Uncle Mommy and the Horse Lady

What a week. Holidays always seem a little anticlimactic to me. All this looking forward to Thanksgiving Day, and now that it's over I feel a little bit "meh" about it all. It's not that I didn't have fun at the relatives' house, but I think I would have liked it better if I had been feeling better healthwise. Here's a run-down of the week.

Monday was nuts, what with the Terrible Drews and all.

Tuesday was almost equally crazy. I don't know how many times I had to pull the boys off the kitchen counter. I'd turn around to get a dish off the table, and when I turned back toward the counter, there they were, monkeying with stuff and making more messes. And to top it off, I started getting a sore throat. I also started getting weepy for no reason--I've come to view this as a sure sign that I'm coming down with something.* I think I got the bug from Owen, who has been running around coughing on everything for the last week or so. Drew caught something, too; he's got a goopy nose and what I think might be cold sores on his face (I thought they were zits, but I read something about cold sores in toddlers and he's got some other symptoms).

Wednesday morning I woke up with a horrible sore throat and a massive headache that extended down into my neck and shoulders. I could barely move, but I managed to put all the chairs in the hallway and gate it off so the boys couldn't get onto the counters again, then I laid down on the couch and watched as the boys trashed the living room. I mean, played. Sometime around 1 pm, I managed to make some Lipton noodle soup, which helped the sore throat for a while. I put some in the boys' sippy cups. They liked it. Drew called it chicken milk.** I laid down on the couch some more, then around 8 pm I decided we should have dinner. So I ordered pizza and soda ("izza and sodad" as the boys call it). Then I bathed the boys and we watched a little bit of "Sword in the Stone," then I put them to bed and I went and crashed.

Thursday, I woke up feeling much better. I didn't feel like I should go to the relatives' house, but David didn't want to go without us, and he didn't want to skip it. So we all went. I tried really hard not to breathe on anybody, which is much more than I can say for Owen. He walked around coughing and not covering his mouth (he actually used to be really good about covering his mouth, but I guess he's feeling a little rebellious. And probably doesn't understand the importance). Luckily, he's short so he mostly coughed on peoples' knees.

The boys had a lot of fun. The relatives have horses, and cousin Mike was kind enough to take the boys out to pet the horses a couple times. David's aunt and uncle (I don't know if they'd like me to use their real names, so we'll just call them The Aunt and The Uncle) also took the boys out a few times. The boys couldn't figure out how to pronounce The Uncle's name, so they call him Uncle Mommy (it's close). When we were getting ready to leave, The Aunt offered to help Drew put his shoes back on (he'd taken them off for a diaper change). David said, "Take your shoes to The Aunt." Drew looked around all confused so David said, "Take your shoes to the horse lady." Drew picked up the shoes and took them right over to The Aunt.

I had a lot of fun mingling with the relatives, too. They're a pretty easy-going bunch for the most part, and always make me feel welcome. So I like visiting with them. And the food is always delicious. On the way home, my big ol' headache came back, and I was suddenly hungry, so I made David stop at A&W. I just wanted a burger and fries, and a Sprite (I like the way it tingles my throat). Turns out this A&W didn't have Sprite. Nor did they have A&W root beer. What a crime! So I just had regular root beer. It was a little disappointing. But it held me over 'til I got home and was able to drink some of the sodad from the night before. David was nice enough to put the boys to bed for me; I suddenly got the chills again and had to lay under my covers for a half hour before I could get warm, at which point I started burning up. My temperature never got over 100.9, so I don't think it killed many germs, but it made me feel a little better.

I don't have much headache at all today, just a bit of a sore throat. So my plans for today include washing all the sheets, getting all the dishes done (they've been sitting in the sink since Tuesday), and wiping everything down with Chlorox wipes. Unfortunately, today is almost over by this time and few things have been accomplished. I did get the sheets washed and dried, and I'm sure I'll get them back on the beds before bedtime (or maybe at bedtime). It just feels better to sit here than it does to do all that work.

Hopefully the next holiday will turn out better.

*I was at a Sizzler once on my mission (which was a huge treat because there's not a ton of American food in Thailand and it's really expensive compared to Thai food), when suddenly I broke into tears that I couldn't explain. I was so embarrassed, so my companion and I ran to the restroom so I wouldn't have to cry in front of the Elders. But the restroom was on the other side of the mall, so all the Thai people got to see this big foreigner running through the mall crying. Anyway. That night my temperature soared and I had to go to the hospital where I was diagnosed with a "wiral infection" and sent home with some drugs. I guess the doctor had learned English from a German guy so he said "w" instead of "v." Since that day, whenever I'm coming down with a wiral infection or something, I get really weepy for no apparent reason. Weird, huh.

** My little brother used to pronounce the word "choclolate" kinda funny so when he said "chocolate milk," it sounded like he said "chicken milk." We had a funny neighbor who used to tease Kevin about it, and it became a huge family joke, so I was very glad to hear Drew carry on the tradition (even though he had no idea there was such a tradition).