Cracked.

That's me....I've just kind of lost my marbles. We all know that I was hanging on by a thread with the winter being so cold and so....long. This past couple of weeks just put me over the deep end, and I have one glaring reason for it: Prednisone.

Yuck.

If you are curious about what being on high doses of prednisone feels like, click here. The music says it all:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwh3FmpZ7kg

It's been...a hard week or so....To get away from the yuck, I'll focus on the positive highlights:

Last weekend, in an attempt to help my find my sanity, Thomas booked us a weekend at the Holiday Inn. I spent time relaxing and watching Aidan and Zoe swimming while the older kids played games and swam in the big pools.

Andrew playing ping pong:


Amanda reading:


Alex riding the motorcycle with Zoe:


Aidan playing ping pong:


Zoe being...cutie patootie princess Zoe:



It was a much needed break. In those two days, we completely forgot that it was brrrr cold outside. Everyone got some space and had a chance to relax. Thomas worked all weekend and instead of moping about or being ticked off about the mess, I just enjoyed having the time to not worry about cooking meals or cleaning up. We've decided to do it once a month until Spring has come!

Monday, Alex turned 9. NINE. Where have the years gone? I can't believe he is in the third grade...that he is so big. We made our traditional trek to Space Aliens, but not before Aidan had his first indoor soccer game...and Alex played his:

Aidan with the ball:


Alex warming up:


At Space Aliens: Happy birthday, Alex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are my sunshine...you bring me so much joy.





Andrew and Zoe


Amanda


Alex


Aidan


Thomas playing 'Deal or No Deal' "I can quit at anytime". Uh huh.



Tuesday, we had the caucuses here in MN...and Thomas and I went and proudly cast our vote. I had thomas take a picture of me, but I look so terrible that I've decided to spare everyone. When did I get so fat and old? boohoo.

The rest of the week is just a blur. I am experiencing a drug-induce inability to fall asleep and so I haven't gotten much rest. The result has been me melting down a lot, much to my regret.

Wed. I went to Barnes and Noble to get some work done. I sat next to two very interesting women and at one point, I just couldn't help jumping into their conversation about Britney Spears. We ended up talking for 2.5 hours and the manager eventually came up to us and said "ladies...do you know that we've been closed for 10 minutes?". We exchanged phone numbers and addresses, and I nearly fell over on Friday when I opened up the mailbox and found a card in there from one of them. She just wanted to say "hi" and hoped that we would get our little ones together. Wow. I was just so taken aback by her offer of friendship. It sounds silly, but that single act of kindness really meant a lot to me.

Friday, Thomas was off and we went to Ikea to get some small things for the house. Since we're both tired and stressed out, all I can say is...it's a good thing Friday is behind us. We really just took it out on each other in the worst way. I think that I am actually the bad guy. I just couldn't stop yelling and raging at him. It's terrible...it really is.

Friday evening/night I cleaned the house from top to bottom. Saturday, we had Kung Fu with the kids at 11am and then noon...During the different Kung Fu classes, I raced to the store to buy things for the card club meeting at our house that night. I picked up the kids and then raced home to get everyone ready for Alex's birthday party.

At 2pm I headed out the door to take him and some of our neighbors to the Skatin' Place. It was really the best party any of our kids have ever had. Of course, it didn't come without stress...both of our older children ended up grounded and unable to attend. I don't want to even address their teen behavior. I'm so exhausted from it.

Alex's party was really a blast. The kids skated, played games in the arcade, got 15 minutes of laser tag, ate pizza and had a great time. The only thing missing? Birthday cake. I'm so bummed that I don't have a picture of Alex blowing out candles this year. I might have to bake a cake just for him to do it!

Alex had a lot of fun with his . It's just a coincidence that he is wearing the same clothes as he did to soccer on Monday.






My friend Debbie and her daughter Lakota...Lakota had a rare form of leukemia and even though she is 10, she is physically and emotionally behind:


Carmen and Evalyn...also a friend of mine. Evalyn was born just a couple of months before Zoe:


Aidan might have had more fun at the Skatin' Place than Alex. He got to spend the day with Ingrid..his..one true love. They held hands the entire time.




This is the little girl that he was attached to all summer...whom he said he loved. He said he wasn't going to marry her...just kiss her.

The end of the party at 5 sent me on a psychotic journey to get home. I had to wait for parents and then ended up taking a neighbor's child home. The parents were at a friend's house and I couldn't fine it. It was a mess. The temperature was a heart-warming -12F and it was just...yuck.

By the time I got back to my house, it was 6pm and I had 1 hour to prepare for our neighborhood card club. Thomas had been at home with Zoe, Andrew and Amanda and much to my dismay, I discovered that he had spent the time playing online. All of my hard work cleaning was...just a memory.

After I tore him a new one and had a temper tantrum like a 2 year old, I sent him out the door with the kids to get dinner while I killed myself cleaning. It was terrible. I was so angry that I could barely see straight. Andrew stayed home to "help"...and he just kept telling me to "chill out mom". It. Didn't help.

30 minutes before they were supposed to arrive, I pulled out the new card table that I had bought that afternoon..and discovered that it had to be put together. . I was literally still screwing the table together when the first guests arrived. I was sweaty, in tears and Aidan was crying when they rang the bell.

:huh:

Fortunately for me, they were very nice and...the husband helped me put the table together before the others arrived.

By that time, it was -28F and we realized that our ice maker had stopped working. Our nice nextdoor neighbor got dressed again and ran home and brought over an ice bucket full of ice.

By then, I had settled myself with a glass of white wine ... When our final guests arrived, they said "My God, your house is so clean, Kris....and you have 5 kids. They are so quiet and well behaved. How do you do it."



The people who got there first knew the real scoop!

The evening went fine...but I was never so glad for a day to end.
I didn't fall asleep until late, but this morning when Zoe woke up, Alex came into my room and offered to take her for me. Thank you Alex. Thank you! Thomas, in his infinite wisdom (or desperate fear of being yelled at some more) let me sleep in until noon...and then he let me go to Barnes and Noble to work on my final book edits today. I got the final comments back a week ago and have until Feb 13th to get them in.

I couldn't concentrate enough to work on it, but the break did me good.

3 more days of prednisone....3 more days....I don't know how long it will take for it to clear and get me back to a bit more of a feeling of normal, but...I'm almost there.[/quote]