Good Morning

Of the 3700 above-grade-railroad-crossings in Oklahoma, 3699 are in Edmond. 
Or at least that's what it feels like. 
During the Land Run, the Santa Fe Railroad  set up their main depot here because it was the highest point in the Unassigned Territory and situated between Guthrie (then the capitol) and Oklahoma City.  120+ years later, the railroad in Central Oklahoma is still going strong. 

The trains woke me up about an hour ago. 
I'm not sure what was going on,  but it seemed like the engineer just laid on the whistle for a good 60 seconds.  Our closest above grade crossing is a mile away and I only can imagine how it sounded in closer, less wooded areas. 

After that, I did the only logical thing that a mother with four active (read insane) children could do at such an hour...Got up, got dressed, poured some coffee, picked up the kitchen, addressed some laundry, did some meal planning and sat down to blog. 
Because that's what everyone does in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday. 
Right?
Uh-huh. 

We had a good week.
 
We experienced out first noticeable earthquakes. 
The first one was more loud than anything. 
At night, for any sound to compete with the trains, it has to be loud. 
The second and third quakes were bouncier. 
None lasted more than twenty seconds. 
We all got a kick out of waiting for the magnitude to be posted and filling out our reports with the US Geological Survey. 
Because, again, that's what everyone does for fun. 
Right? 

It was enjoyable to be able to see the Patriots on television.  The kids have come to appreciate being able to watch a game.  We cuddled up with our cowboy cut steak and baked potatoes to take in the action...

...which, by the 3rd quarter, had gotten to be a bit too much for this rowdy crowd. 
So we headed off to bed. 

Sunday was pretty low key.  I was on a clear liquid diet and mag citrate shooters to pre-game for my annual show-and-tell session with an endoscope. 
Easiest.  Prep.  Ever. 
The scope was fine.  I'm a big fan of full sedation during these types of  things.  Apparently, I was quite entertaining coming out of anesthesia as I yelled at the nurses to "Sit down, stop dawdling and DO YOUR SCHOOLWORK!".  Jim was just as amused when I insisted that I didn't need a wheelchair to get out to the car and then proceeded to gracelessly fall on my rear end as I was getting dressed. 
I got a call yesterday that the pathology reports indicated no evidence of Crohns in any of the 10 (no wonder I was sore!) biopsies they took. 
How about that. 
The doctor said that the disease sometimes reverses itself or goes into spontaneous, long remission periods.  No one has figured out why. 
I'm considering it time off for good behavior. 

We were able to push through the school week. 
We're getting into a rhythm, depending heavily on our routines to keep school and housework under control.  It worked well this week and we'll do our best to keep it up. 
Caroline and Sam both wrote some beautiful poetry.  It is so nice to see them want to share and be proud of the work they have done. 
The whole system will be up-ended again as Nate and Benjamin join into the fray in February. 
Help.  Us.  All. 
Their curriculum arrived and Nate was so excited.  He couldn't wait to open it and claim his own portion of shelf space. 
Jim and I were chatting at the kitchen table last night at 7:30 when he came up to us and asked to get started with his Math Lessons. 
We worked for a good hour while FaceTiming with Nina and Pops. 
The novelty will wear off soon - so we'll cash in what we can now. 
The Tylenol and margarita mix are on stand-by for when things get real. 

 

Good Morning from Oklahoma.