A long couple weeks mostly not wearing my new jeans. But the next two days are exciting ones for me in my jeans.
Same stuff as usual in the pockets.
Character building activities: A little bit of soccer. The rest of the time I was studying at the computer and dealing with my sick daughter who got us all sick. I noticed today that the house looks the way we feel, with spent tissues and clothes lying everywhere. Just disheveled.
It snowed yesterday here in wisconsin. That was BS. With the new sunshine and those coupla teaser days of high 40s, our bodies have unacclimated themselves to the cold. With the cold still lingering, we just feel it, and feel it deep. I'm a man who loves the cold when there's stuff to do in it, but for the last week and a half there hasn't been enough snow to play with and we all got sick anyway. I'm always telling my kids that it's ok to feel crabby, frustrated, or angry. It's what we do with that that helps or hinders. I like to believe that out of bad situations good things can come. That's true. Anyone who's worked in the hospitality industry knows that a bad day or terrible customer can really bring a crew together. The key is sharing. And the second key is laughing about it.
I say these things in part because I understand doing totally the wrong thing when I'm crabby, but my daughter is the worst patient I've met. If my wife is worried how well she can breathe through her nose and asks her, very nicely, to please "blow in and out of your nose honey" (also demonstrating), the irrational crabby sick girl just starts screaming and crying unconsolably! It's insane. She can carry on for hours without tiring, even sick as she is, while we softly explain why she should calm down and show us how she can breathe, and also how much easier that would be if she would just show us what we want versus this unasked for demonstration of stubbornness and irrationality. It becomes frustrating and comical. We practice a lot of different tactics and one eventually works, but there seems to be no pattern as to which one will work for whatever the current problem is. You just have to feel it out, and sometimes the feeling is hiding somewhere like the stomach of a living great white shark. Just picture those rows of teeth you need to get past! Razor Sharp.
The first night of her being sick she just needed to be held. Which is great and lovely except that she's four and over 50 lbs now, and her idea of being held is that I bounce walk back in forth in the house until she's asleep. It takes a long time, and doesn't always transition to the bed. Repeat as necessary. It's been a while since I've had to do this, and it was nice for quite awhile, but when she woke up again the moment I tried to set her down, it felt a little different.
She's always been like this. As a baby I would take her outside in the middle of the night and run around the block to get her back to sleep and to keep me from sleepless frustration. Twice a night. Even in winter.
All that said, she is the greatest female ever. Her obstinacy and superiority only make me love her more. She is my child, made with the other greatest female I know who is also the greatest female ever.
Anywho…Tomorrow we get our bees and that is always exciting times. The day after that, after all this studying, is the field test to become accredited to do prescribed prairie burns, and I will be allowed to assist in that worthwhile stewardship. Expect some exciting pictures.
