It's All Thumbs

It started with a spin on the computer chair and a fall onto the floor. After a bit of crying and a brief inspection, a kiss seemed to heal the ailment and the day went on. It was a warm morning, and Josh spent most of it outside running through the sprinkler and watching his Daddy clean the car. The earlier occurrence all but slipped my mind until lunch time. He was exceptionally crabby and tired, which I attributed to the late night storm which kept us all awake last night. I helped him wash the lunch off his face and then from his hands. When I grabbed his right hand and wiped it with the cloth, he put up quite a fuss about his thumb. It was now quite swollen and purple around the joints. Could it be broken? At this point, Josh was so tired that even if it was broken it would have to wait. So I wrapped it in a make shift splint and put him in bed. A couple hours later he woke up in pain, and since it was Memorial Day, I took him up to Urgent Care. He was so good and brave. They took X-rays, which showed a possible small fracture. Because they couldn't determine whether it was fractured or not, we have to follow up at Orthopaedics tomorrow. Tonight Josh called me into his room so I could look at his thumb. It must have been throbbing, poor little fellow. It is currently in a splint to help keep it from moving. I guess we'll know tomorrow whether it is actually fractured or not.Will they put it in a cast if it fractured or only if it was broken?

Can you see which thumb is bigger? You can't see the bruising in this photo, but it is there. He's such a brave kid. :)

A Kitchen Ooops

I've been meaning to make more Christmas cookies. About a week and a half ago, we hosted a Christmas party and I made my favorite Christmas cookies, Russian teacakes. This is how they looked when they came out. I think I laughed out loud. This had never happened to me before, but then I have never let the cookies sit on the counter for 20+ minutes before baking them. I suppose the butter had warmed up too much to hold them in their circular form. Needless to say, these cookies went "right in the garbage". Thankfully it only takes a few minutes to whip up another batch and I was able to make some more. But they are gone now. Can we have Christmas next week, so I have time to make more cookies first?

Missing: One Pair of Red Shoes

Adam basically told me I was insane today. That is because I am developing "detachment disorder". Whether that is a real thing or not, I don't know. I think I just made it up. Last week my *FAVORITE SHOES EVER* broke, and in a moment of self-denial I threw them away. After all, they were unfixable and almost worn out. See, I wore them at least four times a week (during somewhat warm weather when the snow wasn't over three inches deep) for the past year and a half. I had bought them at Payless Shoes and was almost sure I'd be able to replace them, as I had seen them there somewhat recently... (Christmas time?) Yesterday when Adam and I were in Syracuse, we stopped in at Payless Shoes only to find that the shoes were discontinued and only random stores had a select few left. For instance, that particular store had one in size 6 1/2. Yeah, well that wouldn't work for me. No other stores in Syracuse had them. When we arrived back at home, I called a local Payless. They thought they had one pair, but turns out they couldn't find it and no other local stores had them. We went to Buffalo today to visit Grandma, so I called the local Payless Shoes there and they told me only two stores in Buffalo had them and I knew Adam wouldn't drive me that far to get them so... yeah. I'm sad. These were the perfect shoe. They matched nearly everything I wore. Whether it was casual or dressy. The red color was perfect. I am feeling a detachment growing. I miss my red shoes. Maybe you have a Payless Shoes near you and maybe they have size 8? Okay, maybe not, but maybe, just maybe, there will be another perfect red shoe out there somewhere, waiting for me, waiting for my size 8 feet.

The Ol' Blue

I think I have a problem. I have this favorite pair of jeans... They were hand-me-downs, but none-the-less, I feel as if they have been with me for years. I feel at home and just right when I wear these jeans. But the last time I put them on, Josh took quite a fancy to them. He liked how he could put his hands on my knees and took the time to point out every single hole to me. We counted the holes together... There were six. It seems that each time I put them on, a new hole sprouts across my thighs. *Sigh* Perhaps it really is time to dispose of the ol' blue denim, but when I think of it, I imagine how nice they look under my sleeveless blue plaid dress, or how I need a good pair of jeans to use when stacking wood, or how I wouldn't have anything to wear my purple striped leggings with if I got rid of them, or... Maybe what I really need, is someone to sneak in and throw them out when I am not looking. (No, I am not giving you permission!)

The Second Half of our Dramatic Weekend

Sorry that last post sounded so miserable, but I was trying to help you see the whole picture. The very real feeling of being helpless. So thankful I am for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And for my family and the prayers of those who love us. While Adam was haggling with the car-rental man, he also was on the phone with his father, Bob. Bob was ready to buy a ticket at that moment and fly down to help us. I know my Dad would've done the same, if we had asked. After we had secured a rental car for 24 hours, we drove out to the junk yard to get our stuff out of our car. This is what greeted us, and once again my emotions rose up inside of me.We pulled out our luggage, papers, Adam's golf clubs and my borrowed set of clubs, my flip-flops, which had been left behind the night before, and anything else which was of any importance. My Bible, which I had been reading earlier during our drive through Ohio, was saturated with coffee. So I left that behind with a note saying Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for his goodness and protection. Perhaps someone will read it and be touched by my Savior's love. And then we left.

