The demonic holiday

We have declared our holiday of 2010 the Demonic Holiday.  This is all from the time we got back from Minnesota to the time we had to leave for Wisconsin.  So over a span of 3 weeks.  It was one crazed event after another.  Here's the short-short version in no particular order:

When we went to finally get our Yule tree it was to a new farm we hadn't been to.  It was cold, very windy, and farther away than last year's farm.  Adam and I hadn't been communicating well and it continued to the day.  Everyone was cranky and the tramping around in bad weather and an unfamiliar place with no guidance didn't help.  I ended up sending Adam and Kara to the car while I found and tried to cut down the tree on my own, with Rowan strapped to me.  Someone else had to finish cutting it down.  Then I had to haul it to the car on my own.  At least Adam managed to get it on the car.  When we got home, Adam was sick.  And I mean sick.  After everyone but I took naps I went to get the tree off the car and inside.  Adam tried to help me get it up but while he was holding it and I was on the floor tightening the stand he had to let go and throw up.  So while I held the tree up while I sat on the floor I managed to call a friend to come help get the tree up.  Before you ask- if I had let go of the tree it would have fallen on Kara and Rowan (who, by the way, were not happy and crying).


Kara had just gotten over being stomach sick and now Adam had it.  Then Kara was sick right away again, this time with an ear infection, then Adam got sick again (just a basic cold, but a doozy of one), then Rowan got it, then I got it. Then we were ALL sick, at the same time. Right before Yule and our trip to Wisconsin.  Kara managed to get all of her energy back when the rest of us were totally laid up.

We almost didn't get the tree decorated or anything done and ready for our Wisconsin trip.  Adam barely got done shopping for gifts for me.  As it was, I think he went shopping the day before Yule. And yes, we had to have the tree. We were home for Yule and it meant a lot to me.  It would have made me even sadder to not have it at all. We got most of the ornaments up, not all, but most.

The car got a flat tire twice, it was the same tire both times too. The turn signal on the car also had to be repaired twice.

One night we decided to make pizza for dinner. As Adam went to get it out of the over it flipped upside down while part way in the oven.  There was cheese everywhere inside the oven!  Then Kara didn't want to eat it because it was all wrong.

I made cookies for a cookie swap that didn't turn out all fluffy like they should have been, and the peppermint was so strong that it gave me heartburn.  The exchange then got canceled.  Anyone want a bunch of flat really strong peppermint meringue cookies?

Adam almost had to return a day early for a meeting.  He would have had to buy a round trip ticket the day before we were to return, then get back to me in order to get all our bags and all of us home.  No way in hell was I going to try and fly with a connection in O'Hare with 2 kids.  Not yet anyway. Thankfully the meeting got rescheduled.

2 of the gifts we ordered for each other hadn't arrived by the time we left for Wisconsin. Note to self- check on the one that STILL isn't here.


I ordered 3 items on-line from a marketplace for my sister-in-law.  I was then told that one of them was no longer available, didn't get responses on how much to send for two other attempts to get things, and one of the things I ordered was not the same as it was listed.  Thankfully I did manage to get her 2 of the 3 items we wanted.  Note to self- order the 3rd item and get it sent to her.

I planned on getting the gutters cleaned before we left.  They had to reschedule it because they messed up on their schedules.  Of course it snowed before they came out and the gutters were then clogged with ice.  Thankfully they did still get them cleaned.

We had a 6 am flight out of Baltimore to O'Hare with an hour and a half to make our connection.  That actually wasn't too bad. We got a hotel room in Baltimore the night before, we all managed to get decent amounts of sleep (I slept in a bed with Kara, Adam in a bed with Rowan or she would have been trying to nurse all night).   We got through security fine. As we were getting all of our things back together a guy who was high on something (and not life) looked at us, pulled a beat up $20 out of his wallet and said "get something for the kid".  He threw it at the car seat and walked off talking to himself and anyone else he could.  Kara cringed every time he talked, and that's saying a lot! Making the connection wasn't too bad, we did have to walk quickly.  Returning was a different story.  Our first flight was late, then landed at O'Hare at the furthest runway.  We then had about 20 minutes to get to the other side of the airport before the next flight was supposed to depart.  We were told to take a shuttle. After waiting in line for the shuttle for 5 minutes they told us it was a 15 minute walk to our gate and the shuttle was packed so walk it.  We RAN and almost didn't make it.  Adam got there before I did and the door was closed. THANKFULLY they were still loading bags and waiting on more (from our flight I suspect) so they let us and 2 others on. We then sat there for another 10-15 minutes as they loaded bags.  And yes, our bags did all make it back with us (phew!).

