Sick Day ... Or Two...

I have heard many Navy wives complain that the minute their husbands go on deployment, one of the kids gets sick, or something breaks. In our case, we apparently decided to get those things out of the way before Zack actually left. We took a lovely trip to Winston-Salem last week, and on the way home Wednesday night, I could feel myself getting sick. I don't get sick often, but by the next morning, I had a fever and a serious sore throat. I figured instead of letting one of the kids get sick, I was taking one for the team.

This was especially annoying to me because I had a job interview on Thursday.

I don't like to take medicine even when I'm not breast feeding, it makes me loopy, so I settled for a regular dose of tylenol and a lot of liquids to get me through the interview. I blamed the cold for the fact that I thought thr fridge smelled funky. By evening, I thought I was feeling better. I was on my way home from the interview when Zack called to inform me that the fridge was the same temperature as the living room, and a lot of our food was bad.

Guess it wasn't the cold after all.

We called the landlord that evening, and he gave us the numbers for several appliance services that could help us, but none of them were able to come check it out until at least Monday. We didn't worry too much because we were planning to eat out a good bit over the weekend anyway.

Saturday was our anniversary, and I was determined to be well enough to enjoy it. I spent most of Friday holding very still and trying to feel better, but my body was not willing to work with me. I could do a passing imitation of a well person, but it hurt to swallow and I could barely taste the food anyway. I couldn't even muster the energy to put on make up, but we picked a little Greek place to go to and we went out.

We dropped the girls off at the grandparents' house for a sleepover and had a predinner drink. That's how I discovered that wine all but eliminated the sore throat. Armed with this knowledge, I had a good dinner and a very pleasant rest of the evening.

Sunday, my throat surrendered. I spent all day trying to eat lunch and failing miserably. I was all set to go to the doctor except that I dont't have one here yet. Thankfully, by Monday I was starting to feel better. Then there was just the small matter of living without the fridge, which makes cooking all but impossible. The guys didn't show up to fix it until this afternoon, so we'll be really glad for a real meal tomorrow, and Ela will be happy to have milk again.

Here's hoping the drama is done for awhile!

Snow Play

Last weekend, we headed up to Virginia for what is becoming our yearly skii trip. Due to the crazy warm winter we've had, it was Lily's very first experience with snow (which the resort could barely keep on the ground). 

She was clearly unimpressed.  I think she might like it better when she's able to walk. 
Ela, on the other hand, was delighted to be back in the snow.  She remembered the "green sled" and wanted to go down the hill with Mommy first thing.  I happily obliged.   As it turned out, one trip down the sledding hill was enough for her, and then she was ready to revisit a few of her other favorite parts of the play area:

Making snowballs was her favorite part this year.  I still couldn't talk her into wearing her gloves, though.

We played for a little while, and headed home when a misty rain started falling. We met Zack back at our rooms and tried out the swimming pool. It was quite the popular place to be, since the weather was iffy for skiing. We had a good time watching Ela work up the nerve to play in the water while Lily took an extended nap.

In the evening, I got to leave the girls with their daddy and try out the tubing area, called The Plunge, with my sister, her boyfriend and Mom.  They have a hill set up with lanes for the tubes to slide down, and with the weather so warm and a whole day of tubers come and gone, it was a little icy and a super fast ride when we arrived.  We had a great time flying down the mountain. 

So it was yet another fun trip.  We're already thinking about how it will work next year.  Will Ela be old enough (or evening willing) to try skiing?  Will Lily enjoy the snow?  We can't wait to find out!

Bath time in a Navy house

The other night, Ela took a bath at her Grandma's. When bath time was over, I was patiently instructing her to pick up the bath toys one at a time. I pointed at the little yellow barge that was floating in a corner of the bath.

"Okay, Ela, now pick up the boat."

Ela looked at me with a very serious face and replied, "It's not a boat, Mama, it's a ship."

Zack would be so proud.