Monday

Finishing up February

Saturday morning I woke up early and for some reason, I had this uncontrollable urge to shop.  I tried to satisfy the urge by making a trip to Wal-Mart and getting some groceries and hygiene items that had been on our list for a few days, but that didn't seem to satisfy my urge. I eventually ended up at Kohl's where my receipt plainly states that I "saved" $456.26.  So, I don't see my shopping adventure as a bad thing, because technically I saved a lot of money on things that we will eventually use.
Oh, I also made a quick stop by Bath & Body works too. So now my house smells like the Caribbean; which is kinda nice.
While the daylight was still out, I transplanted a couple of miniature spruce trees. I have a mild case of Spring fever.
I bought the ingredients at Wal-Mart to cook a home cooked meal for Sunday. I made a meatloaf, mashed potato's and whole kernal corn.
Devin and Brookelynn both went to their friends house for sleepovers Saturday night, so Stroker and I had the evening to ourselves. We went to dinner at Outback Steakhouse and came home to a quiet house and watched a movie.  That's about all we know to do when we get a night without the kids. We so used to doing everything as a family we don't know how to act when it's just the two of us. Seems like every time the kids are away at the same time, we end up on the couch discussing how "bored" we are.

Thursday

Funeral & Birthday

What a stormy day it has been today. The rain and thunderstorms drove Brookelynn straight into our bed last night. She says that she slept great after she got into our bed; however, Stroker and I don't seem to have the same opinion. She is like sleeping with an octopus. There are arms and legs everywhere when she sleeps with us. The forecast is calling for even more storms. Even worse, the seven day forecast predicts that were not even going to have weather on Saturday or next Tuesday and Wednesday (LOL).
Anywho... It has rained and stormed all night and day today. Stroker had to attend his grandmothers funeral and burial in this weather. He has been off work this week on bereavement.  Since he has been home during the day, we have had the pleasure of eating lunch together almost every day this week. On the downside, having lunch together all week gets expensive after a few days.
Last night, we went to the funeral home for the visitation for a while. A ton of people were there of course (probably over 100). Afterwords, we went to Mildred's for dinner and we didn't get back home till after 10pm.
I celebrated thirty-five this week, which did not feel bad at all. If you are wondering, that's why I have had John Conley playing "The backside of thirty" on my jukebox all week.
When I turned thirty, I was devastated. Psychologically, my youth was gone. It took me a few days to actually accept it and move on with life. Looking back on that birthday, I can't believe that I thought it was such a big deal. I realize now that with every passing year I continue to learn and understand life better than ever. The good thing about losing your youth, is that you gain more insight on what life should be about. So now that I have stopped dwelling on the numbers of my birthday's I look forward to them in knowing that I am not becoming one year older, but yet becoming one year closer to who He intends for me to be.

Monday

Death by Disney

Whew! We made it through a week of 24/7 Disney channel while Brookelynn was at home sick with flu.  She and I both are finally well...and not a moment too soon. Today, we resumed our regular schedule and we were both sooo ready to go back to normal.

Thursday

Flouise

We had got Brookelynn a big 2.5' x 4' dry erase board for Valentines's Day because she loves to play "teacher". This morning, when I walked in the family room, I found this note on the couch that she left for her daddy at bedtime last night.
Stroker has nicknamed her "Flouise" (Flu eez).
From fever, headache, cough and congestion all the way to ear and stomach aches. This flu has really taken it's toll on her. Today there were signs of improvement. She is eating a bit better and even asked for frozen yogurt. Maybe another day or two will get her back to normal. I am feeling better too. My lungs a little sore from all the coughing and sneezing, but at least the mucus is drying up.
Tonight, Brookelynn and I are going to bed early again to get more rest. The guys are at the Tech ballgame where they are planning another blizzard like the one earlier this week.
Devin wants us all to go to the Tech game Saturday night because it is "Pack the House" night. And, if you wear pink, you get in for $1. Hopefully Brookleynn and I will be up for it by then.

Wednesday

The Flu

Keep clear from the Hayes House. We are contaminated with the flu.
When we got up Monday morning, I took Brookelynn's temperature and the thermometer was normal...Yay! She was happy that she was going to get to go to school and have her Valentines Day party. I was happy that she was feeling better. I joined her class at 1:45 for the party and stayed till time for Brooke to come home. She seemed to back to her regular self, even playing on the playground.
At 1:33am Tuesday morning, I sat up in the bed and  began sneezing, sniffling, and could not stop for the rest of the night. I got up and took Zyrtec, but it didn't help. I sat up in the bed for a half hour just trying to get the sneezing and stuffiness to stop. The rest of the night was miserable, not to mention, Brookelynn had a nightmare at 2:30 and got in the bed with us. There was no rest for any of us after that point. When we got up to get ready for school, I took a dose of my nasal spray to try to settle my sinus' down, but it didn't work either. I came to the realization that I must be sick. I went ahead and dropped the kids off at school and tried to ignore my symptoms, right up until my phone rang at 9:45. It was the school nurse. Brookelynn was in her office sick again.
At this point, I decided Brooke and I would both see the doctor. I went to the clinic and had to convince the the nurse practitioner that what I had was not allergies (trust me, I know allergies. Zyrtec takes care of those). I wound up leaving the clinic with a steroid shot in my left hip and two prescriptions.
At Brookelynn's pediatrician, the nurse swabbed her nose till it bled. I know it hurt Brookelynn so bad to have it done, but it was necessary. Fifteen minutes later, the pediatrician came in and told us that Brooke has "Type A Flu". He said she did not need to return to school for the rest of the week.  Oops, we already contaminated the class on Monday.
It's now 3pm on Wednesday and Brookelynn has not even got out of the bed yet...not even to eat. She feels horrible.

