A NEW DAY

The first part of this post is going to sound all whiny and complain-y.  It'll get better by the end...I promise.

So yesterday was quite a day around here.  It started out pretty good.  We had Karate on the schedule and that was pretty much it.  Scott decided he was going to work from home.  His vehicle was acting up on the way home from work on Monday so his plan was to take it in before Karate so I could pick him up and then he'd go with us to Karate lessons.  Nice.simple.plan.

11:05 AM.  Faith comes to me and says, "Mommy, can I have ice for my eye.  It really itches."

I looked at it and gasped out loud.  It was swollen and red and well...gasp-worthy!  I didn't mean to, but I know my gasp frightened her a little.  Since anything eye-related is serious business at our house, I immediately called the pediatrician.  I could bring her right in and they would work us into the schedule.  I only wanted Dr. Garvis.  He knows our little Faith almost as well as Scott and me.

My fear was pink eye.  Thankfully my fears were for not.  Dr. Garvis said he was sure it was allergies but he didn't want to mess around.  So we wouldn't have to drive to Rochester to see Faith's specialist for most likely an allergy, he called the pediatric eye doctor at the eye clinic one floor down from the pediatrician's office.  The pediatric doctor was in another building that day.  Fifteen minutes away.  Dr. Garvis scheduled us to be there in twenty minutes.  We zoomed off and made it in time.

Dr. "P" was very nice.  She checked Faith's eyes and agreed that it was allergies and nothing related to her retinal issues.  She prescribed a daily eye drop that would help alleviate the itching and redness.  It would take a few days to really start to work.  One drop...once per day.  My Faith was mad.  mad, Mad, MAD!  And scared.  She does.not.like eye drops.  She tried so hard to be brave, but once she and I were alone her little lip started to quiver and she said, "Mommy, I don't LIKE eye drops.  I'm scared." 

"I know, sweet girl...I know.  We'll get through it one step at a time."

We didn't get to Karate.  Scott was left hanging on how to get his vehicle in for service and get a ride home.  He did what I would have done in the same situation and called my mom and dad.  My dad picked him up and brought him home.

A few hours later his vehicle was ready.  He had been leaking fuel.  Some fuel got into the oil so the oil had to be changed again, too.  End result was $620 in repairs.  Better than a new vehicle...which is what would have been the case had he just let it go.

Next stop was a trip to the vet with our dog Player.  I needed to pick up heart worm pills for both our dogs so I scheduled a visit with the vet for her to check Players ear, which I was pretty sure had an infection, and then also check a little lump on his tummy.  Lump was nothing to be concerned about, just keep watch of it.  Ears were infected, most likely due to allergies.  I walked out with two packages of heart worm pills, prescription ear ointment, and of course, Player...but only after writing them a check for $113.

To top off the whole thing, my back has been so sore I can hardly move.  It's my neck, left shoulder and mid-back.  The only way I can explain it is that it not only hurts, but it burns.  When I'm home I've been walking around the house with a large Ziplock bag full of ice on my shoulder/neck.  I went to the chiropractor on Monday and I'm thinking I'll be back by the end of the week.  Anything I do hurts.

Okay...so that was the whiny, complain-y part.  Thanks for letting me get all that off my chest.  Sorry you had to endure it, though.

Now for the positive side of things.

Our little Faithy is okay.  It's just allergies.  In the grand scheme of things, I'll take allergies over anything else that could have been going on with her eyes.  In her "up-side" of looking at things, Faith said to me yesterday, "Well...at least it's my left eye." because that's the eye she doesn't see out of.  She did really well with the drops last night.  It took a good ten minutes to calm her down, talk to her about it and convince her that it would all be okay.  When it was done she looked at me and said, "That's it?  We're done?"  Yep...easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.

As far as Scott's vehicle.  We can be thankful that what was wrong was fixable and that we didn't need a new one.  He said just driving it home the probably mile or so from the repair shop he already noticed a difference in how it drove.  He could breathe easy knowing that he could drive it safely to work without it breaking down.

Making sure our two four-legged family members are healthy and well-cared for is important, too.  What would we do without these two joys in our family?  They add so much happiness to our lives and each of them has personality and uniqueness just like the rest of us.  We can't put a dollar amount on them.

So...in the grand scheme of things...it all worked out okay.  God provided and cared for and continued to hold our hands through it all...guiding, directing, protecting and loving every step of every day.

Wishing you a peaceFULLYsimple day.
Jeanine