On the mend.

I am a lot less numb and tingly!! I am not even sure why, I woke up yesterday morning feeling a lot better B"H. I went for blood work and my phosphorus was quite high and calcium low, but not low enough for IV. As the day went on I continued to feel better.

I am still a bit twitchy, but I can feel to type and only numb if there are pressure points like a hard chair, crossing my legs, holding the phone to my ear, or leaning on something. Right now it is being caused by the sort of things that would make other people numb if they did them for a while, but for me it happens instantly and is more intense but it also gets better faster if I relieve the pressure. The problem is when everything causes it. It is such a relief to be doing better.

Yesterday morning I spent some time floating in the pool and playing in the water with my youngest daughter. It was wonderful. I got a swimming suit from http://www.modestswimwear4u.com/swimwear/newourlatestcollection so even though all of the neighborhood children were hanging over the wall or out their windows watching us I was comfortably modest.

In the afternoon we made pickles together and I made challah. It was a busy day and I am glad. I had expected, based on the way I was feeling Wednesday, to spend a chunk of it at the doctor for IV. This was much much better!! B"H.

My mother finished up her picture frame project. Though the stain is a reddish color instead of the dark wood of the rest of the dining room, with all of the coats it is dark reddish brown which looks nice. The pictures stand out from the wall much more and it is a distinguished look.

Toilet training still isn't going well. I really don't know what to do. If we catch him at the right time we have managed to get him to use the toilet a couple times, but he doesn't ask or indicate that he needs to go and doesn't care when he has accidents and his pants are wet or dirty.

We have a big trip planned for Sunday. We are IY"H going to Tzfat. We hope to see the cheese factory, the candle making factory and a variety of different synagogues. It is at least three hours each way and I expect it will be very hot there. We need to plan and make food and an itinerary. I am praying that this doesn't cause a crash like last weeks trip did. Doing things, though fun, isn't good for me. One day of fun makes for at least two or thee days of misery afterwards.

Shabbos is coming. This morning the girls made chocolate peanut butter rice crispy treats with very little help, tomato salad, and helped with the cucumber salad as well. Teaching them how to cook is fun and useful. I have garlic ready to roast but need to figure out what else needs to go in the oven. I am not turning on the oven in this heat just for garlic, though it may be worth it.

If I could just be healthy.

I am so tired of pain, muscle cramps and numbness.

My hands are so asleep that typing is really hard now, holding the phone a mild torture and anything touching my face causes spasms.

I didn't go for blood tests because I was in a stubborn mode and wanted all to be well. Far from brilliant. It didn't work.

My kids spent the day waiting for my mother in law to show up (she said after breakfast she had one stop to make and then would come to us) and she didn't arrive until 6:30pm.

The couch I wanted to buy was bought by someone else.

But my mother was happy. She spent the day on the picture frame project. It looks like tomorrow will be spent on it as well since two coats of varnish has them a bright red not a dark mahogany. She likes doing and she was busy.

My kids working on finishing the pickles before my mother in law got here. I managed to save a bite from the end of a pickle that was in one of my girls mouths. Family germs don't count and we cut off the bitten part, so it was okay. My mother in law had never tried my pickles before and I had told her I would try to have them waiting.

All in all, it was a day. I may have been miserable but I didn't make any one else miserable and that is a huge accomplishment.

Another day another project!

I worked on resting and being pleasant today. I am numb and tingly but trying to avoid IV calcium. I am not sure why I am being stubborn on this right now, but I am, so I haven't gone for blood tests to see how low I got. If there is no number it isn't reality and we don't have to treat it.

As soon as my cleaning lady left this morning (I love her so) my mother started taking down the pictures, and sanding them, in my living room. Once the project was started she realized how many ridges and grooves there are in the frame. There isn't much else to do other than proceed or purchase stain that matches the original color because she started sanding, so my mother is not giving up. If it turns out well it will look nice, but either way I will think of her every time I look at my walls even after she leaves.

We got the sewing machine going as well. The new Singer brand bobbins my mother brought do not work in it (they are a tad too big) but I had three bobbins from when the sewing machine was mine before, and they fit and work beautifully. So far my mother fixed my husband's pants and one of my daughter's skirts.

This is the kind of help and project I can really appreciate and encourage. I have to look for more mending for her to do. As much as the machine is staying here, I am glad she is getting things done now. My mother needs to feel productive and this fills the nitch while making everyone else feel taken care of at the same time.

AC went searching for books (from the attic) for my mother to read to him. They are bonding and enjoying each other's company more and more. Despite the fact that AC doesn't speak English and his Hebrew is hard for my mother to understand, they are getting along nicely. He wakes her up most morning singing his little songs which she appreciates, even if I wouldn't at six am.

The pool was only granted a half a day of attention today. Either its glory is fading, or today was an off day. Come to think of it, we didn't have any neighbor children here either. Very very odd.

