Silver Lining

So I guess there is a silver lining or two about losing much of the back fence (and having to wait a month for completion of repairs)...

     

Sum-Sum-Summer Time

We've been carefully and selectively participating in things outside the home.  The girls, especially, have really needed it.  We figured that tennis (outside and fairly socially distanced, as far as sports go) and swimming lessons (small group and all that lovely chlorine!) would be reasonable to try.

Anya has been playing tennis 2-4 hours most mornings and loving it - for the most part.  There has been a bit of skin unpleasantness.  Being 14, she refused to let me take a picture, but she got a sunburn which then exploded into a drug reaction, exacerbated by the sunscreen she was using.  She's been on an antibiotic that we knew could make her more sensitive to sunburn, so we had been hounding her about application (and reapplication).  We were actually getting after her for not being vigilant (though she said she had been) since the first Friday she came home looking pinker than she had all week.  She rested after Friday (a week ago) and did not go out in the sun over the weekend and it looked better.  However, Monday it looked bad, Tuesday it looked worse, and Wednesday I insisted that I oversee her first application of sunscreen - she OBVIOUSLY was not putting enough on.  We really slathered it all over her face (though oddly enough, nothing but the bridge of her nose and cheek bones were burning) and I kept texting her to make sure she was reapplying.  She came home upset because her eyes had watered the entire time and her face was still looking really bad.  I tried the dermatologist but got no answer.  Thursday, we tried another sunscreen and I had her leave it layered thick but not rub it in - maybe it would act as more of a barrier?  While she was gone, the dermatologist's office returned our call and told her she needed to stop taking the antibiotic - that a "drug rash" was a potential side effect.  When she came home, her face was nearly purple and her hands and lower arms were starting to turn red and itch.  We researched several creams and ointments and obviously stopped the medication.  (However, in researching this side effect, we also learned that this medication can cause esophageal ulcers - which she had had treated earlier this summer.  No one even mentioned that either of these things could be possible and even after the month-long ulcer treatment, nobody caught the connection.  I'm sure it was NOT a coincidence.). Anyway, lack of photographic proof aside, she's looking better and feeling much more comfortable.  And we're prepared for the next week of tennis - hopefully without a repeat interaction.

Izzi's adventures have been less eventful.  She's been taking her first formal swimming lessons - and loving it way more than the other two little boys in the class.  She's always been a natural in the water - more coordinated than she is on land.  The two little boys spent the entire first week screaming and fighting to get out of the pool and the second week adjusting.  Because enrollment was low, there was one teacher to each child.  So, Izzi basically glided and splashed and kicked and dived around in essentially a private lesson, avoiding the drama ensuing around her.  She had a good session and is ready to start again tomorrow.

A Glimpse of Izzi

As I remember these moments, I'll have to sprinkle them in here and there - even if they won't be chronological.  These are fairly recent, however...

We've been "playing" a lot of Scrabble.  Basically, ever since we've been experiencing social distancing, we've had a board out on the counter and we all just contribute as we go.  Thursday, Izzi said she wanted me to get out the "kid Scrabble" so she could play.  I think we've entered the creative/invented spelling phase...

"See, Mom.  I'll just make my favorites."  Can you tell which family members she's thinking about?

Her creativity is also evident in play.  I sent the following text to my mom the other day:  "I'm currently playing the part of a teacher bunny rabbit who has adopted a baby giraffe whose parents and siblings died when it was younger and it needed to live in a home with someone who would protect it from octopuses who can walk on land and water and sometimes eat baby giraffes. 

 

"And now Cookie Monster (who sometimes eats cookies and sometimes eats baby giraffes due to his magical powers) is wanting to come in to the house."

 

But it got even worse.  "Now there's a spider who, despite its size, can also eat baby giraffes.  Because it first takes small bites and then grows larger until it can eat the whole thing.  But don't worry: Blue, the helper bunny, just squished the spider with his magical sock." 

           Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up!  She always keeps us laughing. 

The End of the World As We Know It...

So, starting mid-March, that line from the REM song has been running through my head pretty much non-stop.  

The year started with fires in Australia, wide-spread earthquakes in Utah and surrounding states among other catastrophes world-wide.  A highly contagious pandemic soon emerged in the forefront.

Toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and hand soap were the first to disappear.

About the second week of March, toilet paper, antibacterial hand sanitizer, paper towels, baby wipes, and hand soap began to be a scarcity.  People were panicking and stocking up because of a new strain of highly contagious coronavirus.  On March 12, I was headed to the grocery store to pick up one thing (Thai curry paste) for dinner.  As I pulled in to the Smith's parking lot, they were just announcing on the radio that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was cancelling all live church gatherings in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic.  I walked into Smith's but it may as well have been the Twilight Zone.  Pretty sure the fire marshal wouldn't have known where to start with violations - though judging by the number of people in the store, statistically he was probably there, too.   You couldn't even figure out where a line began and the general mass of humans ended.  And forget about toilet paper - the shelves were nearly empty of most canned and boxed goods as well.  It was surreal.

