We had a frenetic, though lovely, weekend. Despite Jon's back we set out at about 10am on Friday morning for NC. The drive was pretty straightforward, eight hours from door to door and the kids were great. Jon survived sitting for that long and, thanks to the pain in his back, never fell asleep so that was great for me. Normally he falls asleep within about 5 minutes of being a passenger and then I get to drive and deal with the kids and/or waking him up to deal with the kids. Really not fun. But this drive was great. Maybe I should buy a voodoo doll and mess with his back before all long road trips instead of having him drive all the time.
We didn't see as many people as we would have liked to in our 26 hours in NC, but the time we did spend with the friends we did get to see was lovely. The kids also relaxed more completely than they have in months. So we felt pretty good as we set off again at 8:30pm Sat night. Once again everyone did pretty well and Jon slept early on so that he could be awake for the wee hours to help me stay awake. All in all when we arrived at 3:30am we felt it was time well spent.
Then yesterday Jon took the kids to the park for the afternoon so I could get a break before he left. They all seemed to have a lovely time. Dinner was good, bedtime went well. All was good.
Then Jon left.
It appears that the universe thinks that times when I am on my own are a good time to test my mettle. Some of the following is my fault, some not.
First of all, being the first night that I have spent alone in this house, which still feels pretty new and unfamiliar, I locked the door to the garage. I told myself that I must remember I had done that so that I didn't just walk out in the morning and lock myself out. This might have even been a possible feat for my memory had Simon not woken up in a puddle of vomit.
Actually he didn't so much wake up in the puddle of vomit as sleep in it. I walked in the kids' room this morning to get Willa up and smelled barf. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it. Simon was out cold on his tummy. Then he rolled slightly and underneath him was a nice dried puddle of throw up. So I woke him up with a bath and hair wash, which he thought was extremely unfair and mean.
Meanwhile Jude was complaining again about the headache he has had off and on for the last three days and umming and awing about not wanting to go to school and Willa tells me that he tummy hurts, but she wants to go to school. So I get her breakfast ready. As I am dealing with still screaming Simon, Hazel refuses to get dressed, although there is no school for her today. I must remember to find out when she goes back.
Anyway, just as everyone is about ready to leave, Jude decides that in fact a day at home in bed with no tv, computer or wii, does not sound so appealing and that he wants to go to school. So we have 15 minutes for him to get dressed and fed and get to school before the big two get slapped with tardy passes. Hazel is now eating finally and Simon has some milk and then steals one of Hazel's slices of cantaloupe (I will pay for that later, you'll see).
We do actually manage to get out of the door in the nick of time with no yelling, but I am still waiting for the inevitable call from the nurse saying that I need to pick up one or the other for throwing up at school.
Then we drive home and open the garage door and....... did you remember?.........we are locked out. Thank goodness I threw my purse in the car and I have my phone, but I don't have the landlady's phone number. So I call Jon, who has it on his phone. I know he is in the middle of an interview, but being stuck outside in the rainy cold with a barfing kid in his pjs constitutes the right sort of emergency right? But some strange man answers Jon's phone and asks who I am. I figure I have the wrong number, tell him so and hang up, but my phone says that I dialled the right number. So I call back, get voicemail and leave a message. I wonder if I should go across the street and beg to hang out in their warm home, but we don't really know them that well yet. Only enough to know that they are major germophobes, so I figure my barfing baby won't be so welcome.
I decide that I must put aside any thoughts/worries about what happened in Boston and find another way to get the phone number of the landlady, so I spend $10 calling information and get it that way. Fortunately her husband is home and has a spare key so I drive over and get it.
I come home and Simon smells of sulfur so I change him and the diarrhea has started, but only a little. I think I am safe and put him in another cloth diaper. Why do I persist in being optimistic about these things? 15 minutes later he is back in the bath covered in nasty brown liquid that filled the diaper and ran down the legs of his pjs. Volumes and volumes. I put him in his third pair of pjs for the day, this time with a disposable diaper, but after that last one, I am not really holding out high hopes for the pampers to work any better than the bumkins.
So much for doing any grocery shopping today. I am now wondering; should I hope for everyone to get this so that I don't have to find some kind of dinner in the bare pantry?
Oh yes and Hazel decided to pee her pants while I was hosing Simon down and I broke my non yelling streak. Perfect timing eh? Oh well, I knew I wasn't up for any mother of week, month or year awards.
Now I need to go clean up breakfast.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Going Camping
There are certain things in our lives, which despite our best intentions and strong desire, never seem to actually happen. One of these is camping. Another is eating fondue, but that will have to be covered in another post.
This week we were supposed to go camping in Virginia and meet friends at the campsite over the weekend. Unfortunately the weather in the blue ridge was not in our favor. Plus Jon was worried about getting ready for his interview on Monday, for which he will be leaving on Sunday evening. Then there was the problem of finding a regulator for our stove, which is from the UK, where apparently they don't use propane in the same way. The campsite we found in warmer climes also had tent pads that were 2.6ft too narrow for our giant tent. However we had come up with a menu that circumvented any stove requirement. Virginia state parks also provide electrical hook ups so we could just bring our kettle for hot morning tea. And we figured we could just hang a bedroom off the edge of the tent pad.
