7 Plagues

1. I am in a foul mood because I'm currently in a contest of wills with Miranda who is refusing to chew and swallow the antibiotics prescribed by our pediatrician yesterday for her nasty ear infection. For her first dose before bed last night, she also refused, so we tried crushing it in applesauce and feeding it to her. She refused to swallow it. She kept it in her mouth for more than 10 minutes and finally spit it into a towel. Needless to say, she went to bed crying and I went to bed angry. This morning, I made the offer calmly, allowed her to have a cup of milk, and then forbade any other activities or food until she eats the medicine. Eventually, she'll get hungry or bored enough to eat the medicine. I am the original Strong Willed Child. I can outlast her.

Let's call this the plague of pestilence.

Alex was out of school 3 days last week for a nasty ear infection, and now she has done the same.

2. Miranda also has a nasty rash of red dots all over her body that look like tiny, broken blood vessels that disturbed our doctor enough to order a blood test for this afternoon. Taking my children for blood work is one of my favorite things in the world to do, NOT. From their perspective, I am holding them down so other people can torture them with needles. Fun, fun, fun.

Let's call this the plague of blood.

I was planning to follow the trip from the blood-draw with a trip to Friendly's, but not if she hasn't taken her antibiotics by then. Or may I'll go and get ice cream for just myself. And eat it in front of her.

3. The sale of the Super Beetle went smoothly on Saturday, thank God. Marshall spent 3 hours with the buyer, making sure he explained everything, turned over all the manuals, they took a long, celebratory drive together, the works. However, while this was happening, our refrigerator failed.

Let's call this the plague of darkness.

By the time he was done with the buyer, the children were in bed and I was completely spent. So, my darling husband tipped everything that could be frozen into the outside freezer, filled our cooler with ice and put all the milk products in that, and unplugged the fridge. He hoped, perhaps, it had iced over in some crucial places and a rapid defrost would solve the problem. Alas, no such luck.

So Sunday night, he went to Best Buy and ordered a new fridge to be delivered Wednesday. And we lived in the cooler until then.

The new fridge is beautiful and spacious and exactly what I wanted. And it fits aesthetically in the color scheme of the kitchen, which is what Marshall wanted. The children, however, are still adjusting to having the fridge compartment on top and the freezer on the bottom. We may have to move the string cheese to a lower shelf.

As soon as the delivery guys had moved it into place, Miranda "replaced" all the magnets. It doesn't usually look so cluttered.

4. In the midst of all the aforementioned excitement this week, I've been trying to plan for end of the school year gifts for all of the staff who work with my children, both at school and at church. And get all the end of the year stuff done for Youth Ministry. And help plan a double baby shower for two of the Youth Ministry Leaders. And Marshall's birthday is on the 7th, and I'm usually too busy to do anything nice so this year I wanted to do something nice so we have sitters coming tonight to play with the kids so we can go out and enjoy each other's company and a nice dinner together.

Let's call this the plague of flies.

I have too much to do without having Miranda underfoot for 3 days when she is supposed to be at school instead of fighting me about taking her medicine! (She came out of her room a few minutes ago, claiming she was ready to eat it. Nope. She was then ushered back to her room.) At least I managed to clean the house on Sunday and Monday, before all the new excitement started.

5. To comfort myself and try to keep my anxiety levels from hitting 11, I re-read The Red Pyramid and read for the first time The Throne of Fire and while I've been stitching in the evenings, I'm listening to The Lightning Thief. Nothing like juvenile fiction from Rick Riordan to take my mind off of my troubles. At least, for a little while.

Made some good progress on the cross stitch, so I'm not sure if this counts as another plague.

All finished, through page 14.

6. Okay, so maybe we haven't been struck by the 10 Plagues of Egypt, or even 7 of them, but the four I listed above have been seriously wearing me down. And I know my bad attitude is not helping matters at all. And I miss talking to my mother who is enjoying her long holiday in Ireland with my father and her sister. My mother is one of those people who can make things better even from a distance. Lord, have mercy on us.


7. My mother's book, Bathsheba's Lament, continues to earn praises and recognition from among a growing number of readers. There is a great review of it on the International Christian Fiction Writers' blog that you must read! There is another awesome review of Bathsheba's Lament on LeAnne Hardy's blog. Read it here. Remember, if you haven't already ordered a copy, you will find it available here, or, if you are a local fan, you can purchase my last remaining copy of the book.


And here's Jen.