me, me, me

Stomach flu Hell

Well, I think we are finally on the road to recovery. I have been dealing with a serious round of the stomach flu. It started with our dog, yes our dog, about 3 weeks ago. Then slowly but surely, we all got it. I have read that you cannot get sick from your dog but seriously where did we get it? I do not know anyone who has had this flu and if I find someone who had it and didn't tell me, I will force them to years of painful torture. None of us are totally recovered but for the most part, we're ok. I really hate dealing with stomach flu, for myself or when my kids or hubby gets it, I just want to scream and run away. I get really grumpy and irritable, more so than usual and I cannot wait for it to be over. I hate dealing with the laundry, the messes, the stink, the bland diet, the calls to the pediatrician, all of it. If someone told me I only had two weeks to live, I'd say please can my family have the stomach flu? Because that two weeks would seem like two years. I was emailing a friend of mine who graciously volunteered to pick up anything I needed at the store (I did not allow her to do this but I was very honored she would offer to help.) and these are some things we decided all moms need when their entire family of 5 + dog is sick pooping and puking:

• self changing beds
• laundry that does itself
• an endless supply of bananas, toast, and chicken noodle soup
• temporary mom replacements (so I don't have to deal with all that crap)
• bottomless tubs of wipes
• nannies on demand
• hotel maids that do house calls
• over the counter antidepressants
• harmless sleeping pills for children so they'll sleep through the sickness
• some kind of nose and ear plugs that will block the sights and smells of stomach flu
• instant vacations

And now more about me.... it's my birthday today. Woo hoo. My mom is going to take us out for mexican on Sunday (just what we all need after a ten day stint of stomach flu!) and I am so excited for that. Hubby gifted me with a beautiful charm bracelet. Zoe made me a dry erase board at ceramics class. Tanner has been giving me lots of poopy diapers (still not over the flu...) and Parker, well, he just said, "habby bird-day mom." A perfect day. I love to see other bloggers who list wonderful things on their birthdays, things they are thankful for, things they have learned, things they want to do, etc. usually one for each of their years. Wow, that is what I call organized. Since I call myself organized, I am giving myself the day off and writing some random stuff about myself. Just indulging on my birthday, not one for each year, I'm not that exciting, just some stuff...

Birthday Observations and Stuff about me:

• I love vegetables, I could easily live without meat, except for hot dogs
• I'd pick music over TV any day
• I love old stuff: antiques, movies, books, people, music, stuff with a story
• I want to learn to take really good photographs
• I wanted to be an astronaut when I was a little girl
• Ticking clocks are soothing to me
• My happy place is the library
• I wish I still had fake nails, the kind with airbrushed white tips, love those
• Dancing is one of my favorite things to do, even though I look like I am straight out of a Molly Ringwald movie doing it
• My favorite color is pink but I secretly love them all, don't tell pink, wouldn't want to hurt her feelings
• Pool drains and tornadoes are my biggest phobias. Period.
• I hate fluorescent light bulbs and my husband keeps buying them to torture me
• Nachos are my most favorite food, I especially love the kind you get at a ball game, the fake cheese and all
• Being by myself is nice sometimes
• Someday I want to live by a beach
• John Travolta is my biggest celebrity crush and has been since I was about five
• I don't miss teaching, so stop asking me people who find out I am a SAHM who used to be a teacher
• UK basketball is my favorite sport to watch on tv and going to a Cincinnati Reds game is just about one of my favorite things to do (even better if I get those nachos)
• My feet are really ticklish
• I have become one of those women who wears makeup every day and feels weird without it
• Being a mom is the best, hardest job in the world
• I cry a lot
• I sing in the car (and dance)
• I drive a mini van but in four years I will have my Corvette I have always dreamed of
• If I wasn't me, I'd be my friend