California Girl at Heart: October 2007

As many of you know, San Diego is on fire. My parents were evacuated Monday morning at about 4:30am and went to my Aunt Merrilee's in Poway for the day. They had about 5 minutes to grab stuff which ended up being their hard drive, laptop and two family portraits on the wall. The fires burned all over Rancho Bernardo. Last night we found out that the two homes directly across the street from my parents house were completely burned down. My dad tried to drive to our house to check on it, but the roads were all blocked and the police would not check for him. So, it was a long night of prayers and hope that is was okay. This morning I got a call from my sister saying her friend had snuck in during the late night and saw our home...still standing! I just received another confirmation from my mom that they talked to some people who took pictures of the burned house/lot across from ours and said our home was okay. We are SO relieved that it survived the inferno. We just hope it doesn't spark up again in their area. Here is a link my brother sent me to show you just how many homes around my parents burned just yesterday. < http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=33.04281,-117.077866&spn=0.024714,0.040555&z=15&om=1&msid=112544462747410301023.00043d20082275ecf00c2

This is a picture of our home...still standing!!! Hooray!

This is a picture of a home just off the freeway that burned.

There are still many fires and many homes burning as we speak. All prayers are appreciated in the victims behalf. My sister lives 5 miles north of the Rainbow Canyon fire near Temecula, my brother's in-laws have been evacuated from their home just north of Rancho Santa Fe which is currently burning, and my aunt Merrilee could be evacuated from her Poway home today as well. So, it's not over, but we are hopeful that all of our families homes will remain untouched as the fires make their way to the coast. We know your prayers worked for us! Thank you for all your calls, concerns and good wishes. We feel so touched by the love and support we have received in these last 2 days. Keep those prayers comin'!

***The following is a very detailed description of how my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week went. My writing goes from present to past tense and back again so if you are an English major, you may want to avoid reading it or it might drive you insanely crazy. However, if you have a few minutes and a desire to hear every detail of my week, feel free to continue...***

It all started on Monday...Doug left for Florida for a business conference. Holly had been up several times in the night for the past 2-3 nights and had been pulling at her ears and had a constant (but clear) runny nose. So, I brought her in to see the doctor. (Doctor visit #1). Good news...her ears were clear. Bad news...her throat was red and had lots of drainage. I go home and start picking stuff up off the floor, moving furniture, etc. to get ready for the carpet cleaners to come tomorrow. By the evening, the house is flipped upsidedown. Are we having fun yet? Hey, I'm just getting warmed up...

