One year ago...

(originally supposed to post a week ago)

... the war on Ukraine began.  The country has been absolutely decimated.  I don't see how the citizens of Ukraine are carrying on, but they are.  Military aid has been provided to some degree - the US government pledging to stand by and help continue the fight - the US president pledging another 500 million in aid this week when he (secretly) went to the Ukraine.  But, things are getting tense with Russia (and China).  The news channels are reporting that if China sides with Russia - and the US and other allies are involved... it could be the start of World War III.  

Instead of showing more horrible photos of destruction, there are images of solidarity and support - many monumental buildings across the globe have lit up in blue & yellow on the anniversary marking the 1 year mark when Russia first bombed the Ukraine.  

 

the Eiffel Tower... 

  

the CN Tower in Toronto... 

 

the Sydney Opera House... 

 

the Empire State Building.

On Valentine's Day - at baseball practice after school - Mercer "jammed" his finger sliding back into 1st base on a pick-off. That night, he iced it at home. The next day, it swelled up a little / I took him to the school nurse before school. She gave him more ice. He went back to her a couple of hours later - it had swollen more. She thought that it was more than a jam and needed to be x-rayed.  

He texted Todd to pick him up and they went on a journey to 1st - urgent care for an x-ray, then 2nd - to the children's hospital in Atlanta. (I stopped by the nurse's office again during my planning to give her an update. She said that because he's still growing, the regular urgent care would not help him -- we DID want him to go to a children's hospital because he's still developing / they have more specialized care....  Good to know!)

His ring finger was fractured at the upper knuckle.  Where the little "cross" on the x-ray.  It's really hard to see, honestly, it is just a little piece that chipped off.

But - the swelling at his lower knuckle was caused by a "fracture blister."  According to Healthline.com, Fracture blisters are a rare occurrence after you fracture or break a bone.  Fracture blisters occur in about 2.9 percent of all fractures.  

A fracture blister will usually appear about two and a half days after an injury. However, a fracture blister may show up as early as six hours or as late as three weeks after injury.  When you break a bone, your body naturally releases inflammatory compounds that cause edema or swelling. The swelling puts extra strain on blood vessels. As a result, the normal bond between the epidermis (outermost layer of skin) and the dermis (layer underneath the epidermis) separates. This allows fluid to enter between the two areas, creating a blister. 

There are 2 kinds of fracture blisters - described below.  (Mercer definitely had the 1st kind, but maybe.... later the 2nd kind because there was blood and loose skin... ??)  

Serous fracture blisters have the following characteristics:

• clear fluid
• tense or tight skin on top of the blister
• partial separation of epidermis and dermis

Symptoms of hemorrhagic blisters include:

• blood or red-colored fluid
• loose skin on top of the blister
• complete separation of epidermis and dermis

The blister was lanced at the children's hospital.  He was given an antibiotic, dressing and a 2-sided metal frame splint. It swelled again.... Todd drained.... and swelled again.... so Todd drained again. This went on for several days. The fluid appeared to eventually stop, but eventually got saggy and bloody. Eek.  It was so weird.  (A few photos are here - but not as gross as the real thing.)  

He's gone to an orthopedist, but that guy doesn't do "open wounds" so he wanted Mercer to go to another doctor. That doctor told him to go ahead and start using it a little.   He has a little bit of clearance to do things in weight training and in baseball - just not with that hand. We'll see how this goes!  

He's probably going to lose the nail.

Speaking of baseball, we did NOT get the opportunity to purchase photos, but we did buy a "media guide" which has some photos in it.

This is all we've got.

The 1st JV game "opening day" was on the 25th. They had a BIG win (the game was called with a mercy rule at the middle of the 2nd inning:  30 - 0.  Obviously, Mercer could not play because of his finger.

There have been 2 other players (1 before Mercer and 1 after) who have also had hand injuries from sliding into the base. Hmmmm. The school put down turf on the field because it's low-maintenance. It plays faster though. A ball that would hit the ground may die, but on turf, it has movement still. I think that there needs to be training on how to play on turf since most of these boys have played most of their lives on dirt and grass! 3 hand injuries in 2 1/2 weeks is really really bad!

