The end of the week is here, the end of our first week pet sitting leaving us just a half a week or so to go. In retrospect it has been relaxing, rejuvenating, and remarkable. Of course I have come to the realization that I do NOT want a dog any time soon… but Gypsy is cool. Now where to begin on my weekend… well… Friday of course! The rain had finally truly stopped so there was A LOT of time spent outside…

But in the afternoon I got my long awaited and much anticipated trip to the library. This time Ken dropped me off to search out the books I had found as available while searching the online catalogue… I actually got a whole bunch of WONDERFUL suggestions off of my Facebook friends… I will share some suggested Authors!

1. Carola Dunn… a wonderful author and lovely lady. I can brag that she is my friend on Facebook!!! Seriously – check her out, her new stuff AND her older Regency romances (many are on ebooks I am told!!)
2. Robert Asprin… a punny favourite from long past suggested by a cousin as a reread. 
3. Kim Harrison… great paranormal element… I actual dove into hers first
4. Kelley Armstrong
5. Joanne Fluke
6. Donna Andrews
7. Christine Feehan.

I have books out from all these authors and will of course share some of my favourites as I read them. For now though CHECK THEM OUT!!

While I was perusing the shelves Ken and the kids had gone to the local cable company to talk to them about mom’s spotty internet. Thankfully the town is small enough and the problem house based so they were willing to come out without talking to my mom to check it out. They at first wanted to call us from the house but Ken solved that one by explaining we did not have a landline and not being from a local location do not have a cell number we could give out. (we have added cash to the phone though so we can call just no plan). Besides when the woman finally went to the back to talk to the people out of sight they were able to check remotely and verify that there WAS something wrong. 

So I was collected and we ran to the store to get groceries and then returned home to await the repair crew… which brought in an unexpected adventure for the kids! The chance to watch 3 people at work stringing an entirely new wire to the house from the pole. They got a lesson on ladder safety (always have a spotter), got to see how they do the repair and enjoy the excitement of strangers in the yard (which meant the dog was NOT… though she did not go after anyone I took her into the house to keep her out of inadvertent mischief). We also had a discussion about the usefulness of the Internet and what we need it for. All in all a terrific object and real life lesson.

Then there was the added excitement of UNCLE SEAN! He had a free weekend as he is in his last term of school right now so was able to come and spend the weekend. Something he has not been able to do since before this “lovely” extended move saga (adventure? chaotic frustration?) began. For Echo it was a moment of ecstasy… HER Sean was here! She tried to stick to him like glue from the moment he walked in the door.

We ALL went out to the park with Gypsy and met up with the kids’ two friends who live across the street from the park. Sadly after 3+ days of rain the mosquitoes were out and we did not have our spray so it was relatively brief but everyone ran and climbed and played and had so much fun! Even with a little sprinkle on the way there. 

Then it was back to the house for baths and bed… the kids had a day with Uncle Sean and Daddy ahead of them and Echo and I had a trip to make to Saskatchewan with Lauralee and Karyn. (for Karyn’s dad’s internment)… and that is where our adventures diverged. I think I will start with the kids and the guys. They saw us off around 10 am and then were left to their own devices. I am told the morning was mostly playing in the basement and watching the guys play their games… but in the afternoon Ken (while Sean was napping… he was a little under the weather) took them ALL to the splash park!! Talk about FUN! It is one of the best ones in Alberta. I look forward to taking Echo there this week as well. 

Trinity held out until the last 10 min they were there but then she went all out splashing in the water and enjoying the other children there. I am told we HAVE TO take some sort of containers with us next time to move water around (we later bought some cups for super cheap at Walmart to take). 

Then they had time on the computer! I am told much Minecraft was played (ewww) and then a LATE supper that occurred only after I got home around 9pm!! Lucky things! So they had fun AND crossed something off our to do list for the town. 

