Everybody Loves Sarah

Here's what's been occupying my time lately:

Last fall, my dad began having some health problems: weakness, dizziness, faintness, memory problems, etc. He was bad at Thanksgiving, better at Christmas, but whatever it was wasn't going away. He played musical specialists for several months, as no one could figure out what the problem was and kept sending him to a different doctor for further analysis. At long last, they decided that the problem was several medications that he had been on: a potassium supplement, Lipitor, and a blood-pressure medicine I can't remember the name of. For most people, they cause no problem, but for my dad, over the time he'd been taking them all, they caused some neurological damage and (I think) also damaged his kidneys. While he has improved since being taken off the drugs in question, all the damage may not be reversible.

In light of his health issues, my parents (with significant prodding on my part) have finally decided to move down here, to be nearer us and see the grandkids regularly. I found them a house 2 blocks down the street from us, and hopefully they can move by mid-July. They've been in their house for thirty years; it was always too big for us; and they filled up the extra space by never throwing anything away, so moving is far from a painless process.

So, yes, I've voluntarily put myself in the situation of having my parents as neighbors. Fortunately, they're not right across the street a la Raymond. The first house I looked at for them we can see from our front porch; this one is still walkable but not actually visible, which is a plus. It's a very nice house -- smaller, and with a smaller yard, for downsizing purposes -- and I think they'll be happy there without the accretions of thirty years, if the move itself doesn't kill them. And on the plus side for me, I'll have easy-access babysitters, less worry about my parents being so far away, and -- not least -- no longer the prospect of inheriting thirty years' worth of junk to sort through.

So that's what I (and they) have been doing for the last couple of months. I hope that by late summer, they'll be settled in, and I can begin to think about other things again.

Previously, on Veronica Mars....

Wow. Checking my Sent Items folder, I find that I haven't sent out pics of the kids since last March. So I'll try to get everyone caught up.


This picture is of Eric's 1st birthday last summer. The Cookie Monster cake was just too cute. Faith got a very blue tongue.

This is Faith last Halloween, as a "fairy princess," I guess. It's a costume I put together from hand-me-down dress-up clothes. This year, she needs a less frilly costume, as the skirt kept getting in her way climbing the 15-foot-high slide on the "obstacle course" inflatable at our church carnival. I ended up tucking it into the bike shorts she was wearing underneath.

And this is the bike Faith got for her 5th birthday. In contrast to the slide at Halloween, which I couldn't believe she climbed so nonchalantly, she's a very cautious bike-rider. Eric can easily outrun her on foot.

Prolegomena

So check me out. I've joined the 21st century, and only 7 years late.

Friends have pointed out that I used to send out pics & news regularly when I only had the one kid, but since the new baby (now almost 2) arrived, we're all apparently suffering from a debilitating disease which precludes photography & typing. Meanwhile, I am shamed by Becky, who has 4 kids and another on the way and still manages to keep a blog. So, if she can do it, I can too, right? (It's a theory, anyway.)

I still have to figure out how to put pictures in this thing. So, work in progress....