6 years 5 months 30 days

Day 2374.

Sunday

On Sunday I'm usually looking forward to sleeping in though that is harder with the kids at home as they don't care and come to me and wake me up. I was glad that I didn't have to cook as we had leftovers so I was able to get up late and warm it up. We ate, then Randy left with Tammy and Emmy at 12:30 pm to take them to their maths club that starts at 1 pm.

I stayed home with Sammy until Randy returned about an hour later. He was home for half an hour, then left again for an hour to pick them up. I was working on a newsletter and got two languages done before the day was up. Once the other kids got home at 3 pm, they went downstairs to play. At one point I went downstairs to do piano practice as well as reading practice with them. Eventually I went to the kitchen to make their dinner and gave it to them. Then it was very unusual for me to have a student as I don't usually teach on a Sunday. But this student had an exam, so I taught from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Then it was bathtub, story and prayer time before they went to bed.

Then it was my turn to get something to eat and have a break before going back to work on the newsletter. Around 10:30 pm Sammy woke up caughing and wheezing. I was wondering whether he got a caugh while Randy thought he had a hard time breething. We were able to calm him down again, and he fell back asleep.

Around 11 pm he woke up wheezing and coughing again and vomitted. We then decided it was better to take him to the hospital to have him checked out, just in case he'd swallowed something and was struggling to breethe because of that. As I'm the one going to bed at 2 am, I was going to take him.

At 11:30 pm Sammy and I left the house and took the subway for two stops as the hospital is that close to us. He was hoarse and had a hard time talking. Hardly any people were on the streets, as well as in the hospital. When we reached the children's emergency room, there were two other families there, though more arrived after us. I registered, and we sat down. It didn't take long for us to be called in to the doctor who sides on the urgendy and assigns the patients to the different doctors. They checked Sammy's oxygen level in the blood, measured his temperature and asked what had happened. Then we were sent back to the waiting room. We sat there and waited our turn to be called in to the doctor. A few families went in before us, then we were called up. It hadn't really taken that long. The young doctor inside was very nice and diagnosed Sammy with laryngitis. He gave him medicine right away and gave me prescription to buy more for the next few days. He said that Sammy should get as much fresh air as possible and that he could go to school, no problem at all. Then we were done and left the hospital.

We walked back to the subway as my phone had said that the subway was running all night but that turned out not to be true. It was only just after midnight and there were no more trains! At least in our direction as there were still trains going the opposite direction. What were we going to do? Thankfully we live only two stops away so I thought of walking home but wasn't sure where the path was. There was also the option of taking the tram so we walked to the tram stop. The board said it was just 5 minutes away so we stayed there. I was really hoping it would be a new train as I would not be able to carry the wheelchair up the steps into an old train without help. While we were waiting, a taxi stopped near us. The driver got out and shouted to us that he was going to take us for free wherever we wanted to go. It was an older man. We walked over to him and accepted his kind offer. From the vehicle you could tell that it was an official taxi and Uber vehicle. I got Sammy out of the wheelchair and put him on the back seat, then I helped to put the wheelchair into the trunk and got in next to Sammy. He then drove us the short distance home. He was really sweet with Sammy in the car and gave him a 2€ coin, clearly tip money he'd received. Sammy said "thank you", then the driver gave him the rest of his tip money, another 4€. We arrived, and I put Sammy into his chair. The driver then said good-bye to him. I told him that we were going to pray for God to bless him richly for what he had done for us, and he was really appreciative. He said he had done it to bless us. I wished I had asked for his first name or vehicle number so we could request him whenever we need a taxi/Uber.

By 12:30 am we were back home, and we put Sammy to bed right away. Then I did some more work and the dishes before going to bed.

Monday

Monday was a very low day for me. I found out early in the morning that a student I had done 3 hours per week with for the past 3 years was quitting. I was even more shocked that his mother I had worked with 3 hours a week for the past several months to teach her French was quitting too. That meant a loss of 6 to 8 hours of teaching per week which is a big financial dip for me, not just the sadness of losing students. In addition to that, I was facing some other things I had to deal with that were rather discouraging. The one positive thing was that not teaching that student on Monday morning meant getting to sleep in with no commitments in the morning.

