Filed under: Life, in general, Melancholy, Money | Tags: debt, Money, vacations
It is never fun to realize in the middle of the night that you will be overdrawn in the morning. Just as I was drifting off, I remembered our mortgage coming out today and the fact that we did not have enough money in our checking account to cover it or the life insurance coming out in the next few days, either. This does not mean anything dreadful for us, just a transfer from our line of credit to cover it. But it was while I listened to account balances that it suddenly dawned on me – we’re well on our way to having a very large amount of money owed. If we had no plans for the next few years regarding our home, it may not matter, but as it is, there are many repairs and replacements to be made. Not only that, but we have no money in savings, which means that our tax refund this next year needs to be devoted to that so that we have money for a down payment on another house. The thought of bringing another baby into this 800 square foot home is a bit scary to me, at least in the long term view of things.
So with this eye opening experience comes the death of a dream: our kid-free vacation. I suddenly realized, at a quarter to one in the morning, that if we took the vacation we’ve been planning, we would be borrowing another large amount of money from our line of credit – probably well over a thousand dollars. Added to that is the fact that while Mike will have no problem getting time off, his company does not bank vacation hours, so we would have to pay him his missed wages out of our line of credit as well, adding another thousand or more to make our bill payments. I had been counting on paying off the line of credit in the spring with what will almost undoubtedly be a large tax refund. When I thought about it, I could hear advice that someone must have given me in the past: don’t spend money you don’t have. I should be able to count on the tax refund, but I don’t actually know how much it will be, or if there could be unexpected expenses coming up in the new year.
I really did feel like something had died. I still do. Mike and I didn’t have a “real” honeymoon and the only trips we’ve taken without any children were before Jenny was born. With each pregnancy, I committed myself to finding time to take a trip of some sort on our own before the new baby came. The unfortunate thing is that due to one thing or another, we never took that trip. This time was no exception to my committment, although the planning had started before I knew I was pregnant. And this time will apparently be no different from the past – I will have dreamt about this week or so alone with my husband and having a break from my kids – and I will have to give it up. If the plan was six months away, it might be possible to work our way out of the debt and scrimp and save for this vacation, but as it is, we have a limited window of opportunity. If we went ahead with our plan to go on a cruise – my ideal vacation as I wouldn’t have to do any work – we would have to go no later than the 3rd of January. Our latest plan was to go in the middle of December, just before Christmas. And now that dream must die, for the sake of being good stewards of our money.
This would not be nearly so sad if I thought it was possible to have this vacation sometime after the baby is born. If I knew that I could go as soon as I was done nursing this baby (after May of 2011), I might be able to wait and not feel this so heavily. But Mike’s parents were reluctant enough to take three children – I can’t imagine that they would be willing at all to take all four. We have friends who were going to take our kids for some of the time on this trip, but if we waited, it would be our four kids plus their four and the one or two more that they plan to have in a year or so.
So last night was spent crying and trying hard to fall asleep, feeling that this thing had died in me. This dream of having time with Mike and time away from the kids must be buried now. I don’t know how I’m going to fully give it up and trust God to provide. I’m trying to talk myself into thinking that it was a selfish and self-centred thought to want this vacation in the first place, that it certainly wasn’t what God would ever want us to do. That He would frown upon us leaving our children and spending money on something frivolous.
With all of this comes the sense of responsibility to dig us out of this debt, to work towards fixing the house up to sell (new windows, paint, doors, etc), to save money to go towards another house, to limit our spending considerably in the future. I keep asking myself where I should draw the line. Is it so bad that I should stop going to Bible study because I have to pay for childcare each week and gas to get there? Do I need to get a job? We lived with a huge amount of money against our line of credit for years because of buying our van and we just paid it off last year – I don’t want to live with a shadow over my head again. Of course, there are lights of inspiration in my mind – what if we get another low interest credit card and transfer everything over? But then the answer is still the same – we may not be paying as much interest, but it is still debt. And the thought that we would somehow get some unexpected financial blessing is foolish to me – God would surely not reward our debt. Another little problem we’ll soon be facing is that Mike’s paychecks will be going back to normal again. He has been bringing in an extra five to six hundred dollars in overtime each paycheck, but the overtime will be gone in a week or two and I’ll be faced with making ends meet and paying off debt with that much less money to work with.
