Sunday, March 21, 2010

What an Anniversary!

So let me give a rundown of our anniversary, and the day leading up to it....
Friday mid-day, Jacob had about two hours of non-stop wailing. He finally quit after I gave him some Tylenol. Paul made the decision to take him in to the doctor, since it was Friday... Best to get him checked out so we didn't end up in the emergency room for treatment over the weekend. It turns out he has an infection in both ears. I went at 4 pm, prepared to spend an hour plus waiting to even be seen at the doctor, but was only in there maybe a half hour total. I spent a lot longer waiting for the prescription to be filled. Ugh. I'm going to give my business to our last remaining hometown pharmacy from now on. (The hometown pharmacy I previously used sold out... to Walgreens.)
Paul has to work nights this weekend, and given that he's taking time off for Jacob's surgery and a weekend trip next month, we decided he didn't need to take off our anniversary (nursing means no nights away, and even a simple date is tricky).
Paul's dad (who works at the same place) called me on his way home to let me know about an accident that had happened at the end of his shift, just as Paul was getting there. A woman had gotten her arm caught in the crusher roller. I'm glad he let me know, because at least two area stations picked up the story, and I would have freaked out had I heard about it on the news. (However, since it was a woman, I would have had some comfort knowing it wasn't my husband or father-in-law.) Paul said the night progressed okay, but every one was a bit shaken.
I gave Jacob his first dose of antibiotics, only to have him vomit it up..... All over himself. He was laying on his back and it went all over his face, into his eyes and hair and ears. Totally gross. Nathan helped me give Jacob a bath, by pouring the rinse water on him. And this is the first bath that Jacob hasn't ended up screaming. Nathan is hired! I re-dosed him and sat down on the couch to nurse him, and he fell asleep immediately - without nursing.
After I got Nathan in bed, I picked up the downstairs. I finally was going to take a shower and head to bed about 1 (no motivation to go to bed alone when Paul's working), but then I decided to go nurse Jacob. I was in pain, and I knew he'd wake up right after I fell asleep if I didn't. I've done this trick several times before, where I pick him up, and he nurses in his sleep and I put him back to bed.
Well.....
Two hours later, after screaming, vomiting all over himself, me, and his bed.... I finally came back downstairs. I passed on the shower, opting to pass out. No luck. I couldn't sleep. Nathan woke up at 4:30, and I think Jacob woke up again... But things are a little fuzzy. I remember seeing the clock at 5:30 - pretty sure that's when I was stumbling to bed after feeding Jacob. The next time I looked at the clock was at 7:57 when Nathan was talking to me from upstairs.
It snowed overnight. A lot. Not a little last-hurrah-of-winter dusting, either. We had six inches when Paul got home from work and it continued snowing all day.
Since we weren't able to go on an anniversary date, I decided I'd fix Paul a nice supper. I thought I'd put the boys down for their naps, take a shower, put on my nice jeans and a sweater and actually brush my hair, and we'd have a little "pretend date" all by ourselves.
Yeah, well....
I was halfway through shaving (and it had been 3 weeks, so it took a while) when I thought I heard Jacob (despite the medicine I gave him right before I put him in the swing). I stuck my head out, and sure enough.... So I hurried through the rest of my shower and threw on my robe and went and picked up my now-screaming son. Minutes later, our neighbor came to the door to see if I wanted him to blade our drive. I threw on the closest clothes I could find (yoga pants and my 13-year-old sweatshirt), and answered the door. Paul heard the tractor and got up. Then Nathan heard the tractor and woke up.
So much for our romantic dinner for two. But it was still some pretty amazing hamburgers and homemade apple pie. And we did enjoy the time with both boys being happy at the table.
When Paul left for work, I headed in to town to my nieces 6th birthday party. (She was born just four days after our wedding... My sister hated me for making her be a bridesmaid and stand up in front of everyone when she was so big pregnant!) The roads were beginning to drift shut. Someone was stuck on the road west of our house, so we headed east and went "around" to town. Paul broke through the drifts with his truck and I followed in the car. He hopped on the highway to go to work, and I continued on into town for the party. I enjoyed the time with my family, laughing and eating (and watching KU lose and KState win!!!) and spending time together. I headed home about 9:30. It was still snowing a bit, but the roads weren't too bad until I got to the gravel. The north-south road I came "around" on was starting to drift across, then when I turned on to our road...... Not cool. I could tell the drifts were deep, but I thought if I stayed to the edge of them and gunned it, I might plow through.
Fail.
I buried the car about 50 feet from the corner. And less than a quarter mile from our house. So close, yet so far away.
I called my family, who was waiting to hear that I made it home, and Dad, JC, and Keith came out in the 4-wheel-drive Tahoe. My neighbor brought out a chain and they hooked on.... Only to have Dad get stuck as well. My neighbor went and got his tractor, and got Dad yanked out, then hooked me on. I wasn't sure we were gonna get it, but they shortened up the chain and gave a good yank and got me out of the mud and slime.
My neighbor broke through the drifts down to our house with the tractor, and Dad plowed through behind him in the Tahoe. He came back and informed me that there was no way that my car could make it. So we parked my car at the neighbors, packed the boys into the Tahoe and plowed through again. Finally, an hour and a half after leaving the party, I made it home.
And I'm totally kicking myself for not taking pictures. This was epic.
I am SO thankful for the boys behaving so well. Jacob was completely conked out the entire time (until the moment we walked in the door - commence screaming). Nathan was quiet except for saying "Pa-pa pulls us out?" and "Car is stuck." and asking where Pa-pa was. He did wet his pants, I found out when we got home, but I can take that over fussing and screaming any day.
I think the adrenaline has finally worn off, and now I am finally ready for bed.
Oh, and church will be a no-go in the morning. There's no way we'll be able to get out, unless they do some serious plowing before 8 AM. This will be the first time in almost 4 years that I've had to call in on a Sunday morning. And it's looking like Paul will have to park at the neighbors as well and walk the last 1/4 mile. That should be fun.
But seriously, it could have been a whole lot worse of a day.
:)

1 comment:

Doug or Janice Rhodes said...

When I drove home Monday, I saw a motel sign that read: "Spring, is that you...oh well nevermind..." I do think Spring is here now but we did have April snow 2 years ago.....
Mom R