A Decade with Abs!

9 lbs 9 oz. A little turkey. Little did we know what lay in store for us.

She was such a sweet baby.

Her father has spent half of her life deployed. He left the first time when she was two.

Some days I wondered if we would ever reach 10. Thankfully we did, and she will have no surprises tomorrow because I sent her to the car to get a vitamin water, and forgot I had all her presents in the back. She said she didn't look, but come on, it's Abs we are talking about!

Happy Birthday to my favorite 10 year old girl. Here's hoping the next decade is a little bit easier on us both!

(We're just doing something small and waiting for a big dinner out when Gunner gets home.  She was ALL about that plan!)

Thanks & New Problem--Bullying

Thanks for all the advice on potty training.  I once had Junior sit in his mess till he got tired of it--wouldn't you know, he didn't mind at all.  I had to put him outside at one point in the backyard, and he played nicely on the back porch while sitting in his own feces, singing happily.  He must get his stubbornness from his father.

I have tried making him clean himself up, but probably not as regularly as I should, so I'm going to give that a shot again.  He did it a few times and was happy as a lark.

My new problem is bullying.

My dear sweet Abs, who we have all come to know and love, has been bullied since the beginning of school.  I have fought with the school non-stop, demanding that they do something, and they always point it back to Abs, which 95% of the time is not the case.

Yesterday things came to a head when "he" attacked her and shoved her down.  Now I realize that these are 4th graders and that stuff like this happens (although being a 2nd grade teacher, my students knew better than to do anything to hurt anyone).  But, this has been consistently happening, although more on the harassment level--you're stupid, you're dumb, you're ugly, anything that he can say to cut her down.

The physical was more than I could handle, and I fired off an email demanding a response from them.  Their solution was to keep Abs out of her specials classes and therefore keep them separated.  Really?  She's not the problem.

I have had Abs moved, against her will.  That will probably backfire on me, but I couldn't let her deal with that anymore, and it was obvious that the school wasn't going to do anything.  The problem is that Abs loves the school, and I like that they are challenging her, but then there is this problem.
Publish Post
I'm frustrated.  It shouldn't be this hard to protect your child.  Any suggestions?

Where do you shop?

For Abbie, I shop at the thrift stores, or only on deep clearance.  Why????

Last week it was a pair of jeans colored in black marker.

Today she got a "snag" and then there was a strong wind.  Glad I wasn't around for that.

Just to make sure you aren't seeing things...

I might take the suggestion of Annemarie and make her wear them for an entire week.  She informed me that she was sure her Grandma could fix them.

She was horrified that I made her wear them to OT tonight.  The two other parents that I sit with for an hour and a half, had never seen anything like it.  Welcome to my world.

I honestly wasn't surprised or shocked.

Tuesday she wore a pair of leggings with little "jewels" down each side of the leg.  She returned home with plain black leggings.  Knowing her, she was probably trying to convince the other kids that they were worth something and was trying to sell them.

One day she will do great things....one day she will do great things...one day she will do great things.....one day she will do great things...

Some Random Thoughts

Three nights ago.  Abs slept.

Two nights ago.  The 5" crack was enough for the little imp to slither through and escape.  I'm recommending her to be recruited by the Navy Seals.

Last night.  I made the crack smaller in the middle, so she managed to get out the bottom.

I give up.

While she was out of bed, she opened up a box of brownie mix and tried it out.  She didn't like it, and did what every other 9 year old does with it in the middle of the night and stuffed it under the couch.  Making a mess.  

I'm pissed.  Pissed that I can't sleep.  Pissed that she gets into the food and we can't keep anything sweet around here for anyone else to eat.

I'm pissed that her dad isn't here to help.  I'm pissed that other people have never deployed and he's going on his 5th year of deployment.  I'm really pissed about that last one.

Word on the street is that Gunner can retire soon.  At first I went into a panic.  Where would we go?  What would we do?  The only people that help us with the kids are my outlaws.  Could I handle that?

Now I am looking at the bigger picture.  He would be home.  We would make it work, and we could live anywhere that we want.  I wouldn't need help from the outlaws because he would be around more.  

In the meantime, I am at a loss as to what to do with Abs and open to suggestions.  Also if anyone wants to have her over for a sleepover.....just sayin'....

Desperate for Sleep

So in the great "Quest to get Abs to sleep 2010", I decided to try a few new things.

Melatonin--what a joke!  It has no effect on her.  None.  It was a nightmare. 