Tuesday: Doug almost always does some kind of special project when I'm out of town to surprise me with when I get back. Of course, I always have the kids with me, so he is by himself and can get the projects done. Well, I decided to surprise Doug while he was out of town (stupid, stupid, stupid) and paint the kitchen side of the archway a deep raspberry (with two kids in tow). He was with me to choose the color so that was not a surprise. Anyway, carpet cleaners were scheduled to come between 1-4. You know how that goes. So, I started prepping the walls to paint around 10am. No problem...I can get it done by 1pm. Holly's nose was running like a fountain so she wasn't very happy, but she was hanging in there. Naptime came so I worked super fast...I taped all the edges, put down plastic, got on my paint clothes...opened the paint. It was completely separated and clumpy. So, I stirred...and stirred and stirred. Still kind of thick and clumpy. I called Lowes...they said just stir it really well. Ok. Called my sister...she said to stir it really well. Ok. Here we go. I poured some paint into the plastic rolling tray and gave it a shot. I put one roll of paint on the wall and thought, "Oh no. I didn't prime the wall." No worries, I'll just do 2 coats.
-12pm... Holly wakes up. I fed her and put her on the floor with toys. I keep painting. -12:30...Holly starts fussing...a lot. 1pm. Holly feels really hot all of a sudden. Sure enough, her temperature is 103.1 with my head thermoscan thermometer. (Love that thing!) So, I gave her tylenol and motrin. She's inconsolable. (I've got most of the wall painted with one coat but the edges are not done. It will have to wait.) I hold her...rock her...try to feed her. Nothing works. -3pm....fever is still high 102.7. I call the nurse and she says sometimes the fever will only go down a degree or so with the medicine. GREAT. The carpet people call at 3:40 to say they can finally come. I tell them it's now too late, my daughter is sick and I can't deal with it today. I reschedule for tomorrow morning at 9am since my house is already upsidedown and ready for them to come. Savannah is stir crazy and I had promised her I would take her to the park after the carpet people came and the painting was done. It was now 4pm. I called Nana to come get her and take her to the park.
5pm. Holly's fever is still high but she is finally asleep again...but can't breath through her nose that has now turned to green mucous (sorry for the nasty details, but they are the reality of my week...). She's struggling to breath. I call the nurse again. She says to make an appointment if Holly is having trouble breathing. So, I call the after hours clinic (now that it's past 5pm) and make an appointment. 9:10pm is the next available. GREat. In the meantime, I'm freaking out because the last high fever I dealt with that wouldn't break was with Savannah in January 2006 when she had a febrile seizure, turned purple and went unconscious. Why did Doug have to be gone?!? I called him...crying. He reminded me that even if Holly did have a seizure, there were no long term or permanent effects from it. I'm overwhelmed, exhausted and frightened. -6:30pm. I call down the Ward list for someone to come give Holly a blessing. 6 calls later, I finally catch someone home.
-6:40pm. Nana comes back with Savannah. She's fed her dinner (bless her heart).
-7pm. Holly gets a blessing. 7:10pm. Holly's fever FINALLY starts to break (Do we believe in the power of the priesthood? Uh, YA! Tender mercy #1) I put Savannah to bed while Nana holds Holly.
-7:30pm. I feed Holly and she eats pretty well. She seems to feel better...she's smiling, playing. I feel a bit relieved.
-8:30pm. Time to go to the doctor...again. (Doctor visit #2). Nana stays at the house with Savannah while I take Holly in. (Tender mercy #2)
-9:05pm. Arrive at the doctor's office. Holly is asleep in her carseat from the drive. The nurse asks me to undress her to get her weight. I plea with her to not mess with the poor child (besides...she was weighed at yesterdays appointment.). So, she takes her temp and her oxygen levels. Temp is normal (of course...because we're at the doctor's office) and her oxygen looks good.
-9:15pm. Doctor comes in. I have to get her out of the carseat. She wakes up but is in a daze. The doctor checks her chest, ears, throat, eyes. Everything is clear. He says she may just have a bad cold and tells me to keep alternating with Motrin and tylenol to stay ahead of the fever. Ok. She falls asleep again on the way home. Good. I put her in her room still in her carseat hoping that will help her breathe.
-10:20pm. She wakes up. Time to eat before the long night stretch (wishful thinking). I give her motrin and feed her. Back to sleep, in her crib this time, by 10:40pm.

