Mother

My mom had a mild stroke on Wednesday. She was at an appointment for her arthritis and they admitted her to the ER when her blood pressure was "critically high". They put her under a stroke alert since her left side started feeling weak. After staying overnight for observation, they confirmed a mild stroke. An MRI showed a small blood clot in her brain. They gave her some blood-thinners and was able to go home today. She claims to be doing okay, so now we wait.

Cole is FOUR

Cole is 4! He's getting so big and has such an imagination. He's funny and opinionated and so loving. I'm excited to see how he does when school starts.

I made homemade brownies from scratch for the first time and while I didn't enjoy the process, they turned out delicious. I also managed to snag a larger Zero costume from Target's discount Halloween section so he can grow into it. I'd say he had a great day.

Thanksgiving Stuff 2022

We made a trip out to Louisiana for Thanksgiving this year. I find it bizarre that it's been practically a whole year since we visited for longer than a day. We stayed with Sean and met his current girlfriend, Kat, and were able to visit Zac's family. Leah and I spent the day before leaving baking cookies, 72 to be exact, along with deviled eggs. Kyle came to stay a night at Sean's also, which was nice. I wasn't able to visit with Jessie because her fam had a covid exposure. Luckily, she never tested positive for it. All in all, it was a nice visit.

Boosted x 2

Zac and I got our Covid boosters yesterday. It wasn't terrible, but today I've been having the worst fever-chills. My body feels like pins and needles and I've been under my weighted blanket to keep the anxiety at bay. TBH, it's a good distraction from this annual reminder that my sister is gone, so there's some silver lining. Lovely. I feel like shit.

ER

Cole was complaining of a tummy ache this morning, so while we're potty training, he usually means he has to poop. So he did, and shortly after started crying really hard like he was in pain and ended up throwing up some bile. He didn't eat much last night for dinner and Elias was complaining that he wasn't feeling so hot (he was kinda pale), so Zac got them both some toast. Elias ate his and felt better, but Cole threw his right back up. I waited about 20 minutes or so to see if he wanted a bite of oatmeal, but nope. That came up, too. So, I decided no food for a little while and let him rest on the sofa. He started feeling better, so I had him take a sip of water. Not five minutes later, that came up, too. I called Dr. Y's office, but he was leaving at noon today and was completely booked up, so the nurse told me to call the Urgent Care. I called and told them what was going on, but they said he should go to the ER because it sounded like "gallbladder issues"... Now, Cole is 3, so this is a little strange to assume without seeing him, so I decided to go ahead, get dressed, and head out. We spent the next 2 hours sitting in the waiting room near a small boy who had a gross, wet cough and wasn't wearing a mask nor was he covering his mouth (yay). We were finally discharge after they gave Cole a Zofran and had us make sure he could keep water down, then sent us home. The Zofran worked wonderfully. The rest of the day, Cole watched TV, had some soup and crackers and kept it all down. He did have a few meltdowns with Pedialyte and his water being too cold, but I think his throat was sore from all the puking. Two Lolleez sore throat lollipops later and he was tearing through the house like he had a case of the "zoomies". He was back to his original self by bedtime so I'm hoping he's all better tomorrow.

Trick or Treat street

We took the kids to a Trick-or-Treat street near the library. It reminded me of my childhood Trunk or Treats, which is the Christian version of Halloween, even though they pretend its not. Lots of booths set up, lots of people bumping into us, etc. I was a little annoyed that the kids weren't able to just hold out their buckets for candy and instead needed to participate in cornhole games, which meant waiting in long, unorganized lines. We were able to avoid the church folks and the kids came home with plenty of sweets. They had fun, which was the main point. Something new to try and get some extra use out of expensive costumes.

Boo At the Zoo (just kidding)

Zac saw an advertisement for Boo at the Zoo, so we bought some tickets for us as well as Jessie and Orrin. We drove the three hours to Louisiana and after arriving at the zoo, realized we made an error because the amount of cars, lack of parking, and the plague of people was overwhelmingly frustrating for a football Sunday in mid-afternoon. I called Jessie and we both agreed to nix the zoo and instead buy candy and hang out at her place. Back across the lake we went to enjoy some gumbo and conversation about foods and recipes and all that jazz. Grahamm's parents came by for dinner so we were able to hang out with them and try some different wines. They gave us some bolita beans and chicos, talked about winters in New England, living in New Mexico, and Italian food. After dinner, we had to make the drive back home. The kids were somewhat disappointed in not going trick or treating, but they were able to keep a lot of the candy we bought and enjoyed spending time with Orrin and all the cats. 

Five things, 6 years later

Five names I go by:

1. Amy
2. Mom
3. Sweet Woman
4. Amanda
5. Spooky

Five Places I have lived:

1. New Orleans, La
2. Slidell, La
3. Hammond, La
4. Covington, La
5. Flowood, Ms

Five things I love to watch on TV:

1. Friends
2. Stranger Things
3. The Office
4. British Baking Show
5. True crime stuff

Five places I have visited:

1. Florida
2. Tennessee
3. Missouri
4. Tennessee
5. Colorado

Five things I love to eat:

1. Tacos
2. Burritos
3. Nachos
4. Enchiladas
5. Potatos

Five favorite drinks:

1. Tea
2. Amaretto sour
3. Piña colada
4. Water
5. Snapple

Five jobs you have had:

1. Smoothie King
2. Great American Cookies
3. Bath & Body Works
4. Walmart
5. Target

New Orleans

We made a trip out to New Orleans with Mom so we could celebrate Elias' birthday. We went to the Aquarium first. The kids had the best time looking at all the fish and animals, but Cole especially. He was so fascinated. This was his first experience at the aquarium where he's old enough to enjoy it (or maybe first time ever?). He loved all the sharks and jellyfish. It makes me ache for a tropical fish tank. One day! After leaving the aquarium, we let the kids cool off in the water fountain a bit. It was too funny. They got soaked. The Louisiana heat is a beast. We even watched the ferry go by before heading to the zoo. It rained a little, which helped us cool off a bit. I'm so glad we brought a wagon for the boys. They were able to get up and run around or look at the animals or sit when their legs hurt. They even tried frozen bananas for the first time. I was surprised they liked the flavor since they don't really eat bananas at home often. Once the zoo started closing and it started drizzling again, we headed out. The kids were able to swim back at the hotel before getting ready for bed. 

This morning, we went out to see about getting beignets, but everything smelled of piss and it was so SO hot. My body was sore from walking all over the aquarium and zoo that I didn't even want to go into the witch shops. Shocking. We took a quick peek at Jackson Square, but the kids were miserable and we were just ready to get food. Zac brought us to Gambino's and I picked out some pralines. Cole had his first petit four and we bought some extras for Leah J and Tommie before heading home.