Survival - Sort Of

This past weekend we said good bye to Chrissy and her 4 children after almost 6 weeks. It was fun and interesting to say the least living with an 8 year old, 5 year old, 3 year old, and a 9 month old after over a year with no one to trip over but Sharon. This herd was also augmented on occasion with the addition of Kimmie's 2 girls. At time the noise and activity almost became too much for this old fart to handle but a "I love you PaPa." from the older ones or a "Hey!" from the baby made it all go away. It was rather intense at times. It rained almost every day they were here and the only play area was the house. The last week was the only really sustained sunshine we had since they arrived.

The last week was an interesting one. Rainey (3 yrs) and Eliza (8 yrs) were bouncing on their bed and Rainey fell off. Eliza reach out to catch him and dislocated his elbow. A trip to the ER ensued. Chrissy has coverage by one of the largest health insurance firms in the States and was not too concerned about the possibility of the cost. When she got to the hospital she was told that they do not direct bill the insurance firms. (I am lead to understand that Alberta is the only province in the country that does not do this.) There was a $565 administration fee to register Rainey into the system that the hospital was willing to bill Chrissy and the medical fees were $200 to be paid before she left the ER. Two days later the same 2 were bouncing on the same bed and Rainey bounced off again and caught the corner of the dresser on the top of his head. Like all head wounds it bled like crazy but once we got it cleaned off it was only a small puncture. It should have had a stitch but Chrissy was not about to pay another $800 for something this minor. On Wednesday Eliza was outside with her 9 month old sister Michael and playing on the new swing I had installed on the tree in the front yard. Eliza lost her grip and fell over backward and took Mikey with her. Eliza suffered a pretty good goose egg and a health dose of feeling guilty. Mikey bumped her chin and bit her tongue. Again tongues bleed like crazy and usually look worse than they are. On closer inspection it was pretty bad. A second trip to the ER ensued. 13 stitches (the tongue was bitten through and only held in place by a couple of pieces on each side), the $565 administration fee and a whopping $1,300 medical fee. Because they had to put Mikey under they needed an anestithist, a respiratory tech, a nurse, and the doc. Next holiday, Chrissy says it would be cheaper to fly us down and rent us a car.

On Friday we drove to Great Falls to spend the day with Dian. She flew up on Thursday and spent the day with one of her friends. We shopped until I dropped, ate, lazed in the hotels hot tub, and talked. On Saturday Chrissy and the kids joined us. More shopping, eating, lazing, and now the happy noise of 4 kids. On Sunday after breakfast, Chrissy, Di, and the kids headed out on the long drive to Oklahoma and we headed home to a now way too quiet and empty house.

This Monday, I got asked if I would be the campaign manager for a friend who is running for council this fall. It has been several years since I have been involved in politics. But ever being the political animal I said yes. This should be fun.

That takes us up to date.