The last few weeks have been extremely busy, and stressful, so I haven't been blogging nearly as much as I should have, or wanted to. Most of my responsibilities are finally caught up for the moment, and I'm just keeping Eden company, so I thought I'd bring you up to speed.
Eden and I went down to Klamath Falls a few weekends ago for the welcoming event at OIT. For most things, it just confirmed what we already knew or suspected. The foremost of these items is the thought that Eden will not be living with me down there - it's extremely isolated; perhaps 2 hours or more to get to any major city (Eugene would be the closest) and not a whole lot actually there. Honestly, if it weren't for the college and Crater Lake nearby, I don't think that the city would be much of a blip on the map. Regardless, I should be fine while I'm there, as I'll have no choice but to concentrate on school, which I think is a good thing, and Eden will be staying with her parents. It's not ideal, but it'll do for the moment.
We arrived late on Friday, and spent the evening at the Majestic Inn and Suites. It was an incredibly disappointing and upsetting experience - the rooms were awful, the bathrooms a joke (toilet impossible to access, shower tiny with a 30 second heat supply at most) and apparently the rooms had just been flea bombed. As Eden is allergic to such chemicals, this was a big big problem. Given how late it was and the fact that we'd prepaid through Expedia, we had to put up with it for sleep, but we checked out immediately in the morning. I simply can't imagine how many people they had to bribe to get the reviews they have online.
In any case, we made it to campus on time and got a rundown of what things might look like in the fall. I'm going to have to take the full 4 year experience, even as a transfer student, which ends up being both good and bad. The good is that I'll be able to space out some of the supporting classes, the bad is that I'll be away from Eden so much and may actually have to be out of state for my 4th year externship. I did get a bit more detail on the specialties, and it's looking more and more like MRI is where I'd like to head, although I won't have to make that decision for sure for a couple of years. We got a chance to look at the dorms as well - they're pretty run down, but I think they'll be the best choice for now, at least for the first term - maybe a shared apartment in the city after I make some friends.
We took the time to go and see Crater Lake after the session, and didn't regret it at all. The views were amazing, as you can see below. There was also a huge amount of snow, for it being mid-April. We went and watched "17 again" at the local theater for a low impact evening, then went to the Aspen Inn Motel, a charming little place that Eden found. The two ladies that ran it were very personable and friendly, and we felt very welcomed. The little cabins were impressively efficient. The only complaint might have been for the stiffness of the mattress, but really, it netted out as a very positive experience. The inn was actually just a few miles south of Crater Lake and as you can see, the area is very peaceful. It's reassuring to know that at least there'll be an escape available in range, when I need it. It also seems like I'll have plenty to play with in learning more about photography.
We actually didn't get a chance to get too very many pictures while we were there, thanks in part to a nasty experience Eden had with some stinging nettles in trying to get a shot of some old telephone poles in Klamath Lake. On the other hand, we got a bunch of great photos on the way back at a rest stop in Oakridge, of all places. There were hordes of butterflies taking in the sun and it was just a very serene place. It didn't hurt our moods any that the local Dairy Queen had hand dipped Dilly Bars as well.
Later that week I got a chance to introduce Eden to my mother's sister, Betsy, which is something I've been looking forward to for a long time. They're both just such neat, crafty people that I knew they'd get along great. I even got to take a few pictures of my lovely wife after the meal at Rose's, which is something she very, very rarely lets me do. Perhaps after I get more of a chance to practice at portraiture.
Last weekend was Eden's first time back to market, which went pretty well for it being such a very slow weekend overall. It was nice to get to hang out with friends for a while and the pace wasn't too hectic. Among other things, we got to see the cutest little girl tethered to her father by a monkey on her back (see photo) - she was incredibly energetic, just running in a straight line until her dad picked her up and turned her around, then back the other way. Of course this continued for most of her visit.
This last week has been pretty hard on Eden, as she'd had a migraine starting on Monday that just kept on getting worse and worse until we finally had to take her into the ER (without insurance!) on Friday. After 10 hours, a CAT scan, urinalysis, blood cultures, and finally a spinal tap, we found out that she almost definitely has viral meningitis. We're still waiting on a couple of cultures to come back on Monday to rule out bacterial meningitis, which is a potentially deadly variant, but for the moment we're assuming it's viral. Unfortunately, there's no cure for such things other than the body's natural defenses, so we're working with narcotics and anti-nausea meds for the next week or so. The painkillers she's on don't actually do much to dull the pain, but they do seem to pull that nice trick of making the pain less important. Functionally this means that Eden is isolated upstairs in her sister's room, holed up with as many episodes of Power Puff girls and Steel Angel Kurumi as she can stand. Fortunately the meds are encouraging her to sleep intermittently, which hopefully helps the time pass a little more easily for her.
We were actually supposed to spend the weekend at her Aunt Pat's, taking care of her pets while she's out of town, but requisite bedrest has changed the plan a bit. Yesterday Lucky spent most of the day up in Washington hanging out with Fizgig, and today I spent some time down south in the garden with the pets and a camera. I think I got some great shots, especially of Lucy-Fur, but you folks can be the judge. Regardless, I got to spend some time in Pat's hammock, so it's been a pretty good day.
Pet Sitting at Pat's [Show image locations on map] [Fullscreen slideshow]
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
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