Just Another Migraine Monday

I don't know what you call this. Seasonal depression, maybe? When I get really stressed, I get a killer migraine on the right side of my head. I can feel it coming up through my tensed up right shoulder and throbbing behind my right eye. I get nauseous and dizzy. I'm super sensitive to smells, lights, and sounds. Do you want to know the best part? While I have had this going on for DAYS, we have been flooded in at our house. The kids' school had something of an emergency evac / sent the kids home at 10:30 on Thursday because of rising waters. From there on out, the water just kept getting deeper and deeper until our road was closed essentially trapping me inside of my house with my 4 noisy, smelly children. I love them. Honestly, I really do. However, there's this viscous cycle where they cause me to feel stressed and get a migraine and then my migraine makes me nearly incapable of dealing with the noises and smells that come along with said children. On Friday night, I lost it and made them all go to bed at 7:00. Believe me, you haven't heard a child throw a fit until you tell a 12 year old that they're going to bed at 7:00 on a Friday night.

Between the snow days, and the Holidays, and now the flooding... my kids have only gone to school a handful of times since the beginning of December. I've been trying to remember how on earth we made it through 90 days of summer vacation considering one month of "vacation" in the winter is enough to make me consider getting medicated. I think that we might be okay if the sun would just make a bloody appearance to recharge my sanity albeit temporarily. Oddly enough, I've always considered myself an easy going person. So it comes as quite a shock to me that my children's love of a Bohemian existence sends me so far over the edge. The mere fact that my daughter feels that clothing should be optional and my son eats 24/7 are driving me mad.

On Friday morning my daughter's clothing optional mindset manifested itself in a rather embarrassing way. Since my throbbing head was killing me and we had NO WHERE to go since they weren't going to school, I was lazily sleeping the morning away. That said, I didn't notice my kids excitedly throwing on their rubber boots so that they could go splash in the muddy flood waters which I admit, do probably look like glorified mud puddles to my puddle loving kiddos. If it weren't for the fact that the house was eerily TOO quiet (odd the way that quiet now sets off alarms and wakes me) I wouldn't have noticed at all and would have continued blissfully sleeping.

It was about 9:30 when the silence wasn't golden, and I jumped out of bed and went looking for the missing noise makers. A glance out the window, and I realized that not only were they happily splashing in the water that had found its way to our yard after flowing swiftly through fields of cow manure and over engorged septic systems but that Brooke was wearing nothing but her beloved pink robe that's a few sizes too small and a pair of boots. To really top it off, there were several gawkers taking pictures. That's right. My poor parenting has been documented. I just hope and pray that none of those pictures make their way into the hands of child protective services. In my defense, I did run out and force her to come inside and take a bath and put clothes on while I washed her robe. I don't have any pictures of that though.

So, here it is Monday. My migraine is still going strong, but my kids ARE back to school. I'm trying (really, really, REALLY trying) to have a good attitude about all the clean-up that I have to do. I'm telling myself that at least I'm in good enough health to clean. Heck, I could be paralyzed or something. I should be thankful that I can vacuum, right? And even though I strongly resent the fact that the dirty laundry has been coming in twice as fast as I've been able to wash it, I should be thankful that I HAVE a family to make that laundry dirty, right? Same goes for the dishes. Sure, I'd love it if the clouds opened up and the other 5 people who live in this house (and all the guests who are always coming in our revolving front door) would pitch in without me losing my voice nagging them... but hey, at least I have a kitchen to clean, right? When the weather has gotten extreme this winter I've been feeling extra grateful for the roof over my head.

So, there you have it. I'm done ranting. Now, I guess I should get back to my chores while the kids are at school. Hopefully my excedrin kicks in soon. Oh, and here is a pic of our flooded back yard. (The ones of Brooke in her robe not included.):