Never a Dull Moment

OY! Last week was C-R-A-Z-Y !!!!!!

Let's see if I can track it all. I guess I really need to go back to the weekend before:
SATURDAY, May 16:
Uncle Eric and his dog Scooby arrive. We thought they might be here shortly after dinner but they hit some nasty thunderstorms in and around Nashville so they didn't get here until 9pm or so. Allison was already asleep but I had let the older two stay up and it was 10pm before I got them in bed.

SUNDAY, May 17:
David is still working crazy hours so he leaves the house around 6am. Later that morning, Allison meets Scooby. She is a little nervous around dogs so that only added to the fun of getting breakfast on the table and getting everyone ready for church. In the midst of this Allison breaks out in a rash all over her face and one of her legs - I am guessing it is from Scooby's "kisses" but I'm not sure.

Eric drove straight from Dallas to our house, it's a 16-17 hour drive. He drove with a friend but still, he was beat. So he and Scooby stay home and the kids and I head off to church. After church we eat a quick lunch and then get Amy ready for her dance recital. Amy is in level 2 so her recital is a small affair at the studio but still - it requires, costume, hair, and a little bit of make-up. The recital is at 2pm - Allison's nap time. Since I'm pretty sure Allison isn't going to stay home with Uncle Eric and Scooby and take any kind of nap, we all head to the dance studio. The recital was fun. Amy did a great job and I could tell she was really enjoying herself. After the recital we head to Kroger so she can pick out her own bouquet. Back home I get Allison settled for a nap and and we hang out until David gets home. David is beat so I make and serve mini burgers, chips and dip for dinner.

MONDAY, May 18:
The day starts off fairly normal. Eric heads out to play a round of golf. (he works at a course in Carrollton and has set up some rounds at other courses here that are in the same network) Audrey heads to school. Allison, Amy and I hang with Scooby. Allison does fine, no rash, no itchy eyes, nothing showing she is allergic. Then Amy heads to school and Allison takes her nap. Later Allison and I go pick up Amy and then come home and wait for Audrey's bus. Everyone changes and we head out to our AHG Awards Ceremony. During the day Eric has talked to his ex, Liz and her son Jaysun. The plan was for him to go visit them Tuesday but in talking with Jaysun he decides to go ahead and leave Monday evening. He comes to the awards ceremony but leaves afterwards.

TUESDAY, May 19:
Audrey has an orthodontist appointment in the morning. Her school starts so late I have promised her a trip to Dunkin Donuts in between the appt and school. After dropping Audrey at school I decide to go ahead and get the grocery shopping out of the way since we are already out and about. I then spend most of the rest of my day stressing out about Eric and his visit with his Ex (See "dysFUNction" post) In my stress I decide to vacum the whole house again just in case Allison is allergic to the dog's fur or dander.

WEDNESDAY, May 20:
Amy, Allison and I head to the church in the morning to die cut 200 pink paper hearts and 200 red paper hearts for VBS crafts. Amy is technically too old for VBS as it is for pre-schoolers and Allison is technically too young. But somehow I got volunteered to be craft lady ..... Allison has quite the runny nose and is starting in on a cough. I chalk it up to allergies as we spent sometime outdoors the last few days and there is still quite a bit of pollen in the air. Scooby and Eric are still gone so I figure she's probably not reacting to the dog. And I am still stressing over the fact that Eric has yet to return from his visit with the Ex. Audrey has dress rehearsal for her recital from 5-7pm. David is actually back to normal work hours so YEA! he is home to watch Allison and Amy and get dinner out of the oven while I go pick up Audrey from rehearsal. Eric calls after dinner drunk as a skunk and let's me know he is on a ferry, headed to Put In Bay and he and Liz plan on spending the night at a hotel there. Now I am beyond upset.


THURSDAY, May 21:
Allison is up off and on throughout the night and is up early and has a persistent dry cough. I talk to Eric around 9:30 and he says he is going to go see if they can pull Jaysun from school so he can say one last good bye and then he is going to head my way. As the day goes on, Allison is sounding worse and worse and her breathing is becoming labored. She takes a morning nap around 10ish, something she hasn't done in probably a year. By lunch I am debating - do I call the ped? or do I fill the prescription he gave me for an inhaler back in April and try that first? I decide to get the inhaler first. Stupid Ohio and their half day kinder - I am pretty much stuck waiting for Amy to get on the bus before I can go fill the prescription. I get Amy on the bus, pack poor coughing, wheezing, lethargic Allison in the car and head to Kroger. It takes 20 min to fill the prescription and then we head home. I give the inhaler a go around 2:30 and she seems to sound better .... for about 45 minutes .... and then the labored breathing is back. Allison takes another nap from about 4 to about 5:30. I am supposed to wait 4 hours between treatments. At 3 1/2 hours I dig out some Albuterol syrup I have from when Amy was a tot. It is passed the expiration but I try it anyway, thinking a straight shot of syrup might be better than a puff from an inhaler that I am not sure she got much of since it was our first time using one. This time there seems to be no difference.


