No Vacation For Plano

I mentioned in my last post how things around home did not take a break when we were on vacation. I will now take a brief moment to explain the happenings around Plano while we were visiting Colorado.

The first news I found about was my Dad. He, somehow, broke/fractured his foot while walking around his office building. It is his right foot, so driving should be tricky for awhile, but other than that, he is okay. He has a walking boot and crutches for 6 weeks, and then he should be free to return to his normal routine. I of course, could relate to him with this news. I am one of 6 kids, and I am the only child to have ever broken a bone. In 2005 I broke my left foot (5th metatarsal) stepping off a broken stair in a dark museum barn. I was in a cast for 8 weeks and almost needed pins put in to reconnect the bones again. But, I got teased a bit for how I broke it: "stepping off a stair;" so when I heard my Dad broke his (though a less severe break than mine) I kind of got a kick out of him breaking his "just walking." I of course only found this amusing once I confirmed he was okay. ;)

My broken foot in 2005

 Even this was surprising and unfortunate news, it was relatively small news...at least in comparison to what I returned to.

An hour or so after returning home, I flipped open my laptop to check my email and update my fb status. Yes, I have been sucked in the fb vortex of "must share everything" I admit it. While doing this, I glanced at my friends' statuses and saw one person's in particular. She is a friend of my mom's and she is one of the most out-going, friendliest, positive people I know; so you can imagine my consternation when I read "Janice Klein is still missing, please pray for her and her family." on her profile. I thought to myself "Well, my mom does have a friend named Janice...that couldn't be who she is talking about though." I went ahead and googled the name and dozens of links appeared all talking about the sudden disappearance of Janice Klein, complete with pictures. I knew then, that yes, it was the Janice I was thinking about.
My mom is apart of this little, informal "coffee group" that meets every Friday morning just to chat and share some coffee with a few friends. Lorelai and I have recently accompanied my mom as a chance to get out during the week, and to indulge a bit in some "fancy" coffee. I have met Janice, and have talked to her in short increments over the last several months. In fact, a month or so ago, we were all talking and killing some time at the usual Starbucks and this sketch artist was observing us, and gave me a little something he was working on when we left.

From the left, my sister Hannah, Lorelai, my mom's friend Shelly, Janice, me, my mom, and another friend Kim

 My mind was having a hard time wrapping around the fact that she vanished, and an even harder time getting used to the fact it was a major news story.

She had been missing for 48 hrs at this point, and the tips they were receiving were puzzling and disjointed. Fliers were posted every where you turned, they had police dogs tracking all over the city, they brought in search helicopters, and they had hundreds of volunteers searching for her; including my mom and two sisters. You can read a lot more about this saga if you choose to google her; but the jest is: she was recently suffering migraines, and stomachaches and told her daughter she was going to sit in her backyard for a bit. 2 hours later they had not seen Janice, nor were able to locate her; seeing as her wallet, keys, and cell phone were still in the house.

I started sharing her picture on the internet, posting it and sharing it with friends and family. I was honestly, expecting the worst. Late last night I received a text from my mom. They had found Janice, and more importantly, they found her alive and relatively okay. She was found in a DFW airport bathroom disoriented and severely dehydrated. She was brought to the hospital and was discharged later. She does not remember much at all about the days she was missing. She had a train ticket in her pocket and a vague memory of being on the train, but that is it so far. Hopefully as the days go on, she will remember more as she regains her strength. It is still confusing how she got to the airport, why she went there, if she had help, if she escaped some sort of abduction...the questions are endless right now. The important thing is Janice beat the bleak odds, and came home to her family.

I spent some time this afternoon gladly driving around my neighborhood, taking down fliers; talking to people stopping by to give their congratulations...I felt a bit odd accepting them since I barely know Janice, but I do in fact know her. They actually found her hours before the story went national.

So surreal. 

Thanks again to all who helped share the news of her disappearance, and the happy news of her return! Next coffee meeting should be interesting. ;)

Hopefully my Plano group will take a break on the excitement for now.

M.LEWIS

Vacation Pt. 2

Ooookay,

Where to start?
If you remember my last post, I ended it with somewhat of a jinx I suppose...things did get exciting; but not in a good way. I'll start from where I left off.

