So all of my (one of my?) loyal followers may have noticed that I have been absent from blog world of late. That's not the only thing I have been missing! Things have been insanely crazy around here and I am trying desperately to reign it all back in. I feel like I have 20 half-started projects laying around here and a list of 20 more that I need to start, not the mention the things I just WANT to do - no idea if or when I will find time for those.
I remember when I was a full-time working mom, outside the home, in an office downtown 40 hours a week plus bringing work home. I would hear stay at home moms talk about how busy and crazy they were and I thought "Are you kidding me?!" Now don't get me wrong, never for a second have I thought SAHM's had it easy - I just never thought it was harder than what I was doing.
Enter culture shock here. I willingly chose to become a SAHM, even though I swore for years I would never want to do it. But we simply reached a point in our lives where it seemed to be easier and just make sense - we had an additional child, we now had 2 children involved in activities, plus Brandon was traveling more for work. And I will say, I absolutely cannot imagine being where we are today with me still working full time outside the home. No way. I would have already lost my mind and been sent off to the loony bin. But that certainly doesn't mean this is easy!
In addition to the regular, every-day stuff like school and homework and cooking dinner and keeping up with the house and extracurricular activities... Brandon has been traveling even more. Like, A LOT. In the past 2 months he went on 5 separate trips. Plus it has been birthday season around here - all 3 of our kids' birthdays fall within a 2 month span. And then there are those little extra things you never think about or account for when you are making plans for the week... invitations to parties/events, school projects, extra work that you have to get done... So needless to say, I'M BUSY! It has been all about survival mode for the past few weeks. As long as I managed to keep up with 3 kids going in 3 directions and get everybody fed, that was enough for me. Forget a clean house and clean laundry and reading and all those other things I wanted/needed to do.
BUT... Brandon is home this weekend and should be for a while. And the weather is gorgeous. And we have absolutely no plans today that will take us away from our house. So we are spending the day planting our garden and pulling weeds and mulching and while we are doing all that our kids can play in the backyard. We are cooking a whole chicken on the smoker and will eat that tonight with a big, fresh salad and maybe a few adult beverages. After that we will throw our sure-to-be filthy kids in the bath and get them to bed where they will hopefully drift off quickly and peacefully because they are so exhausted from playing outside all day. And then I will sit with my long-absent husband on the deck and enjoy the evening air (and a few more adult beverages).
And so things will finally come back together and the chaos will subside for a while. We will accomplish some big things on our to-do list and our yard should look pretty darn good at the end of the day.
But the inside of our house... well, don't look in there! That's on the to-do list for another day.
(P.S. - For those not familiar, the title of this post is the title of a Toby Keith song that has been on my mind and in my head a lot lately. For those who know it I'm sure you can see why! For those who haven't heard it, take a listen - it's a good one!)
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
The Past Week
As if this household needed more craziness... I think this past week about did me in! Last week we had the electrocution fiasco with Ella - a trip to the ER followed by a trip to Shriner's Burn Clinic. I am happy to report that she is healing quite nicely and all is going well with her.
So Tuesday I took the dogs to the vet for routine check-ups and shots. I was pretty certain Casey had an ear infection in her right ear so I made sure to tip them off on that when I dropped them off. By myself. Carrying a very heavy 14-month-old and attempting to control two 80+ pound dogs. I cannot believe we successfully made it in the door. The nurse even said as much. Turns out that Casey's right ear was indeed infected, as was her left and both of Rugby's as well (although not as bad). Awesome.
The week goes on and Joseph gets fussy. I finally realize on Thursday that he had 4 molars pop through last week, quite possibly on the same day. Poor boy!! That definitely explained the crabbiness and the yucky nose... or so I thought. By Thursday night he was not himself, very clingy and fussy and running a temp of 102. Gave him some Tylenol and hoped for the best in the morning. No such luck, so a call was made to the doctor and a visit scheduled. They diagnosed him with a sinus infection (the second in his short little life) and gave a prescription for Amoxicillin.
