" width="411" caption="We were expecting a little more snow than this!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_663" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Learning a new card game with Uncle Tom and Aunt Leanne"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_664" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Lunch in Lindsborg"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_665" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="I love him!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_666" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Guess where I wanted to spend my whole day? :-)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_667" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Aunt Leanne found us out on this porch swing during our day in Lindsborg and took our picture"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_668" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="They made a sign in my honor!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_669" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Jesse got to spend lots of quality time with his one and only cousin, Charlie. They had a great time playing basketball!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_670" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="How adorable is he?"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_671" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Bowling with the family"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_672" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Pizza face!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_673" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Uncle Steve, Diana, Aunt Pam, Aunt Alice, Charlie, Jesse, and Dad Chris"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_674" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Being silly on our last night in Kansas"][/caption]

We had a wonderful time visiting family!

If you've been following us long enough, you might recognize Charlie as our adorable little ringbearer nearly 3 years ago.  He is just the cutest thing!  We love to watch our wedding video, because as the end of the recessional, Charlie walks down the aisle clutching the ring pillow, looks right at the videographer and says, "Cheese!"

Well, I hope you've all had a lovely two weeks, and I'll look forward to catching up with you!

Blessings!

Bethany