My mother in law arrived, from the US, today. I spoke with her to give her my cab driver's number but haven't seen her yet. I hope we see her tomorrow, but until I know her plans I am not making any. I haven't told the children that she is here, in the area yet, because I originally though she was going to my sister in law up north first, so this will be a great surprise.

All in all, it was a quiet, pleasant, companionable day.

Though I love low key days, we have some potential excitement on the horizon, which could also be good. Tomorrow evening we may be going couch shopping, if no one else bought the couch that caught our eye. There was a second hand couch advertised that is exactly what I am looking for. My couch is really a 13 year old love seat, with place for two, and the chair in my living room is closer to my age than not and now leaning to one side. Even my mother agrees, if we can find something nice and reasonably priced, the time for new furniture has come.

I really hope it works out.

We got fabric!

If I had the energy and wasn't too tingly to type it all up I could tell you all about today's trip. Maybe tomorrow.

The short if it is, we got fabric, there were more stores than you could imagine, and my mother helped me find the perfect buttons.

The metabolic appointment went well. They are just as happy as I am with how well the kids are doing. They want a bunch of invasive GI testing on AC that I am not thrilled with, but they are neurologists and geneticists and pediatricians, not GI doctors, so they can ask but they can't do. That is in our favor.

We don't do invasive tests unless there is a probably (or highly possible) benefit and the GI hasn't been pushing.

Summer days

My kids continue to love the pool. The girls spent almost the whole morning in the pool while AC was at school. They got out for lunch and were back in shortly there after.

The house stays neater without anyone inside taking out games and playing with toys!

My oldest accompanied my mother to buy stain, sandpaper and brushes for my mother's picture frame restaining project. I am trying to decide if I should take before and after pictures. I find the whole thing amusing. It is a good project for my mother, it will keep her busy for a bit. She is happy because I am letting her help. I am happy because she is busy and happy. We all win.

I am incredibly numb, tingly and twitchy though. My lack of morning nap plus the emotional energy involved in keeping my mother happy is taking a toll. Tomorrow we are traveling and out all day so there is no chance of doing blood tests or getting my calcium IV. I also won't have my recliner to sit in, and other chairs have pressure points that make the numbness worse, so I am a bit worried.

I went through paperwork from doctor's visits, tests and labs since our last metabolic clinic and it was a great year. I don't have a lot of new information for them and I expect the visit to be quick and easy. The only worries I have are the fact that we didn't do my oldest's MRI (insurance issues) or my son's lab testing because we couldn't find a lab to do the test they wanted. Hopefully we will get those two issues straightened out tomorrow so we can do the tests in the near future.

After the doctor's appointment we are IY"H heading to Tel Aviv to go fabric shopping. I hope that it goes easy and is pleasant. I need just the right purple fabrics for the girls and something nice, dark and respectable for me.

I love Shabbos

We had a great stress free day. We had plenty to read, no one expected to accomplish anything extraordinary, the food was great, everyone was happy, B"H it was a great all around day.

I really enjoyed my mother's company and, when the kids and my husband were sleeping, we had some nice late night time to talk just mother and daughter.

We did run out of challah (I thought I had three big loaves in the freezer and only had two) and the pita breads we had just bought were moldy, but a neighbor gave us a loaf of challah and some pitot and rescued us! I love my neighbors.

Tomorrow I have to gather paperwork for my children's metabolic clinic appointment on Monday and make challah. The kids plan on spending the day back in the pool. Only
my youngest has camp, the girls are all home. My husband is working.

Maybe one of the girls can take my mother to my husband at work to pick up the money he is changing for her and from there to the hardware store to buy stain, brushes and sandpaper so she can refinish my picture frames, which are bothering her. I have ten picture frames, filled with family pictures, which are light wood and my dining room furniture is all dark wood. I can't say that I care one way or the other, but it certainly won't bother me, as long as they are all one consistent color and back on the wall before she leaves. They never bothered me but that doesn't mean that they won't look better when she is done.

My children will soon be fish

They love the pool. It isn't huge, but it is a huge hit. I think I may take it over next time they are out of the house. I would love to float and relax in there all by myself. Paradise in water.

AC has even been in there happily. Last year he freaked out at the idea of going into our friend's pool. This year we have to watch him like a hawk. He has a habit of falling face down into the pool and we have to pull him up sputtering each time. He coughs, wipes off his face and then laughs and does it again a couple minutes later. If he wasn't having so much fun I might ban him from being in there at all.

The two big girls both know how to float, but there isn't room for real swimming or swimming lessons. ER came home from her last day of camp with all sorts of goodies, including an inflatable pool ring, which was wonderful timing since today was our first day using the pool.

I need lots of tefilos for sanity during my mother's trip. She means well. She loves me. I love her and it is only three weeks a year. We can get through this happy and smiling. We can!!

She got here safely, her plane was half an hour early even. Her legs aren't as swollen as previous trips and we got her to nap shortly after she got here (she was flying all night). I wish I had a sibling here to share her with though.

Since I don't have a sibling here I need a money tree, a lot of patience and some thick skin. Please Hashem grant me what ever I need to get through this with everyone happy!