Randomness

• We got hit with a stomach bug this week. Eddie first on Wednesday, Anna and Tommy on Thursday, and me on Friday. Danny escaped it.
• Anna went to an 80's party tonight. It was fun to dress her in a totally outrageous outfit that I would have loved to wear when I was a kid.
• I pulled nearly 100 iris bulbs from my back flower beds. They had multiplied so much, and had so little space, that they were growing over the cement into the driveway!
• My fence needs some minor repairs and a major paint job. Anyone want to come help?
• Anna and Tommy missed the Patriotic Parade on Friday. They were sad, but we were able to listen to it from our backyard. It would have been Tommy's first parade.
• I can't wait for the cold front to come! Warm weather in November stinks.
• I'm getting my first MaryKay makeover on Wednesday morning. Anyone is welcome to come watch and get made over themselves! Bring your kids!
• I can't wait for Black Friday!
• High School All-Region is coming up and I'm nervous about how my students will do.
• Eddie has not slept through the night since he had the flu. We can't get him to sleep all night!! Any suggestions?

Yay! It's November!

I am SO glad that October is over! Danny and I both agree that this past October was the worst in our history together. It was bad. VERY bad. For those of you who don't know, it all started with a spray painted tuba. I won a tuba on e-bay, only to discover the loser previous owner, spray painted a silver-plated tuba silver! What the heck!? Two days later, Tommy came down with swine flu, and 2 days later Eddie got it. Tommy went back to school that Thursday and Friday, only to be sent home the next Monday because he was throwing up! He threw up for 2 days, got really dehydrated, went to the doctor, they thought he had appendicitis, sent him to the hospital for some tests, turns out he really was just constipated. He remained constipated for 3 days until we got things moving again right before Kyle and Damaris' fabulous wedding. The day after the wedding, my wonderful mother had a heart attack, and would have died had my fabulous sister gone to check on her. Later that week, Eddie came down with the same virus that Tommy had the week before. Not fun. We thought it was all over, until last Thursday when I got a call from the nurse at Anna's school saying she needed to see the doc, ASAP. She had a massive infection on her right foot, caused by an ant bite, that made it swell to almost twice the size and had track marks up her leg. And finally, the month ended with two TERRIBLE soccer games that my kids played in, and lost miserably. Sigh...I have so much to be thankful for this month, though, and I'm glad that my children are all well again, that I have plenty of money in savings to cover all of our medical bills, and that my tuba is getting repaired, for FREE, thanks to Danny!

Check out this giveaway!

I know some of you out there are in the need of a new faucet somewhere in your house, especially me! Check out this great giveaway on One Project Closer. I would totally choose the Mystique faucet if I won. Which one would you choose?

I need a vacation. NOW.

I have yet to get a full night's sleep. Eddie has been waking up in the middle of the night and it's been really hard to get him back to sleep. He's not been sleeping well, and is insanely cranky. The flu just wore him out and he's still recovering. AND he just hit his head on the coffee table and has a golf ball sized bump on his forehead!

Because of that darn flu, Danny and I spent the day Saturday completely disinfecting the house and all the toys in it. It took all day, but we were so happy to have a germ-free home! I was finishing up with some cleaning this morning and got my stuff together to teach tomorrow. Then, I got Eddie dressed and we went to playgroup. Eddie was hopping up and down in his car seat because he was SO excited to get to the park today! The poor kid has been cooped up in the house for the past week, so he totally deserved a couple of hours at the park. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. Only 5 minutes after we got to the park my cell phone rang. As soon as I heard Nurse Shannon's voice, I knew I wasn't going to be happy. She informed me that Tommy threw up during snack time and I needed to get him as soon as possible. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Eddie was really upset that we had to leave and I was so frustrated. I thought I was done with sick kids for a while! I thought I would be able to teach tomorrow! Grrrr....I just want to get a full night's rest, have all my kids healthy, my home germ-free, and my schedule back to normal!

Flu Update

Tommy is now completely over the flu. He's been fever-free for more than 24 hours, and he's doing great. He was a bit tired last night and crashed on the couch way before bedtime, so I decided to play it safe and keep him home again today. He was SO mad that he couldn't go to school, and Anna was SO mad that she had to go!

Eddie, on the other hand, is not doing so great. He was diagnosed with N1H1 yesterday and WOULD NOT take Tylenol or any other fever-reducing medicine last night! He was burning up and miserable and we finally just had to hold him down and forced it in him. He also has a nasty case of croup which is pretty rough combined with the flu. He has Tamiflu, but he refuses to take it, so I've been hiding it in his juice. I haven't had much sleep, and I'm completely exhausted.

I took the kids to get their flu shots yesterday, and I went first to show them that it's not too bad. Tommy screamed his head off and Anna hid in the corner! Wimps. Hopefully, we'll be flu-free here soon, and I can have a full night's rest!

Oink, Oink

Yep. Tommy has the N1H1. It sucks.

5am

At 5am Sunday morning, Eddie came into our room just crying and crying. He went to Danny's side of the bed, which is VERY odd, and wanted him to get out of bed. Danny did, and followed Eddie to the living room, where he tried to console him, but he was still crying and was really upset. Eddie grabbed Danny's hand and led him into his room and pointed to Tommy's bed where Tommy was coughing and throwing up. Eddie was really upset about what was going on with Tommy, but he calmed down as soon as he saw that Tommy was okay. Isn't that interesting? Eddie is such a loving and caring little guy! Also, when Tommy was asleep on the couch yesterday, Eddie would come up to him and touch his face, and pet his tummy, and then walk away. How sweet! Tommy's fever ranged from 100(with tylenol)-103.3(without tylenol) yesterday, and he complained of a tummyache and a sore throat. He's a little better this morning, but still woke up with a high fever (102), so we're taking him to the doctor in a couple of minutes. I was really happy to actually get an appointment with my doctor today, and I didn't even have to settle for someone else in the practice! I had to wait on hold for at least 10 minutes before I could talk to somebody just to make an appointment because they were SO busy! I'm crossing my fingers that he just has strep because that's fast and easy to treat.

Dear Vacuum,

I have been wanting to write this letter to you for a long time. A VERY long time. I remember the day that Danny brought you home. You were a pleasant suprise. Our faithful Dirt Devil had bit the dust, and we needed you desperately. I loved your HEPA filter, your self-propelled goodness, and all your gleaming tools. You were great. You sucked up all the stuff our kids left behind. Even mounds of sand from the sandbox. But times have changed. You've gotten older, and every time I use you, strong emotions come flooding to the surface. I can keep them in most times, but sometimes they just come out in bursts. Like last week, when I screamed at you, "Why can't you just suck up that stupid cheerio? Dangit! Why? WHY??!" I know it's not your fault. You are an inferior vacuum. You were from the start, but we didn't realize it until you started getting clogged every time we used you. You are a piece of crap. Everytime I see you I feel like hurtling you out the window, or putting you in the driveway and backing over you a couple of dozen times. Yes, these are strong emotions towards a vacuum, but I require your use almost daily, and with three kids, you just can't keep up. Today, I brought home a new, shiny vacuum. One that has less bells an whistles than you, but with consistant 5-star ratings from several sources, I feel I can trust my new vacuum much more than you. I will not donate you to Goodwill, or throw you in the trash with the 3-day-old diapers, though. I will put you in the garage to help us clean out our cars. The ONLY good trait you have is strong hose suction. I wish you the best of luck in your new role in our home. If you even think about losing your hose suction, though, we WILL let you rot with the diapers.

Sincerely,

Melinda