My Guess: Not Strep

Pin It Now! Praise the Lord for no more body aches and just a smidge of a sore throat!!!!

I really do appreciate all the prayers and sweet wishes of wellness. :)

Well, all the research I have done on strep seems to suggest that with a strep infection there would be no signs of sneezing, runny nose, coughing etc. I have all of those symptoms and more now, plus that is exactly how Lincoln's illness began. He sneezed all the way home from Colorado. (And that's a 16 hour drive one way!) Interestingly enough, that's the only part Mark got--the cold part.

It could have been tonsillitis or some other intensely painful virus. I am just relieved that I don't have to worry about rheumatic fever or any of those other terrible sounding secondary infections that could possibly be brought on by strep.

During some nights when I'd wake up in pure misery, I would actually imagine myself getting up, going downstairs, finding the sharpest knife possible and slicing those red, fiery balls right out of my throat. The thought of choking on large amounts of blood and bleeding to death usually jolted me back to my senses. And then I'd wait until it was safe to down more Advil.

It is quite obvious that I am feeling better today:

Despite the fact that my nose is drippy, my eyes still glassy, my neck glands slightly swollen, sinuses and Eustachian tubes blocked and clogged to the max, and a cough every now and then, I, along with the help of my loyal children, vacuumed, cleaned rooms, cleaned kitchen counters, mopped kitchen floor and did laundry. I am sure I will pay later, but I just couldn't stand to remain idle any longer!

I still had to shorten our school day, though. Gosh, it hurts to read out loud for too long. Plus I sound like Rudolph.

Once I got over my emotional breakdown, I did realize that since we've been ahead in some subjects, catching up really won't be that bad. :) (Pain can sometimes cause me to overreact just a tad.)

I am so thankful to be on the mend but so ready to be completely WELL!!

Echo Lake

Pin It Now! Shiloh has complained off and on that she doesn't like living in the desert because it doesn't snow here.

She was beyond excited when we drove to Echo Lake where snow abounded as far as the eye could see. Let me be a cheesy mom for a moment and say, "I think Shiloh is the snow angel!" Aww, isn't she precious?!!

And snowballs--there is just something kids love about snowballs. Glad my kids had such a blast!

An evil, icy wind accompanied all this snow, and these desert cheeks weren't taking to it too well. And though my feet were double socked and wrapped in plastic bags, I might as well have been standing in the snow barefoot! Thankfully, the rest of me was quite warm due to all of the layering and snow gear provided by Grandma Honey and Jim. :)

Echo Lake was one of the places Mark and I visited while on our honeymoon almost 13 years ago, so it was neat seeing it again. Well, this time around we couldn't really "see" the lake as it was covered in so much ice and snow.

Despite the gelidity, the view was amazing and I basked in the magnificence of God's diverse creation! (And then I was ready to get back in the car where it was WARM!)

Ice Skating ~ Not So Much

Pin It Now! I used to be pretty talented on the ice. I got my start at The Mall of Memphis back in the day. My friend, Sara, and I would rock the ice with our fast moves and attempted twirls. I mean, we we could have tried out for the Olympics if we'd wanted to. (Yeah, right!)

When I was about 18 or so, I went ice skating with my church friends. I can't remember if Mark and I were already dating, but he was there and my friend Theryssa was there. If my memory serves me well, I think I could still stand up and at least proceed in a forward motion while wearing those bad boys.

I found out in Colorado that a lot has changed in 15 years.

Thank goodness I was the one with the camera that day. That means there will be NO pictures of me on this post. My family members were trying to be sweet by telling me it was probably just a bad pair of skates. Seriously, I had to call it quits for fear of breaking my ankles and ruining the rest of the vacation. That's okay, though, I hung out with my cute, little niece, Audrey, instead. (And took pictures from the sidelines.)


Anyway, so begins our Colorado vacation... on the ice!! (And I was literally ON the ice!)

Audrey

Lincoln, Mullin, Jackson, Shiloh

I Broke Down and Cried Anyway

Pin It Now! So much for yesterday's post.

Just chilling didn't quite work out for me. I think I cried on and off the rest of the afternoon.

That really helped a lot. I got all stuffy and had to breathe through my mouth, which just made it hurt worse.

It is 12:08 pm on Tuesday and I am still in my jammies. Anyone who knows me at all knows that something must be terribly wrong if I am still wearing pjs after 7 am. I feel so gross, but I just got out of bed not too long ago.

Mullin has been Mr. Mom this morning. He took care of breakfast, entertained Shiloh, fixed lunch, emptied the dishwasher and washed all the dishes in the sink. Plus, he even managed to get a few subjects done in school. What a son!!!

I feel so horrible not being able to take care of Lincoln like I want to, but he seems to be feeling much better today. :) I am still hoping Shiloh will escape the torture of this infection--whatever it is. I think Mark is a bit under the weather as of last night, too. He still went to the store to get me some Popsicles, though, and went to work this morning.

MOTHERS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO GET SICK!!!!! Oh well, at least I can lay in bed at this stage in life. It's nice having children who are old enough to take care of themselves for a while. And sweet Shiloh keeps checking on me and planting soft kisses on my robe.

Please, Lord, help me to feel better tomorrow!!!

So Behind

Pin It Now! We're only 39 days into the new year and I am sorely behind. Eight of those days our family was on vacation. Eight of those days I have spent being sick, thankfully I was well while on vacation, but as I type, I am on day 3 of painfully enlarged, fiery red tonsils splotched with blistery, white patches. Unfortunately Lincoln is sharing this experience with me. :( I have lost count of the number of days my kids have been sick on and off this past month.

I am exhausted and just plumb worn out.

Thank goodness I chose not to write up a long list of New Year's Resolutions, a tradition I have long since forsaken due to the fact that I can so easily become enslaved to it. I am naturally task oriented and if I can't meet my list's demands, well, I deem myself a FAILURE with a big fat F! I would probably be crying and having a pity party right about now if I had such a list, because there is no way to possibly catch up, or so it seems.

I can't help but still have a mental list, though. So, I am regrettably feeling a bit agitated about not meeting my mental list's demands. My plate of responsibilities has increased this year, and I am getting a slight panicky feeling that I am going to bomb.

I have decided to rest today and not push myself. That means the kids will fall behind in school. But, I keep telling myself that it's okay--it's home school. If we have to work on spring break or continue through June--no big deal. It'll get done somehow.

So what if my kitchen floor is disgusting and my kids' sheets need changing--people all over the world live in much worse conditions. It'll be okay. My body needs rest.

I could go on and on here, but don't want to get too discouraged. It is rest time now, so I am going to do just that~ REST.

I am really going to try to not think about lesson plans, reviews that need to be written, classes that need to be scheduled, laundry, cleaning, cooking, grading, blogging, blah, blah, blah.

*Sigh*