I'm such a bad blogger

I know. I know. I need to keep this thing more current. Life just seems to get in the way sometimes.

I'm still trying to maintain my sanity, at least what little I have left. It's been difficult lately. DH hurt himself while working out at the gym and rather than going to the hospital as advised, he insisted that Katelyn, who was at the gym with him, drive him home. Now up until this time, Katelyn has only driven my car. And even that takes much encouragement because she really would rather not learn to drive at all. But DH drove his truck to the gym that day. Katelyn was already upset and worried about "that loud pop in Dad's chest" and when she got outside and remembered they were in the truck, she just about cried. But DH encouraged her with "You'll do fine. It's just like driving Mom's car. Just take me home."

We live in the mountains. From town to our house is nothing but winding country roads with nothing along the sides of the roads except trees and steep embankments...not an optimal environment to learn truck driving skills. She drove the truck out of town with no problems; but coming around one of the curves on the county road, one of the wheels dropped off the pavement. She overcompensated and jerked the wheel back, creating an entire chain reaction of panicked responses, not only of her own but from DH also. DH attempted to take the wheel and yelled at her to brake. She hit the gas instead of the brake and jerked the wheel, with him attached to it, the opposite direction. Needless to say, DH's ribs took another beating inside the truck on the ride home.

The end result was Katelyn announcing she is never driving again. DH announced he's never riding again. The truck is going to be fine. However, I'm not sure the occupants will be, at least not emotionally! DH finally went to the hospital to find out he was bruised up and had ripped muscles in his chest and around his ribs. He was ordered to be off work, on light duty at home, with no lifting, no extensive standing or sitting until at least mid-month. We made it a week before I started complaining to the doctor that if he didn't release DH to go back to work I was going to kill him!

Men are such big babies when they're down anyways. But my DH is far worse than most. He gives "cabin fever" an entirely new meaning! Here is the chronicles leading up to his return to work this week:

Day 1: He spent most of it griping, complaining, pacing, sitting, flipping TV stations, playing on the computer, complaining about noise, complaining about the weather, stomping to the refrigerator and complaining there was nothing there, then repeating all the above again and again.
(And why in the heck does a sick man suddenly become blind when looking in a refrigerator?)

Day 2: Much of the same as Day 1, but now the real pain and soreness has moved in. Not as much pacing on this day, but more time in bed along with additional complaints that the sheets are tangled up, the comforter is too hot or too cold and never stays on the bed right. The pillows are all wrong. The lighting in the bedroom is all wrong. And there's nothing on TV.
(I guess the "sick man refrigerator blindness" strikes when the TV is turned on too? Over 100 stations of satellite TV and he can't see a thing!)

Day 3: The girls dug out some old movies that DH hadn't watched in a while. Most of the day was spent watching movies, playing on the computer, and sleeping. Not too bad......until the snow started.

Days 4-5: We've had snow, sleet and rain and some wickedly cold nights around here. DH had to be the macho man and take care of his family....just in case we lost electricity. He went down to the garage and fiddled with the generator. Then he went down to the well and checked it out. Then he checked the fire in the stove at least twice hourly. He ran extra water into all the jugs, pitchers and containers he could find in the house. He refilled all the kerosene lanterns/lamps and put matches next to the candles. The he fiddled with the generator some more. Then checked the well again, and then the fire....getting us prepared to be months without heat, light or power. But hey, it kept him busy! :)

Days 5-6: DH wanted me to call out of work due to the weather. But I can't do that. When the weather gets bad, things at work get even crazier. Besides, I needed to get out of the house anyways. I don't think I could have taken another day of his preparations around the house. Once I had finally convinced DH that I was going to work, and there was no negotiation on it, he began to complain that he was worried about me driving down that long, curvy driveway in the snow, and cautioned, "You better take the Beast (his dual 4 WD with a lift kit, manly type toy) just in case."

Now, we're not talking about a New York style blizzard followed by an ice storm. We had snow on the driveway....simple snow! I've taken my car through far worse on many occasions. That car could probably get down that driveway in a snowstorm without a driver! But he just kept on and on and on and on about how careful I needed to be because he was so worried about me trying to get down the snow-covered driveway and about what would happen if I got stuck somewhere. (Did I mention that all the roads were cleared by noon the previous day?) So I relented and agreed to drive the Beast. A little overkill, if you ask me, and a waste of gas, but I didn't need to give him anything else to worry about.

So I went out to warm up the Beast. Here's the "before" picture: