Scribblings

My Life Is A Soap Opera!

Many thanks to everyone who responded to my post about babies and sodas. I've printed out the articles and gave some to Linda already.

So today:

I go to the orthopedic doctor and discover I have a torn ligament in my ankle. Uh oh! No walking on the dreadmill anytime soon! I need to get an insert the dr prescribed for my shoe.

Kristin's theater arts teachers say she hasn't been coming on Thursdays. She says she's been there. My head is spinning.

TB is sick again. He hasn't been well in a week or so it seems.

He called unemployment today and the agent told him he doesn't qualify because he hasn't worked in the last 18 months. But wait ... she called back about 5 minutes after TB got back into bed and pulled the covers over his head. Maybe he can quallify for some kind of disability something. They'll do a phone interview on February 7.

Meanwhile ... what are we going to do for money? How will we pay our bills?

Linda took T to the doctor as well. He stopped throwing up but he's had the runs ever since and a fever. Well, she came in at 4 in a big rush. She handed the baby over to Heidi and rattled off a bunch of stuff -- he's wet so he needs to be changed and he probably needs a bath. Then she starts running around because she says she's going to work. She tells me Tomas has a double ear infection and says he's to take Zithromax again. As she's bustling around, I say, "I don't think it's a good idea for you to go. The baby's sick."

She says she has to. She has to be able to pay Heidi and us and she needs the money. And Tomas isn't puking anymore. It's just diarrhea. As she runs out the door, I think (prophetically?) she just wants a break from the baby.

So.

Now I have one very sick husband, one very sick grandchild, one child who's not telling me everything ... and no money.

I started crying.

I'd made split pea soup and grilled cheese for dinner and it was just me, Billy, Heidi and Kristin eating ... just like the bad old days after Rich died. Heidi held the baby, who wasn't interested in anything.

The phone rings. It's Michele, wanting to find out what's up with the baby and wanting to tell me that the doctor found cysts on David's kidneys. Lots of people have them and so we're not talking surgery. They're going to do some more tests to see if David needs to go to a nephrologist.

The phone rings again almost as soon as I hang up. Some guy asks for Linda. I say, "She's at work."

"She is?" He says. He sounds confused.

Oh, no.

"You're there at work aren't you?" I ask. "And she isn't there?"

Yeah, he says. And his wallet is in Linda's car. No. It's in my car. He says that Linda called out sick. Really? So where the hell is she?

I've had enough. I go and wake TB. He calls the cell phone once and leaves a message. Everyone is upset except for Tomas who just wants to feel better. He cries a little and has another bout of the diarrhea. I change him and his sleeper too. Meantime, TB's gotten hold of Linda and is yelling at her. "Where are you?"

She says she's just leaving Target. He yells at her to come home and she says she is.

Tomas falls asleep again.

Linda finally gets home an hour later and comes in with all these bags. She walks to the back of the house trying to postpone the inevitable. TB gets madder and madder. They yell at each other. Linda thinks we're making a big deal out of nothing.

Ah. She took my car to go to work but then she didn't go to work. She went shopping. Her baby is sick. And we didn't know where she was. And all that is "nothing"? She says, "all you people" are making her crazy, always giving her grief about something. She decided not to go to work, she said, because she realized her baby was sick and that "all you people" were home complaining and not taking care of him.

WHAT?

TB said she could get out and she said she wanted to because she's going crazy living here and he said good.

I was still back on the "you people" complaining and not taking care of the baby. Heidi was furious too. TB stormed from the room. I said to Linda, "Right, so you figured we were going to sit here and complain and not take care of Tomas and so you went to Target."

Linda got up and left the house for a few minutes.

She came back in and apologized to Heidi for including her in the "you people" statement. Then she took Tomas from me and went upstairs.

What crisis will tomorrow bring?

Ten on Tuesday:

Ten Things that You Love About Winter

1. The Christmas season
2. Snow
3. Hot chocolate
4. Eating more soups & stews
5. New shows to watch on TV
6. Hoping for an early spring
7. Making snowmen
8. Sledding
9. Walking in new snow
10. Taking pictures of new snow