So this past month could be described using any of the following adjectives: insane, chaotic, draining, exhausting, hellacious, wild, shall I keep going???
Things all started when Bryan's 32 year-old heart decided to go into a-fib one night when we were chilling out on the couch. Literally, he was lying there watching t.v. and I think I might have been blogging... Anyway, to make a long story short, after an evening in the ER, several tests (to the tune of about $2000) and a heart monitor later, doctors have determined that there is actually nothing wrong with his heart. Did I mention that I am the ONLY one with a job around here? That extra expense was not needed. Am I glad my husband's heart is fine, yes. Are we even more poor now, double big fat yes. Is he worth every penny, yes, yes, yes! Look at this guy! Captured him in a genuine "moment."
After that little stressful week, we had Halloween. Lucy was of course sick the week before. She had one of her famous "fever viruses" which meant 104 degree fever for over a week. So pleasant. She was also diagnosed with a sinus infection. Antibiotics AGAIN (please be reminded that we had her adenoids out to stop all the sinus infections in August and she has since had 3 infections-oh joy!). She seemed to finally be fever free one Sunday morning, but something was odd. Is a throat full of pus normal? Didn't think so. One very hurried trip to the Sunday "emergency only" pediatrician's office and she'd been diagnosed with the adenovirus (no relation to the adenoids). Pus throat, no appetite, fever, and blah were the symptoms. Lucky for us, the pus-filled throat was the END of the virus. She missed a week of school. Her grandparents and I took turns missing work. Not a great time.
Did I mention that I was in the middle of my evaluation cycle during all this? Not sure if you've heard, but it SUCKS. Read below if you don't believe how incredibly STUPID the process is: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/education/tennessees-rules-on-teacher-evaluations-bring-frustration.html?pagewanted=all
Anyway, we survived all that and made it to Halloween weekend. Lucy wanted to be Dorothy from "Wizard of Oz." Not sure why. I was REALLY encouraging her strongly to be this adorable garden gnome:
She wanted nothing to do with that idea. So Dorothy it was! She has NEVER seen the movie, nor will she on my watch. It scares the bejeezus out of me. So, we dressed Dorothy up on Halloween night. It was chilly. Dorothy did not want to be in a sweater, but we gave her no choice. She was geared up and ready! She even practiced her "ARE THOSE FLYING MONKEYS?!" face.
We were just going to go up and down our street, however, Dorothy had other plans. As we got the last house on our street, she says, "I want to go to one more house." We told her to go to the door and we'd go to ONE MORE HOUSE. As she rang the bell and had her basket (with Toto in it) FILLED with candy, she says to us, "I want to go to A LOT more houses!!!" The kid is a huge fan of this "holiday." So much so that she has a fit every afternoon over eating candy. I finally got smart and dumped it all. Told her she ate it all and it was so delicious. I am so screwed when I can't lie to her anymore.
We were enjoying life, and a beautiful fall. We got through Bryan's heart issues, Halloween, and his moving to a new school (Clinton High School) for the remainder of his student teaching this semester. A few little glitches in our world, but we had recovered nicely from it all. We'd gone to the park some, spent good family time together, and we were all HEALTHY!!!
Then came last Friday. My in-laws were coming for the long weekend (Veteran's Day) instead of Thanksgiving. We were going to spend 4 days with them hanging out, doing a few projects around the house, and getting some much needed time shopping too! So Friday rolled around and Lucy and I were preparing dinner. Bryan had just lit the grill, and we were expecting Herb and Susan at any moment. The phone rings, Bryan answers, and then life got really nuts.
H&S had been in a terrible car accident about 4 miles from our house. Some nice lady had seen them run off the road and HIT A TREE. She got to them, but couldn't get them out of the car, as they were quite pinned in. She called us and Bryan was out the door. After many phone calls and worry, Bryan informed me that his dad had been removed via the jaws of life and was on his way to UT medical center with some pretty bad injuries. Susan was going to another hospital, and I was at home with Lucy, grill flaming.
I doused the grill, pulled dinner out of the oven and waited. I decided to call my parents to see if they could keep Lucy while I went to the hospital to be with Susan. Well, it came as quite a shock to me to find out my mom and dad were already AT the hospital. My mom had apparently been having some heart palpitations for a few weeks, but had some major ones and felt "not right" earlier in the day. Dad decided they needed to go to the ER. OH. NICE.