We were ready to camp by the seat of out pants, so to speak.
But then, just as Jon was putting on his jeans this morning he fell suddenly to the floor. I thought he had twisted his ankle or something. But, when the pain subsided enough for him to speak, he managed to let me know that something in his lower back had suddenly gone and could I please just leave him to cry in peace.
Actually he wasn't really crying, but as Jude noted upon walking in, he really really wanted to.
After about 30 mins on the freezing floor he managed (with Bradley pain management techniques, showing that you just never know when reading all those natural childbirth books will finally come in handy) to get himself into the bed.
An hour or so later and he could stand and wander ever so little. Now several hours later he can squat to reach something on the floor with barely noticeable hissing.
Needless to say, we did not pack the car this morning, and we are still in NJ.
However, we decided that it was sad to let all that camping prep go to waste. So we popped open our 2 person tent in the living room and roasted hotdogs and s'mores in the fireplace and the kids are now trying to pretend that really they will (cross their dear little hearts) eventually fall asleep in the tent.
It all went surprisingly well. Simon has decided that S'mores are really REALLLY good. When I asked him if he wanted 's'more' I thought his head might get dislocated he was nodding so vehemently. I would have taken a picture, but there was already a small mountain of marshmallow goo and melted chocolate sinking into the carpet (hooray for that carpet cleaner stuff from Target!) and Simon was ready to crawl into the fireplace to get more of anything. And Jon obviously wasn't in any condition to jump up and grab the camera, so I will have to leave the vision of Simon covered in s'more innards to your imagination.
Tomorrow we are heading out in the wee hours to spend about 48 hours in North Carolina. I am going to drive and we are hoping Jon will make it with plenty of back stops because we could really use some time with friends.
So here's hoping that our first outdoor camping experience will be as much fun as our latest indoor camping experience. And that the universe will actually let us go outdoor camping. Should we make it, I think I will have to serve fondue in celebration.
This week we were supposed to go camping in Virginia and meet friends at the campsite over the weekend. Unfortunately the weather in the blue ridge was not in our favor. Plus Jon was worried about getting ready for his interview on Monday, for which he will be leaving on Sunday evening. Then there was the problem of finding a regulator for our stove, which is from the UK, where apparently they don't use propane in the same way. The campsite we found in warmer climes also had tent pads that were 2.6ft too narrow for our giant tent. However we had come up with a menu that circumvented any stove requirement. Virginia state parks also provide electrical hook ups so we could just bring our kettle for hot morning tea. And we figured we could just hang a bedroom off the edge of the tent pad.
We were ready to camp by the seat of out pants, so to speak.
But then, just as Jon was putting on his jeans this morning he fell suddenly to the floor. I thought he had twisted his ankle or something. But, when the pain subsided enough for him to speak, he managed to let me know that something in his lower back had suddenly gone and could I please just leave him to cry in peace.
Actually he wasn't really crying, but as Jude noted upon walking in, he really really wanted to.
After about 30 mins on the freezing floor he managed (with Bradley pain management techniques, showing that you just never know when reading all those natural childbirth books will finally come in handy) to get himself into the bed.
An hour or so later and he could stand and wander ever so little. Now several hours later he can squat to reach something on the floor with barely noticeable hissing.
Needless to say, we did not pack the car this morning, and we are still in NJ.
However, we decided that it was sad to let all that camping prep go to waste. So we popped open our 2 person tent in the living room and roasted hotdogs and s'mores in the fireplace and the kids are now trying to pretend that really they will (cross their dear little hearts) eventually fall asleep in the tent.
It all went surprisingly well. Simon has decided that S'mores are really REALLLY good. When I asked him if he wanted 's'more' I thought his head might get dislocated he was nodding so vehemently. I would have taken a picture, but there was already a small mountain of marshmallow goo and melted chocolate sinking into the carpet (hooray for that carpet cleaner stuff from Target!) and Simon was ready to crawl into the fireplace to get more of anything. And Jon obviously wasn't in any condition to jump up and grab the camera, so I will have to leave the vision of Simon covered in s'more innards to your imagination.
Tomorrow we are heading out in the wee hours to spend about 48 hours in North Carolina. I am going to drive and we are hoping Jon will make it with plenty of back stops because we could really use some time with friends.
So here's hoping that our first outdoor camping experience will be as much fun as our latest indoor camping experience. And that the universe will actually let us go outdoor camping. Should we make it, I think I will have to serve fondue in celebration.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
It All Begins - For Real
So now that I have posted that great long thing, I am not sure I really have that much to say. We got in to see an allergist for Hazel yesterday and are doing all new bloods today to see if, as we suspect, she is now reacting to tree nuts as well as peanuts. Goodbye christmas cake and dundee cake and pecan pie. Ah well.
