It seems like everyone has been sick lately. It's even all over the news, how the flu is just sweeping the Midwest and other regions. Something like 11 states are declaring that they have flu "epidemics." It makes it sound like it's smallpox or something. Come on, people, it's just the flu!
It went through our house, although not everyone succumbed. A few days before Christmas Will and David had 24 hour bugs. Paul and I went on a date the Sat. after Christmas. We ended up eating at the Bass Pro restaurant - Uncle Bucks. I wasn't terribly impressed by the place, anyway, when I was greeted at the entrance by a 4' wooden Uncle Buck holding a voluptuous and scantily-clad mermaid. Really?
At 4 in the morning the next day we both woke up, sick as all get out. The older boys went to church. We put up gates, turned on the tv, and let the Littles have a "Lord of the Flies" type of morning while we fought death, ourselves, in the bedroom. I was up and moving by the next day. Paul still isn't quite back to normal. That first evening he had a massive grand-mal seizure in the bathtub. I heard him in the other room, so I went in there and he unconscious in the bathtub, foaming at the mouth. So I turned off the water so he wouldn't drown. He came out of it a few minutes later, like I knew he would. But it really affected him, physically. We figured up that it had probably been close to 10 years since he had had a real grand mal seizure. His new medication keeps him from seizing now and it used to be that when he would attempt to seize at night, I could interrupt the seizures and his side effects would then be minimal. But there was no stopping this one.
I have new countertops! Well, I have new countertops sitting out in the back room. Paul put one in, but hasn't done the others yet. I will be SO glad when this kitchen is finished! I found a dark navy pattern and ordered that; to my surprise, it has bits of pink in it. It's not terribly noticeable, but I definitely would not have ordered it had I known there was pink in the design. I can live with it, though. One section of the countertop is wider than a normal one - it flows out into the kitchen as kind of an island, although it's attached to the other counters. We're going to get some stools to put around it for an eating area. The guy asked if we wanted to bevel the edges when we ordered it (for an extra charge) but I didn't want to. I'm wanting a clean, crisp look, which is why I ordered them without back splashes (which cost more, too). However, I suspect that all the kids are going to have dented skulls when they are around 6 and reach the height of the counters. It's a pretty sharp edge that sticks out into the middle of the room! The nice thing is that even though we ordered the countertops on sale, they went on sale even more the next week. So Paul took in his receipt and we ended up getting a $140 store credit. Yay, Menards!
Paul's birthday was last Friday. He had me make fried chicken for supper, which was his supper request a year ago, too. I finally figured out the secret to good fried chicken a couple of years ago and now everyone seems to think it is the best food ever and I get requests to make it all the time. It's rather time-intensive, though. His parents came the next day. They arrived an hour earlier than they had said, which threw me. David said I was rude, but I think he's overly-sensitive. I mean, my hair was wet, I hadn't made my bed yet - grrr. I'd rather have someone show up late than too early like that! They couldn't figure out why I was upset, either, which figures.
We saw the therapist again last week. This time she told me that children are incapable of discerning truth from non-truth until about the age of 12. Uh-huh. I think I need to find a new therapist...one who has a brain.
We did hear from the courts this week. Well, actually, I heard from Jenn, who heard from the courts. Nobody actually ever officially tells us anything. I told Jenn that I feel like we are the stinky 3rd cousins nobody wants to talk to. She said she feels like she's been dubbed the secretary by the courts! But anyway, the appeals court did uphold the termination ruling. So, the birth mom has come to the end of the line, pretty much, for what she can do. It should only be a matter of time before we're in touch with the attorney and getting an adoption day date.
I want to have the girls picture taken for their adoption - a picture I can use for their adoption announcements. Thinking it was going to be happening in December, I bought them coordinating outfits the day after Thanksgiving. They've been hanging on a rod ever since. I had finally decided that if I did not hear anything about the appeals process by Jan. 15 I was going to go ahead and just put the clothing in the girls' dressers. We would just have to buy new outfits (sundresses, maybe?) when the adoption actually did finally happen. But now, it looks like I may get to use those outfits after all!
We are going away for our 20th anniversary next month. We started looking in earnest a week ago at some travel sites and finally booked airfare and a hotel last night. It took all night long to figure out what we were doing, trying to get the best deal, etc, but we got it done! We are flying out of Omaha two days after our actual anniversary to Denver. I've never been to Colorado before. We won't come home until 4 days later. We're actually leaving the night before so we'll have a total of 5 days and 5 nights away. I'm excited! We need this time so badly right now. I kind of look at it as an investment. Plus, it's going to be really fun!
Perspective is always good, though. I'm putting some real time and effort into my marriage right now - rooting out things that shouldn't be there, trying to look at myself honestly (ouch), etc. This week a friend let me know that her husband (this is a Christian couple, even) had recently left her and their two very small children for another woman. Wow. There is a potential out there for devastation that doesn't even come close to touching my own life. I am fortunate.
Ok. I need to make that phone call now that I referenced in my last blog post. Time to get yelled at by old, tattooed women living in trailers...the fun never stops!
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