Jenerally Speaking

Well, I have been neglecting my blog, but I am glad I have some time tonight to post a little update.

The past 5 weeks have been rough going for us here. Currently we have two grandmothers in the hospital. One has pneumonia and the other had a heart attack and is currently in ICU. As far as the rest of the house goes, my brother has bronchitis, my mother has bronchitis, my daughter is getting over strep throat and my own throat is sore and I am recovering from a three-day high fever. I’ll say this much, however….I’d take on every cold, every stomach ache, every headache and illness in the world if it could keep all of those aches and pains from my daughter. There is nothing worse that being a parent and watching your child fight an illness.

In truth, I have been very lucky – Meghan, my daughter, is a very very healthy little girl. During the past eight years she has been sick maybe twice. Needless to say, it has been tough to handle the past month with her being constantly ill. Although it was slightly mysterious and had the doctors baffled for a few weeks, it appears that she is going to be fine and it was nothing terribly serious after all.
Basically, she has been fighting a high fever on and off for weeks. Muscle pain, sore throat, a terrible cough, extreme weakness and trembling. At first the doctor put her on Augmentin, but that did nothing, so he thought that perhaps she was fighting some type of virus. Basically, I was to keep her comfortable and wait for the virus to pass.
Finally, she seemed to get better and I sent her back to school. Two days later, she was home again with a fever. This time, however, they ran some more tests and her strep test came back positive. Much better to know what the illness is than to have the doctor tell you that he has no idea what is causing her symtoms.

She was put on antibiotics and seems to be better again. I am sending her back to school tomorrow, but I won’t be completely convinced of her recovery until the weekend comes without any trace of a high fever.
I think this past Saturday night was the worst. She woke up around 2AM and was trembling so violently that I was ready to bring her to the hospital. Her fever was creeping up to 103 and she couldn’t stop shaking.
A parent just doesn’t forget nights like that. The feeling of fear and pain for their child’s own fear and pain…Meg was especially clingy that night and she kept patting my face and telling me that she was so glad that I was there with her.
And she said the sweetest thing I ever heard her say…words only an eight-year-old can utter to her mother “Mom, I am so glad you are here. I hope you stay with me forever and I hope you live long and wide”
*grins* Long and wide.
My Meggie. Although she was uncomfortable from the fever and feeling entirely not like herself, she was still as sweet and loving as ever.

Parenting is a life-long investment…and heart-tugging job….a thrilling, yet sometimes terrifying place to be. I love being Meghan’s mom….my life is all about her. But, my goodness….I had no idea that parenting could be this emotional. I’m giving my mom a great big hug tomorrow. It’s been a while since I let her know how much I appreciate and love her for all she has done for me.

Well, off to bed I go…sweet dreams to all. May you all live long and wide.

When Meghan was in 1st grade I decided that I would no longer video tape the entire length of her school concerts anymore. I never really watched the entire performance from kindergarten and chances are I would never watch the entire video of any concert that would follow.
Sure, I’d pop in the tape to watch a few minutes of her kindergarten concert to see how sweet and little she looked. But, I honestly would not sit back and watch the entire 90 minute performance again.
Soooo, I came up with an idea.
I would have one video tape. The Official School Concert Tape. This tape would hold a total of five to ten minutes from each of her school concerts.
Now, that I would sit down and watch. Imagine the tape beginning with her in kindergarten then five minutes later there she is again singing in first grade. Then second grade and so forth.

In theory – it sounded like a terrific idea.

Well, last year I couldn’t find the Official Concert Tape so I had to use another tape. It was no big deal since I just figured I would copy 5 minutes of the concert to the Official Tape when I found it again. Well, the tape in my video camera got all bent and had a horrid line running through the entire performance. Second grade ended up being a no-go.

Tonight was the 3rd grade performance. Was I prepared? Of course not. No papers were sent home about the concert and my daughter (who is turning out to be as ‘blonde’ as I am) tells me this afternoon that her concert is in 3 hours.
So, I rush her into the shower, I search for her long black skirt and sparkle white shirt, I have to head out to the store to get stockings for her…all the while, praying for just a small ounce of patience and black stockings, too….and I then grab my video camera and out the door we go.
As I am sitting in my seat in the auditorium, preparing the camcorder, I notice that the little picture of the battery in the viewscreen looks awfully empty. Within seconds the screen goes black.
So much for the 3rd Grade concert.

At least I took a picture of her standing in our dining room before we left the house. *sigh* Well, maybe someone will read this and actually be successful in using my idea for an Official School Concert Tape.
Aside from the camcorder mishap, it was a good night. Meg adores her music teacher and I can see why – he has a terrific sense of humor and joked with the students throughout the entire performance. He obviously loves his job and really likes the kids. Some people were just born to be school teachers – they have a very special gift.

Since I still live at home with dear old mom and dad, I will probably be spending a lot of time talking about my family. So, I thought I’d give a little run-down of exactly my family is and who lives at home with us.

Setting: A large L-shaped ranch in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.

Characters: Nikolaus (father), Josephine (mother), Jennifer (me…born in 1974), Meghan (my daughter…born in 1994), Brian (my brother…born in 1978), Christopher (my brother…born in 1982), and my grandmother whom I call Oma.

Background: My parents (Nikolaus and Josephine) have been happily married for nearly 30 years and raised their children in a middle to upper-middle class household with traditional, Christian values.

School facts: Christopher is in college at Penn State and Brian is still at home, finishing his business degree at a local university. I am also in college to finish my second degree in legal/psychology studies. I intend to go to graduate school to get my teaching degree and then hopefully find a nice little house for Meghan and myself.

Personal Notes: Good Christian values aside, I am a single mom and have never been married. *shrugs* I tend to do things a little backwards sometimes. I think everyone probably has a few big “oops…did I do that?” moments in their lives. But, I don’t think I ever see Meghan as an “oops”…she is a joy and I am very lucky to be her mom.

Single motherhood is tough…but I’m getting better at it, I think.  I hope!

I know I have one of these pages on my other web site, My Sunny Corner, (you can view it here), but just in case you don’t feel like heading over there to read it, I’ll just provide the highlights for you right here.

> I was born on August 18, 1974.
> I have an 12-year old daughter, Meghan.
> I have an Associate’s degree in Legal Studies and I am currently pursuing my B.A. to teach reading or technology in elementary schools.
> I am a Christian.
> I love trivia.
> My parents have been happily married since August 25, 1973.
> I have two younger brothers, Brian (1978) and Christopher (1982).
> I have two pets – a dog, Randy, and a cat, KitKat.

I am thinking about trying one of those 100 Things About Me Lists. I love lists. Okay – that’s all for now.