STRESSED

It's been a horrible week at work. All I can say is that we knew it would be, so we were kinda prepared, and so I guess I'm probably not as stressed as I could be. It didn't help that John had to go out of town Sunday night through Tuesday. I kept things simple at home, got a little help from my neighbor (she put Mary on the bus for me Tuesday morning), and we made it through just fine. After I got over my highly stressful Monday, that is.

'Course it also didn't help that I had a horrible teeth-hurting sinus headache--for several days. Guess it's the mugginess. I know that nothing I'm taking is even TOUCHING the pain. So I've just decided to deal with it and get on with my day-to-day life. And now I'm feeling a little better.

The mini-van is "brand-new" again. I wonder how many lives this sucker has got, as it's now been reborn three times. I did get brave and drive to Wal-Mart again yesterday. I faced my fear and parked even further back in the boonies than I normally do (and away from posts/poles). When John drove the mini-van Wednesday night, he asked, "Did they clean it?" "Yes, they always do." "So THAT's why you do it!" "Yes, a $500 detail job. What a bargain!"

And on to less-stressful news....
Mary and I are excited because our Girl Scout troop is going camping tomorrow. Should be fun. I hope all goes well....

Keith and Izzy have developed an interesting game during our morning commute. It's the same dialogue back and forth EVERY morning and evening...

Izzy, "Hey, what's the hold up down there?" (sounds like: "Hey, what's the hole down there?")
Keith, "There's a rock in the way!"
Izzy, "Well, toss it out and get back to work!" (sounds like: "Well, tah sit an' get back to work!")
Keith, "OK!" (with lots of groans/pushing noises).

And then they giggle and do it all over again. Every now and then, Izzy will improvise and add at then end, "Is it heavy?" Keith: "YES!"

Now that I've figured out the dialogue, I'm wondering where it came from. Did Keith pick this up from some movie, or is this just a game he invented???

It used to be that Izzy was a "third wheel" who played on her own (or with me) and was completely ignored by her siblings. But now Keith has been playing with her--and just her!--more. I'm not sure if it's because the two of them are together all day at the same provider's house (without bossyboots Mary) or if it's just simply because Izzy's 2 1/2 now and is better able to keep up with him (maybe both). It's nice to see. Well, until Keith gets too "boyish" on her and throws toys at her or pushes her or plays a game she can't relate. Last night he was pretending to be a "mad door" (it's from the Piglet game we play on the Gamecube), and he succeeded only in making her cry because she didn't understand the game and she wanted to get through the doorway. I also caught him earlier threatening to stick a sharp pencil in her eye if she didn't stop crying (and I think she was just crying again because she didn't understand the game). Um...THAT is not acceptable. He got a time-out and a severe talkin' to over THAT little comment.

Cripes! The sibling rivalry! HOW to make it stop!