Wow, what a Thanksgiving we had!!

Oh boy, it certainly was an interesting turkey day for the Hahns this year. Our plans were to go to Columbus to celebrate with my parents. However on Monday it rained and every time it rains the serpentine belt falls off of our van. I have no idea why-probably a design flaw. Anyway. . . the earliest the mechanic could see it was Wednesday. So we had no idea if it would be done in time to goto Columbus. well after lots of phone calls, discussions, frustrations and even some tears, we decided to just go up to Columbus for the day Thursday. Conveniently our van was finished Wed. shortly before closing. Of course this was just the belt; we are still having a problem with the van stalling frequently for no good reason. But we couldn't get that fixed because we needed a vehicle (my parents didn't want to come down to Cincinnati).

Wednesday night Matthew was up until 10:15 at night. So after he finally fell asleep I put in a movie instead of going right to sleeplike I should have. I've always been a night owl and I need my down time in the evening after the kids are in bed. So around 12:30 I was getting ready for bed when Rachel came down and was gasping for breath. She just couldn't breathe. Now I'm not normally one to just take my kids into the doctor for any little sniffle or sneeze, but when it comes to breathing I don't mess around. So Phil took her to the emergency room. I, of course, couldn't goto sleep at that point so I took the phone to bed with me an prayed and read my Bible while I waited for updates. (In a side note, I found out that our insurance no longer covers the hospital near our house where they went. So I'm praying our bill isn't real high)

At the hospital they gave Rachel 2 breathing treatments (the first one didn't work) and some medicine. They sent her home with a prescription and a diagnosis of croup and strep throat. They said strep is very contagious so we were told not to let her share her dishes or cups with anyone because that's how the virus is transmitted. They got home around 5 a.m. I had fallen asleep around 3:30 after Phil's last phone call.

Later that morning we still drove 3 hours up to Columbus. The meal was fabulous and it was nice to see my aunt Carolyn and uncle Gene again. Not a great day overall though, mainly because Phil, Rachel and I were just sooooo tired! And because I was so tired I totally forgot that part about not sharing Rachel's dishes and finished off a piece of her turkey and some of her pie when she left the table. So going home later that night I started feeling short of breath. But I figured it was because of the cold I've had lately. Well today (Friday) I felt progressively worse and worse until I could barely breathe and was feeling lightheaded. At that point Phil took me to urgent care while Brett watched the kids. they told me I have pneumonia, gave me 2 prescriptions and an inhaler. So I've been sitting around all day not having energy to do anything (except read books and do email). I am feeling miserable to be honest and am almost dreading feeling better because frankly the house is a MESS!!!!

So that was our Thanksgiving. But in spite of the nastiness of it all I am thankful for a bunch of things. First, I have a wonderful, supportive husband who takes good care of me. I have 4 energetic, creative children who love me tremendously. I have a house to live in that holds us and most of our stuff. I have a good friend (Brett) who lives with us and has been a huge help taking care of the kids and helping around the house. I have lots of good friends (including many I've met online but never in person) who pray for me,laugh with me and support me through everything. And best of all I have God who loves me unconditionally in spite of my many flaws. So while it's been a pretty miserable holiday, I really do have a lot to be thankful for. It could be a lot worse!!