I don’t have the answers. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I assume that I will cry a bit every day over my lost trip – the lost time. I spent too much time dreaming about our plan and not enough time looking at reality and now I’m going to pay for it.
Filed under: Life, in general, Melancholy | Tags: depression during pregnancy, loneliness
I imagine that I must have half a dozen posts just like this one. Today is just a lonely day. Winter does not help, as going out just isn’t as fun as it was when we could go to the park and sit and play for hours in the sunshine. No, now the ground is covered in snow and people are staying inside.
I feel at a terrible disadvantage having three children. Many of my friends from church have one or two, mostly because they are behind us in having kids, rather than being totally finished having them. It is easy for two girls with two kids each to get together and visit – it is a lot harder when one has more than two. Houses get crowded and things end up broken and eventually they stop inviting you because your kids are just too much.
I love my children. I think they’re great. They’re entertaining, smart, kind. I don’t know why people are so afraid of them. The other half of the equation is that my house is a matchbox. If someone comes over with one mobile child, it’s not so bad, but even with two it’s noisy and crowded and uncomfortable.
I would like to sit here, keep on crying and feeling sorry for myself, but my kids picked today to wake up after less than an hour of napping. I so desperately need some rest, if only to get over this. A half hour of sleep can clear even my worst moods. But now it’s only an hour until Mike gets home and supper should be started soon.
I’m so exhausted. I’m so terribly lonely.
Filed under: Holidays, Illness and Injury, Kiddos, Life, in general, Mi familia | Tags: Blogging, flu, Life
I miss the old days – when words just floated through my fingers into the keyboard and extreme fatigue or nausea didn’t place a block in my head. But I have to re-start somewhere as I’m not about to give up. I’m getting a netbook soon and I’m planning great things with it – like spending one evening a week catching up on my writing – so I’m not going to quit blogging just yet.
Anyway, here is a recap of this past week (post-birthday entry).
Jenny got over her infection quickly, thank heavens, but all the kids are still a bit runny nosed. Erik was in the ER on Friday night because his breathing was so wheezy and I didn’t really feel like leaving it alone was in his best interest. He just now finished up a four day course of prednisone. He’s still coughing up a storm and I’m a little bit concerned that he might need antibiotics to get rid of it.
Friday after the hospital, I went to watch Mike play hockey with his dad. I don’t know who won. I spent the majority of the time taking Elias to the bathroom. I’m seriously thinking that he likes the bathrooms in the new arena so much that he’s peeing his pants just so we have to go there. The third time I took him, we stayed there for nearly fifteen minutes, drying his pants and underwear under the automatic dryers. Jenny kept saying she had to go again while we were there - I think this is because she really likes the sink and wanted an excuse to wash her hands one more time . My kids are so weird sometimes. The big perk to Friday night and that ER visit is that Mike set it up for the kids to spend the night at his parents’ house, since he was playing hockey and we didn’t know whether I would be going home or not. They left the game a bit early and I just had Erik for the rest of the night.
We had a lazy start on Saturday, mostly because of our late night on Friday and the fact that this was the first Saturday that Mike has had off for about a month. I honestly cannot remember much about the day, except that it was fairly surreal having only one child to deal with. We headed over to Mike’s parents’ house around eleven and played games and napped for most of the afternoon (read: Mike played games, I napped). We had a nice Mennonite meal for supper – corn, Farmer’s Sausage (don’t ask – I have no idea what to compare it to because I’ve never eaten it…it smells good cooking, anyway), homemade noodles and tilapia. Okay, so the tilapia was mostly for me and not really Mennonite at all. In fact, being blackened cajun tilapia, it was pretty much the total opposite of Mennonite food. Mike had yet another game on Saturday night, this time with his rec. team and I decided to go because we were already out anyway. Once again, I don’t know who won. I spent most of that game telling my children not to play with the caution tape strung all over the arena and feeling frustrated that one woman there was letting her grandson do whatever he wanted with it. And also, talking to my sister-in-law and her sister-in-law. I haven’t had much time to talk to Marcy lately and it was a real treat. She has the baby bug pretty bad so she’s enjoying our kids and my pregnancy and hoping to have a few more next year.
