Suck It Up MARINE!!

The girls and I have been sick this last week. Yes, over the Mothers Day Weekend.

We have had our first delve into TriCare. Hold on and try to stay with me. I am about to unload a tangent so big you may get a headache. Jenna comes home sick from daycare on Thursday with a low grade fever and cough. Jordan was fine until midnight when she gets sick and up comes her dinner. So two girls with coughs, fevers, and runny noses. Both need cuddling. Both need medications. Both need cleaning up after. Neither could do this at reasonable hours. Too bad you can't put illness on a schedule. OK You...from 3 pm to 6 pm is when you can feel bad. OK You...from 6:30pm to 9:30pm is your turn to feel bad. Even though you guys get to stay home tomorrow, I have to get up and go to work in the morning. Since my Mom is staying with me and I don't want to wear her out, I try not to call on her for every little thing. So I let her sleep since she was going to get the girls on Friday.

Over the weekend the girls showed signs of improvement and then I get sick on Mother's Day. To make a really long story short, I went to the Accute Care Clinic in the Naval Hospital on Monday. I was in and out and back home in just over an hour with medications! I was impressed.

When I picked the girls up from day care on Tuesday, Jordan looked like a limp rag. She had begun feeling bad again over the course of the day. Her face was flushed and droopy, nose all runny. Poor thing had been run over, twice, by a mean bad bug. So I cart her and her sister off to the Accute Care Clinic to make sure nothing serious is lingering. Since I had two in tow, I made appointments. The night before went really well and I didn't have an appointment. I got to see a doctor who I felt knew what she was talking about. I had high expectations for the girls visits. That is why I had no hesitation to appointments at 7:20 pm and 7:40 pm. OH if only I had known.

We get there on time. We check in. We wait...and wait...and wait...and wait. When we were finally called back, the girls had their vitals taken. Temp, blood pressure etc. We were sent back out to the waiting room. 3 other people went back then came back out. 45 to 50 minutes have passed since our appointment time. We get called back. We see this man older then the cheese in my fridge. If he were any slower, he would be moving in reverse. He was hard of hearing so he kept saying "I'm sorry, what?". What I would have given for a marker and paper to make flash cards for him to read. Over two hours later and tests for strep, we get a diagnosis of "it's viral and needs to run it's course". This is where I get my bitchy britches on. (that's what Joey calls it when I've had it) We've been here for two hours and I walk out with nothing for my babies to feel better? Are you kidding? The girls have come unglued. They felt bad and were tired. My kids are used to going to bed at 8:00 pm sharp. We looked like one of those groups where the mother is frazzled, the kids are loud and obnoxious, and you look at them with the "What in hell kind if mother are you?" look on your face. Yeah..that was us. Lesson learned? I will make appointments during the day at the regular pediatrician so we're not competing for medical care with true emergencies.

I ended up taking Jordan back to the on base pediatrician Wednesday morning. She woke up with a bloody nose. She had spent the entire night before crying out in discomfort so she didn't get any sleep and because we share a room right now...I didn't sleep. You know you love your kids when you grab a flashlight at 3:00 am to look for her favorite Cinderella figurine she has to have for comfort and you're not even thinking about the closest sharp object.

This last visit went really well, once I got there. I didn't understand the directions on how to get to this office in the hospital. I parked on the complete other side of the building. Keep in mind I'm battling a respiratory infection myself. So here I am trucking my 35 pound limp daughter through the hospital to get to the appointment on time but I get lost. I arrive at the office with the assistance of a doctor who just happened to be going my way. I'm gasping for air and coughing like a 4 pack a day smoker. The office personnel at the front desk kept asking me if I'm OK. I coughed yes. I broke down from exhaustion during Jordan's office visit and cried. Turns out she is sensitive to the allergins this time of year. Hopefully with the antibiotic she was prescribed she'll feel better soon.

I was taught in the Marines to Suck it Up and push on. To adapt and overcome. That's what military wives learn to do. There is no such thing as a sick day for a single mom.

One Month Down...Eleven To Go!

One of the pitfalls of being a military wife is the single parenting involved. Unless you have a live in cook, nanny, chauffer, personal assistant, gardener, and maid, all these tasks are yours and yours alone. I did hire a housekeeper, which I LOVE. The company actually sends out two ladies. I will post about the conversations they have later. My Mom tells me some interesting stuff about the converstions the ladies have amongst themselves on housekeeper day. So now, I plan on leaving booby traps for them. Give them some stuff to really talk trash about.

We eat on the cheap the week our housekeeper comes but it is worth the sacrifice. Although, they are surprisingly affordable. I love coming home from work every other week and the house is super clean. Then 10 minutes later, it's trashed again. So for 10 minutes every other week, I get to enjoy what other houses must look like all the time. ;P I try to close my eyes and pretend the kids have taken their backpacks to their rooms, put their shoes in their closets, and their clothes are not strewn from the front door to the back of the house. This would qualify as my Calgon moment since I don't have time to actually soak in a tub. What is it with kids shedding every stitch they have on when they get home? Or is it just my kids? HM.......

The Army has granted the girls a scholarship for their gymnastics lessons while Joey is activated. Nice little benefit of military life. A couple lessons ago, they were working the uneven bars. The preschool age group, on the uneven bars, just dangle. They're too little to swing and sway and flip on the uneven bars, but they can take dangling to a whole new level of cute.

Jordan got to spend the weekend at Camp Grammy for the first time this month. You can't beat that as a reward to crossing the potty training finish line! NO MORE DIAPERS! My current favorite three little words, since Joey isn't here to pat my rear and say I love you. Jordan no longer requires Pull Ups, even when she sleeps. This has been a mile stone Joey and I have been looking forward to. And the first milestone he's missed due to his deployment.

I know deployment means Joey will miss milestones and events. In just the one month since I dropped him off, he's missed our 6th Anniversary and Mother's Day. Justin has embarked upon his Eagle Scout rank. This is an achievement boys must earn before they turn 18. Justin will be 18 in July. WOW! that sounds so weird out loud. Anywho, Joey and I met when Justin was almost 9. He jumped right in and was an active participant in Justins scouting activities, from the beginning. So Justin is busting his hump to get his project finished so Joey can see Justins scouting come full circle. If all goes as planned, Justin will be completely finished with his project and if council signs off on the paperwork, we can have the ceremony the two days Joey is home before he begins his year overseas.

I hope through this blog, Facebook, Twitter, My Space, Skype, texting, pictures in the mail, pictures over the phone, care packages, and phone calls we can keep up with each other. My hopes are to have him home without being a stranger in the house.