Crooked Pigtails

The worst post in the history of blog posts

After dropping Miss H at school this morning Miss A and I sat under a blanket on the couch and watched back to back to back full length movies.  Clearly, the child is not feeling her best.  As of late this afternoon, she has developed a fairly nasty, sounds-like-she-is-about-to-empty-the-entire-contents-of-her-stomach, holy-shit-that-must-hurt-her-throat, type cough.

Miss H missed school on Monday of this week with a fever and mild congestion, but is on the mend.  I am doing the sore throat route.  S appears to be fine.

Thankfully, the weekend is almost here because, right now, I can't string two decent sentences together.

Rambling Stats

NaBloPoMo is blown.  Throat it sore.  Kids are sick.  Water pressure is restored, but not to adequate levels.  Inlaws are visiting.  Birthday cake is yummy.  So is husband.  Homework is complete.  Tivo is full.  Better post tomorrow.

The world according to Miss A

Scene the first:  cuddling together looking at library books this afternoon.  Miss A struggles with a gagging type cough.

Me:  Oh, Snickerdoodle, I'm sorry you aren't feeling well.

Miss A:  I'm not sick.  I'm just very stuffy.

Me:  Well, if you aren't sick, why are you so stuffy?  What does stuffy mean?

Miss A: I don't know, but I will figure it out.

*********************

Scene the second:  watching S clean the toilet bowl.

S:  Don't come too close Boo, I'm using the chemical kind tonight.

Miss A:  OK, Daddy.  But, I just need to watch you.

S:  How come?

Miss A:  In case I have to do it someday when my husband isn't home.

Day three

Only the third day of NaBloPoMo, and I am already running out of ideas.  Not much going on, just your typical Saturday.

Oh, except for the surprise 40th birthday party my husband threw for me this evening!

You are so going to want to hear the details--tomorrow, though, because tonight, I am a wee bit too inebriated to be blogging coherently.

I have the world's greatest husband. 

Unreal

It feels like forever ago, but I remember thinking this morning that Friday couldn't have come at a better time.  I'm tired, the girls have been flirting with colds, it has been a long week, and even though we have a busy weekend planned, this two day stretch still holds the illusion of rest, and I was thrilled to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Our play date for this afternoon canceled, so Miss A and I tagged along on a trip to Large Warehouse Store with friends who then came home with us to visit and play for a few minutes before we went our separate ways to eat lunch, and possibly to nap.

Miss A and I saw two helicopters on our way home from Large Warehouse Store, but helicopters are a fairly regular occurrence in our neighborhood, so I didn't think much of them until later, when the phone rang, and a friend asked me to turn on the news and tell her why she was sitting in such crazy traffic on the highway.  She wondered if she should exit or wait it out---because crazy traffic is also not terribly unique in these parts.

Then this happened way to close to our home, and the nearly perfect autumn day was shattered.

The news is reporting multiple casualties.  The helicopters continue to hover over the exact stretch of highway we travel every day.  The stretch of highway I use to take Miss A to preschool.  It is covered in protective foam; diesel fuel is still spilling almost too quickly for the rescue crews to contain, threatening local drinking supplies and creating an explosive situation just over a mile from school.

And, I can't stop thinking about that feeling this morning, that relief that Friday had arrived, that we had made it to the weekend we so greatly need.  My family is safe.  We are in the exact places we are every Friday, doing the exact same things, and we are safe.

We are lucky. 

For several families this day came too soon.  Please, if you are the praying type, now would be a great time to send some in our direction.

I think I can, I think I can

So, this NaBloPoMo challenge has been going on for a few years now, and although I love, love, love the concept because of all the great blog posts available to read each day, I have been too scared? lazy? busy? to participate in the past.  I'm going for it this year; I will write a new post every day for the month of November.  Thirty days in a row.  Ready or not, NaBloPoMo, here I come.

Now, if I could just figure out how to install the damn badge.  Sherry?  Oh, Sherry?  I'm baking brownies.

Ahem.  Where was I?

I've noticed several people have decided to use themes such as gratitude or quotes of the day to help generate ideas and get them through the month.  I plan to use this challenge to catch up on the things I should have been blogging about in real time, events here at Chez Pigtails I meant to document for the girls, but let slip past.  Things like, oh, I don't know, the fact that Miss A broke her arm back in June, and it was quite horrible, and I felt like such a shitty mother that I couldn't even bring myself to talk about it.  Stuff like that.

Could be boring as hell.  Might be fun.  Either way, let the carpal tunnel begin!!