Sunday came too early as we had decided to go to the early service. We did this because our Thanksgiving meal was set for 3:30 that afternoon. Second service gets out after noon most weeks, which would give us about forty-five minutes to go shopping for salad fixings (since that was my offering to the meal), have lunch and get the kids home and to bed for a nap. We decided that although we would inevitably be very tired in the morning, we would force ourselves to get up and get to church by 9:15. Church was over by 10:30 and we headed out to get everything done. The great thing is that the kids were down, I had the salad more or less ready to go and we were able to have a nap, too.
Thanksgiving dinner went very well and we celebrated my birthday afterward. Again, I can’t remember much except that my sister-in-law is making me a nice crocheted toque (a hat, Americans 
) and Mike’s parents gave me a nice bit of money to add to my computer fund. We left in time to get home and put the kids to bed in a hurry before Mike went to yet another hockey game – this time a church game. Three hockey games with three different teams in three days - yes, that’s my life. This time I stayed home (obviously, since I didn’t feel that leaving the kids home alone was a good idea) and was determined to be productive. I sat at the computer for at least forty-five minutes and suddenly started feeling sick to my stomach. It got worse over the next hour and I wondered whether I should stick to the plan or avoid any work. I finally decided that I would feel sick whether I folded laundry or swept the floor or laid on the couch reading. I swept under the table (I think my kids think we have a dog – they leave plenty to eat for him under there…come to think of it, having a dog would make my job easier at times). I noticed while I was sweeping that the walls were coloured on, spilled on, and scuffed up and decided that while I was at it, I should wash them. So, totally against my nature, I grabbed a bucket and some towels and started scrubbing. With the aid of a Magic Eraser (I love those things!), I got it looking much better. They are still in sore need of a coat of paint, but at least now if I feel like painting, the walls will be clean.
I finished up the evening by folding about four loads of laundry and getting another two or three going. In between the cleaning, I threw up a few times. It never did make me feel better.
On Monday we managed to sleep in until nine and then Mike got up with the kids and fed them and entertained them until after eleven, when I finally got up. The strangest thing is that with how sick I was on Sunday night, I expected to feel bad when I woke up. I felt totally normal on Monday morning – go figure! When we finally were up and dressed and fed, we went back to Mike’s parents’. My sister-in-law from out of town had wanted to play a particular game all weekend and Mike and his dad finally played it with her that afternoon, just before she and her husband had to head home. I played another game with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law while the kids napped (or rather, while they messed around and got into trouble about six times for not napping).
After more food, more dessert and a few more games, we went home and had supper. I talked to my brother after not talking to him for a few months and Mike slept a bit while the kids were watching a movie. This was also when Elias decided to somehow get the disk drive stuck open. We really can’t figure it out and will probably be taking it somewhere to get it fixed. Mike rented a movie that we didn’t like very much and we stayed up later than we should have. Nothing new there, anyway.
This morning at around seven, I woke up to hear Jenny yelling, “Oh, my! Oh, my! Oh, my!” I ran in and she said something about her “breathe” and that she was going to throw up. I rushed her into the bathroom and..nothing. I figured taking her back to my room would be smarter than sending her back to bed, just in case the puking really did happen at some point. It turned out to be a very good decision – although my sheets are now in the wash and my garbage can has vomit in it. After throwing up, we both went back to sleep and slept until after nine when the boys woke up. I’m now assuming that whatever was wrong with me on Sunday night is what was wrong with Jenny this morning, as she seems just fine now. I guess it’s just a really short-lived bug.
Anyway, I should probably be having a nap right now, but like I said, you have to start somewhere and now seemed like a good time for it. And anyway, I can always go to bed early tonight. Oh, right, Mike has another hockey game. Sigh.