I was cleaning out the garage, and found 2 baby gates.  These are the really tall ones, so I thought that they would be perfect.

The first night, feeling all proud of myself, I put one gate up.  I made it high enough where she couldn't go underneath it, but it would still keep her contained.

*****Disclaimer******  Abs knows full well that she can kick down these gates in an emergency and escape, so don't give me any grief about that people.  On the bright side, if she kicks them down, I will hear it and rush to her room to bust her before she gets downstairs.

Okay, back to the first night--SHE SLEPT!!!  Of course since she had been up over 24 hours, I wasn't surprised, she was exhausted.

The second night (Tuesday), I put the gate back up like the first night, and she escaped.  I didn't hear her, but I did hear the tv at 2 am.  I chased her back to bed, then spent the next few hours chasing her back to bed again and again and again.  

ABW 0 Abs 1

The third night, I was not going to be a fool, so I put up TWO gates, one on top of another.  At 2 am I heard Abs open the door and she called out for me because she had to potty.  No problem, I opened the gates, let her potty, and then put the gates back up.  I went back to bed.  I slept.

This morning I woke up and was patting myself on the back again about getting some sleep, and I went to get the kids up and I noticed that Abs had left her door open, but the 6 foot high gates were still in tact.  Score one for ABW.

I mean, look how tall that is!  There was about 6" of clearance at the top.  I would be able to hear it if she kicked it down.  She could call for me and I am such a light sleeper, that I could let her out if she needed to potty.

I found a solution.

I peeked inside to wake up my beautiful 9 year old well rested daughter.

I didn't see her.

I opened the top gate.  Opened the bottom gate.  She was nowhere to be seen.  

I looked in the closet, under the bed, in all the covers on her bed.  Nothing.

The little imp CLIMBED over SIX FEET of gates and escaped.  She was sitting downstairs watching tv in her bucket of beans.

ABW 0    Abs 2

How in the world?

I look back when I blogged last deployment, and I had a full time job, worked out like a wild woman, three kids, and was going to graduate school.  How did I have time to blog?  I never slept.  I could function on 5 or less hours of sleep, and now I am two years older, and that just isn't happening.

I could easily be happy with 8 hours of sleep a night, and that isn't happening either.

Abs is killing me.  She's up all night, and for some reason after all this time, it dawned on me.....she doesn't know how to go back to sleep.  All that self soothing as babies is useless when they are older, and she for the life of her can't figure it out.  

This should have been totally obvious to me, but it hasn't been, and I blame it on the lack of sleep.

We had a long talk about it, and I explained some things to her, and talked about relaxation techniques, and then did what I always do.

I went to Amazon.

I found a few very highly rated relaxation cd's, that tell stories, and get the child to calm down.

I'm hoping it works.

I let her listen to the clips on amazon, and she said she preferred her current cd.

Can you guess what it is?  It's a CD made from an old record, that I absolutely loved--the story of Jean Lafeyette.  I memorized it as a kid, and Abs has memorized it now.

She thinks that is relaxing.  Somehow I don't think the songs and story behind their battle of the British is relaxing, so she said she'd try things my way.

I hope it works.

I have pictures to post from all our fun this past weekend, but while at a festival, we met a Holistic Clinical Nutritionist.  After I gave her the 3rd degree on the phone today about credentials, I am taking Abs for an appointment this Friday.

Maybe this will give us some guidance.....some help....some sleep?

Life With Abs....

It's never easy, and lately it has been harder than hard.  It's not one thing in particular, but a million things at once.  How does that child sleep at night?  Oh wait, she doesn't.  A non-sleeping Abs means a non-sleeping ABW.  I'm worn out.

I'm in the throws of personal training.  I did a 5 K this past weekend and took this girl.

She wanted to run around the track to warm up.  I told her to conserve her energy.  Good thing I did, because .1 miles into the race she decided that we should go the pace of a dead snail.  I did what any parent that wanted to finish would do and put Abs on my back.  I carried the girl for 3 miles, all 68 pounds of her.  I'm still sore.

I've been tackling my 30 day challenges head on.  Remember this picture...

Well I worked on it for about 8 hours.  There's a slight difference.  Two trips to the thrift store.  A full trash can.  I sent the after picture to Gunner and he said "Boy, you have a long way to go".  Thanks babe!

At least you can see some of the floor!  See all those bikes?  This is what happens when you step over the same bike in the same place, and fall once each day because you can barely maneuver due to all the crap.

