We Ain’t From Around Here

As I mentioned in a couple previous posts, we had sleet all day Friday. An attempt was made to clear the driveway, but it was an unsuccessful mission. The snow shovels just bounced right off the thick layer of ice. At first it wasn’t such a big deal because very few people in the neighborhood had cleared their drives either. But by Sunday we were the only ones with a car stuck in the garage. They apparently know all about salt and that sort of thing. After school on Monday the kids got out there with shovels and an ice chipper and managed to get enough of the ice out of the way so I could at least get the car out. Now most of it has melted, though there are large patches in shady areas that will probably be here for a while. Next year we will be much better prepared! I’m sure the “locals” have gotten a good chuckle out of the nincompoop Southerners.

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Taylor’s school had a bomb threat this morning. This is the fourth bomb threat in the district since school started and it’s always the same thing. A threatening letter is found in a bathroom. As a parent it’s always very disconcerting to hear that your child’s school has been evacuated, or in this case the buses were averted before arriving, because some punkarsed idiot wrote some big scary words and threw the entire school into a panic. I do appreciate the efficiency of the school district, however, and as aggravating as it is I’m glad they take these things seriously.

I got the first text message around 9:00 saying, Bomb threat. Come get me. I’m scared. My first thought? Yeah, right. He’s trying to manipulate. My second thought? What if he really is scared? My third thought? He’ll try it again if he’s serious. So I texted back that I knew about the threat and he was safe where he was.

I didn’t hear back from him for another hour. The tone had significantly changed. Please come get me. I’m bored. So I asked what he was doing and he said they had the entire 9th grade in the Senior Center’s auditorium. There was a movie on and kids were allowed to listen to their iPods and text and all that stuff. So I went to get him. There was a steady stream of parents picking up their kids and I asked the staff if it was more of a help or a hindrance. I was told it didn’t matter either way, but I think they were relieved to be getting rid of so many.

Oh. And he admitted he wasn’t really scared. He was just trying to play Mom. Silly boy. He should know better.

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I’m starting to show the effects of the prednisone. My face and neck are flushed, I am ravenous and nothing is quite satisfying, and I look just like a puffer fish. I don’t consider myself overly vain, but I do want to wear a sign around my neck explaining the reason for my moon face and gluttonous tendencies. The worst part is that I’m STILL getting blisters. I think the steroids are trying to do something, but they haven’t stopped the process altogether.

So today I was sent for blood work. We know it’s vasculitis, but we don’t know why and if we can find out why we may be able to treat it better. My dermatologist is totally baffled and the lab order he gave me yesterday looked like a novella. I was pretty sure they were going to need a lot of blood to get all those tests run.

Because of aforementioned bomb threat Taylor was with me. He sat in the waiting room listening to his iPod while I went back to be leeched. When I came out he asked how it went and I told him, “I bled and bled and bled for them.” His face turned almost white and he showed me his iPod. The random song that happened to be playing was “Bleed For Me” by Saliva. Kinda creepy, huh? I mean the coincidence of the song title, not just the fact that there’s a band called Saliva and they have a song called “Bleed For Me.”

16 Comments

  1. Anonymous on March 21, 2007 at 10:53 pm

    Just played catch-up again. It’s my busy conference and trip planning time of year. Oh how you guys crack me up! It is truly therapy reading your blog! The winter white looks good in the picts! We head out day after tomorrow (which will be Friday) for some winter white of our own…couldn’t get any here in Arkansas this winter! The slopes of CO are calling Rus and me home (not that it is our home, just that we’d like it to be!). We are all psyched and packed to go! Pray for the 4 of us. MinLaw is putting off arteriogram until our return. More prayers greatly needed. Rus soon to travel for weeks, including Canada. Bay is Pumpin’ up the Party in the Talent Show tomorrow night–jump rope act/very cute! Bre has sprained her arm and is in a tennis-elbo brace, how you ask? Trying to open a bottle for her decrepit mother. It has put a strain (sorry/pun) on her fast- pitch season. So glad you defined but so sad you (still) have the vasculitis. Oh my. Obviously not contagious, which is good news and let’s you off the hook! ;o) Will hopefully be unbroken when I return and can email about our trip! Miss you so! MTYEK!!