Friday afternoon we all traveled to the local zoo. That was fun, but a little hot. We got separated from the larger group a couple of times, but we were going at our own pace, and that was alright with me. The zoo had giraffes that you could feed, you greeted them on your way in. It was pretty different, and fun to watch. I didn't feed for I wanted to stay in the shade, with clean hands. Lorelai had just settled in her stroller with a juice drink, and she was actually drinking! I didn't want to try my luck by getting her out and about just then, so LEL and I watched Chris and John (his step-dad/Gdad) feed them with the other cousins/uncles/etc.
We traveled up and down, around the winding path, for about a hour or so. We squeezed in a very unhealthy snack, but I knew dinner was going to be late and the little girly (and myself) needed something to hold us over. Apparently french fries were our answer...mainly because my choices were limited, but also because Lorelai's appetite was incredibly particular up there!
We got back to the hotel later with some small souvenirs that LEL could use to entertain herself for a bit...a book and a bubble wand necklace. Thank you Gdad. :)

Dinner was outside, again. The previous night we also ate outside, but it was cooler and completely shaded. I am not an "outside eater" but it was tolerable...not this time though. Hot, hot, hot, and in the sun. They did have patio umbrellas but with the sun setting we had to reposition them several times, and even then not everyone was shaded. We sat with Chris' branch (Noni, Gdad, Uncle James, Aunt Katie, and cousins Z, B, and Q) which was nice. Some were a little fussy, but overall we had a nice dinner. LEL and I left around 7:15pm for she was getting antsy and needed a bath.
So Lorelai hates the hotel room by now and Chris went to go visit more with his family (as he should) so I was left alone with a crying, slapping, over-dramatic toddler. Oh goody. She stopped the minute I turned on the bath water, which was a relief. The bathtub was positioned horribly for a kiddo who still needs momma to clean them up. I was squished in this little corner between the cabinet and shower. I could reach about 20% of the tub, so naturally LEL would travel to the 80% I could not access easily. I ended up wading in the tub just trying to wash off some of the dirt of the past 2 days. I had no cup to rinse her hair so I had to use a small glass cup from the vanity. That did not go well. It held so little water I had to rinse her hair half a dozen times. She hates  having water poured on her head, so she squirms and fights me on it every time. This time was especially awkward. She fell over and dunked her face in the bath water, and then she lost it. Terrified and traumatized, she cried and screamed and reached out for me. I was done. She was clean enough. I picked her up and cradled her in a towel for a bit, and if you know LEL, you know she does NOT like to be held like a baby...this is how I knew the trip was taking its toll on her.
After books and kisses, she was put to bed in her port-a-crib with a lullaby cd. I then promptly laid down on the bed and buried my head under the pillows, for I was getting another migraine. I took meds, drank water, and fell asleep before Chris returned. I did wake briefly to chat with him when he came in, but I felt terrible and went back to sleep not much later.

Then it was Saturday. We had decided the night before, that our branch would visit the Manitou Cliff Dwellings after their family meeting around 2pm. The morning with LEL was pretty much the same as the day before, but I got her to nap early, and I was prepping for our outdoor adventure after hours of sitting around. Chris called me after the end of their meeting and told me there was smoke billowing from a nearby mountain. I checked it out. It was less than 20 miles from us, and it was a large wildfire blocking the entrance to Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, the Cave of Winds, and yes, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. They started some small evacuations near those areas and shut down the highway. We became a little nervous.
We wanted to spend time with the family, but we didn't know what to expect from the close flames. As Chris pointed out, the Broadmoor staff seemed a little disjointed and easily confused to us, and frankly, we didn't trust them to inform us of changing conditions. As it was it took them 20mins to retrieve our car from valet, and 30mins to bring us some ice for our room. We discussed it, and felt if we did need to evacuate, it would be a chaotic mess of people, luggage, cars, and fear. So, we decided to be safe and pre-evacuate ourselves. We packed, said goodbye to a few, waited half an hour to check out and get our car, and then left. We figured we would just go to Amarillo, TX since we had reservations there the next day anyway. We called and changed the reservation for that night and left for a 6hr drive at 4pm.
LEL was, of course, unhappy and fussy. We stopped for gas, some drinks and snacks, and left. We could see the smoke the whole way out. Once we were out of town, I finally got a decent picture of the wildfire smoke. We were miles, and miles out, and it still looked scary. We knew, even if there was no evacuation of the Broadmoor, it was time for us to go.
It was a loooong drive, but we got to Amarillo, TX near 11pm. (We forgot about returning to central time.) Lorelai was awake and crying until the last half an hour. Once in the room we all kind of crashed; but not until we learned that there was another fire less than a mile away from our cabin we stayed at in Estes Park, CO. That fire was contained and extinguished, but the CO Springs fire was still raging.

