the words every mother loves to hear.....

"Mom, Jon is barfing all over our room!" Okay, it is not as bad as say, "The house is on fire....", but it is much worse than "He's bugging me..."....

So out of a deep and comfy sleep, into the Barf Room I went. Suzanne and Sonja watched and kept the conversation going from their top bunks as I cleaned up the mess. I showered Jonathan first, and he waited in the hallway covered up with a huge towel....I realized pretty quickly how irritated I was by the whole ordeal, I mean the child's room is right across the hall from the bathroom...then I remembered being little, and simply leaning over the side of my bed and getting sick...and my mother cleaning it up without getting upset with me. It is a very clear memory, I know I felt bad that she had to clean it up, and was probably expecting her to yell at me. Anyway, I told the kids I remembered doing the same thing (of course when I did it, there was no carpet on the floor, and no Barbie clothes...)So I told them I was thankful for running water and paper towels and disinfectant spray. Sonja asked me if I had to go out to a well when I was little. "Sonja, I was four years old when a man walked on the moon. I did not grow up THAT long ago..." That started some really good conversation, and as much as I hated cleaning up that mess, it was partially enjoyable. And, I told them they could all skip school today! I mean, why send the two that didn't throw up yet, especially after being up for so long during the night....

Here is what I did yesterday....

1. Took the two little girls to the Soldier Presentation. Afterward, since I had my official nametag and was authorized to be in the school, I leisurely strolled down the halls, seeing lots of children I know, especially some of my six who are in elementary/middle school. I ended up signing Kathryn and Margaret out and taking them with me....

2. Dropped Margaret off at home, picked Mirielle up.

3. Took Mirielle to get bloodwork done for college.

4. Went to McDonalds to let the girls play before Charlotte Claire's appointment. (I had a side salad and a McDouble without the top bun and most of the cheese scraped off)

5. Went to the pediatrician. Charlotte Claire had her exam, Mirielle got proof that she indeed had the chicken pox when she was little, for college.

6. B.J's for blueberries and tomatoes and raw spinach and fruit snacks and cereal and milk and coffee cream, 15 calorie popsicles, some Good Humor strawberry ice cream bars, and a big bag of miniature candy bars. Just because I don't eat these things doesn't mean the kids can't ever have them.

7. Home...got on the treadmill for ten minutes, going as fast as I could...not fun when it is ninety degrees out.

8. Watered the garden, hung out with the kids a bit...

9. Dinner: burgers on the grill with pickles and tomatoes, raw carrots and celery. Served on the deck.

10. Quick clean up, and off to the Grill Meeting....

11. Left the meeting early to keep my date with Mirielle: we went to the movies! It was a hilarious movie, but I must be an old prude...it isn't the bad language but the general sleeziness....blah.

12. In bed by midnight.

So now it is Friday, the day Paul comes home. Yay!

And in one week from today, Private First Class Benjamin Paul W. graduates from Combat Medic training! He graduates around two in the afternoon, (I am not traveling to Texas to see it, unfortunately), then flies home sometime on Friday night. Of course the Army counts this as a day of leave, and he has to be in Ft. Lewis Washington by midnight the following Tuesday, so his time at home will be very short.

I am trying to figure out if I should just stay here and work around and get some things done, or scoot up to Walmart and get the paint for the foyer and the doors....it is good painting weather.

Poor Jonathan looks so pale. He is missing a big field trip to the Museum of Play today, too.

Good news: the scale is being kind to me. Yesterday I saw a nice number....it seems like I will see a low number, then it will go back up, then down, until I finally see a lower one....as you can guess, I have been getting on the Evil Scale every day....ha. Anyway, I was thrilled with yesterday's number...then after eating that McDouble at Mc'D's (and I sneaked four fries from the girls..four or five...or maybe six), and the nice juicy burger I had here for dinner on one piece of rye...then the additional half burger I had with four pita chips...then the extra piece I ate from the plate as I was putting them away...AND the mini Twix bar I had at the movies....(I resisted the popcorn, and told Mirielle not to give me another candy bar, even if I begged. Told her to slap my hand if she had to.)...so when I got on the Evil scale this morning, it was two pounds lower!!! I think it is the treadmill....