Williamism #3

About 6 weeks ago Dave was home with WD one evening. Raspberry really wanted out.

Dave: WD - do you want to help me let the dogs outside?

WD: No.

So Dave walks downstairs and let the dogs out. WD erupts into tears, running to the gate at the top of the stairs.

WD: NO! Bad Daddy. You ought to know better [than to let the dogs out without him].

2010 "Christmas Card"

WD holds the ornament he picked out for our 2010 Christmas tree - a silver bird.

Well - as most of you may have noticed I did NOT write a Christmas letter this year. I barely managed to get any cards out. Some of you got Thanksgiving cards, some of you got Christmas cards, and those of you who didn't get any cards...I'm sorry. I promise you it doesn't mean that I weren't thought of. Here's an update and a blog-version of 2010 in the Forsythe-Kluver household.

The Dogs -

I haven't mentioned the pups in some time, so I'll start with them. Poor Raspberry and Buddy Too have taken such a back seat to everything else. Raspberry has battled ear infections all year off and on, and is now 6 years old - but my math must be off. She has to be older than that. hmm... And Buddy Too - he is aging gracefully as well. He's estimated to be roughly the same age as Berry but he's graying a bit more in the face, and this year has some growths that we are concerned about. We drag our feet getting them removed and checked for fear we don't want to know what they are. Raspberry is still all mine, and Buddy Too is all Dave's. You should see them try to weasel in when WD is on our laps, they are gentle, but certainly not shy about where they want to be.

Raspberry & Buddy Too keep WD company when he's not feeling well.

William -

WD turns 3 in February and is all attitude. He has been growing like a weed and we no longer have concerns about his language skills (see the Williamism posts). I'd like to get him into 3 year old preschool but transportation to and from the sitter, plus the cost of it in addition to the sitter, just aren't feasible. I think he will do just fine waiting until he's 4 anyway.

WD got to know some cousins he's never met on vacation, and do so many fun things. Here he is with his cousin Daimon (who lives in CA), as Daimon shows off his very first catch!

WD and his cousin Caeden enjoy a boat ride at the Lake of the Ozarks.

WD in his new Christmas apron. He likes to help Mama cook in the kitchen and now he has his very own apron. Right after I took this he ran around saying "You can't catch me - I the gingerbread boy!"

Dave -

Dave is well. He occasionally looks for other jobs but rarely finds anything he's very interested in, and places he is interested in aren't hiring. He did get some new toys to play with, a compound bow for Christmas last year, and a new Benelli shotgun for his birthday. Now if he could just get out and use them. My school schedule and William don't really allow much of that. Most recently he purchased a contractor-grade table saw, then got attachments for Christmas. If he had much time to play in his wood shop he'd find that his toys have outgrown his space and I'd lose my laundry area. Maybe keeping him busy is a good thing so we can continue to have clean clothes. ???

Dave and WD reading a library book together.


Amy -

I've had a busy year. I was officially admitted into the Masters of Social Work program at the University of Iowa last spring. I had been taking classes but as a non-admitted student until this past September. I started taking more classes per semester, and they started charging me tuition (that's the biggest bummer). I also changed jobs with this admission. My previous job as a gambling counselor (at MECCA) couldn't/wouldn't accommodate my class schedule needs, so I resigned. My company said they didn't see that coming [really?] and scrambled to work with me. The arrangement that worked out was a residential substance (and gambling) counselor position (still at MECCA). I work a block from where I used to with a slightly different clientele. I really like it. Not sure if it's the job I like so much as the change (I had been doing gambling counseling for almost 5 years by that point). On break for winter I'm full of anxious energy - not sure what to do with myself. I'm sure I'll just learn to relax as the spring semester will start. Only 3.5 more years left, I'm sure it will fly by.

Not my best pic - but pretty natural huh? Lots of laughs on vacation this summer.

Other things that came up for our family involved my health. While WD had his share of minor illnesses, I had a few bigger issues. In April I had 5 moles removed, 4 from my face and mostly for cosmetic/OCD purposes. Turns out one of them was skin cancer! Talk about a shocker! But all went well and I started to be a bit more of a sun-screen Nazi to family and friends - complete with several hats that are big enough for flight! Then over the summer I started having increasing spells of light-headedness. The final straw came when I nearly blacked out driving. I ended up getting a referral to a the Iowa Heart Center, and after a barrage of tests I was diagnosed with Dysautonomia. It's not a heart condition at all (but some with it do have heart problems), it's a malfunction of my central nervous system. When your blood pressure would rise, mine can fall. Or when your heart rate would increase, mine may not. It's believed that I have had it all my life, as it can essentially go in a "remission". This explains my syncope spells in high school, and I believe that my pregnancy with WD triggered it into activity as the symptoms had been increasing since then, including inability to tolerate heat (even from a hot shower) and "poor exercise tolerance (yeah - you read right). I was happy to have some answers as to why I was feeling the way I was, including why I went from running 5ks and putting in hours in the yard in the summer to feeling so sick at just the thought of it. My system was sabotaging me. I now manage it with medication, and trying to get decent sleep and limit my caffeine (but grad school and parenthood don't help me with those). I have good days and not so good days, but I do overall feel better. Then just last week I went to my dermatologist to have a standard mole-check, and to check my skin cancer site as it had been changing. Turns out they believe my cancer is back and I am scheduled for a surgical procedure and repair in early February. While it is cancer - it's slow growing so no need for immediate alarm. But I will put a plug in to all my family and friends who are sun-worshipers... WATCH OUT!!!

So as well all are into 2011 now that I'm finally going to post this (I started it way back in 2010), let's all be safe, count our blessings and remember to have a little fun while we're here! (This is WD Christmas Eve sledding in our yard. He came to an abrupt stop at the end when he crashed into me blocking him from going into the timber. Hardest hit I've taken since rugby!)

Take care & God bless!
The Kluvers