There's no sickness like old sickness

and trust me, sickness in our house is getting old, really, really, really fast.

So far in the last 2 weeks we have endured 105 degree temperatures in one child, puking, diarrhea, a visit to the after hours clinic and a diagnosis of tonsilitis, then 7 days of antibiotics. At the same time we put up with a barking, seal like cough, slight fever, stuffiness, and constant whining. Now THAT has worked into 104 degree temperatures in the barking child, 2 bottles of the dreaded Tylenol, a 90 minute visit to the after hours clinic stacked with a million sick germs (gack) to only be told, heck, it's just a virus, it will run it's course.

Today, after 2 1/2 weeks of insanity and many many days of missed work, we are heading to the doctor in the hopes of getting a diagnosis of SOMETHING and some medicine to make it all go away.

In all of this, thankfully, I have been the only one to remain healthy. Pardon me while I go find some wood to knock on. I can say now, without a doubt, that grown men are far worse when sick than 5 year old children. It truly is one of those bizarre phenomena that you hear about and manage to forget about until you are stuck right in the middle of it.

This is the first year I have actually let the thought of a flu shot linger in my brain for any length of time before being discarded. I'm still not convinced it's the right thing to do, but it lingers there now from time to time.

I cannot say enough how thankful I am for a flexible workplace and understanding bosses!

Random thoughts.....on marriage

The other day I was showing my 'other half' my new blog. He though it was fabulous. His only comments was "what about me?"

It seems I didn't mention enough about him in my ABOUT ME section. And besides me telling him it's not about you, it's supposed to be about me, it got me thinking. Am I really so independent in our marriage that he more or less falls somewhere behind me, the boys, my work, my schooling, my job, my hobbies? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that, yes, he bobs around way in the background, hardly noticed, except when he pipes up and says "what about me?"

I don't know why this is. Maybe years of being single, I didn't get married until I was 33. Maybe from being raised in a single parent family, where there was only one adult/parent, all the time, it was normal. It strikes me that we are both single parents living in the same home. Is that weird? It seems to work for us.

I remember telling my mother once that I thought the perfect marriage arrangement would be where a couple owned a duplex, she lived in one side, he lived in the other and they co-habited for carnal pleasures when the mood struck, the kids lived wherever. I feel like I am living a self fulfilling prophecy and I'm not sure it's a good thing. Of course, I'm not entirely sure it's a bad thing either.

I'm a very non dependent type. I like being alone, I don't need a lot of nurturing and companionship, at least I don't think I do. In fact, the only time this type of stuff pushes itself to the front of my thought process is when someone else asks "what about me?"

This brings up another dependent marital relationship type thing. The whole "I not allowed to do that.", or "I'll have to ask if I can first." We are all adults, we are all in charge of our destinies. Why as an adult do I have to ask if I can do something. In turn, why would I expect another adult to ask me if they could do something. It's bad enough that 2 children must ask me repeatedly to do anything, including going pee. Don't get me wrong, once a decision is made, it shows consideration if you tell me about it, but don't ask me and I won't ask you. I shake my head at my husband's friends who say things like "J**** won't let me do that." Won't LET you? No, I don't understand it and will never let that permeate my marriage.

Oh and just so we all know, and so some insecurities are squelched...I am married to Mike, the father of my 2 boys. We have been together for almost 15 years, married for almost 8. We are happily sorta married. Two independent souls raising 2 independent souls all living in the same house. We love each other even though neither of us says it all the time. We make sure we say it to our children all the time though, we don't really want them to wind up like we are, or more to the point, I don't want them winding up the way I did. Mike's okay, but I think I'm wearing him down.

Stacey...friend, sister, daughter, but most of all MOTHER

Gone, but never forgotten. Her strength of character was a humbling thing to witness as she battled the cancer that would finally take her life. Stacey's children were the light of her life and she wanted nothing more than to live for them, and so she fought, so courageously, for them to know her, be part of her, to ensure that she was and always will be a very large part of them. To Kelsey, Logan, Bailey, Avery and Saylor. Your mom was someone we should all strive to emulate. She will never ever be forgotten.

One dog at a time....

We have traditionally been a two dog family. We accomplish this by being suckers for a cute face. However, the faces never seem to be cute enough to keep up with the required exercise and attention required by dogs...unless they are low maintenance bulldog types. Consequently, on the weekend, after much thought, we re-homed our Chesapeake Bay Retriever mix called Fergus.

Fergus was the cutest puppy of all time. He was even quite calm and mellow...and then he grew. He grew and he grew into this monstrously huge beast that sucked the life out of all of us. Which is great if the one that committed to take him for runs 3 days a week was still committed to doing that. With a continued flagging commitment in evidence, I issued a warning "Train the dog to be polite and well behaved (i.e. not knock people who visit over with his joyfulness) or he will have to live elsewhere!" Training was not initiated so I decided it was time to find Fergus a home that would spend the necessary amount of time running and playing with him. He now lives on 5 acres out in the country with a family of 8. Lucky dog.

And so, we are committed to one dog at a time. With the love of MY life, Olive Oyle. She's an American Bulldog who loves ME and only ME. Don't get me wrong, she is a family dog and loves the boys and the man of the house, but in her heart of hearts, she loves me the best. And I am happy with that. Can't say my husband is as content with that as I am, but we are taking it one dog at a time.

Flat chicken and wedgie potatoes

The one meal I can serve that will get my entire family to the dinner table without quibbling. It really is an amazing thing.

The meal dates back to my own childhood, sort of. My mom used to make a version of flat chicken, but she used fish. Usually cod. Now, I prefer chicken breasts. I slice each one in 1/2, pound it thin, dip it in egg, then cracker crumbs and fry it in a bit of butter. It makes a scrumptious crust and when it's served with ginger marmalade (also a discovery of my mother's) it is to die for.

So, that's what we had for dinner tonight. With wedgie potatoes. Red potatoes cut into wedges tossed with olive oil, garlic & herb Mrs. Dash, rock salt and baked in a hot oven for about 45 minutes.

This is the one meal (along with a vegetable of choice) that will roll off Hunter's lips when you ask him what he wants for dinner. It's good, when he wants it I make it because a pickier eater there never was.