We checked the next morning, and everyone at the Broadmoor was okay, but there was still a lot of nearby fires. We talked about how we could have not stayed and slept there in a million years in those conditions. I am glad we left. This fire is the second biggest in Colorado's recorded history. Somehow playing outside and relaxing while you watch people's homes burn around you didn't sound like something we wanted to do. No offense to those who stayed, we understand it was a tricky situation and we had some options while others did not. Plus, we had been away from home for a week now, and we all wanted to go home and see our pup. It took another 6hrs to get home from Amarillo, but we made it. We have Phoebe back, and I have a mountain of clean-up stuff to do from the trip, but we are home. :)

Little did I know about all the excitement around here while I was gone...but that is another story and another post. Look for that one soon.

I need to recooperate from my vacation, haha.


M.LEWIS

Vacation Pt. 1

Hello all!

It's been a little while, but for good reason: vacation!

We are actually still on our trip right now (we return Monday evening) and we have hit a nice groove.
I was really worried about how Lorelai was going to adjust to the new, temporary lifestyle, but my little girl is pretty amazing and has been really good so far.

We left Plano Sunday morning. We were on the road around 8am, heading to Dumas, TX. We stopped in Childress for lunch and "walk-about" time. In those smaller towns all I want to find is a McDonalds. Yes, I will be throughly sick of MCD's by the time we return (not that we eat there that much at all), but I consider myself lucky to find something I recognize in a land of "Loaf n' Jug" and "Porky's BBQ" I want something familiar. Lorelai's appetite has been a little different since we've left...she has none. It's been a pain in the neck trying to get her to eat anything of substance, or to get her to drink anything at all; and in higher elevation, it is a must that you stay hydrated to avoid altitude sickness.
I packed a lot of snacks and drinks for the car, and she has done okay with consuming those. Toddler yogurt, cereal bars, animal crackers, Gerber Puffs, vitamin milk boxes, and apple juice boxes in all. I also packed mini cereal boxes, chips, and water bottles. Yes, my car was kind of full...but well-prepared.
We were in Dumas in time for dinner, and we choose a Duke family favorite in Dumas, Pizza Hut. Again, not my favorite usually, but you do what you can when you are out of your element. We stayed in a nice little LaQuinta, and we were on the road again the next morning headed to Estes Park, CO.
Lorelai did awesome in the car; but I must give the majority of the credit to the media system in the car. Thank you God for the DVD player, Lorelai would have not been able to stop crying without you. I bought some dvd's prior to the trip: Bubble Guppies, Team Umizoomi, and Little Bear. These were a life saver. They kept her entertained, engaged, and calm for two 7-8 hour days of driving.

We arrived in beautiful Estes Park, CO on Monday afternoon/evening. Such a pretty place, I missed it. We found a little Mexican place for dinner and Lorelai ate a little something, but Chris and I devoured our meals...who knew the mountains made you so hungry. Unlike Dumas, we were not in a hotel in Estes, we had a cabin...it was excellent. It had a separate bedroom, kitchen, and livingroom. We were able to set up Lorelai's portable crib in the bedroom, along with her lullaby cd, and she would go to sleep with minimal fussing. (The hotel did not go as smoothly). We stayed in Estes Park for 2 1/2 days and 3 nights. I wish we could have stayed longer, but it was nice to visit it again. Did I mention Estes Park is favorite place in the world? Seriously. I love it.
We went into Rocky Mountain National Park twice. We saw the alluvial fan and drove up to the summit twice. Once in the afternoon and once in the morning. I recommend you get up early and go do the touristy things. The amount of people that arrive in the afternoon suck a lot of the fun out of the experience. This was easy to do for us since Lorelai decided to get up at 5:30am each day. We also went shopping along the main street several times, played in the park, visited the local "putt-putt", and indulged in a lot of coffee, smoothies, and cookies. Remember how I was desperate for Lorelai to eat and drink? Yeah, that was my solution. Anyway, the weather was great, everything was awesome. I should mention now I have tons of pictures, but I am waiting to get back home to upload any...so look forward to that. ;)

