What a Week I'm Having!

Who knows where that title comes from? If you can tell me, you win my undying admiration. And you'll get bonus props if you can name the person who said it.

Anyhoo, this week has been... I'm trying to think of a descriptive phrase that doesn't include any filthy language... I'm going to have to settle for the words "hectic" and "unpleasant," but that's not what I really want to say.

The past week in a nutshell:

A very close friend of mine lost her MIL in a car accident that happened as she was leaving the high school. My friend's daughter was also in the car and got banged up pretty bad (she's fine now, though). We had the visitation to attend last Wed. night. Obviously, that fits more into the "unpleasant" category than the "hectic" one. I'm not quite that self-centered that I'd worry about how hectic my life is made by someone's death. I feel terrible for my friend and her family. Losing something like that, just out of the blue- one minute you're talking to them, the next minute, they're gone- man... I can't imagine.

By Thursday, I noticed I was catching a cold after sharing a drink with Tucker (who was sick and told me not to drink from his cup) and assuring him that "It's okay, Tuck. I won't get sick. I never catch your colds." Olivia has now started getting sick, too. Yay.

I worked myself into one of my typical tizzies over the upcoming homestudy (which was last Saturday). Why, oh, why do I do this to myself? I was frantic about having the house clean "enough" even though it was fine. I still worked like a dog and barked orders, making my housemates "dislike" me.

Friday night (Halloween)... The night from Hades. We found out at the last minute that the Fall Festival our kids attend each year was cancelled, leaving us with no plans for them for the evening. The big guys all had plans, but the little kids needed something to do. They suggested we take them to see High School Musical 3. Okay, fine.

Let me just say right now that any parent who sits through this movie deserves some kind of big cash prize upon exiting the theater. At the very least, our pictures should be published in the paper with a caption saying, "SHE DID IT!" It's ridiculous. I'm not a musical kind of girl anyway. I can't ever grasp why so many people know the exact same dance moves and sing together in the middle of public places. Or right in the middle of conversations. Who does that? When I'm at Walmart, I never see random strangers burst into the same song and dance. Do you? It's troubling. Very troubling.

If I were Mary Kay Letourneau, I might say that the only saving grace about HSM 3 is that little lambie-pie, Zac Efron and his friend, whose name escapes me (but he has the wild, curly hair)... But I'm not her and I would never, ever say that. No, not me. I do not look at young boys the same ages as my own sons. Stop accusing me. Stop. Let's move on.

So, anyway, there we sit, watching this craptacular "film," when my phone rings. It's Alex. The first thing he says is, "Uh. Mom? I've had a little accident." I immediately notice his speech is slurred. OH CRAP! And, of course, I'm thinking *accident*, as in CAR... Duh. Anyone with common sense would know not to start a sentence with "I've had a little accident," unless you mean you rammed your car into another car, or person, or ditch... whatever. What is wrong with kids these days? Anyway, I had a sudden flurry of panic/fear/hysteria/anger/confusion because he was supposed to be playing basketball with his friends. Why is he slurring his words?
The next thing he says is, "I got elbowed in the face during basketball and one of my front teeth is kind of almost hanging out, well not really hanging out, but it's knocked down and backwards, kinda. Anyway it hurts like a son of a... (his voice trailed off-thankfully)."

OH, THANK GOD! I mean, not Thank God his tooth is almost hanging out, but... you know what I mean.

From the theater, I called the dentist at home, who thought it sounded like something he needed to see right now. He drove 25 minutes from his home at 9:00 pm (What a guy!) to meet Alex at his office and tried to get the tooth back up where it belongs, but he couldn't. He said he'd have to see an orthodontist on Monday, and would possibly need braces. Great. So... Alex had to go all weekend long with his tooth like that. He was in pain and couldn't eat anything. He had a big fat lip and his poor gums were pitch black. Really gross. You know, it really is true that it doesn't matter how old your kids get. It still hurts a mom to see her kid hurting and to know she can't do anything to make it better.

The next day- Saturday- homestudy day. I woke up nervous. Nervous enough that I threw up by 10:00 am. Nice. Then I realized I had forgotten to fill out the financial statement our SW needed, and frantically started searching for all the information. The social worker came at 1:00, and... That's it. Nothing to report. Totally uneventful because everything went fine. It went exactly like our previous homestudy visits... just fine. This is what I worried about- to the point of yakking.

Monday, Alex got in to see the orthodontist. Yes, he does need braces. Oh, crap. Oh, and we have no dental plan, so that will be $1600.00, please... Today! OH CRAP!

Tuesday- Alex went back to get the braces put on. His lovely teeth that never needed anything beyond a little Crest and a toothbrush now look like this:They only have to be on top, and only for about six months. It's the front tooth on the top left in the picture. Looks fine, doesn't it? Yeah. Well, the braces do not guarantee the tooth will be okay. It could still die and fall out. Isn't that nice to know after plunking down your entire family's Christmas gift budget (plus the mortgage money, and the electric bill money, and the phone bill money, and...)?

Tuesday was also my 42nd birthday, which really was nice. The kids brought me breakfast in bed and presents. They made me a cake, too- the sweetpeas. I took the day off school, and made cookies with the kids. Darrell took me out to dinner that night, which was awesome. Of course, when I came home from our lovely, relaxing evening out, I found out that the bad thing that happened Tuesday (regarding that thing we were voting on... Remember?), which we shall all pretend didn't happen and not speak of in my presence again, was happening. It all went downhill from there. And that was my week.

I'll post more later about the Marshall Islands adoption process, for anyone interested- if I can get a chance.