Like a superhero but without powers or motivation
To celebrate New Years, Saskatoon is in the middle of a big snow storm/blizzard. We went out and got supper and are now bringing in the New Year as a family by watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This is the first year where Mark is allowed to stay up to midnight and ring in the New Year while I think this is the first year in years where Jordon and I plan to make it past ten.
A couple of photos from tonight.
2008 was an interesting year. I was pregnant for most of it and as anyone knows who has had a miscarriage, it is stressful every time I went to the doctor. I went once and instead of calling Jordon right away, I ran some errands. I had also forgotten to take my cell phone. By the time I got home and he could get hold of me, he was worried but everything was okay and the pregnancy was fine until late spring.
In late March, Jordon had to go to Calgary for a conference on Emergency Disaster Relief. While he was there, I got a phone call from him via Skype telling me we were getting a cabin at Arlington Beach in the same way you would mention that you were going to buy some sunglasses. Jordon never makes decisions like this and he hadn’t even seen it yet in person or via photos. In his e-mails with Arlington, the comparison was made to the Camplin cabin and that was enough to convince Jordon to get it. Later came some photos and within a week we had formalized our decision to by the cabin which was a great decision to make for our family.
By the time we went up to move some stuff in, my blood pressure had spiked and I was seeing spots. It was diagnosed as pre-eclampsia and they told me with some medication it should be under control. The medication didn’t work and within a week I was off work. Normally being off work would be fun but I had just been transferred to Safeway on 33rd Street and I was so looking forward to being at the store closest to my house. I was going to be working with some friends, an old manager I got along well with and I was going to be in a small Safeway. Some people prefer big stores, I love the small ones. Before I worked by first shift, I was off work.
It wasn’t bed rest but pretty close to it. In practical terms when we went to the cabin the first time, Mark was in the front seat and I was in the back seat chilling out. The good news is that Jordon and Mark wouldn’t allow me to do anything. It was sweet if not a little frustrating to be able to move around.
Things got worse health wise and as many of you know, despite a August 1st due date, I was in the hospital in early June. Jordon and Mark were up at the hospital day and night and every day Jerry and Gloria were up which kept my spirits up. I don’t think I ever realized how sick I was until at Gloria’s retirement party, she did a mini roast of all her friends and she mentioned that she thought I wasn’t going to make it. I don’t know why it hit me then but it did. In addition to visiting, Gloria got Lakeview, Saskatoon Free Methodist Church and through the grapevine, even people out at Arlington were praying for me. Looking back at it, I think it made the difference.
Well Oliver was born on June 9th. I can’t remember any of it but in the delivery room of RUH the radio was playing during the cesarean section and the song was, Y.M.C.A. by the Village People which the anesthesiologist and Jordon thought was a pretty cool song to be born to. For a couple of days I was too weak to go and see him which was frustrating. Jordon went by the hospital twice a day for 22 days to see him and I would go up a couple of times to hang out and feed him. On July 1st we were able to take him home with us. The first stop was the Salvation Army Community Centre to meet the staff and the second stop was to the Reimer’s so he could meet the extended family.
We did manage to get to the cabin a couple of times this summer and it was a lot of fun. During on of the trips to the lake, the cabin got a fresh coat of paint compliments of the Camplins and the Reimers.
As summer moved into fall, Oliver continued to do well but I stopped feeling as well. I was warned by my doctor that I was a likely candidate (victim?) for postpartum depression and despite Tom Cruise not believing it exists, it does and has been awful to work through.
I have described it to Jordon as being in a funnel of blowing leaves with thoughts instead of leaves going around and around you. Since I find I can’t focus on the thoughts, I tend to grab hold of one and hold on tightly to it and I find myself ignoring other thoughts, even if they are the ones I need to be dealing with. It creates a lot of chaos around the house for Jordon. I feel for him, he works all day with those that are mental health and homeless and then he comes home to having to deal with me and try to figure out what the damage I did and then fix that. It doesn’t help that I actively work against him in trying to find out what happened. In some ways it is like he is at work 24 hours a day now.
Close to Christmas it all came to a head. My medication was raised substantially but life is still a big fog. Simple things that I never had to think about before are turning into big disasters. The doctor is confident that an increased dosage in my medication will make a difference but it has been a long struggle and it is hard to remain optimistic. I don’t really miss my family though this but I do realize that it would be tremendously helpful having people who knew me well enough to be able to relate to what I was going through, sadly that isn’t family so I wander through the valley of depression with friends and the guys. Jordon helps bring some structure to my life which is hard for him. He has never liked controlling people and for him to do that goes against his instincts. Despite that a phone call in the morning to make sure I took my medication and to review my plan for the day and to wait while I write it down makes a big difference. Tonight he ran to Staples for me and got me a new Looney Tunes Daytimer (I don’t think he got the Looney Tunes reference), a fake Moleskine and some mini gel pens (he knows the way to my heart goes through a nice pen or two). We just finished sitting down and really talked about what he can do to help me. Looking back at a year where I would have understood if he cut his losses and left, it means a lot to me.
