Exhausting Weekend

So, the good news is, I sent our Dr. friend a note requesting his help in getting our daughter reinstated as his patient. It was explained to me that it wasn't a problem, since he is independent. I don't understand how that works since his office carries the hospital name. At any rate, he went to his office Friday morning and asked his head nurse to call our daughter and have her worked into the schedule that morning. She told him she was already on it...the head nurses daughter is our daughters roommate, and she sent her mom a text the evening before telling her what happened. The nurse knew the situation and knew our daughter was getting in...one way or another! The nurse also called me and told me our daughter had an "appointment" that morning. It wasn't long before the phone was ringing again....it was my daughter...she wanted me to go along with her in case she had some decisions to make regarding treatment. Our Dr. drew pictures and told us exactly what happened...it's a torn meniscus. Fortunately, the ligaments are all in good shape. She has to be very careful not to move wrong or do anything to aggravate it, like high impact sports, etc. She was in a great deal of pain after his examination so we went to Shop-Ko to get a knee brace as per his suggestion as well as a bottle of ibuprofen. We took some time for ourselves in the store, trying on clothes and looking at the spring line in shoes and purses and then went to lunch in a local health food cafe. 

She had a weekend trip to pack for and a youth group lock-in to help with, so we said our good-byes and I headed for home with full intent on working on a project when I found out Hubby had to go into town to deliver a job. I knew it was Retreat Design weekend and so I had him drop me off there since I hadn't been in months. I was a bit disappointed this time, but I did manage to get a start on Easter basket gifts and just being out of the house was a treat.

Friday evening my cousin called. Her brother (one, in a set of twins) had passed away. They have been treating him for several months now for a mass in his lung. Some Drs. said it was cancer, others said no, it's an infection. Finally they decided it didn't matter what it was, it was still growing and had to come out. He did fine through the surgery, but during recovery he became weaker and weaker and finally passed. Not being very close to him, it still affected me much more than I had expected it would. He was still family and there is a blood connection there, besides which, I keep thinking about my mother and how she loved and cared for each of her nieces and nephews as though they were her own children and how this would affect her and how she would feel upon hearing such news if she were still with us. I know that sounds so strange, but that is where my mind went. I need to find or make some cards for his wife, brother and sister. I don't know where his son and daughter are, they are married and on their own now.

Early Saturday morning I was out of the house by 7:30 and off to the Music Teacher's Association Achievement Testing. Like last year, I was the judicature for Aural Awareness...otherwise known as ear training. I was provided with question sheets, answer keys and a CD that gave out the questions and examples since reading and playing some of those rhythm examples without having a chance to work them out first would be impossible for me. My CD had some bad spots in it and would stop periodically forcing me to start it over and find the needed track again and again. It was very stressful and I felt badly for the the students' having their test disrupted. The worst of the day came when I had more students in level 3B than I had printed tests available. I immediately went to find someone in charge only to have them imply that I had made an error. There was no way I could have...if I had given a student the wrong sheet, it wouldn't have lined up with the questions on the CD! It was no ones fault, it was an accident that occurred somehow, but I had been shorted sheets. I solved the problem by locating the master and since a copy machine was not available, I hand wrote the necessary information on sheets of paper and let the students use the master for reading purposes only. We were supposed to be finished shortly after noon and take the performance judge out to lunch, but we didn't finish until 2:30 and the snow was coming down so hard we decided it was best to just head home. I finally got lunch at 3:30! I was exhausted and had a horrible headache. I tried to get online for a bit, but soon decided a hot shower would be the better choice. Hubby had had a full day of hockey and so we set our clocks ahead and turned in early. 

Sunday morning we got up later than planned, but still managed to get out of the door in time...he, to get to the rink for a game and me to church to play the organ. Our afternoon was spent quietly, a needed recovery from the stress and busyness. 

I still have some crud in my chest. I cough and wheeze and can tell it's an infection of some kind but it seems to be getting better, albeit slowly. Today I return to my regular schedule...there is so much more I had hoped to accomplish before spring. We woke this morning to about 2" of snow in the driveway and when I got online I was shocked to see all the schools in the area have been canceled for today. Upon further reading I am assuming it's in advance of what is still to come...we are under a winter storm warning and are to expect 6-10" before it's over...so far just a very light snow is falling. Perhaps spring is further away after all.