Turmoil

It all started out so nicely.
I invited my niece to spend the night on Friday so that the girl's could work on their First Communion Notebooks. My niece had a basketball game on Saturday morning but we were expecting snow that night and figuring that the game would be canceled and she would be able to enjoy the snow with us. After going to the store to pick out their 3 ring binders and stickers and picking up dinner, we got home, cooked, ate, made cute T-Shirts (Little Miss Chatterbox found two shirts that said I Love my BFF, so we bought them and added their names) and got ready for bed, it was pretty late. We had gotten a movie to watch and I knew we had to pick between the movie or working on notebooks. I didn't think the girls would want to work so late so I opted for the movie, figuring that we would also have the whole next day to work on the notebooks.
Well, Saturday morning came and there was no snow. We were a bit disappointed but decided it would be fun to go to my niece's game ans watch. So Little Miss, my niece and I all headed out to her game. While we were there, it started to snow. The game didn't last too long so we stayed until the end and then both girls begged my sister-in-law and I for my niece to come home with me so they could work on their notebooks. I said it was okay and her parents agreed too. So she jumped into my car and then her brothers heart was broken. Again. You see, the day before when I picked her up to take to my house, her brother was very sad because he wanted to come and play with Mr. Funny. Apparently he even cried. I couldn't bare to see him so sad and I knew it would make Mr. Funny so happy to see him. So I asked if he could come too. It was agreed and we were on our way. Seeing the three kids in my car and thinking about the other two at home, I wondered what I would feed all these kids for lunch. I also had the Red Box movie from last night that I needed to return. The snow wasn't too bad so I decided I could make a quick run to the store. By the time we got out of the store, the roads still didn't look bad and tons of people were out and about. I figured we were safe. What I didn't think about was how these roads had been salted in preparation for the snow and that our mountain roads leading to home were not. Sure enough, getting up the mountain turned out to be a challenge. We got to one spot where two cars were stuck ahead of us. One made it to the side of the road. The other spun its tires until it finally was able to move again and kept going. We got the the same spot and got stuck. "I better park at the bottom and call Mike". I thought. I looked at my cell phone which I had just charged the day before, and it was completely dead. (These batteries have been driving us crazy! They're awful!) I couldn't believe it. So, I decided we would just keep trying. We made through that spot and continued up the mountain. But then mountain got steeper and I couldn't move anymore. the tires spuna nd spun and I could smell them burning. I let off the gas and the van started sliding backwards. I hit the brakes but to no avail. I tried to steer the car so that we would safely go in reverse down the mountain but it wouldn't. The car had a mind of it's own and we ran into the guard rail. I looked out my window and down at the hill we would have rolled down had that rail not been there. Then I wondered how long it would support my van. I told the kids to jump out as fast as they could. My niece was crying and the all were in shock. I jumped out of the car and opened the door to get the kids out. Everyone was okay, just scared. I gave my niece a hug and told her it was all okay. She continued to cry. I gave her her snow boots to put on and I grabbed the grocery bags, my purse, my camera bag and my niece's two over night bags and we started on our way up the mountain. Little Miss slipped and hurt her leg. She wasn't sure if she could walk or not. I started heading back to the car to put the bags back so I could carry her, but she assured me she could do it. So I told each one to stay where they were and I would walk them over to the grass. That's what we did and we all made it home, with snow pouring down on us. I made the kids hot chocolate and my husband and his dad (who luckily was at our house working on the bathroom) went and got the van. After making the kids lunch and trying to be as cheerful as possible so that they wouldn't realize the seriousness of what had happened (I think my niece did, which is why she had cried so much) I sent them outside to play in the snow and I threw myself on my bed and cried. I was thankful that our van made it back home with only a broken tail light and that all four children that were in the car were unharmed. Little Miss, my niece, my nephew, and little baby Shaffer #4. The next morning, I woke up with sore shoulders and arms. I was probably pretty tense while I was driving and it was just hitting me. Not to mention all the stuff I was carrying up the mountain! I was glad that day was over and that the crash was behind me. My in-laws picked up their kids and my family and I headed to Mass. While we were there, Mr. Tickle took off down the aisle. I took off after him and slipped right on my rear end. I got back up as quickly as possible in fear that he would make it to the altar and walked right up it. I got to him just in time and sheepishly walked back to the back of the Church. A few minutes later, I noticed that my hand hurt. I held it up to look at it and sure enough the bottom of my palm and the top of my wrist was blue and swollen. I guess I had used my hand to brake my fall and hurt it in the process. "Could this weekend get any worse?" I thought. I made it through the rest of the day without any catastrophes and then Monday came along. I was still a little emotional from Saturday and just wanted to Monday to end so that Tuesday would come. My sister was flying in on Tuesday and the kids and I were driving to my parents house to have dinner there. I couldn't wait to be in the comfort of my old home (the home I grew up in) with my Mom and my sister. It was just what I needed.