The weekend went on and he just did not seem to improve. His fever was gone and his nose wasn't so yucky, but he still was not himself. Sunday afternoon he had a slight rash on his face, we chalked it up to heat. But this morning he woke up with his face and neck covered. Ugh!!! At least it didn't seem to be bothering him. I already had Lucas' 4-year check up scheduled for today so I called the doctor (again!) to see if Joseph could tag along.
Lucas wakes up around 9:00 (super late for him) and walks out looking confused, telling me something is making his ear itchy. After further inspection, it looks as if his ear drum has ruptured. At least that was my diagnosis based on my vast medical knowledge. I've never actually seen a ruptured ear drum, but I couldn't imagine what else it would be. So tack that on to the already-scheduled-visit, too.
I fix lunch, put Joseph down for a nap and settle Lucas in for an afternoon viewing of Cars 2. While cleaning up I notice some water trickling down the kitchen faucet and think this might require some looking into. Open the cabinet under the sink and sure enough, water everywhere.
Have I mentioned yet that Brandon left for another business trip today? That's right, he is GONE all week! So what do I do? Pick up the phone... "Dad!!!" :) Yes, I called my Daddy and yelled help! I do not know the least little thing about plumbing and I wasn't going to pretend I did. Luckily my dad does not live far and has a fairly flexible schedule, so he was able to stop by and perform a quick fix for me.
Upon arriving at the pediatrician's office, they check Lucas and report his ears look perfectly fine. I am baffled. They really have no explanation as to what happened earlier. They examine Joseph and declare he is allergic to penicillin and his ears (which were perfectly fine when we sat in this office 4 days ago) have fluid behind them and look worse than Lucas'. So pitch the amoxicillin, buy another antibiotic and start Benadryl.
It's official - I am DONE for the week! Unfortunately it is only Monday, so that is not an option. So who has a bottle of wine for me???
So Tuesday I took the dogs to the vet for routine check-ups and shots. I was pretty certain Casey had an ear infection in her right ear so I made sure to tip them off on that when I dropped them off. By myself. Carrying a very heavy 14-month-old and attempting to control two 80+ pound dogs. I cannot believe we successfully made it in the door. The nurse even said as much. Turns out that Casey's right ear was indeed infected, as was her left and both of Rugby's as well (although not as bad). Awesome.
The week goes on and Joseph gets fussy. I finally realize on Thursday that he had 4 molars pop through last week, quite possibly on the same day. Poor boy!! That definitely explained the crabbiness and the yucky nose... or so I thought. By Thursday night he was not himself, very clingy and fussy and running a temp of 102. Gave him some Tylenol and hoped for the best in the morning. No such luck, so a call was made to the doctor and a visit scheduled. They diagnosed him with a sinus infection (the second in his short little life) and gave a prescription for Amoxicillin.
The weekend went on and he just did not seem to improve. His fever was gone and his nose wasn't so yucky, but he still was not himself. Sunday afternoon he had a slight rash on his face, we chalked it up to heat. But this morning he woke up with his face and neck covered. Ugh!!! At least it didn't seem to be bothering him. I already had Lucas' 4-year check up scheduled for today so I called the doctor (again!) to see if Joseph could tag along.
Lucas wakes up around 9:00 (super late for him) and walks out looking confused, telling me something is making his ear itchy. After further inspection, it looks as if his ear drum has ruptured. At least that was my diagnosis based on my vast medical knowledge. I've never actually seen a ruptured ear drum, but I couldn't imagine what else it would be. So tack that on to the already-scheduled-visit, too.
I fix lunch, put Joseph down for a nap and settle Lucas in for an afternoon viewing of Cars 2. While cleaning up I notice some water trickling down the kitchen faucet and think this might require some looking into. Open the cabinet under the sink and sure enough, water everywhere.
Have I mentioned yet that Brandon left for another business trip today? That's right, he is GONE all week! So what do I do? Pick up the phone... "Dad!!!" :) Yes, I called my Daddy and yelled help! I do not know the least little thing about plumbing and I wasn't going to pretend I did. Luckily my dad does not live far and has a fairly flexible schedule, so he was able to stop by and perform a quick fix for me.
Upon arriving at the pediatrician's office, they check Lucas and report his ears look perfectly fine. I am baffled. They really have no explanation as to what happened earlier. They examine Joseph and declare he is allergic to penicillin and his ears (which were perfectly fine when we sat in this office 4 days ago) have fluid behind them and look worse than Lucas'. So pitch the amoxicillin, buy another antibiotic and start Benadryl.
