Monday, October 06, 2008

monday monday

Georgia's Mom - who has an identity of her very own, apart from her children, but who also shares a name with me, so if I refer to her by her name, people think I am referring to myself in the third person. Obviously that sounds a little weird and inevitably confuses someone, so she's been identified by her children only for clarity's sake. Not because her identity is entirely defined by this one particular role she has in life - Georgia's Mom is going to South Africa tomorrow. Last year about this time she went to Israel. She has also been to the prayer room in Kansas City and has spent a weekend with Eugene Peterson. She joined this - group, I'm sure it has a more specific name - of ministers that has allowed her all of these incredible opportunities, and tomorrow she leaves for her last. Fifteen days in South Africa. Just as she did last fall, she has promised to update her blog while she is gone. So please follow with me as I read about her experience and wish I was there.

In other news, some of you will laugh at what I'm about to say, because it is so utterly predictable. We have this trip planned, right? We leave Thursday for Nashville, to stay with Mikkee and see an old friend get married, and visit with a whole group of friends we never see any more. It's going to be great fun. Then next Wednesday we leave for a long weekend - just the four of us, headed to the beach. For many people a long weekend (and two in a row) is really just part of normal life, and that was once true for us too. But now we have children. And a dog. And Brian has a job that requires him to, you know, show up. So for us to take four days to do something fun, just because we want to, not because Brian has a gig or a business trip, is a big deal. As in, not-since-we-became-parents-have-we-done-that kind of big deal. We've been talking and thinking and planning for months for our two long weekends in a row, and I have been so excited about them both. Which of course now means (you know what's coming, right?) both boys are sick. Asher woke up with a runny nose and fever yesterday morning; Silas woke up with it this morning. I'm trying very hard to just deal with the day at hand, and not to assume that today's runny nose is going to be Thursday's ear infection. But never in his life has Asher had just a runny nose - not one time. So call me jaded, but I can't help but expect him to come down with an ear infection Wednesday night or Thursday morning, just as we're packing the car. I took them both to the doctor this morning, hoping to pre-empt the thing, but alas. Today it's just a cold. Because it's only Monday.

Someone commented earlier today that my kids get sick a lot. It's the cost of making friends. Before Asher was old enough to need playgroups, he was rarely sick. Friends bring their germs, though. Poor Silas is going to be exposed to things much earlier than Asher was. It's just part of being a little brother.

One more thing - will you show a little grace if I tell you something irreverant and a little off-color? Usually this is a PG blog, but it's just too funny not to share. Before I go on, let's be clear that I'm not poking fun at anyone's theology. Everyone thinks they're right when it comes to theology, and I'm not interested in debating the specifics of any of it tonight. Having said that - I've shared before that Brian reads forums and listens to talk radio out of morbid curiosity. He's gotten better about curtailling the amount of time he devotes to this macabre fascination, but I still hear a story or two a week about what the fundies (how does one spell "fundi" anyway? i? ie? y?) are saying at Rapture Ready or what Sean Hannity said that day. So it was no surprise when Brian started laughing out loud recently as he was staring at the computer screen. "What is it?" I asked. "The fundies. Listen to this. '... On the bright side, maybe America will be ripe for a soul harvest, separate the wheat from the shaft.'"

We've been laughing about it since.

4 comments:

Lisa said...

Be thankful that you aren't planning to fly anywhere (you aren't, are you?) because then your trip plans would DEFINITELY be cancelled if the boys came down with an ear infection. My husband made the mistake of flying at the beginning of an ear infection, and let's just say it was the worst business trip he's ever had.

The Bean said...

Just out of curiosity but have you had Asher checked to see if he has allergies that make his runny nose, fever, ear infection happenings so frequent? Or (and I don't know anything about why kids get tubes put in their ears so this may have no relevance at all) have you asked the doctors about tubes in his ears?

Stephanie said...

Yes, I am glad we don't have to fly, or I wouldn't have a choice.

Emily, Asher has had some allergies that are related to why he seems to react so much to a cold. I think mostly we've been able to avoid him being a very sickly kid by avoiding germs, but now that he's exposed to them more, we aren't so lucky. We used Zyrtec all last spring to lower his general reaction (he would have an allergic reaction to a cold, before), and it really helped. He doesn't do that anymore. I should probably ask her if there's anything more we need to do for his ears.

I had terrible allergies as a kid, and both of my kids (though they do seem to have some mild allergic reactions) are healthier than I was, so I guess that's good.

Anonymous said...

can't trust that day...every other day, EVERY other day of the week is FINE. YEah. But when every monday comes, EVERY Monday comes, you'll find me crying all of the time.