Fingers crossed that no others have this happen / have taken some notes from the 3 boys who are sitting out. 

Mercer's birthday was this past week. He got a sliding mitt (which looks like an oven mitt - but is designed to help protect your hand) as well as some custom batting gloves with his nick-name from the travel team "fish sticks", a team jersey from a minor league team called Fish Sticks that he found online (it's out of Washington state), a new bat, some clothes and - a friend got him a funko pop figure of a baseball pitcher from California that Mercer admires.

Isabella made him a sweet card. We ordered Chinese take-out that he likes and ate strawberry cake (his request) from a local bakery. 

The next night, we went to a movie (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) and he brought a friend. 

But... the BIG news for his birthday: he passed the knowledge test to get his learner's driving permit. YIKES!  (He has been anxious for this for a long time, but he and Todd agree that maybe he needs to wait on his hand to heal a bit more before getting behind the wheel.  I think he needs to wait for those professional drivers' ed classes that our school system offers!  SO. NOT. READY.  oh well.  It's a rite of passage!

(The lady at DMV told him NOT to smile.  bah.)

He spent the night with a friend at the top of the street one day.  And - we went on a boat ride one day with our neighbor Orie / Mercer brought a friend.

 

He also had baseball practices.  So, he got in some socialization with 3 different friends + teammates over the week.  

I'd say that it was a good week for him (despite the finger)! 

Little miss... well... she did her thing.  

Yoga. Eating snacks. Sleeping. 

ha ha!  

I am grateful that he took us out on the boat.  It was - literally - our only outing all week (aside from the movie).  It was not my idea of a "stellar" break, as I worked and worked and worked on sanding a wall for 7 straight days - stopping to clean up / take a kid to a doctor or eye appointment..... or to a baseball practice... or reviewing driver's safety / taking a teen to the DMV).  But it was some work that needed to get done.  Next break - I need for us to GO do something!!  (That is in 4 weeks, but who's counting?!) :) 

This wall project is one that was started during the summer - as a part of wrapping up our bedroom & bathroom renovation.  Our "head wall" (as called in the industry - like in hotels or hospitals where the bed is located) was damaged during in winter of 2020 with some exterior renovation work that had to be done. The guys replacing some siding and even a wood stud or two - came through to the interior and damaged the venetian plaster on the one wall.  It had been like this (damaged) for over 2 years!  

(And there were a ton of little nail pops throughout that whole wall too.)  My neighbor said - it's funny what you can live with for so long!  (true!)

I sanded it down this summer & patched it up. We debated whether to paint over it or to re-plaster it. We both liked the plaster that was there and it was hard to paint over, but, we really almost did, as we could not find a color of plaster that we liked.  (This was trendier 20 years ago and you could go get a bucket of plaster color-matched -- which we did way back then.)  

Last summer we went to many paint stores / visited online venues / etc and just couldn't find a way to color-match the light blue/green paint color we had chosen to paint the other 3 walls.  Todd was thumbing through something at work and saw that a company had a wider variety of colors of plaster... ordered samples... and one of them was pretty spot-on.  So, we ordered a tub of plaster. Unfortunately, it did not come until close to the week before school started & there was no way I was about to tackle a new project then.

So... it waited 'til Winter Break. 

It's a 3 part process (after the prep work has been done).  Base coat. Skim coat. Top coat. Sanding/sanding/sanding.  

It goes on dark.  Then dries light and kind of hazy.  When you sand and eventually polish with a fine grit sand paper or steel wool, it "deepens" the color. 

(The part of the wall on the left is more of the truer color.)

My shoulder injury from a couple of summers ago really was hurting. Isabella would come help me in 10 - 15 minute spurts of sanding.  She gave me about an hour over a few days. Todd helped me for an hour one day (every little bit helped!)

Here's a side-by-side of the painted wall meeting the venetian plastered wall.  It's hard to get the right color in a photo.  It's not really this light in person, but it's not as dark as is shown below in the "finished" pictures. 

