Monday, June 30, 2008

The Three Ring Circus Weekend


This weekend is OVER. Yes, it is unusual for me to have such glee to start another work week. But this weekend was unusually busy.

As I said earlier, we watched my brother's dog. He did VERY well. He is a very good dog. But, it was something else to add to a completely packed schedule.

Add to that, Saturday night my three children each invited a friend to spend the night. That gave us a total of six kids, two wild dogs and two sleep-deprived adults.

As the friends were arriving for their stay, hubby went to my parents' house to help them with their computer (a whole nother story...). Dinner was approaching, the kids were grumbling about being hungry, and we had no daddy. I called. No answer. Grrrr...

As I began making dinner with the plan of eating without him, hubby called. He had a small mishap at mom and dad's: He was in their attic and had fallen through their ceiling.

Apparently he dangled for a while, legs flailing, trying to hold on to the attic boards with his arms, while my dad ran for a ladder. Finally, hubby was able to steady his footing on the ladder and climb out of the hole.

Chaos and commotion ensued. Hubby called me. I could hear mom & dad in the background wishing him to go to the ER to get checked out. Hubby didn't want to go, insisted he was fine, while complaining he couldn't feel his left hand, and his hip hurt.

Meanwhile, back at our house, six children and two dogs were jumping up and down asking for supper.

As hubby was driving home, my mom called and frantically insisted hubby go to the ER. She was certain he was mortally wounded, and equally certain that his good deed had killed him.

By the time I got off the phone with my mom, I expected hubby to come in like the walking dead. As I served dinner to the Brady Bunch, et al, hubby's car roared into our drive way. Hubby appeared at the door, for the most part, unscathed. I carefully looked him over, and determined, while he may be hurt, he was not dying.

His left hand did look suspiciously like it was fractured or broken by his thumb. But, we decided to wait to see if it would swell or bruise, further deepening our concerns.

The kids, seeing no blood or sign of gore, ran off to have cookies. The dogs circled hubby, sensing his pain, and aggravating hubby.

I spent the remainder of Saturday night, and some of very early Sunday morning, trading out ice packs for hubby, taking him drinks, and rushing to his side whenever he called.

At the same time, I monitored the two boys to make sure the PS2 games were rated E, and watched over the four girls, who were putting together the mother of all spas in my bathroom. Candles glowed, the lights were dimmed, the garden tub was stuffed with pillows, the Fischer Price table was lined with bottles of finger polish, and the radio was playing softly in the background.

Finally, the kids went to bed and the house was quiet.

I fell into bed, to be welcomed by my snoring hubby. Now, he usually snores. But since he was taking medication for his injuries, he was snoring so loudly, the walls were rattling.

I stumbled down the stairs and plopped on the couch. This night was never going to end...

Finally, it was time to get up to walk the two dogs and get the six kids ready for church- while hubby alternately slept and whined that I didn't sleep with him (because he snored) and that he didn't feel good (maybe because he fell through the ceiling?).

The procession of parents came to pick up two out of the three extra children. Then four children and I went (sans hubby) to church. The kids, having had no sleep, were not anywhere near reverent. And by the time church was over, I felt more like I needed to be forgiven for all the ugly thoughts I had during service, then before I entered the building.

Did it end there? Oh no. After church we had lunch and then I got to pick up our new pet: a hamster named Duchess. The kids were over the moon with their new friend. The dogs wanted to eat it. Hubby was still frumpy and grumpy and in pain (but refusing to go to the doctor).

By the time I DROPPED into bed last night, I don't think it would have mattered if hubby had a freight train running next to me- I was ASLEEP.

This morning, I awoke refreshed and ready to begin again. We were down to two adults, our three kids and one dog, and our new pet hamster. We cleaned up the house from all the activity from the weekend.

Hubby finally went to the doctor, and discovered he was bruised, but fine. Our dog was grateful to be an "only dog" again. The kids fussed over the hamster, welcoming her to the family. And I was glad to be back to the "normal craziness" of our regular routine...

1 comment:

ThePrincessMommy said...

How did you NOT tell me you got a hamster>>>>

Still laughing about the fall "The Care Bears were here."