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January 11: Tell Me a Story

I wasnt sure what I was going to write about! Then life handed me something lol
Journaling in credits
 
Day 11

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Such wonderful stories. I love reading them all. Happy or sad, funny or difficult, I appreciate how open and honest they all are.
My story is about the Three KIngs Day tradition in the town where I grew up. All the children would go from door to door singing Three Kings songs and we even had a competition to determine who were the best kings. Full translation is in the gallery.
 
Thanks for this great challenge! I wanted to scrap this story for a while and this challenge was the perfect opportunity to do it. This layout turned out to be a labor of love. I used 604 words to write this story.

 
I'm a woman of VERY few words, so this was a real challenge for me.. Especially since every time I tell this story I abbreviate it to about 3 sentences. I figured at some point my kids/grandkids would like to hear a few more details, so here we go.. ;) *586-some-odd words

 
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I immediately knew exactly which story I wanted to tell. I removed names for privacy's sake but with the names it is 1068 words.



Ever since back in March, when the pandemic really hit home and things started shutting down, nothing has been really “normal”. The kids came home from school and were home until the beginning of September. Even then, school starting got pushed back and staggered. The kids were all still coming home for lunch, since the weather was nice and we could manage to fit it in. I was walking to school and back four times a day and everything was just so busy feeling. Alex went to every other day of school in high school, too. Jason was home from work for several months and went back temporarily until they moved to 50% time at work. Then, it was every other week at home but it was still chaotic for him there, as well. So much was just different. We felt it, too. I didn't have as much time at home to be able to get done the housework and baking that I used to do and forget getting any “extra” projects done. Whoever said the pandemic should afford extra time to start new hobbies and projects didn't have children! But then, the day came. Things had been going well at school and the weather was cooling off so the younger two had been staying at school for lunch for a couple of weeks. This week, Evan had decided that he would stay for lunch, as well. Jason was working at home for the week, but without the kids around, it was less chaotic. Monday November 30 was Alex's day to be at home but then Tuesday December 1 came and he was at school, as well. It was so quiet around the house and I had a whole day, uninterrupted, to do things around the house. Also, Jason would see what my life really was like during the day. At one point in time, I met up with Jason and he says to me...”It sure is quiet around here.”

And that was it. Those are the famous last words. Later that morning, I got a text from my friend ****** asking if I'd heard that there was a case of COVID at ******, because that's was the Leader Post said. I hadn't heard anything so I went searching. It seemed some media outlets, but not all, were reporting a case but there wasn't anything on the school website, either. Well, that was confusing, so I emailed ****, the SCC Chair and Jonathan's friend's dad. He had seen something on Twitter but it had been deleted and the secretary said there would be a letter coming home but no one was answering his calls or emails, either. Well, that just sent the day into a tizzy. Instead of a quiet day at home, it became one of confusion and wondering and attempting to find answers. So much for getting things done!

After school, I headed out to pick up the kids from school. Once there, I met up with **** – ****'s wife – and we waited to see what would be revealed. Well, I was met by Evan first, fighting back upset tears, telling me that the school was going to be shut down for two weeks. Then Jonathan came out, also fighting back tears, telling me that there was a COVID case and school would be shutting down. Lastly, I was met by Bradley who also had the same news. Since Jonathan and his friend were in the same class, they both got the same letter – close contact – self isolate until December 11th. Bradley's letter also said – close contact – self isolate until December 12th. Evan's letter was a bit better news – non-close contact. It was going to be a long couple of weeks. The entire school was going to be on virtual learning until December 11th and would resume December 14th. This was not happy news for the boys who enjoy being at school and with their friends. It also meant that I wasn't getting anything done for two more weeks! Alex was still allowed to go to school so we tried to keep him away from the other boys, but let me tell you, it is not easy to isolate small children and keep their sanity! It seemed obvious that it was a teacher and we eventually did find out it was a case in an itinerant teacher (*** ******) but she was very open with the kids and allowed them to ask her questions, which was wonderful. No other cases resulted from her case, either, so that was fantastic.