Filed under: Life, in general
Today, I need peace. I need my house to smell like butter melting with chocolate chips. I need quiet. I need my children to sleep a sound sleep. I need my stomach to calm down and my head to clear.
I need to focus my efforts creatively and wipe another to-do off the list. I need a deep breath of clean air. I need my husband to come home and talk to me. I need to make it through the day without spending any money.
I need a wholesome and satisfying meal in the evening that everyone will find enjoyment in. I need a deep sleep through the night, with sweet dreams and without interruptions. I need a day of rest tomorrow.
And yes, I will acknowledge that basically all of these things that I “need” are in reality just wants. But today makes me feel these things so strongly that I can’t bring myself to call them wants, even when I know that’s all they are.
Oh, my poor blog, I’m sorry. I just can’t seem to find the motivation to write these days. Or the time. Crafting and feeling sick has taken up my time lately and I have neglected you.
I am eagerly awaiting the end of certain responsibilities in my real life and looking forward to simpler times. I am waiting to get a deep breath of figurative fresh air. I am holding off on dreaming much lately because I can’t stand the pain of waking and finding these dreams to be impossibilities.
I am lonely as of late – spending a lot of time at home, wishing for friends who are not here. Trying to keep busy with craft swaps and cyber-friends so that I don’t think much about my loneliness. I’ve been here before – it’s nothing new – but I never imagined it happening again. With each child, my heart becomes fuller but my life becomes more isolated.
I yearn for a vacation – a real one. I worry that the vacation we are planning will fall through for one reason or another. That money will be too tight, that we won’t have people to watch our children or that we will just let it slide like we have in the past. It has always been my goal to go away for a bit when expecting another baby and yet it’s never happened. Sometimes I question my motives – ask myself whether it’s okay to want this so much, just a week with Mike and no one else.
My enthusiasm for projects I’ve started has waned, but I must finish. I’m in two more craft swaps and then it will probably be in my best interest to stay out of any unless they are very small. It’s enjoyable at times and the chance to make a sort of friend does seem to make my quality of life somewhat better for a time. But when it comes down to it, it’s just more to get done in the day, more money to spend, more things to fill the space I don’t have.
So, dear journal of sorts (you know how I feel about the word blog), I’m sorry I’ve left you alone for so long, but I simply do not have inspiration as of late. I only have a sick stomach and an overwhelmed mind.
Yes, folks, it’s that bad. I have plenty to write about but don’t even know what to call it. I’m not even sure how to write about it.
I have come to the conclusion that I am under some sort of attack. I feel depressed, out of place, friendless and utterly without motivation. I looked forward to today for weeks – my second craft and hobby day, hopefully starting a tradition of craft days every other month (the first one was in May). I couldn’t think of what to work on and then when I went ten minutes early to set up, it was pointless. I was alone for an hour and fifteen minutes. My sister-in-law showed up at that point, and the wife and daughter of our children’s pastor came another hour later. My mother-in-law came shortly after them to visit for awhile, but not to work on anything. She left and my sister-in-law left shortly after that. I went for lunch and came back and still there were only three of us there. A friend of mine came in the afternoon to see what we were doing and then left five minutes after she got there. I was then left alone at three-fifteen until it ended at four. At that point, I knew that I could have left, but I was actually being productive, so I stayed until four and then packed everything up and put things back. I threw out two pots of coffee and have now just remembered that I forgot to wash the carafes out, which is a big deal at our church.
I’m stressed. I wish I could give up every responsibility outside of my home. Mike and I are now in charge of a weekly ministry that we are tiring of in our fourth year. We are not passionate about it and it interferes with our family all too often. If our kids were older I imagine it wouldn’t be so bad, but as it is, we either have to bring them all with us or one of us stays home with them and the other goes alone.
I want out. I want a break. I’m tired of saying yes because I know that no one else will do it. I’m tired of putting my efforts into a church that has practices I totally disagree with. I’m tired of going to a church where I just wish the service would end because it’s so lifeless. I hate the feeling that I have to stay, that we have to stay. I suspect that if we left it would cause a rift in our family and I just don’t feel willing to do that right now.