We left Estes Park yesterday morning. We stopped by a lovely coffee shop on our way out and hung out with some deer and ducks, I then conveniently left my coffee on top of the car which made a nice coffee river design on the side of the white vehicle. Oops. We continued on to our second half of our trip, the original event really: "The Westerman Family Meeting." Basically, my husband's family meets every year to visit and talk about family stuff; and this year's meeting was in Colorado Springs. 
And that's where I am now, sitting in our hotel room at "The Broadmoor" with Lorelai. We are watching some of those dvd's again (why does nobody subscribe to NickJr?) and eating breakfast. Chris is one of those said meetings right now and should get out around 2pm. So that means we need to entertain ourselves until then.I have lunch covered with bread, peanutbutter, and chips I bought in Estes, but other than that my goal is just "no crying."
I must admit something though...this place is fancy, like really fancy, and I just don't get it really. Not only is not completely inconvenient for a family with a young kiddo, but it is all rather obnoxious in my opinion. I can open my own car door, I can carry my own luggage, and I can park my own car...and I want to. I dislike people touching and taking my things. I don't even know where my car is parked. I hate that feeling. We actually had to retrieve it twice just to unload everything we needed. So silly. Then we had to go outside the property to get a reasonable lunch and to go buy nicer clothes so we could eat in the restaurants inside the Broadmoor compound. I mean, we are not sloppy people, but we did not pack for "resort casual." So, after several hours of coming and going I think we are set-up for the next couple of days. I missed my Estes Park cabin the minute we pulled up; BUT I am grateful none-the-less. It is incredibly generous for his family to front the bill for the room, the food (most of it) and a lot of the activities. So, I will stop complaining now. ;) This afternoon the fun starts I believe, and after tomorrow we head back to TX.
Monday we arrive home and I will be ready to. I am not a huge fan of living out of suitcases and scoping out the room to make sure we didn't leave anything. I have OCD tendencies with checking to see if I have everything, and that is kind of torture. Plus, I miss my house and more importantly, my puppy. My mom and family have been awesome to care for Phoebe and to watch my house, so that helps. But hey, home is home...and I will be ready to be back.

So, I will return soon with an update of the remainder of our trip and pictures...also check fb for any updates. Things might get exciting around here. :P


M.LEWIS

Custom Headboard...on a Budget

Ok, so here I am again, to add to my usual pattern.

Topics of Blog entries:

• Lorelai
• Life
• Phoebe
• House Projects

So yes, I am now updating with a "house project" entry. :)
So as you remember, I made the "purple room" into a sage-colored guest room (later Lorelai's "big kid" room). Through a bit of craziness, we received the bed we were expecting for the room. Just one problem, we had a frame and headboard for a full size bed, but somehow, the bed we were given was a queen size. It is still surprising to me how no one measured this bed to confirm it was a full size before it was delivered to the house...but whatever.
So I had a problem. Queen bed, no queen frame; full frame, no full bed. So, after mulling it over for a couple hours, I decided it was more financially sound to keep the queen bed, store the full frame, and go buy a queen frame.
Sam's is awesome, and had an adjustable universal bed frame for $38. So that part was easy. But it is simply the frame, no headboard, and guess what? Having no headboard was urking me something awful. Every time I walked by the hall and looked in, "eh." It looked incomplete, I hate incomplete.
So, I began thinking...headboard for cheap. All the headboards I found online were at least $100 before tax (and most likely shipping and handling) and that number just wasn't working for me.
So I thought of a couple different options.

• Align metal wall art squares
• Paint rubber wrought iron door mats
• Create an upholstered, padded frame 

I decided the upholstered frame was the least expensive, and the most "familiar," seeing as the rubber mats were off the top of my head, and I wasn't quite sure how it would work...or look.

So, here is what I did for a $50 headboard at Hobby Lobby:

Materials: Cheap, framed art canvases, quilt batting, your fabric of choice, and an upholstery staple gun...with extra staples. 

For a queen size bed (60in long) I needed 3 canvases (2 packs of 2 in this case). Staple them together, front , back, top and bottom at seams.

Lay batting on floor, make sure it will completely cover the frame plus enough to fold behind the back. Place the frame face down, pull the batting over the edges (tight) and staple in place.

Cut away any excess batting. Lay down the fabric like the batting before. Place the frame on top, batting down, and fold and staple again like before.

Tada! Easy, easy! 

I did want a little extra "flair" so I tacked down the frame half  way every foot with  thread and  a little glass bead. I want buttons eventually, but all I had were the beads. You could add ribbons, lace, yarn, etc. Options are endless.

I attached it with "L" shaped screw brackets, 4 to be exact. 

