Bad Nerves Ahead!

Well, the past week has had a lot of stuff going on around here. Matter of fact, there still is a lot happening in the old homestead.

Last week, there was the elation of Maya's break through -or so we thought -with the potty training. However, the next morning, there was a bit of an accident, if you get my drift and that led to no action in that direction -yep, you read that right, "no action" for the past four days. How she could do that is beyond me, for sure but she did. We tried about every trick in the book too as we tried to cajole her into sitting there, doing what we knew needed to be done by her but nothing. She did on several occasions go back to the bathroom willingly so that was progress, in a way, but still nothing happening. We were really getting worried too -so much so that Mandy gave her a laxative last night that was supposed to work within twelve hours but when 11 a.m. rolled around this morning and nothing had materialized, I had to call the van driver to tell him she wouldn't be going to school today because we were worried that the laxative might kick in while she was at school and well, might be a bit problematic then if that happened.

FINALLY, tonight around 8 p.m., Bill caught her in her now famous (to us, anyway) pose where we knew she was trying to do something and he picked her up, carried her to the bathroom and sat her on the throne. He said she was just stiff, trying her best to hold it in, but once he got her seated there, it was just too much for her and finally -for the second time in five days, she managed to "do the deed" and put it in the big potty. She was really excited after that and of course, we had to save the evidence to show Mommy when she got home tonight from a church meeting! (Yeah, we're maybe a bit strange about things like that I guess. But after struggling with this for so long now, be honest and tell me you wouldn't do the same thing too!)

Then there was the doctor's appointment and the drive to Pittsburgh with Mandy and I getting lost in the basement parking garage under the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center that has provided a little humor, lots of teasing about our sense of direction gone awry and such. I may have seen humor in all that walking, searching for the right level and for our car at the time but by the time Sunday rolled around, my legs were feeling the after effects then too of all that extra walking.

It was really enjoyable though Friday to have the opportunity to check out the new mall down by Washington, PA and also to meet Mandy's Autism Mom friend for the first time and for me, to have a chance to reconnect with my cousin Becky for a couple hours then too. The chance to shop a bit was fun as well. Who doesn't enjoy doing that every now and again?

Of course, this week has been a bit nerve wracking though with the flare-up yesterday between Mandy and her stepdaughter. The girl packed some clothes and left -went up to her Mom's supposedly to live. She did come home today for about 5-10 minutes -long enough to retrieve her majorette outfit and boots and a couple other little odds and ends that she must figure are "must haves" and that her Mom didn't have on hand for her. But nothing else was said by her while she was here so the standoff is still going strong.

But now, I'm a bit on edge about something else too. Mandy decided she wanted to invite our new minister down sometime for supper and it was decided that tomorrow would be the day -actually that would be today as I just happened to look at the clock here and it's almost 2 a.m. here now.

I was antsy about what to cook but finally got the main course settled on -"City Chicken" which of course isn't chicken at all but rather cubes of pork on a skewer. But it is something that has never failed me when I've fixed it before, is really good too and even looks nice when served up as well. I still haven't figured out what to fix for starch and veggies but Mandy says we have to make brownies for dessert because Pastor Carrie has professed to being a big lover of brownies so guess that is ironed out now.

But it's going to be hairy today to get all this accomplished because Mandy has a doctor's appointment at 10:30 for Maya and at 11 a.m., I have a meeting at church. The problem there is one of us is going to have to take Kurtis with us -either Mandy takes him along to Maya's appointment, which will be really rough for her to have to cope with both kids, simultaneously, at the doctor's office -or I get to take him to church with me for a relatively informal meeting of a church committee I am on. Either way, one of us is going to have our hands full, for sure.

At this rate, with all the other stuff that is sort of background noise but a bit nerve wracking nonetheless, and with worrying about fixing dinner for someone other than a family member -which could have me about to pull my hair out -I'm liable to have a major outbreak of little bumps all over my face and be in severe need of some kind of acne treatment! I've heard nerves can trigger an outbreak and this might all just be enough to set off one in me, ya know!

So just hope that things do end up going relatively smoothly between now and then and that I don't burn the main course -or heaven forbid, the brownies - and then we can sit back, relax, chat and enjoy the opportunity to get a little better acquainted with our new pastor.