It looked worse when it happens.  Darn mountain bikes.

I don't want to move anything out of the garage, but I need to in order to get to the front right corner to make some headway.  How come I don't want to?  Because when I am tired and want to quit and not move it back in, I don't have Gunner to come help me.  This might turn into a 365 day challenge at this rate!

The vegetarian eating is going well.  I grabbed a piece of Em's beef jerky yesterday and spit it out when I realized what I was doing.

I took Abs to get her haircut again today.  She had it cut a week ago, but it seemed all uneven, etc.  My girl did it, and explained to me what happened.  She's got my thick hair, and it's straight as a board (that's from her father).  You could cut my hair a million different ways and never be able to tell, I guess that's one benefit to curly hair!

I have a meeting tomorrow morning with Ab's teacher and the principal.  She's actually not in trouble (that was Friday), but I am still not looking forward to it.

Oh, I also had to go get new mailbox keys.  My new garmin gps is sitting in the box probably, if someone didn't find the keys and go take everything.  It's $40.  I will be putting each of the three keys on different rings, in different locations, and not near Abs.  Apparently the one time I sent her to check the mail, she lost the keys on the way to the box, but had forgotten to tell me on the way back.  Did I mention this trip took 20 minutes?

The dotted line is representative of how Abs travels.  She once told me that straight lines were boring.  (Don't bother enlarging, I borrowed this from chamotlabs.com, and the wording was changed to fit their company and makes no sense to me)

Maybe tomorrow I can get Ab's Mr. Potato head project back so I can share some pictures from it, it's cute!

Abs in Action

Abs in front of the Air Force Academy chapel--purple shorts, pink shirt, camo hat, boots, and carrying a ziploc bag containing about 30 pencils.  You apparently never know when you will need a sharp one.

I wish I had more pictures of her antics, but usually at the time I am so irritated that I can't even think straight.

Abs is back to waking early, although it is only 5, so it's better than 2 or 3.  In our new house we have light beige, cream like carpet.  (Can I just add, that the carpet they put in housing should be black so I can't see "stuff" on there from previous families!)  I bought red jello cups with fruit....do you see where this is going?  I now have red jello ground into my carpet.  That's what happens when there is some jello left in the container and you try to cram 5 of them under the chair in the living room at once.

Currently our house is overcome with the smell of lavender.  It is supposed to have a calming effect, and sometimes on a rough day/night, I will put A FEW drops in Ab's bath.  Well more is better right?  I was sitting downstairs talking to my mom when I was overcome with the smell of lavender from UPSTAIRS.

I dragged my super sore body (the new trainer is a killer) up the stairs and found Abs soaking in half a bottle of essential oils lavender, and a few inches of water.  I should have known when she wanted to take a bath in the middle of the afternoon that something was up.  I wanted to trust her.  I'll let you know how calm a half a bottle of the stuff makes her.  I could only hope.

Maybe she needed to have a relaxing lavender infused bath after I talked to her teacher today and now have a conference scheduled for Monday afternoon.  I am currently waiting for an email about the events that occurred.  I.can.hardly.wait.

I love this kid dearly, I really do.  This weekend we will be completing her book The History of Mr. Potato Head.  Basically that means that I sit near her and redirect her to complete the project in short increments, while listening to her explain the finer points of how "You are the only mom that makes me do my own work".  It's loads of fun for both of us, and I assure her that one day she can be their (the other kids) boss.

Wish us both luck!

Dressing for Bed

Abs got ready for bed....

Ab's Philosophy on Science vs. Christianity

Ab's is reading the Bible.  She tried to move on from Genesis to Exodus, but she found Genesis too exciting and keeps re-reading it.

While waiting for her EEG last week, she noticed that they had a copy of the Bible and she picked it up and started reading.....Genesis.

Out of the blue, she said:

Abs:  It's hard to be a scientist and a Christian at the same time.

Me:  Why?

Abs:  Because you are thinking about how God created people and at the same time thinking about how people evolved.

Me:  So how do you figure it out?  (Seriously, I don't know how to answer her or what to do, so I just ask more questions to make her think it through....is that what I am supposed to do?  Who the heck knows.)

Abs:  God created the things we evolved from.  Once we started to communicate then Adam and Eve named themselves.

Hmmmmm......

Abs and water

Remember my facebook status that said something to the effect of "guess which child 'fell' into the fountain?"

I'm sure it wasn't hard to guess.

I was going through pictures from Florida and I stumbled upon these that Gunner took.

