Ice-iversary

Over the past week and a half there have been so many times that I have thought of a good blog post, but they never made it onto the computer. Like the day I felt like the only thing I ate was the bits and pieces of the kids food. Crusts of toast for breakfast. Crusts of ham and cheese for lunch. Leftover cold french fries and congealed mac and cheese for dinner. Then I almost posted about Abbey getting her five year immunizations. 4 shots, lots of crying and screaming resulting in a 102 degree temp and a day home from school the next day. Then I was going to blog about our Tumpka Timpka elf on a shelf and how already she has "forgotten" to leave our house and come back to a new spot the next day. This was subsequently blamed on the fact that Jack got a little bit too close to her the day before, and a bit of her magic disappeared for about 24 hours. So many times I have sat down at the computer and then been called away to do other things. Christmas things, party things, kid things, house things. Things. We even passed over the 1 year anniversary of the Ice Storm of 2008 without me blogging about it. The anniversary was actually last Thursday night into Friday morning since the storm itself raged through the night. In case you are new to my blog, or maybe you forgot and would love to relive it with me, you can read about our adventures in ice here and also here and here a see some lovely pictures here and also some more here. This Saturday the 19th is the actual anniversary of when the pipes burst rendering us homeless and rootless for a while until we moved into the comfort of that oh so lovely trailer in the yard. Oh brown paneled trailer of fun, how I do NOT miss you. Well hasn't this been a wonderful trip down memory lane! At least I can say that all of that madness from last year did result in new floors, new walls, new cabinets, some new furniture, and a new found appreciation for our HOME. All these many months later, it is still GOOD TO BE HOME!

Warning: House of Germs

Jack had the stomach bug. Now I have the stomach bug. My only hope is that the buck stops here as they say and Dennis and Abbey don't get it. Oh, I also hope that it causes me to lose 5 pounds like Jack did, but I won't hold my breath on that one. This bug has been a real bitch, in the way that Jack felt better, then worse, then better, then worse again. It came and went, so just when I thought he had kicked it, it was back. Sneaky little virus. Because of this we still went about some of our weekend plans. Easter egg hunt, having the ENTIRE family over for ham and assorted fattening casseroles. Unfortunately the next day I came down with the bug, proving once and for all that he was contagious the entire time I was forcing him and his germs onto unsuspecting relatives. I got news that my cousin's 5 year old son started throwing up this morning. So yup, we're that family. The germ giving family.

So to all of my family and everyone at the town egg hunt, I am soooooooooooooooooooooo sorry if you were infected. If it makes you feel any better, I've been puking for 3 days now. On and off of course, because you know, it's the "Come and Go" virus.

Go and See

Tonight Jack's cub scout den had their "go and see" activity. It's one of the requirements for moving on from a Tiger Cub into a Wolf Cub. His den got to go to a newspaper office to see how a paper was put together. From the time he got off of the bus though he said he wasn't feeling well. His stomach hurt and he just wanted to lay on the couch. I kind of chalked it up to carsickness. Apparently today on the bus they got to "switch" with the big kids and sit in the back of the bus while the older kids sat in the front. Jack said it was super bumpy and gave him a stomachache. He is totally prone to carsickness so I figured that was it. He said he still really wanted to go to the newspaper office though, so off we went. He was OK until we got there and he stepped out of the van and proceeded to throw up all over the sidewalk (and a little on my feet). But then he said he felt GREAT and still please please while crying all over the place couldn't we go in? Even though I knew it was a bad idea and at this point was thinking it really maybe was not carsickness I relented and in we went. Don't you hate that? That feeling with your kids that even as you are doing something that you just know you have made the wrong decision. You just keep moving ahead with the wrong decision with that knot in your gut telling you that you have made a mistake. It didn't help that this newspaper office was in a super old building that smelled like old papers and printing chemicals. As we walked up the 4,030 steps into the top of the building Jack just kept kept paler and paler. I was holding onto his jacket and had it at the ready, poised to catch throw up in it. I just kept thinking to myself "please don't throw up on the equipment. Please don't throw up on the old archived newspapers from 1914." And then there was the nagging suspicion that if this wasn't carsickness that we were at that very moment infecting 6 other little boys with some throwupy virus right before Easter weekend. After about 10 minutes which felt like 400 Jack conceded that he really didn't feel well and wanted to go home. We were down those 4,030 steps in a flash and out of there. Now he is laying on the couch with a bucket, sipping flat coke and watching television. I am thinking no school tomorrow.

On the up side, unlike my previous post, he is acting like a complete angel. A sick angel, but an angel nonetheless.

Jinxed

There was a post that I almost wrote a couple of weeks ago, but I just couldn't get myself to do it. Then I almost wrote it last week, but again, I stopped myself. I was afraid that if I wrote it I would jinx us and what I was writing about not happening would surely then come to happen. You see, everyone in my town is sick. EVERYONE. Except us. According to the many mothers I see on Facebook and the chatter about town, kids are puking, spiking fevers, and getting infections all over the place. Ear infections, bronchitis, strep throat, the flu, who knows what else, and so far we have managed as a family to scrape by with just a cold. Sure, its a nasty cold that makes you feel tired and blah, but a cold doesn't knock you on your ass. Just a run of the mill cold, that started with Jack, moved on to me and then hit Abbey, and now I believe is making its way back to me. Tuesday night I thought we were done for, Abbey took a 2 hour nap and woke up with a slight temp. Yup, I said to myself. This is it. Here it comes. But the next morning her temp was gone, and now she just has a cough and a runny nose. I just have this constant ominous feeling that something icky is on the horizon. It is to the point where I just want them to get sick so we can get it over with. It's inevitable, right? But how sad is that. Wishing germs on my children so that we can "get on with it." Actually, I am convinced they are both waiting until we are back in the house to get truly ill. I can see it now, it's our first night back in the house, the smell of fresh brand new floors and carpets, and then in my vision I see them running down the newly carpeted hallway, spewing vomit in a million directions all over the new painted walls and floors. Oh damn, now I really have jinxed myself.

