Phew…what a week. It seems like it’s been full of ups and downs and STRESS and I’m so ready for the weekend!!! Thankfully Matt was far enough away from the earthquake that he didn’t even know it had happened. It hasn’t been talked about much to the patients, it seems. And since Matt only gets two channels in English he hasn’t been saturated with the coverage like we have here. It is a catastrophic event for China, and I am just so very thankful that Matt is safe.
Yesterday I was in super-freak out mode as I searched frantically for my passport. Matt had suddenly started worrying that my visa wasn’t going to be for enough days and I would have to make changes…and while I was fairly confident it was fine…I couldn’t for the life of me remember WHERE THE HECK I HAD PUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, when I came home from China the first time our house quickly imploded with boxes and moving mania…and there were other people helping me pack, so I was asking Mom and Hope if they had remembered seeing it cuz I sure had NO recollection of where it ended up. I searched in all the most ‘logical’ places I could think of and no passport. I searched unopened boxes in the basement and no passport. I looked in every drawer, through every closet, in every bag, and through all the papers…and still no passport. By about 9:30 last night I was near panic, when I looked through the file cabinet once more and stumbled quite accidentally on my neatly labeled China Connection folder…and there was my stinking passport nestled safely in its place where I’m sure I thought I would KNOW to find it later. I actually kissed it…I was so relieved. The passport was found and the visa is fine…no problems with the dates! I immediately e-mailed Matt to let him know and went to bed, exhausted from the anxiety and running around. I feel SO much better now, knowing that nothing is standing in my way from reaching Matt in just a few more days! I’m so excited that we’re counting down mere days now, no longer weeks!! It’s hard to believe that we’ve made it this far…I’m so glad the end is near!!!
This week I’ve also been running around every morning and every evening watering the new sod. I had many friends warn me about how much time I would spend moving sprinklers, but I think I just shrugged it off thinking it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Well, maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal if we didn’t have such a big yard!! I quickly realized it was much more work than I had thought. These first few weeks I am to water each section of the yard 2 times a day for 15-20 minutes. So, I have to move the sprinkler from the back to the front…SIX times. And then I have a smaller sprinkler between our house and the neighbor’s so I don’t totally spray the whole side of their house…and I move that each time I move the other. So my morning goes something like this; get up, let the dog out, feed the dog, feed the cat, turn on the sprinkler, walk around the other side of the house, turn on that sprinkler, go inside and take a shower, put pjs back on and go back outside to move both sprinklers, come back inside to put on my make up and blow my hair dry, go back outside and move both sprinklers, come back inside to curl my hair and get dressed, go back outside and move sprinklers, let the dog out again, eat breakfast, go back outside and move them one or two more times and then go to work. Fun! Don’t get me wrong, the insta-yard is fantastic! It looks so great…I hope I can manage to keep it looking this good all year! I’ve also been out to the garden centers a few times this week getting flowers and shrubs purchased! I plan to get some things to amend the flower bed in front tomorrow night and Saturday I can finally DIG IN! Yahoo!! The plant therapy will do me good, I’m sure…though I will miss not having Matt there to hang out with me while I work. Soon, though…and then we won’t ever have to be separated like this again!!
Matt has been doing well though. He’s had several special cupping treatments and a few breathing treatments to help break up the crud he’s been coughing. He says he feels fine and has been able to sleep a lot better this week, so hopefully that infection is gone by the time I get there. He had another acupuncture treatment on his tongue yesterday. Professor Bian put two needles under his tongue. She put one in and left it while she stuck another in and kinda wiggled it a little bit then she took it out and did the same to the other side. This is supposed to help speech.
He received a few packages in the past week or so too from my parents and Lissa and has been enjoying the goodies that he got (lots of candy, cookies, munchies, movies and magazines). I know that getting those packages really brightened his day for sure!
