It's been the week from hell here in the Bucher household. Every member of the family has puked multiple times in the last 6 days. We've all been in a bit of a fog and not really sure which way is up. But, we Buchers are not ones to wallow in our pukiness. Rather, we laugh in the face of illness and mock the viruses that strive to beat us down. (Well, actually, laughing might make us start puking again, so here are others who are able to laugh.) Enjoy!
And, finally, no one is laughing in this short video, but it's a favorite of the boys. I think you'll enjoy this sneaky penguin. You'll have to watch it more than once to figure out what's really happening. :)
OK, this is one of those silly/dumb/sometimes-annoying email forwards. BUT, it made me laugh out loud and I thought maybe some of you would enjoy it.
Bored Husbands in WalMart A letter from WalMart management:
Dear Mrs. Fenton, Over the past six months, your husband, Mr. Bill Fenton has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this type of behavior and have considered banning the entire family from shopping in any of our stores. We have documented all incidents on our video surveillance equipment. Three of our clerks are attending counseling from the trouble your husband has caused. All complaints against Mr. Fenton have been compiled and are listed below.
1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking. 2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minutei ntervals. 3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the restrooms. 4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official tone, Code 3 in housewares..... and watched what happened. 5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and asked to put a bag of M&M's on layaway. 6. September 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area. 7. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they'd bring pillows from the bedding department. 8. September 23: When a clerk asked if he could help him, he began to cry and asked 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' 9. October 4: Looked right into the security camera, used it as a mirror, and picked his nose. 10. November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, asked the clerk if he knew where the antidepressants wree located. 11. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously, loudly humming the"Mission Impossible" theme. 12. December 6: In the auto department, practiced his "Madonna look" using different size funnels. 13. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled "PICK ME!" "PICK ME!" 14. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed the fetal position and screamed "NO! NO! It's those voices again!!!!" And, last, but not least! 15. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door and waited a while, then yelled, very loudly, "There is no toilet paper in here!"
My Mom had a good appointment at the James Center yesterday. She goes back on Friday to meet with the head of Radiology & begin testing to see if this specialized radiation is an option for her. My Dad said the doctor was very upbeat & optimistic. So, keep praying & we'll see what happens. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are the House o' Puke right now. Eli developed the stomach flu Monday night. He started throwing up at 9:30 pm and continued through that whole night. (I quit counting at throw-up number 10, which was 3:35 am.) He was pretty lethargic all day yesterday & didn't keep anything down. He nursed briefly two times during the night last night & kept those down so I let him have a big, long nursing session this morning. He promptly vomited it all back up, and Max, who was watching, said, "Cool!" But, overall, I do think Eli is feeling better today (judging by the fact that he gets really angry when I only let him have a couple of sips of water rather than a full cup) and I think we're past the worst of it with him.
Xavier was feeling yucky last night & developed a fever. I kept him in bed next to me so I could keep an eye on him. He's not puking, but he has this horrible sounding cough. I really hope this isn't a different virus. Two viruses at the same time could wipe out our house for weeks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Beeson Pastors & Spouses had a big get-together at Bella Notte last night, courtesy of the Beeson program. Bryan went alone since I was home with sick boys. He felt bad going without me since Bella Notte is my favorite restaurant. I've been there twice & I absolutely love it! Bryan offered multiple times to stay with the boys & let me enjoy a night out with friends & good food. But, I'm the Mom, and that's the person that sick little boys want. Isn't that what we all want when we're feeling yucky? That person who will love us & comfort us & do everything possible to help our upside-down world be righted? So, I missed out on what sounds like a very enjoyable evening, but I was doing what I needed to be doing. There are so many times in my life that I'm not doing "what I need to be doing," that it's good to be able to say that about last night. And, Bryan brought home an order of Chicken Marsala for me. (I had it for breakfast!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hope your days is blessed with laughter & pleasant surprises.
Mom has a consult at the James Center in Columbus today at 2:45. Prayers are most appreciated! This appointment is to determine the next step in treatment for her. The way she understands it, they will either do a specialized kind of radiation or another form of chemo. I'll let you know.
