Rare Disease Day

Today is Rare Disease Day. For those of you who don't know, NORD (National Offices of Rare Diseases) defines a rare disease as one that has fewer than 200,000 patients in the US or about 1 out of every 1000 people. Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome, which is what the Wiz has, is one of these diseases: the incidence of SDS in the US is 1 out of every 75, 000. There are so many of these diseases (most of which are genetic) out there.

If you'd like to learn more about the rare disease in our life, here are more links:

http://www.shwachmandiamondamerica.org/index.html (Wiz's picture is in this website!)
http://www.shwachman-diamond.org/
http://marrowfailure.cancer.gov/SD.html

The Wiz is actually sick right now. He has a sinus infection (hence the CT scan). His only symptom was his asthma was worse. That's the way life is sometimes. (Wish us luck--he has to have a CBC today.)

Quick Tuesday

Today was busy.

I taught.
I washed laundry.
I made phone calls about the camp survey and sent emails out for that.
I took the Wiz to the allergist (asthma is acting up, probably due chronic sinusitis. CT scan tomorrow, because I haven't spent enough time at St. Mary's recently.)
Game Boy had his Almost Spring Band Concert. (BBFs--he now can play the Michigan Fight Song. Do you have sheet music so he can learn the OSU one?)
I found out how much he loves playing trumpet--he plans (and was recruited for) jazz band which practices before school. Jazz band is cool.

Now I am sitting down for a bit. I'm tired.

Oh, and 10 more posts, and I have posted here 500 times. I can't believe it!

I finish things.

On Saturday, I made an apron. I love the colors: chocolate brown, mint ice cream, sunny yellow.
The daisy fabric for the ties and waist band make me happy, too.

On Sunday, I started a hat. Another Unoriginal Hat from the Yarn Harlot.
This is some of the yarn that manxomeKal sent me. It knits up into a mighty fine hat. Perfect for skiing, if I ever go. Or maybe ice skating.

He's 8!

Today was a big day for the Wiz.
It's his 8th birthday. He went to school, he chose our dinner menu which he helped cook (the menu was pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw and roasted potatoes).

He also opened presents.
Game Boy gave him a monkey birthday card, quarters to buy monkeys, and a monkey house that he made for the Wiz's monkeys. The Wiz loved it. The Collar gave him a game we played at a friend's house: Apples to Apples, which can be hysterical. He also gave him some smokey pink marbles.I found a jousting game set for the knights that the boys have been collecting and been receiving for years. This was how they ended the evening.

Splinted!

Today at 11:15, we went to the hospital so that the Collar could be knocked out so he could have his nose fixed. We got home at nearly 3:00, which is a pretty long time for a 10 minute procedure. I guess everyone was having out patient surgery today.

We'll see how it looks on Monday morning, when they take off the splint. I'm not sure if I feel really bad for him, or am jealous that he doesn't have packing or a nose sling. He has his meds, he'll sleep pretty well tonight, and this will all be in the past.

Creative Weekend

I cut out some aprons:

Sewed one.

Made a loaf of gluten free bread.

Started a pair of socks.Started a hat. (No picture of the hat, but it's almost finished.)

And found a desk!

Happy Valentine's Day!

You can't say it better than meatloaf. (Letters cut from cheddar cheese, free hand.)

Along the Highway

On our most recent trip to Seattle:



There's still snow in the mountains.

Berry Good

The robins have found our hawthorne. They ate a lot of the berries yesterday.Now we wait for the waxwings to come and finish them off. I wonder if they'll get drunk? Hopefully we've finally seen the last of the snow. C'mon, spring!

Ooh, Pretty!

My secret pal manxomeKal sent me this:
A very cool project bag, completely lined.
full of Reese's hearts,
A giant cup and saucer, to drink some nice strong Sumatran coffee,some beautiful stitch markers (my knitting wears more jewelry than I do!),
Jitterbug sock yarn, which I've never used before,

and some chunky Manos de Uruguay in a colors that remind me of water.

There are also some bite sized Heath bars, which I've stuck in the freezer, hiding from everyone else!

Thank you! The yarn is pettable, the coffee will be strong, and I can hide inside and not freeze quite happily. :)

Finished!

I finished some things on Saturday. The bright bath mat was FAST. I'm going to knit something similar (but not in these colors) for the hall way near the living room . Between going to Seattle (The Collar drove) and sitting in the ER and waiting for Blackboard to load pages, I finished the socks.
Now I don't have to feel guilty for starting a project for me that I want, but don't necessarily need. (The mittens and hat were definitely needed. Ugh.) Green socks for me!

Unexpected

I was planning on posting about Game Boy's trip to Seattle. (He's fine, by the way. Everything is easily remedied.)

I was also planning on posting about the knitting I've finished. (A bath mat and a pair of socks.)

Instead I'm posting about this:The Collar broke his nose. This is right before we went to the ER. (He wanted me to take the pictures--I didn't make him wait. If you click on it, you can see how crooked it is. It hadn't really started swelling yet.

This is a side view from the hospital.

After the ER visit, when he's really started swelling. He was a wee bit spaced out on his pain meds, so please forgive his, um, glassy eyed appearance. Today he's still spaced out (pain relief is good!), and there's swelling, and where the bruising is going to show up.

I'll post more pictures as he decides I should. (I'm sure there will be pictures when his nose is set and splinted.)

Mill Creek, January

Saturday we went to Mill Creek, again.

The geese knew the dogs weren't really going to come after them.Looking for ouzels, or let's go, people!There is still snow up on the ridges.
A good time was had by all. Some of us were tireder (and muddier) than others, though.