This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission of any sale made at no extra cost to you.
Well, this week took an unexpected turn! On Friday night, I woke up out of a sound sleep with chest tightness and tingling fingers. It was concerning but after thirty minutes and some deep breathing, I chalked it up to stress and was able to go back to sleep. I woke up Saturday morning feeling fine, but started feeling weakness in my left arm within an hour. All of these things came so suddenly and unexpectedly that my husband thought it best if we head to the ER.
The next six hours were a wild ride. The on-call doctor reviewed my symptoms and wanted to rule out the possibility that I may have multiple sclerosis (MS) or the beginnings of a stroke. I had a lot of firsts: my first chest x-ray, my first CT scan (with and without contrast) and my first MRI (with and without contrast). And after all of that…there was no evidence of either MS or a stroke. I’m generally healthy as a horse. To them, I was a medical mystery…(Spoiler alert: I figured it out on my own – see below)
I am thrilled that those random symptoms were not indicative of something serious, but I definitely feel like I survived a warning. I’m more convicted than ever to take better care of myself. Life is fleeting and good health is a gift.
Hoping to document 52 weeks of good things!
Five Good Things…
- Healthy tomato plants. // All the rain we’ve had has been wonderful for these plants! So green and luscious. I hope that translates to a lot of fruit.
- The start of next year’s school planning. // I usually do this in July, but I’m rolling with the “work now for ease later” motto! I also discovered and signed up for a free trial of Homeschool Planet and I’m in love! Paper planners always frustrate me because life happens and we miss a day or get behind, thus ruining all of my hard work. But this program looks promising! I love how you can reschedule assignments.
- That a bug bite reaction wasn’t worse. // My littlest son got a bug bite right below his eye and the poor guy puffed right up. It was alarming, but rest and an ice pack quickly got him back to normal.
- The most lovely little song that plays when the dishwasher is done. // Can you be in love with a dishwasher? When the cycle is finished, it plays the sweetest little song and it brings a smile to my face every time.
- A little side note on my MRI results. // My MRI evaluation alerted me to the fact that I have “degenerative disc osteophyte complexes at C4-5, C5-6 and C6-7 resulting in spinal foraminal stenosis.” The on-call doctor brushed by this information (he was more concerned with the stroke/MS possibility) but I looked up these terms on my way home and bingo! This was it. The stenosis is causing nerve issues, which is causing the tingling and pain down my arm. While concerning, I’m considering this knowledge a good thing because I can try to mitigate pain and strengthen this area as much as possible.
Frugal Accomplishments //
- used hay bale twine (that I saved from last winter) to tie up my tomatoes
- reused a bunch of bubble wrap for a resale package
- fixed a button on my husband’s jeans
- sold pork to friends
- air-dried a few loads of laundry on drying racks
- researched bulk book buybacks (like World of Books) but ultimately decided to just sell my books myself on ebay/Pango
- made it to June 5th before having to turn on the air conditioning!
- sold four books, a dress and a small bowl and after fees, I made $26.52
This Week in the Liturgical Year //
June 5 was the Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr.
To Read: In Hac Tanta (On St. Boniface) from Pope Benedict XV
To Add to the Library: The English Correspondence of Saint Boniface: Being for the Most Part Letters Exchanged Between the Apostle of the Germans and His English Friends
To Copy in the Commonplace Book: “In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.”
Reading //
- Should Illiterate High School Graduates Sue the Schools that Failed Them? from Helen Andrews at Commonplace // “This is the bind schools are trapped in: If they forbid students from using text-to-speech apps and other technological tools that do their reading and writing for them, this can be a violation of a disabled student’s right to reasonable accommodations. When these crutches have the inevitable effect of preventing the student from acquiring these skills for himself, the student can turn around and sue the school for failing to teach him.”
- Boys! Homeschooling Through High School from Carol Hudson // It was encouraging to see that we’ve already incorporated a lot of her advice in our own schooling.
- Regarding Joy from Sofia Cuddeback at Hearth and Field //
…joy is not merely the result of achieving or possessing a good. Rather, the essence of joy is in resting in that good. Resting means allowing ourselves to fully note and experience the good, rather than ticking it off our list as some sort of accomplishment and then moving immediately to the next thing. Joy is not achieved; it is experienced through resting in the good that is at hand. If we are distracted from the thing that we love, however, going on to the next pursuit instead, then we are no longer resting in that good. We have lost the joy proper to that good. For example, if a mother has pursued the good of a family bonding at dinnertime by preparing a lovely meal, but then she jumps up to do the dishes instead of joining in the conversation, then she has not rested in the good of this family togetherness, and so she is unlikely to experience joy. The dishes can wait long enough for her to experience the good fruit of family communion!
- Heirlooming: Objects of transmission, objects of beauty and utility, objects of feminine and masculine heritage from Emily Hancock at Women’s Work //
I think old objects and objects made by true craftspeople are important. I think the planned obsolescence of almost all of today’s mass produced products is not only annoying, wasteful and non-economical but a reflection of a loss of meaning. The meaning imbued into handmade goods is the result of hard-earned skill made manifest, injected with the maker’s personal sense of what beauty or quality means, and the stories of not only that person but the people before them who passed on the necessary skills to make the object. This doesn’t exist in mass-marketed, machine made things. Pair this famine of meaning with the fact that so many things are in fact now made to break, and you have a real disconnect between what people actually need and what they think they want.
New Additions to The List //
- The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck
- Iris Exiled: A Synoptic History of Wonder by Dennis Quinn
- Poetic Knowledge: The Recovery of Education by James S. Taylor
Watching/Listening //
- Episode 3 of The Commentaries: The Confessions of St. Augustine
- I. Introduction – Integrated Humanities Program // Excellent.
- Let Them Be Born in Wonder! | Bishop James Conley from Benedictine College Lectures // The Bishop was one of John Senior’s students. This lecture was fantastic.
Loving //
- my Epson printer // I replaced my broken printer a few months ago but wanted to thoroughly try out my replacement before recommending. And this new printer is awesome! The ink lasts so much longer.
- these reading tracker printables // Perfect for those summer reading goals!
from the archives…
WEEK TWENTY-THREE 2024 // The Granny Creed
Leave a Reply