Sunday

Sickly Sunday

Although the weather has been sunny and sixty, we have spent the entire weekend indoors, with the exception of our quick venture to the theatre to see Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never". Brookelynn refused to miss it.
Her temperature keeps inching its way back to 102 degrees every time the Motrin wears off. I even splurged on a new thermometer today that reads the temperature from just a swipe across the forehead. It's a lot faster than waiting for the one under the arm to beep.
She seems to alternate from the couch to the bed. Three days is just too long to keep a fever. Tomorrow morning, I plan to get her to the pediatrician. She's not to happy with the idea since it's Valentine's Day and she wants to attend her class party, but I can't let her continue to feel so bad.

Saturday

Beiber Fever Sets In...Literally

Brookelynn came home from school yesterday complaining with a headache and went straight to bed. I grabbed the thermometer to assess the situation. 101.2 was the final reading, so that's when the Motrin, Tylenol, and Robitussin began. Just our luck to get sick the day before the movie that she has been waiting on for months.


 I decided to just order pizza for dinner last night, so I called Pizza Hut and ordered two of the new "double dipper" pizza's, thinkin' that just one would not be enough. When the delivery guy showed up, I knew that I had made a mistake. These pizza's are huge! We ate pizza for dinner last night and will probably be eating pizza all weekend.
Since we are housebound for the most of the weekend with Brookelynn being sick, I decided to catch up on this week laundry. As I dumped clothes out of the hamper into the washer, I heard a thump. I pulled the clothes back out of the washer and found that somehow a bottle of baby oil had been knocked into the laundry bag. Luckily the lid was still on. Thank goodness I found it before I ran the washer. That could have ruined the entire load.

While I was inside the house ordering dinner, medicating Brookelynn and doing laundry, guess what Stroker was doing ?!?...waxing my car. I told him not to, but he insisted that it was over due. Thank you Jesus for blessing me with such a wonderful husband.

Thursday

Back to Normal

I had a slight computer mishap a few days ago, but that has been cleared up. I can now catch you up on the "Hayes House Happenings". 

The good news is that my nasal and chest congestion are gone...

Monday night, Brookelynn and I assembled a storage cabinet while Stoker and Devin went to watch a basketball game at TTU.

I meant to cook dinner at home more this week, but have not followed through with the idea very well. So far, Tuesday night was the only night I cooked at home. Nothing extravagant, just spaghetti;however, it was nice to sit around the table at home with family. Brookelynn was excited, so she sat the table and we lit a candle.


I got a new cable modem for the computer this week. I'm soaring through the Internet now :)

Stroker developed an addiction to McDonald's coffee last week. McDonald's has a promotion going on for a free cup of coffee everyday till Valentine's Day.
Stroker has already admitted that he has a problem, which is the first step to recovery. He has spent the last two days in detox to try to kick the coffee habit.
We ordered Justin Bieber "Never Say Never" tickets last night from Fandango for this Saturday at 4pm.
 Today, I took mom to another doctor appointment. The doctor seems to think mom just has a bit of acid reflux, so she wrote her a prescription.

My plan was to cook at home again tonight, but I got lazy at the last minute and decided Chili's sounded better.

Sunday

Superbowl Sunday

Although I didn't make it to the doctor, I think I might be getting a little better. The congestion in my head is almost gone. I still have a cough and lots of chest congestion though. Hopefully after a couple more days I will be  back to 100%. Tonight, we decided to ditch the Superbowl party and hang out at the house. It has been quite peaceful. No yelling, no jumping up and down and best of all, no overcrowding.
Looking forward to a good half time show with the BEP's. That Fergie sure has come a long way since the Mickey Mouse Club.

Last night, we met up with about 20 family members at Logan's Roadhouse for dinner to celebrate my mother in laws birthday. I'm sure that I contaminated the back dining area with my bronchitis germs. I can't seem to contain my cough.

Friday

AaaahhhhhChhhooooo !


I started out with a sore throat Monday night. By Tuesday, I had sinus congestion with sneezing, sniffling and snoring all night long, which left me with a cranky husband Wednesday morning. I couldn't help it though, I just could not breathe. 
Wednesday brought on the chest congestion and cough. By Thursday I was just a mess and  everyone was asking when I planned to see a doctor. This morning I woke up with my left ear and jaw aching from all the congestion in my head. I think I might actually go to the clinic and see if they can give me something to wipe all this crud out.
During this week of head and chest congestion, we have ate a home cooked meal (shock - I know). We relaxed and caught up on some sleep. Got a few estimates on getting a doorway cut out in our bedroom and attended a college ballgame where I got to sit and chat with my friend Maleigha for about three and a half hours. After the ball game, Devin and I went to try out the new yogurt shop "32 degrees" and it was really good.
As for the weather report: it went sour on Tuesday and we are expecting light snow again tonight; however, the ground hog did not see his shadow Tuesday morning, so Spring should arrive soon.