You remember how they tell you that the world is round? Wrongo! I think the pre-1492 Europeans had it right: Don't wander too close to the edge, or you'll fall right over! I speak from experience...
Last week, I had the project from hell to get out the door, and funny thing is: The closer you get to wrapping something like this up, the more details and little things you catch that need to be changed. So, long hours at work and long hours at home...and no play... makes Nilo most of the things that you guys listed on my post last week, except for: wanting to eat brussel sprouts, making extra $$$ to buy something fun, and having an evening of naughty bad fun. If any of those things happen to me anytime soon, you can bet good money that the Apocalypse is only moments away.
Tuesday evening, I packed the four kids up and took them over to an awards ceremony for the "Reflections" contest. There must have been about 150 kids there, all of whom had won 1st and 2nd place awards at their school level and had now progressed on to a "council" level. My two oldest girls had submitted entries in just about every category there was (Photography, Dance, Musical Compostition, Poetry, etc.), and so, while most kids in the room came away with a single medallion or award, both of my daughters managed to rake up seven awards apiece, making us somewhat of an oddity in the room. People walked by, staring at us as though I had an extra arm growing out of my forehead. The worst part though, was the 8-yr old crying bitter tears that while she had won several awards, she didn't garner a single first place award, and thus didn't progress to the regional competition. But her younger sister had, which was quite a blow to her self-esteem. I later congratulated the 6-yr old on her marvelous achievement when her older sister wasn't around. She got a mischievious look on her face and said "Yeah, I'm kinda like a superhero.... I took down a third grader!" I had to laugh. She has been living in her sister's shadow for so long, it was good to see her bask in the sun for a little while.
Tuesday night, I stayed up late to get some chores done, got to bed at midnight, and woke up to the sounds of the 2-yr old crying in the other room. I jumped out of bed and ran in to see what the matter was, and quickly found that she had thrown up all over her bed. I pick her up and carry her into the bathroom, and discover that she hasn't quite finished throwing up yet! My new scent could be best described as "Eau de Child Vomit". My wife comes in, and we get her cleaned up. I then take her down to the family room, where she sleeps on my chest for the rest of the night, occasionally waking up to barf here and there.
Wednesday, just a draining day all around. Worked my ass off on the project, then went home. I was home long enough to walk in the door, get handed a tupperware container with my dinner in it, and then turn around and drive the girls to gymnastics. I dropped them off, then headed up the road to my grandparents' house to shovel their driveway while I waited for the kids' class to be over. I pick up the kids, go home, shovel our own driveway and then head to bed. Around midnight: Barfing sounds from the girls' bedroom again. I go in and the 2-yr old and her newly washed bedding are all covered with vomit. Again. I get her cleaned up, and let my wife know that tonight, I cannot stay up with the daughter, 'cause I need to get up early. She stays in the family room with our 2-yr old, and I get up and leave for work at 6:00am.
Thursday. Worked my fingers to the bone, finding more and ever more last minute corrections that needed to be taken care of. My lunchtime call from the wife lets me know that she is in 100% survival mode today, and can she please just go to bed when I get home? Sure thing! I race home after work, have dinner, and my wife hits the sack. I get the kids into bed, and take the 2-yr old downstairs to sleep with me on the sofa in the family room again. Around 4:30, she starts wiggling around in discomfort. By 5:30, she's whimpering in her sleep and swallowing excessively. I wake her up, and put the bowl in front of her. Bad idea. She has now identified the bowl as the thing which makes her throw up. She insists she's fine, and could she have a drink, please? We walk up the stairs and make it nearly to the top at which time she coughs and throws up. Thankfully, I had the notorious barf bowl in my hand, and my lightning-quick "barf-daddy" reflexes had it in front of her face before you could blink.
Friday, I went to work and got the project to a 98% complete status, and felt good about my work. I went home, did my chores. Put the kids to bed. Got up with the 2-yr old as she threw up yet again!
Saturday. Went to local furniture store and spent part of my year-end bonus on a La-Z-Boy rocker-recliner. If the wife and I are gonna spend countless hours holding children in our arms at night, we might as well do it in comfort. Forked over $585.00 for this leather covered bastion of comfort, but then found out that the particular one we wanted is out of stock at the moment. There might be one on a truck in Idaho somewhere, otherwise it's end of January for us. Pretty damn ridiculous when you figure that the La-Z-Boy factory is in the northern part of our state.
Saturday Night: 2-yr old does NOT throw up. Yayyyyyyyy! However, the 8-yr old throws up all over the bathroom early Sunday morning, and the 2-yr old has an extreme case of diarrhea that leaks out into her newly-washed bedding.
Sunday: The proverbial and yet-elusive day of rest. Went to church with the one healthy kid, falling asleep in the pew during services.
And such has been my past week. It's bad enough to be physically and mentally exhausted, but the added bonus of having an episode of what could be best described as "midlife crisis" on top of that was just the icing on the cake. Still in the episode, but I'm dealing with it on a moment by moment basis. I'll answer some of the comments on previous posts today!
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