In the time we had been back from Minnesota Kara had gone to school only 1 day.  So I was about ready to lose any sanity left.

Adam & I had been "fighting" for quite a few days.  In our world "fighting" is really not communicating well and then getting frustrated with each other, not talking outside of "did you get this done?  Well, why not?" and not touching.  We thankfully took some time to go over things before the stress of the flight.

While in Wisconsin Adam had the chance to play casual soccer games with the current high school soccer team.  It was a benefit for a former teacher and principal that had an accident and broke his back (he's now partially paralyzed).  Adam was the oldest person there, none of the other alumni showed up, so he was playing against kids about half his age (15-18 year olds).  He managed to hold his own, but in all that he got a foot to the ankle.  No, it's not broken.  But it swelled up and he got a massive bleeder bruise.  His foot, ankle, up his calf have been purple, black, and red for a week and a half.  He went into the doctor today.  But it meant he wasn't very mobile for most of the trip.

Neither girl slept well the entire vacation.  So neither Adam nor I slept well either.

When Adam and I went to go out for a date the movie we wanted to see, Tron Legacy, was canceled due to technical difficulties.  So we went to a restaurant where they had cheese curds Adam really liked.  Only to find out they were out of them.  Neither of us was very impressed with our meal that night.  Date night dud!

Yup.  Demonic holiday.  I'm sure I'm forgetting something in all of that.

I understand why...

I now understand why, when I was young and got sick, my mom would go get my medication and come back with what I thought of as treat drinks and foods.  She was doing anything she could to get me to eat or drink!  I also understand why she would buy me something fun like a book, coloring book, activity book or some other activity I could do while sick.  For one, she was trying to keep me entertained by anything other than TV.  Two, she felt bad that I was so sick.

Kara has a double ear infection mixed with a cough that occasionally has that seal bark sound.  Thankfully her fever is mild and so far she hasn't thrown up.  The stomach bug was 2 weeks ago.  She will just rest her head on our lap and cry.  We've had such a hard time getting food in her that we're going to start offering Jello (I know, it's not really food.  But it's something!).  I need her to rest and stay inactive so that her body can fight the infections.  I'm also trying to tend to Rowan (who just got 2 vaccines).  Oh yeah, and get ready for Yule, Adam's birthday, and a trip to Wisconsin.  Oh yes, and still maintain the normal routines and needs of the house.  So I'm not able to play with Kara, or read to her, in a way that will keep her resting.  So, evil idiot box time it is.  I have never been so thankful for over 100+ channels, a DVR, DVD and VHS as I have when Kara is sick!  I feel so bad that she's so sick and doesn't get to play with friends (she will miss 2 playdates and 2 days of school this week.  I can't tell which of us is crying over that more).  I want to buy her treats and toys and things to cheer her up.  But dang if this kid doesn't have more than she normally plays with anyway.  So I restrain myself and say that it's my love, my attention and my compassion she needs more than my gifts.


I know part of my feeling bad for her is because she's been sick a lot lately.  She got sick before our trip to Minnesota- stomach bug.  Then she got sick on the way home from Minnesota- stomach bug on the plane.  And now she's sick again.  Oh yeah, that plane trip was very "interesting".  She threw up when we were at the airport, we had no clue she was sick.  Then she kept throwing up on the plane ride home.  And then again a few times at home.  We used all the motion sick bags we could get our hands on.  The flight attendants were very understanding thankfully.  Sadly they were all out of extra bags, thankfully other passengers gave us theirs.

Mom, I understand all you did when I was sick.  I hope that my girls feel as comforted and tended to as I did by you!