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Biblical plagues!

I've been away from the blog for quite some time because August and now September seemed to just fly by. It is 2009 now. In addition, the Dunhams seemed to have been visited by the proverbial Biblical plagues including hornets! We've had bronchitis, pneumonia, going to the fair, emergency room visits while on vacation after almost dying (seriously) from an insect bite, allergy studies, sleep studies, school starting again, tailgating with friends, vacationing in the mountains, and learning about Epi Pins!


In the beginning was August! I spent time in Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, and Jackpot for work. In addition, there were some "fun" trips including an August 13th jaunt to Minneapolis to visit a college buddy and his wife. Unfortunately, that afternoon as we looked at the river down the hill from their house, I was stung by something. Within minutes, I had allergy symptoms prompting my buddy Ted to give me Benadryl before nonchalantly driving toward an emergency room. Our friend Tom who flew in with me felt a couple more Benadryl, a couple beers, and a nap would have sufficed. How wrong he was. I ended up with anaphylactic shock. The ER doctor in Minnesota and my personal doctor back in Boise indicated those initial Benadryl saved my life!


Luckily, I was sufficiently recovered in about 5 hours to enjoy the rest of the trip which included a trip to their lake house and a Twins game. Of course, all the while I carried the fable Epi Pin just in case another Minnesota insect had it in for me.



Safely returning to Idaho, the Dunhams spent time at the Western Idaho Fair learning the painful lesson that Ethan's height of 44" now enables him to ride many more rides. That coupled with his inherent daredevil attitude cost us an unexpected $120 that day! But he had fun.


On the tails of the Minnesota mishap, I was also scheduled for a sleep study to determine if my daily exhaustion was more than simply being a 48 year old father of a 4 year old dare devil as well as a very intense career. I spent the night in a sleep clinic where I was wired up to resemble what Ethan called a "Decepticon from Transformers." Of course, those are the villains. Turns out I NEVER go into a deep sleep. Ever. That explains many things including acid reflux, exhaustion, etc. Not sure if it explains thinning hair though.....Now I get to experience a trial period of sleeping with an oxygen mask to see if it makes a difference. I also had allergy tests that determined I'm NOT allergic to bees but have a bad allergy to wasps and all sorts of hornets. I will now be starting a 5 year regimen of "desensitization shot therapy."


We also got to spend a great weekend in Donnelly with friends swimming in Lake Cascade and perhaps having a too few many beers. On the way home from the weekend, we all started to cough. Ethan was subsequently diagnosed with bronchitis, I was diagnosed with pneumonia, and Heather has simply powered through her own cough to take care of her boys.

Wow!

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