Randomness From The Land Of Us

Micah loves playing with clothes hampers. He puts one of the Woodys in (or sometimes all of them) and gives it a shove down the steps, he uses one to truck toys from room to room, and even loves to crawl inside them and have someone close the lid. I only fear that some day he will decide it's completely unfair for Woody to have all the fun and try riding it down the stairs himself. That would be the day that I get kicked out of the running for Mom of the Year permanently. We ask the other kids to take it back upstairs when they see it. (Because we all know that I do my fair share of lugging.) So the other day Luke put it away and Micah followed right after only to get it out again. (The nerve of Luke to put it away!) Luke was a tiny bit exasperated and said "I'm just sick and tired of putting away that clothes hamster!" Yes, folks, we have a very fashion conscious rodent here. It's very hard finding clothes to fit that diva.

Luke is such a tender hearted little thing. Actually all my kids are, and I love that. But Luke frequently comes to me and asks to pray with him that Josh get better soon. And yesterday he made several get-well cards for his brother. This was my favorite.


We did, indeed, rent movies and get soda for Josh. Luke was extremely jealous of such treatment (even though he benefited from it as well) and declared that he wished he had the pox. Josh was willing to give them and his bounty away if only he could stop itching. Becky spent Friday night at a friend's house and we went to get her last evening. She wished that she was Josh when she learned that he got to stay home from school for a week. I reminded her that the pox was only part of it, and told her that pox and strep may cause that wonderful flesh eating thing. She was in horror. "Forget it. My beautiful skin is too precious to sacrifice." Girls.

We were eating supper the other night (as in Jan. 1) and Becky made the comment that the meat was purchased last year. We all ha-ha'd over that and went right on eating. But when they heard that the salad was also purchased last year, Josh suddenly didn't want to eat it. Maybe that's what brought on all this sickness. Year-old lettuce.

We took that puppy to Pittsburgh yesterday and my husband could not believe the utter lack of forethought I'd put into the meeting place. For those of you who know as much as I do about football, I'll clue you in. It was game day in the Burgh. This means that traffic is worse (yes, worse) than rush hour during the week. Sports fanatics were turning out in droves to see their team play. We were lucky, though, and got into and out of the city before the traffic picked up. At least I'd made the appointment early in the day.

And on this wonderful trip to the Burgh, we took the car. The car that is 16 years old, has over 200,000 miles on it, merely sips gas, and runs like a top. The door handles don't work right, the doors are quite rusty, the radio brackets broke and it's hanging balancing in the hole held in place by cords, the windows don't wind up and down without getting stuck, and the windshield fluid pump is broken. This last one poses problems on occasion, like when it's raining or snowing. You can smear the muck around, but you just can't clean it off. My husband wanted to be able to see on the turnpike so he improvised. He took a bottle of Windex along yesterday. He rolled down the window, turned on the wipers, put his arm out and sprayed the windshield. His own words were "you might be a redneck if..." But did I mention that the car has been paid off for 12 years and runs like a top?

18 comments:

AutoSysGene said...

Yikes, sounds like you had a busy day. I can just imagine Micah riding a clothes 'hamster' down the steps.

I'm surprised at all the kids wanting the pox, so not fun and I think they would change their mind if they started itching.

Kidzmama said...

Thanks for the update. I read everyday but keep getting interrupted and can't leave a comment. I hope Josh is feeling better. If you haven't already, Aveeno makes a great oatmeal bath the really helps soothe. Good luck with the puppy magic!

kimmy said...

I love the card that Luke made - what a sweetie! I hope Josh is feeling better!

Kimmy

Karen said...

We've found that Aveeno works as well as baking soda baths, which he says don't really work at all. We did find Band-Aid brand Calamine spray that seems to help some. And Benadryl. Here's a head's up - Tylenol PM has as much Benadryl in it as Benadryl does. So don't OD!

Leanne said...

I need a 'paid off' car. We returned from England and bought two 'newish' cars. We have payments and I often wish we didn't. I'd take a car that runs like a top, even with a little bit of character if it mean't no payments!

More hugs to Josh and yep, my almost twelve year old would take itching over no school too.

Oh, and thanks for adding me to your BlogRoll, I'll do the same!

Cecily R said...

Sounds like life is marching on for you guys! I'm sorry Josh is still itchy. Poor guy.

I love Luke's card. What a good brother!

P.S. My kids actually HAVE gone down the stairs in a laundry basket. I'm officially out of the running.

Karen said...

Cecily - you're only out of the running if a kid gets hurt. Mine would. There's a fine line between being such a cool mom that allows that kind of stuff without spazzing, and being a bad mom that lets her kids get hurt. You're on the good side of the line.

Maria said...

Oh love that picture. You should frame it! And that car, cool. I plan on keeping my car that long, too!

Burgh Baby said...

You have underestimated the feat that you accomplished yesterday. There was a Pens game before the Steelers game. You survived DOUBLE sports crazy traffic. Kudos!

Ahhh . . . the joy of paid off cars. We have a beater that my husband drives. He tries every so often to convince me that he needs a new vehicle because something or other is wrong, but the repairs ALWAYS come in too cheap for him to convince me. It thrills me to no end to only have one car payment.

Also, have I ever mentioned that your kids are awesome? They totally are.

Kellan said...

Before you got to the "you might be a redneck if...", I was already thinking it - too funny!!! I loved the picture - how sweet is that little Luke?! Have a great evening and I'll see you tomorrow. Kellan

ALF said...

Year old lettuce will do it every time.

Madame Queen said...

I have this image in my head of a whole bunch of y'all, and several dogs piled up in that car heading into the 'Burgh! Plus, a "sickie" in the backseat.

That picture that Luke drew of Josh is so sweet. But I think Becky's comment is hilarious. Typical girl!

I hope you managed to get some rest today.

lindsey said...

That is such a cute card! I hope Josh gets better soon.

As far as the windshield is concerned... genious!

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

Love the picture I have in my head of your hubby!!

Hallie
http://wonderfulworldofweiners.blogspot.com/

Maria (also Bia) said...

Isn't it funny how one sibling will actually be jealous that another sibling is sick and gets to stay home with Mom? It makes me roll my eyes when I hear, "But that's not fair that he's sick. Why can't I be sick, too?!" Sheesh.

Hope Josh is on the mend. God bless.

Shellie said...

Sorry about the pox, and loved Luke's "Hamster".

Michelle said...

aaww Luke sounds like such a sweet brother making those get well cards!

I got a chuckle out of "clothes hamster! LOL

Wineplz said...

the clothes hamster is hilarious!

and Becky's got the right idea...I had the chicken pox BAAAAD and still have scars on my face...used to make me self-consious until I got older and stopped caring. ;)

I've got a car that's been paid off for 3 years, but the darn thing keeps costing us an arm and a leg to keep it running...you know, the ridiculously-expensive-but-not-as-expensive-as-a-5-year-car-payment. I'm just praying that we'll go 6 months without an expensive repair instead of going every 3 to 4 months. Although something is telling me that paying a car payment for 5 years wtih a really low APR will be less expensive than paying a $1500 repair on the credit card over time....