Dear Mom and Dad,

Last Wednesday, when you picked me up from work,
I thought my ear was going to explode.
Or would it implode?
Burst?
Rupture?

Remember when my ear drum ruptured when we lived on Skylark?
I was babysitting down the street when my ear started screaming with pain.
I did not know what to do and just laid on the couch at my Friday-night-employer's home.
I waited and waiting - for what seemed like forever.
Thinking of that night, it still feels like it was forever.
I wanted to leave.
I wanted to go home and get in my bed 
and have mom take care of me.
My ear ruptured shortly after I got home that night.
Red-orange puss.
Gross. I cannot believe I just wrote that.
It was one of those sicknesses that I remember quite well.
I remember laying upstairs on the daybed in the extra room... 
or maybe it was Mark's room? 
Did Mark and Brian share a room on Skylark?
Why was the daybed in that back corner room?
Was it? 

I also remember sick days when mom would wash out the puke bucket with bleach; 
to this day the smell of bleach reminds me of the puke bucket.
I definitely remember laying on the daybed with the puke bucket by my side from time to time. I am still remembering the daybed in the back corner room. 

I wonder what smells will remind Lucia of sick-days?

And what is it with childhood and puking? 
It does not seem that puking happens as much later in life.
There are only a few times I can remember having a severe stomach sickness post high-school.

And as for an ear infection? 
There is not one time that I can 
remember having an throbbing lobe post Skylark.
It had been so long that I did not even recognize the symptoms.

It started in third block.
The pressure started building.
During lunch I felt like I was talking through a tunnel.
Talking through a tunnel?
Talking into a tunnel?
You know what I mean.
By fourth block the pressure was unbearable.
I could not hear much.
There was a throbbing too,
an occasional ringing.

By the time you arrived at my school,
I was finally figuring it out ...
I had finally decided that there was more than just a little pressure in my ear. Plugging my nose, holding my breath and pushing air into my cheeks to pop my ears was not going to cut it.

Before we went to the doctor, we had to stop at Best Buy to get Adalynn's computer;
if the trip had not been for Adalynn, 
I may have thrown even more of a fit than what I did.
I got rather impatient while mom was in the store.
What took so long anyway?
There must have been a long line.
I sent dad inside to figure it out because he needed a task; he was asking a lot of questions while we sat in the car.
Lucia blabbered in the backseat.
I held my ear.

We finally arrived at the Urgent Care.
The lady at the check-in was new and 
could not get anything right.
It took forever.
Dad brought in a Krispy Creme Doughnut for me while I sat in the waiting room. Mom had sent him there after he dropped me at the office. I have a feeling Lucia had her first bite of doughnut while I waited in the waiting room. I bet she liked it.

The nurse was so kind.
I tried to talk to her and be polite, but I was really in pain.
Of course, I overly extended myself because I have this thing about being super nice. It is a game I play with myself. I try to be as nice as possible to as many people as possible on a daily basis. I refuse to be the jerk that ruins someone's day. I was losing my game with you guys - you were the target of my pain. Snippy-snip was I.

The doctor finally saw me.
I told Matt that it was awkward because he was a relatively attractive man and he had to look up my nose. I am pretty sure that I have nose hairs that stick out of my nose. {I need to do something about that.} I do not even let Matt get that close to my nose. 

When he finally checked out my ear, 
he said "ew". I take it that was a bad thing. It hurt when he touched it.

"Bacterial Ear Infection,"
the verdict finally announced.
Thank you for telling me what I had known since fourth block. 
Thank you for giving me the steroid shot and looking up my nose.
Thank you for showing me on the diagram what was going on in my ear. I tried to pay attention, but I was in a lot of pain. I still appreciate your effort. 
I tried to be nice to him too. It was difficult and awkward.

It was even more difficult to be friendly when I arrived back in the car. I was a grouch to you guys. You took me home, got the heating pad out for me, put me on the couch. I was still Ms. Snippy Snip. 

Mom went to get my medicine.
Finally when she arrived home, the Ibuprofen had kicked in and I was in less pain. I was even able to get up and move around.
Less snippy at that point.
She thankfully stayed the night, bathed Lucia, helped me around the house. 


I am sorry for being a bratty grump. 
Thank you for taking care of me,
just like old times.


Love, 
Your Favorite Daughter

Blizzard Bloghop!

