Recombobulated

Phew! We moved just over a month ago and we have been thoroughly and completely discombobulated since then.

Our move went great and we love our new home.  But, it’s been a little chaotic since we arrived.

We had everything planned and sorted out.  I even had almost all of my Christmas presents bought and wrapped and boxed to move.  But, I didn’t plan on the entire family getting the stomach flu.  Ugh.  The day we arrived, Hannah was miserably sick.   All eight of us (me, Steve, all four boys, and both daughters-in-law) got horribly sick one day at a time for about two weeks.  Justin was so sick, he had to go to the hospital.  He was seriously dehydrated, but he’s okay now.  We somehow managed to keep the baby from getting it.  I think it was rigorous hand washing and a complex system of quarantining the sick.  Thank God the baby didn’t get it.

But, that wasn’t our only trip to the hospital since we moved.  I take an annual trip with the women in my family that is either in January (over my mother’s birthday) or in May (over Mother’s Day).  This year, we all went to Kauai to help my youngest auntie get settled into her retirement there.  On the second day we were there, my cousin and I decided to take the aunties on a waterfall hike.  It was super muddy and treacherous and one of the aunties (the one we were helping to settle into her retirement) fell and broke her ankle.  Ugh.  All those ropes courses I’ve done over the years finally paid off with a real application.  We made human chains out of our bodies and got her out of there on our own.  And, then we helped her navigate her local emergency room.  They took great care of her and she’s recovering well and it gave her daughter an excuse to stay an extra week and the rest of the aunties excuses to go back to Kauai and “help” her any time.  It’s not the trip we had planned, but it was fun none the less.  There is nobody I’d rather be in the hospital with than my mother and her sisters.  I literally said, “Okay, I’m dropping you off here, please try not to get yourselves arrested before I get back.”

On my way home from Hawaii, I stopped to work in Los Angeles.  It was during the crazy LA rain.  I am so happy that I don’t have to commute in that traffic any more.  While I was gone, Harrison (our 4 month old grandson) started day care.  He was in day care less than one week before he contracted RSV, an upper respiratory infection, which we are referring to as the Great Baby Plague of 2019.  The poor baby was hooked up to monitors and oxygen in the hospital for 7 days.  It was so sad.  Despite our efforts to gown, mask, and glove, the rest of us all contracted RSV taking care of him.  I’ve never seen my eldest son so sick.  I came in from the airport and said, “Okay, it looks like the baby is going to be okay, but I’m not sure you are.”  I’m not a hysterical mother.  You can count on one hand how many times I’ve taken Nathan to the ER in his 27 years.  Over the next few days, both Nathan and Hannah ended up in the ER with the Baby Plague.  Steve and I have avoided the ER, mostly because there’s nothing they can do except confirm it’s RSV and recommend rest, cough medicine, fever maintenance, etc.  The poor little Germ Vector is better now and recovering at home. 

We are recovering at home and settling into a new normal.  We look forward to being well enough to entertain you with learning to winter and how welcoming our lovely new neighbors have been.