Ups and Downs and All Around...

Ever want to get things to stop swirling around on what seems like, feels like, a constant basis?

That's how I have been feeling the past couple of days. My stomach churning, very on edge, very tired because since Saturday night, my sleep patterns have been terrible! Sleep 20-30 minutes and wake up then struggle fall back to sleep and same thing all over again then. Made no difference what time I went to bed or how tired I was when I went to bed either because as soon as I would wake up, it was for 15-20 minutes, feeling like I really should get up -I was that wide awake. Then I'd start to get a little groggy but still not able to fall sound asleep. As a result, my body wasn't recuperating fully then and I was getting to benefit from what sleep I was getting!

It's insane and absurd and I'm hoping tonight things go in the other direction and I am able to sleep through for at least 4-5 hours at a clip then!

My daughter, Mandy, generally calls me most every day -usually around 8:30-9:00 p.m. area so sometimes when she calls then, the kids may just be getting ready to go to bed but often I get to talk to them for a little bit then.

Yesterday (Tuesday that would be), I needed to call Mandy and got her voice mail so I left a message for her to call me back. When she returned my call she told me she was at Hershey Medical Center then with Kurtis and I just about flipped out! Why in blazes was she there with him in the middle of the day?

Turns out, Kurtis had a little accident at school on the playground! Not sure exactly what he did but the end result was that he had a cut on his gum, just above his front upper tooth! Mandy had to take him to Hershey Medical Center because since they are new to that area and she doesn't yet have a family practioner, none of the other hospital ER's would take Kurtis to check him! Seems a bit goofy to operate like that -having her then have to run all over the place just to get his mouth checked out but well, you know -it is what it is!

Mandy was a little worried he might have to have a stitch or two but thankfully, he didn't need anything like that.

Last night then, Mandy said it was Parents Night at the school so she took the kids and went. She told me as soon as they got to Kurt's room and his teacher saw him, she came over to him immediately and told him how happy she was to see him and how was he feeling, etc. Then Mandy said there were also several children there who are also in his class and each of them came up to him and asked if he was okay now and how he felt and also expressed that they were each sorry he had hurt his mouth at school. The actions of his teacher and those children -the empathy factors -all had a very good impact on her and definitely on Kurtis too! As the kids as if he is okay now, he told each one that yes, he's okay and all he needs to do now is to "Rinse with salt water!"

This evening, after I got home from working at church helping to serve a funeral dinner for a membedr of our parish, my son and his girlfriend and her youngest son stopped by.

My son -for openers -is a big, big fan of old vehicles. Primarily his first love is old Volkswagons (and he has one of those things that runs and is a pretty cool buggy plus he has another VW sitting behind his house that is cute but currently is not running -needs a little bit of TLC, ya know and a lot of time too to administer said TLC as well. Something he really doesn't have much of -besides money -is free time when he isn't in his big truck, driving back and forth every day (or almost every day) as that's his job!

This past weekend, he added to his vehicle collection when he was able to pick up an International Pickup truck. I think it is circa 1975 but I might be wrong on the year. Anyway, it's really neat for openers because it actually runs as it is right now -doesn't have to be completely rebuilt, ya know!

Needless to say, he is very excited about that status with this old truck but also, there is, it would appear, a bit of history connected to this truck too!

He's been able to track back a little information on it and has learned that a gentleman who was one of the bigger coal operators in this region a number of years back and who also, in addition to his coal mining operations, also had built a recreational gaming region, complete with a big dining area where people could hold big parties, receptions and the like. And, back when this truck was originally purchased, there were 5 other trucks identical to it purchased by this coal operator at that time for use at this Lodge he had. And, this Hunting Lodge was apparently quite famous back in the day (the 60s and 70s) and a goodly number of celebrities from various walks of life had been guests at this establishment a time or two. Among the special guests who had spent time there -Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. So now my son is on a mission, trying to learn more about his lovely truck and hoping to maybe even find some photos somewhere of any of the celebrities who visited at this Lodge who might, just might, have been photographed in or near this prized truck he just acquired!

While they were here this evening, my son also happened to see this hat I purchased as a demonstrator item for the next sales campaign of Avon's. It's an orange witches hat and the tip of it plays the theme song to the Adams Family and bounces back and forth  in time to the music. Being the clown my son loves to be, he put the hat on, pushed the "on" button and I managed to grab my camera and get a short video of him modeling this hat!

Now, here's that little video -I uploaded to YouTub and I hope it works if you click it to view it! Originally, I had to turn the camera to a different angle to avoid getting some purple-bluish streaks in the video so when it uploaded, the people in it are all horizontal instead of being upright and vertical! Well, I saw a button to click to flip it and get it so it could be seen and watched without standing on your head and posted it on my Facebook but after I flipped the picture, it plays but it lost the picture! Sound is still there and you can hear the recording playing that theme song but sadly, no picture of my son wearing the hat!

Hopefully, the Youtube video made the correction without losing the picture in the process so you can see him and this silly hat! If it is still on a black screen -my apologies -as I have no clue how to restore the picture there. However, if you would like to view the hat and get more information about it -maybe you'd like to have one for yourself, or some thing like that -you can go to my website at www.youravon.com/Jertmer and look at the brochure for campaign 20 and see the hat and all the specifications about it!

Hope this all works now and you can enjoy it and have a good little chuckle over it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOPpel1OOqY&feature=youtu.be