And furthermore ...

I completely miscalculated my dates, and now they are even crazier.  We leave for Disney NEXT THURSDAY the 28th of September.  Double AUGH.  That means Melanie will be going to Disney 1 week post-surgery!  I have a pre-op meeting with Dr. Matthews on Tuesday, and I'm going to discuss postponing the surgery if he feels that would be in her best interest.  She has come down with a cold in the past day or two (just runny nose and cough, no fever) so I'm wondering if he wouldn't postpone it for that reason anyway.

So I need to get ahold of the floor guy to see if they can refinish the floors next week ... oh and find Boudreaux a hotel. 

David painted the kitchen over the weekend, and it's a very pretty color.  I think I'm going to like it.

**** AND I FORGOT TO TAKE MELANIE TO SPEECH!!!!  What a ditz.

...add a car accident and stir...

Just as I was getting over the nausea created when I contemplated the next few weeks ... I decided to take a "day off" of the stress and go shopping with Mom and Lisa.  A nice girls' day out ... very "Scarlett O'Hara" of me .. I'll think about it tomorrow.  After all tomorrow is another day.

I was looking for a parking place at the very chi-chi mall (where they check your bank balance before they let you in the door .. hey, we just wanted to look!) when a girl in a little white Maxima came around the corner and sideswiped my van.  Not much damage, really, but it took 2 hours for the Charlotte police to come to a report, and my stress came back with a vengeance and increased exponentially.  Ugh ... just what I needed. 

The door and window go in tomorrow ... look at the bright side.  One day at a time.  This too shall pass ... and all those other cliches about having a crummy week.

Oh, for the love of ...

How in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks do we get ourselves into these things?  In what strange order have the planets aligned themselves so that everything difficult that can happen to a human being happens all at one time??  Where can I get a permanent Valium IV installed into my arm for the next month or so?

1.  Kitchen remodel is nearing its zenith.  Cabinet installation will happen Friday the 22nd.  Door and window will be installed this Monday or Tuesday.

2.  *Surprise!* Dr. Matthews has scheduled Melanie's surgery for Thursday the 21st!  Overnight stay ... oh, and our social worker's 2 year post placement visit is scheduled for the evening of the 21st.  Guess she'll have to come see us in the hospital.  Soft diet for 4 weeks.  *Note to self:  get 6 photos of Melanie for SW.

3.  The granite company will come on Wed. the 27th to do the template for our countertops.  They will install on Wed. the 4th of October. 

4.  We leave for Disney Thursday the 5th of October.  Maintaining the soft diet for Melanie on the trip.

5.  While we are gone, the floor company will refinish all the wood floors on the main floor.  Which means that ...

6.  We have to have all the furniture out of the main level before we leave for Disney.  Which means that ...

7.  Boudreaux will have to go to doggie camp and

8.  We'll have to get a moving company to take all our furniture and store it for the weekend.  It's like we're moving again!!!  Then we'll have to move back in after driving home from Orlando.  WTF????  (Okay, this is a family blog ... the "f" stands for "frick".  Right.)

<SCREAM!>

Snorting Cocaine at Four

Yeah, thought that would get your attention.  Seriously .. Melanie's endoscopy went well.  They use a form of medical cocaine (get your head out of the gutter!) to numb her nose before the procedure .. don't think I wasn't tempted to ask for some for myself.  Ha ha.  While they had the "cocaine" in her nose (in the form of a very long q-tip) they (the speech pathologist, nurse and Dr.) tried to play with her, Dr. Matthews tying a blown-up rubber glove to her shoe.  She wasn't buying it for one minute.  Then they had a plastic alligator with push-button teeth that would snap your finger at random points.  No go there, either.  Finally after 10 minutes of number, up went the scope; a very tiny, spaghetti width tube with a light on the end (and a camera, of course).  I held her on my lap and watched the fun on the screen, and Melanie sat quietly and serenely while all this was going on.  NOT NOT NOT.  She was pretty upset at having a long tube shoved up her nose, numbed or not.  However, we all got her to say "TAKE IT OUT!" so Dr. Matthews could observe her palate in motion.  No closure whatsoever.  Which, of course, means the "S" word.  He will do some type of surgery on her where he'll take tissue from (where?) somewhere and lengthen her palate.  Don't know when yet ... he's going to check his schedule.  Sorry I didn't document everything with pictures, but I was busy holding her hands and head still.