That evening my Mom called to tell me that we had somehow gotten my sisters traveling plans mixed up. She was coming until Wednesday so I didn't need to come for dinner on Tuesday and they had already made plans for Wednesday and Thursday. So I was going to have to wait until Friday to see her. I hung up the phone and went to start making dinner. I pulled out the meat I had defrosted and found out it had gone bad. I looked around for something else to cook but I couldn't think. I just sat down and cried again. Mike was out getting some parts for the bathroom sink so I called him and told him about the meat. He told me he would pick something up for dinner. I was relieved and just wanted the day to end. At least I had Mr. Funny's party to look forward to this weekend and of course my sisters visit to my house on Friday.
On Tuesday, my mom called again to let me know that we wer going to be getting a major storm this weekend and that I might have to cancel Mr. Funny's party and just cme to her house and get snowed in there. I was upset about the party, but was willing to do anything to make sure I was at my parent's house this weekend with my family. When Mike got home he told me something was wrong with our account. Somehow, we made a mistake and took out more money than we had. The bank charges us $35 for every overdrawn balance. We made ten. The bank took $350. Ouch. I felt like an idiot. How did this happen? How did we spend that much money? I was furious with myself. Mike and I went over our money and realized we spend way too much on food. That needs to be cut back. We've also put a lot into the bathroom, plus the party expenses, Mike's ER bill, my lab bill for blood work I had done and well, it all adds up. Aye, aye, aye. Today, my sister finally made it to Virginia. It would only be a few more days until I got to see her. I made plans to move the party to next weekend, and contacting our Little Flower leader to let her know I was going to be leaving Friday afternoon to my parents house because of the snow storm coming and so that was moved to next week too. Things were coming together. Until Mr. Tickle fell off his chair. He was standing on it, trying to look out our kitchen window to see the "no" (snow). His big brother decided to join him. They started fighting over room on this chair and off went Mr. Tickle. I picked him up to find his mouth bleeding. I ran and got a towel and cleaned off some of the blood. The outside of his mouth, under his lip, was bleeding. But the inside was also bleeding. I think that somehow he either bit down on the lip and it cut all the way through, or maybe his bottom teeth went through, or maybe they are completely different from each other. I couldn't tell. He calmed down pretty quickly and asked me to read him book. I read the book while trying to get a better look at his mouth. Should I take him to the ER? Could I even get off the mountain safely? What would I do with the other kids? Mr. Tickle wouldn't even let out family doctor look into his ear without me having to completely hold him down with all my strength. There was no way he would let an ER doctor stitch him up. I couldn't do this on my own. I decided I would wait until Mike got home and get his opinion. Mike said it looked bad but wasn't sure if it needed stitches. I suggested mouths heal fast. And so we are still here. Mr. Tickle seems fine and even had a nap. When he woke up, I asked him if he would show me his boo-boo and he told me his boo-boo was gone. Tough little guy. I want to cry again. But I don't think I can. I just want to get his day over with and tomorrow and then be with the all the people I love all weekend. My favorite people. They will recharge me. Because right now I am emotionally on edge and just can't deal with anymore.