A Busy Day

Guess I wasn't kidding when I said, "so much for my 15-minutes."

Today was supposed to be a lazy day for Charlotte and I - putting up pictures in the office, shelf braces in the downstairs closet, eating cereal with no milk,"watching shows that Charlotte likes," things like that. Rachel went in to to do birthday parties and I offered to come help a little since the two "helpers" were new and could use a little extra on-the-job-training.

I was on the way down when I got a message from Rachel that Charlotte had been invited to the 1pm Birthday Bash so I turned around and came back to get her. We slathered sunscreen on her for the second time since the accutane has the wonderful effect (among others) of making her extra sensitive to the sun. We also changed her dress because some of the jam I had given to her on bread for lunch found it's way to her very nice blue dress that Aunt Phyllis had found for her this morning.

It was ok since I went and got that pink dress she wore in the Kourageous Kids (sp?) photo shoot. She looked adorable of course. While we were there, Michelle Reynolds' (wife of my cousin Jeff and mother of Savannah) mother came in with an interactive bear that was a gift from her "Women Of The Moose" organization. It's very cool with headphones and a DVD and I'm thinking I might have more fun firguring out how it works than Charlotte will once I do. Thanks to them for that!

Well, not long after that, we found out that one of the helpers wasn't coming in to work so I officially became "on the clock. It wasn't too diffucult to do since CJ was an actual guest of the first party. The hard part was going to be what to do with her during the second party. We'd figure that out when we got there.

That question was answered when CJ was sitting on the chair behind the front desk and suddenly started crying saying that she had hit her head on the chair. The padded chair that she had been lightly bumping her head against since she could sit there. What it actually was (probably) was the onset of some of the side effects of the Accutane. One is headaches. So while mommy got her an ice pack and held her while she cried (quite heavily actually), I got the car and pulled up to the front and Rachel loaded CJ into her seat.

She was pretty groggy and unhappy on the way home so we stopped at "Old McDonald's" and got a small milkshakeshake. Charlotte wanted to wait and "eat" it at home so we started off and before we got out of the parking lot she was asleep.

When we got home she woke up a little but I shooed everyone out of the house and got her comfortable on the couch and for one blissful hour (plus 15-min or so) the house was silent and Charlotte slept. I dozed too which was nice.

When Rachel got home, CJ woke up and complained about her head again. We tried to give her liquid Tylenol but she wouldn't have it and only wanted Meltaways. I think it was effective as much as a placebo as anything. CJ and I went to hang out in her "upstairs room" because she was still a little tired and wanted more quite time. After a little while of looking out at the trees getting buffeted around by the wind, we read a book and went back downstairs for dinner, meds, and "something Charlotte likes" on demand.

We did all that, watched some Thomas The Tank Engine, and got ready for bed. She read her books, threw them out of the bed, and at last check, was sining to herself in the dark.

By the way, the second party went very well and Rachel and Lindsey rocked on the BB without me.

I discovered a good way to get her to take the Accutane without changing the routine too much. I mixed it with the Amoxicillin she's used to taking already and she didn't have any more trouble with it than usual. The hard part is getting the Accutane out of the capsule and into the oral syringe. Rachel figured out that it's actually liquid in there! Who'd a thunk it? So now we pop a hole into the end, drip it into a large lid and mix it with the Amoxicillin, then take it all up into the syringe and then we do the usual dance of talking her into taking it.

Here's something fun to do if you live, or plan to be in Grandpa's and Juanita Bonita's neck of the woods next month:

The Good Shepherd lutheran Church in Morristown, TN is sponsoring of a Benefit Pancake breakfast along with Applebees Resturant from 7-10 am on July 18, 2009 for Charlotte at the Morristown location on AJ Highway. Tickets cost $5.00/person for all you can eat pancakes, bacon, coffee. Applebee's provides the cook and food and the members of the Church will wash dishes and wait on customers. Tickets will be available at the door or from Charlotte's grand parents (Grandpa and Juanita Bonita) at the Hamblen County Car Club Cruise-In on Saturday night or the Church.

Next events for us here in Ashland are the Home Business Bazaar at St. Anne's Catholic Church on June 27th and the July 4th parade and pahtay! I've been asked to be a judge in the best apple pie contest and I want to get as many of the nominated great dads together as possible to march in the parade. It's completely casual and doesn't take long to walk. It's mostly for the kids (and bassett hounds).

Did I mention that as soon as Charlotte "rings the bell" we're getting a dog? Hanover SPCA of course.

So go watch "Little Miss Sunshine" twelve times on the Oxygen channel.