Spooky Town

To state that Timmy is excited about Halloween would be a gross understatement. He has been planning, talking and reenacting the holiday for nearly a month. "This is Halloween" is constantly playing through Alexa, and "Nightmare Before Christmas" is playing on my television several times a day.  

One of his favorite activities involves decorating and transforming our house into "Spooky Town." Happy pumpkins, scary ghosts, glittery bats and a carefully crafted collection of "Tongue Monsters" adorn just about every surface (below four feet). He spends hours crafting and decorating, all while happily singing "This is Halloween."

Outside we have our spooky inflatables blown up and happily heralding the impending holiday. Plastic hands are sticking up through the ground, and Jack-O-Lantern buckets are hung from our low tree branches. Our driveway and road have been decked out for the season with hand drawn ghosts and "boo" written everywhere.

His excitement for Halloween transcends decorating. Timmy has used the holiday for inspiration to play new games. Yesterday we spent hours outside playing "Mummy," which is basically tag with the addition of my screaming brains as I chase him around the yard. I don't run very fast, so my time as prey is always short lived.

If he is this excited for Halloween, Christmas should be a lot of fun this year!

 

Sick Day

I woke up this morning so happy that it was finally Saturday. I quickly realized that it was only Thursday, and I fear the disappointment will set the tone for the day. Scott is fully recovered from his cold, but I am currently in the throes of the virus. I feel crummy!

Mom's don't get sick days, so I'm going to have to suck it up and keep plowing through the hours until bedtime.  Scott has Parent-Teacher conferences today, so he won't be home until about 7 tonight. It is going to be a long day. Hopefully I start to feel better once I get moving.

Yesterday Timmy discovered the joys of cracking hickory nuts on our driveway. He spent nearly two hours with a hammer, breaking the nuts to 'help' the squirrels eat. Hopefully he will be happy to repeat the activity because it kept him busy and allowed me to sit and rest.  It's about time the nuts were benefiting us somehow!

First Cold of the Year

School has been in session for a month, and we are dealing with our first communal family cold of the year. Scott began to feel miserable on Sunday. He hasn't been ill enough to stay home from work, but he feels bad enough to be cranky and tired.

Now the ickies have trickled down to the rest of us. By last night we were all feeling off, and I knew that I would be waking up feeling yucky. My prediction held true, and this morning I'm nursing a headache and a scratchy throat.  Timmy is still sleeping, a surefire sign that he isn't feeling well, so I'm fairly confident that today will be spent watching the Grinch and Polar Express on the couch.

Hopefully the ickies will be a short staying visitor in our home. Robby and I have plans this weekend to attend a WWII weekend in Gettysburg, so we don't have time to be sick. Here's to quick healing!

Band

Timmy and I had fun during our Nana Getaway, but now we are back to reality. We came home yesterday afternoon, with enough time left in the day to both help Robby with his schoolwork and to make dinner. Sigh. I don't miss the heat, but I am already missing the schedule free days of summer.  
We are all struggling to adjust to the chaos of the school year!

Robby introduced a new activity into our family with his guitar lessons. He loves learning the guitar, and I am proud of his dedication to practicing an hour each night. (Perhaps I am even happier because I don't have to remind him/ nag him into practicing. He actually does it independently.) 

Robby's dedication to learning to play the guitar is goal driven. He really wants to join a rock band at his music school. In order to be matched in a band he needs to demonstrate basic chord skills and the discipline to practice on a regular basis. We began the lessons in August with the hopes of him being ready for band by October. 

Low and behold, yesterday afternoon I received an email inviting Robby to join the "Southern Rock" band at his music school. He was so excited when I showed him the email. The smile on his face definitely lit up the room! After learning the the invitation, he immediately texted his Daddy and called his Nana to share the news.  

I'm so excited for him!

All Aboard

All Aboard!

Yesterday my Mom and I took Timmy on a special trip: a visit to the Island Of Sodor to go for a ride on Thomas and his friends. Okay, we actually went to the Strasburg Railroad but we might as well have been at Sodor. The station was transformed for the big Thomas the Train event, complete with everybody's favorite blue engine and his sidekick Percy.

Timmy was excited about going for a ride on Thomas, but once we arrived at the event he became shy and nervous. He clutched my hand and cautiously watched all of the activities from a distance. It wasn't until we practically forced him to go onto the small crank train that he began to loosen up and have fun.  

After he began to relax, Timmy had a fantastic time. He was particularly fond of our train ride, grinning from ear-to-ear and happily waving to everybody we passed along the route.

Waning Pain

The bout with phantom pain made managing my Thursday difficult. I was tired, and my leg was extremely sore from the nonstop kicking. I was happy when Timmy went to bed because I knew that I wouldn't be far behind him. 

As anticipated, I experienced a little phantom pain after I took off my leg and settled into bed. Given the severity of Wednesday night, it would have been unusual to be pain-free Thursday night. For me, phantom pain tends to linger for a few days, wreaking havoc at night when my prosthesis is off.  

Even though my leg felt electric shocks and pain, it was not nearly as severe as what I experienced on Wednesday. Thankfully my tricks worked and I was able to both contain the shocking and manage the twisting sensations. Wrapping my limb tightly and pulling my knee up to my chest quieted the nerves. I was grateful to be able to fall asleep, and I slept soundly throughout the night.

Hopefully last night was the final stand of the phantom pain for awhile. I feel for my friends who experience episodes daily. I am fairly certain I would be nonfunctional if that were my reality!

Phantom Pain

I think I jinxed myself by writing about the comfort I have been feeling lately with my prosthesis. Last night, from out of nowhere and seemingly without cause, phantom pain decided to visit. It has been a long time since I struggled with pure phantom pain, and it was utterly miserable.  

My limb kicked uncontrollably with each electrical shock. The shocks were both powerful and frequent, creating a Rockettes-like experience as I tried to rest. I wish I had been wearing my pedometer at the time, because I'm certain my involuntary kicking logged miles throughout the night.

I tried all of my tricks to calm the nerves, but nothing worked. I finally surrendered to a night of misery and accepted my sleepless fate. At about 3:30 the nerves began the calm, allowing me to (finally) fall asleep.  

I don't know why the phantom pain decided to visit last night. The weather was stable, I haven't had a prosthetic change and my limb was healthy.  All of the normal culprits were eliminated, I'm done trying to figure out a cause.  I find it both exhausting and depressing to be reminded that I am susceptible to phantom pain without notice nor cause. Instead of grappling for a reason, I'm going to just hope that it doesn't happen again tonight.

This morning my leg is swollen, undoubtedly from the repeated kicking and the angry nerves. I'm going to take it as easy as I can to allow the limb to rest and to heal. Phantom pain is a miserable experience.