It has been a long time since I wrote any of my Daily Notes. So what would I have written during my prolonged absence?
Wake Forest Football took a major hit this year. That 5 game losing streak with games lost by the closest of margins did not do justice to the performance that Riley Skinner has put in for the past 4 years taking the team to 3 bowl games including the Orange Bowl in his freshman year. He has put in records that will take years to break. So it has been disappointing. Part of the problem was the loss of so many seniors from last year on defence. That defence made the difference in so many games over the years and proven to be irreplaceable in many ways. But that is life in college football. A constant turnover of players year in, year out but it is the programs and traditions that keep several schools competitive year every year. Wake is not there yet and next year will bring many unknowns especially at quarterback. But the team has something to look back on as it builds for the future.
The neighbourhood coffee shop, Confluence Coffee closed shop after 15 months in business. Continual losses made the shop a drain on the resources of the church that was maintaining it. It’s a pity for it was a good place to go but then again I never went there frequently like many others and that is what lead it to its demise.
Downtown Winston-Salem has been quiet of late regarding new developments but it looks like some new things will be happening on Trade Street at Seventh with a new restaurant. But it seems that with each new entry in the local market, someone else leaves like the Camel City Cafe at the Stevens Center.
On politics, alot of things are happening. Health care seems to be slowly moving forward. Whether it becomes a reality before the New Year depends on the political will of the Democratic Senators. It can happen if they remained united.
As one war winds down, another starts to heat up. There is no doubt that President Obama will be making a firm commitment to the war Afghanistan. The question is what exit strategy will be employed. There can not be a blank cheque here.
I missed not taking autumn photos this year along with the Ballonfest. Missed out on other events as well. Will have to pick it up next year. Xmas parade coming up this weekend, though.
One more year and Madeleine will be in kindergarten. She is growing up fast.
Been a few months since downgrading my cable television to the bare minimum. Not really missing much other than the HD quality. Been renting from Netflix to make up some of the difference. I have plenty to catch up on especially as I have not been to the theater at all in months.
I think this has been the wettest autumn I have ever seen here in Winston since I moved here in 2002.
… and that is all I wrote.
After, we lost Nicholas last year, we decided that life must go on and as long as we are able, we can continue to bring new life into this world. It was not an easy decision to make to be sure. You always wonder what caused Nicholas to die, may occur again. Being an older woman than when she brought Madeleine into this world, creates more complications as you have to consider things like a higher chance of having with Down Syndrome or other genetic defects.
But we stepped forward and took our chances.
We had certain scares along the way: false positives on Down Syndrome prescreen tests, Andrea’s blood sugar levels, but we made it past them. However, we could not avoid the danger sign we received a few weeks ago when Andrea’s womb fluid started to increase dramatically.
We never did get a clear answer on why Nicholas died as he did. By all indications, he seemed like a healthy boy. But one thing that was observed at the time of his delivery was that Andrea’s amniotic fluid was much greater than it should be. The condition is called Polyhydramnios and it potentially increase the chance of a stillborn death.
So the original delivery date of November 2nd was advanced to October 19th. By the new delivery date, he would be a 36 week gestation; a bit premature but not drastically so that he would have to spend any time in the ICU at the hospital.
So it was under those circumstances that my son Patrick was brought into this world at 9:58am at a weight of 5lbs 10oz (2.67kg) and a length of 19.5 inches( 49.5cm).
He is so frail looking, so small.
In the week or so since we had him home, we have been working to keep him quite warm as he needs to put on weight. At his current weight, it is difficult for him to sustain a constant body temperature. Being the autumn season, the environment around him is cool. So whatever we feed him would just go to keeping him warm and not to put on weight as he should. We have increased his feedings and supplement with formula so that he gets as many calories as possible. When he reaches a normal term weight of something above 7lbs or so, then he should be able to sustain his core body temperature without us having to turn the house heat to 80F (34C) all of the time.
Patrick is our little boy and we feel truly blessed by that.
It seems that the Flu season is creating a heightened sense of alarm that is starting to affect everyday life.
On the daycare door, like an ominous warning from days when diseases where more prevalent and deadly, there is a notice that if the child is sick, then the child stays home without reservations.
Similarily, at the hospital where Andrea is expected to deliver Patrick, the notice is up that no child under 18 is allowed within the buildings unless they are a patient. For us, that means no visits by the children to see their baby brother until he goes home. That rule is expected to remain through the flu season which means until the end of March here in North Carolina.
Now my church is also imposing new rules during the Mass. No signs of peace (e.g. handshakes) no sharing of the Communional wine, take the host in your hands only and so forth.
