A Weekend From You-Know-Where!

We decided to make a trip to Dothan Friday afternoon for groceries at Super Walmart because things are sooo expensive in Eufaula right now. Our first stop was to the Olive Garden though, so we could celebrate my birthday dinner early (my birthday is on July 4th.) It was absolutely perfect. I had the Five Cheese Ziti del Forno, Jeff had Chicken Parmesan and Anna Kate enjoyed her chicken tenders and fries. It was SO GOOD! I'm still full from it :-) From there we went to Pet Smart to get diapers for Bell (I'll explain that in a minute) and then to Circuit City. I needed a few accessories for my new iPod (my early birthday gift from Jeff & AK) and Jeff picked up one as well. So far so good. On to the mall. We have a family wedding coming up in August on the beach, so we needed outfits. Jeff hit the jackpot and of course I did not. *Huff* I did pick up two blouses for work though, so I guess that counts for something. By the time we made it back to the car and got AK settled it was clear we were pushing her limits and would have to bypass the Walmart stop - the whole reason we made the trip in the first place...

Saturday started out rocky. Anna Kate woke up in a terrible mood and Jeff and I were so exhausted from our busy work week = DISASTER! I'll just say that it was a very rough day. Add that to our female dog Bell is in heat. We missed our window to have her spade by a week and now are forced to deal with the 'events' of heat - hence the diapers. We have kept her crated by herself for the most part but it has been a circus around this house.

Sunday...WORSE! Anna Kate woke me up at 3:30AM crying that her bottom hurt. She had to tee-tee, but said she couldn't and wanted in the tub with warm water (we've been down this road before, but I wasn't prepared for what followed.) That didn't help and soon she was screaming in pain. From her body language I could tell she was having 'shooting' like pains. Over the course of four hours I believe she had 6-8 warm baths, none of which helped her. I gave her Tylenol and Ibuprofen (spaced out of course), she drank cranberry juice and water, yet every time she tee-teed she screamed in pain and burning. It was pitiful and heart wrenching when she begged me to make it feel better. She said over and over again, "I just can't take it anymore." It was awful! Finally I posted on my parenting message forum and they recommended a heating pad. BINGO! That did the trick. No more pain. She feels so much better! I do think I'll take her to the doctor in the morning though just to be sure it's cleared up. I want to be sure it hasn't spread to her kidneys, which I understand can happen rather quickly in younger children.

So, short of Jeff and I coming down with some puking virus, I don't know how much worse it could have gotten. Now it's time for bed and I'm so exhausted I can't go to sleep. Go figure. If I can just get through four days of work, I'm hoping to take a relaxing three off for my birthday. Wish me luck...