It was really kinda cool to see her throat anatomy ... there was a small little tulip-shaped thing that opened and shut, which Dr. M. told me was her epiglottis.  If we had kept going, we would have seen her larynx.  But he had seen enough, and he stopped after that.  Then it was off to eat breakfast.  The paperwork had said "no food 12 hours before" but Dr. Matthews said, oh heck, you could have fed her breakfast!  Sheesh.  I thought for sure she would crash, and eventually I think I would have paid her $500 to take a nap, as I was fighting the rack monster in a big way.  Getting up at 5 a.m. will do that to you.  Nothing doing ... except later in the afternoon, on the way to Quentin's orthodontist, what does she do?  Right ... fast asleep in the car.  Who was Murphy anyway, and who came up with his law?

Another Calgon Day, and it's only 10 AM!

No, I'm not homicidal or maniacal or psychotical or anything like that.  Just found this on another blog and loved it ... I am on the edge though.  I had a major anxiety attack last night, mostly because this is the week Melanie has her endoscopy, David will be out of town that day, and my mom is coming, the next day and the kitchen is nearing completion and there are still some things I need to do, and there isn't time to do them.  Today I have to work as a lunch lady at the kids school, and by the time that's over I'll have to get Melanie and that leaves no more time for granite shopping or tile shopping.  I have to leave three kids at home alone in the morning while I drive Melanie to school, and today I got the "Mom, they're fighting and hitting each other with their toothbrushes!" call.  Sheesh.  David was in the 3rd grade and his mom had to leave to teach school an hour before he left to catch the school bus.  Why can't my kids at 14, 9 & 8 do the same thing???  Argh.  At least the weather is beautiful .. not humid, rather cool (low 80's) and very pleasant.  I have to find something good in all this! 

The Man From Brazil

The floor guys came yesterday ... and the floor she is fixed!  I heard them speaking Portuguese all day, as they are from Brazil.  Apparently, 80% of the hardwood floor work done in the area is done by Brazilians ... it seems to be their *thing*.  They did an excellent job ... they will come to sand and refinish the floor on Tuesday.  Unfortunately that is the same day (or fortunately?) that Melanie has her nasal endoscopy ... they are putting a camera down to look at how her palate works (or doesn't work as the case may be) and I anticipate after this we will talk about surgery no. 2.  Jamie (her speech therapist) thinks there is a fistula (opening) in the roof of her mouth, which may account for her hypernasality.  We seem to have reached a plateau in her speech improvement, so surgery may be the next step.  Luckily it won't be as extensive as when her palate was repaired back in Feb. of 2005. 

Melanie had her first full week of school last week, and seems very happy to go.  Other than complaining (loudly) at my waking her up at 6:30 (who wouldn't?) she goes happily out of the car and is happy when I pick her up at 1:45.  I think she is a tough kid and is enjoying the structure.  On the 2nd day of school, though, I woke her up and she was burning up with fever!  Strange ... especially since it went away and she was right as rain the next day.  Go figure.

The George team is due to return this coming week (she said, hopefully) to install the new sliding door and to swap out the garden window with the new casement window.  I need to get on the stick and go get my granite slab picked out and paid for, because the next week is supposed to be cabinet week!  Woo hoo.  I am *beginning* to be tired of living without a kitchen ... not desperate yet, but getting there.  I think there will be a convergence of events that will have me hopping to and fro.

We've booked a trip to Disney over the kids' fall break.  Although Colin and Melanie don't have the same fall break .. so we'll just make it a long weekend.  We haven't been there since Christian was a baby, so I think it will be a lot of fun.  Maybe there won't be hoardes of people there in October (she said, hopefully).

Mom is coming for a visit next week ... which will be nice.  Haven't seen her in a while.  She'll get my rear in gear and get organized while I wait forthe kitchen to be finished.

Melanie Goes to School

...and David paints.  And I helped!!  (It's Shake & Bake!)  He nearly broke his back doing the ceiling ... Nothing much else has happened this week.  The George team came by to fix some spots on the ceiling on Monday, but other than that, it's been quiet.  The floor guy was *supposed* to come do the patching this week, but as of yet, no word from him.

Yesterday Melanie's new teachers came to the house (what service!) to meet her, and to have me fill out some forms.  I really liked them both, and feel that this program will do Melanie a lot of good.  Today M. and I went to the school to look around, see her new classroom and where she'll eat and play.  We also met her speech therapist, who I really liked a lot.  Melanie seemed right at home and school will start for her on Tuesday of next week.  She'll have 15 kids in her class ...

Right now a huge thunderstorm is blowing through so I guess I should get off this thing before I become a human shish-ke-bab.