A Pint Low

Today was even more exhausting than my Mondays usually are! We started out with the usual, plus Shane, who usually goes to bed after I leave for school with the kids. I overslept this morning, so we kinda rushed around getting everything ready to go for school. Shane took a power nap in the car on the way.

Once we dumped dropped off the kids, we had some time to kill, so we went to Bojangle's for breakfast. I had a steak biscuit combo and Shane had a couple of biscuits. Then, we went to the Dollar Tree so I could pick up one of those drawstring bags to hold clothes after martial arts when we go to dance or other activities post martial arts (the uniform is white!). Then, we went to Target because Shane wanted to see if they had some of the toys Santa will bring the kids cheaper than Walmart and Amazon. They did and more!! We'll probably go back sometime before October and just go ahead and buy the stuff to beat the rush. I loathe detest really dislike Christmas shopping!

After we left Target it was finally time to head over to the local Chamber of Commerce. The Red Cross had set up a blood drive there today and we are LONG overdue on donations. I actually haven't donated since before my last pregnancy, nearly 4 years ago! I was worried about donating because my iron is generally low, but it was a whopping 14 today!!! We both donated and, of course, had juice and cookies (and a T-Shirt)!!

I literally had enough time to drop Shane by the house and turn around to pick up the kids. When I got to school, I found two of the filthiest children EVER!! I generally allow them to play on the playground for about 45 minutes to an hour after pick up time while I talk to the teachers and other parents. I know, social of me...right?

Once we left the school, I had to come home and get the children into the tub. They have martial arts and dance on Mondays and we can't have filthy martial artists and ballerinas, now can we? So, they were both bathed and I made them a snack and me lunch (FINALLY) and I went about gathering up the things we would need once we left again. Come to find out, the Kindergartner had a book to read and some fire safety homework, so I packed it up for something to do.

I'm really not going into all of the details of the 30 minutes of martial arts plus a drive and an hour of dance. At this point, I am dead on my feet! I brought the kids home, started the final preparations for dinner (beef tips in the crockpot) and began homework assistance. We all had dinner and then story time and now they are in bed. Shane is at work and I am S-L-E-E-P-Y!!! So, I'm off to bed!

Hand Foot and Mouth Equals No Fun

I have spent this week recovering from the half marathon. I am a lot less sore, but my left small toe is still swollen and bruised. It also hurts. I think I may have actually either jammed or broken it. The week was, basically, business as usual (without the running). I dropped the kids off at school on Monday and got some things done around the house. When I got to the school to pick up the kids, however, Gabriel wasn't running around very much and he immediately ran up to me (something he rarely does). I could tell just by looking at him that he wasn't feeling well, but I was assured that he had an OK day. I like to give them time to run themselves a little ragged on the playground so that they burn off any excess energy before going home or going to activities. Gabriel just wasn't playing. In fact, we didn't stay on the playground long because he ended up laying across a picnic table. Just laying on it. I picked him up and gathered up his sister and we headed home.

When we got home, I laid him on the couch while I went in search of the thermometer. Once I got him settled down and checked his temp, it was almost 102 degrees! I covered him up and put in a DVD. I had to tell him that he was definitely NOT going to martial arts. I had to wake Shane up earlier than usual so that he could watch him because it was Evelyn's first day of dance. I got her dressed and we took off for the studio for an hour. I'll just say that I don't know that I'm cut out to be a dance mom. They aren't terribly friendly to new people and they hogged up the viewing windows the whole time. However, she had a great time and is looking forward to going back next week. When I got home, Gabriel was lying in bed and according to Shane, had been throwing up for some time. I dosed him with some meds and got him into a bath to cool him off. It seemed to help a lot, so I just sent him to bed for the night.

