All In Good Time

Paybacks to do happen.

I will never forget one time when I was growing up that my mom, my sister, and myself had the stomach flu. My poor Dad was trying to take care of all of us and at this point in time we couldn't get out of bed to..well... throw up. So poor Dad was nonstop changing sheets, washing and cleaning up after all three of us. That night he slept in the hallway on the hard floor so that he could hear which of us needed him when.

I had that payback this week.

Started on Sunday. Bryan went in to get Nathan up for church. Nate kept going on and on about his bed and pointing at his bed and making this "ACCKKK" noise. Bryan thought he was pointing at the monkey on the bumper pad in his crib, and said "yeah you're a monkey". Then Nate came in and got me and led me by my hand to his room... to his bed.. and again pointed in it making this crazy sound. I just laughed and said "lets go get some breakfast before church monkey boy". Sat him down at the table with Jackson, fed him his cereal and out of nowhere BLECH he pulled a Linda Blair from the Exorcist move and yaked all over the place. Hmmmm.... maybe that sound was a throw up sound... hmmm.. maybe we should FEEL his bed... yup sick.

So Bryan stayed home with him and Jackson and I went on to church. Got home, walked in to laundry going, and Nate on the sofa. Nate is NEVER just laying on the sofa. He'd thrown up 11 times while we were gone for 2 hours, and at the end of the day, poor child puked 17 times. Every last towel we had was either waiting to be washed or washing. He was a pitiful site, unable to move, get up or anything.

Sunday afternoon Jackson started saying he wasn't feeling well. He laid around all afternoon just kinda lifeless. At 3:30am he came and got me, he felt warm, he had a fever of 102.6. Got him some Motrin, back to bed.

Monday Jackson stayed home with a fever of anywhere from 101 to 104. Not throwing up just didn't feel good. Monday afternoon Bryan came home and wasn't feeling right.

I know my brilliant readers can figure out where this going now, right?

Needless to say when Bryan went to bed not feeling well before the end of our favorite show, 24, I knew we were in for it. Yup, he started the pukes and puked all night long. Even worse was that kept getting charlie horses in both legs because he'd worked out that day and was dehydrated. So he would yell for me (I was on the sofa) and I would have to run in there and help him up to go puke. Good times I tell ya.

I slept on the sofa. I went back and forth between Bryan and Jackson (who was up and down all night with fever and aches and miserableness) and listened for Nate.

That takes us to Tuesday. I got up at the crack of dawn to take Jackson to Urgent Card at 720am. My goal was to be first in and first out and get back home before Nathan woke up because Bryan was in NO shape to take care of him. Jackson had bypassed the stomach virus that is horrible but fast, and has Influenza B.

Bryan started feeling a little better by about 4pm on Tuesday, RIGHT when I started feeling like I was going to release whatever was in my body at any minute. And so it started with me, thankfully no puking because I hadn't been able to eat anything all day. I had the other end. All night long. Again, I slept on the sofa.

I am happy to report that today, Wednesday, the bug seems to have left us all weak, tired and anywhere from 3-7 pounds lighter. Nate still has the diarrhea part, and still isn't eating much of anything. Bryan seems to be on the mend and thankfully stayed home today to help me clean this place out with every cleaning product we have. (Take stock in Lysol, you will make money on it). I am feeling better but still quite afraid to eat anything.

But my poor Jackson is still on the sofa weak as anything and still battling his fever, aches, and pains.

It has been one hell of a week people!

So that is all the fun I've been having.

And to the Old Man, when you get home from the beach and read this...

Thank you for sleeping in the hallway and taking care of us all. I now appreciate it much more.

Baby it's cold outside

Yes, I said it. For any reader that lives up North and laughs at me when I say it's cold - it IS cold.

Southeast Georgia isn't used to cold. I mean, yes we have a few days thrown in here and there, but this morning it is just butt-cold. No, it's not the teens, and no it's not snowing, and no it's not a windchill of negative 100... its 23.

When I walked Jackson out to the bus stop I decided that since the grass crunched under our feet and our breath looked like a dragon that it is a grand day to stay inside. Jackson asked me if I was crying this morning, no, it was just so cold out there that my eyes began to water. To cold.

So today brings I am sure more frustration in my household. Ya see, my Internet provider is lacking in service. My Internet only seems to want to work when it damn well pleases. This does NOT work well with my working from home on the Internet. Frustration. Of course I called to talk to someone about this. This is how it went...

"Press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish"... I pushed 1
"Press 1 for billing, 2 for tech support, blah blah blah" .. I pressed 2.
"Please hold while we process your request".... hold... wait... dead air...

"Press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish".. .. WTF! So I blindly do it all again... only to be told to press 1 for English again.

After cussing, throwing the phone, and cussing some more, I called again and thought I'd be sneaky, and pressed 1 for BILLING... wouldn't you know it, I got a live person within seconds. Jokers.

I told them their phone system stunk and what it was doing and I got "Man, I bet that is frustrating"... that's it? Jokers.

