The Pox Remains

And just when I thought we were all on the mend...

Last night, the nugget slept, shall we say, fitfully.  As in, every ten minutes, there was crying.  ALL. NIGHT. LONG.

I knew that something was obviously wrong, as my boy is a terrific sleeper.  Oh, and did I mention that he was burning up?  

So to the doctor we went...again.  When we were there on Friday, to address the chronic, nagging, ohmygodwillheeverstopcoughing cough, all looked good.  Clear lungs, clear ears, "allergy" nose.  We chalked it up to seasonal allergies and away we went.

So sometime between Friday afternoon and last night, the poor boy's ear became so infected that the doctor assured me that his poor, blistered eardrum would most likely rupture at any moment.

Of course he cried all night long.  I probably would have, too.

Thankfully, ear infections are easy.  (And can you believe this is his first ever??)  We've begun the antibiotics, and hopefully I can return to work tomorrow and actually finish out the rest of the week.  Luckily my students saw me for a hot second yesterday, otherwise, they may have forgotten my name.

Time Change Blues

Walk with me down misery lane, won't you?

I hate the time change.  It's true.  While most people are rejoicing at the prospect of longer hours of daylight, I am whining about the darkness that greets me when I awaken.

It has been clearly established here that I am not a morning person.  A lack of sunshine in the mornings makes this worse.  Add in the fact that it's MONDAY- boo- and my first day back at work after an extended absence, and the morning is super craptastic.

I had to wake the nugget up, which is near the top of my list of reasons why being a working mother sucks.  AND it breaks rule number one in our house, which, in case you forgot, is NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY.  I forgot to take my antibiotic, and forgot to give Gabe his Claritin.  I lingered too long at drop off (you know, since I didn't actually get to see the boy before work, him being asleep and all).  Lingering is never a good thing for me.  AND, I discovered that my countdown of days until the end of the school year was off, and I had to add a day. 

But to look on the bright side- trying to take care of a one-year-old while both parents are sick is a real treat.  You should try it sometime- NOT.  Work today will most certainly be easier than that.  And I'll have the afternoon at home with my boy, which we will be able to enjoy outside in the 70 + degree weather.

Okay, Monday whining over.  Much happier posts to follow this week, folks, I swear. 

A Pox On Our House

I have not abandoned ye old blog...

Our house has been stricken with the stomach flu.  First the husband, then me, and finally the baby.  And it ain't been pretty.  Throw in a urinary tract infection here and a nasty cold there, and we may as well quarantine ourselves and call it the plague.

I will return soon, once I have nursed the household back to health.

Product Review: Mascara

Is there any woman out there who is not constantly searching for the very perfect mascara?  I think not.

I suffer from scrawny lashes.  Which is extra unfair, since I live in a house with two very long lashed boys.  Waaahhhh.  But I have high hopes that someday I will find that magic potion that will make my lashes look better than my husband's. 

I will not claim that this is the perfect mascara, but after wearing it for a few days now, I will say that I am pleased:

L'Oreal Voluminous False Fiber Lashes.

This stuff claims to have fibers that grab onto your existing lash, and extend outward from there.  I've gotta say, this might actually be happening.  My lashes are LONG (or, at least, long for me).  I haven't had any issue with clumping, and haven't ended my days with unfortunate raccoon eyes.

So far, so good.

This one may be worth a try, ladies.

A Trick of the Eye

Every time I glance at my inbox today, I see this:

Your Amazon.com order of "Member's Mark - Children's..." has shipped!

I keep thinking that it says my order of Maker's Mark has shipped (as I apparently block out the part that says Children's...because clearly there is no children's version of Maker's Mark).  And then I think to myself, "Self, when did you order liquor on Amazon?  You don't even drink Maker's Mark!"

And then I realize that it says "Member's Mark," and that it is actually allergy medication for the nugget.

But then I back up, and realize that it would be pure awesomeness if I could order liquor from Amazon...because I totally would.

That is all.

 

Operation Save-a-Bonus-Room

We are in a very tough spot around here.

My kitty, Princess, has been a bad girl.  Her litter box is located in our bonus room.  She has the run of the house during the day, but is locked in the bonus room at night (as she likes to knock on all of the other closed doors in the house if she roams free overnight, equaling rest for no one).  Well, for some reason, unbeknownst to me, Prinny has taken it upon herself to claim the entire bonus room.

As in, she pees wherever she pleases in that room.

The perimeter of the room is pretty much wrecked.  She chooses to use her litter box sometimes, but other times to back herself up to the wall and let it flow.  Seriously gross.

The thing is, she only does this in the bonus room.  She has never peed anywhere else in the house.  I genuinely believe that she thinks it's okay to pee on the floor in the bonus room.  That this is the spot we've designated for her.

WRONG-O.

I have come to the point where I would like to reclaim that room.  No, I NEED to reclaim that room.  The nugget is growing quickly, and his many, MANY accouterments are taking up mucho space in the house.  The boy needs a play room.  And we will, at some point, have another baby, at which point we will REALLY need every available inch of space in this house.  Not to mention the fact that we are really starting to think about putting this house on the market and looking for something a little bit bigger and a lot closer to J's new job...

ENTER OPERATION SAVE-A-BONUS-ROOM.

I hate to say it, but my first thought was to give the cat up.  I really didn't know what else to do!  I have really, really been struggling with the decision, as I am not one to just give a pet up because they are an inconvenience to me.  But I felt as though I was left without any other choice.

Turns out, there isn't a single no kill shelter that will take her.  At eleven, she's too old to re-home.  I absolutely WILL NOT take her to a shelter that euthanizes.  And I can't let her outside, because she has no front claws.  

Moving onto Plan B...

Today, we went to Home Depot to special order an exterior door with a built-in kitty door.  We will move her litter box out into the garage, and she can enter house/garage at will through said kitty door.  Then, we will rip up all flooring in bonus room, spend several weeks de-stenching subfloor, sealing, replacing trim, and will finally lay new carpet.

Oy.  I am exhausted (and broke) just thinking about it.

The bright side here (I guess?) is that if we want to sell this house, we would have had to do all of the flooring mess either way.  So we'll call that part a wash.

I sincerely hope that my kitty can be a good girl, and stick to the garage from now on!  We will keep all upstairs doors closed at all times, so she can't sneak back to her old ways.  And this way, I get to keep my pet, who I've had since I rescued her from a fraternity house when I was in college.

Everyone, fingers crossed that Operation Save-a-Bonus-Room is a success!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I love the change of seasons.  Every fall, I get so excited to pull out my jeans, sweaters, and boots.  But the time has arrived when I am ready to PACK 'EM UP.  I am now excited for sundresses and flip-flops.

Today will mark the first 80 degree day of the year, and I am oh-so-ready for Spring.  I smelled freshly cut grass on my way home from work today...SPRING!  My bulbs are beginning to bloom...SPRING!  Windows are open...SPRING!

I also have a desire for some crazy Spring cleaning, like organizing the garage and scrubbing the grout in the kitchen.  But as my husband will tell you, I'm sometimes crazy like that.

I am sad to see the potential return of winter early next week, but these warmer days are becoming more and more frequent these last couple of weeks.

Fingers crossed that any day now, Spring will be here to stay.