This was reality - social media and real life - this was what shopping looked like for about three or four weeks.

That evening, Tami (my preschool administrator) texted and asked if I could attend a district leadership meeting in her absence the next day.  Friday, March 13the (yes, I see the irony), I pulled in at 7:30 and the meeting began - unfolding the plans about when (not if) we were told we could no longer hold school on site.  Everything was happening so fast my mind was spinning.  I went back to school, shared the information with first our team leaders and then with all the staff.  But by the end of that day, as I was sitting in a meeting with a parent, the secretary interrupted to let me know that Phyllis (the Superintendent's secretary) needed me to call her.  When the meeting ended, I stopped by the office to find out more and Gladys let me know I needed to call right then - before meeting with the parent standing there in the office already waiting.  I rushed upstairs to call and Phyllis asked if I could be at a meeting in half an hour.  I told her I had a parent meeting and she told me I'd need to finish it quickly.  I made necessary arrangements, cut the meeting short, and rushed over to the district office building to attend my second "district leaders" meeting of the day/my life.  A statewide soft school closure was about to be announced - meaning that on site attendance would not be happening but we needed to figure out a way to provide instruction virtually.  Again, completely surreal...

I do feel that I have had help and inspiration through all of this.  For months prior, I had been trying to focus on building up our food supply in earnest.  There was no need for us to scramble - there were some things we couldn't get but we weathered the shortage just fine.  In addition, since the beginning of the year, I had been especially focused on some problems at school regarding service delivery.  I had been praying and doing what I could to work through these unrelated issues and had felt very strongly that I was having a Nephi experience - this was my "ship" and, though I didn't always know the blueprint or even have the requisite tools, I was receiving the guidance to build because the Lord knew I was trying to help His precious children.  This inspiration and guidance intensified as we moved online and that aspect didn't stress me out nearly as much as I expected it to (though there were admittedly other intense stressors to be sure).

Over the next 10 weeks, we went NOwhere - literally.  Clayton would go out weekly for groceries.  The girls and I would take walks at the park.  But the girls and I did not otherwise leave the house.  (Ok, except one trip to the ER for Izzi with another UTI).  Words like masks, and shelter at home, and essential workers, and social distancing, and Zoom, and Meet, and Teams, and remote learning became part of our daily vocabulary.  It was an intense experience trying to be mom and teacher to my own kids while still supervising my team remotely, providing intervention remotely, and meeting with teams and parents remotely.  Definitely a unique experience.

And, though the danger has not passed, the pandemic has slowed here for now.  Just as things began  relaxing, we were placed under another shelter at home directive resulting from an active shooter situation in the neighborhood.  About a week later, Anya's tennis classes were cancelled due to a suspected threat at the high school (school is out, but the outdoor high school courts were being used).  On a personal family level, my brother, Andrew, ended up in the hospital with complications from a several days old ruptured appendix.  My brother-in-law, Dylan, ended up with a blood clot in his leg (though fortunately it was not kidney failure of his years-old transplant, as they feared it may be).  My nephew landed in the ER with a severe allergic reaction (cashews and pistachios, apparently).  And (for those of you who know me and my rodent phobia), we had a mouse in our walls/ceiling for three weeks (before we finally figured out how it was getting in and out and were able to catch it).

Then, yesterday, the latest installment.  We knew there'd been a flash flood warning (a rarity here in the Utah desert) and a severe thunderstorm warning.  Anya and I were standing at the sliding glass door watching the rain pour down in sheets and the wind whip.  I had just been commenting to her that this was "Memphis weather".  We'd seen (and hid from) storms of closer to that intensity, though not for years.  Lights were flickering and just as the power went out, from the corner of the yard, an entire fence panel exploded from its frame, flying through the yard toward us in pieces.  Not waiting to see if the rest of the fence would hold (or if it would come cascading through any of the five windows (including the sliding glass door) on that side of the room, I grabbed Izzi and yelled to Anya to get to the basement with no windows.  (Clayton was downstairs in his office so we caught him on the way.)  Three guesses as to what Anya did first.  Yep, Aggie (our dog) joined us in the dark furnace room.  It felt a bit too much like a tornado warning in Memphis - just minus the sirens.  When the weather let up a bit (it was a long time until it stopped and there was a second wave that followed about an hour later), we returned upstairs to survey the damage.  Fortunately our house was not damaged, but the front and back fences were half gone.  We were lucky - there was far worse in the community and we had a neighbor family who helped us clean the debris within less than half an hour.  We were without power from about 12:20 until about 5:00, but there were some in the area who still did not have power today.  All things considered, we fared pretty well.  But the dog won't be able to roam the yard until we figure out insurance and the fence.  And I'm afraid our garden (which mostly withstood the storm except where fence pieces actually fell on plants), will not survive fence replacement/repair.

