Post #201

Over the last year, some of you have read or browsed through 200 posts. To those who have done so and continually check back, thank you.

Here's an update on what's happening in the NEPA Howell House:
1) I (Matthew) am recovering from knee surgery which took place on Thursday 11/12. I was under the impression that it was a "non-invasive" procedure until my dad (an O.R. nurse) told me how they do it. Without going into details, let me just say that it was totally invasive. My recovery is going well, I guess. The Physical Therapist gave me a list of exercises to do 4x per day, and they take about 45 minutes total to do each time. These are mildly painful, and requiring a lot of stretching of the quads and hamstrings, muscles that I could not stretch much at all even before my surgery.
I am hobbling around the house, and hope to be off my crutches soon and onto a cane (Thank you Daniel Meyer!). Anastasia and Mary, my two live-in CNAs, have been extremely helpful and even have good bedside manners. I am trying to be as self-sufficient as possible so that they can focus on Luke, which brings me to...
2) Luke Update: Surprise surprise, he has an ear infection AGAIN!!!!! I think it's time we demand that the docs put tubes in his ears, cuz this is #7 or 8 for him. And they never come alone. This time, the ear infection "dripped down" to his throat and caused strep throat. Yuppers, another double whammy. Y'all will remember that it was only 4 weeks ago that he got a double-ear infection with pneumonia. I swear NEPA is a dangerous place. Maybe this is a good excuse to leave seminary and finish in Alaska.
3) Anastasia took Luke to the ER this morning. At least they were in and out quickly, only there for 10 or 15 minutes. She has not slept well the past few nights due to children and a husband demanding attention at random hours of the night. Consequently, she has a splitting headache and is currently holding Luke as he coughs, whines, and cries, "Mama 'old you" ('old = hold). Her response is "I am holding you." Then more crying ensues. I'm sure anyone who has had a sick kid can picture this.
One funny moment just occurred. Luke cried out "Nonna save me." Nonna is his 2 year old girlfriend (at least, one of his girlfriends--she is his favorite).
Anastasia's day was just brightened when she opened the mail to find a check for her secret shopping adventure done 6 weeks ago. She got treated badly by two insurance agents, reported it, and in return got $40! WHOO!
4) Hannah is doing just fine. She has a runny nose, but that's it. She is crawling everywhere now, and looks like she will be walking fairly soon. We have to baby proof the house again (outlets, etc) now that she is mobile. Overall, she just smiles all the time, except when she is stuck between some toys or in a corner, or when she tries to stand up and lands on her face. Her 8-month birthday is coming up in 5 days.
5) Mary is pulling her weight around here. She is well worth the salary we pay her (nothing). She has been pulling major babysitting duty this week, starting Monday night when she watched Luke for 3 hours while Stasia, Hannah and I went out to a pub for Fr. Joel's b-day. She made some great biscuits for breakfast, and after a 3.5 hour marathon cooking session, set out a great shepherd's pie for dinner last night--best i've ever had (of course, I've only had 1 other person's recipe before, and even she admitted that Mary's was better). Mary also made some reportedly yummy pancakes this morning. She not only cooks, but cleans as well. It'll be really tough coming back in January without Mary. I think we'll keep her around and call her "Mary Poppins", especially since she likes to sing.

So that's what's up here in our house. We are only 1 month away from Christmas break, and only 12 days away from Thanksgiving, when we expect to see Nate and Mel (Anastasia's older brother and sister-in-law who live in Providence, RI). We also hope that we can make it down to Washington DC before we go back to AK at Christmas. We went last year during finals week and had fun with Keith. We think we can have fun with Mary this year. I expect to be done with my finals the week before finals week. All it requires is a little perspiration...I mean perserverance. Well, I guess both.

It's now time for me to balance our budget, since I haven't done so for almost two weeks.