Plans? Ha! What Plans?

In case you don't live in our part of the world... it has been cold. And snowy. And icy. 


This usually doesn't happen here until February or so. 


It's December.


And, while I will admit that I get a little bit of cabin fever after a couple of days in the house, I have to say that I love the snow. I love spending time indoors with good food and good company. I love feeling that security that all is safe in the world (at least my world) because my kids are warm in their pjs and have plenty to do and plenty to eat. I ignore the other thoughts that go through my mind... about people without homes or heat or food. I am sure that there are some adorably sweet children at Bailey's school that have little or nothing at home to enjoy. I have to banish those thoughts from my mind... not because I don't care, but because there isn't one thing I can do about it. And that upsets me as much as anything.


But, I digress. I would have liked for the weather to have waited a couple of days. Or a week, really. This is mainly because Bailey has now missed her winter party at school and a field trip to see the Nutcracker (the same one she is performing in on Saturday night). She was pretty bummed. And, it just right down messed with my plans. And, planning, people, is something that I do a lot of. I do a WHOLE lot of it, especially when I'm trying to pack a ton of stuff into just a couple of days or a week, or if I'm preparing for the holidays, or if I'm just being me and wanting to live my life to the fullest. 


This week, I think someone else decided to show me that planning is something I should focus less on. He was telling me, by showing me, that my plans aren't always that perfect and that He will show me to stop planning so much. Since I'm notorious for not listening and having to learn the hard way, I guess God wanted to give me a handful this week to remind me to slow it down and listen. 


We started out on Monday with a positive. It was a snow day and, while it put a little glitch in my plans to wrap up the school's fundraiser, I was still able to get a lot done around the house. Actually, I didn't get much done at all on Monday. So, let's just skip to Tuesday. 


Tuesday was a 2-hour delay at school. I got up and was getting the kids ready when all of a sudden, Jake comes screaming and crying into my bathroom. 


"I have a eye in my nose!" 


"What in the world are you talking about, Jake?" Through the tears and screaming, I come to understand from his garbled speech that a googly eye (think craft eyes that you put on something like a snowman) jumped into Jake's nose. It jumped there, because he clearly wouldn't stick it up his nose. Clearly. We have already gone down that road with the popcorn kernel in June or July of this year. Clearly he would never stick something in his nose. :)


After seeing that there is indeed something shoved way too far in his nose, I decide to call the Ear Nose and Throat doctor that so graciously squeezed us into his schedule this summer. The nurse tells me to get him there as quickly as possible. 


Out the door we go, after a quick call to Brad to have him come home to take care of Bailey and get her to school on time. It is like 3 degrees. I just have to add that for added impact. It is freezing. Below freezing. Really damn cold.


We arrive at the doctor's office. We sit. For hours. HOURS. Not that it was the doctor's fault. He was in surgery. I really didn't get upset, except for the fact that the nurse had urged us to hurry (all the time knowing the doctor was in surgery), so I failed to feed myself or my child any breakfast and we were starving. And there was no vending machine in the building. 


Finally, nearly 3 hours after we arrived (and I'm thinking we are going to have low blood sugar attacks because we are the two people in the family that truly needs breakfast early in the morning), they call us back. The doctor comes in (he is a very nice and comical doctor) and checks Jake out. He can't see the "eye that jumped into Jake's nose" at all. He checks Jake's ears while we wait for some local anesthetic so that the scoping/probing to come won't hurt. And, Jake has an ear infection. Score for me. Neglecting my child and allowing him to shove small object in nose - check. Ignoring nasal congestion and writing it off as a cold, when it is actually an ear infection - check. I'm feeling like supermom this week, let me tell you. 


Anyway, so the doctor shoves a long tube with a light on the end of it into Jake's nasal cavity and searches and searches and searches. Clearly, Jake has sneezed it out or swallowed it with drainage. Disgusting, but most likely the case. 


I don't go to work on Tuesday, because by the time I could drop Jake back to school and make it to work, I would have about 2 hours before I needed to get back to pick up Bailey. 


Instead, I spend the afternoon at the school, trying to wrap up this fundraiser. And, thankfully, I was able to do that. At least the day wasn't a complete waste. 


Tuesday night is Bailey's music showcase at school. She sang beautifully. I love seeing her in these performances. She works so hard to make them special... and to do exactly what she has been told. It's adorable. Jake, on the other hand, gives me a nervous breakdown because he refuses to listen and spends a big part of the time trying to pull me out of the gym. I finally cave (against all of my stubbornness) and take him into the hall once Bailey's class is done.


