Wednesday from Hell

Good morning to me, I woke up with hives (scratch, scratch). Well, I really woke up with super puffy eyes, which I thought must have been caused by 6 1/2 months of poor sleep (scratch). I wondered if there was any truth to Preparation-H working for puffy eyelids. Then I noticed the rash on my forehead (please, let's move on from the idea that I might have Preparation-H in my household). And the back of my hand. Suddenly my watch was incredibly itchy. And my entire body, wherever any clothes touched it. Huh. Kids were screaming for breakfast, so I brushed my teeth and moved on.

The day progressed as normal (scratch). That is, I tried to make dinner early in the day so that I would not have to think about it later. So after I cleaned out the freezer (scratch, scratch) I decided on a hearty bean and sausage soup. Now I should mention that my new job as a stay at home mom has brought on a severe effort at frugality when it comes to groceries. So bean soup was my answer to stretching no real meal supplies another week (scratch). So I took the beans that should have been soaked overnight and boiled them in the way that the package said would work just as well (scratch). I also took one Benadryl to help with the itching (ugh). After many hours of routine Mommy work, I called Jim to let him know I couldn't take this itching any longer (SCRATCH). I told him I needed a sick day and he told me he couldn't cancel his meetings for the day or come home early. So I fed the kids lunch and put them down for their afternoon nap (SCRATCH).

I gave in and took a second Benadryl. I had 1 hour to get a nap in before we had to get ready for the play group that we had missed for the last 2 weeks (yawn). Since there is only me and one other mom, it is pretty obvious when we don't show up (scratch). So I set my alarm for 2:00, and with Emma asleep in her crib (with the baby monitor on) and Mary asleep in the bassinet in my room, I laid down on top of the covers of my bed and fell asleep immediately.

At 3:20 I woke up to my alarm blaring (since 2:00, supposedly), Mary crying LOUDLY, Emma calling me from her crib (MAMA!! MAMA!!), and the distinct smell of smoke. That would be the beans I left boiling since noon. So 3+ hours of rapid boiling in the chicken stock I made from scratch (no pun intended) that morning had left the beans less than edible. I ran downstairs to a smoke filled kitchen and a horrible smell I can only describe as worse than burnt popcorn when wet and 2 solid inches of bean ash in the pot. So after removing the pot to the garage and opening windows and turning on fans, I brought the girls downstairs and faced the next problem. I had to call Tricia and try to explain this. The conversation went kind of like this:

"Tricia? It's Ann."

"Hi Ann." She's playing this one cool, so no inflection to let me know where she stood on this.

"I am so sorry I missed our play date. The explanation is hardly believable, but do you want to know what happened?" Tricia laughs, knowing she is in for a story that would normally happen on the Lucille Ball show.

"Go ahead," she says.

"Well, I woke up this morning with hives....."

Seriously, folks. We moved the play date to Thursday and Jim brought home carry out food. So much for frugality. But on the bright side, the hives are gone.