Anyway, of course it's on my end, my modem or my router or the lines in my house. They are sending a tech out today. I understand giving time frames, but this is my range today "someone will be there between 8am and 8pm". Again, WTF! A 12 hour window? Um, yeah that's great.

So today I will wait. I will hope it works today (and it will because they are coming out).. I swear these people have that EASY button and like to just mess with their customers and when we finally get to the point of throwing their service out the window.. they hit their button and everything works like magic.

So I thought I'd share my frustration with everyone, cause I know you've been there too.

I guess it could be worse, I could work for Circuit City.

Tag your it...

OK so apparently one of my readers tagged me... and well I didn't know what that meant. lol Then I read HER blog.. and so I have been tagged to give all of my ready and waiting readers 10 honest things about myself. wow, don't you guys know enough about me already?

So here goes my list!

1. I was born in North Carolina, and have lived in Virginia, North Carolina, San Francisco, and now Georgia.

2. I met my husband, Bryan, while we were in college at Elon College (well it's now Elon University). Funny on our very first day of freshman year, the President of the college stated that we could very well be sitting beside or near our future spouse. Little did we know....

3. While we lived in California, our favorite place to visit was Monterrey and that's where we spent our 3rd (I believe) anniversary.

4. I worked in New York for a month (when we lived in California) at the US OPEN. We setup all of the stores/cash register systems for the shops there. It was at the Arthur Ash Stadium, its grand opening.

5. I currently feel blessed to be working from home, but long to go back to work outside of the home for a real salary and to find a little piece of ME back.

6. I used to think that I was very much like my mom, and while I am, I find the older I get the more I am my dad's clone. And that is an awesome thing because he is an awesome man!

7. My most excellent best friend in the world is my sister, Lauri. She is totally my other half. I am so thankful that we have each other to lean on when we need it.

8. While I love the beach, the ocean, and lets face it the food, I hate sand. I'd much rather be at a pool.

Um, geez TEN things?

9. At this point in time, my 2 biggest and best accomplishments are my two boys. Jackson is an old soul with a kind heart, Nathan is a energizing, funny love bug. I am so very blessed.

10. Most of you know this already, but I will say it again. I feel very blessed to have a network of friends, an amazing family, a wonderful husband, and two beautiful children, and my love for the Lord. With that, all things are possible.

Now, to find 7 fellow bloggers.. 2 of which are already tagged! lol

Thanks Sherri, that was fun!

So what you do if you are tagged, is you have to simply list 10 HONEST things about yourself, and then tag 7 of your blogger friends...

Look forward to reading ya'lls!

2009 Coming in with a BANG...

No really, it's already January 7?

Jackson went back to school today. Can I hear a THANK YOU GOD! Honestly I miss him because despite the occasional yelling over Nate being in his room, he is a HUGE help to me with my working and Nathan here. But alas, I have to be a good mom and send him on. He was LESS than thrilled, Bryan forgot he was going back today and had gotten to comfortable with having his nice quiet mornings.

2009 started with a lot of unanswered questions and concerns and stress. Honestly the whole New Year had me thinking lets rewind the clock and stay in 2008. But, as always, things work themselves out and decisions are made and we turn the bend in the road.

I have decided that I do believe that things happen for a reason. Long story really, and aren't they all, but God works in mysterious ways.

The week before Christmas, Bryan's best friends father passed away and Bryan met up with another college friend of ours to fly up for the funeral. During their travels, Will introduced Bryan to Dave Ramsey and his Money Makeover plan. It had worked WONDERS for he and his wife and it really got Bryan's mind turning.

Fast forward to a random call from an agency that Bryan had put in an application with. A great job opportunity presented itself.. maybe.. but there were some pretty BIG obstacles. Bryan and I struggled with the decision greatly, as a matter of fact, we struggled so much that I am still reeling in the back pain from the stress and tight muscles.

The kicker with the position was a pretty substantial pay cut. This whole situation forced us to sit down, look at our bills, and realize we've been living beyond our means and its time to pay the piper. (remember the conversation with our friend Will?)

Honestly we struggled with this decision. We worried about the pay cut, we worried about him having to deploy, we worried about a lot of things, but tried to force the decision with hope that things would work out.

We got the book by Dave Ramsey, Bryan has finished it and I'm starting it now. We have decided together to make REAL change and make our lives better in the future. We're are seriously PUMPED UP about this.

After deciding to start this rather rigorous plan, Bryan called the agency back because he hadn't heard from them. The position had been recanted by the uppers, therefore the decision was made for us.

You have to ask yourself why this job offer came up and was recanted (again), you gotta wonder why the flights were cheaper for Bryan from Charlotte NC making him drive to NC to catch a flight and stay with Will, you gotta wonder. Maybe all the stars aligned and it just happened that way, maybe things just happen for a reason and you just keep going on blindly.

My honest opinion, Faith. With all of the struggles of decisions that we've had placed before us in the past few weeks, I have leaned on Faith and Faith alone to show us the way. We went from thinking this call out of nowhere for the job was a sign we should take it, to thinking this was a wake up call to make some positive changes for our family and our lives. Ask and ye shall receive.

So seems my motto for 2009 is "when one door closes, another door opens" and I am sticking to that!