Wednesday: 4am. Holly wakes up. She had slept for nearly 6 hours! (Tender mercy #3) She has a fever of 102.1. and a dirty diaper. Dang! I give her tylenol, change her, nurse her and lay her back down. I feel a littel soar throat coming on so I go downstairs to get an airborne and eat a piece of bread.
-5am. I'm still awake.
-6am. I've dozed a little. Holly wakes up and fusses but falls back to sleep.
-6:10am. fusses. Back to sleep.
-6:20 fusses. Back to sleep.
-6:30am fusses on and off.....all the way until 7:20am. I finally get her (since I'm not sleeping anyway) and her nose is completely crusted over with...well, you know what. She's been breathing through her mouth. Bless her heart. She still has a fever but it's now down to 101.2. I nurse her.
-7:30am. Savannah comes in and her eye looks a little goopy. Hmmm...I wipe it with a warm cloth and tell her not to touch it or anything else, especially Holly!
-9am. Carpet cleaner arrives. We stay up in my room to avoid getting wet socks. =)
-10am. Savannah's eye is turning pink. GREAT, she has pink eye. I call the doctor to make an appointment (AGAIN!). (Are we having fun, yet???) Her appointment is for 1:30pm. The phone rings. It's my friend Kelly. I had called her husband last night to give Holly a blessing but he wasn't home. She asked how we were doing and asked if wanted her to bring us dinner. I said, "Well, it's just Savannah and I." She said, "I know but I want to help somehow and that's something I can do!" (Tender mercy #4) So, I told her to just keep it simple. (Allowing others to serve me is difficult but I know that giving them the opportunity blesses their lives. So, I'm getting better at accepting service from others.) I get showered and ready for the day, bathe Holly and Savannah, all before 11am. It's a record!
-11am...We go downstairs... The carpet is done. As I'm paying the carpet guy, I notice two men leaning over my fence in the backyard looking around. I look at the carpet guy and say, "Ok, that's kinda weird." He jumps in and yells to the guys, "Can I help you?" They ask how long the sprinklers have been on. I hadn't even noticed they were on, but the carpet guy said, "They've been on for a while." I asked him how long and he said they were on when he got here. TWO HOURS!!! I went in the back to see 3 inches of water under the deck and the entire newly laid grass flooded. The guys said, "You've got quite the river running down the hill." Turns out the men were with those building the challenger school below us and were trying to figure out where all the water was coming from. I go back inside and say outloud, "Why does Doug have to be out of town when things like this happen!!!??? Then I realized the carpet guy was standing there. Doh! I guess I shouldn't offer info like that when I'm all alone. I call Doug and ask him what to do. He tells me to turn off the main irrigation in the front. I ask him what time the sprinklers were set to go on in the morning. 7aM! They had been on for 4 HOURS!!! Eyeyeye. Luckily, our rock wall held up.
-11:30am. Holly's fever is gone (finally) and I try to get some more painting done. I get the second coat done and start on the edges.
-12pm I check my email. I have two messages from wives of the men I called for the blessing for Holly (neither of them were home last night). They offer their services if needed and wish us well. How lucky I am to be surrounded by such good people! (Tender mercy #5 and #6)
-12:30. Holly is tired and hungry. I feed Holly some cereal and we get in the car to go to the Doctor (Visit #3). Did I mention it is only Wednesday? We're three for three so far. Holly falls asleep in the car and, bless her heart, stays asleep through Savannah's appointment and even through going to Albertson's to get Savannah's drops for her eyes. (Tender mercy #7)
-2:30pm. Home again. Holly wakes up. Her fever is still gone. Whew. I tell Savannah it's time to do her drops. To my relief, she tilts her head back and lets me put the drops in. Way to go Savannah!
-3pm. I put a movie on for Savannah to watch because her eye is itching and she can't stop thinking about it. So, I figured a movie would take her mind of of it. I go back to my painting. This time I try to work on the edges/corners. I do the first coat on the edges and start seeing places on the main part of the wall where the original color of the wall can still be seen, so I do another layer over those spots.
-4pm Savannah is asleep on the couch. Nice. I do the second coat of paint on the edges/corners of the wall. Holly is in her walker but getting fussy.
-5pm Savannah is still asleep. Holly is done in the walker.
-5:30pm Kelly shows up with dinner. Remember how I asked her to keep it simple. Well, she didn't listen. She brings out this cookie sheet full of food...a full size made from scratch chicken pot pie, green toss salad (with dressing that I think was homemade), fruit salad and fresh french bread. (See picture below) I said, "Oh Kelly, this is too much. Take half of it back home for you!" She said, "I made two. Besides, how do you make half of a chicken pot pie?" I thanked her profusely and took the "feast for six" inside for Savannah and I to eat. We're so blessed!

