January 27, 2010

I moved to Nashville in 1994 from Philadelphia, where, as you can imagine, it snowed quite a bit. In the nearly 16 years since, this is the most snow I have seen! We got a whopping 4-5 inches of snow, which is just enough to have an awesome time sledding.

John’s Mom, Ann, came on Thursday and had a special afternoon with Tanner after clinic. Friday morning, I left the kids in her capable hands and ran out at 8 am to:
1. search for a sled (I knew it wasn’t going to happen, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try)
2. search for waterproof gloves for both kids
3. search for snow boots for Jake
4. Finally join the snow panic and ransack what was left of the stock at the grocery store so we could “hunker down” for the weekend

I would love to say that after three hours and eight stores, I was successful, but the only thing I came home with was food. No sleds, boots or warm gloves within 100 miles. Retailers must pray for snow in Tennessee.

So, later that day, in the sleet and snow (aka “wintry mix”) Tanner insisted on going out to meet some friends in the school field. We bundled up and I put three pairs of crappy gloves in my pocket so I could replenish her gloves when they got wet. It was in the 20’s and very, very cold and windy.

The kids played for 15 or 20 minutes with me replacing Tanner’s knit gloves every time they got wet. My hands were cold in ski gloves so I couldn’t imagine how she was standing it. But, after we went through all three pairs, she had a melt down and I had to give her my gloves and carry her all the way home and put her in a hot bath.

That’s the way it goes with Tanner these days. She plays so hard and with such enthusiasm, but it usually ends rapidly when she tires out. She is on steroids this week, which exacerbates her fatigue. She lives life in bursts… a burst of energy… a burst of exhaustion. I worry about how she will do at school. But, I try to remind myself that some school is better than no school and we’ll just let her do what she can.

The day after the big snow, we all went sledding with some neighbors and had such a good time. It was Jake’s first time and he LOVED it. I still have my old Radio Flyer sled from childhood and we took that and then shared our neighbors’ plastic sleds. Usually, the runner sled won’t work here, but we had freezing rain on top of the snow and, after waxing up the runners, it flew! I didn’t take my camera, but two of our friends had brand new fancy cameras and took lots of pics, so I’m sure they will send me some I can post (hint, hint Ashley and Molly).

We have two more days of steroids. She has handled them pretty well so far; some crying and fatigue, but she’s powered through a lot of it. We give her a lot of grace and hugs, remind her that it’s the steroids that make her feel this way and let her rest and watch more TV than normal. When she’s had enough, she asks to go to her room alone and watch movies on her computer in bed. We’re learning how to find a workable balance during this week. We’ll have 19 more steroid weeks, so it’s important we figure out the best way to get through the week without letting it totally halt our lives.

If school ever reopens this week (it’s already cancelled for tomorrow), I’m supposed to meet with a group of folks over there so we can come up with a plan for Tanner to attend school safely. She will need some special concessions, obviously, and we will all pow wow to figure out how to best meet those needs and how to protect her from germs as much as possible. The school has been so super and I know they will do everything they can to help.

The new house renovations are going really well. It looks like a house again instead of a demolition zone. Carpet and tile this week. Finishing hardwoods next. Then, finally, the long-awaited kitchen redo. If all goes as planned, we’ll move mid-March. Then, an empty house to sell. Hmmmm.

Anybody want to buy a house in historic Franklin, TN?

Love,
Beth