Long Hair

Look, I got my hair in a ponytail!

It's been one of those weeks

It all started two Saturdays ago. In the church parking lot, leaving the weekend marriage conference, we found out that the driver side door handle was broken on our car, so we couldn't get in from the outside. Our already interesting car arrangement got more interesting. Here's what it looked like:

Go to driver's side to unlock the door (which automatically unlocks all the other doors). Open back seat door to put Caleb in. Close door and open front passenger side, lean across and open driver's door. Close passenger door and go to driver's side. Close door and drive. At destination, lean back and pop open Caleb's door, open driver's door and lock it (thereby locking all the other doors). Close driver's door and go to Caleb's open door. Get him out and close door.

Sheesh.

Saturday night, Caleb starts coughing.

Sunday morning, I keep Caleb home from worship, but take him into Sunday School with me so I can hear Jon teach. Caleb coughs a little, but is a trooper and plays quietly on my lap. By the afternoon, I also start coughing. Jon does some research and orders a new handle for the car.

Tuesday and Wednesday, Jon is home all day, off work because he has to work the next weekend. He stays home with Caleb while I go into the office on Wednesday. The door handle comes in.

Thursday: Jon starts a few days of working nights. He spends the morning working on the car. By the afternoon, it's all put back together, and now we can get in the car from the outside! Bad news: we can't get out from the inside. Jon calls the mechanic who will take it in the next morning. He goes to work. I stay home and try to be productive.

Friday: Drop car off. Jon works nights (til 3 the next morning). Worst day of sickness for me. I have to cancel my lovely weekend plans with Joe and Leanna. What were those plans? Oh, we had so many....

First, we were going to go camping that weekend, Friday and Saturday night. But Jon couldn't get off Friday. So....maybe Joe and Lea could go on Friday, and we'd join them on Saturday. Then Jon got assigned to work nights all weekend. Well, maybe we could do something fun on Saturday during the day. Considering the little sleep Jon would be getting, we decided that just Caleb and I would join Joe and Leanna at the Dallas Farmers Market! What fun! But alas, sick with no car, I had to cancel.

Saturday: I wake Jon up to watch Caleb for a couple hours while I spend my gift cards at Old Navy. I had 30% off my entire purchase! The highlight of my week! I get home in time for lunch and for Jon to grab groceries and head to work (home again at 3 in the morning). The third night of taking care of Caleb by myself. I spend the evening making cake and salad for our Sunday School potluck.

Sunday: Still too sick to go to church, I send the yummy food off with Jon. He goes to church, comes home for lunch, then heads to work. Caleb is his sweet self and gives me a good evening. We visit with Holly and Sophie.

Monday: Jon does a quick turnaround to work the day shift. We call mechanic to check on progress. The car should be ready after lunch. We look forward to our plans to eat dinner with Joe and Lea the next night. We get another call in the afternoon: they ordered the wrong part and have to reorder. We ask that they put the car back together so we can use it Tues and Wed, and we'll bring it back on Thursday. They say they can't do that, but they'll get us a loaner car by Tuesday afternoon. I worry that they use the term "loaner" instead of "rental." Jon is home by 4:30. Dinner and a little playtime with Caleb, then he's asleep by 7pm. I visit with Holly at her house, then back home to get Caleb bathed and to bed. Both boys asleep, I take advantage of the truck being home to go to the grocery store.

Tuesday (today): Caleb and I are both still coughing. I finally admit that my cold has turned into a full-blown sinus infection. It takes three tries to find a doctor who is taking new patients and can see me today. Appt. at 3:00. Wait, still no car! Jon calls the mechanic about the loaner car. They'll loan out a Buick Park Avenue to me. "The check engine light is on, but it's fine." Nice. I arrange with a friend to pick me up and take me to the mechanic. We have to coordinate our baby's naps, but we finally do and make it to the mechanic. I joke that the old Gold Buick in the parking lot is probably mine. And it is. On my way back to the house, I appreciate the power seats, the temp-controlled air conditioner, the cushy leather seats....it may be old, but oh so nice. I miss my Buick. I also appreciate that someone left me a powdered donut stuffed into the seat. What thoughtfulness. I get home and realize I've left Caleb in a poopy diaper for who knows how long, and he's been a happy little boy, quietly adjusting to each change with a smile and his parrot stuck in his mouth. Though when I change his diaper, it's not poopy. It's not even wet. I think back on the day and try to remember when I changed his diaper and honestly have no idea. I make lunch, try to get a little work done, and call the pediatrician. The nurse says I don't need to come in, that a cough is fine. Just keep the humidifier on, which I'm doing. If he's not better in a couple of days, come in.

