Ainsley's second trip to the ER

When Ainsley was about 1 and 1/2 she loved climbing over the arm of the sofa. I mean L-O-V-E-D, loved. She would spend hours pulling herself up and over it, giggling, climbing off the front, and heading back up the side. One morning, she fell off. I heard the thud from the kitchen. Then nothing. I ran in to scoop up her silent body. She wasn't breathing, wouldn't look at me. Then half of her body went stiff and the other half started convulsing. I ran with her to the phone to call 911 and my mom screamed for my dad. Then, Ainsley started crying. And I started crying. Our house filled with tall, strong men, pouring off of trucks with sirens. By the time we got to the ER, she seemed totally herself. And after checking for blood in her ears and doing a CT and EEG, the doctor gave us the all clear. Then my dad told me she was really OK, and I was OK.

When I met the kids in the library after school yesterday, Ains told me her tummy hurt. Half way through her reading test, she said her tummy really hurt. So all moms know what a tummy ache during a reading test means. Nothing. But by the time we were headed home, she was complaining about pains in her left side. Assuming she wasn't born with her appendix on the wrong side, I got her home, took her temp, sat her on the couch, and handed her a bowl of blueberries and some green tea. No fever. Gas pains I thought. An hour later, I noticed she was holding her side and her breath. So of course I called my dad. He said call the doctor. At 4:45, they sent me to Urgent Care, who scheduled a 7:45 appointment and told me to call the Tallahassee Hospital Urgent Care, who told me they don't take abdominal pain and sent me to the ER. I packed up Hawthorne, homework, books, magazines, and my emergency cash stash, and headed to the ER. An hour into the ER visit, Ainsley says, "My stomach doesn't hurt anymore. Can we go get Mexican food." Sigh.

That trip was so much better.

Happy 2011.

Is it just me or does the female football coach on Glee look a hell of a lot like Matthew McConaughey?! I giggle a little every time I see her. Glee is my new show. Love it! I so wish I could share it with Ainsley, but she'll have to stick with Victorious for now because the Glee content is so not appropriate for anyone remotely close to her age. Mainly, I love the music scenes. I'm a sucker for the power of a group performance. It doesn't even have to be music; I love scenes in cop shows where the cops are all walking in a line looking all tough. There's power in numbers that I seem to get a kick out of. I really hope both of the kids play a team sport or are in the band or orchestra or dance group... anything where they can feel the rhythm of the group. I miss that some times, so I'll have to live vicariously.

They're both actually participating in such things now. Hawthorne started basketball last week, and Ainsley's piano and dance classes started this week. She's taking a jazz/hip hop class that she's super pumped about.The activities sometimes keep us a little busier in the afternoon than I'd like to be, but it's worth it. Of course I didn't feel that way so much when Hawthorne and I were at the kitchen table this morning finishing a Costa Rica project that's due today. This is a project that we've spent hours on at home, and it's supposed to be a "school" project. Never assigned for homework. When did third grade get so complicated?!

I'll write about Christmas and remodeling later; gotta get to my Wednesday conditioning class. I'm determined to get in shape before I turn 40. I'm not aiming for marathon or string bikini shape, just everything toned and limber enough so that my body doesn't feel like I'm 40 when I get out of bed in the morning.

Happy New Year!