I am woman; hear me roar. Apparently, that means I can (and will) take care of it all!

After staring at our naked Christmas tree for the past few several days - I finally got the decorations on it last night.  If you want to call it decorated.  It's not right.  I realized after looking at it for an hour or two - it was missing the usual bows, flower and bead picks; etc.  After taking a trip to the garage to look for the boxes holding these missing items - I decided the tree was done.

Hubby, being the ever helpful husband that he is, "straightened" the garage up a couple of months back.  I should have realized what this meant and put a stop to it immediately.  Since the shed STILL isn't done (yes, the one that I painted back in April!  But to be fair - since Hubby lost his job that project kinda went on the back burner) the garage is a total hellhole (I'm not kidding - I won't even take a picture because it's so bad - I'm too embarrassed).  But when it was "arranged" just so then I knew where everything was and could get to it.  After Hubby got done with it - there are boxes piled on top of boxes and everything is stacked at least three boxes deep and have heavy lawn equipment parked in front of it.  So in order to get to the boxes holding those critical Christmas tree accouterments I would basically need to drag everything out of the garage.  It's not happening.  So the tree - and the rest of the decorating for the house - is done.  We have the tree and the stockings.  Nothing else is needed this year.

Feeling that something was accomplished and that I was moving forward on my list of To-Do's; I then received the news that my nieces would be stopping for lunch or dinner this Saturday (they aren't quite sure what time they'll be here - yeah - it's always fun for the hostess to not have a clue when her guests are arriving) as they drive through on the way up north.  This is actually cause for jubilation - since they will be the first family to visit - but this weekend is one that I have a LOT to get done.  But, as they are just stopping for a few hours - it should be fine.

Until - as I was typing this post - I overheard Hubby on the phone - it sounds like he is trying to make plans for this "dine and dash" visit to turn into a weekend trip.  We WILL be having a chat about this as soon as he gets off the phone (and I get off the computer) - there just isn't time for a whole weekend of entertaining.  Unlike him, I have a lot that NEEDS to be done before Monday.  (Hmmm, he must have felt a cold shiver of dread up his spine as he just abruptly walked out of the room to finish his phone conversation.)

To round things out - Man-Child is having some kind of allergic reaction.  To what we don't know.  He had to come home early from school yesterday due to what I was told was "hives."  The things covering this child's face aren't "just" hives - they are hives from hell.  I can barely look at him - I just want to cry.  It looks so painful.  His entire face - and parts of his body - are covered in huge, red, angry-looking blotches.  Needless to say, I went into total mothering mode and began feeding him Benadryl.  It did absolutely nothing for him.  This morning it was worse.  So Hubby took him to the doctor.  All they can tell us is that it is an allergic reaction (gee I knew that and I don't even have a medical degree!) and gave him some steroids.

And this is where it becomes apparent that a father (even a concerned and involved one) is NOT a mother.  I came home from work and Man-Child's face looked even worse, if possible.  I asked him when he'd taken the first dose of the medicine.  . . . . . .

He hadn't taken any!

When asked why, he said that he was supposed to take three on the first day - and he couldn't figure out the the when's and how's, etc.  So he figured he'd wait until in the morning!  Meanwhile he is suffering (apparently he itches and it hurts when he touches any part of his face) unbearably (I'm sure this crazy, sub-freezing weather isn't helping any).  Why his father didn't INSIST that he start the medication immediately is completely beyond me.

Apparently, it is also my job to be the medication dispenser.  So I made Man-Child take one and laid out the times that he should take the remaining tablets for today and will set up his schedule for tomorrow.

Now, I need to go - because there is still some laundry to be dealt with, gifts to be wrapped, cleaning to be done. . . . . . the list is endless.