Sunday, September 02, 2007

August

Okay ew, I can’t believe it’s been over a month since my last post. You’ll have to forgive me because even though since we moved we don’t have snail-slow dialup anymore, we don’t have high-speed installed at our townhouse yet. We’ve been connecting to the internet using Gregg’s Verizon blackberry thing (yes, I am SO technologically hip!) And August was… well here’s a recap:

On the 1st, we moved from the Stouffer mansion into our townhouse. Actually, Gregg moved with the help of two men from church while I was at work all day. I left that morning from one house and arrived home to another. There was still a good amount of stuff left at the Stouffer's though, so we spent the next few nights bringing the rest over and took that Saturday to clean the part of the house we had stayed in. We unpacked here and there for the next two weeks I think, before all of the essentials were in their place.

Gregg also installed a new video projection system at King Street somewhere in there, both in the sanctuary and in the Baker Center (which is a multi-purpose facility used for the contemporary service on Sunday mornings). Several nights after work I would go to the church and hang out for a while, then go out with him and Brian, the head of maintenance who was helping him, for dinner. Gregg spent many late nights on the project, but we made the best of it and benefited Cracker Barrel, Pizza Hut and China Buffet in the process.

On the 13th, Gregg also turned his truck back in. The lease matured on the 10th so he drove it one last time to the Nissan dealership close to our house and had me come pick him up. We've been sharing the X-Terra since then, which means that we ride to work together in the mornings and I swing by the church on my way home to get him. We don't have the car payment anymore and our gas & insurance have gone down which is a huge cost savings every month. But, let's just say it's a good thing that King Street is right on my way to work.

In the middle of the month, we also got our furbaby back! Gregg's parents brought us Tess and she was estatic to see me and Gregg. I was afraid that she wouldn't remember us. She's adjusted pretty well to her new environment and routine, and she has also calmed down a lot from when my in-laws took her to New Jersey in April. We needed to get in the habit of walking her a few times a day, since we don't have a fenced-in backyard that we can just let her run around in like we did in Florida. We have a very nice neighborhood, though, to do that in and have met other people walking their dogs.

We finished out the month with two scenarios that were rather unpleasant. In one week, I got into a car accident on my way to work and Gregg contracted poison sumac. Last Monday morning, right after I had dropped Gregg off at the church, I made a left turn from King Street onto Main and was hit from the passenger side by a teenager on his way to his first day of school. He was making a right and swung wide into my lane. The good thing is that no one was injured and it happened right in front of the church office. Gregg came out and told me not to move my car, which later helped in proving to the police that the accident was not my fault. The car was driveable away from the scene, but I was shaken up pretty bad afterwards so I just took the day off from work. I spent the next several days talking to our insurance company and the other guy's, giving my statement of what happened.

Even though the officer who arrived after the accident deemed that it was the other person's fault, his insurance company is not accepting liability. They didn't even have an adjustor come out and look at my car to inspect the damage. They wanted to have this kid's father go out and take pictures to send them. He showed up at the church office one day to ask if he could do this, figuring that the car was in Chambersburg, and my husband informed him that it was parked at my workplace forty minutes away in Hagerstown, MD. While he was there, he said how his son is now claiming that I was somehow in the right hand lane which I never was and that I pushed his car!? So now our insurance co. is going to bat for us (thank you, Geico!) and we'll see what happens. I am beyond frustrated with the situation, but I'm praying some good will come of it.

On top of this, Gregg started developing a blotchy rash on his face and other parts of his body over Sunday night which became a little worse on Monday. The next day his face was pretty swollen and when I went to pick him from work on Tuesday, he could barely open his left eye. He figured he was having an allergic reaction to the new Vanilla scented trash bags we had gotten from Walmart the previous week since he is allergic to many dyes and fragrances (yes, my husband is allergic to clean!) I threw them out that night. In the morning, he woke up, went into the bathroom and came back saying "I need to go to the doctor". That's when I knew it was really bad because he never goes to the doctor. Even when he had the worst case of food poisoning two years ago, he wouldn't let me take him to the emergency room.

This time, his face had swelled so bad he couldn't open either one of his eyes. I took one look at him and said "That's no reaction from Vanilla!" We practically said at the same time "This has to be Poison Oak" because that's exactly what it looked like. I ended up taking another day off work. I called the church administrator to let him know that Gregg would not be in that day and to ask for a recommendation for a doctor. He ended up suggesting someone that actually goes to King Street, who, he said he would go to if he didn't already have a family physician. So we called as soon as their office opened and made an apppintment for 9:10. The doctor was great and diagnosed the problem right away- dermatitus from a poisonous plant. Whether that be oak or sumac we're not sure, but we are certain how he got it: on Sunday afternoon Gregg was out in the field some yards away from our unit throwing sticks for the dog to play with. There was a big pile of them laying there, and as soon as he touched his face after throwing one he was infected.

After leaving the doctor's, we went straight to the pharmacy to pick up the medication that was prescribed and I spent the rest of the day taking care of my husband. Fun week, I tell ya. I'm so glad it's a three day weekend, and we get tomorrow off for Labor Day! Gregg and I are planning on going to the lake on the PA/MD border with Tess and enjoying the afternoon. We need a day of R&R after this crazy week.

So that was August in review. I'm looking forward to the beginning of fall. Seeing the leaves change colors and feeling the cool, crisp Autumn air again- things I used to take for granted but missed so much while we were living in Florida. Suddenly I'm inspired to bake an apple or pumpkin pie, mmm.

Happy Labor Day!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Yay, I'm so glad to see you back! :-)
That sounds like such a rough week, I sure hope your insurance company comes through for you. I had a similar experience, and it was so frustrating knowing that it's NOT your fault and the "other guy" says it is. GRRR!
I hope Gregg feels better soon! My DH is also allergic to clean (and green).
Hope you have a good relaxing weekend (and pie sounds yummy!)

Unknown said...

Welcome back. I love reading your posts,you guys know how to stay busy