I am so spoiled...

This is where I am spending my week. In a beautiful hotel on the beach. And I have absolutely nothing to do. I feel like I've died and gone to heaven. (If only my luggage would arrive...) The staff at the hotel calls me by name - like they know me. And they keep asking what they can do for me or how I'm doing. I'm doing GREAT, by the way.

CJ and I had lunch by the pool today. We're planning a walk on the beach as soon as he gets out of "class" at 4:30. I could really get used to this!

By the way, thanks to everyone who was so sweet about Charlie and his leg. He is doing so much better. And I have to mention that none of this dream vacation would be possible without my parents who are taking care of our three kiddos. Thanks for everything guys! I wish I could bring you here when the week is over - I'm sure you'll need it!

Day 2 - Blessing #2

(Photo of staph bacteria)

So after my Temple post yesterday, there was no way I could NOT post about this.

Charlie got a mosquito bite at soccer practice on Wed. night. Thursday morning it looked really big and swollen and I figured he was having a little reaction to the bite. By the time he got home from preschool, it looked even worse. And when CJ got home from work and we showed it to him, it was really red, swollen, hot and oozing something. So I took him to a neighborhood clinic and got him some amoxicillan - they said it was "cellulitis." (Is that the right word? Sounds too much like "cellulite" to be right but I'm pretty sure that's what they called it.)

Then this morning, I was at Target and I happened to run into a couple from my ward and I showed them Charlie's leg. Turns out, their little boy had a staph infection a year ago that got extremely nasty and scary and required surgery and a long hospital stay and the poor kid is STILL on antibiotics for it. I knew all this of course - maybe that's why I wanted to show them Charlie's leg. Anyway, they recommended that I take Charlie to our regular pediatrician asap, so I called and got him in. And he has a staph infection in his leg. They changed his prescription (and it cost $94 MORE than his amoxicillan did darn it! And yes, that was our co-pay!) and told us to watch him very closely for the next 48 hours. Now is that crazy or what? I am totally convinced that seeing my friends at Target was NOT a coincidence. It reminded me (yet again) that I am loved, and watched over. Now, I'm just praying that Charlie's infection will go away and not interfere with our trip.

Just what I needed...

Thanks to a great girl in my ward who recently agreed to do "temple swap" babysitting with me, I was able to go to the temple today.

I don't know how to say all of this without seeming to complain, but things have been a little out of control lately. I know, I know - we're all busy and we all have "to-do" lists a mile long, but lately, it has been more than that for me. I guess it's really a lot of things piling up: the kids have added extra things after school, our house is still a mess from the hurricane (though, for anyone who cares, we're actually getting our roof replaced next week which is a MAJOR step toward more repairs!), I'm in a state of panic that another person is about to join our family and I'm barely managing the 3 we already have etc, etc, etc. I've been working on a few projects as well and I just feel like every single minute of every single day is taken up and used and there's not anything left over. No happiness, no joy, no peace, just the frantic pace of life and I can never get ahead.

Until today. I almost backed out. I have so much to do in the next few days, I told my friend that I couldn't go this week. But I felt so annoyed to put off my temple trip - it's never convenient or easy to go - so I called her last night at 9 and decided that somehow, it was going to happen. And wow. It was the best 90 minutes I can remember having in a very long time. So peaceful and wonderful. I didn't really want to leave. How come I forget so easily the meaning and purpose behind my life? Why do I feel so alone sometimes when I'm not? How come I don't remember the promises I've been given? There's really no way for words to describe how I'm feeling right now, but I'm so SO glad I went today. It was just what I needed. And now I feel like I can face the frantic pace of life again.