Just to throw another curve into things, we had three kids now doing virtual learning full time and one part time and our computer dies. Wednesday was a day off as the teachers prepped and we got everything set up to meet all the schedules on Thursday and were in good condition. Thursday night, one of our computers dies. The fan died in the kids laptop which means that if we used it, we'd melt it. Oy. It was a cheap fix if we could find someone with a part in stock. That was not the easiest task. We did eventually find a place and managed to get it fixed Friday – thank the Lord! Friday was a bit of a gong show, though, trying to use phones and stealing Jason's work laptop for a bit! We made it, though. One week down. One to go.

On December 7th, one week into our virtual learning, we got hit with another blow. Regina Public School Division announced that all schools would be moving to virtual learning for the week immediately prior to and immediately following Christmas break. This meant that, just when we were supposed to return on December 14th, everyone would be going home. The boys were very sad to be missing that last, fun week of school and I was sad for them. It also got to be a challenge trying to have four kids on virtual learning with only three computers available. This was why we didn't choose the online learning option! But, we made it. Eventually, the kids got to Christmas break, which was sorely needed. They even got back to school – for a bit – but that's a story for next year. Our takeaway from this – never comment on how quiet the house is!
 

Journaling:
A few years back, I began to notice that I was not hearing things as well as I once had. I went to the ENT and had my hearing tested and found out that I had some loss, but not enough to need hearing aids.
During the time since then, I have slowly started needing to turn the sound up on the radio or tv, then began using closed captioning on the tv and Youtube videos. I struggled a lot with dialogue, as it seemed to be mumbled. The kids thought it was fun to mumble or just mouth things when I complained about not being able to hear them.
During the last year, I really couldn’t hear or understand a lot of conversations, especially when someone was behind me or when the person speaking to me was wearing a mask for Covid. I realized that I must have been reading lips more than I thought, mostly at the grocery store- (maybe because that is almost the only place I have gone during the quarantine/Safer At Home orders.)
In August, I went back to my ENT and had my hearing tested again. I have more loss now and have reached the point where hearing aids can help. I scheduled a hearing aid fitting for September. The aids helped a ton when I was fitted, but my Dr's office had very expensive hearing aids, and I was not feeling comfortable spending almost 5k on hearing aids when we have 2 kids in college and one approaching that age.
Jeff reminded me that Costco has a hearing aid center and they tend to be less expensive, so I made an appointment there in November. Jane, the audiologist, was very helpful, and she redid my hearing test to clarify my need for hearing enhancement. I had had a bit more loss just since the test in August, so that was a bit scary to learn.
I tried a few different types of aids, from the ones with replaceable batteries to ones that were totally in-canal, and decided upon these by Reston. They are rechargeable, and fit over my hear with a small part that drops down into the canal. I also got a Smart Mic which helps with phone conversations by directly connecting my hearing aids to my phone. I have enjoyed using the Smart Mic to listen to Podcasts and music without earphones or earbuds.
I ended up spending about $2200 and thankfully our insurance covers 2k. The other 200 was for the Smart Mic, which is considered an extra component.
I chose the charcoal platinum color, which really blends in with my hair now that it is mostly grey. I have been surprised with how hard it is for others to see the aids when I am wearing them. I recharge them each night, and clean them in the mornings before putting them on.
I have struggled a bit with mask straps, they tend to want to wrap around my hearing aids and I have to be careful when taking my mask off as my aids want to come off with the mask straps. Thankfully, I have sewn some masks with straps that tie behind my head instead of ear elastic straps. I guess I just need to sew some more of the tie-strap masks!
Here’s to hearing better, and being more confident when out in public that I won’t miss comments and be considered rude, not hard-of-hearing.

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Journaling with words is not my strength...thus, a 500 word count was truly a CHALLENGE!!! Barely passed with 517. Thank you for a great challenge, though...I do like the 1/2 page of journaling rule.

