Good morning. Well, actually it isn't a very good morning at all. It is only 6:30 a.m. but before I get to WHY I am blogging at 6:30 a.m. - let's do a bit of a recap for those of you who may be behind.

For the past 12 days Son #1 has been extremely sick. We've been in and out of doctor offices, labs and the hospital in an attempt to find the "answer". Apparently he has had the Mumps after having his appropriate vaccinations. So we are now in the waiting incubation period of 12-25 days to see if any of the rest of the family that has been exposed will come down with it.

So this past Sunday after spending Friday evening in the hospital with my son and Saturday at a dance competition with my daughter, I really needed to accomplish some "home management." With a few warm days, the kids were itching to get into some Spring clothes that apparently no longer fit them. The last thing I wanted to do was go to the mall on my ONE day so I lined them up one by one on the couch beside me, laptop in hand and we shopped for what they needed online. Quicksilver? PacSun? Under Armour? Sports Authority? Justice? Aeropostale? American Eagle? Hollister? All of this at the tip of my fingers on the keyboard and the click of a mouse away. Done.

After that I began searching for new bathroom rugs as the others were falling apart - pretty sure someone was going to kill themselves slipping on a bathroom rug that no longer had any rubber backing exiting the shower. And again - if you follow my blog - you know that if something is going to happen - it is certainly going to happen here and to us.

I had recently had a very successful online purchase and was feeling encouraged to continue on this path. Last week I found a comforter set for my bed. Though we also need a new mattress very badly (pretty sure that seeing the outline of your body in your mattress might be a sign) I figured I would start where I could.

Anyhow - I found a gorgeous comforter set that matched my decorating perfectly. The best part? This 8 piece set included decorative pillows - absolutely everything for $200.00 marked down from over $500.00. I was thrilled. click. Click. CLICK. Purchase made.

On Sunday, I stripped the old stuff off washed and remade the bed with all of the new luxurious furnishings. Very plush. I was excited to remove the electric blanket and welcome Springtime. So inspired by my new bed, I even cleaned the master bathroom. Good stuff, right there.

On Monday afternoon I began a gallbladder attack. These are not new to me and for those of you who follow the blog, you know that I have been battling gallbladder issues for about 6 years as well as being a newly diagnosed Celiac Disease patient.

Monday night after returning home from work (that I left early from gallbladder pain), my husband informs me that my stepdaughter will be coming the next afternoon as her birthday was last week and she is coming to "visit" (aka: retrieve her gift).

Tuesday arrives and I spend the day on the heating pad, sipping hot tea, downing Advil while I homeschool my kids. I look around the house and remember that my stepdaughter is coming. The house is trashed. Not having much physical mobility with my entire abdomen feeling like it is about to burst open, I send Son #2, Son #3 and Daughter into action. Then I leave to take Daughter to dance class. (In which, I have to take the long way because the highway that I would normally take is stopped in both directions with some sort of overturned truck and spill.)

I return home to find my stepdaugher laying on my couch with Son #2 and Son #3 watching the show "Hoarders". The vacuum still sitting right in the center of the floor where I left it and the job not completed by the assigned Son #2. I get the heating pad, wrap it around my stomach and back and decide to rest for a bit before I make the rounds to get my daughter.

My husband in the meantime is in full dinner preparation mode. That means that he has taken the chicken from the fridge and placed it in the oven. Then proceeded to inundate me with dozens of questions about cooking, what to cook, when to cook, how long to cook, what to cook with, - which translates into my mind of - I'll do it myself. Then I realize I can't do it myself. Can't pick up Daughter and make mashed potatoes...

I find myself extremely irritable - angry - ready to blow. I'm not sure why. Then it dawns on me. I am in intense pain - have been for over 24 hours- husband has invited stepdaughter to dinner (and not conferred with me) after I am coming off of a horrific weekend. Seriously though, for anyone who has experience gallbladder pain - it is intense and it wears you out. After a while, you just can't think about mundane things.

So dinner is had after I have retrieved Daughter from the dance studio and stepdaughter opens her present that she loves. I continue to lay on the couch with the heating pad - unable to eat.

Wednesday morning I awake and take the boys to school. My husband takes my car to head a couple hours away for a business meeting. I teach Geometry, help with a research paper and write a blog about mean girls and a recent experience involving Daughter. I finish my choreography for the recital dance for my Ballet 2 class and then I head off to pick up my sons from school. Upon returning, I shower, get dressed and head out the door to go teach 3 ballet classes.

As I get ready to leave, literally 20 minutes before my class starts, my husband informs me that "I might need gas." I am pretty fed up now. "What do you mean? If I needed gas, I needed to know that so that I could PLAN to get gas on my way - I don't have time now." My brain is processing this - let me get this straight. He takes my car - that had 1/2 a tank of gas - returned home - with no gas - didn't fill it up or tell me? That's great.

