A LONG, LONG, LONG weekend

Factually, this was a three day weekend to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. I'd been looking forward to the extended weekend for a long time - imagining getting some crafting done, reading, baking, more sledding with the boys, some new eating adventures, visiting with some friends, going to a potluck, maybe even a little mommy-alone time. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Alas, my plans were foiled by Craig coming down with a pretty scary sore throat (replete with a dime sized ulcer) and Maceo coming down with a fever. And now you can see how these events conspired to manufacture a very different version of the long weekend I had been imagining. Now don't get me wrong - I feel terrible for Craig's sickness as I know his throat and head are killing him. I feel terrible that Maceo had a fever and a convulsive cough and had to be dragged to the doctor and poked and prodded. I feel terrible that their weekends were ruined. But I also have to admit that I feel sorry for myself too . Sorry that someone has been sick in this house since December 22nd. Sorry that we couldn't make any of the dates we had planned. Sorry that I was essentially trapped in the house taking care of people who could not take care of themselves. It just feels like this entire month has been an endless feedback loop of sickness and cooties and I desperately want a weekend to pass when we can enjoy ourselves and I can leave the house by myself for at least four hours. I am beginning to lose hope that we will ever realize such bold fantasy.

OK, enough of that. I did take Maceo back out on the sled today despite the fridigid temperature. After a 45 minute spin on the ice, we came home, ate some lunch, and did some serious playing. And I did manage to make some small progress on my quilt, as well as add a jellyfish to Maceo's underwater-themed mobile. So not all was lost, Below are some photos of the playtime - the afternoon light was so warm and orange but unfortunately I could not really capture the feeling in the photos. But you get the idea.


Investigating his "Learning Farm".



Getting more comfortable with "walking" with assistance.



Playing in front of his new tent.

A very, very bad 48 hours

I need to vent about the uncanny string of terrible luck I/we have experienced since Saturday morning. Forgive the list, but there are so many grievances a numbered list is necessary.

1) While washing Maceo, a small baby washcloth slipped down the drain, creating an awful clog. First estimate - $700. WTF? So we sent that plumber packing, while still having to pay the $90 "emergency" fee for him to come over and give us an outrageous estimate. Second estimate - $350. After no shower since Saturday, and in my collective despair about numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5, I gave in and went with the second seemingly outrageous invoice. Mr. Roto-Rooter is wrestling with the clog as I type.

2) As the shower was going kaput, so did the washing machine. I have not attempted to deal with that yet.

3) We have had 3 days of torrential rains here in New England which has created all sorts of homeowner chaos. Our particular brand of bad luck includes the flashing to a window in the hall way being weak/deteriorated, resulting in MASSIVE quantities of rain pouring in. Visualize a constant stream of water running over the wall for 2 days straight. Think cracked, wet plaster and buckling hard wood floors. Need I say more?

4) I went to the dentist on Monday to discover that I have two cavities, grind my teeth, and need oral surgery on two of my teeth/gums. In case you don't know, the oral surgery component (because of receding gums and exposed roots) requires cutting strips of flesh from the roof of your mouth and grafting them on to your gums. Lovely.

5) After leaving the dentist, I lost the SECOND of my two favorite hats last night, despite being incredibly careful. I bought it on Etsy and loved it like crazy. A post-baby treat to myself. Now it is gone, and given that it is March I can't really justify getting a new one. And given that the home repair costs are soaring, I doubt I can justify buying anything non-necessary for an indefinite period of time.

6) After leaving the dentist and losing my hat, I discovered that tea spilled all over my blackberry and fried the screen. In my anger, I then smacked it hard on the table. Ha - take that you crappy phone. THE SILVER LINING: when I woke up this morning, the phone had miraculously self-corrected and healed.

Dear Blackberry,
So sorry for the aggression last night. I never in a million years would have thought that you of all devices would have self-cured. I promise not to take out all my anger on your small shell. Thanks for the small break.
Love, Sarah

PS. Craig came home from work and I did a dramatic reading of this entry. He reminded me that I actually forgot another mishap. On Sunday morning - somewhere between problems 3 and 4, I was washing champagne flutes (from a sip of the bubbly with our neighbor on Saturday night in an attempt for me to cool my jets) and I broke all three in a hasty move of the draining rack. Thankfully they were a junk store purchase, but still. They shattered. For no good reason.

Complaining.

Meredith noted that the title of the blog is deceiving. Her exact quote: "I don't see enough complaining to be called piss and vinegar!". In the spirit of not leading people on, I can think of a few things to complain about.

1. That my hands are in a constant state of tingling/painful numbness whenever I am vaguely horizontal.
2. That I was up 8 times last night - including pacing the house from 4-5am trying to wake up my hands.
3. That my body is acting like it is trying to host a cold - which is so poorly timed on about every level possible.

I am sure I can keep adding to the list, but thing I need to create some posts to reflect the "celebrating" tagline. With my immediate family arriving in the next day, I am sure I will have lots of new material across all four domains for some good posts.