And the good news? We DO get to go see Joe and Leanna, and they're grilling yummy things, and we're making homemade ice cream, and we all get to visit and laugh and forget about the crazy last week! And I'll have antibiotics and a cushy Buick to drive to work in tomorrow.

Today as I sat down to my lunch of leftover Sloppy Joes, I thanked God for leftovers, for a husband who works hard, for a baby who is so easy going, for a mechanic who will loan me a car at no extra cost, for insurance to cover my dr. appointment, and for all the good and seemingly not-so-good things that go on in life. Because all these little things that have added up to a not-so-great week are really minor. And I am blessed that this week only seems so bad because I have it so good the rest of the time!

Selfie Tag

I took this picture as soon as I read KarenN's post. It just took me a week to get it on the blog! Though it was a Saturday--which normally means no makeup, let my hair do what it wants, and grubby clothes--I was in luck that we had been to our church's marriage conference that day, so I actually looked decent!

I tag:
Leanna
Karen
Anyone else who wants to play along

The rules: Take a picture of yourself at this very second....no primping allowed...stay true to the game!!

Happy Belated!

Bonnie & Clyde turned one year old at the end of March! We celebrated by giving them canned food, letting them sleep in our bed that night (yeah, won't happen for another year), and finally putting food in the bird feeders so all the birds would come to the window for the cats to see. Oh, and I made cupcakes and took them up to the vet's office as a thank you for giving us our great kitties. They're stinkers, but they're great.

Make it to the top!

Have you noticed my new sidebar o' links? Now all my blogging buddies are listed in order of who posted last! See yourself at the bottom of the list? Get a free ride to the top just by posting! Want a pretty picture to show up by your name? Then take a pretty picture and post it!

See you at the top!

Easter Lunch

Orange-Dijon Pork Loin
Crunchy Onion Potato Bake
Broccoli Casserole
Homemade bread
Lemonade with Strawberries
Chocolate Mousse

Anyone want to join us?

Since I linked to everything but a couple, here are the recipes for those. The bread is just a box mix thrown into the bread machine. And the Broccoli Casserole....

Ingredients:
1 package chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
2 tubes Ritz Crackers, crushed
1 pound Velveeta
1 stick butter

Layer half of the broccoli, half of the cheese (thinly sliced), crackers, and butter (sliced). Then layer with the rest of the broccoli, cheese, crackers and butter. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

My mom was the first to make the pork loin. I've made it once, too, and it's delicious. My sister-in-law made the potato bake at Thanksgiving last year (Jon and I enjoyed it at the hospital!). The broccoli is my mother-in-law's recipe, the strawberry lemonade is really Red Robin speckled lemonade, and the mousse is courtesy of Jason's Deli.

My brother-in-law is joining us for lunch, so it's just three so far, if you want to come by!

Hypothetically speaking....

Let's say you've worked hard and finally made your millions. However, you'd always told yourself you wouldn't live an extravagant life, but instead keep the same standard of living as when you started out. What ONE indulgence would you give yourself? A nice car? A housekeeper? An 80-day trip around the world in a hot air balloon? Starbucks every morning? A 12-bedroom house? Land? What would it be? Let me know in the comments!

No claims of wisdom, but....

...about the same time as my friend Cliff, I've discovered my first gray hair! It's not there any more, because it was hard to see on my head, so I pulled it out to get a closer look and make sure it was a real, honest-to-goodness gray hair instead of a blond one from the last highlights I put in. But there it was! A gray hair. Based on my inspection, I'd say I just might inherit the beautiful silver hair my mom and her parents have.

Am I distraught over my newfound wisdom? Nah... Will I rush out and find a hair dye that covers grays? Nah... Gray hair happens to everybody, and fighting it usually just makes people look older. I may not even find another one for a few years! But if I do, that's fine with me.

I've always thought I'd like to have long hair when it goes gray. Or short, spikey hair like my mom's. Of course, those are the two extremes I like with my brown hair, too!