He took pictures?

It's a good thing playing in the fountains isn't a big deal, but she went on to get SOAKED.  He couldn't stop her early in the fun?

Pineapple anyone?

I was so happy to be back in my bed, that I couldn't sleep in this morning.  I got up to find Abs on the couch watching tv.

She turned on the Today show for me, and then disappeared.

She never asked for breakfast, or I would have made something for her.

About an hour later my nephew got up.  I guess he is learning that you can never be sure what to expect with Abs in close proximity.  He came out to tell me that there was pineapple juice all over the floor of the bathroom and a half eaten can of pineapple as well.

I called for Abs, and told her she was my "maid for the day".  Together we cleaned the bathroom, with her on her hands and knees scrubbing the tub and floor to my specifications.  She was thrilled, really.  She folded laundry.  She helped wash dishes.  She delivered clothes.  She matched socks.  She ran errands for me, delivering things to other places.

I wish I could figure out her currency.

Abs Part 3,567,574

Gunner took Em, my nephew and Abs to a Sky Sox game tonight.

Sounds like fun, right?

Abs wanted autographs so she took a sharpie and a tshirt to get signed.

Can you see where this is going?

I get a text from Gunner with this picture.

I think she was embarrassed that she got caught.  How did she think she wouldn't?  Maybe she was showing team pride by writing Sox on her forehead?

I wonder if the star on her nose had a significant meaning?

How can someone so smart do such strange things?

She sat through the entire game like this.

She wasn't embarrassed.

She is definitely Gunner's kid.

She's Baaaaccccckkkkkk

Abs flew in on Tuesday.  She hit the ground running.  I went the entire time in Texas without coffee, but now I am having to down a pot each morning in order to keep up.

Last night Gunner and I had just settled down to go to sleep.  I was almost to the point where I was passed out.

I hear a crash.  

Gunner gets up and finds Abs awake and getting into things.  He sends her back to bed, because it wasn't even midnight yet.

We get to sleep, but Gunner had to be up at 3 this morning to send some Soldiers off to school.  He wakes up to find Abs awake.  (I'm sure the minute we fell asleep that she was up and wandering around, just being quieter this time.)

He sends her back to sleep.  I woke up this morning when my cell phone rang.  Abs was calling me to see if I was awake.  I started to panic thinking that she was calling other people, so I dragged my tired self out of bed.

Put on a pot of coffee, dragged Abs off the wii, and gave her her medicine.  

Found an egg in the sink.  An egg?  No clue.

Booted up the computer, and turned on the Today show.  Heard Abs knocking on doors trying to sell Sammy to unsuspecting sleeping siblings/cousin.  

Put the dog outside.

Made first cup of coffee.  Heard a crash.  Went around corner to find Abs into my teaching books (which is fine), but she had knocked off half a shelf (how?) and was sitting in the dog bed (yuck) and moving the books around with her feet to see if she could teach her feet to be as strong and as independent as her hands.

I told her she could practice with her own things in her own room and to use her independent hands to clean up the mess.

Mess cleaned up, Abs is in room.  Finally sit down with coffee to check email, blogs, and I hear footsteps running through the house.  I go to Abs room to find that she has swiped permanent markers to "color" with.  I confiscate, she balks, assuring me she will keep it on paper and nothing else.  She hands them over.

Surprisingly Junior is still asleep through all of this.  

It's only 8.  How many more hours till bedtime?

Camp Pine Cove

This is how I found Abs on Saturday when I picked her up.  Happy and collecting grasshoppers.

I saw Em first, but of course she is too cool for pictures these days.  Em had a GREAT time.  She couldn't wait to tell me though all the things her sister had done wrong.  It was like she spent her week taking notes on her sister so she could relay it back to me.  Ugh.

She started with the two feet of mud on her head and Ab's refusal to get out of the mud pit during Battle of the Brumbies.  I talked to Ab's counselor who told me that Abs was a blessing.  Really?  Someone else loves her?

They had an end of the session program and showed a quick blurb from the highlights CD.  I want to go to Camp Pine Cove.

Em and her counselor.

They both had a great time.  I asked Abs counselor if she slept okay.  The kid slept through the night every.single.night.  I guess I need to recreate camp at my house so she can sleep here.  

They did have a couple of problems with Abs, but it didn't sound like anything too serious.  They are both signed up for next year.  I don't know who is more excited, me or them?

Grandma's Bill

I think my mom is keeping a running tab for Abs.

