oh boy and egads

the oh boy? I was given a TENS unit...ohhhhh the joy and near squeeee I had when the gift bearer said it was mine. Devildog just doesn't get it. His inability to walk properly 11 years ago was a joint injury. Mine was a huge misalignment of the hips added together with pregnancy and a physical job. He is no stranger to pain, having been severely injured as a child and enduring multiple surgeries from it. The person who gave it to me has endured their own share of pain and injuries. They understand my joy as recipient of this gift.

I love my chiropractor. I got him from my sister. I can walk more like a normal human now. My chiropractor has given me TENS therapy several times and I looooove it. Apparently I mentioned it in conversation to the gift bearer and they decided I needed one. So wooot! I got a portable, battery operated TENS unit and have already put it to use. I kinda think this is cooler than my sister's breathalyzer thing.

the egads? Shopping takes energy when you're difficult to fit in the first place plus 3 months postpartum and still shrinking. I did score a pair of khakis and grey pants to expand my wardrobe beyond the jeans and the one pair of black pants. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be in this size longer than I want to admit and my prepregnancy pants will be out of style by the time I fit back into them. Four babies does things like that to a mother's body.

the other egads? I-and everyone else- forgot the diaper bag when we went shopping. Thankfully I had a contingency plan for that and put a diaper in the van. That got full and had to be changed while shopping. Then between stops the baby filled the diaper with vileness. Poor thing, Mommy's antibiotics get shared and as a result her diapers are big messes. The one diaper in the van was all I had in there too. Devildog ran home to get the diaper bag and a change of clothes because she oozed. I had to wash the carseat cover when we got home. Yuk.

I'm still hacking and coughing because my lungs are still compromised. But that fever that slowed me down broke last night. What a Christmas gift! I awakened at 5 am fully drenched and smelling so abhorrent that it rivaled Beast's football funk. That aspect wasn't such a pleasant one. I do feel a bit better, but certainly won't complain about a return of my pulmonary function.

"Oh wow she really must be sick"

This is what my MIL said to Beast on the phone Christmas morning. I was not well enough to go to church Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. She called and the phone got passed around and when Beast had the phone, MIL asked to talk to me, and he told her I couldn't talk and had no voice. I heard her ask if I went to Midnight Mass (always went when we visited her for Christmas, but my parish has 10:30 Mass the latest), and he told her no, nor did we go this morning. I woke up when we should have been at the church already. She then said "Oh wow! She really must be sick then if she didn't go to church"

Yes I am. Augmentin = horse pills. Constant coughing due to lung spasms for lack of sufficient oxygen = raw throat. Devildog hates the "psst" I have to use to get someone's attention, despite the fact that's how I call my kids when we're in public. The number of "psst" is the number child I'm calling, and it's more fun to see what kind of looks I get from people than a game of Marco Polo. Everyone's becoming more proficient at figuring out the mix of charades and handful of sign language signs that I remember. And when all else fails I get pen and paper or use my cellphone text screen to get the message across.

Merry Christmas family, you got a wife & mother that can't nag you because she can't talk. Now I just have to figure out which one of these yayhoos put in that request to Santa. Next year they're getting a huge pile of coal.

Too busy for sick, too sick for busy.

I have bronchitis. For asthmatics it's one of the biggies we try to avoid because of the compromised lungs. I worked 4 service calls each on Monday and Tuesday so I could get last minute things finished Wednesday and Thursday. Well last week's menopausal weather stirred my allergies and having 4 kids who create mommy-brain, and the increased workload draining my cranial function further, I forgot that we even had allergy meds in the hall closet. I could've avoided the copays for this bronchitis if I'd taken a few allergy meds a week ago. I'm thankful that I had enough in the bank to cover those copays. The Augmentin wasn't too expensive, but the inhaler was not exactly cheap. Thankfully I told them I'd come back for it. In the 20 minutes between doc and pharmacy, I totally forgot the doc gave me a coupon for the inhaler. DUH. So I went back later to get it, and between 2 doses of the antibiotic and a shot of the inhaler, I'm feeling a bit better. And I heart my chiropractor. He helped release the tension in my chest and upper back from all the coughing. A few naps and a few rounds of crisis cleaning per FLYLady's instructions, with help of course, and the hovel should be decent enough. I'm verrrrrry thankful for Beast though. He's been primary babysitter though my extended work hours, and today's adventures. It's a good thing the baby likes him.
I may have to rethink my primary care provider though. Mine is a walk in clinic, but it is NOT a doc-in-a-box. So the caveat to that is waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Thankfully I brought my knitting with me and got a good bit done. Thanks to Devildog's aunt for teaching me to knit Continental. It goes SO much faster. I might actually finish this project in time for next Christmas. In the meantime, I am just too busy to be sick, but alas, my body said "HAH!" and now I'm too sick for busy. When you don't get enough oxygen, it makes things just a weeee challenging.
I really am trying to keep my focus on gratitude in all my challenges. No point in making things worse by whining like I so often do right? I'm too busy to whine about being sick or busy anyway.

oooops...

Pardon the pregnancy ticker...I need to take that off here with a quickness. But it's way past bedtime and I need to pry myself from the desk and go to bed. In the slight offhand chance you missed me...lemme 'splain. I got sidetracked by crackbook, a baby, 2 teenagers, a clone and a husband. My poor father has started resorting to that age old custom typically reserved for Irish mothers. He lays on a slathering of guilt when I finally get around to calling him. Between a teenager that heists the phone (which is why I refuse to buy new batteries for any of them or replace them as they die - we're down to one and a half cordless phones out of four), another teenager working his way into phone hog status, a baby that for all intents and purposes is exclusively a nursling, and the increased workload, plus Devildog's funky shift, and you've got one Wench who is not well balanced with time expenditure these days. I also have been coughing up weekly copays to my chiropractor because I am still not back in alignment enough nor regained strength after having a very cute, funny and smart little piglet nursling.

To quote my crackbook status update for Sunday
Feisty went to Mass, fed baby, took a nap, fed baby, made dinner, fed baby, and now needs to clean and declutter SOMETHING in the den. Meanwhile everyone asks "which Christmas Mass are you attending?" ::shrug:: late vigil maybe? Depends on dh's work schedule & what happens at Dad's. Oldest sis has called a gathering at his house Christmas Eve.

I didn't clean anything because Devildog dragged out the Christmas tree and I gave him authority over the lights this year. I didn't have the energy, plus my lower back was screaming at me again by that point. We gave Clone full reign over where the ornaments went. Yet, all of that and I'm still awake, forgetting to order my FLYlady calendar so I can get it by the end of the current year. THAT and scheduling my work for the week were the whole reason I got online so late.
Meanwhile an old friend from a message board has been keeping things current on her blog. She's one of those overachieving, busy, suzy-homemaker types that works Catholic homeschooling waaaaaay better than I work my slacker mode. Feel free to peruse her blog, and perhaps send me some of the rum balls she's got posted somewhere in one of her recipes.
http://saintsfaithhopechairty.blogspot.com/