When the big scare from a few years back was Avian flu, I do not recall such measures being taken on such a scale. Swine flu (or its proper name: H1N1 virus), is expected to more pandemic in scale and more deadly though that is a bit relative. People die every year from the seasonal flu. Question is whether more will die from exposure to the Swine Flu?
As it is, no one seems to take that chance hence such the commotion about the availability of the flu vaccines. Everyone was been informed in some way about when the vaccines will be available and where to get them. Every pharmacy is now offering flu vaccine shots though with the caveat that supplies may be limited. Even then, it will be at least a two step process as the Swine Flu vaccine is administered separately from the seasonal flu.
To date, I have never received a flu vaccine shot. Whether it be the timing, the expense or the hassle of going somewhere to receive it, I have never made it a prime consideration when the flu season rolls around. When she worked at the nursing home, Andrea received flu shots as a mandatory benefit because elderly people with compromised health systems were the most at risk from the seasonal flu. Now, this year, she is considered to be a high risk candidate because of her pregancy.
But this year may be different. The sense of unease that everyone is feeling about the flu makes it prudent for me to ensure that at least the children are vaccinated against the flu. They are just too vulnerable to it.
Are we panicking too much. Probably but on the other hand, if people are vaccinated this year in large numbers, it may mean there will be few hosts harbouring the virus for next year and that is a good thing.
Another day … another day with gout.
In more encouraging news, we had a decent weekend. Church picnic and then to the Wake Forest Fantasy Football event at the stadium. Sunday, a birthday event for a friend’s daughter though it was more of an excuse to enjoy the pool. Christen made a new friend and Madeleine was her usual self.
Powerball lottery did not go this weekend so the jackpot increases to $232 million. My attempt to play six tickets came up goose eggs. Not sure if I want to try again. My luck on these things is extraordinary bad. Still, it would be nice if I won something; my family sure could use it.
A very quiet tropical storm season has suddenly exploded with three storms this morning scattered between the Gulf of Mexico and the eastern Atlantic. Claudette has already come ashore to only minor damage. Ana looks like it will do a tour of the island before ending up somewhere in the Gulf. Bill is on a path that takes it away from land and dies in the mid-Atlantic. It is supposed to be a quiet year for storms and so far those predictions are staying pat.
Flickr is still giving me fits. Difficult to upload photos and organise them. Got plenty of photos waiting to go up now but I won’t move them up until Flickr settles down. Apparently, the problem is that a small section of the database network is at fault here but it is affecting predominantly heavy uploaders of images like myself. Flickr support says that they are working on it.
… and that is all I wrote.
I hate gout . I really do. I hate the shooting pain up my ankle to my knee. I hate the hobbling. I hate that the medicine to make the pain tolerable feeble minds me and knocks me for a loop. There are times I wonder if I should just amputate the whole foot below the ankle so I do not have to suffer the pain.
Oh well.
Despite the pain, I took the family to the First Friday Gallery Hop downtown on Trade Street. Madeleine wanted to see dancers like she did last year but there were not any this year. Instead, she saw contortionists, musicians and dogs. Lots of dogs as the local humane society was sponsoring a photo shoot for dogs during the street festival.
Speaking of festivals, the National Black Theatre festival was in full swing last night as hundreds of people were packed downtown. This festival is a real showcase for Winston-Salem and downtown business for the whole week that it runs here. Some really outstanding productions this years despite the recession. When it returns in two years time, the Hanebrands theatre will be available as a venue which will allow some of the productions that were shown in some of the outlying venues to come back to the downtown area.
Downtown got another boost this week with the announcement that an arts cinema will be opening up within the Chatham building at Fourth and Cherry. Two screens with seating capacity of 80 people each will show a rotating variety of independent and foreign films with an emphasis on the films that show at the River Run film festival that is held every year in the downtown area. This is because the offices of the River Run festival will be sharing quarters with the theatre in the Chatham building.
This is all very good news. Downtown needs more options for people to do downtown besides the variety of restaurants down there and the weekly street festivals in the summer time. When the Films on Fourth ran in the Stevens Center, they were able to draw fairly decent crowds for several films like Bend it like Beckham and Spellbound which did not get play at the local cinemas that were available then. The recently opened Grand 18 does make an effort to show the more commercially viable independent films but its location in north Winston makes it a bit more difficult for downtown residents to make the effort to see them.
My one concern is that it keeps concentrating all of the new development along Fourth Street in a stretch between Spruce and Cherry. Those two blocks have several restaurants, coffee shops, and so on. But going east along fourth shows plenty of empty storefronts that could be used by someone. Not sure what would it take to have people take a chance in opening a store or some sort of retail location there but it seems that someone needs to take the first step.
The pain still goes on.
… and that is all I wrote.