I made sure the bottom of the headboard frame was tucked behind the  mattress so it wouldn't be easily knocked off the wall.

I spent about $50 on this. Honestly, you could knock it out for cheaper if you already have fabric (or find something you like on a clearance rack), if you already have a staple gun, if you somehow have extra canvases (or batting), or if you have coupons. I should have printed out Hobby Lobby's 40% off any item coupon, but I didn't think of it until later. Anyway, I love the finished look now, and I am happy I didn't spend a lot of $$$. Plus it only took an hour from start to finish to make and install.

M.LEWIS

Life in General

A little update on life here, I promise I will try not to sound too "complainy" or whiny.

Allergies have been a huge, painful, disruptive irritant lately. I wake up with headaches, I sneeze, I itch, I take medication almost every day. Last week I suffered a migraine. I don't mean just a severe headache, but a true migraine. I felt like my eyeball was going to explode. I had already taken the max amount of a variety of medications and I still felt crippled with pain. I could feel my heart race and I got spooked. I called around, tracked down my mom and thankfully, she came over with my sisters to help. My sisters watched Lorelai (my biggest concern) and my mom took my bp and pulse rate. I was okay, but I was useless for hours. Chris also responded to my cry for help (almost literally) and came home early. It was a bad day, but I survived, and my little sweets care was never compromised. Whew.

Speaking of my little sweets...
I have noticed an interesting little something with her a few days ago. Just like her father, Lorelai has "extra" frenum. Chris was "tongue-tied" as a kid; which means his frenum (the small muscle that connects his tongue to his bottom pallet) was too long, tacking his tongue down too much. Lorelai has a similar issue, but her frenum problem is with her upper lip to her front gums, connecting her lip too much to her gum; it even tacks down in between her two front teeth. It is not a health issue, she is still perfectly healthy, but she will most likely need it to be clipped (as did Chris) soon. We visit her pediatrician again at her 2year check-up, and hopefully get some things figured out. I actually am surprised we didn't notice it earlier. The only thing I can think of is the fact that her frenum seems flexible enough it didn't appear to affect the use of her lip at all...which is good.
Lorelai has also had a habit lately of climbing out her bed and waking us up before 6am. Needless to say, Chris and I are not fans of this schedule. I do hope it changes soon, or else our bedtime will grow earlier and earlier (as will LEL's).

The stomach flu has taken residence at my parents' house. 3 out of the 6 people who live there have fallen ill to it. Lorelai and I were briefly exposed a couple of days ago and I have been fearing the worst. Apparently this stomach bug is similar to the one we all went through around Christmas time. I won't dive into details, but let's just say 12 hours of constantly being near the restroom followed by another 12-24 hours of regaining strength and an appetite. So far none of my other family members have gotten the bug, and none of us here have experienced any symptoms. The incubation time seems to be up to around 48hrs though, so by this evening I think we will be "home free."

Vacation is creeping up, and we need it to be.
Chris has been working crazy hours, and has even been working from home in the evenings and weekends. I need a break from the "usualness" of our everyday routine, and I hope Lorelai will enjoy seeing things she has never seen before in her little life. Mountains, giant trees, waterfalls...oh so pretty and peaceful. We are driving to Estes Park starting next Sunday. The drive will be long, but I firmly believe it is worth it. I, despite my in-laws' disappointment, am not a plane person. I do not like flying. I much prefer a road trip if possible. I like filling my car up with whatever I want without worrying about carry-on bags vs checked bags, 3oz liquids, toting around chunky carseats and strollers, and disrupting all the other passengers on the plane. I also think there is something to be said for getting yourself somewhere on your own power. I mean, yes, the car does the driving, but you experienced the whole journey. You saw the lands from point A to point B. You watched the dry, flat land turn into lush, green, mountainous terrain. I love it. Can you tell? ;) Plus, you have hours and hours of family bonding. You stop for gas-up's and meals, you find these out-of-the-way places that you laugh at later, there are stories and memories in those moments. I want Lorelai to have those, like I did. I cherish those.
I still need to figure out what to pack, what to load in the car, what specific routes to take, what to do when, etc...once that all gets done I will feel more excited. Right now I just feel a tad stressed and overwhelmed.

The rain has stopped...and the hail. I have turned on "NickJr." for Lorelai, and now I will sneak off to take a shower. The week is almost over, which normally is a good thing, but the weekend seems to be as busy as the week so I will power through it.

10 more days until I see my mountains with my 2 favorite people. :)


M.LEWIS