To add insult to injury... or something like that...

So, it's no secret that I'm already a *little* sore from my recent workouts.

Today, as with every Tuesday, Friday, and second Wednesday, I got the littles ready to head out the door to pick up Joshua from the bus stop.

Meaghan in her ergo, and Dustin holding my hand.

Sweet picture, right?

Oh wait, I forgot to add that I'm actually also holding J's bus driver's loaf pans and two loaves of bread (a thank-you for the loan) in two separate bags in the other hand.

We don't have a sidewalk at the back of our cul-de-sac.

(Wait, it does get more interesting, I promise!  Hang in there!)

The sidewalk starts about 4 doors down.  No big deal; we walk on the slushy road for a bit, before getting to the sidewalk.

Sidewalk was icy.

Dustin falls (while holding my hand).  No big deal; I catch him and we carry on, and I immediately decide that the sidewalk is too dangerous, so I tell Dustin that we're going to head over to the road again where it's not so slippery.

*At this point, Graeme leaves for work and drives up beside us.*

I take one step towards the road, and this, my friends, is where it all goes south.

Literally.

Dustin went down.

I went down.  Hard.  (Not because Dustin pulled me down, either, but because I just slipped.)

Loaf pans (stoneware, no less!) went flying, along with the bread.

Remember, I am wearing Meaghan.  I cannot TELL you how thankful I am that she still likes to be worn on my front.  I fell backwards.  Thankfully she was cushioned on top of me (heh heh, the benefits of having 30+ lbs of insulation), but her head met my lower lip, which met my eye tooth.

Graeme slams on the brakes to survey the damage.

Dustin is fine.

Meaghan is crying.  She stops within about 20 seconds.

I have tears forming at the corners of my eyes.

My back is killing me (because it wasn't sore enough to begin with...).

Meaghan has a little welt on her head; she'll probably have a bruise.

I taste blood.  My lip is split on the inside, quite deeply.

But now, we're home, we're fine... Graeme is at work... he drove the rest of the way with us to the bus stop (he drove, we walked - he doesn't have carseats for the littles) to make sure we were okay.

*sigh*

Oh yes, and the bread pans and loaves of bread are fine, too.  *whew!*

What??!!!!???

Seriously? No sympathy for my sprained finger and my consequent inability to type properly today?

*throws self a pity party*

:)

Meaghan's fever has finally broken. Praising God for that one! She has now returned to her normal, happy, sweet self. Last night she was up 3 times... combine that with Dustin's & Joshua's visit to our room at 4:30, and I was exhausted today.

Had a sweet time with the boys tonight. Graeme had to go back to work, and so I read boys stories in our bed tonight. Meaghan was napping, so I laid in the middle under the covers, one boy on either side of me, and we read books. I then instructed them to turn out lamps & room lights - they were confused but went along with it - and then we all promptly hunkered down. Joshua was asleep within about 5 minutes, and myself within about 10 minutes. Dustin... not at all. But that's OK - he let me sleep for about 20 minutes or so before bonking me on the head. It was a sweet end to another long day.

I got more work done on the office tonight - got some rods hung for some of my supplies, etc... I can't WAIT until it's all unpacked and put together!!

Time to go clean up and get to bed - it's tomorrow already!

hobbled typist

I am in a fragile state lately.

And then as Graeme was ready to take Joshua out for his thing tonight, I was coming down the stairs and slipped down the last few. My hand was on the banister, and my hand slid down the banister and slammed right into the post signifying the end of the banister. My right pointer finger got jammed... for a few minutes I thought I'd broken it, I was in so much pain. After a while, I could wiggle it a bit, iced it, and now have it stabilized. Very sore and swollen, but stabilized.

But this is REALLY cramping my typing style. It's taking forever to type this.... *sigh*...

It is also (fortunately for me) cramping my 'ability to do dishes' style. :)

Oh the joys of raising boys....

This might be WAY too much information for anyone... and if you're a guy, STOP READING RIGHT NOW!!

OK.

So, the day after Meaghan turned 5 months old, I got my period back. This is the second longest, - after Joshua was between 5 and 6 months, and after Dustin was 3 1/2-ish months.

I am jealous of those women (ahem, Jen!) who go for months and months and MONTHS and eons without having to deal with that wonderful aspect of womanhood after having a baby.

Anyway.

