Ready for this Week to be Over

Its literally been one of those weeks so I am going with a bulleted list:

• My father had a heart attack on Wednesday, 9/9. He was cutting down a tree and started feeling chest pains. He had a good idea what was happening, even though he went inside, got a glass of lemonade and changed clothes! Thankfully, he thought to unlock the front door and called 911. He had complete blockage on the right side of his heart and had two stints. He's recovering nicely and seems to have his spirits back as he has been performing his one-man comedy act on heart attacks for family, friends and all his nurses and doctors. My sister Deanna flew down on Thursday and his helping take care of my father's farm. he should be getting out of the hospital today, which is fabulous news. Now we just need to make sure he takes it easy for the next few weeks.


• We signed Flash up for puppy obedience classes. When the instructor asked if we had any concerns or issues we would like to work on with Flash my response was, "He's a puppy!" In the meantime, he's losing his puppy teeth and getting his adult teeth and is chewing on everything. I caught him chewing on the coffee table and dining room chair yesterday. This was after he got into and chewed up all of Chloe's Pi*xo's. They were all over the floor and even stuck to his teeth!


• On Thursday, Lizzie, the English Setter had her teeth cleaned. She had lots of plaque and every vet we have ever seen has urged us to have them cleaned. She did great and got to go home early. She only had to stay one night at the vets. Flash was a little lost without her, but just having him at home gave Chloe a chance to bond with Flash. She played with him a lot and doesn't scream for me when he comes anywhere near her or her stuff. Of course, just as I typed this, she came running to me to ask me to put Flash outside. She claims, "he came up and tooted right {her} face!" Is it mean of me just to laugh?
  
• I got asked to serve another year on the New*comers Board. This makes my third year on the Board. The by-laws states that you are only allowed to serve two but the executive board voted to make a stipulation so I could fill a vacated position. I was excited at first and now I am wondering what I was thinking!!??


• People in our village have seriously lost their minds. People have been fighting over whether the village should make our swimming pond into a legitimate cement pool or not. The village council had a meeting where the two opposing sides could present their sides. The police were "on call" because many believed it would be hard to maintain civility thanks to some of the insane accusations and name-calling people have been doing on our community blog. I never cease to be amazed at how terrible and rude people can be to each other when they hide behind the "anonymous" comments. Seriously, some of the accusations are grounds for slander and libel suits. The whole incivility in our town has paralleled the nation-wide debate and accusations over health care reform. I saw this the other day and really thought it summed up my thoughts.

• Chloe is completely spent from school this week. I had a difficult time trying to get her to sit down and do her homework (tracing the letter B) for kindergarten yesterday. She rushed through it and just wanted to get it done. Once she finished it she wanted to play but fell asleep for two hours. We've also had a tough time getting her to go to bed and to stay in her bed. She finds any excuse to come out of her room and keeps telling us her room gives her nightmares. I asked her this morning to tell me about the nightmares and she told me "I don't remember them. I just know I don't have them in your bed."


• Today marks 4 months and 2 weeks waiting for our referral from Ethiopia. Another family with our agency that sent their dossier to Ethiopia a week before us left today to go and get their son. They received their referral in July. Other families they are traveling with waited 7 months for their referrals, but they requested and were referred two children. Another family we know that is with our same agency waited two weeks for the referral of their infant son. And, another family, whose blog I read and is with another agency sent their dossier to Ethiopia in June. They got their referral yesterday. While I am very happy for these families, it just makes you wonder when will we get our referral?! Seriously, when? I am trying to keep myself from sending an email to our agency asking if our file has been lost or something. I know full well their response---the current wait is 4-6 months and these families are the exception, not the rule.