When I talked with Mom yesterday she was feeling upbeat and good. She was fixing a big dinner (spareribs, potatoes, etc...) for her friend Josh. Josh works maintenance at the apartment complex Mom manages and he is going to pet-sit for her while she & Dad are in Columbus today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I took the boys & a few of their friends to the park yesterday. That was fun. After playing for a while we followed a path that leads to a cemetery. The older kids were fascinated with reading the tombstones and figuring out how long people had lived. They got excited when they would find someone marked "army" or "minister" or when they would find someone with a familiar name. They had a great time.
It's been a long time since I've been in a cemetery. One of the things that struck me as I walked through (following Eli) was the sheer number of stories represented there. All those people—all their stories. How many of those stories are still remembered? Sometimes it's easy to tell the stories that are fresh in people's minds. Those graves are decorated to the hilt. There were grave markers that were landscaped, there were ones that had all kinds of little knick-knacks all around, fresh flowers, plastic flowers, hanging baskets, gift baskets, you name it. Those people are remembered. They are thought of and their stories are told or thought about frequently.
Other tombstones are undecorated & there is no outer clue that tells whether their stories are remembered. Now, sometimes, a bit of the story is on the tombstone: beloved teacher at ATS, missionary to India for 40 years, etc... But, it is just such a tiny part of their story. One tombstone in particular really stood out to me. There were three names: mother, father, & son. The mother & father were both born in the mid 1880'ss. Their son was born in 1921, the same year the father died. The mother lived until 1970, but the son died in 1950. I wonder if the father ever got to hold his son. I wonder how the mother dealt with her grief. Her story reminds me of a couple Bryan & I met in our Bradley class when we were pregnant with Xavier. They had been married less than a year & were expecting their first child. Within a few weeks of finding out they were pregnant, the husband was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. He died about a month before the baby was due. She went into labor at the funeral, but she didn't tell anyone because she didn't want the focus to be shifted away from her husband. The baby was born the next day without any complications and was given the name that his dad picked for him. We lost touch with her after that. But, I think about her often and wonder how she is doing. I wonder how the Mom buried in the cemetery handled life. Had she learned to trust and rest in God? Or did she spend her life bitter at her circumstances? Did she every remarry? Did she close off her heart to protect it from being hurt ever again?
I wonder what my story will be when I come to the end of my life here on earth. Will I have learned to trust & rest in God? Or will I let anger and bitterness be the rule of my life? We all have the opportunity to write our life's story. Each day, in each moment, we have the choice of what our life will be. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Since we're on a death theme here, I have to share a postcard we received in the mail this weekend. It's addressed to Bruno, our cat and it's from our cat groomer. It reads: "There is no time more fitting to say thank you & to wish you peace, happiness & dreams come true." Very nice. The irony? Bruno was put to sleep a couple of months ago. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I hope all of you are having a wonderful, peace-filled day.
Our neighbor, Aiden Layer, is ten and has his own blog. He recently posted a list written by another neighbor (when you live in a townhouse you have lots of neighbors!) Anna, who is also ten. It really holds true for any age. (I would give the link to Aiden's blog, but he has removed it.) And here's what she wrote: How to be a friend by Anna Wymer
I was just checking a student's references on a Rap History project she did & discovered this great website created by the police of Compton. I was particularly moved by the letter from Maria: http://www.comptonpolicegangs.com/faqs.htm
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Bryan created this wonderful Christmas video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1S-YbgCRa4&eurl= He does such a good job with this sort of thing! But, the video makes me cry so I can't watch it very often.
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I've been pretty weepy lately. Thinking about how much I'll miss my mom & all the things she & my kids will miss out on. Starting to tear up now, so I'll change the subject.
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I convinced Xavier to ride the bus to school yesterday AND today! I gave him the choice both mornings (ride the bus or have me drive him.) He likes having the option. I weight it in favor of the bus by telling him that I can play or read stories if we're waiting for the bus, but if I'm driving him, then I have to clean the kitchen before we leave. That does it. He just wants those few minutes of my time in the morning. ~~If I have to get in the car & drive I feel like I can't leave the house until all the oatmeal is scraped off the counter & the dishes are in the dishwasher. (Don't want to come home to mice or, worse, cockroaches! eeeeewwwww!!!)
