Sickness, More Paint, and Punching Through a Brick Wall
I finished painting the living room this week, and it looks SO BEAUTIFUL!! What a difference a little coat of paint can make.
New paint on the right, old paint on the left of the brick:
Here you can also see the subtle difference between the old light tan color, and the new "greige" color (part beige, part grey):
My Dad made an excellent suggestion for me, since my plan over the next month is to paint multiple rooms upstairs - all in the same color. He told me to get a 5-gallon bucket of my chosen paint color and to use this hanging "rack" to get off any excess paint. It works wonderfully!
Another close-up of the new paint on the right and the old paint on the left:
After getting all kinds of cranky because nothing I tried worked (even with Scott on the phone with me), I eventually noticed that one of the screw anchors in the wall was loose. I ended up just pulling the whole bracket out from the wall. Not on purpose. But it just happened. Ugh. What a mess it left behind.
So then I had to putty the holes and let them dry before I could paint over them. It all turned out okay eventually. It was just a very slow start to getting the job done.
Midweek, Scott read Abby a library book over the video chat about an alligator who needed to go to the dentist but he was super scared of the dentist. And the dentist was just as scared to work on (and IN) the alligator's mouth! It was a darling and hilarious book!
Then it was off to swing for a while - still in her princess outfit, ha ha.
We also had company from West Virginia come by on Friday to visit us - once we were all feeling better. And even though we spent a good deal of time cloroxing everything inside the house that morning, we decided to hang out with them OUTSIDE, just to be safe.
Pam and Gordon Harmon (Scott's brother), along with Amber on the front porch.
Gordon happily played the role of mush dog by giving Gwennie a ride around the yard.
Gwen, Jessie and Abby
All masked up at the grocery store:
And I bought some new curtains - probably the prettiest thing I've ever bought for any of my homes over the years! My kind and helpful neighbor, Ben Parkinson, came over with his wife, Kim, last night to help me get the curtain rod up.
Here are some pics before I started painting, and some during the process:
I also had some frustration when I tried to get the curtain rod brackets down prior to painting. I couldn't get access to some of the screws, and some of them wouldn't budge or would just spin and spin but nothing would happen.
I also had to paint the baseboards white because they were the same old color as the walls. I used 2 coats of white paint to get the job done.
Early in the week, Gwen came down with some type of virus. First she threw up, and then she had a fever of 100.5 for 2 days. She slept a LOT and you could tell she just didn't feel well at all. Poor thing.
Gwen, shown here trying to eat her ramen noodles on Day 2, but still feeling lousy. I had my diffuser going constantly - to try to kill as many germs as I could!
And then, just as I finished painting the living room midweek, I came down with a mysterious illness, too. My symptoms were different than Gwen's. I had a swollen throat, a little bit of a runny nose, but mostly I just felt trashed and had some serious brain fog. I stayed in bed the entire day on Thursday, hanging out in my pajamas the whole time.
Gwen was feeling better by this time, so she came and hung out with me in my bed. She knew that she felt better and it made her more than a little giddy! She said to me in the cutest and most excited voice, "My SO HAPPY, Mimi!!" And then she proceeded to name all the people that she figured were just as happy as she was. "And Papi SO HAPPY. And Jacob and Hannah SO HAPPY. And Benson and Kylie SO HAPPY." She even pointed to her face and demonstrated, "See, Mimi? See my happy? It yook yike dis." And she showed me her smile from ear to ear. :) Bless her darling little heart. :)
I texted my friend, Barb Vance, because I knew that she and her husband Peter had just recovered from testing positive for COVID-19. I wanted to double check her symptoms versus what Gwen and I had experienced. Our symptoms were on the list of possible symptoms, but I wanted to know more.
Her husband, Peter (a radiologist), called me and asked me a bunch of questions. He also shared that his brother, Carl Vance, has been overseeing the coronavirus testing from our area in Eastern Idaho within his huge lab. This past week they tested 160 kits from individuals that had either been exposed to someone with coronavirus, or had exhibited symptoms of the virus. Of the 160 tests, only TWO (2) came back positive. So that's pretty interesting.
Peter explained that everything is so up in the air as far as symptoms go and actually testing positive. He only had a mild cough and some body aches, but he tested positive. (He had been exposed to someone that ended up testing positive right after they went hiking together as a small group.) His wife had similar symptoms and she also tested positive. But Peter noted that from others that he has spoken to, some people exhibit symptoms but test negative. Others don't have any symptoms or only a couple of symptoms, but they tested positive. So who knows.
He advised me to be aware if I start feeling short of breath. He said that is the ONE symptom that people need to take very seriously, due to the fact that things can go from bad to very extreme in a short amount of time. He said if anyone feels short of breath we should go to the E.R. immediately.
