Germs galore

Well, Dayden is sick-again!! Since starting daycare 6 weeks ago she has been sick with something almost every week. Most recently she was diagnosed with Fifth's Disease just Monday. Now...4 short days later she has strep. Who knows the last time I worked a full week at work!!!
She's perking up today and hopefully she'll be well on the road to recovery by tomorrow. I have a mandatory, all-day-long meeting downtown and it's HELL making that up.

Where has time gone??

Okay, so I admit that I haven't kept my promise of blogging on a regular basis. I have no exuses. Quite honestly-nothing has really changed in my life that can validate my behavior. David is no longer deployed, and hasn't been since August, but in November he moved to California for a civilian job and he is S-T-I-L-L there. So, basically eveything is the same, only I don't worry as much about him being mortared, shot at or the like. Nope! Now, I worry about him getting bombed, doing shots and the like...nah-just kidding.
But seriously, it's getting old. It's one thing to have your hubby deployed to a war zone and a completely "other" thing to have him in the states and not at home. When he is deployed there is an end date. There is his safety to be concerned with on a much higher level than your everyday concern, and there is a mindset that you go in to so that you can make it thru each day until the end date.
He isn't deployed on a military mission, but to me he is still deployed. Only this deployment isn't for 7 months or 14 months. It's open ended. There is no end date in sight. What's worse? The economy. So he'll have to keep his hiney right where he is until they move him home, or he decided to look for a job in Tx. Really-this isn't a good time to make any employment changes. The bills are getting paid...so I guess I'll just continue to suck it up. It's not forever...right??
On a happier note-his boss sent me a new laptop!! So, I guess I can hold out a little longer. AND I can try and blog more often...now that I don't have that computer excuse anymore!!
Ugh...at least Dayden and I are headed to Cali in May for about 5 days and we hope to take all the kids in July. Do you know how much it costs to fly all of our kids to Cali?? Jeez...I need to get my pilot license...

Ready or not..here I go!!

Let me just start by saying...whew!

Last night was quite a mess.

Let's start with the drive home, which was quite entertaining because I had a great conversation with my BFF Helen. She always has me laughing about something. When we hung up I started to create a checklist in my head of all the things I need to do prior to my trip. Call the dog sitter, pack Dayden's things, copy insurance card, update medical consent to treat, pack camera (don't forget to pack camera), get nails done, tan, go by ATM for cash, buy new wall charger for cell (dog ate it), print out itinerary, pack list of items David has requested, pack camera (i really don't want to forget my camera), and the list goes on and on. I was well prepared with which items to tackle first once I got home.

Enter home.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT is that horrific smell?? WHAT on God's green earth has died and decayed in my home in the last 9 hours??

Duece-the dog. Apparently he had some massive diarrhea that couldn't be held in. I have no idea why or when. But, I can certainly tell you where. He is kenneled during the day (THANK GOD!) and he was literally sitting in poop water. It was splattered all over my wall where his kennel sits. It had run over the floor of the kennel and had completely soaked my carpet. He was soaked and stained from it. He was hunkered down with his tail tucked because he knew the wrath was about to begin.

All I can say is...good thing David wasn't home...

It took almost 2 hours to clean it all. I had to clean the carpet, clean the kennel, clean the dog, clean the tub I washed the dog in. Clean the ENTIRE bathroom I washed the dog in. Threw away the towels used in the process and sterilized the ones I kept. I cleaned the vacuum that I used to clean the carpet. (Note to self-need more gloves.) Sprayed tons Woolite Oxy action Pet Stain remover on the carpet, Febreezed, Lysoled, Scrubbing Bubbles, Clorox bleach..you name it. I used just about every cleaning product I could get my hands on. (add Clorox wipes to grocery list).

And that, my friends, was just the beginning.

My neighbor came by at 9:15pm to let me know that some kids broke light bulbs in our alley behind our homes. So, I was outside in the alley sweeping fluorescent bulb matter up. My neighbor and her husband helped me get it up and they talked with the police. I went back inside praying that I could finally sit down and eat something.

Yeah-right. Not long after I finally settled down long enough to think about my checklist, the weatherman had breaking news about severe weather and it was headed in my direction.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!! I have things to do!! Dayden is fast asleep and the dog is back in his kennel and all I want is 10 minutes to relax!!!!!!!

Well, suffice it to say that Dayden and I were in the bathroom for about 20 minutes while the sirens went off, the TV went out, and the storm passed with little incident. (Thank you to Libby and Lisa who called to check on me!)

Okay, Dayden's back to bed. The dog is back in his kennel. The rain has stopped. The TV is working again and it's about 10:30pm.

Cue phone...it's David. "What's up, Baby?"

Really?! I cannot post the contents of our conversation as I'm sure Blogger will ban me from any further posts.

All I can say is that I am so thankful that I will be in California tomorrow and will spend 3 nights and 4 days with my husband and no kids and no dog.

Did I mention that the forecast for California is rain for 4 days?? Ugh. Oh well..

Jesus, Mary and Joseph!!!!!

Oh my...

Ashlyn (9): "Hey Dayden! What did you do today?"
Dayden (2.5): "Umm, I tooted!"

And the laughter erupted.

Nice.

Valetines Trip planned

So, it's official.

I will be heading to California for Valetines weekend.

This will be the first time, in almost 2 years, that I will have my husband all to myself!

He has several events planned already. Dinner here, sight-seeing there, meet co-workers, Valentine party on Friday night, boating on Saturday, dinner with friends Saturday evening, and the list goes on. What in the world will I do without my 2 1/2 year old on my hip telling everyone.."let Mommy do it!"

Ahh-I can hardly wait..

But then again, what on earth will I tell my baby girl?? Bailey and Ashlyn will be with their dad that weekend, so no worries there, but poor lil Dayden. I feel so guitly! Not only will I be away from her for 3 nights, she won't get to see her daddy until March!! Ugh! It's so hard sometimes.

But, on the other hand, I will be able to sleep in couple of days...NICE!!

Congrats to Mary Helen

Congratulations to Mary Helen who has reached her 1 year bloggiversary!! Thanks for sharing your beautiful family with us and all of the funny details! Keep it up-we LOVE the updates!

No BEANS about it...

Ashlyn (9): Mom! Is it human being or human bein?
Mom: Huh?!
Ashlyn: Is it human being or human be-IN?
Mom: Oh! It's human being..with an eeeennnggg at the end.
Ashlyn: So..., it's not like human bean like pinto bean??
Mom: (laughing) No silly, it has a "g" at the end.

a few seconds later...

Mom: That is so funny Ashlyn! That is so going on the blog!
Bailey(11): (walking in from his shower) What girl is going bald??
Ashlyn: Huh?! Bailey-nobody said a girl was going bald!!
Bailey: Mom? What did you say?
Mom: (still laughing) I s.a.i.d. that is so going on my blog.
Bailey: Oh. I thought you said some girl is going bald. What is going on your blog?
Mom/Ashlyn: Oh...nevermind!!