In the mean time, we’re keeping our chins up…really just focusing on the final stretch here, making the most of it and looking ahead to FUN with each other, friends, and family when he returns!! Oh what a happy day that will be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I’ve said it before, but I hope you know just how much we have appreciated you keeping us in our thoughts and prayers. The love, support, and encouragement we’ve been showered with continue to humble and amaze us. We are so incredibly blessed – thank you.
Yesterday I was in super-freak out mode as I searched frantically for my passport. Matt had suddenly started worrying that my visa wasn’t going to be for enough days and I would have to make changes…and while I was fairly confident it was fine…I couldn’t for the life of me remember WHERE THE HECK I HAD PUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course, when I came home from China the first time our house quickly imploded with boxes and moving mania…and there were other people helping me pack, so I was asking Mom and Hope if they had remembered seeing it cuz I sure had NO recollection of where it ended up. I searched in all the most ‘logical’ places I could think of and no passport. I searched unopened boxes in the basement and no passport. I looked in every drawer, through every closet, in every bag, and through all the papers…and still no passport. By about 9:30 last night I was near panic, when I looked through the file cabinet once more and stumbled quite accidentally on my neatly labeled China Connection folder…and there was my stinking passport nestled safely in its place where I’m sure I thought I would KNOW to find it later. I actually kissed it…I was so relieved. The passport was found and the visa is fine…no problems with the dates! I immediately e-mailed Matt to let him know and went to bed, exhausted from the anxiety and running around. I feel SO much better now, knowing that nothing is standing in my way from reaching Matt in just a few more days! I’m so excited that we’re counting down mere days now, no longer weeks!! It’s hard to believe that we’ve made it this far…I’m so glad the end is near!!!
This week I’ve also been running around every morning and every evening watering the new sod. I had many friends warn me about how much time I would spend moving sprinklers, but I think I just shrugged it off thinking it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Well, maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal if we didn’t have such a big yard!! I quickly realized it was much more work than I had thought. These first few weeks I am to water each section of the yard 2 times a day for 15-20 minutes. So, I have to move the sprinkler from the back to the front…SIX times. And then I have a smaller sprinkler between our house and the neighbor’s so I don’t totally spray the whole side of their house…and I move that each time I move the other. So my morning goes something like this; get up, let the dog out, feed the dog, feed the cat, turn on the sprinkler, walk around the other side of the house, turn on that sprinkler, go inside and take a shower, put pjs back on and go back outside to move both sprinklers, come back inside to put on my make up and blow my hair dry, go back outside and move both sprinklers, come back inside to curl my hair and get dressed, go back outside and move sprinklers, let the dog out again, eat breakfast, go back outside and move them one or two more times and then go to work. Fun! Don’t get me wrong, the insta-yard is fantastic! It looks so great…I hope I can manage to keep it looking this good all year! I’ve also been out to the garden centers a few times this week getting flowers and shrubs purchased! I plan to get some things to amend the flower bed in front tomorrow night and Saturday I can finally DIG IN! Yahoo!! The plant therapy will do me good, I’m sure…though I will miss not having Matt there to hang out with me while I work. Soon, though…and then we won’t ever have to be separated like this again!!
Matt has been doing well though. He’s had several special cupping treatments and a few breathing treatments to help break up the crud he’s been coughing. He says he feels fine and has been able to sleep a lot better this week, so hopefully that infection is gone by the time I get there. He had another acupuncture treatment on his tongue yesterday. Professor Bian put two needles under his tongue. She put one in and left it while she stuck another in and kinda wiggled it a little bit then she took it out and did the same to the other side. This is supposed to help speech.
He received a few packages in the past week or so too from my parents and Lissa and has been enjoying the goodies that he got (lots of candy, cookies, munchies, movies and magazines). I know that getting those packages really brightened his day for sure!
In the mean time, we’re keeping our chins up…really just focusing on the final stretch here, making the most of it and looking ahead to FUN with each other, friends, and family when he returns!! Oh what a happy day that will be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I’ve said it before, but I hope you know just how much we have appreciated you keeping us in our thoughts and prayers. The love, support, and encouragement we’ve been showered with continue to humble and amaze us. We are so incredibly blessed – thank you.
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