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I have this weird psychological thing, that when I think about bugs, my nose itches. When Bryan wants to torture me he'll sit there & say "bugs" over & over. Makes me nuts!
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Our neighbors, Keri & Jason gave us a CD "Some Rockin' for Your Stockin" that is awesome! I have been dancing around the kitchen to it for the last couple of days. (Hopefully, no one has seen me through the window. LOL)
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Finished the Shawnee UMC website. There are a few bugs that I have to work out yet & I still need to get information from church staff for a few pages, but it's up & I think it's not too bad. I got an email from an acquaintance back in Lima who wants me to create an eCommerce site for her jewelry business. Maybe that's my niche: churches & jewelry. lol
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Eli is sleeping on me right now. I have to say that I've gotten pretty good at typing with one hand. I dare say, I'm a better one-handed typer than some two-handed typers. Or maybe not. lol
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Max made up this joke: What color is a penguin? Blight! (If you don't get it, ask a 7-year-old.)
We're finally settling in a bit of a routine here. It's only taken 6 months. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday morning is cartoon & waffle time at the Bucher house. The older boys have to have their room clean, beds made and be dressed before they can watch cartoons. (I recently instituted this rule and I have to say that it is one of my more brilliant ideas!) I use Saturday morning to do my weekly attendance for my online music classes. This takes anywhere from 1 to 3 hours so I get started right away in the morning. (I typically sleep until 5:30 on Saturdays.) Eli is invariably up before the other two, so when he's ready I will put on a video for him to watch while I finish up my work. (This serves not only to entertain Eli, but to motivate the older boys to work faster.) But, this morning, the older two have snuck downstairs and are now watching Kipper the Dog with Eli. I know their room is not clean and I can see that Max is not dressed yet. So, do I pretend I don't see them and let them get away with breaking the rules? Do I take the hard line and declare no cartoons for them since they are breaking the rules? Do I change the rule? Do I just leave and go out to breakfast by myself and let Bryan deal with it? The dilemna of motherhood..... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We are starting to get Christmas cards. This happens every year. And every year I think, "Holy cow! It's Christmas card season all ready!" Last year I created a virtual card. It took less time than "real" cards and it was a whole lot cheaper. It gets expensive when you send over a hundred cards and I can't figure out who should be cut off the list! But, if we were going to send snail mail cards this year, then I think we would strongly consider this one or this one I love this guy's stuff. It makes me laugh every time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, the boys determined their own fate. Eli wanted to push buttons on the DVD player and they stopped him and made him cry. So, I sent them upstairs to finish their work. The ironic part in this: Kipper is a VHS. Pushing the DVD buttons made no difference. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Mom had several good days this week. She is feeling much more energetic now that she's off the chemo. She goes to the James Center in Columbus a week from Monday. They are planning to do some sort of radiation. Mom is fuzzy on the details.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Watched the movie/documentary Reverand Billy with Bryan last night. Very interesting. Here's his website ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm working to finish up Shawnee UMC's website redesign. (It is in great need of work!) I haven't done much of anything with the current site, I'm just focused on the redesign. I'm hoping to have it done this week. I'm sure I will be very excited when the site is finally uploaded. I will post the link again so you can see it (and admire it and tell me how wonderful I am. lol) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Instead of exchanging Christmas gifts, Max's class at school is raising money to buy a goat for a third world family. His teacher, Jan Thornton, has been teaching them what one goat can mean for a family and how much it will help them. I love that they are doing that. It's very cool. If you've never heard of Heifer International you need to check it out. It's an awesome organization. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time to go take a shower. I hope all is well with you. Aimee
Name: Aimee Home: Lima, Ohio, United States About Me: I own and run 123 Design Studio, a custom web and graphic design studio. I am mother to four wonderful boys: Max, age 10, Xavier, age 7, Eli, age 3, and Toby, age 1. Bryan & I have been married for 18 (mostly wonderful LOL) years. I eat excessive amounts of sugar and laugh inappropriately. See my complete profile