That has been 2008 for me. In some ways it has been wonderful, in other ways I feel like kicking it in the crotch as it leaves tomorrow night.
I have never been accused of being a cat lover but this photo of a kitten in a cast. Get well soon cat!
Well Christmas is done around here. I am packing up the tree and the Christmas village today and by tonight we should look like a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses live here.
Christmas was good. I got a great CBC Radio reporters bag, some picture frames, a handmade journal, a Coleman watch, some ear rings, a nice table cloth and oven mitts. I wanted to get Jordon a new digital camera for Christmas and we are looking around for one today. We are trying to decide on a DSLR or a Fujifilm S2000hd camera.
We had Kristi over on Christmas Eve (we had so much fun celebrating Christmas with at the Reimers, why not have her over here) which allowed Jordon to take a look at her Nikon D80 and see if that is what we want. On Christmas Day, some friends came over that work with Jordon and we watched the movie Enchanted. Jordon and Mark weren’t so sure about the idea but the movie was a good one.
On Boxing Day, we did some shopping, met up with the Pederson clan, and then went to Lee’s place to chill and for Jordon to play Call of Duty, World at War.
For the rest of the week we are just chilling around Saskatoon, planning to do some reading, and watch some of the movies I had picked up for my birthday. I hope your holiday season is as pleasant.
Around here I am just putting the final touches on Christmas. All of the presents are bought, the stockings are ready to go, and the menu has been set. Like almost every Christmas since Jordon and I have been married, we are staying home in Saskatoon this year and are hosting some Christmas festivities here.
It has been an exhausting Christmas season for us and for Jordon in particular. A co-worker of his said that at noon on Christmas Eve they were going home, putting on their pajamas and napping until New Years. I think he feels the same way.
For the first time ever, we are having our dinner and presents on Christmas Eve. Lee of course will be here as will our friend Kristi. We already did one Christmas dinner with Kristi so what’s another massive turkey among friends?
The reason originally was that Jordon was going to work on Christmas morning and give his staff the day off (the Centre is open 24/7/365) and Mark was going to go into the office with him. That all changed when the staff he would be working for got news of a surprise visitor after the holidays and so he didn’t have to work at all over Christmas.
Instead Mark and him are heading down for a couple of hours to give out gifts while a co-worker of his is coming over with her daughter for the day. I have been taking care of the daughter off an on when school is out and she gets along great with Mark. Later that night some other co-workers of Jordon are stopping by as we wrap up a day of appetizers and turkey leftovers.
It does mean that while I imagine some photos will get uploaded to Flickr (I just uploaded some of SIGA’s Enchanted Forest), and some thoughts posted to Twitter, posting here will be light until the New Year. I hope all of you who read this have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Jordon answers the question that everyone is asking. How cold does it really get in Saskatoon?
Lee came by the other day with my birthday gift. It was a gift certificate for Future Shop. Jordon and I stopped by there today and I picked up some DVDs: The Dark Knight and Ocean’s Eleven. I also got a CD of James Bond theme music and Classic Queen. All of them are a lot of fun and I am ashamed to admit that I haven’t seen The Dark Knight or Ocean’s Eleven. With the Dark Knight I can blame on Oliver being born but with Ocean’s Eleven it comes down to not having much of a movie watching life.
No body likes moderated comments but on my blog I find that I have to. Today after reading my pending comments, the following comments were made.
Wow, that was a lot of fun. In the past I have had prayers that Oliver be seized by Social Services, I was a lesbian, I needed to leave Brandon, I am a horrible student, blah, blah, blah…
All of them come from MTS I.P. addresses. The nastiness is a little more pronounced than normal but it shows up in Twitter, Flickr, via fax and via e-mail. Twitter allows me to block users and Gmail’s spam filtering technology is great. For Flickr and my blog, the problem just goes on and on.
It isn’t that I care that much but I care enough to stop this garbage from appearing on my blog. If you have left comments in the past and I have approved them (I only spam the spam and the stupid ones), your future comments should appear without moderation.
Thanks for understanding.
I turned 39 today and we are taking it easy for a couple of reasons.
I woke up this morning and was given some Calgary Flames ear rings by Mark, Pink’s new CD by Oliver, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull DVD by Jordon, and a fleece poncho by Maggi. The rest of the day has been sitting around with the guys. They have been cleaning the house for me, I played Mark a game of Scrabble, and I we are listening to my new CD.
I am not sure if we are going to go out tonight or not, it will depend on how I am feeling later but if not, we will stay in and watch Indiana Jones save western civilization once again.
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