Day 1122: Not Yet As Job

I'm not anywhere close to what Job went through.  But, the past few days have given me a lot more respect for what he endured.

You may have noticed that my posting has become spotty again.  Sometimes I just can't do it.  The past few days have been rough.  And let's be honest, the direction of this blog has become a little vague and lost, so a daily posting is not always going to happen.

The weekend in our home was a bad one.  There is a lot of tension and stress.  Everyone has been cranky.  Darling A is still really sick.  I spend the majority of my waking hours with her in my arms.  Which would be kind of intense all on its own, but then there is HH.  Today he has finally seemed more able to take care of himself, but up until then, I've been his bedside nurse.  And we still have his showers to deal with.  They take about an hour start to finish because we have to do everything quite slowly, so as not to move/hurt his shoulder and also because we have to cover and then change out his bandaids.  It wouldn't be that big of a deal, except that there is very little time that Darling A doesn't require me to hold her.

Baby B is getting increasingly crazy.  Yesterday morning I had to chase him halfway up our street (in a skirt and boots--and remember I'm not supposed to run at all yet, definitely not in high heeled boots!) to get him in the car to get to church.  We were late, in case you were wondering.  So, we got to sit on the front row where everyone could watch me chase him down a few more times and then enjoy him hopping into the aisle at one point to sing (while jumping and shaking his booty), "Heeeeyyyy, sexy lady!  Woop!  Woop!  Heeeeeyyyy, sexy lady!  Woop!  Woop!", because, yes, he got through it twice before I was able to get to him (I had a sick-and-not-wanting-to-be-moved Darling A in my arms, after all).

Don't worry, I can see the humor in that.  But, it just came at I time that I really wasn't in the mood for humor.

I spent all of church trying to find the Spirit, to bring me peace and hope.  Finally, during the third hour, and a great lesson taught by one of my favorite instructors, I began to get a glimmer of it.  I started feeling like things would be okay and that I could find a way to begin again through this whole painful process, in spite of everything going on right now.

And then class ended and I stepped out into the hall to gather up my children and head home, only to be informed that there had been a discovery of head lice in the Primary and that Sweet P had potentially been exposed.

I was speechless.  I still kind of am.  I just... I mean... Really?  Really?  Lice?  Now?  What?

So, I stopped at Walgreens on the way home and picked up the lice shampoo stuff.  I made the kids strip down at the door when we got home and placed all of their clothing in the washer.  Then I gave them all the treatment.  I realize that is not the procedure lined out on the back of the box.  But, I didn't have time to go through every strand of hair and I wasn't taking any chances.

And poor, poor Darling A sat on the floor and cried her little heart out the entire time.

And my heart was not the only thing that broke inside me.

I think at one point we were pretty much all crying.

And then a friend (who was also home treating children for potential lice) called and said she was coming by to pick the kids up for a few hours.  Not typically something we do on Sunday, but she felt this was time for an exception.  I gratefully agreed.

Another friend stopped by with dinner. (Our third free meal for the week)

And our Home Teacher and another friend came by and gave HH a priesthood blessing for the healing of the sick.  And then they gave one to Darling A.  And then they gave me a blessing as well, not for healing, but just for coping.

Just before that, Darling A had actually taken about an hour long nap in her crib, allowing me to help HH with a much needed shower.  It's funny how sitting all day can actually make you feel pretty yucky.

And then the kids were home and we had dinner and tried to be calm.

And then today happened and we started everything all over again.

Fortunately, we seem to have just maintained the status quo for the most part today.  Nothing seriously bad happened (quickly, please, knock on wood!).  Baby B is about to lose his mind maybe, though.  He ran around destroying as much as he possibly could for much of the day.  And my back has taken a turn for the worse.  Carrying around a 22 lb. weight all day for 6 days straight will do that to a person, no matter how adorable the weight is.

Trying to put on a happy face while simultaneously take a nap on the high chair, minutes after waking up.  This was actually last Friday and she's only sitting there because I had to hurry and get breakfast for the kids before school.  Today I only manage to get a smile from her twice.  And if you know her, that is probably the most telling thing about how sick she is.  This girl is always happy and giggling.

Sigh..... Things have to get better, eventually.  Right?