Super Slow Internet and Underwear in the Toilet

So what's making me grumpy this long weekend? Number one, I have a really icky nasty cold, complete with itchy watery burning eyes and a clogged up snotty head. I even had to forgo my contacts for the last couple of days, and I HATE to wear my glasses. I think the only thing that will make me feel better is copious amounts of Valentine's candy and rest. Unfortunately I am living in a giant metal box with two incredibly LOUD children so rest is a bit out of the question. Good thing I've got the chocolate. Number two, for some reason my Internet connection has been on super duper slow mode since Saturday, and with all of my computer expertise and knowledge (yes, that's sarcasm) I can't figure out why. It's as if its 1999 again and I have dial-up, which drove me so crazy with its slowness that I cancelled altogether and we had no computer at all, not for 8 years. Number 3, last night Jack accidentally dropped his underwear in the toilet. Apparently he was trying to shoot them basketball style into the laundry hamper and they went awry and landed in the toilet. I had to fish them out. One hour later Abbey "accidentally" dropped her underwear in the toilet as well. Hmmmm, wow. What a coincidence! No underwear in the toilet for years, and then boom, twice in 1 night. Lucky me. Not that I haven't had to deal with much more disgusting and nasty things in my life, in fact I was actually quite thankful that the toilet was CLEAN at the time.

Now, what is making me happy this long weekend? Number one, we didn't have any pressing plans so I was able to hang around and do much of nothing for most of the time, which was a blessing since I am wearing my coke bottle glasses and wanted to stay in my sweatpants. Number two, a TON of painting got done at the house over the last 3 days and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The den is done, downstairs bathroom, upstairs hall, Abbey's room is back together with walls and wallpaper and everything, and the kitchen is making steady progress. With the floors due to go in later this week, we might be able to move back into the house in another week and a half or so. Yes, this makes me happy. This trailer is shrinking by leaps and bounds. You can't walk anywhere without bumping into something and the kids are always at such close range to me that we might as well be Siamese twins, or Siamese triplets actually. Compared to here the house is going to seem so vast and giant when we get back in, it will be like living in a mansion. I'll feel like Annie when she first gets to Daddy Warbucks.

A Spoonful Of Sugar

Who is this little boy who used to be my baby? This little boy who puts on silly glasses and quips "Tip Tip Tallyhoe" just to make his sister laugh. When Jack was little he used to get ear infections up the wazoo. I think he had 10 from the time he was 1 to the time he was 2. (Then tubes, viola ~) But during this time he had to take antibiotics of course, and he was THE WORST medicine taker. I used to have to pin him down, and physically lay across him to get it in his mouth. I would have to push that syringe way back in his throat, practically gagging him and shoot it out at the exact correct speed to get the liquid into him without causing him to choke and throw it back up. It was not pleasant, and not a job for one person. Usually it would be for 3 days, but occasionally I would hear that phrase I began to dread, "twice a day for ten days." After the tubes his infections let up, although he would still get one now and again, and so now and again I would have to muscle him down and shoot pink liquid down his throat. I was remembering this recently because he just got another ear infection. He usually has 2 a year now, which is much more manageable. This year the antibiotics they gave him didn't work, so we had to get something stronger. It is white and thick and has to be taken twice a day for 10 days. 10 days is such a long time, and I was dreading it. But he's 6 now, and although he told me it was "the most disgusting thing I've ever had to drink" he drank it down bravely. It is still shocking to me that my baby is now a boy, and I don't HAVE to force medicine down his throat, or do any number of things for him that I was so used to doing every day. Tonight he actually said "I think I'm getting used to this stuff" as he threw back his head and drained down the last drop of white goop. What a trooper. Now if he can drink that, why can't he eat peas?

Edging Back To Normal

I was going to post yesterday and entitle it "Hand, Foot and they might fire my Ass" but never got around to it. Today I am back at work and thoroughly enjoyed my coffee and bagel this morning in peace and quiet. Everyone seems to be on their way back to healthy and I will be happy to stop making multiple meals trying to find something that the kids can eat that doesn't bother their mouth sores. Meals that they couldn't eat that ended up where? Where do you think? Down my gullet. Scrambled eggs still hurt your mouth, I'll eat them. Chicken noodle soup too salty, don't want to waste it. Pudding too cold? (too cold???) No problem, tastes great.

So the school year has gotten off to a bumpy start, with Jack missing his first day of first grade yesterday. He was so distraught, he watched the bus go by and just looked pathetic. I was pretty distraught myself, after having been in the house for 6 days straight dealing with the cocksucker virus, I had had enough! But today he was well enough to go, not 100% better but good enough. Every time the phone rings though I am expecting it to be the school. "Excuse me, but did you know your son is still sick? Why would you send him to school like this you sadistic uncaring fool?" But so far, so good.

Waiting at the bus stop this morning he was excited, nervous and extremely shy. Last year the bus picked him up and dropped him off at the end of the driveway, which was great for us. Now that he is a big first grader he has to go to the "official" bus stop down the road with the other kids. It will be fine I'm sure, once he gets into the swing of it. We are just not used to interacting with others that early in the morning. At least he only has to stand there, I had to make chit chat with the other mothers. Not that I mind, I can mingle with the best of them. I do wonder about shy mother's though. How do they do it? Do they have anxiety over every play date, every trip to the park? God bless them, I guess you just have to grin and bear it.