Wednesday was a more normal day. Thankfully. We went to school and work, as scheduled. We made a mad dash after work to get Bailey ready and down to the theater for dress rehearsal at 4:30 for the Nutcracker this weekend. This included getting her makeup all on (and we are talking full makeup here, people). It was a little strange seeing my little girl staring back at me with long black mascara-coated eyelashes. She did look beautiful though. And, I'm not biased at all. ;) 


The rehearsal lasted until about 7. We made it home before more snow arrived. That's when I heard a gunshot (or something very similar) and called 911. Yep. Country girl Andrea heard a gunshot and got scared for the first time in her life. I had to call my dad to see if he thought I should call 911. I guess it just kind of seemed weird to call because I've never thought much about it before. I've always lived in the country, where men hunt in the woods and gunshots aren't that uncommon. I honestly probably would not have even noticed the sound unless I was outside at my parents' house.Yet, being in a subdivision in Lexington, the sound really did stand out to me. I'm guessing I heard wrong or it was a misfire or something because no police came by after patrolling the area to ask me questions. Maybe I am losing it... maybe it was a car backfiring. I'm 99% sure that it was a gunshot, but I've considered myself insane before. I can count this one as a lapse in my sanity, too, I guess. I have to say, I was never so happy to have Brad at home. There's a really unsettling feeling to think that you have two kids to protect all by yourself if something did actually happen. 


Anyway, we awoke this morning to cancelled school announcements. Part of me was relieved... I could stay in my pjs all day and spend time with the kids. Part of me was calculating each dollar that I would miss out on at work if I didn't work my full 6 hours in the day. 


But, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right? 


So, the upside is that I love my job. And my boss has been SO wonderful about me working from home when the kids have snow days. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate that. It takes an incredible amount of stress off of me to know that I'm able to take care of my kids AND still take care of my job, too. It really is great. The bad thing is that I didn't get much work done today at all. It seems that I'm completely out of practice with working from home with the kids cooped up at my feet. SO... it's going to be a late night, especially since they've already called school out for tomorrow and I was planning to go in to make up some time tomorrow. 


Once I realized that the kids weren't really going to let me get much work done while they were awake, I decided to work on some gifts for their school teachers. I was thinking that I'd give them to them tomorrow, seeing that I thought we'd have school and all. It really doesn't pay me to think or to plan. 


:) 


And those gifts, well, they got me thinking. I know... it's a scary world here in the Ooten household. 


I thought about Old Wives' Tales. I remembered one that my mom told me her grandmother told her about fresh vegetables. It was something like... don't feed a baby under 1 any fresh vegetables from the garden during their first summer of life. It will make them sick (I've even heard that it would give them diarrhea to the point of death). Now, I don't know if this is true, seeing as how I'm sure people do this all the time, but I was extra careful with my babies when selecting food to feed them. Baby food (processed - haha) is what I stuck with. It seems really strange, doesn't it? Especially with the whole organic movement. Maybe I got that whole theory wrong. Maybe it's just a specific food or something. If you know, e-mail me so that I don't sound so stupid. :) 


The reason I started thinking about Old Wive's Tales is because I proved one today. Or so, I think. My granny used to always tell me not to make candy when the weather was bad. She said it wouldn't set up right. Against all better judgement, I made candy today. 


After making enough to give to a small army, I pulled together enough that looked nice to give to the teachers. The rest look ugly. They taste good... look ugly. And, now there is no school. So, the gifts will no longer be applicable when it comes time to take them to the teachers now. Well, Jake's school is still on for tomorrow, so half the battle is won, but still.  AHHHH! Oh well... we will eat it without complaint. :) I guess granny was right about weather correlating with candy-making. It must have something to do with humidity or moisture in the air. She always told me to make candy on sunny days. I never want to make candy when it's pretty out. Only when it is cold and rainy or snowing. Doesn't that just figure?!


Tomorrow will bring a new day with probably some new challenges. I have a big weekend ahead - family coming in this weekend to see our prima ballerina grace the stage for the Nutcracker. I have been dying to make a big Christmas dinner at my house and have never been able to, so I'm getting my chance while they are here. So, tomorrow, I will begin to plan for that. :) Here's to hoping my plans don't fall apart like the rest of this week's plans have! I'm sure it will all be fine, either way. I'm grateful for the reminder that I'm not in control, even when it irritates me so. :) 


I'm hoping that anyone who has actually made it through this entire post is having a safe winter and wonderful holiday season. I'm planning more posts. hehe. One of them is going to be really funny, so be on the lookout. I'll give you a hint. My boy had his Christmas program last week at school. He did really well, but Jake likes to play an instrument. And it's not one in the band... lol. 


Happy almost Friday!