My Last Four Weeks

The past month has been a blur.  And not the good kind.

We found out almost five weeks ago that the IL's were moving.  They left this past Monday.  Four weeks to the day from when we found out.

In that time, we spend most days and evenings at their house helping them pack and bringing "stuff" (for lack of a better term) back to our house.  After not cooking a meal in a couple of weeks (heating stuff up doesn't count), breaking every single fingernail twice, breathing in enough dust to compete with Mt. St. Helens, developing a cough to try and expel said dust, breaking out from the same dust to the point that I looked like a fifteen year old boy with acne, and having my kids beg me to let them stay home, that they were tired of going to Grandma and Grandpa's house, the moving day finally arrived.  And there was much rejoicing!

However, the day before moving day, I realized that they were expecting us to clean up their house after they were gone.  So counting down til moving day wasn't really doing me any good. 

It wouldn't have been too bad, except that they left like they were being hunted by the mafia.  They took only what they wanted and left everything else.  I made the executive decision to cancel school for the week and we spend ALL WEEK at their house cleaning.  When we finished, their garage was so full, you couldn't walk thru it.  It took five trips in an oversized truck to get it all to the thrift store.  And it will take about the same to get the rest to the dump.  We spent today dealing with all the "stuff" that was brought to our house.  I'll have to finish that up tomorrow.  Hopefully...

And in the middle of all that, my baby had a birthday.  I can't believe this cute face turned twelve!

 

 

She asked for a flower cake and this is what she got.  It was the best I could do at the time.

 

Then Mother's Day happened.  I gave Hockeyman a pass for this year.  We actually spent the day at his parents house packing.  Nice, huh?  I didn't mind that much, at least I was with my babies.  And they did give me flowers.

 

 

 

Ok, they were fake, from my MIL's house and they were Christmas poinsettias, but still.  It's the thought that counts.

 

 

I'm so glad this week is over.

Five Question Friday

    1. Do you have a doppelgänger?

I was told for a long time that I looked like Princess Diana.  I saw the resemblance when I was younger, but with the post-kids bags under my eyes and lines around my eyes , I don't see it anymore.

2. Do you keep your car cleaned up?

Nope.  I try but those short people I live with can mess it up faster than I can clean it up.

3. What is a current fashion that drives you crazy.

It's not a new trend for either, but for guys, it's the pants around the thighs.  Totally grosses me out.  And the guys around here still wear shirts that come to the waist, so you get to see the underwear and everything.  Gross.  For girls, it is the extremely low cut shirts.  I am trying to keep my daughter dressing modestly and it is so hard with women's clothes being so tight and short and low. 

4. How often do you go grocery shopping?

Every week.  My big shopping trip is twice a month, but we always are running out of milk, bread, creamer and other stuff.  So I do little ones about every weekend and major ones twice a month.

5. What has been the best surprise of your life?

Finding out I was pregnant with my second daughter.  She is such a blessing and so much fun.  We didn't think we would have another kid after we had been trying for two years with nothing to show for it.  So when I figured it out and confirmed it with a pregnancy test, I was jumping up and down with excitement. 

The IL's

Hockeyman found out something the other day. His parents are moving. Out of state. 800 miles away. (Silently celebrating...) Hockeyman is upset. It's not the fact that they are moving that has him upset. It's how he found out. Monday, he picked up his dad to run a few errands while we did school. Here's how the conversation went. "Hey, do you guys want the big half barrel planters we have out back?" "Probably, I'll ask the wife." "Ok, great. We won't need them when we move." "Oh, you are moving?" (Thinking they finally decided to move to the retirement commnity they have been talking about for the past few years.) "Yeah, to Missouri." There you have it. That is how the IL's roll. They make life changing decisions and share them with you after the fact. It turns out they have been planning this for a few months and closed on their new house on Monday. They move in three weeks. I feel bad for Hockeyman. It's like their move to California all over again and I know he is thinking that this could be the last time he sees them. The thing is, Hockeyman is an only child and our children are the only grandchildren. But the IL's want to be closer to my FIL's brother. Doesn't make sense to me, but whatever. Not to mention all of the professional commitments they have made that they are going to run away from. Leaving Hockeyman in a real bind with accounting and volunteer stuff. It'll be an interesting month...

