spills

Ben was out of town the past couple days.  Normally, this would not freak me out, but this time around, I was very scared for him to leave.

Last week was an extremely difficult week, as the kids have been "adjusting" to our new normal, the baby went through her milk protein intolerance issues, Ben was working on the yard in the evenings after working all day, and I was stressed and exhausted to the max.

Because of this, I was very scared to be left flying solo, even for just two days.

I think the Lord was very aware of our situation, and he gave me a very deep sense of hope and peace while Ben was gone.  Our home was blessed with more peace, and a sense of getting back to normal, at least a little.  I think I was blessed with a kind of blocked sense of feeling overwhelmed as well.  It was almost as if I was numbed during the hard and stressful moments, and the calm and good moments were magnified.

For instance, yesterday morning.

Allow me...

The previous day, Sam told me that the toilet upstairs was clogged.  This stayed in my brain for a total of about 10 seconds.  That seems to be the longest period of retained memory I seem to have as of late.  :)

So, yesterday morning, as I was packing lunches, getting breakfast for everyone, and helping get Mary and Sam out the door to school, I heard the toilet flush upstairs...and I remembered again...for about 10 seconds.

I had just poured milk into the pot on the stove, to start making Cream of Wheat for the kids, when I heard the sound of running water.  I thought it was odd that it was coming from the ceiling.  I looked up, and just at that moment, the water came raining down, from the upstairs bathroom.  CRAP!!!  (haha, no pun intended)

I rushed upstairs with the plunger, and quickly realized that the entire bathroom floor was under water, and the toilet water was flowing out of the toilet...oh, and the water was NOT clear and clean. um, yeah.

I plunged the toilet, and unclogged it, just in time to hear Mary yelling from the kitchen.  I ran back down the stairs just as the milk was boiling over the pot, the stove, the cupboards, and onto the wood floor.  The kitchen was filled with smoke.   Awesome.

I ran to the pot and moved it off the burner, just as a small piece of our ceiling suddenly peeled off, and the flood gates opened from the kitchen ceiling, and toilet water poured down onto the table, chairs, and wood floor.  I threw bowls at the kids and told them to stick them under the water, as I continued to stop the burning milk, and tried to open windows and doors to filter out the smoke.

Somehow, during all of this, I was acting completely calm, and talking totally normal.  Like I said, God gave me a sense of being numb...thank goodness. Either that, or I am beyond too tired to care.

I spent the next 45 minutes getting kids out the door, finishing breakfast for the two younger ones, feeding Molly, getting smoke out of the house, scrubbing the stove and kitchen, cleaning the upstairs bathroom, and getting our house back in order.

When all was said and done, I gave Luke a glass of milk he asked for, and sat down at the kitchen table with a big sigh.

I glanced up at Luke, who was staring right at me.  While looking me straight in the eyes, with his big, blue, innocent eyes, he slowly turned his cup, full of milk, upside down, and poured it all over himself, the table, and the floor.  Then, while still looking me in the eyes, he said, very slowly, "uh oh mom."  Then, he ever so slowly, set the cup back down, crawled off his chair, and went on his way. What the?!?!

I was too stunned to react much.  I just kind of mechanically went through the motions of cleaning up the mess, found Luke and told him that was not something we do in our house, and then I sat down on the couch with Molly, who was ready for her 2nd breakfast.

As I sat down, William came walking into the room.  He asked me for a Zebra Cake (a hostess treat that is extremely popular at our house right now).  I told him he would have to wait until after lunch.

William stormed out of the room in a fury.  (like I said, we are "adjusting" still)
I just shook my head as I watched him go.
A few seconds later, he came stomping back into the room, and stood right in front of me.
He bawled up his fists as tight as he could, with his arms straight down to his sides, sucked in a big, deep breath...and as loudly as he could, he yelled,

"YOUR FIRED!!!"

Then he stomped away.

I sat there stunned for a few seconds, and then, out of nowhere,  I burst out into my insane, crazy, scary psycho laugh.  Not the normal laugh people do over something funny.  It is the laugh people do when they are choosing to laugh instead of cry...or kill someone.  Yup, that laugh.

And I laughed and laughed and laughed.