Now for Echo and MY adventure… it all started off with a late start from here to head out to Saskatchewan with Karyn and Lauralee collecting us, the stroller (not needed in the end), Echo’s seat and her day’s worth of stuff… the first stop was at the edge of the city and a Canadian favourite – TIM HORTONS! That is where the adventure aspect came into play. We got our treats (I got hot chocolate yum!) and returned to the vehicle. As we were getting settled in to drive an elderly gentleman tapped on Karyn’s window. He was so apologetic as he told us he did not want to ruin our day BUT he thought the back tire on the driver’s side should be ROUND! ACK! A flat! Thankfully when I looked up from Echo I noticed that we were exactly across the street from Fountain Tire! So no tow and now call to AMA. Karyn just had to walk across the street, have them come fill the tire and then drive over to the store. 

They had to check out what was up with the tire and the end decision was to put a used tire on and have her replace all 4 at a later date. So we managed… it took some time and almost some tears and Echo had to explore the seating area of the store… but we survived. AND were lucky, they are only open until noon on Saturdays!!!

So that mountain climbed it was time to head out. It meant no dinner in Lloydminster before the ceremony but that was ok. We had our breakfast and there was a lunch AFTER the time at the cemetery. The rest of the drive was uneventful… rocks.. trees.. water.. cows.. and we made EXCELLENT time. There was some concern that we would have to have everyone wait on us but we made it to the gathering right at 2pm. 

It was the perfect day to remember and celebrate Karyn’s Dad’s life… the sun was shining, the birds singing and friends and family gathered together. He was put to rest near his parents and family. During the hugging and general graveside chatting Echo got to play in the grass… though every little gust of wind on the uneven ground almost blew her over. 

Then it was time for the luncheon of sandwiches, pickles and desert. Very yummy… with real CREAM PUFFS! I think Karyn’s Dad would have approved. I know Echo did! After we visited there for a bit and let Echo wander around in the grass by the parking lot it was time to head over to a family friend’s to visit briefly. Echo was the center of attention and LOVED IT. She even warmed up to Karyn’s brother Ian by the end of our brief visit. 

Back into the car we went, this time Lauralee drove instead of Karyn and we were off on our way back home. With a car full of left overs from the dinner we were on the look out for a suitable picnic spot but first… the much needed SLURPEE!!! NOMS! Echo was equally excited to share a Pepsi slurpee with her Mommy. We did find a wonderful picnic spot, it had lawn, a bridge, a gazebo and a… TANK???

After the picnic and tank pictures it was time to finish our journey and head back to mom’s. The other kids were still up playing on the computer so they got some quality time with two of their aunties… add to that the continued presence of Uncle Sean and the kids were more than content. Our version of family is so much more than blood relation and I LOVE it! 

Three days in one once again… the day just zipped away Tuesday and Ken got in a long day with work so we didn’t have supper until past 9 and the kids almost 8. I spent a nice chunk of my time fiddling with the new camera and comparing it to the limping predecessors… final reaction – I have a ways to go when it comes to settings but I am already enjoying it.

Each of the twins chose either math (Gavin) or sight words (Zander) and did a days’ worth of work before being cut free. I am hoping to start up with more activities shortly. 

The weather certainly helped along the wish to do some school stuff – pouring rain. So either hot or rain… which means MORE mosquitoes… ugh.

I have started work back up on the stocking for our god-daughter Anna. The hope is to complete it before August, the cross stitch portion at least. I still need to hunt down fabric for backing (carefully checking for colour fastness!). It is fun to do something so completely different in a stocking from the norm. I have to say I do harbour a wish that maybe someone will commission another for a little girl somewhere else… it could be a fun repeat! 

It is a good feeling – stitching again. I have missed it. I have a few other ideas if we can find the time to design… IF. But enough about that… now onto what I am SURE everyone is wondering about – Echo’s cardiologist and specialist paediatrician…

Well we got out the door HERE at 6:30 am or so with 4 cranky and tired big kids… we made it to the city and then the hospital with little or no fuss after a brief stop to get gas and breaky at McD’s… that got us to the first appointment right on time. That was her specialist paediatrician Dr Lee… we didn’t have to wait too long (and with a 9am appointment not a huge surprise) but that was made very simple with the children’s computer available for play… though LEAVING the computer was a bit of an issue. 