We decided that, since we had already paid for a hotel close to Nashville, we would continue on our way, even though Adam had had zero sleep. We would make the best of it. Sleep sounded really good and we knew we could really rest once we got to our hotel. (Thanks for the advice Dad.) The last couple hours of travel went smoothly and a bed awaited us upon arrival. A shower never felt nicer. Sleep was never so good. Bob had booked a flight and was coming in at 7:30. Things were going to work out. We were alive and determined to make the best of our vacation.

A Found-On-Road-Dead Moment (F.O.R.D.)

Ahhh.... A spare moment to sit, without Josh and without hubby to keep me occupied. Poor Josh has not been himself today. He spent an hour+ last night coughing, woke up early today and was quite crabby all day long. He even fell asleep on the way to daycare and on the way home. My poor little boy fussed and whined and boogered everything from the time we arrived at daycare till the time we left. I am so glad that I could be there with him. He is now, at 4:45, sleeping in his crib and will hopefully be happy when Daddy gets home. No hoping about it. Josh is always happy when Daddy gets home. Daddy is Joshua's #1 hero and always gets big smiles upon arriving home. So no doubt tonight will be the same. Even if Josh isn't feeling like himself.

The past week has been somewhat eventful, starting with my vehicle. I typically drive a nice 2003 Ford Escape. I typically love it. But two Friday's ago it decided to be grouchy and whine at me. (Kind of like Josh today.) The following day we, the three of us, left home to pick up my nephew to babysit for the day. Not even 5 minutes down the road, my lovely Ford Escape decides it doesn't want to drive fast. Only 30 mph. So we putts along going slower and slower... Adam is on the phone with the mechanic. Soon it is very apparent that we are not getting anywhere. We can barely get off the road. Great. Here we are stuck with a frustrated husband and a 1 1/2 year old who thinks he should get out of his car seat because we have now stopped driving. Thankfully Mom and Dad live not too far away, and my Mom drives up, picks up Josh and I, and together we drive to pick up my nephew. Good thing for Moms. Turns out, we have to replace the transmission in our Ford Escape, but very, very thankfully we bought the extended warranty and transmissions are covered. So it has now been 1 1/2 weeks that I have been driving a beautiful, very inconvenient two-door, Ford Focus. It is amazing how driving a pretty car can make you feel oh, so stylish. But, ugh, whoever decided to invent the two door car definitely wasn't thinking very family-friendly. I should have my vehicle back sometime late the week.

Smash 'Em Up

Hello there blogging world! I haven't blogged in a few days, but I've either been a little busy or a little tired. Well, I've had my very first car accident. I slid into the back of a pick up the other day when the roads were slippery. The officer who stopped to make sure everything was ok said that he had almost slid through it earlier that morning. He was really nice and didn't give me a ticket. And the guy I slid into was also nice, prolly cause I didn't hurt his truck. His truck hurt my car though. Smushed my hood, so it had a wrinkle, cracked my bumper, and smashed the grate in the front of the car. Adam said I might need a new headlight cause that was whacked too. But, thank the Lord, my car is still running and nothing is leaking or rattling about. Adam is a good fix-it too, because he banged my hood so it isn't as wrinkled anymore :) And he said people drive worse things around, so I can still drive it. It might not pass inspection because the bumper is cracked, but I don't need an inspection till August, so I don't have to worry. It was a good thing I had had given myself so much time to slow down because if I hadn't I'm not sure I could still drive my little car... See I knew the roads were bad so I gave myself lots of space to stop, but not enough to stop if my brakes weren't going to stop the car. Now it just looks like my car is missing a few "teeth". Praise the Lord, cause He is good. P.S. My picture thing works! Yeah!

Washing Machine Blues

Well folks, my car is back home again and running like it was in the Olympics... (wasn't that a funny one?) I returned Jim's car to him last night and visit my grandparents a bit. They are so nice... I love them :)

We also have a new washing machine. Adam had been trying to fix the old one for the past week with no success, so he told our land lord about it the other day. The only hitch is, we did have two washing machines in the basement. The first one stopped spinning on the spin cycle, so the clothes would be soaking wet when I took them out (not very easy on the dryer). The second one used to belong to our landlords daughter. She was getting a new one so he put it in our basement to use when the old one went bad. Well, after about three - five weeks of using his daughters old machine, the belt started making an awful racket. I thought it was just that the belt needed replacing. But Adam opened it up and decided the brake was bad and wasn't allowing the tub to spin. It was agitating, just not doing the whole job. So I guess when he told our landlord, he said we'd have a new washing machine tomorrow (which is today). We both feel kinda bad... we didn't think they'd go out and buy a new washing machine. Most landlords don't even supply washing machine for their tenants. What should we do? Just sit by and be grateful for him having to spend a good chunk of money on a washing machine, when we had just gone through two of his already? Oh dear...

Everyone must think that I write very boring escapades of newlywed life. Washing machines, broken cars, sicknesses, etc, etc...