The week from hell...

So, the last few days have been a little rough around our house. Here's an outline of the significant events:

Last Thursday: We were walking into the library to return some books and Levi said, "My tummy hurts." I reply, "I'm sorry baby. I hope it feels better soon." At the checkout counter, he puked all over me, my shirt, my hair, etc. The joys of motherhood would be too overwhelming if it wasn't for moments like these :) I proceeded to undress him, grabbed Max, (and our new books, somehow) and got everyone loaded into the car, took my shirt off and drove home in my bra. Thankfully, I had one on.

That same day I noticed a couple of fleas in the house. "That's weird," I thought. "We don't have any pets or any carpets in our house. Aren't fleas kind of a dirty, pet thing," I wondered? I mentioned this to my good friend Liz, and she informed me that fleas are indeed very difficult to get rid of. Oh no.

Later on Thursday, Zach started puking. Thankfully, he and Levi were better by Friday afternoon. We headed out of town to spend the weekend in Northwest Arkansas with my Nana and Grandpa and had a relaxing time there. It was such a relief to be away from the flea insanity. Those jumpy little blood-sucking bugs make me crazy. Parasites just aren't my thing.

Saturday, I started needing to urinate...frequently. Ouch, that stings. Oh no again. I had a UTI. My second one ever, thank God, but really, now? Those things are so uncomfortable. Going to the doctor is not a big deal when you don't have kids, but taking a one year old and a two year old with you to the doctor is no fun. I called to see if the weekend on-call physician would prescribe an antibiotic. "That's against protocol," he said. Grrrrr. I hate protocol.

Thankfully, my wonderful Grandpa (who has never complained, ever, despite being trapped in a body that doesn't move) had an antibiotic at his house that he wasn't using. An antibiotic that was not expired and just happened to be perfect for treating a UTI. I don't know if I was more relieved that my symptoms were going to be under control, or that I didn't have to spend Monday at the doctor's office with the kids :)

Sunday we came back to our cute little house with the old fire place and the wooden floors and those charming little bugs. There were more. We worked hard to prepare the house for fogging. The thought of chemicals in my house makes me sad. I put all of the kids toys away, covered all of the food, washed all of the floors, vacuumed all of the furniture, cleaned out the chicken coop, etc. Then, finally at 11 o'clock at night, we were ready to fog. We spent the night at my parent's house.

Monday, I woke up and I realized that I had pulled a muscle in my back (likely while moving the chicken coop) and I could not do anything all day. I felt like I was 100 years old. I laid on the floor at my parents house (watching 19 kids and counting along with reruns of the office), while my mom changed the boys diapers (bless her heart) and played with them. I laid there knowing that I desperately needed to be at my house, cleaning everything in sight, to make it safe and livable again.

My wonderful husband worked on the house until 3 in the morning and insisted that I continued to rest my back.

The next day, I felt miraculously better and I have been working like a dog ever since. I've been washing all of our clothes (I've done more laundry in the last week than I usually do in 2 months...the washer and dryer have not stopped), cleaning all of our dishes, disinfecting every surface, and picking occasional fleas off of Zach and Levi, whose legs look like they have the chicken pox. The fog didn't work all that well, and there are still a few fleas, so really all of this detoxifying I've been up to will all have to be done again. I might start to cry.

So, I won't go on and on anymore, but you get the point. It's been a long hard week. But, I've found myself being grateful (and knowing that when we are in Africa we may very well be dealing with way worse--) Gratitude is one of the most powerful weapons I know how to use and I often just start listing off the things for which I am grateful. I am thankful my kids don't have cancer, or any real health problems at all. I am thankful to have access to a doctor. I am thankful to have access to an exterminator. I am thankful for hot showers and fresh foods to eat. I am thankful for my parents and their clean, flea-free house. And last but not least, I am thankful that this hellish plague of a week, will end in an amazing way. The exterminators are coming soon. Everyone is feeling great. And Friday morning Zach and I will fly into Denver for a romantic weekend getaway. It's going to be great!!! We have certainly never had four kid-free days in a row. It is going to be wonderful to "just be" together.

No matter what I struggle with, I have to remind myself that there is someone experiencing something so much worse. And every year at thanksgiving when it was time to say what I was thankful for, I would always say "for my arms and legs." I wasn't being sarcastic or lazy, I just am so, so grateful for relatively good health and an able body. I hope I never get over it.

Love,
Kate