week in MY life: 4.24.2010

and we made it to saturday. phew!

saturday is chemo day for ashlyn. we don't go anywhere for chemo, it's just a pill she swallows. one in the morning, one in the evening. only on saturdays.

every single saturday (and sunday) morning doug is up with Spidergirl---who loves to wake at the butt-crack of dawn---making bacon, eggs, hashbrowns & toast. meanwhile, me and ashlyn sleep in. sleeping in for me means getting up at anywhere between 830 and 930.

ashlyn is always the last one up.

this particular saturday we had my nephew for most of the day. he's only 2 days older than Spidergirl.

saturdays are rarely planned with activities. we just go with the flow. it's a lot of give and take. chores. relaxing. baking. lots and lots of dishes from company. doug and emma usually nap.

this saturday included a trip to Hobby Lobby since Ash has been begging to go for a week now. she didn't have to ask me twice. three kids in my house is too much for my brain to handle---a trip to escape the chaos was just what i needed. bonus = stickers were 50% off.

she was planning to make a project and needed felt and wiggly eyes and foam and foamboard and bubble stickers........oh my.

she's wearing her favorite shirt and favorite jeans (although rolled up in the one photo). she used to call these her 'skinny' jeans. and for a long time they were the only jeans she'd wear. i mean, she'd have meltdowns if she couldn't find them or i didn't have them clean. she likes the holes.

spidergirl loooooooooooves this time of year because of the hundreds of wishing flowers she can find between our yard and the neighbors yards.

saturdays = beautiful creative messes around every corner. paint. playdoh. scrapbooking. chalkboard drawings. you name it, we're creating it.

oh, and homework.

ashlyn's teacher gives a homework packet every monday and it isn't due until the next monday. the idea was that parents can do homework according to their schedules instead of having to fit it in every night. we've tried different tactics to get it done, but we've learned that having her do homework throughout the week just doesn't work for us. she needs that break in the evenings to just be a kid.

so starting saturday afternoon, she does a page, then runs off to play or create for a while. about the time the girls start bickering over something, i send her off to do another page before playing some more. she finishes whatever she doesn't get done on saturday during the day on sunday.

and a rare bonus today........i got to escape for a few hours to see Back Up Plan with suzi at the real movie theater--totally hysterical movie. thanks to pain killers i was able to sit through the whole movie without pain. it's been almost well over a year since i've seen a movie at the theater.

i remember thinking "it feels weird to be pain-free." i have pain killers & muscle relaxers because of my chronic pain, but rarely take them.

why?

because...
1. the muscle relaxers do funny things to my heart. which already does funny things on it's own.
2. & make me loopy........& zonked out tired.
3. the pain killers never take the pain away, they just kinda take the edge off and make it a little more tolerable.
4. i can't drive while taking either of them. and well, ya'll know i pretty much need to drive with our crazy schedule.

anywho.
this time.....the pain was completley gone. for about an hour. a blissful hour. i could get used to being pain-free.

another day without many photos.
it's hard for me to see life clearly and with excitement when i'm in pain.
yes i did take photos of my pain laden face. no, they will not grace the blog.
my pain level today was almost intolerable.
so after the hobby lobby trip, i took a 3 hour nap.
and *almost* bailed on the movie.