May 26, 2020

Once upon a time, Shannon's dad decided we needed a shaved ice machine. Not one of those little things that you put on your counter that puts out a cup of ice shreds. Nope. A commercial shaved ice machine. When we lived in Maryland, we fell in love with Snoballs. If you haven't had a Snoball, you probably also have no idea what I'm talking about when I say Wawa. Anyway. It's shaved ice with the flavorings, plus stuff. Marshmallow cream, ice cream, nerds, gummy bears, chocolate sauce, you name it; it can be on it. When we moved to PA, there wasn't one located just down the street, and Lancer was also trying to be the coolest grandpa ever, so he bought it. And if you give a Lancer a shaved ice machine, he's gonna want 16 gallons of flavoring to go with it. ('go big or go home' much?) Each year we hold our Memorial Day backyard cookout (a cook out is a barbecue...see, I'm educating those of you NOT from the east coast. You're welcome), and the year we bought the machine, we set up a snow shack in our gazebo. Shannon was the ice queen ;) While Krisha took orders, Shannon served up cups of frozen deliciousness. She was a pro. I believe we served 85+ cups that evening.

We broke out the machine yesterday and today we fired it up (do you 'fire up' something that makes frozen things?) for the first time this season. We needed Shannon here! There was a mob of 6 kids and 3 men who were clamoring for the delightful treat. Shannon would have said "oh, I got this", and banged out every perfect order. Soon.....very soon, that will be what's happening in our kitchen.

Today Shannon had the morning off and the afternoon filled. She has been working hard on her transfers. She did some exercises on her stomach today, which is fantastic after not being on her stomach at all for months. In OT she did some stuff. I don't remember what she did. I was too distracted by her story of how she distracted her therapist and stalled her way into not doing anything. there was something at the beginning, but then there was a lot of "oh, how does that work? What's the difference between those two options? Tell me again how to do that? Can you show me? Oh Shannon. You unfortunately still have the gift of stalling.

She also did some art today, but has decided that art in the art room isn't as fun as art alone in her room. Her art therapist has her attention shared across several patients in the art room, and she doesn't help Shannon as much as when they are one on one- obviously.

Also today, Shannon took a shower this morning, instead of at night as she has been. Why does that matter? Well. Because morning showers mean great hair all day. She got more compliments on her hair today than the entire time she's been at Magee. "You're hair looks so great!" "It's so fluffy" "It's so layered" "Wow! You're hair looks so different!" :) (she's blushing)

Eight days people. Eight days. I am praying we will get things pulled together in time. BUT TONIGHT is the last night my brother Steve is here. So now we won't have our general contractor/work all hours of the day/keep the sanity here man!! We will be left to our own devices....and Little Big Jake. MY Jake, isn't that Jake. Little Big Jake has been here almost as much as Steve, he is the sub contractor, and a does-it-all guy. We also could not live without LBJ!! We will probably survive. Maybe. We will REALLY miss STEVE.

Things are really getting stressful for Shannon, having so much to get good at so she can make the move to home more smoothly, and for us to learn with her help. Please continue to pray for her endurance both in body and mind, for her blood pressure and temperature to stabilize, and for her patience with herself, therapists and us. Thank you. 

Today's meme. And I think everyone is really feeling it now!



Disney does Snowcones:

Yeti: WELCOME TO THE HIMALAYAS! Snow cone?  
Monster's Inc.