Charlie Brown

So, I made my first official venture from the house since becoming infected with the plague (AKA the flu).

I meet my dear cousin for a little lunch and officially went to a total of three stores before needing to go home for a nap.  The plague is a real problem.

I had to schedule a little quality time with said cousin, because she's twenty-something, incredibly gorgeous, and a full-time student.  Let's just say she's busy.

We had one of those race against time talks.  I had to face the fact that I am rapidly approaching dried up geriatric status.  There were some things we needed to discuss before she officially thought I was the crazy chicken lady (we'll get to that in a minute).

We had girl talk.  Or mother-daughter talk.  Or incredibly older sister to insanely younger sister that is not listening talk.  However, you want to look at.  I'm practicing for when Little gets older. I need all the help I can get.

You get the point.

Little's high of the weekend is we are the official owners of a rooster named Charlie Brown.  Don't ask me.  All I know is husband mentioned one day he wanted some laying hens.  I think I pretended to sound interested and probably nodded.  Next thing I know, Little proceeds to tell me she wants chickens and a chicken pen.  Then she proceeds to tell me about her blueprints for the chicken pen.

And as I type this, I am realizing that I have been played.  Husband should be given more credit.  Incredibly intelligent, I think to get her on board the chicken train, huh?  Well, wait until I get her on the minivan train.  Just wait.

About Charlie Brown, he's incredibly handsome.  I hate to admit it, but he really is a pretty rooster.  I would take his picture, but his missing some tail feathers from an altercation at his previous address.  I try to only take embarrassing pictures of children.

Iphone photo dump

Okay, just flatter me a bit.

Until last week, I still had the original Iphone.  As in like the 3 or the 2 or the 1 or  something.  Can you believe I have been living in such conditions that I did not have a flash or zoom on my camera on my phone?  I do not know how I have gotten by.

That also means that I have just introduced myself to Siri.  And little did she know who she was messing with.

I had often wondered what part of Siri can turn an adult into a giggly pre-teen again, but I now know.  Something about Siri instantaneously decreases your maturity.  Siri may just be the fountain of youth.

So as Siri and I are chatting away, you know, I am testing out her potential.  And she did it.

She said, "Molly."

As intelligent as she is, I did not think it would be too much to ask for her to spell my name the way I spell my name.

After the thousandth time of me trying to explain to a phone (fountain of youth) how to spell my name, I lose it.  I say the ugliest word that a mother of a three-year old can say.

I called her, "Stupid."

And that just made me irate.  I calmed down.  We talked it out.  And she changed her tune.

Let's move on.  I am so over Siri.

So here are a few pictures and a great video of Blue that I wanted to share with you.

 Please ignore the garage sale mess in the background.  This is a dress-up day at school.  She was suppose to dress like her favorite Disney character, but sometimes it's not worth the fight.  Belle was too itchy.  Little Mermaid was too hot.  So she marched to the beat of her own drum and couldn't be happier about it, which means I was exhausted by 7:20 in the morning.

Did I mention that Blue is ticklish?  Because he totally is.

Rally on one, Rally on flu, Rally on, Rally on You

Flu.

Do you know what the trouble with the flu is?

It's the flu.

That's right.  Whether you chose to believe it or not, flu season is here.

I know it's early.

But apparently, I am the carrier monkey that has infected so many already.  Really, I have no idea where I got it, but I have heard of several people that now have it.  They more than likely have it because of contact with me.

You know what's worse than the flu?  Giving people the flu.  It will make you feel worse than you already do.  And I didn't think it was possible.

Most of you moms can probably relate to the facts that are about to follow.  Then you will have a better understanding of why I have infected so many with the flu virus.

Thursday night, as in last Thursday night, my throat began to hurt.  I totally rocked the preschool on Friday, with a little sore throat.  I came home Friday and forced Blue and Little into a nap, because it was truly all I could do to hold my eyes open.

I had a garage sale on Saturday, with a worse sore throat.  At one point, I came inside to get a jacket because I was cold.  Husband looked at me like I was ignorant.

(Now, he is ignorant, because I had the flu.)

Sunday, oh, the day of rest for the weary.  Sunday was the day that I knew something was off.  I began to have fever.  The sore throat had progressed into one of those "I will never swallow anything ever again"sore throats.  But I am a Sunday school teacher, and people depend on me.

So I strapped my sore throat into the passenger side and went to church twice on Sunday.

Monday, I went on to school despite the 100 degree temp, because my sore throat was a little better, but somehow I still felt bad.

And around 11:00, I tossed in the towel and called to make an appointment, because my head was hurting so insanely bad and all I wanted to do was sleep.

I came home and took a nap before my appointment, and I felt better.  In fact, I almost felt well enough to cancel the appointment.  Almost.

In his words, "It's probably not the flu, but I had a family come in this morning and test positive.  In your line of work, we need to know if you have the flu, but you probably don't."

And in all the medical advancements, there is still just the one way to test for the flu.  The swab to your frontal lobe of the brain.  It is ridiculous.

And.......................drum roll please...............................I have the flu.

And so does Little.  And poor Blue can't understand why the girls just look at him from a far.

