Summertime is Here Again...

Not that it officially left I suppose, but we've had some weird weather. I imagine it is fallout from the odd hurricane bonanza that's been going on the last month or so...

We spent last week in the cool, fall weather that I adore so much after 3 months of 95 + degree temperatures...rain, overcast, crisp mornings, you know how it goes...all that was missing was the frost on the ground, and the crunchy leaves underfoot.

However, just as I was getting used to the idea of having to do something with dozens of green tomatoes, we had a bounce back to the upper 80s...yup! You read that right...all week long we're looking at 85 + degree days, clear skies, and cool crisp nights.

Thank goodness for that, because I was not quite as ready to give up summer as I thought I was! I still have dozens of tomatoes ripening on the vine (as I mentioned above), cucumbers growing, onions that are soon to be gargantuan in size that I refuse to bring in prior to the first frost. My carrots should be long and fat and almost ready...I leave those until after the first frost as well...makes them sweeter and taste like candy...mmmmmm...

This weekend was crazy, but somehow, Captain Chaos managed to sweet talk his Daddy into going to Church with us Sunday morning. I have the strong impression, two days later, that he would much rather have been left home to sleep in, and enjoy a quiet hour or two in his La-Z-Boy watching PowerBlock on Spike TV...too bad his son has those big blue eyes, and the all-too-cute-face of a charmer...he totally charmed his Daddy out of bed...

Yesterday I was at my folks all day. PreacherMan was in town for a conference, and stayed with the folks overnight, and we got the chance to hang out, talk, drink coffee, eat lunch, and have him fawn over Captain Chaos and Tiny Princess. It was fun...and gave me a day out of my house that did not involve having to load and unload children into car seats 12 times. It was great!

This morning, however, I felt compelled to make up for lost time. I got up at 5:30, gave Tiny Princess a bottle, and put her back to bed with clean diapers. She slept until 8:30. Captain Chaos is fighting a cold (stupid germy kids in the nursery at Church...grrrrr, but I'l expound on that shortly), and slept until 8:30.

My day so far:

• Showered, dressed, etc
• Washed, dried and folded Tiny Princess' diapers (I HEART cloth!)
• Washed, dried, folded and put away BB and my colored clothes
• Stripped the bed and put on clean sheets
• Cleaned the master bathroom
• Made breakfast, and BBs lunch
• Took care of the menagerie
• Swept, dusted, vacuumed and mopped the downstairs
• Cleaned the powder room
• Bathed, dressed, and fed the children
• Went to the doctor to verify that I do indeed suffer from Plantar Fascitis and get a snazzy set of heel cups to help
• Blanched, peeled, halved, and crushed 20 pounds of fresh peaches from the Western Slope
• Made 2 batches of freezer jelly
• Washed, dried, and folded the children's clothes
• Read 42 emails, responded to 21 of them
• Defrosted and stuck in crock pot a roast for dinner tonight, to enjoy with mashed potatoes, carrots, and a salad

This is not my typical morning, but for some reason, I feel energized today. I have been struggling a bit with my attitude and motivation, along with a sore back, sore foot, and resulting in a sore neck and sore knees...I came down with a nasty, but thankfully short-lived sinus something. I woke up Wednesday morning congested, feeling like my head had been stuffed with sawdust. ICK! I used my netti pot (greatest thing EVER invented), downed some Vitamin C, took a tincture of Echinacea, and hydrated the snot out of myself (no pun intended). Thursday I woke to no change, Friday I felt worse, Saturday I was perturbed and not feeling well, at home with 2 snotty children while BB and my father spent the day at an auction. I indulged in some attempted retail therapy, and while I felt better that night, I was then perturbed that I couldn't find anything I was willing to pay for knowing that I'd only be wearing it this fall. I am right in between sizes right now, so my jeans are falling down baggy, and my shirts are starting to hang on me, but I am not quite in the smaller size yet, and good luck trying to find my size in the juniors' department...OY! I couldn't even find a cute pair of inexpensive shoes to have with one of my exisitng outfits to make me feel better!

Captain Chaos and Tiny Princess have been in the nursery 4 times in the last 14 days, twice for Church, and twice for my Moms' group. No big deal, as they love to go play with other kids, and it makes Tiny Princess actually snuggle with me after she's away for an hour or so with non-family members.

My big issue with our nursery is that they don't seem to enforce the "NO SICK KIDS" rule...there is a written and posted rule regarding fever, colored mucus, etc, that for some reason, no parents seem to follow except myself. Somehow, no matter what, when we come home from Church, about a week later, one of us ends up with a cold...the nasty, runny nose, rattly cough kind...not enough to take the kids to the doctor for antibiotics, not enough to make you sleep all day, but enough to make you look like Rudolph, enough to make you feel like you've been hit by a Mack truck in your sleep, and enough to make you irritable at every little thing the kids do that is annoying...

SO...for the last 5 days, we've been dosing sparingly with Motrin for Captain Chaos, Infants' Tylenol for Tiny Princess (who cut another tooth on top of her cold), along with running humidifiers in bedrooms with Vapor Steam, and pouring lemonade, water, apple juice, and as much vitamin c and echinacea as we can handle.

I have discovered that Emergen-C has wheat in it, which has been the cause of my awful headache on top of the nasal congestion and cough. If I see another vitamin C pill, I may well throw up...and I am already longing for the day when Captain Chaos can wipe his own nose on a tissue, rather than his sleeve, and perhaps even blow it into said tissue...

Needless to say, I am hopeful that our week of 85 + degree days will make for a speedy recovery and bolstered immune systems...

I am also thankful that I am feeling better, my knees no longer hurt, and I've only been wearing the inserts for a few hours! Hooray!!!!!!

I may get through the day without taking Alleve on the top of my OTC cocktail!

I just keep reminding myself that I signed up for this when I said I wanted kids!