Horror / Sci-Fi

I'm busy trying to sop up the goo leaking from my arm. I have tried all manner of remedies, from allergy pills to lotions to powders to baths. Nothing has worked for more than a few seconds. I am on the way to becoming.... dun Dun DUNNNN.... THE OOZE MONSTER!

It all began when I innocently tried removing the horrid THORNY BRUSH that was taking over my yard. Little did I know it was actually trying to take over THE WORLD! Bwahaha! In an effort to reach its goal, it joined forced with POISON IVY (or could it be Poison Sumac? I still haven't located the plant - I'm afraid to go back out there.) Together, the plants launched a full scale attack on MY SKIN! (Can you see it? It's kind of a mix between "Little Shop Of Horrors" and "The Happening" where plants suddenly let out signals that caused humans to kill themselves in more and more horrific ways unless they could outrun the wind...)

OK, I'm going to bed now.

Better Not Touch

So for the past few weeks I've been out on the yard tackling the thorny brushes. I've been hacking, whacking, pulling, heaving, yanking, stacking, and ripping my body up with the thorns. And I've made pretty good headway, if I do say so myself.

See how I'm dressed in the photo? Long pants, long sleeves, hat? See how I'm pulling up my pants because I only have a few pairs that fit and I don't want to rip them on the bushes or get them stained? Well... this past weekend it got hot. The weather became warm and sunny, and instead of sweating in my clothes from the exercise, I was sweating from the heat without having to actually move. So... I wore short sleeves one day, telling myself I would avoid the thorny brush and stick to raking up the dead leaves and twigs. Although I did actually yank up a few roots.

The poison Ivy covers my right arms around the elbow and up the fore-arm. It's also on the inside of my left elbow. And on my belly (see my pulling up pants in photo above.) And there are a few splotches on my legs. It's very unsightly, especially as the rash can take on a faint yellowish tinge where the blisters are visible. It itches a lot. I took an antihistamine, but the 24 hour kind only lasted a few hours. I am using cortizone cream and calamine lotion. I am taking multiple showers a day, washing everything (clothes, sheets, towels) in hot water with an extra rinse cycle. If anyone, anyone at all, has any advice, please, please feel free to pass it forward.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Can YOU spot what's out of place?

Blame my Mom

Yesterday, when my mother called, she recommended the new Jodi Picoult book, Handle With Care. I listened. If anyone is upset at the interruption in posts, they can blame her.

Punk Out

I was feeling a bit down-in-the-dumps today. There's no reason. Everything is fine. It was just a mood. But it was really bringing me down. And then my mother called me for no real reason except to check in. And that made me feel so much happier.

You know, our phone might ring once every few days. And when it does ring, it's usually a doctor's office or a courtesy call. It's not usually a person we know calling just to chat. Unless it's Lillian. But today it was my mother. And she made me happy.

General Hospital

This is one of what may be a very short series of "Soap Opera" posts. Because it's my blog, and I feel like it.

In this episode of General Hospital: Nathan's wishes to become a real monkey are dashed, as he realizes he's too big for the monkey suit.



Fortunately, a surgery performed by his very own father restores his dream and his faith in monkey-kind. (Steve cut the feet off the monkey suit. Check out the gap between the feet and the leg, and tell me he was going to fit his bosy into that thing!)


Tune in tomorrow, for the NEXT episode of General Hospital! (cue theme music)

My Life To Live

This is one of what may be a very short series of "Soap Opera" posts. Because it's my blog, and I feel like it.

In this episode of MY LIFE TO LIVE: Andrew and his mother accompany a friend to a local courthouse, where they witness a shackled teen in prison garb. Nicholas and Nathan attend a magic show, and delight their mother with tales of the mystical talking rabbit and the coloring book with disappearing pictures. Kathleen saves the life of her son's bean plant by digging it up from the yard before the cold of nightfall. The house then loses power and is plunged into darkness, causing the children to flashback to last fall's ice storm. The return of electricity is met with relief. Tune in tomorrow, for the NEXT episode of MY LIFE TO LIVE! (cue theme music)

As The World Turns...

