An Hour to Spare?!

Somehow.  I don't know how. I probably couldn't do it again if I tried.  I have an HOUR to spare before heading to church this morning!!!   Perhaps pigs are flying outside, I don't know.

So I wanted to take a few minutes and catch up on the blog a bit.  "Blog a bit."  I like that for some reason.

The last two weeks have not been the best.  The kids and I were visited by the stomach bug over a six day period.  There's nothing like being woken in the night to crying and walking into the kid's room to be hit with "that smell."  The smell of throw-ups.  Y.U.C.K.  And then comes the joyful task of cleaning up the child, cleaning up the sheets... what do you do with those dirty dirty sheets?  we don't have a utility sink that is handy for rinsing such business in this house.  Yuck.... then re-making the beds, getting a bucket for the next throw-ups, getting the child tucked back into bed, and finally getting yourself tucked back into bed.  Perhaps the best part of the whole night is getting back into bed (alone... since the hubby is somewhere on the other side of the world) and trying to get that smell out of your nose and THEN wondering if your stomach is swirling because you just cleaned up someone else's throw-ups or because you, yourself, are going to be having throw-ups.  Joy.   Luckily my mom was also visiting, luckili-er (I'm sure that's a word) she managed to leave WITHOUT suffering from the bug.  So the day that I was suffering, she had the kids downstairs or out of the house and I was able to rest.

Then last week, just after we were fully recovered and my mom was safely back in the Midwest, we all got a stuffy-nosed, sore-throated cold.  The kids are fully recovered after missing a few days of school... and a friend's birthday party (boo.).. and I am finally on the mend.  I have a red nose that would make Rudolph envious from all of my nose-blowing.  Speaking of nose-blowing... has anyone used the Kleenex Cool Touch tissues??  I picked them up by accident at the store and am totally amazed by these things.  When you pull them out of the box, they are COOL... to the touch.  I don't know how they make them cold, but they are!  So strange.  I do wish they had a little more soothiness when you use them, but the coolness is pretty nice.

So here we are... finally turning the corner towards health, I hope.  And we are also facing... drum roll please.... a TWO MONTH EXTENSION to the deployment.  Boo. With a capital "B."  Absolutely Boo.  The ironic part was that we found out about our 8-ish week extension when we had just completed 7 weeks.  So... the past 7 weeks have gotten us absolutely NO closer to our homecoming date.  I spent one day being mad and one day being very sad.  But now it has sunk in, my expectations for the next few months have adjusted... remember my Timeless Wonder post... this is the epitome of a Timeless Wonder.  I will blog more about my feelings of the extension another day. Stay tuned, I'm sure you're on the edge of your seats!

Despite the sicks, colds, and extension, things are still going pretty well.  I give a huge amount of credit to my church and the small group that I am part of.  We go to an awesome non-denominational Christian Church called Catalyst in Ventura.  They are the most down-to-earth group of people I have ever attended church with.  They are kind, welcoming, and caring... without being cheesy.  My small group is bringing me dinner once a week, they pray for me and the kids, they pray for Paul without me having to ask for it. Say what you want... those prayers really really work.  Every week when I go to church people ask how Paul is doing, other moms offer to help with the kids if I need it, I'm invited to play dates.   The church is sending Paul some thank-you notes, two or three months of weekly messages on a flash drive, the info for a financial study we are doing with our small group, and a phone card so he can call home. How cool is that?!  It's so nice to have other people acknowledge that Paul is away... and it's not just me thinking of him every day, others are too.  Today... in thirty minutes now... I get to say "Thank you" to our church by sharing a little bit of our deployment story and I'm grateful to have the chance to let them know I appreciate all they do!

Well, it's been thirty minutes with a few interruptions from the kiddos, so it's time to finish getting ready and pack up a diaper bag... and try to add a photo to this post.  It's been nice chatting with you and catching you up on the latest.  Enjoy your Sunday!

Here's a photographic representation of life today:

Kleenex Cool Touch, Clorox Wipes, Hand Sanitizer,
Theraflu (I swear by their nighttime one in particular),
Keurig Folgers French Vanilla coffee, and my Bible