Sick Day?

If I could take a sick day, today I would. I have a fever, terrible sore throat that actually hurts into my ears, and overall feeling of malaise. You know that feeling...the one where you just feel so tired and blah. Your head hurts, your back hurts, you get dizzy when standing quickly, you just want to crawl back into bed. Yeah, well today that's me.

But as a stay at home mom, I don't get to take a sick day. I don't have anyone to do my job. I have to show up. My only choice would be for my husband to take a sick day so that he could stay at home and take care of the kids. Yeah, like that would happen. He doesn't even take a sick day when he is sick.

And it's not like I could at least just lay around on the couch. The kids need to be cared for...diaper changes, food prepared, kept out of dangerous situations (like climbing into the fireplace or playing in the toilet - both favorite activities of my 16 month old). And the kids all have hair cut appointments this afternoon. Who is going to take them, and then come home and make dinner for the whole family?

Two of the four kids had strep last week, so that could be the cause of my sore throat. I made a doctor's appointment for this morning to get tested for strep. That's how you can tell I am really feeling bad...I never go to the doctor!

This trip will make $120 in co-pays in the last eight days!! I had to take three kids to the doctor, two of them twice and now me. With four kids we might expect to pay that much in co-pays during the winter, but at the end of May? Crazy! The doctor said that there is a bad strep going around and they are seeing tons of it, even though it is not the typical time of year for strep.

By far the hardest part of not getting to take a sick day is remembering not to love on my kids, in case I am contagious. They are just too damn cute, even when climbing into the fireplace!!

Book Blog

I started another blog. A place for me to journal what I am reading. I am really enjoying posting to it. If you are interested in reading my "book reviews", for what they are worth, go here: http://passionatebooklover.blogspot.com

Happy Reading!

Book Club/The Kite Runner

My girlfriends and I formed our own book club over 10 years ago. We take turns picking a book, we all buy and read the book and get together over dinner to discuss it. We usually break the book up, most often into thirds but it depends on its length, and get together after reading each section. It makes the discussion more interesting to talk about the book as we progress through it. We have read things that were just for fun and we have read things that were more thought provoking and begged to be analyzed.

Most recently we read The Kite Runner. It wasn't my turn to pick and I was a little skeptical at first. I was interested because of the hype surrounding the book, but I was actually more interested in reading the author's other book, A Thousand Splendid Suns. I wasn't sure if The Kite Runner was going to be a book I enjoyed reading. Boy was I surprised.

It is one of the best books I have read. The story is gripping, disturbing, haunting, and suspenseful. There were times when the book made me sick or so emotional that I would sob. There were several times that I had to put it down and walk away. But five minutes later I was right back to it because I had to see what was going to happen and how this latest turn was going to play out.

I ended up disliking the narrator. He was a selfish coward. But at the same time I could feel sympathy for him because of his family situation and relationships. Without giving anything away in the story, it is hands down one of the best tales of friendship, loyalty, betrayal, forgiveness and heartbreak. And of how one man tries to redeem himself after a lifetime of guilt.

My girlfriends and I haven't gotten together to discuss the book yet. We had to cancel our first scheduled dinner and we all ended up agreeing to finish the book because we were each so gripped by it. We have discussed minor details by email, but I am really looking forward to our dinner next week so that we can delve into the story together.

I would highly recommend this book. For those who wouldn't be interested because of the location of the story or fear of it being slightly political in nature, I can tell you that the story is about so much more than where it takes place, and the political side of the story is very benign. It is a tale that won't soon be forgotten. I know it will stay with me for a long time.

It's Friday

I am avoiding housework. I should be trying to get my dining room back in order. We have had it painted. The painter is finished in there, and the dining room is finally ready for the furniture to be put back in place and the table cleared off. I don't feel like doing it. We are having company on Sunday for Mother's Day. I should be working to get my housework done. There is a lot to do. A lot! The dining and living rooms need to be put back in order, the bathrooms need to be cleaned, the laundry needs to be cleared away, every room needs to be dusted and vacuumed. I started in the dining room bright and early this morning, and cleared a few things off of the table, washed some crystal that needed to be put back in place. But I just don't want to do it anymore. So I am avoiding my chores by doing this. It is Friday, and I want a day off!