Take this as your warning that it is time to go get your flu shot.

Do you ear me?

Ears.

7 ear infections in 9 short months equals surgery.

I know they are a dime a dozen.  I think more children have surgery to have tubes now than not.

I will be a complete wreck.  But Blue needs to have this procedure.

Please remember us Tuesday.

29:36

What does 29:36 have to do with you?

Absolutely nothing.

What does 29:36 have to do with me?

Absolutely everything.

You see, 29:36 is the time that I finished my very first 5K.  That's right, I did it.


It could have been an emotional ending, but I fought back the tears.  It truly is mind over matter.  I wanted to quit during the last mile.  I wanted to walk the last hill.  I thought there is no way I would finish under thirty minutes, and I was beginning to think I wouldn't finish under thirty-five minutes.  

And then, I rounded the curve.  I saw the official race timer.  I dug deep and kicked it into overdrive.  And I finished under thirty, which was my initial goal.

It wasn't pretty, but it was months of hard work put to the test.

A few things I wanted to share:

The race proceeds went to the family of a nine month old little boy, who had bacterial meningitis.  And when big brother thanked everyone, tears flowed.  Sweet, little Drew has had many encouraging doctor visits in the three months since his illness, but the road is still long.  Pray for Drew and his family.

There was a military man that completed the race with his 80 pound bag on his back.  It was an extremely humbling thing to witness.

Also, a police officer completed the race in his vest and thirty pounds in it.

Which in the scheme of things makes what I did look like small potatoes.

But I'm proud.

Grab a snack and get cozy

I have so much to tell you about.

A lot has happened in the last month and half since I blogged.  I am totally ashamed.  A month and a half.  That's embarrassing.

But let me redeem myself.  You are about to understand why.

Let's rewind.  You remember, I put my notice and quit my j.o.b.?  Well, we had been dealing with should we move or should we just stay put for about the last year.

How about on the day I put in my two week notice, an amazing couple came to look at our house.  The whole time I was showing my home, I was thinking in the back of my mind, "There is no way I am selling my house.  I just put in my two week notice."  And so they left, fully admitting that they would be shopping around.  I told them about places I knew for sale that may be worth them checking (I'm terrible at selling my house).

Then, they came back.  This time they asked a few more questions.

And then, they came back again.  This time bringing family.

You would have thought that I would have thought they are serious, but I'm just sitting around twiddling my thumbs.

Bam! They made an offer.

And panic and chaos, and the crazy OCD mom and wife went into overdrive.  She works hard for the money.

And Bam!  A couple from our church called and said they were about to put there house on the market.  Location: where we wanted.
Acreage:  what we wanted.
Bedroom/Bathroom ratio: what we wanted
Barn: check
Off the road: check
Fence: check

So we rushed out to check it out, and they took the sign out of the yard and said "We will wait on you."

And I'm thinking, "This is NUTS."

And it has been nuts.  It's been affirmation that God had his hand on our situation the entire time.

It was God's way of saying, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

He knew it was exactly what I needed, and He would know.  He designed me.

Bam! Bam! I got a perfect job at a preschool where I only work part time.  I passed the Praxis I and II, and this spring, I plan on pursuing an alternate route to education.

Can you say roller coaster?  Physical and emotional roller coaster.

So, I sit here typing you from our new home.  I plan on posting pictures soon.

 

Have we met?

I don't even know myself anymore.

I think I used to have an identity. I'm only kidding I still have an identity.

I'm Little and Blue's mom.
I'm Husband's wife.
I'm the crazy music lady at VBS.
I'm the mom of that little girl who has the summer cast.

I mean, what summer is truly complete without a cast?

At least it's pink.

Oh, I hope you don't think it's devastating to Little. The next morning, she hugs her cast and goes on and on about how much she loves it.

Now, I love accessories. I love bracelets. And shoes. But a cast? Um, not so much.

The word "love" may be slightly overused. However, I stand by the fact that I love bracelets and shoes. I truly love them.

I'm beginning to love jeans. Now that I'm down a (you're going to need to sit down, I'll wait) whopping 35 pounds.

That running I've been doing is seriously paying off. Oh, don't give me too much credit. I still haven't ran that 5K. But I will. I may run it in my jeans, because I'm almost loving them that much.

If I had the energy, I would post before and after pictures, but it's late, VBS graduation was tonight, and it's all I can do to breath and type. Literally. I'm having to alternate breathing and typing. I'm that tired.

I'm about 8 pounds away from my goal, I think. I say I think, because it's not so much about the number. I think that comes with age. Before, it was always about the number.

The problem is I'm having to slowly revamp my closet, because those things that didn't fit six months ago, definitely don't fit now. But it's from one extreme to another.

I've been trying to run in the elements a little more. Heat and humidity are not my friends. Especially when I run outside. Especially with these bangs. Summer bangs are rarely a good idea. Note to self.

So I've been working a back-breaking one day a week. I'm selling clothes, shoes, and jewelry at a local specialty store. And I love it. I've always loved retail. Both as a consumer and distributor. Makes my heart skip a beat. My closet has never looked so good.

So, if you see me, it's really me. Just a much healthier version of myself.