Monday, February 18, 2008

Tests, Trials & Tribulations...

All of the drawings are done!



As with the last book, one coloured pencil barely held out until the very end. I may have to start a collection of teeny, tiny pencil bits in a jar as trophies!

I am amazed that I actually got them done considering all that has gone on in the last few weeks.

I had my test. Preparing for it was horrible... then I couldn’t eat for 48 hours. Did I ever mention that dragons get very grumpy when they aren’t fed?

The day of the capsule endoscopy test, they told me to dress in loose clothing. The only problem is that I don’t own any loose pants any more. I gave all my larger sizes away when I lost my weight 6 years ago... so I had to borrow a pair of Nick’s. I headed off to the hospital and they hooked me up. Here’s how attractive I felt....



Here’s a peek at the cool belt that held the data recorder for 8 hours during the test. It recorded everything that the camera sent during its trip through the dragon. I kept waiting to hear Miss Frizzle announce another field trip on the Magic School bus every now and then...



Here’s how many wires and pads were hooked up to the dragon underneath the loose shirt. Pulling them off at the end of the test made the dragon roar a bit. They were so sticky that I am still scrapping off little patches of grey adhesive almost 2 weeks later in a few spots.



The dragon was VERY happy to get this test over with. No children or husband were eaten in the process... but it was close. Even dust bunnies under the couch were looking tasty!



Last week, we had more snow storms roll through. Monday the 11th probably should have been a snow day because the wind was wicked and the snow was blowing sideways. A few buses came close to going off the roads and one or two school buses did run into trouble but no one was hurt. Wednesday the 12th, there was a storm that brought snow then freezing rain and then rain all in one day. The roads were horrid and school was canceled, so my whole family did the happy dance while I tried to work with everyone underfoot. Wednesday night the temperature plunged and everything turned into a giant skating rink. The stores started running low on salt and sand as everyone tried to cope. Thursday morning school was canceled because there was very little traction whatsoever. Again with the happy dance... though the girls got a bit grumpy when I actually made them work on the projects they had due and had put off the day before due to snow day glee and a massive Barbie game. I am such a mean mommy dragon!

Friday morning everyone was back at school for belated Valentine’s Day events and projects that were due. I drove Nick up to work, took both girls and their projects as well as Teacher Appreciation Week baking to the school. Bethany’s class had to make robots (not working ones) and she made an adorable bunny that scooted around on coaster. Can you believe in all the chaos that I forgot to take a picture before it went to school? I hope it comes back in one piece! Bethany was also heartbroken to learn that her teacher had fallen on the ice and broken her wrist the day before, requiring surgery to fix it! Poor Madame! (Bethany is in French Immersion)

I headed off to one of the local schools with my portfolio to fill in for a rescheduled author and illustrators day. One of the presenters had been unable to make it on the Friday and I was a fill-in. I had a great time right up until lunch when I got the call to come to the office.

Nick had been trying to get a bunch of kids to come in off some dangerous ice on the playground at his school when his feet went out from under him. The Vice-Principal was calling to let me know that Nick had split the skin on the back of his head and that they were taking him to the Emergency Room. Needless to say, the last hour of presentations was a bit of a blur. I raced to the hospital as soon as I was done (after calling my Mom in a panic to meet the girls at the bus stop). The ER was full of broken limbs, cracked ribs and other “slip & fall” injuries including one other man with a wound almost identical to Nick’s! 6 hours, 9 stitches and a “mild concussion” later, I brought my poor hubby home. I decided not to post the totally gross picture of his stitches that I took with my digital camera so that he could see what the back of his head looked like. It made him quite woozy... and I don’t want to do the same to any blog readers!

The weekend was a blur of taking care of Nick and working on drawings, getting ready for Sunday School, youth group a concert and the last part of volleyball tryouts for Erin. There is a new provincial-level team for girls 14 & under that she’d tried out for on Thursday night. She was good enough to be asked to go with 7 of the other girls to play in a tournament on Saturday that needed one more team to round things out. The girls met for the 1st time that morning, practiced a bit together and... went on to win the gold medal and the whole tournament! Erin was VERY proud and is thrilled to have officially made the team as of last night.



This morning was more snow, freezing rain and then POURING rain for about 6 hours. The streets are skating rinks once again with an inch or two of water on top of all the ice. We’ll have to watch the weather for the next few days and hope the temperatures stay ABOVE freezing until more of this horrid stuff melts.

I am SO glad to have all the drawings done. Now I just have to take them to be scanned tomorrow and build the final versions of the pages in the computer. The end is in sight...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What an amazing feat for your daughter. How high you must be walking for her. I'm glad you made it through one more round of testing. Hopefully this one will be the last of the tough ones. Hope your hubby is doing well, school is going to be tough for him with all the natural noise that happens in schools.

Lori said...

So sorry about Nick's fall :( Congratulations, Erin! wahoo!

Still with the testing, eh? I had to wear a heart monitor while I was prenants YEARS ago with my second. If they can make a patch stick that well to your skin... you'd think they could make a tire that sticks to winter roads, lol. This winter has been.... challenging (that's the word I'll go with)

Katie said...

Oh ouch, yeah it was quite slippery, we couldn't even get in the driveway at the school to drop Alex off and how his principal managed not to pull a muscle in the amount of times he almost fell directing traffic is beyond me.

lol, you know you've been stitching for awhile when you're eyes completely by pass the cool technology picture and try to figure out what stitched pieces are hanging on the wall in the background ;)

Dani - tkdchick said...

Awwww Jen! That test must of been the pits! I can't imagine not eating for 48 hours! I get the shakes if I let myself go too long!

I hope you get some answers. I finally got some on my foot ... answers not happy about it but oh well what can you do.

This TKDing chick won't be TKDing for quite awhile!

Take care!

stitching aussie style said...

What a time you've had. Hope hubby is recovering well, you're tests come back with some answers and that the kids don't get too underfoot with the snow and ice. We are just starting to think about heading into that type of weather.....