So today, day 2 of this mess, I'm in the bathroom, and had just gotten off the toilet (pants not even up yet) when Dustin barges in, needing to use the potty. (Need I explain that this particular bathroom is in direct line of sight of the window? The one with the blinds up? And it's 'dark outside, light inside?) He doesn't barge in very often at all, so we haven't really had a need to lock bathroom doors around here. (That's about to change, I can assure you.)

And he beelines it for the toilet before I could flush.

"Mommy, why is there blood in there? Is that poo-poo? Is your poo-poo red? Why is it red? What is that?"

Oh....dear....

So I proceeded to explain menstruation to my 3-year-old.

Kidding.

I did what every self-respecting mother would say, "Go ask your father."

Kidding.

No, in all seriousness, I told him that it "just is red" and "don't worry about it." He kept pestering until Graeme said, "Dustin, some things you don't need to know until you're older."

End of conversation. Birds & bees evaded...for now!

*blush*

Pet Peeves

I have two really big pet peeves.

The first is being late for church.

The other is completely forgetting appointments. Like, completely.

It doesn't matter that they're written down on my calendar. It doesn't matter that I look at my calendar half a dozen times a day.

It doesn't matter that they give me a reminder call the day before, asking if I was still planning on coming.

Nope. Doesn't matter.

I still forget.

It used to be chiropractic appointments. I missed about 4 of them in a row when I was pregnant with Meaghan. I've learned to call only a couple days ahead of time if I need to get in.

Today, it was the boys' dental appointments.

I had issues with the boys this morning - fighting over toys, being nasty when I'm trying to feed & nap Meaghan, being disobedient, and I'd just sent them to their rooms. And I tried to feed & nap Meaghan yet again.

And the phone rang. I let the machine grab it.

"Hi, it's Sherwood Centre Dental calling; you had an appointment for Joshua at 9:50 and for Dustin at 10:10, and we hope you're on your way." It was 10:07. "If you've forgotten, please call us to reschedule." The only times they had were during naptime today and Friday.... and since I couldn't take those, I get to wait for a whole 'nother month.

It will be a wonder if we all survive my mothering. Because this is just plain pathetic.

The Truman Show

Last night, I felt like we were on the Truman Show. You know, that show where Harry (?) Truman's every move is caught on video and broadcast live over TV networks... and then he realizes what has really been going on.

Last night, I was outside with the boys. They were riding their bikes around the cul-de-sac, and I was cleaning out bins we'd borrowed from friends for moving. Meaghan was napping, so I had plugged in the monitor outside and turned it up really loud so I'd be able to hear her if I was at the side of the house or something.

And I left it out there.

All night long.

Of course I'd forgotten about it.

After we came inside from riding bikes, we ate supper out on the deck. Meggie woke just as we were starting to eat; no biggie. Graeme went and got her. We at on the deck, came in, cleaned up, and then this is where I'm sure it got really interesting for our neighbors.

We gave the boys a "stinky-foot" bath. And sang silly songs about stinky feet.

We got them ready for bed, along with some discipline in there for disobedience.

We spoke jibberish for several minutes. Complete, loud gobbledy-gook.

Meaghan grumped a bit and we all talked silly to her to make her happy again.

We all talked about how Meaghan was going to enjoy a "big old baffy-baf with Mommy"...

...and I sang songs as I bathed her - her room is across the hall from ours, and all the doors were open... keep in mind the monitor was up really loud... one example: "This is the way we wash our toes, wash our toes, wash our toes; this is the way we wash our toes, in the tubby-tub..."

...and then I sang goofy songs as I was IN HER ROOM (3 feet from the transmitting end of the monitor), getting her dressed... (to the tune of Deep & Wide): "Diapey-dipe, Diapey-dipe, there's a Meggie who needs a diapey-dipe..."

It was at that point that I realized the fatal error of the night.

I just about died. I'm not sure I can show my face outside at any point over the next, oh, two weeks. Our VERY next-door neighbor was going to be doing some front-yard landscaping last night (not sure if he actually did or not), a mere 6 feet from the receiving end of the monitor... even if he HAD planned on it, I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten too far for the sheer entertainment value of the monitor's broadcasts and the fact that he was probably rolling over or peeing himself laughing...

I guess our neighbors got to find out that we're human, too.

But then I also realized that this is what integrity is about. Being the same person and doing "the right thing" in private as we would if someone were watching.

I hope God was pleased and honored. I guess we'll find out one day, hey?