Gabriel was still feeling bad on Tuesday, so he didn't go to school. He stayed home with his dad while I dropped off E at school and also when I went to pick her up in the afternoon. After that, I had to go to work. When I got home, he was feeling a little better, but still not 100%. I remained hopeful that a good night's sleep would have him up and going the next morning. On Wednesday morning, I woke the kids up and checked G's temp only to find that it was still near 100. I was told on Tuesday that one of the kids in his class recently had strep, so I checked the back of his throat for spots. It looked NASTY! I still planned on dropping E off at school and going to work. The pediatrician doesn't open until 8:30am, so I was calling them on my way in the car. The soonest appointment they had was at 9:20, so I called in late to work. We went to Chick fil A for some breakfast and he was actually hungry. Of course, I had given him some Tylenol that morning, so his fever was down. It was good to see him eat. He hadn't really eaten anything since Sunday.

When we got to the doctor, they checked him out and gave him a strep test. We waited for a long time! Finally, the doctor came in and asked us questions and did an exam. She didn't seem to think it was strep, which was good. She took one look at his throat and said immediately that it was hand, foot and mouth disease. You should have seen the look on Shane's face! He didn't know how to process that! She explained to him that it's just a virus and he was almost over it. In fact, if we could keep the fever down, he could go to martial arts that day! (Shane decided against that in the end) So, I went to work and the boys continued their day. He was still in pretty good spirits when I arrived home that evening!

He finally got to go to school on Thursday and I was off from work and Shane was awake, so I came home and mowed the lawn while he went to help a friend move some furniture. Then, we met up for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. It was almost like a date day!! Later, we picked up the kids. I told Gabriel's teacher what he had and she told me that she thought E had brought it home to him and I agreed because she had a fever last week. Apparently, there was a child in her class with hf&m LAST WEEK and the parent JUST told the school about it. They had to sanitize EVERYTHING. I truly hope that my children didn't spread the disease to anyone else, but at least the school knows what's going on. Some parents are just irresponsible! 

We have managed to go to martial arts every day for the rest of the week to make up for Monday and Wednesday. Hopefully, life will be back to normal. I was thinking earlier this week that I would have to take a second week off from running, but I feel good enough that I believe I will commence 3 mile runs starting on Monday after I drop off the kids. The great thing is, I don't have to worry about weekly long runs and I don't have to take time off between days to recover. Now that the half is out of the way, I plan on focusing on speed and also watching what I eat again. My diet became HORRIBLE when I was training. I am a stress eater and life was really hectic for a while there. I know it is going to take some time to get back to eating well and within portions, but I have done it before, I can do it again!

Sorry that I rambled on and on tonight, but I had a week's worth of life to fit in. I will leave you with a happy picture. I ordered a 13.1 sticker for my car and it arrived yesterday!! I had Shane take a picture of me putting it on the car! I know I said I was going to get a really fun and pretentious sticker, but I opted for a very gender-neutral one to be fair to Shane, who drives the car as much as I do.

OK, I might look a little too happy in this picture!

The End of Summer

We arrived home from the "mini vacation" last night around 9:30. I am happy to report that I managed not to get painfully sun-burned!! I'm glad that the kids had a chance to spend some time on the beach one last time before school started, but I am more than happy to be home. I won't go into details, but it is really difficult to enjoy yourself when you are constantly undermined and disregarded. Oh, and apparently I "don't know how to have fun" and I'm "too serious all of the time." Wow. Seems like someone doesn't really know me at all. Hmmm....wonder why? Sorry to be ambiguous there, but I just needed to anonymously vent for a minute.

There are two weeks before school starts, four weeks before dance starts for E, and three weeks before the half. I am REALLY looking forward to the start of school because it means that I can drop both kids off at school on Mondays and/or Tuesdays and go for a run. It also means that I will have Monday mornings all to myself since Shane will be sleeping and the kids will be at school. Sounds like a recipe for trouble (or a whole lot of Facebook and Pinterest)!!

This is also my last week of vacation time. I am barely working at all this week!! Instead, I will be focusing on getting everything ready for back to school and re-stocking the house with groceries. Hopefully, we'll also be able to squeeze in a play-date along the way!

I actually forgot to pack my Nook for the trip, so I haven't started a new book yet. I'll post when I do. I should be back to regular-type posting soon (hopefully with pictures).