Just Writing...

I've been thinking about the good and bad today. And although I was feeling quite overwhelmed with the bad from yesterday and today, I realize that the good far outweighs. First, the bad...

Maren. She is sick, sick, sick. A couple of days ago she started with the infamous cough (as the doctor always says, 'It sure sounds like an asthma cough but her lungs sound fine.' That's pretty much what I heard all growing up...oh yeah, and still do!). Then everything escalated yesterday. Just the miserable-looking eyes with the runny nose, almost no voice, tired hurting body. She was a mess. After her nap she was sitting on the couch watching a show with Evan and I was on the computer trying to finish up my large assignment for the day. She came running in to me saying her eyes hurt. Hmm...pink eye, I figured. I told her I'd call the doctor and get some drops for them. Then all of a sudden she's freaking out because she says she can't see. What?!?! I look into her eyes. There's no goop in them or anything so why can't she see? I start to get a bit concerned, hold her on my lap, and check the status of her eyes on a regular basis. About 3 minutes after this she starts screaming in pain saying her thumb hurts. Random. I look at the thumb. Granted, everything had been hurting yesterday. And she was getting hurt left and right...biting her tongue, sitting on her fingers, getting hit in the head with the vacuum handle (yes, the vacuum does get used around here sometimes!). There seems to be nothing wrong with the thumb. I ask her about it and she is beside herself with pain, insisting that her thumb hurts so bad. I check it a few more times for a sliver or a bug bite or a bruise. Something. And then all of a sudden out pops this rash that goes from the base of her thumb, halfway up her arm. Looked like hives except little, tiny welts instead of the large ones. And it didn't itch. It hurt. Okay, enough weirdness for me. I decided to call Michael. Of course, he was with a patient and couldn't come to the phone. The lady he works with who was on the phone heard Maren pretty much screaming and made a comment about things not going well over here. I made the mistake of saying, 'Yeah, Maren's falling apart." Oh no!!! Did I really say that? Maren completely lost it...over the edge. 'I'm falling apart?!?!' My worrying was bad enough. I didn't need her thinking she was about to die, too. Okay, wrapping it up...I call the doctor's office and they tell me to bring her right now. That would be fine but we're in the bad stuff right now, remember? I had no car (you remember how much I LOVE not having two cars right now!). So then I call my sister and I think I probably demanded that she get to my house right away. Without question she got here in 15 - 20 minutes (it was a long, worrisome 20 minutes...with Maren's thumb pain not subsiding and her eyes only being marginal). To finish up with Maren, as we were turning down the doctor's street, I asked her how her thumb felt and she said, "oh, great". What about your eyes, Maren? "They're great, too." Wonderful. Doesn't it just figure. Turns out she likely has a crazy virus that does funny things like that. She does have an ear infection and possible pink eye. That was a lot for a mom of my caliber to handle. I think that when it comes to my kids I have an overly healthy level of paranoia. I know my kids are anxious to see Dallin, but I don't want that to happen until I'm long gone.

Then there's Parker...who also has the cold and pink eye. And as I was sitting at the desk at 11:15 last night with 30 more minutes of work to do, I threw in the towel. I was feeling really sick, too, and I just wanted to go to bed (I think I got to sleep somewhere around 12:45...ugh.)

So today has been another hard day with 2 1/2 sick kids (Evan is marginal but mostly okay). I think that mom's should get paid time and a half when they have sick kids and double time when they're sick, too. So how much would I be making today? Oh, yeah. Double nothing. Ha! But getting rewarded with lots of kid love (when they're not whining about feeling terrible).

Now, the good. Check this out. When my sister got here yesterday so I could take Maren to the doctor, she got hair clippers out of her car (she had been planning on cutting Evan's hair at her house but then we weren't able to go over there because of sickness and no car). Maren and I were gone no more than 20 minutes. When we got back, Evan was in the shower, rinsing off the hair from his haircut and Danica was halfway done with my dishes that I had yet to get to because nothing was getting attention yesterday other than Maren! Hello! That was amazing.

Today Sarah (yes, you, thank you) offered to bring over dinner which I happily accepted. I had grand plans of making something for dinner last night but when everything fell apart, we ended up getting pancakes and eggs. Ha! It always amazes me how wonderfully thoughtful, caring and loving the people in my ward and my friends are. I feel like they do way more for me than I am able to do back but I'm grateful.

I got a really small assignment today. I'll probably have it done only about an hour after the kids go to bed tonight. Now that's exciting! Maybe I can get some laundry folded or some dishes done or something. Yahoo!

And, lastly, I have something really exciting to look forward to. I am going to see A Midsummer Night's Dream on Saturday. And since it's totally crazy how that worked out, I'm going to write it down here. Michael's sister used to work with a guy who has season tickets to the ballet with his mom. We know him a little bit from visiting her at work and talking with him. He's been to our house a couple of times for family gatherings and stuff. Anyway, he's invited me a handful of times to go with them when they've had an extra ticket or something. But it's always on a Sunday. And he knows how tempting it is for me with ballet tickets dangling in front of me and that I don't do that kind of stuff on Sunday. But he wants to be nice so he still asks. And I've never taken him up on it. EVEN for Swan Lake...which I have never seen the full-length version of. Hello! Professional ballet dancer who has never seen Swan Lake...criminal. But it's true. And he went last year...without me. That was a bummer. Anyway, here's a curious string of events. When I saw that OBT was doing A Midsummer Night's Dream, I just thought I was going to die. It is one of my two favorite ballets to dance (the other one being Coppelia) and I had never been on the other side of the curtain, watching. I sent him an email saying that if he had any extra tickets for a day other than Sunday, to let me know. Well, he just went on Sunday. But do you know what happened? The power went out to the theater just as that portion of the program was starting. He had to get new tickets for another day. And do you know what day that is? This Saturday! And he has an extra one for me. Yay!

So, yes, there has been extreme chaos and craziness over here this last week but if I weigh the good and the bad, the good wins out. I am grateful for many blessings that I feel I don't deserve but am happy about. I'm grateful for friends and family who love us and help us. I'm grateful for an awesome Michael who calls and checks on my sanity, talks to the kids over the phone and helps take care of things when he gets home from work. I love my life.