5 years 1 month 26 days

Day 1883. Yesterday was Sunday, and I got up as early as everyone else. At some point I went downstairs to do piano practice with the kids. I was still hurting. While downstairs, I saw Randy teaching the boys how to play baseball. Sammy is a very good thrower.

Just after 11 am I went to the kitchen to cook. We sat down to eat before it was noon, then Randy and Tammy were getting ready to leave for her climbing class. While she was so enthusiastic in the beginning and would climb to the top, it seems like she's lost interest. Randy even thinks she's suddenly afraid of heights, as she does not climb to the top any more. I have a hard time believing that. This class has one or two more sessions, then it's over, and Tammy was happy to hear that.

It was a life-saver for me last week that it was a holiday in much of Germany so that all my German students were taking a break from the lessons. I had only one Austrian student whose important lesson was postponed a few times. And this was the last chance to do those two hours, so we had them scheduled from 4 to 6 pm. It was my first time teaching since getting sick. I was a little concerned how it'd go, but it went very well, as if I'd never been sick. Randy had taken the kids to the playground before I started, but they were back before I was done.

After I was done, I did feel it, but it was time to make the kids' dinner. I did that as quickly as possible then lay down for some rest. I skipped helping with them getting bathed, but read them a bed-time story.

The night was just as restless as all the others, with one kid on the left and one on the right, both kicking me in my (still hurting) belly during the night. And this morning I felt like the pain that was already little last night, had worsened again. Good thing I was scheduled to go to the doctor to check on the status of the UTI.

When I got up to dress the kids for kindergarten, I stayed up to get myself ready to leave the house as well. We then all left the house together, just before 8:30 am. The kids were very excited about that, all three of them. We got on the subway, and after two stops they all got off, while I stayed on to ride it to the end. I was still walking slowly and with pain, but faster than on Saturday. I got on a tram, and when I got off, I still had some walking to do to get to the doctor's office.

I got there just after 9 am, when she opens, and didn't see anyone in the waiting room. I registered and gave them a urine sample, then I sat down in the waiting room. By then another person was sitting there, and she was called in first. That was fine with me. Then it was my turn. The doctor was very nice. We'd been in touch throughout the whole last week, so she was up-to-date. She took my blood, gave me a one-time antibiotic to take and sent me home. Now I have to wait for the test results that I'll probably get tomorrow. Since I still have pain, I might need another antibiotic.

On the way to the tram stop, I picked up the medication at the pharmacy, and the pharmacist recommended I'd take it before going to bed, so I held on to it. I sat down at the tram stop, where it said that the tram was held up somewhere, but I didn't care. I was in no rush. I'd waited for a while, when a voice came on saying the tram was not running, so I decided it was time to leave to get home somehow. I started a long walk down the hill to where I knew other lines were that would take me to the subway, but it sure wasn't a pleasant walk. I finally got there and sat down to wait for whichever tram was coming next. Ironically it was the line I would have gotten on in the first place, so I could have waited it out after all.

By 10:40 pm I was back home - thank God - and lay back down to rest, but not to sleep. Randy left just before noon to go pick up Tammy and Emmy from kindergarten and got home much more quickly than usual, at 1:15 pm. At 1:30 he left again to go pick up Sammy and take him to a one-time physiotherapy session.

I went downstairs with Tammy and Emmy to do their piano practice. Emmy has been so amazing practicing, but today he had a bad day. Just like he can't lose, he can't handle making a mistake, which is a problem. I guess it destroyed his confidence. With all the crying he did, we were actually never able to finish piano practice. After Tammy was done, we all returned upstairs.

We were gonna stick to our regular schedule today, Tammy and Sammy going to ballet, and Emmy to soccer, and I was gonna take Emmy, because it was physically easier. It was going to be tight time-wise, so I was very surprised, when Randy and Sammy showed up at 3 pm, when they should have been at physiotherapy. It turned out that Sammy was not feeling well so that the therapy session had not been possible.

That meant less stress for them to leave just before 4 pm. I was holding Sammy for a while who felt a little hot. I asked him whether he didn't want to stay home, but he insisted he was gonna go to ballet class, so we let him.

After the three of them had left, Emmy and I still had an hour at home before we left at 5 pm. I was still not feeling so great, but I was gonna do this for him. I still couldn't walk my normal speed, as we walked to the subway. We rode it to the end, then had a relatively long walk to conquer.

Once at the school, Emmy got changed, and walked into the gym, where the previous class was still playing. Parents were sitting along the walls. After the previous class was over, Emmy ran to his trainers with his friends to start his class. I sat down on a bench, where I stayed the following hour to watch him. And I was very proud of him. While he is the smallest in height, it looks like he's the best goalie, and he also enjoys it. He also scored a goal, and his team won.

While he was playing, Randy called me from home. He told me that Sammy had vomitted at the dance school. Now Sammy was asking, when I was comig home. Emmy and I left after the class ended at 6:30 and were home by 7 pm.

They'd already had their bread I had made in advance, and the fruit was also cut up for them to eat. Even Sammy ended up eating a banana and a few pretzels. Nobody went into the bathtub tonight. I just wanted some rest after the trip. But I did read them  a story, actually reading two chapters as it was the end of the book and they wanted to finish it. That cost us a little more time than usual. Then Tammy and Emmy also went to bed, while Sammy was already asleep, while I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. Last night was the first night I had loaded the dishwasher again, and I have already done so tonight. Now it's midnight, and I can't stay up any longer.