Would it start with the $15 worth of liquid bandaid that she poured into the toilet?  Box and all.  Em caught her and made her scoop it out.

Hopefully there won't be a $300 toilet repair bill from that episode.

The $3 bag of chips she hid under the bed and devoured?  

Thank goodness my mom buys plants off the dead plant table at Loew's, because the 25 cent plant that my mom managed to make flourish is now without flowers because Abs picked them all and delivered them to the neighbors.  

Abs wandered off today and managed to find.....tar.  What would any 9 year old girl do with it?

Maybe my mom should charge $5 for the oil that was used to clean her up?  Thank goodness she buys in bulk!  

Time with Abs is priceless.....or at least I am trying hard to convince Grandma of that!

I love her

Abbie started LENS treatment a few months ago.

The results were not exactly what we had hoped for.  It was devastating.  During this time she learned all the parts of the brain, all the locations that they used, and understood LENS better than I did.  The doctor in charge didn't know what hit him when he started.  

During one of her treatments, they noticed some characteristics of a seizure.  They called me in immediately (because of course Gunner is gone) and they gave me the news.

We waited months for an appointment with a pediatric neurologist.  We had the appointment yesterday, and since Gunner got pulled for a class, I had to take Junior with me.  Big mistake.  I don't think that doctor knew what hit him.  Abs was full of questions about anything and everything related to his position.  He had the patience of a saint, even when Junior (who was napless) was a handful.

Basically all the neurological tests that they (her amazing pediatrician and the neurologist) have done indicate that she is okay for the most part (meaning they don't think there are any brain tumors or anything).  They will start with an EEG which we will have done in July.  From there, we will decide what needs to be done next.  (They told me that they need her to get no more than 5 hours of sleep before the test--like that's a problem!  Most parents will have to stay awake to keep their child awake, but we can just turn her loose on the wii and provide pizza, since she is up all night anyway).  

There are so many different types of seizures, and so many different treatments.  It could be that we are dealing with nothing, but it is better to be safe than sorry.  I am nervous, but then if this is what is happening, it could be the reason that Abs doesn't sleep, or explain even more of her behavior "episodes".

I've only noticed on "episode" that concerned me, but then I wasn't sure what to look for before.  

If anyone has any experience with this, please let me know, I'd love to hear all outcomes, you can email me.

I love this kid, and I would do anything for her, so until we have answers, I'll be sitting at home, volunteering at her school, and trying to figure out the best way to help her.  There have been so many stories here in Colorado lately of people that have killed children, and I am so thankful that Abs was given to me.  She might give me gray hair, give me a run for my money, keep me trying to stay one step ahead, but she knows she is loved unconditionally.  

What has the world come to????

I went to a PEO meeting for the group that I am going to join.  They're really nice, and the home today was just beautiful.  Always hard to come home to military housing after being in their homes! I really need a friend that wants to become an interior designer and wants to practice on my house.

If you have kids, what kind of couch do you have?  I'm contemplating a leather one, but not sure if it will be any better than the material which seems to have gotten dirty since we moved to Colorado.  What's up with that?  I have leather seats in the car, but they are a light gray, and material fared better than the leather has.  I'm open to recommendations!

I came home and then took Junior to the doctor for a speech referral.  We should have the referral in our hot little hands in less than two weeks.

While waiting, Ab's school called and said that she had thrown up and needed to be picked up.  I immediately thought of my dental appointment tomorrow and called them to cancel.

Me:  I have a barfy kid and I need to cancel my appointment tomorrow at 3:30.  (This was just over 24 hours notice)
Office:  We require 48 hours notice.
Me:  Ummm.....okay, but I am giving 24 hours notice since I have a sick kid, and I didn't really plan for her to be barfy.
Office:  We have a 48 hour notice, and you aren't giving us that, so there will be a $35 charge.
Me:  Are you kidding me?
Office:  Sorry, it's our policy.
Me:  I'm not paying $35 because my child is throwing up.
Office.  Sorry, it's our policy.

By this time I was annoyed pissed off, so I told them that I was at the clinic with another child, and I would have to call back and maybe they could talk to the dentist in the meantime.

I go pick up Junior's prescription and run over to the school to get Abs.  I asked the school for a plastic bag (since I wasn't at home when they called) and they looked at me like I was rude.  Sorry people, if you give me a barfy kid, you can give me a plastic bag for the car ride home.  Surely it doesn't cost that much!