I get in the car turn it on - I've got about 1/8 of a tank. But no low fuel light - Phew. I back out of the driveway - gotta make my class. As I turn off of my court, I hear the "ding ding" and the light comes on. Welp - guess I will be stopping for gas on the way home now.

I teach my 3 classes. During the end of the last class, I hear the rain POURING on the roof. I mean coming down in BUCKETS! Perfect. I get to pump gas in the rain too! I'm so lucky. So - I head to the closest gas station knowing I had driven 15 minutes with the low fuel light on.

I arrive at the gas station. Out of the 8 pumps - there is only 1 available. The others do not have credit card capabilities working properly. So I wait behind the SIX cars to get my gas with my credit card in the pouring rain after I have just taught 3 classes at 8:15 pm.

Finally, I head home. I walk through the door and sitting on the counter is a chocolate cake with chocolate icing that Daughter had baked. She informs me that "it isn't gluten free because I knew your gallbladder was hurting and you couldn't eat it anyway and I didn't want to waste it." I reply. "Thanks."

I heat up a baked chicken thigh. It is the first thing I have eaten in days. Though I know that my gallbladder is still tender and that I should not be eating anything - after teaching I feel like I need something in my system.

I eat the chicken thigh, check my email. watch a bit of American Idol and head to bed.

After climbing into bed, I pulled the new plush comforter up over top of me. I say to my husband, "This is just a great comforter. It feels so luxurious." In my mind I am thinking, it is a chilly 40 degrees and I took my electric blanket off - but this comforter is so fabulous it doesn't even matter. I then say to my husband, "I really am hoping that I sleep through the night tonight. The past two nights I've been up taking Advil and in so much pain - I really need a good night sleep." I think to myself, "I should just be grateful for my new comfy bed and stop complaining." I wanted to be thankful. With all of the horrible things happening in the world, I should be thankful. At that present moment the only thing that I could muster was to thank God for my bed and my comforter. I thanked Him 3 times and then I fell asleep.

At 3:00 I am awake. In pain. In severe pain. I stumble around the house, collect a drink, Advil and my heating pad. Here we go again. As I lay there tossing and turning - feeling very frustrated, wishing I hadn't eaten the chicken and quite miserable, I hear Son #2 in his bed coughing. The asthma cough. My thoughts? "Crap. He is getting sick."

I struggle to find a comfortable position from minute to minute praying that the Advil takes effect soon. Sometime around 5:30 a.m. I start to relax and feel sleepy. As I am drifting off to sleep, I feel startled by the cat.

We have a 20 year old cat that has always been an outdoor cat but in recent months has become an indoor cat. There have been recent nights that I have wandered around outside to find her to bring her in when I knew that it would be getting too cold for her overnight. I rescue her and bring her to my room. She has taken to sleeping on my bed since we purchased the new kitty for Daughter. She is horrified by him so to save her from his playful wrath - she sleeps at my feet now after 20 years of never caring one bit about me.

Last night as I scratched her belly before bed my husband remarked, "That's just great. She's going to die soon and you are going to be upset because now she is here bonding with you after all of these years." We had a chuckle over it.

Now where was I? Oh - that's right...I am startled by the cat. There is a funny sound. Well at least I think there is. Remember I am half asleep in my ibuprofen overdosed state. I hit my husband -

Me: "Is she peeing?"

Him: "No! She just jumped down, left and came back again."

Me: "Oh."

Him: "Why do you think she peed?"

Me: " I don't know. I'm out of it."

The next thing I feel is my husbands legs sweeping across the bed back and forth. He is doing a "pee check". He concludes no pee.

I look at the clock. It is 5:40 a.m. Son #1 doesn't have to be at his job shadow until 8:45 - I am so thankful at that moment that I can get about an hour of sleep now.

Again - I start to doze -

Suddenly, my husband leaps from our bed! He is yelling,

"She peed!"

He flips the light on and and finds that cat laying at the foot of our bed. Next to her an ENORMOUS circle of pee on the NEW comforter. As he is pulling the covers back and ripping the sheets off the bed in a frenzy to save the mattress - he realizes that the mattress is soaked. He races to get towels to soak it up. I am fumbling for the tag on the new comforter...

DRY CLEAN ONLY.

I am speechless.

So at 6:00 a.m. husband and I are in the shower with our bed stripped and sheets in the wash.

I come downstairs to have Son #1 ask, "Have you seen my Job Shadow book?"

I feel like my head will explode. "No. I have no idea where it is - it wasn't my responsibility."

His reply? "Wow. What is your problem? Calm down."

So that, my friends, is why a mother has no patience at 6:30 on a Thursday morning with her teenage son.

I am pretty sure that the next couple of days will include shopping for a new mattress...

...because I have time for that.