Bronx & Dad - 1 Mom- 0

In our house - we all pitch in. We try very hard not to let anything or any task be too one sided.

We take turns taking Bronx out for walks, doing laundry, vacuuming, and other "chores" around the house. I guess we live under the assumption that if it needs doing, who ever gets to it first, does it.

I don't vacuum the way Dave likes and he doesn't do laundry in the meticulous fashion I prefer, but I can live with that. Hey, if he wants to do that load of towels for me, who am I to turn him down?

There are a few things that only one of us do...most of the time.
There is no real reason behind it why I'm the only one who does the grocery shopping or why Dave is the only one who gives the dog a bath.

I mean, Dave HATES shopping...especially for groceries or household items and it doesn't bother me. Mean while, I can't give Bronx a bath without taking one myself or having him escape the tub and cover our walls with little Bronx's bath water droplets. So, I guess there really are reasons, but its not like we would refuse to do either of them, if need be.

However, I guess there is always an exception to every rule. Up until last night, I was pretty confident that Dave would never refuse to do a "job" or "task" in our home. He has always helped out and picked up my slack when I've been sick, etc.

"Charlee!!! I tried to stop it. I really tried." - Dave said to me last night with the slight tremble of panic in his voice, as he walked into the kitchen where I was fixing dinner. I knew whatever came out of his mouth next would not be good.

Next Dave said - "I can't do it. I can't even walk back in there. I can't look. I just can't. Actually, I can't and I won't and I'm sorry."

Wow? Had he lost his mind? Was there an alien in our bedroom?

It came out of his mouth so quickly, I wasn't sure what to think. So I walked into our bedroom to see for myself what all of this gibberish was about.

**If you have a weak stomach, stop reading now.

In front of our bed was a large "present" in our carpet......vomit. Dog vomit.
Vomit, puke, hurl, throw-up, chunks -whatever it is you want to call it.

Now, if I'm being real....let me real, REAL - the bigger the dog, the bigger the, ya know.
In case you didn't know, Bronx weighs in at around 100lbs and stands about thigh high to me (I'm 5'2").

Getting the picture? Good. Cause I didn't take one.
How freakin' gross would that be?

I do not have a strong stomach and had the "present" been a pool of blood - I'd be out cold on the floor, but seeing as how there are only two people humans that live in our house and my husband had already flat out refused, I had no choice.

Lesson learned - shit (or vomit) happens. You can't help it and you can't stop it. And my husband will NOT clean it up. Score: Bronx & Dad - 1 and Mom- 0

So, when the topic of having children comes up in the future, I really need to remember this, because I'll be damned if he's getting out that easy!! If I'm the designated bodily function cleaner-upper then I'm designating him some sort of duty too! Ha!

Wrath of "The Rash"

As a child and young adult I've always had sensitive skin.

My entire life has consisted of buying every cosmetic item and skin care solution in "scent free" or "no-fragrance" varieties.

I've always been careful to use the same products my skin is familiar with and I've always had a habit of checking labels to see if anything has changed with the products formulation.

I can remember soaking in oatmeal baths for hours as a child because my Mom accidentally purchased the wrong type of laundry detergent. But I've never considered my sensitive skin to be a true issue or health dilemma. 

Never until this..... 

I wish this photo was better detailed. I guess I shouldn't rely on my cell phone camera so often!

 I woke up one morning last week with both my upper arms covered in red hives, itchy bumps, and it was also painful to the touch. 

Of course I immediately went in search of the culprit. I knew I had accidentally used something I wasn't suppose to on my skin, but after searching every product I had in my cabinet I couldn't pin-point a specific reason.

 

Benadryl seemed to help the itching and burning that I felt, but it didn't phase the whelps/bumps/blisters that were forming on my skin. I've never experienced this type of rash before. In the past my rash has always been very red and itchy, not raised, with zero bumps/whelps present. So this was something new...

By the next morning, most of the symptoms had subsided and the appearance of my skin started to look better, but it wasn't gone. Funny thing is...it still isn't gone. 

I know, I know - I should have seen a doctor to have them look at the rash, but hear me out. 

 By the next morning, it didn't even look the same as it did the day before and I thought the Doc may think I'm a crazy lady if I go into the office with normal looking skin.  Also, we just changed insurance providers at my employer and I really wasn't ready to fool with changing all that information while doped up and groggy on antihistamines.

Some of the nurses at work seem to think its eczema (symptoms sound similar) and my friends and my Mom seem to think it was just a fluke rash from something I came into contact with, but don't remember. 

I don't even want to guess...as long as it doesn't come back I'll be okay with "it" being name-less for now.

So, for any of you self proclaimed medical healers out there....what the heck was it? 

Snow.....almost

On Friday (1/25/13) the foot hills of NC saw our first glimpse of winter weather of the year (if you want to get technical, its the first winter weather since 2011 because we didn't get any snow, sleet, etc in 2012 at all).

I'm not sure where you are from, but around here when the weather man even mentions the "s" word...people freak out. Sadly, I'm included in that group of "people." :) Although they were initially only calling for sleet and freezing rain, I held out waiting for a few flakes of SNOW to fall.
 Good thing I didn't hold my breath...

At the first sign of any perception - Schools close or release early. The grocery stores sell out of bread and milk in rapid time, and 9 times out of 10? It doesn't even stick.

Any who, on Friday shortly after the schools closed they sent us home from work and while I was no where near finished with my work load for the day, I was super excited for a free afternoon at home with my boys.


We napped and ate chili. Bronx and I wanted to play outside so bad, but we ended up with mostly freezing rain and sleet. I didn't see one.single.snow flake!

FYI - it is not fun to play in the ice.

But that was it - our first mix of winter weather for the year. Although I'm ready for flip flops and beach weather, I'd take another snow day before Mr. Sunshine comes out for good.

Bad Blogger

Its official. I'm a horrible blogger.

I really don't mean to be. Really. But this is my little diary about my little life and I need to keep up with it better!

I've been working 50-60 hour weeks for several months and on top of that we currently have zero internet access at our house. Like, zero.

You see, hubs and I like our country living. Our closest neighbor is a short drive away, wheat fields span out as far as the eye can see, and the only thing that will deliver to our house is USPS, UPS and Fed-ex.
My husband things the worst thing about living in the middle of no where is not having the option of pizza delivery.
I, on the other hand thing the worst thing is internet service....or lack there of.


Cable internet isn't even in our area, at all. The phone company refuses to run additional lines (other than phone line) to our home on our dead end road and I've gotten so fed up with wireless modems that I almost took the poor boys head off at Verizon when I lost all control about a outrageous bill from going over on our data plan.

We're screwed on internet at home for now, but I'm going to try my best to not let that small set back hinder me from being a better blogger!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!