It's official - I am DONE for the week! Unfortunately it is only Monday, so that is not an option. So who has a bottle of wine for me???
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Lessons
The past few days have given everyone in our house a chance to learn some new lessons and reflect on those learned in the past.
Sunday night Ella was in the bathroom as she had just gotten out of the shower. I was cleaning up dinner and Brandon was playing with the boys. All of the sudden a scream from the bathroom. We didn't respond because Ella is a girl and a screamer - she is always screaming "just because." But then another scream, just as intense, so I dropped everything and ran. She was holding her hand out; two fingers and her thumb had streaks of something brown, I assumed dirt or some other (more disgusting) substance. After what seemed like minutes, but in reality about 30 seconds, I realized she had shocked and burned herself. The wall around the electrical outlet was black. She led us to believe that she had simply touched it while she was still wet and that did the job. After some prying (and finding a mangled bobby pin near the sink) she confessed to sticking the pin in one of the holes. This left 3 burns on her left thumb and first 2 fingers. Our neighbor the firefighter was gracious enough to come check things out and advised us to have her checked at the ER. So off we went, at 8:00 PM on Sunday. They diagnosed her with second degree burns, cleaned and dressed the wounds and gave us a referral to visit Shriner's Burn Clinic the next day. (In this process they also gave her Tyelonol with Codeine, which was the only funny part of the entire experience because she became so loopy and jabbered endlessly about the craziest things that I could not stop laughing.) On Monday afternoon we set off to Shriner's Hospital in Cincinnati for a follow up. Luckily the burns had already started healing on their own and the doctors at Shriners gave Ella the all clear. We are to apply Aquaphor several times a day and put bandaids on the burns and follow up in 2 weeks. If all looks well by then we can even cancel the appointment. Although we have asked several times, I don't believe we will every know why she did this. She still somewhat traumatized about the whole thing and after telling her story to all the medical professionals and all of her friends who keep asking I have just let it go.
So several obvious, painful lessons learned by Ella and a quite expensive lesson learned by Mom and Dad - don't just assume your children know not to stick things in the outlets; get in their face and tell them point-blank!
Two sad events led me to reflect on lessons learned this week as well. On Monday the world lost two great educators, one from my high school days and one from my college days. It wasn't until I heard of their passings and started thinking back that I realized how very similar they were. Mr. Bill Westerman was a religion teacher when I was in high school although I was never fortunate enough to be in his class. But I have to admit, in high school I was A-OK with that because that man scared me half to death! He came across as very gruff and I don't recall ever seeing him smile. But then as an adult I had the opportunity to serve on several retreat teams with him and really got to know him and the absolutely wonderful, amazing man he was. There are not enough good words in the English language to describe Mr. Westerman and I feel very fortunate for having crossed paths with him and for the small amount of time he spent in my life. The life lessons I learned from him on those long weekends at St. Anne's Convent will forever remain with me. Professor Art Chesler was an Economics instructor at KWC. He was as round as he was tall and only taught those dreaded early-morning classes. As a business major, those classes were on my list of requirements so off I went, sometimes (most times) half asleep. I'm not going to pretend I absorbed every single word he said and I'm an econ expert now. But it's funny now, how often I am able to think back and have that "ah-ha" moment where I realize that wonderful knowledge I'm applying is something I learned in his class. He too came across as very gruff, a professor who was just there to talk to whoever cared to listen and didn't care what else was going on with you or anybody else. But then there were the times I actually engaged him in conversation, or our encounters outside the classroom, or the concern he expressed when he learned something had happened. I remember being shocked once when he asked how a classmate was doing with sincere concern! Chesler is certainly a man I will never forget.
The obvious lesson learned here is the oldie-but-goodie "Don't judge a book by its cover." But from both of these men I also learned to pay close attention to what is being said and think on it, then apply it to my life. It doesn't matter that one taught religion and spoke about his strong faith and the other taught economics and spoke about its application in everyday life. In one way or another, everything these men said applies to my everyday life.