Of course I had crayons and paper (remember over thinking mommy)… which helped with the wait in the actual examining room.

There was a student doctor at our appointment, a nice man who examined Echo first. Our doctor was very happy with everything… but her weight of course. Again the in proportion but not the right size issue reappears. She gave us a requisition for some more bloodwork that will be done when we go in in August for her genetic testing, absolutely no rush just wanting to get rid of any and all possibilities. This was along with a needed urine sample where Miss Echo was MOST accommodating. As the nurse was showing me how to put the bag on to catch the pee (not easy with a girl I tell you!) she peed and the nurse caught enough for the test (thank goodness I did NOT want to be responsible for that little job later). They are planning on testing for potassium as she still had a smidge bit high on the retake and then testing regarding kidney if necessary… but the doctor was happy and felt we shouldn’t worry… but find ourselves a local paediatrician and go from there. YAY. 

They directed us to the cardiologist and off we went. We got there right at 10 (our appointment time) and here is where the massive wait started. Honestly if I had thought it really WAS going to take 4 hours I would have brought in snacks… BUT they did have tv (YTV station) for the kids which helped… and a bathroom we could use. 

First was ANOTHER ECG test. That wasn’t too bad, but when they tried to take her blood pressure she FREAKED so they just wrote that she was upset. Thankfully her SAT was great – 100 so she is getting plenty of oxygen. Then after that test we went BACK to the waiting room to… well… wait. Next came the Echocardiogram… (ok I DID giggle that Echo was getting an ECHO… so did the nurse actually). They had a video player (that played VHS of all things!) there so the kids picked out a Diego movie to watch while they did the process. She did pretty well for most of it, we bribed her with binky, cookie AND Petite Sheepette (who was along for the ride). She did play around with the wand they use to do the scan and at times tried to get it to a different location but the staff at the hospital is amazing and calm so it is always easier to do stuff there. I absolutely ADORE the people at the Stollery… we donate there when we can… and would love it if other people did too! 

Where was I… ok after her Echo Echo and family headed BACK to the waiting room and by then the kids wanted to GO HOME. Of course the plan was to head to H&W AFTER to get fruits and veg so no food still. Then they put us into the examination room saying the doctor would be there shortly… apparently SHORTLY is like 45 min! Which left Ken and myself one step closer to madness after that stint in the small toyless (except for what we brought) room. I swear both of us were exhausted to the point of curling up on the floor almost to nap! 

Eventually the doctor came in… he was a rather good looking Asian man with an AUSTRALIAN accent… he had forgotten his stethoscope and when he left to get it Ken and I had to giggle. Anyway he came in and was very happy with how Echo looked (again beyond the weight), checked her out (with fore mentioned stethoscope) and then got down to the nitty gritty where he drew us this little picture below…

and then walked us through what she has – Patent Ductus Arteriosus or PDA of all things. Basically her extra ventricle STARTED to close up (the one that bypasses blood when you are in the womb and not using your lungs) and then didn’t so her left side of her heart is working harder and slightly swollen… not life threatening but not something you want to leave. There are TWO options to deal with it – an incision in the side (scar ick) where they tie off the extra ventricle and not the one the doctor wants done, or through a vein in the leg with a catheter thing that is the better option (like no scarring and not overly invasive). They leave a piece of metal in there that either is like a spring with prickly things that makes the blood clot there and close it off OR a metal piece with a shape memory that when released would go back into shape and close it off (the little drawing on the right UNDER the spring on the above picture). Either way she will have to go back to the cardiologist once a year or so for the rest of her life as they would want to check up on it (no biggy) and best of all – only in the hospital 24 hours! So relatively easy on baby AND easy on mom… as I get to stay there with her (not during surgery of course). 