  2. Dorky Dad on March 22, 2007 at 12:23 am

    Yeah, that bleed for me thing is pretty creepy. I don’t know what it means, but I’m pretty sure it’s creepy.

  3. CindyS on March 22, 2007 at 5:49 am

    I’m more creeped out by the bomb threats!! That’s just crazy! I hope the blood letting will help to find the problem.Oh, and no one is laughing because there are some of us who have lived with snow and ice all our lives and still manage to NOT shovel or salt – we’re lazy ;)CindyS

  4. Jenster on March 22, 2007 at 8:22 am

    Beth! I thought you guys were skiing this week. Be careful and have a good time. Will Bre’s injury stop her from skiing??Dorky Dad – If you figure out what it means, please let me know.Cindy – The bomb threats are scary. It’s an affluent school district, too, so it’s obviously not just an inner city problem.I’m glad to know that we’re not the only ones in the snowy places that don’t clear our drive. :o)

  5. radioactive girl on March 22, 2007 at 9:01 am

    That gave me the chills about your son and the song! I actually love Saliva, so does that mean I have the same taste in music as your son?When I was on a high dose of steroids years ago, I felt like superwoman. I had so much energy and couldn’t sleep. I was always starving and got all puffy too. I felt like I needed a t-shirt to explain that I was not on illegal drugs or anything because my behavior was so strange and I looked sort of funny. Hopefully you will feel better soon and they will figure this all out. Yuck!

  6. Jen on March 22, 2007 at 1:07 pm

    I will be praying for you Jen! Hope the docs can get all of this medical stuff figured out for you! And, I am so glad Taylor is okay. Repeated bomb threats must be scary and frustrating for all involved. Here’s hoping the perps get caught!!

  7. Jenster on March 22, 2007 at 1:08 pm

    R.G. – I have to admit I like Saliva, too. LOL At least some of their songs. And “Bleed for Me” is one of them. :o)

  8. Angry Woman on March 22, 2007 at 1:55 pm

    Who’s Saliva? This is a first for me. I didn’t figure someone would actually name their band Saliva. I guess I must be more out of it than I thought :).

  9. Swishy on March 22, 2007 at 10:47 pm

    OMG, I feel like I didn’t go to school THAT long ago, but it’s so different now! Glad it was a false alarm. I bet you look better than you think–just because we’re always more critical of ourselves than other people are. Still sucks, though. I hope they can tell something from your blood work.

  10. Burg on March 23, 2007 at 1:21 am

    I kinda like that Bleed For Me song, but I’m not a big Saliva fan. My mother-in-law calls my father-in-law just to tell him she’s bored. It makes me gag.

  11. Stacy~ on March 23, 2007 at 7:32 am

    Jenster! I made it – I hope this posts. Been a little m.i.a. in blogland, but I’ve missed visiting. I like some Saliva songs, but how bizarre that your son was listening to that song. Geez, bomb threats. So different than when I was in school. Always relieved when it’s a false alarm.Take care of yourself, girl 🙂

  12. Katybug on March 23, 2007 at 12:22 pm

    Wow…that is…odd. But hey, there are no coincidences with God. I wonder if He sometimes just likes to mess with us a bit. 🙂

  13. The Book Girl, A.K.A. Jodi on March 23, 2007 at 11:17 pm

    I’m with katybug – I definitely think God has a sense of humor. 🙂 If not, He has some splainin’ to do. Ha! As always, my thoughts and prayers are with ya sista!Oh, I have a steroid story too! I was in a bad car accident and they had to put me on steroids because I was so weak. I gained 30 lbs…it was horrible! BUT, on the bright side – I finally got boobs…and I still have them…minus the 30 lbs…wellll, minus 20lbs! Woohoo!

  14. The Book Girl, A.K.A. Jodi on March 23, 2007 at 11:20 pm

    Okay…maybe it’s minus 10 lbs, but who’s counting? Not me…not really…

  15. Jenster on March 24, 2007 at 9:23 am

    LOL, Jodi! The things we go through for boobs.

  16. The Book Girl, A.K.A. Jodi on March 26, 2007 at 9:42 pm

    Yes, well I never said they were big…but dangit i’ve got some!!

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