This is one of what may be a very short series of "Soap Opera" posts. Because it's my blog, and I feel like it.

In this episode of AS THE WORLD TURNS: All three boys woke at dawn, Nicholas rash-free, and were able to squirm their way into their parents' bed before Steve finally woke up. The family had pancakes. They went to church and then out to lunch. Kathleen did yard work while Steve watched the kids, and then they stayed outside until supper time. This makes for a very fine day, but a very boring Soap Opera episode. Sorry. Maybe next time there will be some racy affair or some amnesia or something. Who know? Tune in tomorrow, for the NEXT episode of AS THE WORLD TURNS! (cue theme music)

Days of My Life

This marks the first of what may be a very short series of "Soap Opera" posts. Because it's my blog, and I feel like it.

In this episode of DAYS OF MY LIFE: Andy's mysterious fever returns in the night, and he keeps his mother awake with his general fussiness until 5am, when his brothers wake, at which point he falls deeply asleep. Kathleen takes Andy to pick up some antibiotics (just in case), and to visit a longtime friend and her eleven (OK, three) children, while Steve takes Nick and Nate on a trip of their own. Then the family packs up and goes to their first EVER church auction, where they loose the bid on the Prime Rib Supper but win the Coolest Painting, and where Nicholas's small rash expands to cover his entire upper body, including parts of his HEAD. Is it simply a case of over-scratching from his recent haircut? Or could it be Hives, Chicken Pox, or something much more sinister (irritating?) Tune in tomorrow, for the NEXT episode of DAYS OF MY LIFE! (cue theme music)

I took Andy back to the doctor today because his fever wasn't leaving and his breath smelled really bad. And we found out it isn't Strep. He seemed to be better this afternoon, and I'm holding my breath. Maybe now things can get back to normal. And by "normal" I mean something that looks like this:


please note: the boys aren't technically allowed to jump on the bed, or jump off the bed, but I used to love jumping on the bed, so I have a hard time making them stop.

hmmmmm...

You'll have to forgive me for falling back on photos in my posts. I have my reasons. #1 - no one reads the words, anyway, they just want pictures of the boys! #2 - Andrew is sick. Saturday he had a fever, and then slept for five hours. During the day. From 10am to 3pm. That's... well, that's all day. And the cold hung on, and his fever clung, and Wednesday I took him to the doctor but his lungs were fine and his ears were fine, and what else IS there? But today his fever spiked at 103.4, his little body so hot I could hardly stand to hold him, and he whimpers and insists on being held ALL the time. He won't sleep for longer than an hour a stretch. He stopped eating everything except the occasional bit of Easter Candy. And he doesn't PLAY. He sits there, crying, or staring until his eyes droop and I carry him off to bed.

May You Read Me This Book?

Easter Duds

I tried getting a picture of all three boys in their Easter clothing. I didn't really succeed, but I got something.
















Hope you all had good Holidays.

Upstage

One of Nick's church school projects is to collect pennies to donate to a school that's being built in... a part of the world I can't bring to mind at the moment. But it's one of those with children and poverty and no school. The project is called "Pennies for Peace." Nicholas loves to collect pennies for it, but we don't seem to be able to get the pennies into the actual collection box. Nevertheless, he likes saying "Pennies for Peace!"

In this video I try to capture him saying "Pennies for Peace." Instead, you can observe the following:
- the paint job I did in Andy's room.
- the paint job I did in Nick and Nate's room (through the open door.)
- Andrew squealing in the background for no reason

Out There

The boys have been playing outdoors a lot more often. Andy has taken to crying and pounding on the glass door from the moment he wakes from nap. "Side!" he cries. "Side!"

How To De-Bounce

After a long day bouncing outside and romping around, Tigger likes to relax with a little TV.

