mental exhaustion

heat and christina are by no means BFFs. i get so exhausted in summer---well, from the heat of it. i definitely have fun with summer stuff, but i feel like i tolerate the summer so i can REALLY enjoy spring and fall. they are superior... by far. when i was young summer vacations meant nothing but relaxation. and NOW i know why vacations were stressful for my mom. she had to pack, prep, clean, organize, get there, get settled, make memories, and then pack, clean, organize, get home, launder ridiculous amounts of clothing, clean a house that was empty for days and somehow managed to look like a war zone when we got home.... etc, etc, etc..... top a vacation recovery off with some recent trips (yes, tripS) to the doc and you will no doubt be waiving your white hankie and shouting "preach it, sista!" when i explain my mental exhaustion. we've all been there.

so the kids and i recently headed up north... sans daddy (boooo!) ... before we headed out i noticed a little puffiness to meg's eye. i decided to run it by the doc b/c i didn't want to get up north and THEN have a major issue away from our normal doc. so, on tuesday i dropped connor at bible school and headed over to have her eye checked out. turned out it was a little infection for which she was given an antibiotic. started the meds and the swelling went down. perfect! we were going to have a great time away.

about the second day of our adventure i noticed her eye still had a little lump to it. she wasn't at all bothered by it, so i decided to just call the doc once we got home. so we got home and hit the office again.... not my favorite thing to do, but hey, we have insurance now, so i'm thankful. we went in and were told that her infection had localized and would likely need to be lanced.... DELIGHTFUL. doc said not to stress about it right away, but to have a fun fourth and have her finish out the antibiotic before we even made an appointment with the eye doc.

so i decided to let her go have the already planned sleepover at bb and grampa's. they were going to do fireworks (which were AWESOME!) and then party like it was 1999. the kids literally kicked us out after the fireworks. i was just getting over some congestion, so i was happy to have a sleep in day. i took my time getting up and hit meijers... alone... it was both refreshing and intensely boring. next it was off to get the kids after they had time for special lunch (translation....happy meals). i walked over to meggie and noticed her cheeks looked flushed... almost like a very faint rash. i checked her arms.... small red spots. i lifted her shirt just praying that nothing would be there... no soup. dots were everywhere. mild and fairly spread.

so i got her some benadryl as soon as we got home. that was about as useful as spitting out a campfire. throughout the evening the rash just spread and spread. by morning it was severe. back to the doc. seriously, if i never see those people again i would be ok. turns out she was severely allergic to the antibiotic. so.... back to the target pharmacy. poor baby is itching like crazy, but sweet as ever through it all. she hasn't complained once. i am so grateful that we live in a place where our biggest issue is a reaction to a medication that was meant squash out the minor infection in her eye. i was telling nathan last night, "even if we were born in america just 100 years ago, she may have had to live with that infection in her eye... and who knows what that could have done to her down the road."

i'm thankful for educated doctors with clean facilities and access to technology that allows us to get what we need as quickly as possible. God's mercies on us are incomprehensible. such kindness for so many undeserving. and that's just for our daily life.... the prospect of eternal life with Him FAR outweighs it all. and He has graciously reminded me of that through this little blip.