General Update

 Wow.  I didn’t think it would take me over a week to get here and write something once we got back from vacation but lo and behold, it did.  I had a major crash once we got home which is to be expected.  I tend to do that after a big project, etc.  That was coupled with the fact that John came home with Pink Eye.  He got it from his cousin when they visited earlier in the week during vacation.  I knew it would be impossible not to catch it, especially the kids.  I was highly amused how the kids walked around referring to it as "THE pink eye" – just with enough inflection like they were saying "THE Plague".  And really, I would say that was an appropriate way to call it.  

John’s symptoms first cropped up on Friday morning, our last day in the Smokies.  I called in a prescription just so I could get him less contagious as soon as possible but that didn’t help that everyone looked at him/us like we were from another planet.  It was especially lovely on our drive home the next day (Saturday) and we had to stop for dinner to eat.  Considering he had the drops and it started at the vacation house, I was hopeful that we’d keep the germ in tact once we got home and not have to worry too much.  By last Wednesday, John looked done with it and the rest of us had no sign and it was the first moment I relaxed a bit and thought we made it through the clear.  Irony couldn’t have been any thicker when I noticed that Lily started with the noticeable symptoms by dinnertime.  Hubby even came home with extremely bloodshot eyes and it looked like he was down for the count as well.  Ugh.  I told him it would probably be best to stay home just so he doesn’t spread it.  Surprisingly, he woke up the next morning without any issues thankfully. 

Lily was in the thick of it in both eyes.  Painful for everyone involved.  She whined and cried nonstop for three days.  It was horrible.  It hurt.  She cried.  We tried to clean her eyes or put drops in, she cried some more.  Then she’d look in the mirror and saw how awful she looked (which was made even worse for all the extra crying) and she cried some more.  o.O  I wanted to shoot myself.

Sister in law’s (SIL)kids both got it as well.  It was her daughter who started the whole thing for us.  Her son got it by time she got home and then she got it as well.  She said it was horrible and the worst of it lasted three days.  Her mom even got it and is still trying to get rid of it.  SIL said it’s some of the worst she’s ever seen or heard about.  Joy.

Good or bad, apparently all my OCD-like qualities have helped as I have thankfully not even shown any sign of getting it.  I had some crusties but that’s it.  I’ve tried so hard not to touch my eyes and I’ve washed my hands in scalding hot water so many times that they are so dry and look horrible.  I’m currently working on cleaning as much as possible.  I’m not big into chemicals but right now, I wouldn’t mind some big anti-bacterial smoke bomb that I can set off in my house so I can finally rest comfortably.  Maybe by next week, I can sit back and not worry about it.  

Vacation was nice.  It was definitely a mix of emotions and far more touristy than last year’s trip but still good.  We did stay away from most of the tourist stuff anyway and stuck with the hiking.  I’ll write about that in more detail in it’s own entry.

I also need to devote a whole entry to SIL as well.  o.O  That situation makes my head hurt and sadly, I have to say, I’m so done with it.  

Then I come home to even more drama involving my brother which also needs to be dealt with in its own entry as well.  That whole situation makes me sad, angry, disappointed, and frustrated all together.  I’m sure that will be a topic that will be regularly addressed this summer.

Although I crashed last week, I did manage to get myself focused into projects outside.  I knew the work for our new patio would begin sometime we got back so I also wanted to get some other things done while we waited, especially since I did want some form of a garden this year.  Last month, we started on the old patio area.  We had removed the old pavers and stacked them along the side of the house and up until last week, we let the kids play in the sand that was there.  It made for a fun activity.  I finally dug into it and mixe it all together and built some cedar boxes for some raised garden bed for that area.  I was amaze how much time I spent on the whole thing.  almost three days from when I dug in with the shovel until I got the last of the plants into the beds.  It wasn’t too bad but made much longer since I had to referee two children while doing it.  The hardest part was leveling the boxes out before I filled them with dirt and other mixings.  All that stuff took three trips to the store for enough stuff.  But thankfully, it is all done and only what, about two or three weeks late based on usual times I can plant.  Of course, we got so much rain while we were gone on vacation, I don’t know if it would have been a good idea to plant anything before we left anyway.  This year, I hope to get some decent yields from the following – broccoli, collard greens, kale, eggplant, cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, various peppers, tomatoes, and of course the full array of herbs.  The sad part is I wished I had more space to plant more.  🙂

Time to do something else.  I have been sporting the worst headache for the last 24 hours.  It’s awful and I have  pretty much attributed to my usual progesterone drop as I’m due to get my period any day.  Ugh.  the headaches have been getting horrible with each passing month.  My stomach has also felt off as well so I don’t know if I’m fighting something s well or not.  All I know is I hope it goes away soon.