Photo Illustration

We've been cranky.

We've been tired.

But we're ready to move on.

Whirlwind

Today was crazy.
Responding to my last post, Andy rebelled and woke up three times last night. Nicholas ran a high fever, so I didn't take him to school. But I took Nate. It started pouring rain, so my plans to work outside this afternoon in the yard had to b put off. Which was good because I needed to catch up on laundry and clean the house. But then Nick woke from nap complaining of a sore throat. I called the doctor's office, drove to pick up Nate (with the two other boys in tow), drove back home to clean the bathrooms and cancel a playdate for tomorrow, drove to the pharmacy to buy more children's motrin, drove to the doctor's office where the boys jumped around the waiting area and then the examination room until the doctor told us Nick had bronchitis, drove to the grocery store where I could get the perscribtions filled and also pick up some dinner, and then back home where I fed the kids, folded laundry, bathed them, struggled to remember what happened in the story "Rapunzel" and then finaly tucked them in.
Which brings me to now.
I have a headache.
What I'd really like is to take a bath, and then curl up in bed with a cup of tea. But I can't muster up the energy to get the toys out of the tub. Instead, I'm sitting here watchng "The Princess Bride" on TV and thinking about all the things I didn't do again today - put away the laundry, hang the pictures, work in the yard, put away the humidifiers... And trying not to break into the Easter Candy I have stored away.

The Good News

Andy is sleeping through the night. For a few nights in a row now. And when he wakes up he doesn't cry right away, he plays for a bit, then starts shouting "MaMA! MaMA!" And this morning, which was my day to sleep in, he shouted "DaDA! DaDA!" How did he know?

Green Foot

I have never been good with plants. I forget to water them. I water them too much. I plant seeds and then realize I can't tell the weeds from the plants. I have planted wildflowers by scattering seeds. I plant grass and it somehow makes it into the flower beds but refuses to grow on the lawn. I have one plant in the house, and only because it is so hearty it can't die. In fact, it made little plant babies!

This year I am undertaking a lot of outdoor work. I am, of course, attacking the pricker bushes that are threatening to take over the earth. There are a lot of those. I rip them right out of the ground and lop them up. I am also attempting to plant a some vegetables this year - tomatoes, beans, and pumpkins. Fun! And useful. But first I need to yank out the weeds and turn over the soil. Therapy.

But it rained, so I couldn't do any work outdoors today. Instead, I decided to transplant the smaller plants, the plant babies, into new pots. Only while I was trying to do that, I was having trouble untangling them. Maybe the plants were too close for too long and merged together? I don't know... All I know is that, without applying too much pressure, I somehow snapped the main plant off at the base. And broke it. Off completely. My one plant. The one that survived weeks of neglect. For years.

I tried to fix it. I tried putting it back, as though it would fuse back with the roots somehow. And I tried to bury the base in the dirt, making it stick up, thinking that maybe it would grow new roots. But it fell over. I'm worse than Charlie Brown.

Maybe it's not so bad. Maybe the babies will still be OK. But I'm leaving them in the big pot. I don't want to wreck anything else.

Stinky

The other morning Andy woke up at 5am. I was hoping he'd go back to sleep, so I let his stay in his crib and scream for a few minutes, and the result was, of course, Nick and Nate both woke up and I had to wake up anyway. But instead of putting on my robe, I pulled on a hoodie that I had worn the day before.

As I was clearing the breakfast dishes, I caught a whiff of what was unmistakably my own body odor on the hoodie. "Wow! I smell! That's gross!" I said. Out loud. And Nicholas said, "Yeah, you do smell, Mom, but I love you anyway!"

Wait, I thought... "Do I always smell?" I asked. Nicholas raised his eyebrows and nodded, completely serious. "But I love you anyway, Mom!"

Nicholas is very sweet, but now I'm paranoid. I swear, I've been showering much more often! And now I'm using all the smelly lotions I only use on special occasions.