Another set of XRAYS?!?!?

Evan has seriously damaged his back. After 4 hours and 3 different medical facilities, they are nearly positive he has just severely pulled muscles, but the poor kid is in agony. Really serious pain, shuffling like he's 90. Sadly, all of the good "bad back" meds are contraindicated in kids, so he gets motrin. Whoopee!

It's doing nothing for the pain. Here's hoping a couple of days of rest will do the trick.

Tidbits from the land battle

Just to give you an idea of what I'm working with, here's an excerpt of a post from one of my less literate cousins:

"As far as if we get money? I believe an count or set up in which no
cousin has to personally deal with the money is best and everyone gets their share of it. I do not know what that is call."

We don't know what that's called either, since it took several reads to decipher the info and another several reads to realize she's basically wanting to hire an accountant so that she knows no one is cheating her. Right? At least I think that is what it says. . . Let me be the first to reassure you, this really is over a bunch of land which has no means of irrigation, is hundreds of miles from anything resembling civilization, and is completely covered in rocks, stickers, mud, and sagebrush. I will do my best not to cheat her out of her fair share of the zero dollars it's bringing in hand over fist.

SIGH.

Cast Repair

Nate has already broken a CAST. Yes, it's true, he actually broke the cast material around his hand. The doctor asked him how it broke and he said, "I don't really know. I fall a lot. Maybe it was while I was running yesterday."

Of course, the doctor had no choice but to lecture the poor kid that he's only allowed to walk and swim. Sure. Right. Nate, walk. I struggled to stifle the laughter. Poor Doc has no idea that Nate hasn't walked since he realized at 13 months he could run and still stay upright. . .

Fatal Error

I saw the Twilight series at Costco yesterday and picked up books one and two for a "quick" read. (Please note, The Brothers Karamazov is not going swimmingly. I lost all my beach reading time due to the broken arm.) Then, I checked the mail today and the new Harry Potter is here.

We are T-2 seconds from 8 house guests. Rebi is holed up in her room with Twilight, which I am nearly finished with and desperately want to read. Evan is buried in HP7, and Tyler started HP1 since he hasn't read any of them yet.

I love you Jenne, but we love reading more than we love housework! Unfortunately, my kids love making messes more than they love reading. There's a narrow path to the bedrooms where you will all be sleeping. . .

Feeling slightly human again

Last Sunday, I was asked to volunteer in the youth group at our church, specifically with the girls. On Monday, the girls left to go to a 3+ day camp in the mountains. For those of you who do not know how Girls Camp works, around here it is not tent camping. The girls sleep in cabins, and we spend a lot of time just having fun. So, when they asked me to go along, I wasn't too worried. After all, I have a daughter going and it didn't sound so hard. (I attended a Girls Camp 5 years in a row as a kid, it just wasn't that much work. . .)

Holy Cow! It takes a lot of effort to keep 17 girls on schedule and entertained for 3+ days. And, I wasn't even the one in charge! I didn't do most of the work, just helped out here and there. I came home dead beat from complete and utter lack of sleep.

But let's spend a moment on what I came home to. . . My children, under the care of Dad, met me at the door in ragged pants, wearing stained shirts and messy hands and faces. There were thumb tacks inside the front door, on the floor, every last scrap of junk food was devoured (Trust me, it should have lasted WAY longer than 3 days), and every room in the house was covered in stuff and garbage. Needless to say, I was less than pleased. And then, I went out back to find the dogs had not been fed. One son was still in the clothes he had been wearing when I saw him last on Monday.

Long story short. . .as a result of my displeasure regarding the Lord of the Flies week, there has been a recent flurry of sorting, organizing and decluttering. I do believe our house guests will be able to make it in the door when they get here on Tuesday. And, my kitchen has a fresh coat of paint.