The Gaglione's in Oklahoma: Summer 2010

Looking at the pictures I have taken, I realize most of them are of Ivy. We are working at toning down the silliness with the other three so I will have more of them next time.

We are anxiously awaiting the move to our new house. We went down there on Friday and it is getting close but we don't have a definite closing date yet. The house still needs the carpet laid, appliances and fixtures installed, and sprinkler system and grass put in. We are hoping the house will close by the time the kids start school on August 19th or it's going to be an 80 minute commute morning and afternoon to get the kids to and from school. I also start grad school on August 24th. I'm starting to feel a bit stressed wondering how it's all going to fit in but I've already decided we might leave everything in storage until Christmas break and move it then.

It has been a pretty laid back summer. We went to Idaho in June for 2 weeks and have spent the rest of the summer at home. We have a season pass to a theme park and a water park and so we try to go there at least once a week. The kids are home bodies and enjoy just hanging out at the apartment and swimming in the pool. Seth and Joey just finished up playing baseball - about 4 games a week since school got out so it has kept us busy. Seth got a tortoise and glasses, Naomi and Joey got guinea pigs, and Ivy "babysits" them all. I've had to rescue the pets from many life-threatening predicaments because of the unsupervised babysitting.

I choked on a piece of beef jerky a couple of weeks ago and after trying to get it to come up or down for about 1/2 an hour, I drove myself to the ER where they knocked me out and went in for it. They took pictures and a biopsy and diagnosed me with a disease called eosinophilic esophagitis. I just found out last week and am still researching what treatment options are available. I am chewing better these days and just for those of you (Adam and my brothers) who have accused me of not chewing my food enough it wasn't entirely my fault. I guess I have an overabundance of white blood cells in my throat that react to certain foods and cause swelling. The shape of my throat is also an issue. I have been choking for years and I guess I now know why.

Well I have the camera sitting on the kitchen countertop to remind me to take more pictures. I will try and get another blog here soon as we know more about our new house. Maybe next time I blog we will be homeowners again!