So, my help was out. I had to just chill and try to decided what the heck to do with ALL PARENTS incapacitated. Husband at one hospital, all other parents at the other. Me with a 2 year-old. Finally after a few hours, they released my mom from the hospital. A million tests later, her heart was still screwing up, but they didn't know why. They doubled her regular heart meds, sent her home on bedrest, and told her to follow-up with a cardiologist. I realize I am not a doctor, but REALLY?! Send her home with her heart still going nuts?!?!? I was not pleased. I got a call that they had seen my mother-in-law, and she was doing ok (what divine providence that they took her to the same hospital my parents were at!) and waiting on x-rays. We still had no idea the condition of Bryan's dad, except that he was in SERIOUS pain. Bryan was with him though, and they doctors were trying to get him stable.
I took Lucy and got my mom at the hospital. My dad stayed with Susan. We weren't sure if she'd need to be kept overnight. I got mom settled at home, and Lucy in bed. Susan and my dad showed up a bit later with GREAT news that she had no breaks, just some bruises! "Ok," I told myself, "things are nuts, but that is SOME good news. BREATHE." Later that night, we found out that Herb had a punctured lung, and several broken ribs-thus all the pain. The pain meds they were giving him at the hospital were making him violently ill though. Can you imagine all those injuries and on top of it all puking your guts out? POOR MAN! Bryan stayed with him all night. Bryan also talked to the police, figured out where the car was, AND went to the car in the middle of the night to retrieve all his parents' possessions, registration, meds, etc. You could say it was a LOOOOONG night. I stayed at my parents house with mom, dad, Lucy, and Susan. Quite a slumber party, and a bit of "organized" chaos.
After many trips back and forth to UT hospital, Herb finally go to come home on Sunday afternoon. He was banged up, on lots of pain meds, but so glad to be at a HOME. We spent the week in a nice fog. I was (and still am) worried about my mom, and we were busy taking care of the other set of parents-trying to make sure they were comfortable, relaxed, and ok with being stranded 500 miles from home. Here are the cutie pies all rested up:
Lucy of course kept them quite entertained. You know Lucy, our resident surgeon/ballerina/cheerleader/cowgirl. Why make her choose a career path now, right?
Leah came up and took our stranded house guests half-way home yesterday. Thanks to some sweet family friends who met them in Birmingham, they got home about 6 last night. We LOVED having them here, but I think they were ready to get home. I cannot imagine being stranded somewhere and being sick and injured. NOT FUN. I think they were very good sports about it all. Now they get to look forward to buying a new car! They'll be back at Christmas, this time I bet they'll be real careful around mile 496 of 500.
OH! Did I mention I woke on Thursday and was unable to stand? YEP! The hits just kept on coming. I had vertigo so incredibly bad!!! Bryan made me call in to work, and he did as well. He drove me to the doctor to find out two things: 1. My blood pressure was a bit high and 2. I had tons of fluid behind my ear. The doc put me on something that knocked me out along with a bit of Zyrtec (God's nectar for allergy sufferers) . While I was there, they tried to give me a flu shot. HA! I DO NOT DO SHOTS (I did however do the flu last year and it wasn't 1% fun), so I asked for the mist. I should interject here that my husband, trying to show me how tough he was, got the shot. Yep, right there in front of me. Didn't he know I could've passed out?! Or barfed?! Or both (per my usual). Nope, he just HAD to show off. Anyway, they were so kind to give me the mist. You know, the mist. What they give small children who are afraid of shots. Yep, I got the mist. The problem with the mist is that it is live. It kind of sort of gives you some flu-like symptoms. No worries, nothing a little Afrin and some advil cold and flu can't fix!
When all calmed down, and our house was quiet again, I disturbed the balance by decorating for Christmas. Yep, exhausted me ALREADY decorated for Christmas!!!!! Bryan of course thought it would've been a good idea for me to chill, but NOPE! I needed some more organized chaos. You see, we are pretty much skipping our usual Thanksgiving soiree this year, and the rule is I can't put Christmas up until T'giving is over. But HA! I found the loophole! No Thanksgiving at our house=I CAN put up the decorations NOW!!!! HE HE HE HE!!!!!! So, as you can see, I'm done!
We also managed to have a little birthday celebration for my mom on Saturday night. Heart monitor and all, we partied like senior citizens!
Lucy and I also had some time in between all the insanity to make Christmas gifts for the grandparents. She LOVED being in the middle of my paints and canvases. To her, it was BIG TIME! We had a blast, and the canvases turned out to be soooooooo cute!
After all that craziness, we're sort of back to normal now. This afternoon we went to the zoo, had a quiet dinner, and Lucy got to bed on time. Should I knock on some wood????