I’m tired. No, I’m exhausted.
Filed under: Home Sweet Home, Kiddos, Life, in general, Money, reading | Tags: large families, multiple children, space solutions, small house, Mary Ostyn, A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family
I am currently working my way through A Sane Woman’s Guide to Raising a Large Family by Mary Ostyn. It is fantastic so far. The author is the mother of ten – four biological children and six adopted – and she advocates attachment parenting and co-sleeping andis a Christian to boot. She also has a very relaxed attitude about her large family. She obviously takes it seriously, but isn’t uptight about it. My favourite part so far was when she admitted that she doesn’t make her bed every day. Ahhh, how nice. A little reality when it comes to housework. She talks about the perceptions people have of the mothers of large families – that they are either insane or incredibly organized – and how she is neither.
Anyway, I’ll probably get around to a more detailed book report when I finish the book, but I realized that what I wanted to write about today tied into what I learned reading this book.
One of the things that Mrs. Ostyn advocates is room-sharing between children. Obviously this is necessary in a family with ten children unless you are millionaires and can afford a house with eleven rooms. She also encourages readers to change their current space rather than assume they need something bigger when they add to their family.
I would not be considered the mother of a large family – yet. I intend to be in that category eventually, but with only three children, I’m not quite “crazy” yet, especially living here, where it is very common to have a minimum of four children per family. Knowing that I at least hope for more children makes me want to think of myself this way even now and prepare our family for more children even before we are expecting them (yeah, that answers that question – I am not pregnant again…yet).
We currently live in a two bedroom, one bathroom home with no basement and only about 800 square feet of living space. We have a shed for storage, but no attic and no garage. We have three children sharing one room that contains a bunk bed, a toddler bed, a playpen, bookcase, toy box and Little Tikes vanity. We have a total of two closets in our home. Yes, two. No pantry and a minimal amount of kitchen cabinet space. We currently have over the door hooks or organizers in every room, just for extra space for toys, towels and clothes. There was a time not too long ago that I looked around this house in despair and wondered how we would manage if we could not move before another baby was born. I have talked to God about this and asked that He not give us another child until we can move, but now I think He may have other plans for us. Fifty years ago, families lived in houses the size of ours with four kids – and often more. They did not have huge television sets, computers or an abundance of modern appliances taking up space. Their children did not have every new Playskool toy from the Sears Wish Book (was there a Wish Book back then?) and did not need what our children seem to “need” now.
I will admit that we have too much stuff. We have more clothing than we need, my children have more toys than they need and we have managed to fill much of our space with other things that we very seldom use.
While getting rid of at least some of this stuff will help our space issues immensely, adding better storage solutions will help with the things we can’t go without. One issue I have is running out of places to store food. It is a huge money saver to buy in bulk and limit your grocery shopping trips as much as possible. The problem I have is that when I do stock up like this, I end up with food all over my counter tops and even on the floor in my kitchen because there is no cabinet space left for it. Yesterday while putting something up on the wall in my hallway, I realized that if we put shelves up at the top of the walls in the hallway, they would not be seen by most people (as the hallway is mostly hidden from view when in the living room) and they would hold some of the gadgets I don’t use often, or the bulk foods I don’t have room for in the kitchen. The size of our house comes in handy here, as the hallway is right outside the kitchen and I wouldn’t have to walk far to get to what I needed. Yes, it may make our house look a bit cluttered to have shelves all over the walls, but it is a space solution that is relatively cheap and does not require any actual construction.
I have determined that we could easily sleep four kids in the second bedroom, although the space will get tight when it comes to clothing and toys/books. Under bed storage will be used under every bed (including the play pen when possible) and whatever isn’t needed in the house will go to the shed. I am also considering buying a second, smaller shed to go just off the back deck so that the kids’ clothing could be stored there when not being used (i.e. larger and smaller sizes that are being saved for other kids). In the winter, it is a pain in the neck to have to walk all the way across the back yard to get to the shed for kids and maternity clothes when needed, but there is simply no space in the house for the dozens of bins required to hold all that clothing.
