Odds and Ends

Well, it's been a busy week! I typed out a nice, long update the other night, only Blogger wasn't working. And, though I saved the writing in a text file on my computer, I accidentally deleted it later on. Doh!

Anyway... Like I said, it's been a busy week! I started off feeling like Death. I was so, so sick. Between the chills, fever, stuffiness, and fatigue, I was feeling rather unwell. I left work early on Monday, and made the earliest available doctor's appointment (Thursday) to see what was wrong with me. Honestly, I have been sick so frequently this year that it was starting to get worrisome. I figured it was probably all the stress from everything (selling a house, buying a house, working full time, raising two active children, running a small business, and figuring out how to move my entire life across the country... you know, the usual) that was killing my immune system, but figured it couldn't hurt to get checked out.

In the meantime, Gus and I made the decision that we wanted to go on a vacation this summer, after school got out (see mention of "stress," above!). We had contemplated going on another cruise to Mexico, since those are generally affordable and very convenient, but we had a revelation: Why not Alaska? So, we booked it. We're cruising to Alaska for a week after school ends, and I could not be any more excited!!! We even got a room with a balcony, since the scenery while at sea is supposed to be breathtaking. I. Can't. Wait. We've even booked excursions at the various ports, including canoeing alongside the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, taking a wildlife boat tour (looking for whales, sea otters, etc.) in Sitka, and seeing the huge totem poles and attending a lumberjack show in Ketchikan. Have I mentioned how excited I am???? This is a dream vacation. Less than a month to go!! :)

Anyway... Despite feeling MUCH better, I took Thursday afternoon off to keep my scheduled doctor appointment. And, surprise, surprise, she told me I was stressed. This was BEFORE she knew everything that was going on in my life, so I have to say that my doctor is pretty awesome! I apparently have a number of other physical signs that are indicative of stress. There is literally nothing else wrong with me. Stress has just wiped out my immune system, which means I catch pretty much any bug that happens to come my way. Ugh! At least school is over in a few weeks, which means that my opportunities for exposure will be decreased! My doctor also gave me some homeopathic advice about prevention, which I plan to use to stay healthy for the remainder of the school year... and our cruise!

But wait! There's more! When I got home from my doctor's appointment, determined to de-stress my life as much as possible, I had an unbelievable message on my answering machine. Maybe you remember me posting about my friend's little girl, Aubrey, who was super sick with leukemia? It's a miracle that she is well and is actually back home now. Still, when her struggles were at their worst, I joined the National Bone Marrow Registry. And, as it turns out, I am a match for a 63-year-old man with leukemia. I am still playing phone tag with the registry employee, but am excited/scared/nervous about potentially saving someone's life. It couldn't have come at a worse time. But there's no guarantee that I am a perfect match, anyway... so we will see what the next few weeks bring!

In the meantime, the kids are as great as ever. They are the happiest, most non-stressful part of my day, and I look forward to spending a lot more time with them after school ends and we get back from Alaska! Maya's big thing lately is her insistence on doing everything by herself. And by everything, I mean ev-er-y-thing. Her battle cry these days is, "I do it by myself!" And, well, she does. It takes a while, but she can usually do things on her own. She is such a feisty, independent little girl. She also thinks that every single word she sees is spelled "N-I-K-O-S." That's the only word she knows the letters for, so it must be everywhere, right? Truthfully, she thinks her big brother hung the moon, even if they don't always get along perfectly. And he is awfully sweet to her most of the time. Like today at lunch, when he made sure she had plenty of apple slices to enjoy. They really are good to each other, and it just makes me want to be around them more often. Less than one month!

Anyway, that's the news here right now. I've taken some new pictures, but they are on my camera and will have to wait until tomorrow. Until then... goodnight!