AuburnChick's Adventures

What a way to start Christmas vacation!

Soccer Chick and I headed out early.  She had to re-take the CPT Reading Exam.  High school students attending dual-enrolled classes are required to take the placement exam every two years.  She had failed the exam by one point last week.  When we got to the college, she discovered that she had forgotten her picture ID (I had driven).  Rats.  I really did not want to go home and go back again.  However, upon closer inspection of her records, the clerk realized that Chick’s scores were actually valid until May 2009.  There was no need for the exam today.

Whew!  We got lucky.

On the way home, we stopped at Sam’s to pick up another box of contacts for her.  Of course, things did not run smoothly.  Her old prescription had expired in August.  She had been to a check-up, but I had forgotten the new one.  Grrr…

The optician called the doctor’s office and arranged for them to fax it over.  We decided to head on home instead of waiting.

When we got to the house, Rooster was awake.  He was laying on the couch, and he told me that he did not feel well…his neck and stomach hurt.  The thermometer read 100.8.

Great…nothing like a sick child three days before Christmas.

Lucky for us, I had made him an appointment to have his ears flushed (he gets a lot of earwax, which impedes his hearing).  I quickly ran to Walgreens and bought Gatorade to help keep him hydrated.  I also picked up this:

Attractive, eh?

It’s a thumb stabilizer.  My left thumb joint started hurting a couple of days ago.  It took everything I had to pull up my britches today.

Lovely.

Rooster and I went to his appointment, and although he had all of the symptoms of the flu, the test came back negative.  It’s viral.  Lots of fluids, healthy foods, and rest advised.  I also picked up Zicam.  The child refuses to drink my homemade apple/orange juice.

With Rooster back in bed, I headed out to finish up some shopping.  After a good couple of hours, I am almost done.  I will try to get the last couple of things tomorrow.

When I got home, I clicked the garage door opener and was just about to drive in when I noticed that the garage door did not go all the way up.  In fact, it went up about two inches and went back down.  Several tries did not change the outcome.

Great.

I am a handy woman.  I went inside the garage and inspected, not finding the problem.  I manually released the opener, but I can’t get the chain to reconnect.  I also cannot get the door opened without using the electric opener.  The door seems to be suctioned to the floor.

Mr. AuburnChick was absolutely no use.  He tried taking parts apart that should not be taken apart.  Why do men think they should do things like this?

His diagnosis? “The door is stuck.”

Ya think?!

A quick google search led me to the conclusion that a spring or two may be broken.  I’m calling in the experts tomorrow.

Good thing both cars weren’t in the garage when the door broke.  Can you imagine trying to finish shopping without a car?

Good grief!

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Happy Birthday Audra!  (sorry…shout-out to a high school friend who doesn’t read my blog, but I always think about her on the 22nd)

Mr. AuburnChick’s parents have lived next door to the same family for 20 years.  I remember our first meeting…their twins in the stroller.

Two years later, the Mr. and I had our own child (Soccer Chick).  Because we lived in the same city and spent lots of time at the parents’ house, we saw the neighbors often.  Chick loved her older friends, and they loved playing with her.  They had a swing set, and she was there nearly every day swinging her little heart out.

It was natural for the families to spend Christmas Eve together at their house.  After my sister moved to town, they extended the invitation to her as well.  I don’t even know how many people were at their house each year, but the number grew as we expanded our families with new babies and siblings’ boyfriends.

Not too long ago, by unspoken agreement, we stopped going over.  It got to be too many people…finally.  I can’t blame them.  Kids were getting ready to go to college (the twins).  Some of the grandparents were getting more fragile.

What wonderful memories though.  All of the adults ate at the long dining room table, passing around two types of dressing, mashed potatoes, ham, and turkey.  For a short time, the kids’ room was quiet as they chowed down.  We always knew when they were finished because the noise level increased dramatically as they began making pleas for dessert.

It was so warm and comfortable.  It’s amazing at how large our families really are.  In fact, what defines a family?  It’s certainly not blood relations but those whom you cultivate relationships with, whether it be the physical therapist who got your child through knee surgery or the neighbor, who happened to be a pharmacist, who was always avaiable for late-night emergency medicine calls.

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