I need to get this stuff done. It needs to be finished by Sunday and if I don't get something done today, tomorrow will be horrible. I will feel better about it all if I just go do it. Ugh, I hate housework! Guess I should have chosen career over housewife then, huh?

Is Today Monday?

It feels like a Monday to me. I know that on the calendar it is Thursday, but it feels like Monday. Usually Thursdays are pretty good days. Friday is coming, the weekend is just around the corner. Today is definitely a "Monday"!

I have been running errands all week. Every day there is somewhere else I have to go or some other project that takes importance over the household chores. I have been walking every day with a friend, too, so that takes up an hour of the day. As a result, I am really behind. I haven't done a single load of laundry this week. That is pretty bad for a family of six. I usually complete three to four loads a day during the week.

My walking partner cancelled for this morning (she has a sick kid at home), so I figured I now have a chance to get caught up on my laundry. I got it all sorted, brought it down to the washer and discovered a load of sheets and towels in the washing machine. A load my husband promised to put in the dryer on Sunday evening. And unfortunately, even though it feels like it, today is not Monday. Ewww! So I had to rewash those sheets and towels before I wash any other clothes. That puts me about an hour behind. Oh well.

I heard on the news this morning that Marylanders are going to be facing an 8% rate increase from BGE in June. That is only an average increase of $137 a year. Only that on top of all of the other rate increases we have faced. I believe they said that in the past year our BGE bills have risen over 80%. Didn't Martin O'Malley promise to do something about this? Don't you love campaign promises?

My husband didn't get a raise this year. No one he works with did. Nothing. Not a cost of living, not a merit increase. Nada. Fifty percent of his salary is bonus pay, so with no increase in his base pay and business not quite as booming, I guess we should expect his annual earnings to go down a bit this year. But it costs us more to fill our tanks, more to heat and cool our home, more to put food on our table. And I know we aren't the only ones. But we are told to feel lucky because at least he has a job. What is a family to do? Cut back I suppose.

My husband's car needs to be replaced in the next year or so. We were talking about getting an SUV, something with a third row seat. We only have one vehicle that can hold all of our children. It would be nice if his car could fit all four of them, too. But with the price of gas, and no increase in our income, I don't think we can afford an SUV. He drives around 70 miles, round trip, to and from work. We need to get a car that is more fuel efficient than an SUV. I don't know a whole lot about hybrids. Don't even know if one is offered that has a third row seat. But we would really need to research it. Hybrids are more expensive on the front end. And even though you are saving every week when you gas up, the maintenance might be more expensive...like the battery that cost a couple thousand dollars when you have to replace it. Would we really be saving money? Think we need to start looking at sedans. In a couple of years, our oldest will be old enough to ride in the front seat, so I guess it is only an inconvenience until then.

On the upside of it all, I do have the sweetest children in the world. I know I am biased. Every night my daughter and I wish on a ring (some plastic toy she got at a Chuckie Cheese party). Her wish is always the same...that I will be the one to put her in her bed and tuck her in forever. Wonder what her future husband will think of that? And my five (almost six) year old and I play a game of "I love you more" at bedtime, where we each try to top the other. The other night he told me he loved me more than his favorite stuffed animal "Pokey" - this is a standard of his, I told him I loved him more than ice cream. He said, "I've never tasted ice cream." (He has food allergies.) Then he told me he loved me more than "Marry Me Bars" (his allergen free version of an ice cream bar). I told him I loved him more than the sun. He told me he loved me more than the color green - his favorite color. I couldn't top that one. He made me feel so special! What a sweetie! Sometimes, we get those moments that just make it all worthwhile!