Amanda's welcome home, 55 Gig & babysitting

May 17-

Making borscht

Amanda reported her mission today. Jon and I worked really hard to get as moved in as possible and ready for her open house. We served chicken & rice soup, broccoli cheddar soup and the girls and I made homemade Borscht. It is a Ukrainian soup made from beets, potatoes, carrots, cabbage and seasonings. At first I was a little discouraged as it didn't meet with approval from the first 4 testers but it must have improved with age. Everyone seemed to like it. We also had rolls and many people brought desserts. From my family, Karen brought Mariah, Josh and picked up Jessika and Josh. Mom had planned to come but didn't feel quite up to it. I think all the rain is getting to her. It turned out that I had to speak with Amanda. I decided to not write it down but just try to speak from the heart. I think it went okay but I'm always haunted afterwards by things I said or didn't. Amanda & I got a lot of compliments. I know Amanda wished she had more time. I think we fed about 50 people.

May 18-I spent the night with Jessika and Josh as Daren and Noel are out of town for a few days. I slept on a mattress in the basement with a full sized zombie at the foot. Kind of creepy.

May 19-I went up to Logan and attended Grahm's 1 yr old birthday party. Anj had gone to so much work. She is very creative. Grahm got to eat his birthday cake all by himself. It was extremely entertaining. The Mood Swings had a gig that afternoon at the clubhouse at Mom and Mardyne's community. It went better than expected. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and not
just us. Wayne got to try out his brand new mixer and can control our sound from the audience with Karen's ipad. It's pretty cool. I headed down to Justin and Kenzee's right afterwards to tend Nolan and Ezra as Justin and Kenzee are on a Hawaiian cruise for 12 days. A babysitter has had them for a week. Nolan is such a thinker. Sometimes it's hard to get him to mind because he is in such deep thought. He is disappointed that they don't teach Chemistry at his grade school. He wants to invent edible soap and has been selling books on the street corner to get money. Before school he painted his lightbulb in his room.



That kid is always up to something! That night Ez started running a fever. Thursday I ended up taking him to a doctor who put him on another antibiotic. His O2 level was only 85. He is so gray and lethargic I've been really worried. The doc said he either had walking pneumonia or asthma but thinks it is asthma. He said not to worry about exposing anyone. I planned to take the kids to see mom tomorrow. Jon came over for Ezra's preschool graduation. Ez wouldn't participate but did walk up to get his "gift" and diploma. Then we rented "ET." Jon spent the night.

May 22-We drove to Logan and picked up mom to decorate and clean dad's grave.

We hit about the only window of time that it wasn't raining. Then mom watched the boys while Colleen and I had a quick practice since she has added 10 new songs for our gig next week. Then mom took us to see "Cinderella." It was so good. Ez seems to be getting worse. Around 10:30, as the boys and I were sleeping in dad's bed, I was in the process of trying to exchange some money for Nolan's tooth which had come out this morning. Just as I got my hand under his pillow, suddenly Ezra sat up and started vomiting. It was dark but I guess instinct kicked in and my other hand shot out to try to stop it. Bad idea. I could feel myself getting covered. I was so glad I had taken off the down comforter and bedspread so it only got on me, him, his blanket and the sheet. I carried Ez into the bathroom to finish off then got the bedding washed. I never told mom. I would feel horrible if he gave this to her! The next morning Ez was so gray and wouldn't get up. I went in my "prayer room" and poured out my heart to help him. Then I woke him up and asked if he wanted some breakfast. He said, "sure" and jumped up and out to the kitchen. He still didn't eat anything but it was a start and I felt better. We left around 8:00 taking mom down to Dale's. He will then take her to the cemetery in Benjamin.

Nolan with his tooth

Nolan helped me with some bass parts since I don't read music and he does.

When Ez was feeling good enough he made me lots of donuts.

I had planned to drop the boys off at Lacey's at 1:00 so I could go with Jon and the girls to Mt. Pleasant for a BBQ. I was excited to go but didn't feel I could take Ez to her house. Jon and Sherry said they would hurry as fast as they could but they didn't arrive until almost 2:30. I missed the BBQ but at least I got to see Lucy. I was pleasantly surprised that she seemed so happy to see me.

May 25-Memorial Day. I woke up with my usual sickness. Headache, sorethroat, earaches, sneezing and bad cough. Jon thinks it's because I never rest. He never seems to catch it so I'm wondering if it is allergies. I took enough drugs to allow me to go on a bike ride with Jon, Amanda, Paul and Phyllis. It felt so good to get out and it wasn't raining!