I did a much better job the 1st time I did the venetian plaster (there are scratches this time -- probably from the way I was holding the trowel).  We call it "character."  :)  And on the really badly damaged wall -- if you look real hard -- you can see where the wall is a little un-even still, but... it's a LOT better looking than it was.  

And - we did not have to give up that accent wall in our room.  So, overall we're happy -- it was an accomplishment.  BUT - if it ever needs to be plastered again in another 20 years, I am NOT doing it.  We will have to hire someone!  

(Sadly, it's not 100% done. It's about 5/6th of the way done~  I have a small piece to do on the right side of one window still... that is our old bed / taken apart in the corner too - obviously that will need to be moved out!) 

Finding the new (old) bed last summer that matched our bedroom set was such win!  We need to find the "right" person who wants that same bed in a queen size.  So I guess we'll hold onto it?  (there are too many pieces to take to good will or some place like that) and - it's a collector's item.  

The new mattress we got - a Sleep Number - is interesting.  (I don't know if I wrote about that previously.) We have an app for each of us and we have set our bed to quite a different setting.  He likes a soft mattress.  I like a hard mattress.  So we can set it for a better night's sleep.  It tracks how long you sleep / when you're restless / when you get out of bed. 

It gives you a score for your night's sleep.  This 1st week back at school after break has been a really interesting.  (some nights I fall asleep in Isabella's bed / am not in the sleep number so it puts an X... or I'm working and just sleep on the couch.)  But - there were a couple of days when I either did not get a good night's sleep because of stress or because I was working late. There definitely are a couple of my worst scores yet this past week. But then I crashed really early after that / got a great score!  

That Saturday to Sunday with the X.... I basically pulled an all-nighter sanding the wall.  I then had to work almost all night Sunday to Monday to prepare for the school week.  I am getting more sleep than I was in my previous years of teaching.  But - it's still not enough!

It's an interesting tool... and will hopefully help lead to more sleep health! 

Another thing that happened over break: Isabella got fitted for glasses.  She's been complaining for a little while about things being fuzzy.  The school nurse did a sight test, but said she was OK.  Glad we took it s step further!  When we were in the ophthalmologist's office, I was surprised at what letters she was missing on the chart! I had no idea how bad it was.  

She is nearsighted.  (So her voracious reading - no problem - but things far away... like the board at school... are problematic.) 

The contraption that they measure vision with is insane!  I've seen it before but never captured it.  (there the eye doc stepped away and I could snap a photo!)  Her glasses should be here next week.

Here's a funny face that Isabella makes.  

And another. 

We have a new "outdoor pet" - he's lame dragging his back leg around and is - unfortunately - getting comfortable getting close to the house / out back door.  Animal control will not do anything about it.  Just afraid with us getting out of the car at night that he'll be waiting by the back door - or going out to the car early in the morning that it's under a car?  Hip Hop goes CRAZY. 

Back to "normal"

 Our first full week back to school was a busy one.    Every night had something going on!  Mercer had baseball tryouts for several every day after school.  My Tuesday night classes resumed.  Isabella's "usual" Monday thru Wednesday schedule had also kicked in.  

On the 3rd night after tryouts ended, the teams were posted around 10 pm.  Interestingly, some of the players who were on the team last year did not make the team this year, and there were some Varsity / JV swaps!  (The roster last year was huge - and may be part of the reason that the 8th graders didn't get much play time.  Todd said that it was inevitable that the roster be pared down this year.) I'm sure there are some feathers that got ruffled.  I got nervous at first because there was a cluster of names beginning with G and he wasn't in that cluster.  Thankfully, the list was not alphabetical.... and... Mercer made the JV team again.  WHEW!  I do feel bad about some kids who were at tryouts / worked really hard and didn't make it - including M's training partner.  

There is a new coach; he obviously came in with a fresh eye.  We are excited about the season ahead and hope it's a good one!   Team photos and photos of Mercer forthcoming... they took pics already, but we haven't heard anything yet about orders.

