Silent Night or Papa Sleeps 15 Minutes And Goes To Work Refreshed and Happy

Ever have one of those nights?
Oh man was last night a barrel of laughs around here.

First we remembered, just as we were trying to drag our tired selves to bed, that we left the gift for Ev's gift exchange tonight up in the attic. So, up to the attic Les went.

Then, just as we were drifting off, there was this strange popping sound that needed investigating. So Les had to get up and see what that was. Hey! Billy was already settled in on my face so I couldn't do it. We never did figure that out.

Later, we heard a strange little huffing noise that Les again had to go out and check. Look, the cat sleeps on my face all night OK? This time it was Evelyn up shuffling about and sneezing. ???

The next thing was a child crying and the cat does get dumped off for that. But both kids were ok. So I get all huffy at having to get out of bed. Use the restroom, and turn my fan on so block out any further unpleasantness. I climb back into bed and just for kicks, decide to lay on my left side facing Les. See? Romance is alive after 19 years people!
But wait! The cat! He was DISTURBED in his slumber!
oh noes!!

And here is where the fit hits the shan.

The cat jumps on the bed in his usual fashion. With a light burble, expecting my head and face to be somewhere they are not. He is already annoyed at the gall of us disturbing his slumber so many times and this just sends him over the edge. His light burble turns into something angry and jungle like. His little bed hop is turned into an Olympic Triple Papa Face Hop that turns Les into a Whirling Dervish of Nightmares!


Les!He springs straight up in bed at the waist like some sort of Halloween wind up toy; his head, recently shaved with the texture of velcro, brings along the flannel covered pillow so the pillow is stuck to the back of his head; and due to the angle and speed of both his uprising and the arc and speed of the cat's Olympic attempt, the cat is actually kind of stuck to the front of his face for a bit. Now let me tell you, the cats, legs were scrambling. Leslie's arms were windmilling frantically and he was yelling at the TOP of his lungs. "UH! What the f@#%?!? What the... F@$%?! What the F@$%?!?! OH my God!!! What?!?!?"

And then finally the cat cleared and Les exhaled this huge exhale and laid back with his pillow and head landing exactly where they had started. He sighed and looked at me and said, " What just happened? I was dreaming and then something was all over my face and then a bag was on my head..." and I was like, "I can't even begin...." just go back to sleep..."

The cat spent the rest of the night on the couch. In a huff.

They Put The "Monkey" In Monkey Swing

In his ongoing attempt to drive me to the edge of my sanity, Leslie installed a monkey swing for the kids. Then immediately got them hooked on swinging as heart stoppingly high as they could. I'm not kidding, they are like little junkies. Liam especially likes to lay back real far and close his eyes like he's at a Spa or something. I just stay inside and drink while they are on it. They won't even listen when I dare to choke out a suggestion that they wear helmets, NO!, they laugh at me and just keep swinging.
Daredevils.
Now I look back and remember the many times my mom would gasp, "JACK!" and we would all say, "OH! Mo-ooom!" Poor. Poor worried Moms. They just stand there chewing their nails and planning trips to the E.R. while everyone else is having a grand time.

I may start with holding Molasses Cookies.

Finding That Silver Lining

They say that there is always a silver lining if you look for one.
I will be completely honest, as I struggled for close to five months with the same, grinding migraine that seemed to be eating my life away, I simply could not see a single positive thing.
Now, as I am getting closer to my "new normal" and not experiencing blinding pain for most of the time. Now that the hospitalizations are behind me (I hope I hope I hope I hope). Now that my Doctor seems to have me on a med regime that works...I can see that there were positive things that happened.

The idea that my parents would do anything for my children, Les and I became a tangible reality as my Mom came and took care of us for 6 weeks and my Dad drove back and forth between Ohio and New Jersey 4 times I think. My mom cooked and cleaned and played with Liam and Evelyn and drove me around and dealt with my many breakdowns and weird moods brought on by medicines. She watched me fall apart and she helped me get back together again.

My sister has given up her place as the younger sister and taken over the role of older sister and completely held me up emotionally for weeks and weeks as I have wept and sobbed into the phone over and over never thinking to ask how she was doing, how her life was progressing. I just needed her and she was there.

My Dad just drove all over the United States and made do at his house, all alone. When he was here he helped keep the kids busy and he knew when I needed a hug or when I needed a laugh. And he never, ever asked for anything in return- he never does.

My husband. He stepped right up and became me, took on most of my roles in the family and maintained his all while going through the single most stressful few weeks of his entire Coast Guard career. He never once lost patience with me. He never once failed to go to the pharmacy or get me to a doctor's appointment.

The silver lining was my family.
The silver ling will always be my family. They took care of me, each of them in their own way. I love them.