*dazed mom facial expression*

You know when you have a job you actually really like?  98% of the time things go well, you accomplish your goals, the people you interact with are smart and communicate clearly and your breaks come on time kind of job?

But, then there are those 2% of days where you start to wonder how much you could get for ALL your home furnishings and where could you live really cheap and for how long.  Those days when you want to turn off the lights and hide under your desk for a while or stick your finger down your throat to make yourself puke and claim the stomach flu, better go home!

I had one of those days yesterday.  I was home with a child coughing due to asthma but feeling well enough to demand snacks and want to go from playing Xbox to watching movies to playing on the computer.  All of these activities require parental assistance and...

Wait, it really started at 3:30 a.m.  when my son woke up telling me he had a cough and was hungry.  His cough was his asthma kicking up because of allergies to cedar pollen kicking up.  The allergies are making everyone we know have drip and cough, it's just part of living in Austin, dealing with allergies.  If it's not cedar pollen it's live oak pollen.  Allergy season is from January to December around these parts.

Despite my attempt to get him back to sleep, he wasn't to be lulled back into a REM state.  He paddled out into the living room to play on the computer then the Xbox then watch a movie.  I couldn't snooze on the couch because I needed to help with these things.

He also needed various foods and beverages and chewable aspirin (he told me he needed it and got upset when I said no.)

I was able to go back to bed and have Scott take over at 5:45.  Then Will got tired and came back to bed at 7:15, we slept until almost  9:00.  I was a nice rest, but that stored energy ran out quickly.

Hearing the word "Mama" through out the day is part of my life.  Hearing the word "Mama" followed by "MAMAAAAAAAA!!!!" one second later while I'm walking to his location to say "I can't hear you when you talk from here, come to where I am to talk to me."  approximately every five minutes can make a person tired.

Other parents will understand when I say there is not a situation that makes you feel more helpless than when your chid is sick.  However, after a day on very little sleep dealing with a child with a lot of demands sends you to a mental state that involves fatigue, resentment, helplessness and frustrated laughter.

The main thought is "Please stop needing things from me.  Just for 20 minutes?  I need more than 5.  No, not 20 seconds, 20 minutes.  There is nothing you need right now. You have gatorade and a snack and a movie and a blanket and a dog to cuddle and your favorite stuffed animal, all the things you asked for what else do you need?  Oh god.... Now the phone is ringing."

Yes, the phone rang.  The phone rang a LOT.

I'd discovered that we were down to two doses of Will's asthma medication that he takes via nebulizer (the thingie that vaporizes liquid medication to be inhaled using a mask).  I called the pediatrician hoping to have the prescription called in, the office called back, that was the first ring.

The vet called to say that Peavey-the-dog's bloodwork came back fine and we can schedule him to start his heartworm treatment anytime which will cost $500.

Then the school nurse called to say Zoe presented herself and said she hadn't had her ADHD medicine that morning.  Shit.  I called my excellent neighbor to ask if she could run that up to the school.  She said yes, I called the nurse back to say who was bringing her pill up to her.

A call came to remind me of my therapy appointment today.

In addition, I stepped out into the garage to get more juice and stepped in a puddle of water coming from the hot water heater closet, coming out from under the wall surrounding it.  This means that not only do we need to replace the water heater we're going to need to rip out the drywall to let the inside dry and then spray with bleach to make sure we don't get any more mold in this house.

We know we've got mold behind the shower tiles in the master bathroom because the place where the tile meets the tub wasn't sealed correctly and while we've done our best to correct the problem it keeps separating.  Really, the tile needs to be torn out and replaced.

I mustered enough energy to open the dishwasher to empty it and found that the bottom was still full of water.  The dishwasher wasn't draining.  Start 75 minutes of clearing the drain...... NOW.

I spent an hour and fifteen minutes clearing food, both mush and chunks out of the drain before doing the baking soda/vinegar/hot water trick.  Of course, I had to bail out the water before I started.

It would appear that I fixed it but I don't know how well.  I'll have to run the dishwasher while I am up and about the house instead of in the middle of the night like I usually do.  If it doesn't drain I don't want it it to run all over the floor.

It will take a number of months to save up for a dishwasher with a built in food grinder, until then, it will be daytime appliance use and a lot of hand washing the dishes.


Have you seen the movie "Murphy's Romance"?  If you're a man probably not, but there's a scene where Sally Fields is in the hospital crying and she strings a bunch of stuff together about what's wrong and ends with ".....My head hurts!  Take your pick!".

That sort of sums up my Monday.  It was a day where a mom just wants to sit in a chair looking at a wall in total silence, jaw slack with no thoughts at all going through her brain that is just not capable of processing any more input.

Which I am going to do as soon as I am done typing.

Amanda's beauty tip of the day:  Her brain will not cooperate in flipping through the index cards stored in her memory so you get this:  wash your face.