And on a some-what related note... I started writing this post yesterday morning. It is now 9:30 PM on Day 2 and I am finally getting around to finishing it. Lesson learned? Perhaps don't attempt to do anything with 3 crazy kids running around!
Sunday night Ella was in the bathroom as she had just gotten out of the shower. I was cleaning up dinner and Brandon was playing with the boys. All of the sudden a scream from the bathroom. We didn't respond because Ella is a girl and a screamer - she is always screaming "just because." But then another scream, just as intense, so I dropped everything and ran. She was holding her hand out; two fingers and her thumb had streaks of something brown, I assumed dirt or some other (more disgusting) substance. After what seemed like minutes, but in reality about 30 seconds, I realized she had shocked and burned herself. The wall around the electrical outlet was black. She led us to believe that she had simply touched it while she was still wet and that did the job. After some prying (and finding a mangled bobby pin near the sink) she confessed to sticking the pin in one of the holes. This left 3 burns on her left thumb and first 2 fingers. Our neighbor the firefighter was gracious enough to come check things out and advised us to have her checked at the ER. So off we went, at 8:00 PM on Sunday. They diagnosed her with second degree burns, cleaned and dressed the wounds and gave us a referral to visit Shriner's Burn Clinic the next day. (In this process they also gave her Tyelonol with Codeine, which was the only funny part of the entire experience because she became so loopy and jabbered endlessly about the craziest things that I could not stop laughing.) On Monday afternoon we set off to Shriner's Hospital in Cincinnati for a follow up. Luckily the burns had already started healing on their own and the doctors at Shriners gave Ella the all clear. We are to apply Aquaphor several times a day and put bandaids on the burns and follow up in 2 weeks. If all looks well by then we can even cancel the appointment. Although we have asked several times, I don't believe we will every know why she did this. She still somewhat traumatized about the whole thing and after telling her story to all the medical professionals and all of her friends who keep asking I have just let it go.
So several obvious, painful lessons learned by Ella and a quite expensive lesson learned by Mom and Dad - don't just assume your children know not to stick things in the outlets; get in their face and tell them point-blank!
Two sad events led me to reflect on lessons learned this week as well. On Monday the world lost two great educators, one from my high school days and one from my college days. It wasn't until I heard of their passings and started thinking back that I realized how very similar they were. Mr. Bill Westerman was a religion teacher when I was in high school although I was never fortunate enough to be in his class. But I have to admit, in high school I was A-OK with that because that man scared me half to death! He came across as very gruff and I don't recall ever seeing him smile. But then as an adult I had the opportunity to serve on several retreat teams with him and really got to know him and the absolutely wonderful, amazing man he was. There are not enough good words in the English language to describe Mr. Westerman and I feel very fortunate for having crossed paths with him and for the small amount of time he spent in my life. The life lessons I learned from him on those long weekends at St. Anne's Convent will forever remain with me. Professor Art Chesler was an Economics instructor at KWC. He was as round as he was tall and only taught those dreaded early-morning classes. As a business major, those classes were on my list of requirements so off I went, sometimes (most times) half asleep. I'm not going to pretend I absorbed every single word he said and I'm an econ expert now. But it's funny now, how often I am able to think back and have that "ah-ha" moment where I realize that wonderful knowledge I'm applying is something I learned in his class. He too came across as very gruff, a professor who was just there to talk to whoever cared to listen and didn't care what else was going on with you or anybody else. But then there were the times I actually engaged him in conversation, or our encounters outside the classroom, or the concern he expressed when he learned something had happened. I remember being shocked once when he asked how a classmate was doing with sincere concern! Chesler is certainly a man I will never forget.
The obvious lesson learned here is the oldie-but-goodie "Don't judge a book by its cover." But from both of these men I also learned to pay close attention to what is being said and think on it, then apply it to my life. It doesn't matter that one taught religion and spoke about his strong faith and the other taught economics and spoke about its application in everyday life. In one way or another, everything these men said applies to my everyday life.
And on a some-what related note... I started writing this post yesterday morning. It is now 9:30 PM on Day 2 and I am finally getting around to finishing it. Lesson learned? Perhaps don't attempt to do anything with 3 crazy kids running around!
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