Interestingly, though, I felt MUCH better by the next morning. I had a little bit of tightness in my throat, but it felt more like a mild croup or something. My throat was still a little bit swollen, but no more than the previous day. I got up and showered and was able to get the mowing done outside.
Meanwhile, Amber was all over the map with her strange symptoms. She'd have a good day, then a weird day, then a good day, etc. The day after Gwen felt better, she (Gwen) woke up from her nap with the "shakes." We took her temperature, but it was normal. Later that same day, Amber reported having the "shakes", too. She felt dizzy at the same time, and it lasted for a few hours.
When I went out to mow, I noticed that I felt jittery too. It felt like I was jacked up on caffeine or something, and it made me slightly dizzy, but not to the extent that I was worried. I felt okay through it all. It only lasted for maybe an hour.
And Abby hasn't shown a single symptom this whole time!! So, even though I felt much better, I still called the Dr. on Friday to see if they wanted me to be tested. They didn't - they said I didn't meet the criteria. And in the middle of all of that weirdness, a member of the bishopric also called me to see if I could speak in church this morning (Sunday). I told him that perhaps another Sunday would be better, because we had no idea what was going on. He graciously agreed and I was off the hook - for now.
Other happenings from the week:
Gwen went outside one evening after dinner because she wanted to pick some strawberries. She ended up getting distracted by the cilantro. She showed me how she would pick a leaf and then eat it. When I shared this photo with our family on a group text, Scott said, "That doesn't seem like a good idea to pick random green leaves and put them in your mouth!" I think somehow Gwen knew this would be okay, though, because it was growing in our garden. At least I hope so . . .
Amber took the girls into the backyard on the day I was feeling so lousy, and they helped pick about a gallon of strawberries. Check out this adorable little princess strawberry picker! :)
Abby had tons of fun hanging out in the swimming pool for hours and hours this week. And she lost her SECOND tooth!!
Jessie - pretending to pay Abby for her delivery of goods. Abby loves to play delivery girl.
Video here:
Gordon and Pam came all the way across the country because Pam's father is dying of lung cancer. We hung out only minimally (frowny face) because of all of our weird sicknesses during the week. Pam and I went on a nice long walk yesterday afternoon, though, and we were able to get caught up on everything going on in our lives. I always love visiting with her. :)
Abby just LOVES going on errands with me in the red truck. It makes her so happy to hop behind the driver seat in order to ride in the cute little sideways "jump seat" that folds down. She loves being a part of the action, whatever action that might be. She just wants to be right in the middle of it! Yesterday we had four stops to make: the bank, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, and the grocery store. She would happily tick off how many stops we had left to make as we headed to the next place. And she sure has a way of talking me into getting a few extra items for her . . . she loves to shop maybe even more than I do! Yesterday she got a new pair of sunglasses with a pink bow on the top corner of the frame, along with an apple and a package of Oreos from the grocery store.
Two cute girlies with cute piggy-tails:
Today after church we baked some Jalapeno Cheese Bread to take to some friends and then we went out to deliver them in the rain. Abby and I walked across the street to give a loaf to the Parkinsons to say thank you for helping me get the curtain rod up last night. Then we walked around the corner to take a loaf to our backyard neighbor, Don Blatter, whose wife has been out of town for 2 weeks. We figured he would enjoy something fresh and warm out of the oven.
Here we are, walking home from Don's house . . . with Abby wearing her new sunglasses:
Don texted me later to say this: "The bread is wonderful! I was going to say heavenly, but it may have too much jalapeno to be described as heavenly. Thank you thank you!" :)
For the last loaf, I drove out by myself to deliver it to my friend and former foster daughter, Jasmine. I spent a wonderful hour visiting with her.
Let me explain the whole "Punching through a Brick Wall" thing. I have been feeling a little guilty recently because I haven't done much with my family history since I got home from all my travels. I've just been so busy and with extra people in the house it is even busier. But I decided to get myself in gear and dig into the information that I gathered while out on the road for the month of February and into some of March.
I began looking into my LeMaster line because that had been such a DEAD END for so many years. Prior to 2017, I didn't even know what my 3rd great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth LeMaster(s) looked like. But my cousin, Janis Nelson, out in Redwood Valley, CA gave me a copy of an old photo of "Betsy" that I now cherish.
Not too long after seeing what Betsy looked like, I received some DNA hints that helped me to connect Betsy to her father, Reuben LeMaster(s). And soon after that, I was able to take it back one generation further, to Reuben's father, Jesse LeMaster. But that's where the information ended.