After we had finished eating our leftovers for lunch, Randy left at 1 pm to pick up Tammy and Emmy, while I left 20 minutes later to pick up Sammy. By 2 pm the two of us were back home, and I was getting ready for my 2:30 pm student. It was at that time that Randy returned home with the other kids.

I was done teaching at 3:20 pm and made sandwiches for the kids. As I wasn't feeling so well, I asked Randy to be the one to take Tammy and Emmy to their programming class. The kids were not happy about that. Randy left with them at 3:45 pm. Their class started at 4:30 pm. I started teaching at 4:45 pm, and Randy returned a few minutes later and got to spend about 40 minutes with Sammy before leaving again to go pick them up. Unfortunately he didn't take any pictures of the 3D-handheld printer objects they had created.

As for me, I finished teaching 10 minutes after Randy had left, then Sammy had me to himself, and we had a good time. I gave him his sandwich, then cut up fruit for all kids. They ate once they got home at 7 pm, then we went downstairs for piano practice. We also still needed to do reading practice. After bathtub and prayer time, it was time for them to get ready for bed while I had to sit down to teach my 8 pm student. Suddenly Emmy came into the room and lay down in my bed, and so did Tammy. I had to teach and couldn't do anything about it. In fact, it was their second time doing it. Tammy usually goes back to her bed after a few minutes, but Emmy fell asleep, and once I was done teaching at 9 pm, I carried him to his own bed. Then I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat and take a break before going back to work.

Tuesday

This morning I had to leave the house early. After lying back down at 7 am, when Randy leaves with Tammy and Emmy, my alarm next went off at 7:45 am. I got up and got myself and Sammy dressed, and just after 8 am the two of us left the house so I could take him to school. When the subway arrived at 8:10 am and we were getting on, there was Randy getting off, so he came straight back on. After two stops, he got off with Sammy to take him to school, which allowed me to continue on and to make it to my appointment in time. I had to take a train after the subway, then walk and find the allergy center where I was going to be tested.

It took me some time to find but I still made it in time. I registered and sat down to wait until I'd be called. It didn't take very long. The doctor asked me a few questions, then sent me to the testing area where I was seated in one of the cubicles  immediately. After a few minutes a young lady came to start the testing. I had last been tested for allergies 30 years ago. Now my doctor wanted me to get tested because of one of my blood result numbers. The test was still exactly the same as 30 years ago, and so was the result. The doctor said all was good if the allergies didn't bother me, and I was good to go. It was just before 9:30 am when I left there, so I had only spend about 40 minutes which is very unusual at any doctor's office in Vienna. They win first place in efficiency. 

I got on the tram and rode it home. Just after 10 am I was back home. I put a chicken into the oven and went to bed. I was thankful for the opportunity to catch up on sleep. But at 11:20 am a phone call woke me up. It was Sammy's school saying that Sammy was coughing and not feeling well and wanted to go home. So Randy left to pick him up while I went back to sleep.

When I got up at noon, I went to the kitchen to make the vegetable rice to go with the chicken, then the three of us ate as Sammy had left school too early to eat.

At 1 pm Randy left to pick up Tammy and Emmy, and they returned home at 2:30 pm. A few minutes later I went downstairs with them to do piano and reading practice. At 3:45 pm Randy left with Tammy to take her to her dance classes. The boys stayed home with me. I had some important and  urgent work to get done but I was never able to get anything done as they constantly needed me for something. It was somewhat frustrating. At 5 pm I went to the kitchen to make their sandwiches and cut up fruit for them that I gave them to eat. At 6:15 pm I started teaching, and Randy and Tammy returned home just before I was done teaching at 7:05 pm. Tammy then ate her fruit as well. Then it was bathtub and prayer time. At 8 pm I sat down to teach, while Tammy and Emmy lay down in my bed near me to sleep. After a few minutes Tammy returned to her bed, while Emmy fell asleep, and I carried him to his bed after I was done teaching at 9 pm. Then I went to the kitchen to get myself something to eat and take a break before going back to work. Now it's 1:30 am, and I still have to take care of the dishes.