My hope is that by using our space more efficiently, we will be able to stay in this house much longer than we assumed we would be able to. We paid $126,000 for this house four years ago and our payments with property taxes are under $900 a month – you cannot beat that without living in a trailer or renting. Currently, we would have to pay upwards of $250,000 for the size of house we would want to move into – something with a minimum of three bedrooms and a basement. Staying here a little longer will enable us to save money and build up the equity in our home. It will also help us down the road to know how to live in somewhat cramped circumstances and know that we can manage it without any trouble (or without much trouble, anyway).
Stay tuned for more on the book in a few days (I’m almost done!). And if you don’t want to wait, buy the book – or do like I did and check it out at your local library.
This is one for the ladies. Sorry, men – if there happen to be any men reading this totally female-centric blog – this one will not apply to you unless you have another life going on…and I’m not going to get into that.
No, this one is for the girls. Particularly those who are larger in the chest, due to genetics, pregnancy or breastfeeding. I will share with you my story, which has just kept getting worse (and yet, suddenly better this year).
I wore a size 36 DD by the time I was fourteen. I stayed at that size for a while, then put on weight, going up to as big as 42 DD at one point. I had a bad back through my teenage years and even considered getting a breast reduction. When I got pregnant and nursed my babies, I wore a 40 DD or bigger, assuming that I had the right fit. I lost twenty-five pounds on top of my baby weight after I had Elias and it was then that I noticed a difference. I couldn’t wear underwire anymore! I…ahem..just fell right out the bottom of my bra if I did. I assumed that this was due to things being heavier because of milk production. I stuck to wireless nursing bras and occasionally wore underwire if I had to – for two years.
Then I went into a very expensive lingerie store in town and asked to try some bras on, stipulating that they had to be soft-cup. The girl asked my size and I told her I was a 40 DD. She said she didn’t think so. I told her my problem with underwire and she said I was probably wearing the wrong band size. She looked at me and said that while I did need a larger cup size, I was in fact quite “tiny” around the ribs. Boy, did that make me feel good! She recommended a much smaller band size and a MUCH larger cup size. I tried on everything from F to I, and I ended up in a 36 H. Yes, that’s right, H. And yet as soon as I put the right size on, I felt better. I looked better. It was amazing!
I kept wearing nursing bras from Wal Mart for some time, but only because I was still nursing too much not to. I wore my nice new yellow lace bra when I knew I wouldn’t need baby access. When I stopped nursing so much, I started wearing my new bra all the time. Until it started to look a little worn. So I went back in to the same store and tried more on. The one I liked best was plain – smooth cups, no seams, tan, with one tiny little bow. But, man, did it make me look good! It managed to make me look two or three sizes smaller than what I am, which is always good in my book. There was no price tag, but most of the bras I tried on were between forty and sixty dollars. Expensive (far more expensive than Wal Mart), but worth it. I asked about the price of this plain-Jane bra….$94! I knew we couldn’t really afford it then, but figured I’d wait on it and go back.
So, I went back yesterday and bought it. With tax, it came to $106, which makes it the most expensive piece of clothing I’ve ever bought (other than my wedding dress). But it was so worth it.
What women don’t seem to realize is that support is so important! Particularly when you are nursing a baby and you get heavy chested. I have so many friends who say their husbands balk at expensive bras and tell them that they can’t spend the money. Well, sorry, guys, but you don’t have boobs. We do. You don’t have an extra five to ten pounds hanging out in front of you, dragging down on your shoulder muscles and pulling on your back. We do. And I say we budget in good bras – they will be far cheaper than years of massage, chiropractic work or physiotherapy. So maybe you wait until the next paycheck – maybe you save the money you make on a yard sale or get for a birthday, but get yourself a good bra! If you are nursing, get yourself a good nursing bra and a nice one for when you don’t need one anymore. I have one friend in particular who sags halfway to her belly because she isn’t wearing the right size bra. She says her husband doesn’t want her spending the money and she doesn’t want to be measured. I am certainly not telling you to ignore the values of your husband or disrespect his wishes. But it may help to explain the benefits of a good bra. It may also help to take him along with you so that he can see the difference a good one makes. I always take Mike and always get his opinion on one before I buy it. That way, even though it is more of a utility item for me – one I use every day – it becomes something sexy in his mind.
