Welll...

Well, that last post started off with good intentions of being a bit of a serial story…but as usual in my life, things got in the way. I guess I can tell you more horsey stories, but I’ll also tell you what else has been going on in my life to keep me busy and away from everything else, even horsey things!

The last post was written in mid August, there were many days of riding weather, some of which I took advantage of. Riata and I had some wonderful rides and some that weren’t so wonderful, but I felt like we had come a long way! The last few days of August and first few days of September we were able to have a nice visit with my little brother. He came on his way to Idaho on an extended road trip. He spent 5 days with us. Those five days were busy, Rob helped me make cucumber relish and ginger cookies. He went with me to town and watched Lolo during my eye appointment, helped purchase a mattress for Lolo’s “big girl bed”, kept me company and helped watch Lolo during the farmers market and even made supper for us on the night I was working! We also managed to squeeze in 3 games of scrabble! It was a good visit- hope we don’t have to wait 18 months until the next visit!

The last day that Rob was here, Lorelei started getting sick…turns out we all got sick (even Rob)…Lorelei probably had it the least seriously, but had a rash, fever, etc. I really don’t know what it was, but I’m almost certain it wasn’t Fifth Disease, even though that was going around the daycare – because I was sick right after, and my blood work shows that I have never been exposed to it(keep reading if you want to know WHY I know that).

Lorelei was off for a few days, and then I was feeling poorly as she recovered, and while I was recovering, Trevor got sick. He said he started feeling off on the Friday before the long weekend. By Monday evening he felt pretty good, and planned to go back to work the next day. Tuesday morning however, he woke up vomiting like crazy, it lasted all day, so he didn’t make it to work that day…or the next…but by Thursday morning he thought he was doing better, he was able to eat and besides a bad headache, things weren’t too bad. After lunch on Thursday I put Lolo down for a nap, and had planned to leave her with Trevor while I went to the farmers market later in the afternoon. He came down after having a nap (as I was getting ready to leave) and he was sobbing…I mean really crying and carrying on and completely out of character. It was really scary, and that’s when I knew I needed to take him to the hospital. I called my sister-in-law and made arrangements to drop off Lorelei on our way to the hospital, and away we went.

Long story short, they diagnosed him with meningitis, however, until the 48 hour cultures came back, he was put into strict isolation, in case it was bacterial. Thankfully the tests came back negative and it was diagnosed as being viral (the less serious of the two types of meningitis). They never did put a name to the virus, but it seemed to hit Trevor quite hard, and it has been a long journey of recovery. After 72 hours in the hospital, he came home and recovered for another 10 days at home before returning to work short days. After 3.5 weeks, he still gets worn out quickly and hasn’t been able to work more than a 6 hour day.

Between caring for Trevor and Lorelei, trying to keep on with working 2 days a week and trying to run the household/farm/garden myself, I was very worn out. I’ve been very blessed to have family here to support us and friends and family praying for us continually. We’ve made it through, and hopefully Trevor will be able to work normally this week finally! God has indeed shown that He works in mysterious ways. We’ve both had our faith and patience tested through this trial, and I believe we’ve come out stronger on the other side. I’m very thankful that God saw fit to spare my husband from more serious or longer lasting illness and am more aware of the blessing that each day I spend with him really is, than I had been before! I thought September was a tough month…