Worst Mom Award goes to...

My Pumpkin has had a stuffy nose forever.  Since she was born practically.

Whenever we visit my parents (who live in the middle of corn and alfalfa fields) she turns into one stuffed up nose with red eyes, and we always made sure we had the Benadryl and Zyrtec handy.

So for about ten years, I have been talking to her doctor about getting her tested for allergies.   I've put it off because she just isn't complaining about it.

The past coule pf months have been the exception.  So I went ahead and called Hockeyman's allergy doctor and made an appointment.  Both Hockeyman and myself didn't think she would be allergic to much.

Boy were we wrong...

The child is allergic to grass, weeds, trees, dogs, cats, horses, feathers and possibly several foods.

The poor thing has been suffering for almost twelve years and I've put off taking her in.

I felt like such a bad mom.  But, like the doctor said, she hasn't shown many symptoms and she never complains unless it is really bad.

So now she is on daily allergy meds and nasal sprays.  How fun...

So this is her before the test, anzious and so nervous she was almost vibrating.

 

This is the after shot.  They had wiped her down with antihistamine and a cool cloth.  But she was obviously still inflamed.  You can tell where the cat and grass allergins (her two biggest allergies) were placed.

Here is the last one before they cleaned her up. 

Poor thing!  She was so itchy and uncomfortable! 

Hurts and Apologies

Do you ever have hurts that just won't go away?  I have plenty.  And they mostly have to do with the family.

This is the point where I wish people actually read this blog.  I know it is more for me to get my dumb emotions out, but I would like some input.  If nothing else, to know I am not alone.

So anyway, when it comes to hurts and apologies, mainly with family, are you the apologizer or the apologizee?  I'm not sure that those are actual words.

I am always the apologizer.  ALWAYS.  Whether it is with my husband, my family, or the IL's.  NOONE apologizes.  EVER.

I can count on one hand the number of times Hockeyman has apologized to me over 22 years.  And the same can be said for my family.  Let me give you a for instance...

Many years ago, my sister was preggers with her first.  The hormones were flowing overtime.  And she didn't handle hormones well to begin with, then you add in first time pregnancy hormones and it was like being caught in an avalanche.

So anyway, we both worked at the same place.  She had a tough pregnancy and had to take medical leave.  But when you take medical leave, you have to check in with your employer from time to time, which she didn't.  Since I worked there too, they asked me to have her call them.  So I went home and told her they wanted her to call.  After the screaming and vile name calling, she actually threw a shoe at my head. 

Now when it was all said and done, I had to apologize to HER for bringing it up in the first place.  Apparently relaying a message from her employer was justifiable cause for screaming, name calling and shoe throwing.

Do you see what I deal with?

My parents are the same way.  Only without the drama.  They just try and let everything slip by.  As does my husband.  (Maybe there is a connection there?)

So when you are hurt by someone, do you let it slide or do you try and deal with it? 

There is one particular person in my life (well, two really) who has hurt me deeply.  I can see the bone kind of deep.  But this person will never ever apologize.  Ever.  I know this and somehow that makes it worse.  I would love to be told I'm sorry and have hope that it will heal the wound, but I know it is never coming.

This is something God is working on me about.  Something I am not good at. 

Sometimes I will make a big deal about my hurts, when I know I shouldn't.  I am learning to quietly forgive and not let them know I was hurt in the first place. 

It is getting easier each time, but did you know that you have to be hurt a lot in order for God to work through that with you?  If you aren't hurt, you can't learn to forgive. 

So I am sitting in my pool of hurts and sorrow learning to forgive.

It's a sad place, but also freeing.  Because I know I am being made more like Jesus by going through it.