Baylor Homecoming Parade - Centennial Edition

Hola!

Bonjour!

Howdy!

Yes, I'm finally back in the land of the living (somewhat) after being sidelined and stuck in bed since Tuesday evening. What I thought was a simple respiratory infection threw me for a loop and, while I never actually thought I was dying, I must admit to thinking a couple of times that it might be the easier route.

My man (Mr. Healthcare) was rather appalled that I wasn't tested for the flu when I saw the NP (our doc was out of town) and he is leaning toward that being the actual diagnosis. Why? Well, the antibiotics really didn't seem to help at all and my fever didn't actually break until Thursday night. But it came right back and didn't break again until Friday at lunchtime. And then it came back again for a final hurrah that afternoon.

It was rough and I'm still weak but I'm SOOOOO much better than a few days ago!

But enough about me - let's move on to photos from the 100th Baylor Homecoming Parade. We've been so many and taken so many pics lately that I'm rather behind on getting this up but we had a great time.

See?

Kappa Delta Float

The game was, well, let me just reiterate that RG3 is on the sideline. We lost to OSU but the officiating was pretty awful (as it was again today with UT) and even the color announcers thought the refs were a joke. But, really, don't get me started on officials. Not today. ;-)

I have a few pics from the game to follow shortly. Or, you know, in a couple of weeks. The way our life is going these days you just never know what's going to happen that will take me off my blogging game.

Bright Spot

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today and, in fact, even broke down and went to the doctor this afternoon because my lower back has been killing me and I never, ever want to repeat the experience of pyelonephritis I had in 2005. Turns out it wasn't my kidneys at all but is, instead, a rather severe upper respiratory infection. All of my coughing has caused the back pain. At least it wasn't my kidneys, right?

Anyway, I also spent several hours at fracture clinic today for Tay's follow-up appointment. Thankfully, we saw her actual surgeon today so the experience was much better than last time. Even if it was incredibly LONG!

The outcome was fantastic, though, as Dr. Charlton said her x-rays look "perfect" and that he could not have asked for anything better. Thank you, Jesus! 

He gave Tay an exercise to do that will help her regain extension in her arm (flexion has returned almost completely) and said if she has full range of motion when he sees her in 4 weeks, she will be released with NO restrictions.

Can you believe it? 

Totally a God thing, if you ask me. Because it was a bad break. Like, really bad. Trust me.

Now please excuse me while I go pick up my daughter, my antibiotic and my pillow.

Goodnight.

Treat Night at Baylor

Last Tuesday evening Baylor hosted Family Treat Night, which is a storied tradition. The children and grandchildren of the faculty and staff are invited to trick or treat in the residence halls. Many go all out with decorations and themes and they hand out LOTS of candy so we certainly weren't going to miss this exciting evening.

One thing I've noticed is that I didn't take many pictures during my days as a student at good ol' Baylor. I've slowly been rectifying that situation by taking them of Tay when we're out and about on campus. I can't say that she's always a willing subject but we're working on it...

Before we left the house I managed to get some fairly decent shots of her in her costume. I truly think the Twister game is one of my favorite costumes of all time. It's right up there with the Red Crayon!

The Tower of Pat Neff Hall (Casi trivia: when I first began working at Baylor, my office was on the third floor of Pat Neff. While I enjoy the parking advantages afforded by now working in Robinson Tower, I must admit to missing the sound of the bells each afternoon as I left campus.)

Miss Tay all ready to score some candy - she's in front of Waco Hall

Waiting in line for one of the games inside Memorial's Drawing Room (that's a classic Casi look, by the way - she got it honest! :-)

A spooky version of Memory

The theme for Memorial this year was Scooby Doo - here's Miss Tay making a "Scooby Snack" on the roof of the residence hall. She thought it was very cool to be on the roof :-)

After getting lots of candy, we headed over to visit Judge Baylor. Tay had never visited the big guy before and, honestly, she thought the best part was that his coat actually falls over the back of the status as well...perhaps we should work on some Baylor history in our spare time...  :-)

Judge - in all his splendor

All tricked and treated out - time to head home!

Fall Carnival at School

One of Woodway Elementary's big events is the annual Fall Festival. Tay had been SO looking forward to this year's installment because she's a big 4th grader now and you know what the 4th graders' booth is? Why, it's the dunking booth!

She was the first one to turn in her permission slip at the end of September but, sadly, was unable to participate due to her broken elbow. In fact, that's one of the only things that made her cry while she was in the hospital. Yes, that's correct - surgery and broken bones and pain are nothing to this child but the inability to get dunked by her friends broke her heart. 

It was sad. Very. But, as you can see from the pictures below, she got over her sadness in time to enjoy the carnival anyway. 










Ah yes, it's certainly not fall until you've had a chance to wait in line for more than half an hour to get a hat made out of balloons. Said hat is still in our guest room. And will remain there until he no longer has any air in his little body. It was a LONG wait. 

But we had a great time while Dave was at home recovering from the swine flu. And, yes, there are still more Halloween/fall pics to come. We crammed a lot into a short amount of time! :-)

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Last week was a whirlwind at work and this one doesn't look to be much better so forgive me for being mostly absent from blogworld. I did manage to upload a number of pictures from the past couple of weeks, though, so I'll share them in several pieces instead of writing, like, the longest post ever.

You're welcome.

The Sunday after Dave had been home all week with H1N1 we took a little trip to the pumpkin patch. For one, Tay needed to make a storybook pumpkin for the following day (nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?) and, two, Dave needed a small outing to start building his stamina again.

Two birds, one stone - I'm in!

My child is really fascinated with anything that comes in a 'mini' size. Pumpkins proved to be no exception. Although, I have to admit, they are super cute!


Hmm...does this one make the cut?
Even Davey got into the action and chose the perfect pumpkin for her storybook character (Wilbur from Charlotte's Web) as it has a curled stem that looked like a tail. He was very proud of himself. :-)

May I present Wilbur? Now, I know it's a rather weak attempt but keep in mind that Tay is working with her left (non-dominant) hand and this Mama had been doing nurse duty for weeks on end at this point - first the little one in the family, then the big one...worn out doesn't really begin to describe how I was feeling at this point.

Besides, we had fun doing it and that's all that matters, right?

She also painted this little guy just for fun. He's now hanging out on our front porch for an indefinite period of time. Or Thanksgiving, whichever comes first.

This concludes our pumpkin patch fun. You'll be jealous to know that after this adventure we went straight to Wal-Mart. I know, what more exciting way could one spend a Sunday afternoon. I try not to brag much but just couldn't help myself this time. :-)

Next up is Baylor's Family Treat Night where my little Twister game made her debut!