So while it is not what we hoped for best case (same thing as Emanuel VSD and not requiring surgery) it is far from the worst (open heart OMG dying). I feel oddly ok about it… it is not rush rush and actually they may want to wait just for her to grow some (she is a whopping 12lbs 9.5 oz or so… good for her not great for most anyone else)… so when we asked if it was awful to NOT have it done in August (wedding, birthday party – hers AND in-law visit – first in almost a year due to Baba’s medical concerns)  the doctor was just fine about it. In fact, now we wait on their call and he left a note for NOT August. We go back to see HIM in 6 months regardless, and do the whole series again, this time WITH snacks! 

So we made it through in one piece and on the way out the door were complimented on our children’s behaviour (WOW) and each of the kids was offered a sweet. In fact they also got a lollipop after the Echocardiograph, which is funny because all those 4 did was sit there and watch tv.

So we packed everyone up, paid our parking and headed over to the old place to collect mail (still not sure why the forwarding is screwed up) and then to the bank (government cheques to cash), H&M (nummy food for GREAT price) and then drive through (late lunch) and then… and then… well Ken had some nasty swear words to say and the van smoked in reply and OVERHEATED! Thus the beginning of the next great Reinsch-Johnson vehicle related adventure (though not the words KEN would have used).

Soooo we get onto the bridge that has been under construction for like TWO years to get to the south end of the city and smoke starts to come from the hood… Ken turns on the heater to try and cool down the engine and smoke comes in the van! ACK! We couldn’t just pull off on the bridge so had to CAREFULLY drive to the nature centre/fort parking lots… while being behind almost every slow and crazy drive in the city I swear! Thankfully we got to the parking lot and pulled the kids out of the van… Ken then opened the hood to peek in and see coolant coming from a DIFFERENT place this time… so we took the kids on a walk on the side walk (so many mosquitoes so no grass and lots of our bug repellent lotion that seems to be working), fed the baby her cereal (yay for buying that BEFORE hitting the hospital) and generally sat for a bit while the van with hood up cooled as much as we could in the warmth of the day.

After that adventure we got back in the van to return to the middle of the city to try and gingerly get to the Canadian Tire that did the previous coolant repair and possibly did mess up (we didn’t know at that point)… we made it… well MOST of the way before and awful sound and smoke so we pulled into a residential area and turned everything off… now comes the AMAZING part of the adventure…

We stopped right across from a house that had a FOUNTAIN Tire truck in front of it AND a man wearing a workshirt from there coming out of it. When he noticed us stopping and sitting there he came over to help. His mother-in-law lent us a phone to call AMA (again no cell phone yet…) and then he had to leave but said he would be back in 15 min to lend us a phone again and help out.

So Ken took a little walk while waiting for the tow (projected to be an hour) to try and get internet on the netbook and get ahold of someone on the online chat (IRC) that the guys use daily with no luck. That is when the wife of the OWNER of the Fountain Tire (the man previous) came across the street to offer further assistance. And this is where it gets amazing!

She came over with their house phone and an offer to let our kids play in their backyard, to have snacks and simply wait for our ride. Talk about life saver… so we unpacked everyone and cleared out the van onto their front porch and went into the backyard where their 2 days away from 7yrs old son Christopher was bored and wishing for playmates. And thank goodness she did!

Our ride to a place to crash overnight was Alan (of the den Otters) who BUSED to work and was currently on the bus AWAY from us to home. He actually works about 3 blocks from where we were stranded. He and Xinny are the ONLY people we know who have a big enough vehicle for all of our family and one of them to drive (they have an Odessy). AND to top it off she had wireless internet Ken could use as I only had two numbers with me – the new home number for Chris and Chris (the wrong direction from where we needed to be) and Xinny’s cell phone. So Ken was able to get onto IRC and chat with the guys, call Xinny and then Alan and call Canadian Tire to make sure we got everything sorted.