 
I have this amazing friend. A veteran, who worked in an elite area of the military. This person has many stories of things I will never see or do, and probably never want to. We haven't known each other long in the grand scheme of things, but we connect. We help each other on our healing journey. Veterans supporting veterans. We talk about nothing and everything all at once. They understand why I am the way I am and accept that. Literally, just accepts it. Can't ask for much more from a friend. We never go into details about our personal pains. There is no need to. We understand that each of us have traumas and that some days are harder than others. We encourage each other to keep moving forward. We share our highs and lows with each other and cheer each other on. We celebrate our successes and when things don't go according to plan we know each other will listen.
One of the things we do is send each other music. With little notes to say why we think this song is a good fit for each other. It should be noted that normally we have very different tastes in music yet somehow we always find ones that fit. One time I received a spotify link to a song. It was Blackbird by Tash Sultana. The message that came with it was this..."Hey Kate, I hope you and Pete are well. Check this song out. I think Pete will love it. I listen to it when I'm having a bad day. It's about a blackbird that comes and takes it all away. I just know you will love it. The woman who wrote it and plays it is one of kind, she is ferocious and fierce. Sounds a little like someone I know. Lol. Sit back and listen. Turn up the volume too." You can bet I listened to it, more than once, and shared it with Pete as suggested. Wow! What an amazing artist. The guitar is phenomenal and the voice is haunting. I could hear why the song was a 'go to' song for my friend. I could hear why they wanted me to hear it. It brought tears to my eyes and I have added it to my 'power' playlist.
I suppose many people wouldn't think sharing songs is such a big deal but it is. Veterans struggle to share their feelings but they love music. Music is special to them. Often it is their only entertainment when deployed, or their only escape. We use music to feel and express. I pay close attention to every song this friend sends me because I know they are talking to me. Blackbird was especially special as I had not been feeling 'ferocious and fierce' recently, yet they intuited that, and sought me out with a song to remind me of who I am, of how they see me. Not only telling me that I am ferocious and fierce but reminding me that I can let the 'blackbird' fly away with my worries and fears. I just have to let them go. What a blessing this person is in my life and in this world. If you are lucky enough to find a friend like this, hold on to them, give as much as you get, and never ever stop showing them how much you appreciate them.

 

622 words
We do TNR (trap-neuter-release) in our neighborhood which has a pretty big feral cat population. We were pretty successful but had the hardest time catching a female cat that we named Scottie. She was always unfortunately, having kittens. Her last litter had three kittens. One day in October 2016, Michael told me he had seen one of them which couldn’t really walk so he thought it had a broken leg. A couple days later, the kittens were in the yard and he called me outside to go look at it. When I saw her I knew immediately that it was not a broken leg. Her little head was shaking like one of those bobble head dolls. I had watched a video about a cat on Facebook that had similar symptoms. At that point I told him I wish we were just dealing with a broken leg. After a quick google search I found the video and realized that this kitten had a neurological disorder called cerebellar hypoplasia (CH). It happens either when the kitten is injured in the womb or the mamma cat receives certain vaccines while pregnant. The brain that controls motor skills doesn’t develop which causes mobility issues of varying degrees and also tremors. The littermates looked fine, so that was positive but what to do with this little one? We already had four cats, but it would die outside. Trying to find it a home would be impossible since no one really wanted any of Scottie’s other healthy kittens. After discussing it, we decided that we would take it in. But then there was a logistical issue. We were going to leave for Vegas in a couple of days, we couldn’t bring it in when we were gone. We made the difficult decision to bring it in when we got back. God willing Scottie would continue to take care of it while we were gone. We told our friend Tammy about the plan, and not to be alarmed when she sees this kitten outside. It took about two days into our trip for Tammy to call us in tears saying the kitten was falling all over the place and that she didn’t think it was eating or could even eat on it’s own. I once again assured her that we would bring it into our home in a few days and that it has been able to survive for this long a few more days would not make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. I spent the rest of out trip worried about said cat that had been able to survive all this time without any intervention by us. After we got home, I found her in the neighbors yard crying alone. To be honest, I don’t know who caught her, if it was me or Michael. Regardless it was inside now. It was a girl!! I decided she should be named Charlotte because I liked the name and it also started with the letters CH. That was four years ago, and to say Charlotte hasn’t changed our lives would be a lie. She does need extra care. She cannot move around freely. When she does she bumps into things hitting her head. She can’t jump. She can’t climb. She can climb stairs (weird, I know) but we wish she wouldn’t since she does randomly just fall backwards doing that. She has learned how to communicate with us and be a cat in her unique way. She has different cries for when she wants different things. We love our little Screamapillar that us taught us how to be patient and perserveres in everything that she does. Things would not be the same without her.
 
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