Isabella was supposed to have her violin performance at her school's talent show that Thursday night, however, it was cancelled - along with everything else in town - due to tornado warnings.  There were devastating tornadoes that swept through Alabama and continued through Georgia.  10 - in total in our state that evening (9 in the Metro Atlanta area) and ravaging a town south of the city where there were homes destroyed, two lives lost and many injuries.  We are grateful that nothing happened near us.  

The event was re-scheduled for this week - just happened this past Thursday night.  She had been practicing the "Can-Can" on her violin.  And - somehow she got into her head that she needed to NOT look at what she was doing... maybe close her eyes and feel the position of the notes on her violin.  

So... she started practicing blind-folded!  (Watch "America's Got Talent" a bit too much??!!)  Her music teachers sent us this photo during one of her lessons.  Ha!

She decided that at the Talent Show, she WOULD perform with the blindfold on!  So, that what she walked up there and started to do.  But, unlike at home where we can pull her blindfold down, she had to do it herself on stage... and she couldn't get her bow set properly. 

She started several times and the wrong notes were coming out.  So she stopped.  Looked a little defeated.  The crowd cheered her shouting "You've got this" and she pulled down the blindfold / began again.  

People recognized the song and started stomping / clapping to the beat... continuing to cheer for her.  It was really heart-warming to see this community come around her!  

At the end of the show they brought all performers back up to recognize them and the MC's - who did a great job keeping the flow of the show going / telling groaner jokes.  

It was a really cute show!  We had a LOT of juggling to get everyone there on time b/c of an urgent-care visit earlier in the day, baseball practice pick-up and an across-town meeting.  But - whew - Todd and I were there (on time) and enjoyed seeing her persevere AND seeing the support of her school community! 

She had a couple of other great things happen since the last blog post.  At gymnastics, she was FINALLY able to do a back handspring on the mat (her teacher called me in to video, but it was hard to catch.  Here are a couple of screen shots in progress!)

AND - she got to ride the horse Chevy that she has been wanting to ride for a long time.  They trotted and she controlled him -- "steering" and winding him through the cones.   

He was the biggest horse there (15 hands) at the stables for about a year... but we just learned that there was an even bigger horse that they got this week at 17 hands.  She may have a new goal once they get the horse acclimated to the stables and the children.  ha.

In other non-kid news, we hosted a Soup Night & bonfire at our house in honor of our neighbor Mike who passed away last winter.  He has been to many of our soup nights and he - himself - would host bonfires every season.  It was a fitting event to gather his friends from the job he worked at here in Atlanta for so many years of his life + a gathering of some neighbors.  

The date in January was chosen because at his home church here in Marietta, a neighbor arranged to have a Mass dedicated to him and this was the date - although far out - that they got it on the calendar.  We went to the Catholic church service, then headed to our house following the service. 

There was a crowd of about 30 people - many we did not know, but some in the "industry" we knew of or had met at some point in time.  There was some cross-over of our former co-workers who also worked with him...  so it was nice catching up with those folks too. Two cross-over workers:  Dave pictured between Todd and me... and Cecilia in the center of the couch and soup night MEGA attendee / close friend + her "grown up daughter" now in college... who has always drawn pictures in our guestbook at Soup Nights from her time as a young girl to even now.  

Mike was moved back up to Michigan (where his family lives) before he passed... and his funeral service was held up there. This was the only "event" held here in the area for the Atlanta architecture community & Marietta neighbors.  Connie, his girlfriend for at least 15 of the years he lived here (she moved to NC several years ago).... she came into town (seated on the couch).  We saw in the sign-in book that others travelled too:  a family who is not pictured here / left early but who drove up from Jacksonville FL and a guy who flew in from Texas!

 

We received many words of thanks for letting them all come together.  Connie's sister, Julie (pictured next to Mercer) was especially emotional and grateful for this event to help provide some closure. It was a TON of work cleaning after a 3 year hiatus on Soup Night, but even Todd said he was glad we did this.

There's not much about Mercer in here.  So, how about an unusual photo:  when your 14 year old needs a quiet, dark place to chill......