It took hours to sort everything out and get Alan turned around. The kids had fun, had a washroom to use, a new playmate and later SNACKS and we had a lovely visit with the wife and a chance to let Echo out to stretch and be cooed over. On top of that THEIR son also has a weight issue that is unresolved but not hurting him so we could commiserate together. It was so wonderful to have to have that news in the morning and then talk to someone who is dealing with a similar situation and able to share and understand.

We had a bloody nose (Gavin spontaneous) and a poopy diaper (Trinity) and tired kids but they had FUN, in fact they didn’t want to go. So it was like an adventure for them. Something positive and exciting.

Alan got to the house with little or no trouble only to realize he had not added his 8th seat so we called SEAN who has a truck. Even before Alan got there the husband returned and in celebration of a friend’s deal had some wine with Ken and more chatting and sharing of funny stories. While waiting for Sean Alan was offered a drink (non alcoholic as he hadn’t eaten in AGES and had to drive) and was brought in on the fun. Really this was the most amazing and positive way to be stranded WITHOUT a phone we have EVER had!

With Sean getting there and saying good bye to the most wonderful strangers we have EVER met we were on our way to the NEXT adventure – a night at the den Otter house. The kids were sad to leave the new friend but excited to see Isabella and Alexander. It was already pushing 8pm when we got there so not much play time before bed (the boys and Trinity in Alex’s room, Ken and myself with Echo in Isabella’s with the two in the basement cooler room with their grandma). BUT Sean stayed to hang out (been ages) and I had a lovely visit with Xinny and Izaac who is one of the cutest not so little babies EVER.

I crashed early (for me) at around 11pm as the night before I had gotten only around 4 hours of sleep. Ken stayed up to work (thank goodness he can work from anywhere with an internet connection). He had already called Canadian Tire to ensure they had the van and push them to look at it ASAP. It was nice to hang out with the guys again for Ken. We have missed them here over an hour away.

In the morning it was play play play and PANCAKES for breaky. We had until 11 am with all the kids running around, babies included. Then Xinny had to take Isabella with Izaac in tow to piano lessons. So the boys, Trinity and I kept Alex company while Echo had a nap. And then Xinny took Isabella for skating while Ken called Canadian Tire, confirmed its repair and left with her to get our van. In the meantime Xinny’s VERY sweet dad made the kids noodles (they were AMAZED by his chopsticks) and Ken and myself absolutely yummy sandwiches that Trinity and Echo stole pieces of. I love Xinny’s parents. They do not speak  the best English but they are the absolute nicest people and totally kid people.

We left their place around 2 or 3 I think and headed home with a van that was driving rather well and managed to drive rather well all the way home. Canadian Tire was very kind with the bill ending up charging us only 120.00 (we figure that is cuz they cannot be sure if it was a missed issue or their error as all they charged us for labour wise was diagnostic). Small price to pay compared to any time the previous and way newer van was repaired!

We got home worn out but victorious… we met kind people (Ken and I are brainstorming a cross stitch to mail to them), learned about our Echo and that even with this issue she is still basically a medical mystery, brought home yummy fruit and veg AND had a whole series of major and minor adventures. As it is for the next two days I am not going far from home… I simply DON’T want to!

Tonight Ken has Jeff over – he has moved to California years ago and is back up visiting family! So he has spent his evening with a beer, online gaming and a good friend. Perfect way to wind down after a VERY stressful two days. We want to drive the van some more before we finalize plans to pick up my nephew for a few days, I have to  get to Michaels with a coupon for Echo AND for the August wedding decorations… Ken has work to catch up on, I have housework to catch up on and the boys have to get back to their schooling… it never stops but we do make it fun, er, interesting. So for the rest of tonight I am going to curl up and play with my camera or sew or something but one thing I am NOT going to do is worry about Echo’s unscheduled as of yet surgery… and you know what? For once the worrying Lisa Mommy may just do that. The Stollery is the BEST hospital in at least Western Canada and I have faith in the people there. If they say it will go well IT WILL! There I think I have spilled it all… hopefully everyone has not walked away half way through bored to tears!!!!