We've got bugs...

Two kinds of bugs actually.

No, not the little creepy, crawly type of bugs. And not the kind of bugs where someone is listening to your conversation without you knowing it. (We did watch Duplicity with Julia Roberts for Valentine's day though... what a good movie!)

One bug is a crazy stomach bug. Everyone in my family has gotten this terrible stomach bug. It started with our foster son a week and a half ago, then moved to my daughter, my husband and today, it hit me. Hopefully this will be the end of it's run. (Sorry about the gross pun.)

I have spent all day with my trash can, my toilet, drinking 7up and laying in bed. Only in the last couple of hours after taking some Tylenol have I even been able to watch some TV or browse on the computer. Not a fun day.

My husband was awesome and spent the day at home with our daughter so I could rest and recover. I am hoping that tomorrow I feel normal enough to Lysol everything in our house and get it functioning again.

For some time now, our life has seemed arrhythmic- like we cannot get into a normal flow anymore. It seems that every other day brings some new thing that makes us need to have an abnormal day.

In fact, abnormal days have become the norm for us. I am hopeful that soon things will go back to normal for us (we can't stay sick forever can we?), but part of me wonders if we will ever get back into a good rhythm. Which brings me to my second type of bug... Things about our previous life-routine that I have loved, and not having them is bugging me.

These are the things I have been missing lately:

- My non-traditional housekeeper
I hired a girl who was out of high school working lots of odd jobs to clean once a week and she was great. I made a list and for $10/hr she would basically do anything I asked. Cleaned my bathroom, mopped my floors, even helped me catch up on dirty dishes and folding laundry. I am pretty sure that regular cleaning services don't function this way, so I really enjoyed having her.

- Regular date night
Christian and I used to have dates on Tuesday nights, eating pizza and cookies while watching Biggest Loser after our daughter goes to bed at 7pm. It was our night during the week to relax and take a break together. I have joked that we should re-instate date night on Monday's so we can watch the Voice together. He laughed but did not commit... I'm not sure what's up with that.

- Melody going to bed at 7pm
In the last few weeks it seems there has been something almost every night that hinders us from getting our daughter to bed by 7pm (which has basically been her bed time since birth). Her 7pm bed time has shifted to 7:30... some nights even 8pm or 8:30pm! Every time I start thinking I really want to move it back something happens, like her throwing up- or my husband throwing up, or me throwing up... you get the idea.

- My washing machine
My washing machine has only been broken for a week, but let me tell you, my washing machine and I are best friends. I do an insane amount of laundry every week to keep up. Between cloth diapers for my daughter and clothes, towels and sheets for 3 people (and for a couple of months there were 4 of us!), I use my washing machine A LOT (which is probably why it broke). Now the laundry mat a few blocks away from our house is becoming my new best friend. Except I don't like it is as much. It is expensive and I don't have the ability to do a load or two a day. It is much more time management savvy to save up our laundry once or twice a week and go. That is one or two entire nights out my week JUST TO SIT AT A LAUNDRY MAT... okay I am stopping now about this one.

I apologize for all the venting, and I guess when I re-read everything I just wrote, most of the things I am having trouble with are fixable.

I do have a girl coming on Thursday afternoons to watch Melody while I do my own cleaning.

I am sure there is no good reason Christian would not have date night with me on Mondays.

Fixing Melody's bed time is something I have done before and can do again.

The only real problem that will take some effort to contend with is our broken washing machine. And actually if I give Christian a few hours on Saturday to poke around with it, I am sure he can figure it out.

I guess all I can say at this point, is thank you for lending an ear. Do you ever do this? Begin to tell someone about your problems only to realize they aren't as bad as they seem?

No? Just me?

Well, anyway, thanks for listening. I think I see my sanity on it's way back to me, that in a few days our bugs have a good chance of being gone.

Love, Rachel