Uh Oh the time for typing is all used up. Simon is awake again. Hopefully the next post will be juicier than the disclaimer was.
Love to all.
Uh Oh the time for typing is all used up. Simon is awake again. Hopefully the next post will be juicier than the disclaimer was.
Love to all.
It All Begins - The Disclaimer
It might seem odd to start a blog with a disclaimer, but they say to remember your audience when you write and that caused a bit of a brain blockage over here. In case you don't know or don't remember correctly. There are 4 children in this family and that doesn't leave me a lot of time for typing really. So there can only be one blog. But then, who should be the audience, my future readership?
Since the blog is set to private, it won't be the great cyber unwashed, so anonymity is out. If I choose friends then I can complain and groan about the idiosyncracies and just plain annoying bits in all of our relations, but the grandparents might get upset about not getting access to all the up to date info and photos and I certainly don't want to have to post them twice.
If I choose family, then I have to be more careful about what I say in order to preserve relationships with people who would not normally choose to be within my friend circle, and no, my chosen friends, they would probably not like you either, so that throws a bit of a kink in the works really.
In the end it seemed best to just invite everybody and write what I want to write with a nice disclaimer at the beginning. So here it is:
Please remember that no matter much I might love and/or appreciate you, sometimes you will still annoy the pants off of me. Even you, my darling husband. So when a small complaint appears that you feel might be directed at you, so it may be, but please do not take large offense. You have probably been annoying me in these small ways for years and hopefully we still get along fine. Take a deep breath and move on. I might even be talking about someone else!
You might find that something from what you feel is long ago has reared it head, quite unneccessarily, again. Two points:
a: I might be elaborating for the newer people in my circle who may not have the whole history at their fingertips and I want to get the whole sordid tale out for them to help them understand the way I feel now. This telling may not be unbiased, but hey, it's my blog, what, really, do you expect, journalism?
b: It might be that unbeknownst to you, what you consider old news, long buried, might still in fact be a bit raw for me/us. If you never realized before, that is because I do try to smooth things over when I can. This blog, unfortunately, allows things to be recorded so that people can read them over and over. Sometimes my better judgment gets away from me and I vent a bit. This does not mean that I hate you or that I am always walking around harboring resentment and muttering evil things about you. Just that sometimes I want to let it all out. If it is bothering you, skip that post. It was clearly meant for a target group that you are not a member of.
Always remember you are still part of the select group that gets to read my cyberdiary (tee hee, twitter, twitter) and I am trying to be fair to everyone while I am writing, as much as I am able.
Finally if it all gets to be too much for you and you can't take it anymore, please stop reading. The photos are clearly not worth it for you. Preserve our relationship in whatever way you can! We are worth it in real life if not on the computer screen!
Lots of Love to you all.
Since the blog is set to private, it won't be the great cyber unwashed, so anonymity is out. If I choose friends then I can complain and groan about the idiosyncracies and just plain annoying bits in all of our relations, but the grandparents might get upset about not getting access to all the up to date info and photos and I certainly don't want to have to post them twice.
If I choose family, then I have to be more careful about what I say in order to preserve relationships with people who would not normally choose to be within my friend circle, and no, my chosen friends, they would probably not like you either, so that throws a bit of a kink in the works really.
In the end it seemed best to just invite everybody and write what I want to write with a nice disclaimer at the beginning. So here it is:
Please remember that no matter much I might love and/or appreciate you, sometimes you will still annoy the pants off of me. Even you, my darling husband. So when a small complaint appears that you feel might be directed at you, so it may be, but please do not take large offense. You have probably been annoying me in these small ways for years and hopefully we still get along fine. Take a deep breath and move on. I might even be talking about someone else!
You might find that something from what you feel is long ago has reared it head, quite unneccessarily, again. Two points:
a: I might be elaborating for the newer people in my circle who may not have the whole history at their fingertips and I want to get the whole sordid tale out for them to help them understand the way I feel now. This telling may not be unbiased, but hey, it's my blog, what, really, do you expect, journalism?
b: It might be that unbeknownst to you, what you consider old news, long buried, might still in fact be a bit raw for me/us. If you never realized before, that is because I do try to smooth things over when I can. This blog, unfortunately, allows things to be recorded so that people can read them over and over. Sometimes my better judgment gets away from me and I vent a bit. This does not mean that I hate you or that I am always walking around harboring resentment and muttering evil things about you. Just that sometimes I want to let it all out. If it is bothering you, skip that post. It was clearly meant for a target group that you are not a member of.
Always remember you are still part of the select group that gets to read my cyberdiary (tee hee, twitter, twitter) and I am trying to be fair to everyone while I am writing, as much as I am able.
Finally if it all gets to be too much for you and you can't take it anymore, please stop reading. The photos are clearly not worth it for you. Preserve our relationship in whatever way you can! We are worth it in real life if not on the computer screen!
Lots of Love to you all.
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