Friday, July 31, 2009

Adrenaline Junkie

I've had a heck of a week. Jeff's parents are visiting from Indiana, so we have spent lots of time with them, at our house and at a vacation rental on Whidbey Island. We're at the end of a record heat wave for western Washington, where homes do not typically have air-conditioning, as it is not NEEDED--except this week.
I scurried Ryan from place to place with A/C, we did the library, several trips to Baskin & Robbins, "shopping" in the toy aisle of Wal-Mart for an hour, etc. But I've had a big round of three bad things happen to cause my adrenaline to rush and stress me out for a bit.

1. A nice old man scraped the bumper of my 2009 Forester while I was parked at Trader Joe's. An alert lady let me know what happened. I waited for the man in 98 degree heat, with frozen foods and milk and Ryan in the parking lot to discuss it (not fun). I also called the police to file an official report. Luckily, the man was honest, and my car will be repaired soon.

2. The next night, I was attempted to bed down in my 85 degree house at 11PM. Jeff was doing laundry (not a common occurrence) in the garage. All of a sudden, there was a POUNDING at the front door. My first thought was, "why did he go outside, and why is he pounding on the door? He knows that Ryan is asleep!" Then the door knocker yelled "Open the effing door! (he said the word though). I yelled back through the screen near the door--WHO ARE YOU? He replied "Jeff" and I said, "NO---you're not." (not MY Jeff anyway). I was dialing 911 during this exchange. I said, "Go away, I'm calling the police." He mumbled something about Christine, which I think is my trashy neighbor's name. He then started begging me to NOT contact the police. I told the would-be intruder to go away and the police would not come. He complied with my request, however; I was left with a serious case of the shakes, and it took me a good long while to fall asleep that night. We think he meant to go next door, but I haven't found out, and I'm not sure how to ask my trashy neighbor about it, since we have suspicions about activities at that house, and this theory would support it. Too bad you can't choose your neighbors.

3. Ryan spent a nice day at the Children's Museum with his Granna and Grampa on Thursday. It is just two blocks from my office, so I met them for lunch at a cafe. All was going well until I received a dreadful phone call at about 2:30 from my MIL saying that Ryan had hit his head and she thought he needed stitches. They came to my office, we loaded up and went to the doctor. My little guy now has 2 stitches in his forehead. No photos yet, it's under a bandaid until it can stop being all gross and weepy. In the course of this experience, I was asked by the nurse to pin my baby down in a sheet swaddle. Besides his writhing body and blood curdling screams (supposedly his wound was numbed, but I don't think the stuff worked) he stopped asking for me and started asking for his Grampa. I got woosy and had to lie down. Basically, the nurse pinned me on top of Ryan, which wasn't helping my woosyness. I eventually flipped over and laid him on my chest, making it MUCH easier to breathe. After 10 minutes of laying there, another nurse took my blood pressure, which was only 94/70. I felt like such a wuss, but I think the week's events culminated there on the treatment table. Seeing and feeling my baby hurt was the last straw.

You will be glad to know now, faithful blog followers (all 4 of you) that I am now home ALONE for the night. It is my first night away from Ryan, he and Jeff went back to Whidbey to stay with Granna and Grampa. I will join them tomorrow, but I'm taking tonight for ME. I don't have a car, so I'm not going anywhere. So far, I've laid in the hammock, while sipping a cocktail and reading a book, cleaned the kitchen uninterrupted, cooked zucchini bread from homegrown squash, and am now writing a very long blog post. Oh, I also did one load of laundry. So much for a glamorous evening alone! I plan to get a FULL NIGHT OF SLEEP for the first time in a LONG time. Woo-hoo!

3 comments:

Jennifer Woolsey said...

WOW! Is this what you tried to call me about Friday night? Sorry I missed the call; I was visiting with Aunt Gail.

Talk about a string of bad luck. They do say it comes in threes...

Poor Ryan. How did he get the head injury? Do you think this will be the first in a long line of injuries? You know what they say about boys! :)

Melissa said...

Good grief, Bri! That's some crazy stuff! I hope you enjoyed your alone time. I probably would have been too freaked out by #2 to spend any time at home alone! And poor Ryan and mommy with the stitches! I hope this next week is uneventful for you!

Joanna said...

Chica, I hope you wake up a new women. So sorry about all the mishaps. Too bad I don't live close enough to come comfort.