I get Abs home and Junior occupied so I can start cleaning the bathrooms.  We all know that nothing says I love you like a clean bathroom.

But first, I have to call back the dentist office because I am just stewing about this.

Me:  Hi, I'm calling back about the fact that I have a barfy kid and you want to charge me $35 for not coming to the appointment.
Office:  Like I explained, that's our policy, we are tired of people canceling their appointments and we are left sitting.
Me:  I understand that, but I have a child that is throwing up today.  That means that more than likely the rest of us will get it, and I have to stay home and take care of my children, they are too young to be left alone.  Not to mention I could infect the whole office.  (Seriously if you have met Abs, she touches everything and investigates everything--did I tell you the story about her sucking on the bathroom lock at the outlet mall?  I want to barf myself.)
Office:  I know what it is like to have sick kids.
Me:  Well if you won't budge, I have to tell you that I will come to my appointment tomorrow, with my sick kid(s) in tow.
Office:  If they are sick, you can't bring them here!
Me:  Well, I am not paying $35, so we can either plan for you to have a space for my barfy kids with me, or we can reschedule.
Office:  Why don't we reschedule.

Are you kidding me??????  I totally get that people cancel appointments and it costs them money, but I have not done that, and I really don't want to infect the world with Abs germs if possible.

I'm off to clean the toilets, wash towels, and prepare the sick diet.

Missing Kid

Maybe one day this will be funny.

Abs was in the basement playing.

It got quiet, very quiet.  Em was doing homework and Junior was playing nicely at the kitchen table.

I was enjoying the peace.

Then I noticed how long it had been quiet.  I knew Abs was up to something.

I tore downstairs to the basement to search and there was no Abs anywhere.

I ran to her room and no Abs.  I yelled for Em, and we took off searching the house.  We covered the basement again and turned off the lights.  We covered the house.  We went outside.

We searched her normal hiding places.  Panic set in.

We kept searching.

Time passed.

More panic ensued and we were all frantically searching for her.

I went in my bathroom, which is above the TA50 corner of the basement.  I hear a muffled tiny voice through the vent yelling for help.  I scream for Em to grab the phone, because I envision the 20,000 pounds of TA50 on top of my Abs.

We rush down there and still can't find her.  We start searching and then Em hears a noise from........

A tiny suitcase.

The girl had zipped herself into a little suitcase to see if she could fit and had gotten stuck.

This is my life.

Gunner's flight got moved and he will miss the triathlon.  They told him he would be back, and we are now out the money.  I'm pissed.  No, I am beyond pissed.  I hate the Army.

Junior's last day at his school is on Friday.  Don't get me started on that.  

I really, really, really, want to runaway, far, far, far away.  

I apologize in advance

I am going to have to start sleeping with all phones at night.

I store all my important numbers in there.  Gunner, my mom, my friend Dave, Em has some numbers saved, and a few other random people.

Be thankful now that your number is not in there.

Why?

Abs apparently has started calling people at 6 am.  Yesterday it was just Grandma.  Today it was Grandma, Daddy, two of Em's friends, and who knows who else.  Those are just the ones that reported in.

Em said at the rate she comes up with new ways to amuse herself, we will have to lock everything in the basement and live like we are in prison.

.....I slept with 4 phones on my pillow last night and spared everyone their morning phone call.

Now if I can remember to do that every day.

I went to ride my bike this morning, and I pulled it off the trainer.  I tried to pump up the tires, and for some reason couldn't get the pump to work and I was left with two flat tires.  I finally got it straightened out and got the tires pumped up.  I took my bike outside and went to ride it, and it wouldn't change gears.

Ugh.  I flipped it over, made my attempt to work on it and look like I know what I was doing.  I ended up dragging it to the bike store where I found out I had a broken derailleur.  It doesn't cost much to fix--$30--but they have to order the part, which could take weeks.

Did I mention I have a triathlon in less than two weeks?  They are going to do their best, otherwise I will be traveling up the HUGE hill on my heavy mountain bike.  It can be done, but it will be harder, plus there's the whole training issue.....I'm hitting spin tomorrow at 7.

Gunner called (at a convenient time) and said that there was a virus running around the camp.  Everyone is throwing up and getting the runs.  He is running around with a bottle of sanitizer trying to stay healthy.  I hope he can do it, because nothing has to be worse than being out in the field and being sick.  Of course everyone has to still work, regardless.  I told him he better start the sick diet.

Busy weekend planned.....let's hope Abs doesn't wake you up early...