This week for me was kind of like ordering a hamburger only to have it show up without the patty, which was exactly how it all kicked off for us down here last Saturday night. We finally figured out Uber Eats and were happily tracking our motorcycle delivery man as he raced through town to Bob’s Burgers and back on his way to deliver hamburgers, french fries, and milkshakes, the first real craving from home that the girls had requested in a month. As has been the pattern this week, I was the most upset when both girls hamburgers arrived without patties in them. Hannah and Lila, clearly the adults in the room, again, decided that it was ok because we had ordered bacon on the burgers and now they had a nice BLT. As the person in the room working at the five year old level, I was in full pouting mode because I had already forgotten to order the fries, and so was kicking myself that now two thirds of the first meal the girls had really wanted amounted to a poorly decorated bun and a milkshake. Thank goodness the milkshake was decent. And double thank goodness both girls have more of their mom than me in them.
It was a tough week for me. I don’t do well when I don’t get sleep, exercise or snuggles, and this week was a big three strikes and you’re out in all those categories. Sleep has been elusive because of a combination of things that are slowly improving, but mainly because we don’t have screens on our windows yet, so nights are hot right now, and our bed literally is so hard you wake up feeling bruised. The mattress topper arrived Thursday and is a godsend. Screens are coming soon, and then we will have a soft bed and cool night air to sleep in, and that is going to be great. On the exercise front, meetings every night but Friday this week at school and a more than slightly inflamed second toe on my right foot has made doing anything beyond hobbling around challenging. I think the infection is improving, and if I can figure out a way to teach kindergarten without walking, then it should clear up. I have antibiotics coming if things don’t get better, but I hate to put that intestinal beating on my system just as I feel like my body is adjusting to new kid and new country germs. Hopefully my Jimmy Dean Sausage Toe continues to deflate and exercise returns to my life, and Sarah’s. She has been dealing with the nastiest cough of her life for the last week and a half. We are talking “great, green globs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts” sort of cough, hence the lack of snuggles. It’s hard to ask for a smooch when you wear a hospital mask to bed. Don’t judge, I can’t handle having sausage toe and gopher guts cough at the same time. I’m dainty.
If it’s not clear yet, the girls are amazing. I can’t count the number of times already I’ve heard one or both of them say, “it’s ok Dad” and mean it. Hannah didn’t even lose it when her phone got dropped into a pool on Thursday. I would have cried, again. She put it in a container of rice immediately and two days later everything but the power button works. Fingers crossed it stays that way. Thankfully, we haven’t had the moment yet when we are all having a bad day at the same time. It will happen, but so far we have been taking turns, and somehow the family members who aren’t falling apart are lifting those that are back up to our feet. This week I took more than my share of turns getting lifted up. So I’ve got some lifting, and loving, to do in return this week.
No pictures this week, and more stories to tell soon. Electric scooter rides, commuting to malls by closed highways, birthday parties for ten year olds that cost more than our wedding, my first haircut in Portuguese, the politics and dynamics of kindergarten soccer in Brazil, and interesting soaking remedies for sausage toe that may have stained my whole foot pink. I don’t know if this is how blogs are supposed to go, but it’s our messy world down here right now and so I’m writing about what feels like needs to be written. There are still far more good moments than not in our lives here, and I promise to share a few more of those next time, especially the birthday party!
With love from Sausage Toe, Gopher Guts, and the two most amazing daughters any dad could have.
No comments:
Post a Comment