Challenge 18... checkup time...

Today was my annual internal medicine checkup with the doctor I've seen for the last 20 years. 

Last year he told me that I showed many signs that I was developing chronic problems associated with obesity: blood pressure creeping upward, blood sugar less-than-stable, joint pain, extreme fatigue, etc. He left me with the admonition that I could keep going down this road by not eating right and not moving, or I could get healthy. The choice was mine, but he assured me I wouldn't be the exception to the reap-sow principle if I kept living an unhealthy lifestyle. 

So I showed up in his office early today *shock* and sat down to read my book. 

A few minutes later I heard a familiar voice say, "Where did Norma go?"
"She's sitting there," the receptionist said.
"Where?"
"There."
"I don't see her.... *in a louder voice* NORMA?" the doctor said as he scanned the waiting room from left to right.
I stood up.
*gasp* "You look completely different? What did you do?!"
"I lost the 75 lbs you told me I had to lose."

And then I went for lab work and came back for the exam. I found out I'm 22 lbs lighter than I have ever been at any point since I started seeing him as my doctor. WOO HOOOOO!!!!!

It was the best checkup ever. He was as thrilled as I was. 

I am so happy that the Lord led me to this journey. I was so bloomin' stubborn for so many years, thinking that I could figure out a way on my own. Mercy and Grace. It was pure mercy and grace. 

The picture? That's the magazine rack in the exam room. The top slot had the Carolina Alumni Review, the middle slot had a random sports magazine, and the bottom slot had a Duke Medicine magazine. (My doctor went to med school at Duke and is currently an associate professor in UNC's med school, in addition to his private practice.) 

I did a little rearranging to make everything prettier. :) 

Challenge 17... iPad deployment...

Our academy is going 1:1 with iPads from fourth grade through twelfth grade this year. We went to the deployment on the first night. At first I thought deployment was a bit of a puffed up term, when distribution was a perfectly good option. Then we arrived and discovered that we, indeed, were there to deploy these devices.

In all honesty, I thought it went great. I don't have any negatives to blog about. The information session was clear and concise (my favorite kind of information session); the password distribution and device use agreement flowed well; the cover selection, complete with a packaging removal station (in the form of a lovely trash can) was smooth and litter-free; and the handing over of a brand new iPad Air and immediate placement in protective case was nothing short of brilliant.

The event concluded with the deployment itself, where students followed clear handout (screen shots... fanTAStic idea) to set up their device so that when they walked out of school, they were ready to clutter it up with flappy and angry and candy everything before launching the new school year where actually playing those apps during class will net a heap-o-trouble.

On the plus side:

1. Passports... clearly labeled stations spread throughout the school gave plenty of time and room to accomplish a task and get a passport stamped. The passport had to be fully stamped before students and parents could take home the iPad.

2. Clear and concise presentation by Technology Director, including a frank discussion of the downside of technology and dark side of the internet. I'm pretty dependent on this guy's expertise; he led us to an awesome filter that his family uses, and we have bought and put it into operation here too. (Which one, you ask? It's called SkyDog. Check it out here.)

3. Tons of space to accomplish each task... plenty of room at the agreement-reading-and-signing tables; wide open spaces for opening packaging and securing the device immediately, and tons of set-up stations with a small army of trained teachers to answer questions when the iPad screen didn't look like the screen shot on the handout. Perfect.

On the minus side:
...

I honestly can't think of anything to go on the minus side.

We have spent a lot of time simultaneously anticipating with excitement and dreading these days. I know the entire Technology Department is probably comatose about now, but they did a great job, and I am thankful.

Now... to implement this new technology in the classroom...

Challenge 16... football at the academy

Somewhere in there is my second football player. OK, third if you count their dad. I'm reeling a bit here. Zane started football as soon as Parks & Rec football was available, which was when he turned seven. With Zack, we went a different route. We had him in i9 football until he could play at school. This year will mark his first year of tackle. 

I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for this, but he is. Ready is an understatement for this kid. He loves football with a passion that frightens me. And he wants to be a long snapper, like his big brother. 

He's not quite as flexible as Zane, but he's working on in, which has been just the incentive he needed to do the stretches he was supposed to be doing for his Osgood-Schlatters anyway. Jimmy thinks Zack will be a great receiver, and Zack's working on that too. 

We'll add Thursday and Saturday afternoons to the football schedule this year. Go Knights! Go Camels! 

Challenge 15... ebola...

One time Kelsey gave Zack cholera for his birthday.

Not the disease... the plush microbe. In the basement of the UNC Student Stores, they had a line of common viruses and bacteria, and cholera was soft, fluffy and his favorite shade of blue. We've gotten a lot of mileage out of cholera-related puns.

Last night, though, our attention turned to Ebola. No laughing matter. Not. One. Bit. Hundreds of people in West Africa have already lost their lives to the disease. Two Samaritan's Purse medical professionals are fighting for their lives and are being flown back to Emory.  I was reading news links in my Twitter feed, and was aghast at the hard-hearted, cynical comments. Fear is an ugly thing.

I should know, I've battled microbe-related OCD since ~1995. In its depths, I could neither leave my house nor let anyone into my house without a decontamination process. It was a dark, dark time, and remnants are still with me, but thankfully it's not debilitating anymore. Truly the Lord has healed my mind and equipped me with tools to deal with the throwback moments.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to run up and hug someone with Ebola {which, by the way, would be a stupid thing to do}, but I'm equally sure that keeping our own doctor and nurse our of their own country is cruel and heartless.

I stand in awe of the stories of healthcare professionals who are serving on the front lines of danger, whether it's microbial danger or faith-based persecution or outright military war. Greater love has no man...

You all are in our prayers daily.

Last night I saw a video post on Facebook featuring a Samaritan's Purse doctor talking about the Ebola outbreak on West Africa. It just happened that the doctor on the video was a guy Jimmy went to high school with. The video was uploaded a few weeks ago, and the situation seems to have gotten decidedly worse.

Please pray and check out the video below:

Challenge 14... hello, woodland creatures...

The men and women of our house have distinctly different views on the wildlife that wanders through the yard. I see it as pretty and cute and furry. Jimmy suggests we put a tree stand in one of the trees. At least we know we represent well the gender stereotypes.

This buck grazed through the front yard this morning. He was alert but never flashed the white tail until he bounded across the cul-de-sac to our neighbor's yard where the grass is decidedly greener. Of course, our grass is more tender, so I can only assume that his appetizer was our side of the road and he was headed for the entree.

They have many luscious {expensive} plants peppered throughout their natural area... downright gourmet eatin' over there. Our yard is a bit more like shredded iceberg lettuce with shredded carrots. The grass is lettuce; the numerous storm-harvested sticks are carrots.

The buck has three fawns with him. Two poked around the buffer between our yard and our neighbors, and the third ventured directly into the next-door neighbor's yard. It's greener too.

There's also a picture of a doe peeking through the pool fence. The wooded area behind her is where they have their... nest? burrow? den?... I don't know what deer-homes are called. She came to visit early in June and just stood there, watching me read my book.

The deer population must be getting out of control. Virtually everyone I know who doesn't have a fence around their garden has become part of Salad Bar Tour '14. Hunting season is going to be interesting.