It's Been a Crazy Ride Lately

It's been almost two weeks since I wrote anything here. That is a record for my five plus years, one I don't particularly like. I am having a really hard time getting thoughts to gel in my head so that I can put them down. I don't like this feeling at all.

I had something in mind when I wrote this title several days ago. There's been a lot of "stuff" lately. I'll try to remember what all I was thinking of.

It kind of started in August when I broke the little toe on my left foot by running into a high chair on the patio. It hurt like crazy, but I taped it to the next toe, as I have done more often before than I like to think of - I seem to be incredibly clumsy with my poor toes. I googled to see if I should see a doc, even though I haven't ever before, and I have LOUSY insurance. I decided not to go, but to go with the taping, and read that it would take about 6 weeksto heal - which it did. It no sooner felt really good and healed than I did something I've done probably 10,000 times since I've lived in this house - headed to the bathroom in the middle of the night. This particular night in September, I apparently was still asleep when I headed back to my bed and missed the turn, heading straight into a door frame, probably separating the second and third toes, cramming into the edge of the frame. I barely remember stumbling back to my bed, but I do remember being in great pain. I once again did the taping method, and settled in for another 6 weeks of difficulty walking, and particularly, exercising. The pain in the toe subsided fairly quickly, but I discovered in the last week or so that there was a major twinge when I stepped down on the ball of that foot - sending an electrical sensation through my foot. I decided that there must be some nerve involvement and I'd better bite the bullet and get to the podiatrist. Which I did. And found out that it is a tendon problem. He taped it up majorly for a week and had me back in. It felt some better, so he created an orthotic for my shoes , and now I can't wear any dress shoes for who knows how long (my insurance only helps with custom orthotics if you are diabetic - just another piece of evidence that insurance company decision makers are crazy). He also gave me this funny looking little padding device to place over three toes to keep the affected area from hitting the ground fully. After 2 weeks I'll go again and we'll evaluate the situation then. The worst case scenario, of course, would be surgery. It could be a cast. It could be that I'll have to buy orthotics outright. It's the pits. I should probably have gone in sooner.

Kristen's had several more bouts of health issues - take your pick. So of course, that means a lot of kiddo time at our house. They do well, but sure do miss their mommy when she's sick - and the big ones worry about her. I have to admit that I do, too.

Last week, Livi woke up with a sore throat on the week-end, of course. By Monday she was really miserable, so a trip to the doc proved that our suspicions were true - strep throat. At the same time, Kristen talked to him about Livi's continual plumbing problems. So, since Kristen had to work a lot Monday through Wednesday so she could have the girls while I took my trip (more later), I had 3 of the girls most of the three days - Livi's throat felt better quite quickly, but I turned into the Miralax Nazi, on her case constantly to glug down 30 ounces of liquid with 6 caps of Miralax. Needless to say, her love of apple juice is now gone. But it worked! Now we have to keep her more steady and be proactive. Poor little thing - she has struggled with this problem for most of her little life.

At the same time, she woke up that Saturday morning to take a bath, and informed me that there was no hot water. She was right - the old water heater bit the dust overnight. Of course, on a Saturday. So Monday was greatly anticipated! In the meantime, one of those days, I heard a lot of activity and toilet seat banging going on in the lower bathroom. I should have checked sooner, because by the time I did, there was water covering the entire floor (Yep - the twins). They played in the toilet water - yes, it was flushed! When I got down there, I found a baby washcloth floating in there - uh-oh, I thought, what might they have flushed? My worst fears were realized when Livi came up the next morning and told me that the water was about to overflow. We plunged and plunged and plunged some more. But nothing worked, so when the "Dwelling Doctor" came on Monday morning to replace the water heater, I asked him to check the toilet as well. In the meantime, I had asked the twins once again if one of them had flushed something down the potty. This time Emma said, "Katie did." Katie is nothing if not honest. She's the one who owned up to cutting Emma's hair. I asked her what she had flushed and she said, "A zebra." Livi immediately went on a hunt - they have two different Noah's Ark sets, so there are 4 zebras around the house. All 4 were accounted for. Livi thought it might have been a giraffe instead.

The plumber could not get the clog to release, so he ended up removing the stool from the floor, which led him to discover a more serious problem than the clog - a blessing in deep, deep disguise! And he did find the clog problem - a ZEBRA!! Turns out there was another set of animals - this one a zoo or safari set that I forgot about. This one has a movable head, and if the head had been straight, not cocked to the side, it would have gone through.

But - we had a working toilet and HOT WATER!! What a blessing! A very expensive Monday morning, but not as bad as it could have been, or as I feared. This guy was recommended to us by our BIL, who works with many small businessmen in town, and he knows who is good and honest.

Seems like there was more, but it's kind of like childbirth - I seem to have forgotten the pain. It did make for a late night of getting ready for my trip to Maine Thursday morning. I will post about that next time - including the trauma of the actual trip (which you have probably read if you're on Facebook with me).

Have a great week!