David comes home, we eat dinner and then he suggests trying the steamy shower thing since that worked last time she sounded like this. After the shower she is thrashing about on our bed, crying and complaining that her chest hurts. I am frantically digging for clothes (I was just in the shower with her) and I get dressed and tell David I think we need to head to the ER. THANK YOU LORD that Eric was here and he was able to stay with the older two. At the ER she is given 3 breathing treatments in a row and they take a chest x-ray. Around mid-nite they tell us we can't go home, that it wouldn't be safe. David and I are panicked. Who will watch the other two? How do we let Eric know where we are and what is going on? How much is this going to cost us?

David heads home to get some sleep as he has to be at work Friday morning. It is the Friday before Memorial Day and pretty much every other manager is off. He has to be there to get things started in the morning. I stay with Allison and we try to sleep even though we are awakened every hour or so. Breathing treatments every 2 hours and then checking her oxygen level they decide she is too low and she is hooked up to oxygen first with a mask on her chest and then with tubes straight to her nose.

FRIDAY, May 22:
We spend the day at the hospital. David is able to leave work so he comes up the morning. It gives Audrey and Amy a chance to see their sister and gives me a chance to head home which I desperately needed to do. Allison woke up Friday and started coughing and then started vomiting and since I was holding her ....... yeah, I needed new clothes and a shower. So Allison has to go 4 hours between breathing treatments two times in a row before they will release us. She makes it 3 hours from 6am -9am and then makes it 4 hours going 9am-1pm. She falls asleep around 2 and during her nap her oxygen levels drop low enough that they have her back on oxygen. So even though she makes it another 4 hour stretch between breathing treatments(1pm-5pm) they decide to keep us just a little longer and make sure she is good to go. We are finally released at 8:15.

SATURDAY, May 23:
The day of the big Spring Show for the dance studio. Audrey is in level 3 classes and they are a part of the Spring Show. Eric is headed back to Dallas and is set to leave around 9:30am. I have to have Audrey at the high school theater in full hair and make up and rehearsal clothes with costume on a hanger at 11:30. Then I have to be back at 1:15 to touch up hair and make-up, feed her lunch and then get her changed into her costume. The show starts at 2. Thankfully David is not working weekends anymore so he can stay home with Allison. So I drop Audrey off at 11:30, head to Kroger to fill the plethora of prescriptions given to us before we left the hospital, shop while the prescriptions are filled, pick up the prescriptions and head home. I eat a quick lunch, change Amy and myself into slightly more dressy clothes and head back to the high school. I feed Audrey and get Audrey in her costume. Amy and I head to our seats, watch the show, and finally head home.

SUNDAY, May 24:
I am like the walking dead. We go to church and then come home for an oh-so-healthy lunch of frozen pizzas. Allison takes a nap and I try to take one too. Now, I forgot to mention that the roof repair finally got started - on Friday - the day we were at the hospital all day. They worked until 10:30 at nite on Friday but then said they couldn't finish until Tuesday b/c they had other jobs already scheduled for Saturday and they were off Sun and Mon. Ummm - yeah - they told me in the beginning our roof would take 2 days so why they only scheduled one day for it I have no idea. Anyway, because they worked on into the night, they did not do such a great job cleaning up when they left. There were tacks and nails and staples all over the place. The older two are begging non-stop to go outside to play and I am so tired I finally give in but tell them they MUST wear shoes and look where they step. They of course don't listen. I wake from my all too short nap to find a pile of wet clothing in the downstairs bathroom and 2 children outside in their swimsuits running around barefoot and playing with the hose. I reiterate that they need shoes on and point out several nails I can see by the deck. I go back in the house to use the restroom and 5 seconds later they come screaming in b/c Amy stepped on a staple and her foot is bleeding. This of course wakes Allison who has not napped near long enough. Oh my gosh did those kids get an earful from me! I was livid!!!!

MONDAY, May 25:
I vow to have a peaceful, uneventful day and we pretty much do. We get the yard cleaned up and we do some gardening. Allison naps and I take the older two to the neighborhood pool for their first swim of the summer. The water was freezing and it started drizzling after we had been there about 30 minutes but they stuck it out for an hour and a half. And I bet they would have stayed longer if the other parents and I hadn't gotten tired of trying to huddle under the sun umbrellas.

So there you have it - like I said OY! What a week!