One Verse Short of a Sad Country Song...

Yep, that about says it- it's been an old school Country Gold Saturday Night kinda week around these parts. All week last week I was out of town for work-a very long 5 days. The week before that everyone in the entire house was sick, again a very long 5 days. Coming back home after being gone puts you behind a week- on everything, requiring another very long 5 days to catch up- can you hear the twang of the guitar yet??  So in between playing catch up on my domestication duties and trying to squeeze in a little R & R, life decides to shake things up a bit.

It all started with Jolie aka Jo Jo- she's been sick for some time now. We discovered prior to Christmas she has developed heart worms and is for the most part, in congestive heart failure. She's been a tough cookie though, taking her medication like a champ ( every $100 dollars worth ) eating regularly, and for the most part acting like herself. I noticed on Sunday that she wasn't looking too good and I of course started thinking the worst and preparing for what I felt was the inevitable. After a few bouts of crying, discussing whether or not we should put her to sleep, trying to figure out what you do with a dog once they die if you didn't want to bury them in the yard if you didn't intend on living there forever, I decided I'd watch her for a couple days and if she didn't improve, I'd make an appointment to take her to the vet. Are you sad yet?

Monday night shortly after I put the girls to bed, Presleigh calls my name from her bedroom-

P- Mommmmy, I think I need to show you something
Me- Okay, give me just a second and I'll be in there ( cussing under my breath b/c I just laid them down )
P-But Mommmmy, you I REALLY need to show you something
Me-Okay, I said I'll be there in just a second - (slamming the last dirty dish into the dishwasher)

I turn around to walk into her room and she's standing there behind me, holding her mouth open and there's blood on her hands and in her mouth. Of course my immediate reaction was - " Oh my God! " Her tooth obviously bleeding and slightly crooked. My freaked out reaction put her in full blown panic mode and now she's crying- smooth move right, I'm not the calmest when it comes to blood. Presleigh's bottom teeth have been wiggling for a couple weeks now. Shocked me when I initially discovered it, she seemed too little to be loosing her teeth. Having to explain to a 4 year old that her teeth are falling out as you scramble around grabbing red solo cups and wet paper towels is no easy task- what was I going to do w/ a red solo cup? Good question- maybe give her a mixed drink to calm the nerves, catch the tooth with it, who knows, but it sounded like a good idea at the time. The bleeding had stopped and I had explained the tooth fairy, bribed her w/ money and a little surprise if it comes out, but she still had no interest in losing that tooth. Again, I'm not good with things like this and the thought of having to pull the tooth out made me gag, literally. After about 30 minutes of gagging and talking about why our teeth fall out, I realized I was fighting a losing battle. It was after 9pm on a school night and past their bedtime, so I threw in the towel. It wasn't loose enough to where she might swallow it in her sleep, so I felt okay letting her go to bed. But only after she had bribed me with her crocodile tears and " Mommy, I'm scared can I pleeeease sleep in your room" talk. So up we went, to my room, where all 4 of us slept like can of sardines.

On Tuesday I call Carrie on the phone looking for some sympathy or a good laugh. Hearing the exhaustion in my voice, she asks " Girl, what's wrong with you?" And that's where I proceed in my best Merle Haggard impersonation- " My damn dog's dyin', My kid's teeth are fallin' out, and I'm just slap tired"  Where she then responds with " Well, hell, you're about one verse short of a country song aint ya?"
See! laughter and sympathy, I knew she could do it! Oh and a bonus blog title to boot.

It's now Wednesday night- Jo Jo seems better with a little more pep in her step, Presleigh still has her tooth and shouts "hey, look at this " as she wiggles it for every stranger this side of Dallas, and I'm slowly but surely marking things off of my to do list ( like blogging for example ) so I guess I can quit drowning in my sorrows for now and suck it up at bit :)

Baby Jo Jo