Luke's Poor Failed Birthday

I was invited to be a vendor at a craft fair at a school in Pittsburgh this week. I did this last year, and it was a raging success, so figured I'd try it again this year. It wasn't quite as successful as last year, but Becky and I did have a fun 2 days away for girl time, so that counts as a win, right?

We headed to IKEA to take in some fabulous decorating ideas. I love their fun and sometimes quirky ways to decorate. Using a kitchen trolley as a nightstand? Sheer genius. We got what we wanted, took in some fun ideas for the house, and then realized that I left the lights on in the car and they drained the battery dead. Thankfully, the first person I asked had jumper cables, was very understanding and helpful, and was kind enough to do a good deed out of the kindness of his heart. He refused an offer of payment as a form of my gratitude. And really. I was so grateful.

We drove around for a good half hour just killing time to let the battery fully charge up again, then did some more shopping. We had a good time. The car started without a hitch, so we figured we were golden for the rest of the trip. Score.

I got us a hotel online before we left, and at check-in there I realized that I didn't have my driver's license with me. I'd changed purses and forgot to shuffle that over. Big fat fail. (Dear policemen reading this: you didn't just read that, right?) What a fun day.

We sat at the craft fair Thursday evening, and headed back Friday morning. Or at least we tried to. The car wouldn't start again. Knowing I had somewhere to be, I was a bit more frustrated than I was the day before, and completely baffled. I didn't have the lights on. In fact, the radio was even turned off. NOTHING WAS ON. So I flagged down the first men I saw and asked if they had jumper cables. They did. But they did little good. They hooked up the wires, revved their engine, asked me to try the wipers and lights, told me to turn them both off, asked me to blow the horn, told me to just wait a bit... It was only after one asked to sit in the driver's seat that he finally figured out that the car wasn't fully in park, but somewhere between there and reverse. The good news is that the car started right up after putting it in park. The other good news is that they'll be talking about the stupid woman at the hotel for days to come.

Spreading holiday cheer. It's what I do.

Meanwhile, on the home front, Josh (the 16 year old) was in charge since I had Becky with me. Of all the days for Sam to work the evening shift, it had to be Thursday night of this week. So he wasn't home until midnight and had to be back at work at 7 the next morning, which really did leave Josh in charge. This isn't a problem at all, because my kids rock the responsible thing. Yes. They make me proud every single day. But parenting is something you learn as you go, even if you've been a parent for 18 years (or more). While Josh did a fabulous job taking care of the house and dogs and meals and Micah, he didn't realize that Micah's health was any kind of concern at all.

I got Micah ready for school on Thursday morning before I left, and noticed nothing unusual. But after reading the notes home from school the previous day, addressing Micah's reflux and the fact that he was overly tired in school, I figured I'd better check his mouth. You guys, it was so wrong. Thrush came back to seek revenge. It looked like white stalactites growing on the roof of his mouth. I immediately called the pediatrician, but they were closed for the evening, so we ran to the ER. I'm guessing the thrush never actually went away, just kind of hung out in corners where we couldnt' find it for the 10 days he was on meds for it. You know, meds that didn't actually work. So they did another throat culture, put him on new meds, and said to see the pediatrician on Monday.

Have I mentioned that today is Luke's birthday? He turned 13. He says being 13 feels tired. We took him out to eat for his birthday, and to get a piece of birthday pie since he's not a huge fan of cake. This 13th birthday was a fail for him. Too bad he'll never get a re-do. But hey, normal birthdays are overrated, right?

I have just realized that 2 of our kids spent their birthdays at the ER this year. Let's hope this is a record that's never broken.



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