Manequins

Yesterday, before heading to the grocery store with my 2 younger children, we stopped at a small department store. Four-year-old Nevin saw the male manequins in suits, and he said, “Look, Mommy, they are pastors.” Now, I have not yet told this story to Mark, but I suspect he would be a bit chagrinned by it. He would probably like Nevin to think of pastors as men who wear robes to lead worship, not business suits. But the reason I like the story is because even though Mark doesn’t do something that little boys think is really cool–like being a firefighter or police officer–Nevin and Calvin have a pretty good understanding of what their daddy does every day. And, they often say they hope to be pastors when they grow up. So when Nevin saw those manequins, he immediately thought of his daddy in a positive way. As Martha Stewart would say, “It’s a good thing.”

Nothing new

It has been 10 days since I last blogged. And, even then it was me whining about sickness and housework. Well, most of us are better now, but the trips to the doctor continue for the boys as their antibiotics weren’t strong enough to get rid of their ear infections. So hopefully, in another 10 days my whining will cease! But at least the housework is at a more “normal” level now, so I can feel sane again on that front.

I rented Bridget Jones’ Diary for a second time on Saturday night so Mark could watch it with me. I enjoyed it again, but I felt like such an idiot for not having noticed all the similarities and/or references to Pride and Prejudice the first time I saw it. On top of the fact that Colin Firth plays a man named Mark Darcy, the whole reason for the strained relationship between Mark Darcy and the publisher rogue is quite similar to the reason for the strained relationship between Darcy and Wickam in P & P. The movie also seemed to say that women in Britain still put a high priority on finding a man–although it is not clear whether marrying them is necessary anymore. I definitely want to read the Bridget Jones books now.

Sickness

We continue to be sick. Now it is everyone. Mark and Nevin made their trip to the doctor today. Calvin and Evangeline were diagnosed with bronchitis and ear infections. Nevin has similar symptoms, though not as bad. We opted to send him to the doctor anyway because we thought he might get the antibiotic in him before his symptoms worsened. All toll, we have had some sort of cold/flu virus hanging around in our house for 4 weeks. You know how horrible you feel when your house starts to show signs that no one is really cleaning it. It makes you feel sicker. But as I was diagnosed with a sinus infection yesterday and am now on super duper antibiotics and an extra strength decongestant and wonderfully powerful cough syrup, I hope to be making a dent in the housework. Goal #1, finish all the laundry. It is in a state of limbo currently–1/3 done, 1/3 folded ready to be put away, and 1/3 still in the hamper. For anyone who has to do the laundy for 3 people or more, you understand my obsession with it. Goal #2, file papers that have piled up–YUCK! When your children start going to school, they bring home paper everyday. I have a neat little system for keeping many of them as childhood momentos, but alas, someone must put the papers in the notebooks! Then there’s the mail and the bills, and the things you should keep. Paper is one of those things you should take care of everyday, or it grows into a scarey monster. I am at the King Kong level with the paper I have to deal with. Somehow when you are constantly wiping noses, taking temperatures, doling out medicine, making trips to the doctor, fixing meals, talking on the phone with doctor’s offices, etc., etc., filing papers and doing laundry fall by the wayside. Then there’s the vacuuming and the dusting, and all the projects you were going to get done this month. It starts to feel overwhelming. And, when you are sick and the sky is gray with snow clouds, it is hard to feel motivated.

But, now that I have vented on my blog, I can proceed. The children are watching a video, so I can move on to the laundry and the papers. After that, the sky’s the limit of what I can accomplish.

ice storm photo

brokenlinesicestorm (50k image) This photo shows one of the many broken electrical lines in our town. There are still (now 8 days later) people without electricity in Minco. Some towns north of us may not have power for another 4 – 6 weeks. Most of the individual residents and small towns in this predicament receive their electricity from rural electricity co-ops.