longest project ever, not flawless, & deep breaths

(Blogger updated, or chose to toy with me - depending on how you look at it, and I am struggling to post my photos without wanting to kick someone at blogger between the eyes, and this font is crazy huge, but just going to try it for now.  Feedback welcome - does it scare you to think the post could be THIS long?  Or is it easy on the eyes?  Didn't mean to keep it this way but afraid if I change it my strategically placed photos will be messed up) . . . 

I didn't get around to writing my Wednesday post, but my photo albums are one step closer to being put together . . .  is that applause I hear as you support a delayed Wednesday post necessitated by my photo album project?  

Kitchen table:  temporary album
 loading zone.  We have two
 islands people can stuff their pie
 holes at, so don't fear that no
 one ate while these photos
 sat here for a week.

My children prefer my dedication to the picture storing project vs. blogging as they are desperate for me to wrap it up.

They are tired of being grilled with questions like:  DO YOU REMEMBER HOW OLD YOU WERE IN THIS PICTURE?  WHEN WAS THIS HAIRCUT?  WHAT GRADE WERE YOU IN WHEN YOU (INSERT ACTIVITY HERE)?  

Whose idea was it to stop having the date print at the bottom edge of the photo anyway? 

Oh, it was also crazy cool here -like low 70s, so I have been bypassing writing and baking like Betty Crocker on crack.  If you lived closer, I would share.  Promise.  I can't eat any of it, if it makes you feel any better.  

Ed wants to take my cookies to his internship as a 'hey thanks for having me, and teaching me shit' gift.  We are supposedly hosting a grad party on the 15th, so I'm freezing cookies for that.  And Ryland, one of Ed's best friends requested pumpkin bread - story to follow . . . 

They are as good as they look, at
least that is what my
gluten eaters say.

I honestly have so much going through my head right now, I am not sure where to begin in this potentially very random post . . . so a few bits and pieces . . .

Aside from the girl-power excitement in Kansas City, we had a nice visit.  I mean, so long as you define 'nice' as a constant reminder that your sister-in-law's children are PERFECT, her house is SPACIOUS, SPOTLESS & BEAUTIFUL and everything - including but not limited to their VERY comfortable financial status- is FLAWLESS. 

Calling this photo the opposite of flawless.  I actually took this picture with albums on my lap and photos scattered at my feet while Mini and Coach sorted laundry and we watched the Minimalism documentary Kari recommended.  Took the photo to demonstrate the irony of what we are watching.  Get it?  If not, watch the movie and then you will. Please note:  more progress was made on albums than there was on laundry, just saying.

Mini told cousin-now-more-of-a-sister, Meggie, on the drive home that she finds it totally bazaar that the four siblings in that family get along so well, and that she assumes they are all hiding a dark secret.  Mini is my kind of people.  

Ed and Tank stayed home from KC to work.  The cousins they would enjoy seeing are out of college and work full time, so  these 2 opted to stay home and work rather than drive 7.5 hours in the car to share one meal with said cousins.  Lad still wanted to go, till he changed his mind at the last minute . . . more on that later (can you handle another cliff hanger?) 

Anyway, we were about half way there when Ed called Coach.   

Coach:  Ed, when will you know more?  Hello?  Hello?

Ed didn't want me to know, but Coach told me after their call was disconnected.  One of Ed's best friends from high school, Ryland, who also attends college with him, and is in his fraternity, started to feel unwell at work - his head hurt and half of his face got droopy.  He was taken to the ER by, Conrad, one of Ed's other best friends who works with him.  

Ed had a root canal a week ago so I knew we couldn't call him back because he was at the dentist getting the filling part done.  We sat there wondering if Ryland had a stroke and praying that he was OK for the next several hours.  It was awful.  

Ryland's mom is the woman that I drove to Mom's weekend with,  when my nutty sister suggested she ride with us and I really just wanted to get to know Ryland's mom better - member?  I tried to imagine what she was going through.  I texted Conrad's mom.  She said she would keep me in the loop if she head anything.  

Moments after we arrived in KC, Ed called.  Ryland had a brain cyst.  By the next morning the information had changed. Ry had a tumor on his brain with a cyst on top of that.  It was blocking spinal fluid and that is why he could not feel his arms and legs and his speech became blurred, etc.  He was going into surgery.  They drained the cyst and took a biopsy of the tumor.  They learn more Friday.  

Yesterday Ed delivered pumpkin bread to him with a homemade get well card from Curly of Ed and Ry golfing.  Ry insists he's going to be fine, and Ed is convinced of this too.  We hope and pray for good news.  

Deep breath.

Less laundry, still albums - but progress.
  Oh, and this is Coach after treating
 patients all day.  On floor,
 prone, looking at laptop.

How to follow that?  I am all stream of consciousness here . . . oh - speaking of deep breaths, I have been struggling to take in a full breath for weeks, either that or I have forgotten how to breathe.  In all seriousness, I am trying to figure out if this is just how I normally breathe because it has been so long that I feel kind of tight.  Am I just stressed out and taking too many deep breaths?

I have asthma, but it usually only acts up in the winter if I get a cold, etc.  Temporary.  It is a mild thing for me, and I don't do any meds on a regular basis.  It dawned on me the other night that I should start taking my steroid inhaler.  

Living room coffee table: albums graduate to here when they are almost done.  See, method to my madness.

Maybe quarantine impairs brain function, because why did I forget this option?  I haven't needed to take it for a few years, so that could be part of it.  It's a steroid so it's not a rescue inhaler, but after a few uses it kicks in.  I have noticed I am able to move air better.  Always a good thing, although if we asked Coach he might say, "Less air could mean less talking", but I'm not asking him.  

My point:  as my chest gradually opens, I am coughing a bit.  You know what's fun?  Coughing because of asthma during a pandemic.  And if that isn't fun enough, then wear a mask when your breathing is slightly labored and you sort of feel claustrophobic.  

Home base for projects:  the dining room table.  Will it be clear by Aug. 15th?  Not holding my breath, well that really isn't an option at the moment anyway.  The thing about this project:  I walk away for a few days or a week, and I cannot remember where the hell I left off.  No amount of sticky notes can redirect me.  I will be glad when it is over.

I will leave you here, but tune in next week when I share more about Lad's refusal to go to KC to see how perfect people live, my pantry, my new phone, oh so much excitement.  

Oh, and hopefully I will know more about Ry.  

We go to Michigan on Friday till Tuesday.  Hoping the airbnb in fact sleeps 8 - unlike the Vancouver nightmare last summer.  I really think I have to lean into the 2x a week posts - at least until some stressful stuff eases up over here, and until the photo albums stop covering every surface of the house.  I am on the 2015 album, so the end is in sight.  Have a good weekend!