Car, planes, and ERs

I'm back!!! Well, for now, anyway.

We've had a crazy 4 weeks. First, Stretch and I went away for a week to attend a seminar together. Okay, not exactly together. We spent most of our time in separate classes and only had lunch together twice all week. But we were told by the organizers to enjoy that week as a "honeymoon time." So we waved as we passed each other in the hall and remarked, "Glad we're getting to enjoy all this togetherness!" On the plus side, thought, I met some great people and received a lot of really good information that I hope will be helpful at the next duty station.

We raced home from that week to attend Big Sis' last basketball game of the season. She was the first to score a basket in that game and went on to score several more times. This was huge because it was the first time all season that she'd made baskets during a game. She's actually very good at making baskets but is not terribly aggressive about getting the ball during a game.

Stretch went back to finish the last week of the seminar. He took a rental car that didn't look big enough for him. Somehow he managed to fold himself into it. I stayed behind with the kids to get ready for our next trip. There was so much to do and so little time. So... a few things just didn't get done (like getting the house clean). Then the girls and I drove to my sisters' house Friday night (where Stretch met us) so that we could return the rental car and fly out Saturday. Stretch had another course to attend and we were tagging along because my parents live in the same area.

L'il Sis spent the entire 2 weeks we were away sick. I took her to the ER twice! She felt better just in time to fly back home. The first week, she was congested and had a fever. I took her to the ER when she'd had the fever for days and it kept coming back and then she started blowing blood out of her nose. The second week and second ER trip was because she spent a night vomiting and having diarrhea. She'd dropped at least 2 lbs. They gave her 2 bags of IV fluids, one had anti-nausea medication in it. Then, they sent us home with suppositories for the nausea. Have I mentioned that L'il Sis is 3-1/2? We tried but the suppositories... they just didn't happen.

Between illnesses, there was a brief respite during which I was able to see 2 of my best friends. We spent one afternoon going to lunch, shopping and getting pedicures. We were also able to get the kids together to play once.

It never seems to fail... whenever I've flown with the kids to see grandparents, there is always illness and an ER visit. At last count, there were a minimum of 4 ear infections (they never seem to get them any other time), one case of chicken pox, and now L'il Sis' mystery viral illness.

It's no wonder I'm cranky.