Anyway, I hope I haven’t gone too far or been too explicit, but there are some things that people (particularly Christians) are afraid to say, and I am just not afraid to say this. Get a good bra! It’s worth it!
Whatever I promised to write is gone from my mind. My life has been beyond chaotic (for me, anyway) for the last few weeks. We’ve been through hospital stays, various illnesses, teething, and most recently, have been sleeping in the living room for the last three nights so that Erik will learn to sleep through the night.
I wish I could blame my lack of updating on writers block – at least that can be gotten over – but it has more to do with life as of late. I’d much rather have writers block than the circumstances I’ve been in for the last month. Adding the craziness of VBS to the mix didn’t help, and neither did feeling I was pregnant for a good week and a half. I’m not, by the way. I’m blaming the sick stomach on stress and the fatigue on…stress.
Anyway, I’m sure one of these days I’ll get around to really saying what’s on my mind, but I just don’t have it in me right now. Sorry. 
Where do I start?
Here, I suppose.
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind so I’ll just have to do highlights. Part two will probably cover the last week, or might just be rambling about how much I hate cleaning, how hot it is and the frustrating activities of my stomach.
Last week was sick week. My children puked. I puked. My children got pink eye. I did not. (Thankfully!)
Last weekend was “hardly ever home weekend”. We started with a wedding two hours away. We left at nine o’clock Saturday morning and got home at eleven that night. The boys were still sporting a bit of colour on their eyeballs which succeeded in freaking a few people out. We were in the car way too much that day and poor Erik was stuck in a stroller for most of the time when we weren’t in the car. The wedding was outside at the bride’s parents property. Their muddy property. So Erik, who does not walk yet, had to be kept off the ground by his mother who just couldn’t bear to have him all muddy. We went out for supper and he wouldn’t even stay in the highchair, but kept crawling out of it onto the table.
We got to bed so late that night that we decided we’d stay home from church the next day. This is a rare thing for us and it was more than a little bit strange, but it was oh, so nice to stay in bed until ten and not have to rush to get out of the door. We did, however, get out of the door around noon to attend an airshow. Tickets were fifteen dollars per adult and parking at the airport was fifteen dollars also. We thought we’d be smart and save money by parking the van at the arena and taking the shuttle to the airport, which was free. We packed snacks, changes of pants for Elias, earplugs and various other items, but decided not to bring chairs, but to just use blankets on the grass near the airstrip. BIG mistake. The skies opened up and dumped rain on us as we were taking the shuttle to the show. We waited in the airport until it cleared up and then went out to the strip to see what the best course of action would be. We found a spot that looked somewhat dry and put our blankets down. I had Mike put his hand on the blankets to see if they would soak through. No water. So he put his foot on them. And the water gushed up through three layers of fabric. So, I cleverly suggested we lay down our rain jackets and sit on them, assuming that they would be water proof and that we wouldn’t get wet that way. Wow, was I wrong. The kids didn’t seem to care, but I went around the rest of the day with a very wet backside. When we finally gave up and packed up our things to go walk on the paved areas, we found the asphalt warm and dry. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that. The show went until nearly five and we made our way to the shuttle pick-up area to catch the bus back to our van. We waited and waited and waited. Thankfully we had friends there who we hung out with and the kids were just having fun, but in the end, we didn’t make it back to our van until nearly seven o’clock. What a long day.
The thing I could have used the most after a week of being sick and a weekend of being insanely busy was a nice calm week of nothing. But this week is VBS at our church and I am in charge of pre-school and kindergarten games. Tomorrow is our last day and it has been quite a week so far. But I think I’ll leave that for part two. Just for the fun of it.
