JustLisa

I tried again last night to take some Benadryl before bedtime and once again it had the opposite effect on me. I thought I was weird but it seems a lot of people get hyped up on meds that are said to cause drowsiness. Last night I took it before 8pm thinking it would kick in about 11 or so but it didn't. At 3AM I was still staring at the ceiling.

We put the humidifier back in service yesterday as the dogs have started their winter dry skin business. I'd like a whole house humidifier but that's way down the list behind a new stove, fridge and dryer that I need first. All of my appliances seem to be in cahoots with each other. None of them breaking completely down but rather tormenting me. Nothing is grosser than pouring chunks of frozen milk into a glass. YUCK!!

In closing, did anyone watch that Saints / Cowboys game last night? I'm not a fan of either team but wow, that was some good football!

So yesterday C calls me from school "I dropped a desk on my foot." I replied "What am I supposed to do about that??" to which he responded "Here, talk to Rita." Rita is our school nurse. God love her. She is the go to woman at that school I think. So Rita says "Better come and get him and get this looked at. It's pretty bad."

If you want more....

Immigration officials raided the Swift plant in Marshalltown last week and I've since thought quite a bit about how I feel on the issue. As always, my thoughts are scattered and I have trouble bringing them together for a solid conclusion.

C's toe is going under the knife Thursday for cleaning and pinning. Details for the not-so-squeamish follow:

No tree. Not a single gift bought. No sign of Christmas anywhere except the pile of cards we've received in the mail thus far. I had intended to address and mail cards of my own Sunday but ended up sick. I kept watching the shipping days disappear on amazon.com, thinking I had time then the toe incident happened. All I want for Christmas is for the toe surgery and recovery to go smoothly then maybe we can celebrate in January.

Keep the boy in your thoughts as he gets pinned back together. Here's hoping the surgery is smooth and the recovery is swift. If not, he will drive me nuts. (nuttier?)

The surgery was fine and the first 12 hours after were fine but it's been a special kind of hell since. He's not been able to sleep from the pain and I am a zombie. Every time he moans it takes another week from my life. I want to make it better but all I can do is offer food, water, and ibuprofen with a tylenol three thrown in once in awhile. I hope we get over this initial hump soooooon.

He's not with me tonight as it's his dad's weekend and I had to take him up there this morning. He hasn't slept at all the last two nights so hopefully tonight he will. I debated keeping him home with me but that wouldn't be fair to his dad.

He is such a tough kid and hates to admit pain so this has been very hard on him and incredibly hard to watch. One time he had two plantars warts cut out of the bottom of his foot and then played a double header baseball game two hours later. So yeah, seeing him literally writhe around and try so hard not to cry has been heartbreaking.

We have had a couple of laughs out of the deal since laughter is the best medicine. The first night I told him I've always wanted to do the flaming bag of dog poo trick to someone so we decided when he's healed up, maybe we'll put a bag of flaming poop on the surgeons doorstep and ring the doorbell and run. I wouldn't really do that of course but it took his mind off of things for a couple of minutes anyway.

We ran to Des Moines today to do our Christmas shopping. Nothing like waiting til the last minute! Each kid got two things which is not much, yet more than they expect. I'd told them all anyone was getting was a new toe for Christopher. When that bill comes in I bet I'll wish I'd stuck to that.

It just doesn't seem like Christmas at all this year. No one seems festive and there's no snow. Even in the crowded mall today I only saw two teenage girls who looked like they were in the spirit. They reminded me of how I used to be when I'd wear my Santa hat in the days leading up to Christmas Day. Oh, and my reindeer bell necklace. That's been such a long time ago. Ben was really little back then and loved my bell necklace. Every year I think we'll have a better holiday and every year is worse it seems. Maybe the happy spirit will return when we have grandchildren someday. FARRRR OFF I hope!

I have the best friends in the world and I wouldn't take a million bucks for any one of you, let alone all of you. The amount of concern for Christopher both locally and from the far reaches of the world has been so comforting (not to mention he thinks it's cool, too.)

He is doing much better and is only taking an ibuprofen at bedtime now. Getting him to wear the boot is a struggle most days. I don't blame him a bit for resisting. The thing weighs ten pounds or more and can't be comfortable.

$150 each. I say "each" because we have two of them. The first one was pre op and then not big enough to accomodate post surgery bandages. We've already been warned that the insurance company might not pay for them. If I have to pay full price, I'm gonna bronze the suckers and plant flowers in them when this is all over.

It's good for weight loss but not much else. I'm getting tired and cranky and dealing with people is just not my strong suite right now.

When mom doesn't feel good, shouldn't people be helpful? And by people I mean the kid? The partner? Anyone??? Hell no. Same routine no matter what - so kid... partner... anyone else.... if I bite your head off you should be thankful that's all I've done.