-5:45pm First attempt to wake Savannah for dinner.
-6pm Second attempt to wake Savannah. I enjoy the absolutely heavenly and delicious meal by myself...I gotta watch Kelly make that pot pie. It was perfect and so tasty! I felt selfish not sharing. =)
-6:15pm Third and successful attempt to wake Savannah for dinner. She chowed down!
-6:30pm I finally get a chance to start pulling the tape off the wall from my painting. Oh NO! The paint leaked through the tape...no clean line. Ugh! I stop pulling tape...don't want to see the rest yet.
-7:00 Nana had mentioned that she would come see Savannah today and Savannah doesn't forget. It was now 7pm and Nana hadn't come yet. So, we called Nana and she jumps in the car and comes over. (She had been out to dinner and shopping.)
-8pm I put Holly to bed. She's feeling better, thank heaven!
-8:20pm Time to do the eye drops again for Savannah. Nana is still here.
-9:20 Drops are in after a grueling 40 minutes of struggle to get Savannah to let me put the drops in. I was hopeful after the first time being so easy that she would have no problem the 2nd time.. No such luck. Doug even tried to help her over the phone. It finally came down to me laying her in my lap, singing to her, calming her down and playing the "follow the tissue" game until she went cross-eyed watching the tissue land on her nose and I was able to sneak a drop in her pink eye. Then we count to 60 and I knew she would open her eyes when we got to 60 so I got the dropper ready and when we got to 60, I got the other eye done. WHEW! We have SEVEN days of drops. This should be interesting.
-9:30pm Savannah is in bed. I wash my face, brush my teeth and crash.
-10:30pm Holly wakes up. I feed her because it's been 3 hours. Back to sleep at 10:45pm.
-11:30 Holly wakes up again. She wants to nurse...no way. I finally rock her back to sleep. I'm a zombie.

Thursday: 4:30am Holly wakes up. I nurse her. She goes back down at 4:45am.
-7:20am We've made it through the night. A much improved night. (Tender mercy #8)
-7:30am Savannah comes into the room. I'm dreading seeing her eye, worried that it is stuck shut. To my relief, the drops were already working. It looked slightly less pink but still a little swollen. Savannah says, "Those drops are great! I won't argue to do my drops today mom. I'll just do 'em real quick like, 'drop drop done'!" I said, "Oh, I'm so glad."
-8:00am Time for drops. Savannah laid down on the bed and this time we played "watch the fingers." Got the first drop in right away and Savannah laid on the bed with her eyes closed clapping and wiggling her hips as we counted to 60. "Fifty-nine, Sixty" next drop in. Savannah smiled with pride, eyes still closed. She had done it with no fuss. Thank heaven! (Tender mercy #9)
-8:30am Doug will be home in 12 hours. Time to put the house back together. Ugh. What a mess.
-9am Savannah has tomato soup for breakfast. Interesting choice.
-10:30am I'm hungry. Chicken Pot Pie sounds good. Seems to be the theme this morning...dinner for breakfast. =)
-11am Started peeling the rest of the tape of the painted wall. Gulp. The paint has dried to the tape. Not good. The edges/corners are a mess...half peeled off with the tape. CRAP! Doug's gonna kill me. Oh no! It got on the crown molding. I'm so dead!
-12pm - Still cleaning. Girls are doing well. Keeping busy. Nice. (Tender mercy #10) Time for drops again. No sweat.
-2pm Go to see Nana's nephew's big truck (semi-truck). Fun. Now back to cleaning.
-4pm The house is back to normal. Feeling good.
-4:30 Time to go to Walmart...need groceries.
-5:50 Just getting back from Walmart. Why does it always take an hour or more to go there?
-7pm Groceries are unloaded. Girls are fed. (I had chicken pot pie again...YUM! It's the dinner that keeps on giving!! =) )
7:30pm Time for drops...again. 10 minutes later and a screaming Holly, the drops are in. (How many more days of this?)
-8pm Savannah is in bed. (Sigh)
-8:45pm Holly is in bed...(Big Sigh) Daddy just walked in. Yeah!
-9pm Dad says, "I like the pretty paint." Mom says, "Ugh, what a nightmare. Don't look too close." Dad: "Yeah, I can see where it kind of came off in the corners." Mom explains the goopy paint. Dad says, "Yeah, we might have to hire a professional to come and fix it." Mom says, "Sorry, I tried to do the "surprise" project but having 2 sick kids to watch at the same time doesn't really work." Dad agrees. Mom says, "Hey, the good news is we didn't have to go to the doctor today." Both mom and dad laugh...sort of.
-10pm Mom goes to bed...for the next 2 weeks! (I'm gonna need it!)