Front Yard

Back Yard

From Back to Front

What hadn't warped or blown out was significantly bent.

          Neighborhood Carwash               

I'm beginning to side with Homer...

My Dream...

OUR ENDEAVOR:
Seven years ago today, I began the adventure of my Master's degree - inspired, of course, by Ian.  So today seemed the appropriate time to share our dream.

To anyone who knew Ian, the twinkle of mischief in his eyes, the delight in his smile, and his completely contagious laugh are unforgettable.  He was a persistent fighter from the day he was born and in his 11 short years, he profoundly touched the lives of anyone who took the time to get to know him.  If you didn't know him, you really missed out. 

This is a big Ian year at our house. In August, he'd be turning 18 (I know, I know. Pretty unreal, right?) and entering his senior year of high school.  If he'd been a typical kiddo we'd be thinking ahead a year from now to graduation, college, and a mission. Wow! It's a bit much for my mind to wrap around. However, in commemoration of  this milestone year, we've started the Ian Aston Brown Memorial Facebook Page to help us all celebrate the difference he's made and will continue to make through his influence on our lives.

Since he will NOT be going to college, we have decided to help someone else (or hopefully several others for years to come) pursue education in his memory.  His battle to communicate was key in my decision to pursue degrees in communication disorders. The flexibility, availability, and quality of Utah State University's programs enabled me to realize this goal and become an SLP.  So, because we're a USU family (Aggie blue through and through), we've decided to build an Ian Aston Brown Memorial Scholarship through USU to assist students to train in fields that will help those who struggle to communicate. The scholarship will be awarded to a Utah State University regional campus student pursuing a degree in Communication Disorders and Deaf Education.  The goal is lofty and may be several years in the making, but we are all excited to do this in memory of Ian. (And I think it might just make him happy, too.)

Our family will be saving and raising money to donate to USU. Our ultimate goal is to  reach $25,000 over the next five years so we can create an endowed scholarship, meaning it will continue to be awarded in his name even after we are gone. To begin this process with USU, we need to raise at least $5,000 per year for five years - $6,000 if we want to begin awarding it as it grows, so it may take us a little while to get off the ground.  We would love to have something in place so that a student could begin using the scholarship the same year he would have begun attending.  If we can raise $6,000 by December of this year, that is a very real possibility!  If you would like to contribute, consider donating to our Go Fund Me project in Ian's memory or share it with others who might like to join us in an inspiring cause.

Aston Family Updated

(Thanksgiving 2019)...

Isabella Brown

We are thrilled to introduce Isabella, the newest member of the Brown family.
Now, before anyone rushes off to call Guiness, no -- this was not the world's longest pregnancy.   It's just an announcement 4 years late in the making...from a mom who really did find herself 10 years tired-er (with a baby who didn't sleep through the night consistently until she quit napping at 20 months old) this time around.

From the beginning (before she was born, even) she's had a determination and mind of her own.  On my las OB appointment, I asked the doctor about her flipping (since I was certain I had witnessed her perform an entire summersault the evening before).  He assured me she was "way too big" by now and that there simply "wasn't the space" and dismissed the question.  Then, since she was going on a week overdue, he asked if we wanted to have him strip my membranes.  We decided this was a pretty good plan, so he did -- and then immediately asked for the ultrasound machine.  Turns out, he couldn't feel her head because she had, indeed, become a gymnast and had turned again since the last appointment.  We scheduled a planned C-section for the next morning since they didn't want the risk of delivering breech.   But the damage was done: I wound up in the hospital with pretty strong contractions around 11:30 that night.

Because it was overnight and not an emergency, they were unwilling to bring in the team necessary for the delivery until the next morning or until it became inevitable that she was coming.  And no epidural because we were scheduled for a C-section.  Several hours later, the doctor came and I could sense a little panic as he hurried them along to prep me for delivery.  As a result, I was in labor longer without pain relief (kudos to those who choose natural child birth, but I'm not so strong, I guess) than with either of the other two births and still had the disturbing (as Clayton lovingly calls it) experience of C-section and recovery.  However, she arrived safely, if a bit misshapen from her acrobatics (her legs stuck straight out for a while since they'd been wedged up over her shoulders).


And then, there was the Anya adjustment.  She'd been adamant that she didn't want another sibling, but she'd come around.  She had insisted she wasn't going to the hospital, so Grandpa David (who'd been summoned last-minute to stay while we were in surgery) told her she could just ride over in the car.  Once there, she decided she'd go in - but she was just going to see me and not look at "that baby".  He assured her that was fine.  However, once inside, they were best friends from the start.  In fact, Anya is the one who chose her name.  She spent less than 2 minutes with her before deciding that she was definitely Isabella and not Ariana.  And to this day, they are best friends (and worst annoyances) to one another.

Trying to catch up on 4 years of Izzi seems a daunting task.  So we'll just have to jump start and hopefully capture the essence as we move on from here.