Around Here: Week 26 2022

 {June 26-July 2nd}

Washing... all our clothes in preparation for our trip to the beach this week.  It's so much work to prepare for a week away, but we are all excited and at their current ages, the kids can help so much more than ever before.

Sending... Josh with the dogs to meet my dad halfway.  My parents are dog sitting while we're away. So in addition to their own three dogs, they'll have our two dogs.  They are literal saints.  I am so grateful I don't have to worry about them while we're away. Especially since Piper is still a puppy. 

Driving... the first leg of our trip to Vancouver (where I was born and raised and where Josh and I met in high school) and finally arriving hours later than planned after a road closure and subsequent traffic set us back.  Luckily my brother was flexible (we met at his house so we could see him and his girlfriends' new digs and he could skate with Logan) and our kids are excellent travelers.

Loving... watching my little brother and my growing son share a passion.  Dallas is such an awesome teacher, gentle, never pushy, just giving tips here and there and encouraging Logan to try new things.  I am so grateful Logan has him.  It was so cool to see them skate together, even if it was 200 degrees out that day. Hah!

Heading... from Vancouver to the beach to see my grandparents and settle into our Airbnb.  This trip was made possible with help from my parents and I'm so thankful because I really wanted to come see my grandparents, let my kids spend some time with their great grandparents, and it's a much needed a vacation for our family after a crazy school year. (The beach trip will be in a post all its own which will follow this post.)

Seeing... my grandpa was both really good, and really hard.  The Alzheimer's is taking a lot of his words, his focus, but you can tell that he is still in there.  He can be funny on occasion, and he always has that sparkle of mischief in his eye which is quintessential "Grandpa".  For instance, he said, "Isn't he named after me? Henry? There's your problem," when Logan was being sassy.  (Logan is named Logan Henry for my grandpa who is Gerald Henry and my great grandpa who was Awald Henry.) I cracked up and told him he was right. Naming him after grandpa, I had that coming. 

Facing... a lot of health anxiety once I came home and looking back, I know that that was my way of dealing with the fact that grandpa is... I want to say dying, but that's not quite right.  We're losing him. Bit by bit.  And I can't save him. And my brain's illogical way of handling that is to place my focus on something else. For me that's usually cancer of some type. This week it was skin cancer. I am terrified that because of my sun exposure (particularly on my scalp) that I am at risk of developing skin cancer. Our brains are so strange indeed. 

Laughing... when Carly asked me if humans are born with legs. I assured her that they are, but now every once in a while I imagine babies as gigantic tadpoles and am really disturbed. 

Reading... East of Eden and 28 Summers.  I finished 28 Summers (loved it!) and feel like I'll be reading East of Eden until the end of time. haha!

Overjoyed... that our hydrangea was in bloom when we got back from our beach trip! We've struggled with our hydrangea bushes (we have two) and one is fully in bloom, and the other is looking promising. So this may be the year!!

Soaking... up quiet moments in the pool when the kids get out and I can just float around in there, cloud watching or sun bathing, or sometimes both. The peace I get when I'm in the water cannot be beat. 

Taking... care of Logan when he developed a migraine at the skate park Saturday.  He said at first his vision went weird (like a kaleidoscope on one side) and by the time I got there (ten minutes later) the migraine pain had started.  
He came home and laid in his cold, dark room with level 8 pain in his head until after about thirty minutes he finally threw up. Again, and again.  Then he slept for two hours and woke up like it never happened.  This is how his migraines roll. 
We have an appointment with his amazing neurologist next month just to make sure it's nothing to be worried about (since he had epilepsy earlier in childhood) and to make a plan for when he feels like this. It's hard for me to not be able to do anything for him. I mean, I can provide comfort measures, but I can't make it go away. 

***

Unread books are so comforting.

Logan's ocular migraine symptoms

***