When I was at the Library of VA in early March, I found a book with a lot of the genealogy for the LeMaster family, starting with the immigrant ancestor, Richard LeMaster, and all of his descendants. He was born in France, and the family name there was known as LeMaistre. I took photos of a good portion of the book, and last night I began going through each page with a fine-toothed comb. Today I was able to connect Richard LeMaster down to his great grandson, Jesse LeMaster!! So now I have several more generations on my tree! How exciting!
I wish that everything were always that simple. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not. The information in this book was provided by a team of professional genealogists and there are many sources and helpful information included. It's not just some fluff that someone put together and published as a reliable source. You have to be careful about who is telling you that something is true, and what proof do they have? This time I got lucky. And I am very grateful!
I have always enjoyed the family history bug. I was so hooked last night as I perused several pages in the LeMaster book, and I ended up going to bed waaaayy too late. But it was worth it. And today it paid off big time!! When I found Jesse's name, I called out to Amber down the hall, "BINGO!!" Gwen came running to see what exciting thing I had discovered. I showed her Betsy's picture first and then I told her that I found out who her grandparents and great grandparents were. She said, with big eyes, "Reawwy??" I hope my grandchildren learn to love family history as much as I do!!
And Lastly:
Scott had to get tested a SECOND TIME for coronavirus early this week. Just to make sure. Out of all the people they tested, not a single person tested positive. But I bet it was the opposite of a hoot to be tested a second time. When you know what's coming, the anticipation would be horrible!! Bless his heart for being so brave - TWICE!!
Showing me one of his masks:
In the chow hall, wearing another type of mask:
And the day that I was in bed feeling sick, he was pretty sleepy before going to work. So we chatted for a bit while snuggled up to our respective pillows. :)
I put in a special request recently for Scott to take some pictures of his buddies that he works with before he's all done in Saudi Arabia. My request was granted this weekend. :)
Here he is with Ahmed on the left, Mohammad in the middle, and then Scott.
And this is Captain Ibrahim with Scott.
I think I've talked to each of them over the video chat except for Mohammad. Scott will call me sometimes while he's at work so that I can talk to one of these guys about something "important". One time, I answered the call and Captain Ibrahim was on the other end! This was the day after Valentine's Day 2020.
He said, "Hey, so I'm talking to your husband here, and he says you guys never argue. Is that true?"
Me: That's true.
Him: But how can that be? That is impossible!
Me: Well that all depends on what your definition of arguing is. My definition of arguing is that two people are having a disagreement and they end up getting rude and angry at each other. My husband and I don't do that. We may disagree about some things, but we just talk it out and discuss it together. We listen to each other and eventually reach a compromise or a competent decision together.
Him: Hmmm. Well, okay. Please tell me what I did wrong though with my wife last night. She went to a party and I just stayed home. When the party was over, she called me and asked me to come pick her up. I told her I would just send our driver to go pick her up. (He explained that this was a common practice in Saudi Arabia and also within their household) But she got mad at me and said she would just figure it out herself. What did I do wrong?
Me: Well, it sounds like she was having some feelings or thoughts that she did not share with you, so you're going to have to ask her about it kindly and then listen to her without getting angry. Maybe she wanted to spend time with you because it was Valentine's Day and when you wouldn't go to the party and you also didn't want to go pick her up, maybe she felt like you didn't care about her. But you need to ask her and then listen.
He took it all really well. He was amused that I backed up my husband with regard to us not arguing. He was in awe of us not fighting within our marriage. And he respected my advice on how to diffuse the situation with his wife. And I really enjoyed the lively and impromptu conversation!!
Scott has some really interesting stories that he will be able to share more of when he gets home. He tells me little tidbits here and there. He is learning a lot about the culture of the Saudis, especially when it comes to relationships and customs. Some of the Saudi men really embrace the culture and history of their religion and end up marrying multiple wives. He works with some men who have anywhere from 2-4 wives. They divide up their time between the families and everyone seems to get along well.
Some others, however, prefer to just have one wife. But how they met in the first place is very interesting. Most of them report that it was their mother who chose whom their son should marry, and it was their mother who set it all up with the bride's family. Many of the young people didn't even meet until their wedding day! And then they go on a month-long honeymoon. I bet they get to know each other pretty well by the end of that month. Some of them marry their first cousin!! And some of them go on a pre-arranged first date. And then the second date is actually their wedding day.
Weddings out there are extremely expensive, somewhere in the range of $150,000. Yikes!! The groom has to pay for the entire lavish wedding, including a meal to feed perhaps 500 people, the month-long honeymoon, and I think Scott said there is also some monetary expectation for the bride's family. He works with one young man, I can't remember who it is, but he is extremely reluctant to get married because it is just so daunting and financially burdensome. So he is just postponing the inevitable . . .
Anyway, so many fascinating things he's been learning about the culture and the people of Saudi Arabia. I can't wait to hear more when he gets home someday . . .
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