Blizzard Bloghop 2010 hosted by Household 6 Diva

Hello. 
My name is Sarah

Thank you for st-hopping by.
You have found our way to the tale 
of a {late} twenty-something wife,
mummy and English teacher. 

For the nitty-gritty:
{stats, the current locale 
and some info about my past}, 
please click here.
To know my purpose, please click here.
Or perhaps these few details will suffice:

I write because I do not want to forget.
I write because I want to share my joy.
I write because it brings me happiness.

This is my place.
A journal of sorts.
A reflection of life with baby and husband.
I like to share 
things that make me happy, 
things I find inspiring, 
things about decorating and fashion,
books and other
odds and ends.

All together this is a joyful little spot.

I love blogs - reading them, being supportive of others and their art. Please leave a comment and direct me to your own internet home. I would love to visit!

Thank you for stopping by!
Cheers and many Blessings to you.
Peace and Love.
And please do come again. 

Blizzard Bloghop 2010 hosted by Household 6 Diva

Feeling Better

Finally we are on the up and up
baby L is doing so much better.
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers.
I truly believe that well wishes go a long way
and that the power of prayer is a mighty, mighty thing. 
I Thank God she did not have to be hospitalized for the RSV.
There were a few mornings that I thought we would have to take her to the emergency room because her congestion was so thick.
Honestly, there are few times in my life 
that I have seen so much snot.

I think we owe much of her recovery to the breast milk that kept her hydrated. I continually heard from others and read that I needed to "push the liquids, push the liquids."
Nursing made that easy.
For hours upon hours
she nursed for comfort;
 {yes, for hours upon hours}.
I felt like we were plowing through the 
early days of nursing all over again!
And again I was amazed at the capabilities of my own body.
I had recently stopped pumping at work because of her increase in solids; thus, my supply was rather low and my body had to quickly adjust to her needs. Amazing!
I know that when I decide to decrease my production again, 
I will have a few painful days in front of me. I am partly hoping for a very easy transition.
Oh supply and demand!
Though I complain not;
all is worth it for little Lucia.

So Goodbye horrid sickness. 
What a joyous goodbye it is!
Please do not come knocking again any time soon.
And now I know,
oh how I know,
how painful it is to see your baby sick;
I would not even wish it on the most evil of souls.

We fought through, 
she is a strong little one,
our doctor was so helpful,
and day by day she improved.


{Photo of the two of us 
on New Year's Morning, Twenty-Ten}.

A Surfing We Will Go: Currently Droooooooling Over ....

1) Well, first of all, I hope my family is up for this because everyone is getting one of these
Between Me and You books
for their Birthday this year. 
Go on, read all about it and I promise that you will want to give the gift that gives back too.

2) She and Him -  ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Love. Bliss. Heaven. 
Go ahead and by it for me on vinyl, Mateo - go head.
(I am so addicted to my husband's record player.
LP's have such a charming quality;
I cannot even begin to explain my fascination.)

Ah, I want to do one too. Anyone, anyone?

4) Sleepers with zippers - forget buttons - these little suckers make diaper changes much less of a fuss.

5) Fabric bunting? Oh how I love thee! 
This is what I sent my Valentine's Day Exchange Pal; 
it is already hanging on her mantle!

6) I recently viewed the 1996 update of
Romeo and Juliet for the one billionth time. 
Shakespeare always got it right, did he not? {Even though this tragedies' end is torture in its finest form}.

Said Juliet of her Romeo:
"When he shall die,
take him and cut him out into little stars 
and he shall make the face of heaven
so fine that all the world will be in love with night 
and pay no worship to the garish sun."
— Mr. William Shakespeare

Sharing the love...

Cheers! Below you will find a sweet list of links that will carry your-little-internet-hearts to blogs that I frequent; blogs that make me happy.
Share the love ... go say hello.

1)  Click here to visit my
{real life} friends on the internet. They are fun!

2) And click here to read mama blogs
that I find especially inspiring.

3) Click one of the following pretty buttons
and - I promise - creative pages will decorate your browser:
puddle play small
button


4) Sew your heart out and click here... {someday I will}.

5) My fashion bundle needs more content!

6) Click here for design that inspires. Nothing less.
.
7) Records of life, random thoughts, weight loss, love: here.


song of a beard

calico,
the pattern,
not the cat.

coarse,
scratchy
and
festively painted.

red,
orange,
brown,
white.


The Creativity of God
at its very finest.

gallant,
woolly,
rugged,
x and y.


love,
mine.