Spring’s welcoming hello.

Cough and the Common Cold (Photo credit: RobertFrancis)

I thought we were safe.  We’d made it through all of our (admittedly mild) winter without a single emergency room trip for M.  No sickness, no hands slammed in windows, nothing.  Then, two days into Spring, M. woke up at 1 in the morning with a bad case of croup.  She was coughing and choking so hard she actually broke blood vessels in her cheeks, so now she looks like she has freckles, only she doesn’t.

The usual in and out of the steam and the cold(er) air outside didn’t help, but it rarely does with her, so off we went at 2.  She had a vapor treatment, a nebulizer treatment and 2 doses of steroids since she threw up the first dose.  We got home finally around 5 a.m. and she needed a snack because her stomach was now empty and she was hungry.  I finally got her back in bed, and went to sleep myself for less than an hour before I had to drive S. to school, get H. out to her bus and then call work to say there was no way I could run “Toddler Time,” or drive there to do so, on this little sleep.  My boss happens to be very understanding and not easily rattled, so she said not to worry, they’d figure out coverage and I should stay home.

Since my mom was coming to watch M. while I worked, she just came anyway so she’d be here when M. woke up so I could sleep for a more reasonable amount of time.

M. is doing ok now.  She still sounds a little scratchy and coughs every once in a while, but she’s on steroids for 4 days and has her inhalers too.  She’s just such a cheerful little thing.  Even at the hospital, she just wants to be friendly and tell everyone things about her birthday, and her toys, and her brother and sister.  She’s like a friendly little puppy.

How is your spring going?

 

Monday Morning Writing Challenge

Image via Wikipedia

I am working on getting my family to the dinner table at the same time each night.  Note that I said “dinner table” and not “couch, in front of the TV.”  Most nights it’s just the kids and I, whichever ones are here since some nights one or the other, or both, of the older ones are at their dad’s house.  Chris works late most nights, so he only gets to join us occasionally.

This inspired this week’s prompt:

Write a story about dinner with your family.

Write about any part of your family:  parents, children, spouse, holiday meals, a barbecue, dinner out — anything that comes to mind.  Whether it’s quirky, funny, sad or anything else, I’d love to see what you come up with so feel free to comment or send it to me by email.

Have a great week!

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• Monday Morning Challenge (famelessramblings.wordpress.com)

 

Sunday Night Ramblings

The last couple of weeks have been busy, and in some ways rough.  S. is home now (at his dad’s) and doing ok.  We’re still keeping an eye on him, and he’s still under a doctor’s care, but he seems to be improving.

I’m looking for a rental property in town.  I don’t want H. to have to change schools.  It’s bad enough that she and M. will probably have to share a room because finding a 4-bedroom in Storrs to rent is nearly impossible.  And yes, I know kids share rooms all the time, but the age difference between 11 and 3 is huge, and H. hasn’t shared a room since she and S. were very small.  It’s not going to be an easy transition.  Still, as much as I hate moving I’ve always loved being in a new place.  I like arranging everything, finding everything places.  It’s satisfying in a way that just keeping up a place isn’t.

My work has suffered lately.  Mainly because my work ethic has suffered lately.  I have made some strides toward getting back on track and getting back to work, but I still have a way to go.  Part of the problem now, ironically, is that I have too many potential projects in mind and a limited amount of time to get to them all.  I need to prioritize, and start getting some of them done.

My top priorities (other than home and family, of course) are my book and this blog.  I need to keep working on both, and if there’s more time I can get to the other things on my list.

What’s on your plate for this week?

 

Good News and Bad

I realize I’ve been lax in blogging lately.  It’s been a tough week here.  S. woke up feeling tired on Monday morning, but went to school.  By the time he came home, it turned out to be the flu.  H. got a mild case of it, and by Thursday I was sick.  Chris came home from work sick too.  Sean and I seem to have been hit the worst though.  He missed school all week, and I’ve been barely able to stay awake for an hour at a time.  Chris took two days off to be home with me, one to help with M. and one just to take care of me while M. went to my mom’s house.  I’m still feeling awful today, but M. is doing her best to behave and stick close to me, and only ask me for things if she really needs something.  She’s a good girl.

The good news is that I got a job reviewing SciFi books.  It’s only occasional, probably monthly, but it’s a start.  The first book is one I’ve already read more than once, so I just need to remind myself of the details since it’s been a while.

That’s how things have been here.  I’d write more, but really I’m just too tired right now.  How are you faring this spring?