There are pros and cons to both but I guess since the past 5 months did exist and I can't erase them from my mind entirely and lets face it, what's happened happened and will continue to happen so I might as well face it and at least recap it.
July was.....so long ago. I'd posted a few tidbits and even published a post a few weeks ago that had been written in July. I'm trying to think back. I'm sure we had some high points and did some fun 'summer' things but really all I can think of is that we worked hard and it rained lots. My mom continued to battle the recurring pneumonia-like symptoms with some good weeks and bad weeks. Thankfully, she had a good week near the end of the month when these people came to visit.
My neice Tami and great neice Rowan spent a day here with my mom and except for the couple hours they spent in the ER after baby fell and smacked her teeth into the table, it was a great visit. Mom finally got to meet her Great Granddaughter. I took a couple 4 Generations pictures of Mom, William, Tami and Rowan with my brother's camera but I didn't think to take the picture again using the camera I had borrowed for the occasion...so until my brother gets around to sending me that photo you will just have to imagine it.
August long weekend we did the usual, traditional things. Spent a fortune on wrist bands and the kids rode the rides endlessly and since I'm still camera-less...no pics. I can't believe it. An Icelandic Festival without the traditional pictures to doccument it. It's not like I don't have dozens and dozens of pictures of the kids riding the same rides year after year but it's cool to compare the pictures from years past and see how much they've grown. We watched the parade Monday morning from Russel's front yard and had a BBQ lunch. A few of us walked down to the park after lunch and I splurged on henna tattoos for myself and the kids - well almost all the kids. Owen fell asleep in my arms so he didn't get one. That kid could sleep anywhere. My day at the park was cut short though by a call from my mom. Her good week had come to an end and she was having trouble breathing again. Back to the ER - again. She ended up having reactions to a few new drugs the dr gave her and by the end of that week I had practically moved in with her - not wanting her to spend much time on her own because she was so weak. Durring that time I bounced back and forth between her house and mine trying to keep up with groceries, laundry and dishes at both places and spending what time I could with my kids. A few days later I took her back to the hospital and finally, after 2 months and at least 8 trips to the ER she was admitted. There was a lot more to her problems than just pneumonia. That was just a symptom - a side effect of what was really going on. Before they could figure out what the real problem was though she became completely unstable and for about 12 hours I was really really worried. At one point on her 2nd day there, there was talk about transfering her to ICU in the city. Fortunately they were able to get her stableized. A small miracle. I found out weeks later that the doctor had been nervous about transfering her to the city because he didn't think she would survive the trip. Scarey!!!! In the end it turned out that the pneumonia she'd been battling was a side effect of her heart issues, which were being complicated by fluid build up in her body which was a result of her thyroid being out of wack. They adjusted her thyroid meds and in no time she was feeling a million times better. Unfortunately she ended up spending her 70th birthday in the hospital but we made the best of it and I brought in a cake and presents and the kids and Al and I set up a little party for her. I spent a lot of time bouncing back and forth between home and the hospital for 11 days and it was hard on my physically, emotionally and mentally but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. As long as I knew she was okay - I was okay. August really was a blur. Other than the whole hospital stay, I don't remember much. Somehow I managed to get the kids ready for school to start after the September long weekend.
Unfortunately things haven't been smooth sailing health wise with everyone else either. I ended up in mid august with a sinus infection and then just as mom was being discharged from the hospital I ended up with Strep. A couple kids have been on antibiotics for strep this fall as well and then there was the upper respiratory cough that just wouldn't go away and then when it does it comes back a few weeks later anyway. We've also gone a couple rounds of a stomache virus and had a bit of the ol' pink eye as a chaser. Fun stuff. The schools just aren't surprised anymore when I call to say one kid or another won't be there because they are sick again. By early November Owen had missed more than 3 weeks of school and Tyler wasn't far behind on his own statistics. I sure hope the new year brings much health to my entire family. Even with missing so much school though, everyone is doing pretty good. Owen is reading like crazy and it is such a cool thing. Tyler is doing remarkable well in highschool. I was really worried because it is such a different environment and the courses are set up so different than they were in middle school. Aside from his science mark dropping because he'd missed an entire week prior to his exam he's doing really well. Emily loves everything about school and is involved in every extra-curricular activity available to her. Aarica is enjoying school - most days. She continues to be an emotional teen roller-coaster but has been more involved socially than ever before. She's been hanging out with some friends (including a boyfriend0 lately and went to her first party on halloween night and just hung out with friends, ate pizza, played video games and had a great time. She's growing up. If she'd only do it with a little less drama it would be a lot more enjoyable to watch.
Business wise we made it through the summer and were about to enjoy the slower pace of the winter season. We figured things were heading towards fantastic. We finally have reliable equipment and what older equipment we do have will be okay for the next little while so we can start saving up some money to replace it at our own pace. We were also looking at an expansion into another line of work and were beginning to look into means of funding such an expansion. Things were looking good. Then boom. The world came crashing in. Nothing has been made official yet and probably won't be for another week but unofficially it looks like we have lost one of our major contracts. After 12 years of holding this contract - for a job that we created - we've been given a huge kick in the teeth and we are almost certain the contract will be awarded to another contractor. The initial news of this hit us hard. Very hard. Our first reaction was 'what are we going to do now' and feeling like this was the end of the world. Now, after a lot of talking and soul searching we've collectively decided this might not be the end of the world....just quite possibly the end of our business. This contract ends December 31st and our one other contract is up at the end of March '09. In all likely-hood we will not be bidding on the 2nd contract at all and will just let the business slowly fade into the horizon. The new truck we just bought last year will have to be sold to pay out the lease we will no longer be able to afford and since the company also has a huge debt in the form of an operating overdraft at the bank, we will continue to run the business in a small way, doing side jobs and hauling scrap metal in for recycling in hopes we can generate enough money each month to put towards the huge operating overdraft that we've aquired over the years. In the mean time it looks like for the first time in almost 14 years Al and I will need to go out and find jobs working for someone else. BIG SCAREY CHANGES but in some ways they are good changes. We've both decided it might be nice to not have to worry about work 24/7 like we do now. No matter what happens - 2009 is shaping up to be a very different kind of year for us.
So the Craptastic vs Fantastic Ratio is a little out of whack these days. Way more crap than good stuff. But the good stuff sure does help make the bad days bearable. These kids make the bad days bearable.
They are all doing good in school, driving us nuts at home with their fighting and bickering but are still good kids. They are all enjoying bowling again this year. We've been to one tournament already this year (with Al and I both bowling too as the 'masters' in the tournament) and have another coming up in a few days. Emily and Owen are both dancing again too and their first performance of the season is coming up in a couple months. Owen's birthday was a few days ago (that get's it's own post) and everyone is looking forward to Christmas this year and we are going to try hard to keep the news of business from putting a sad note on the holiday spirit.
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