Just Trying to Walk the Line

Last week on Peculiar Momma:

The momma got sick. Pappa’s truck got impounded. Mamma was sleep-deprived and had to work all night.

Was it over? No! If so then what would we write about today? Lucky for you the adventure continues...

After said truck incident Mamma went to work only to find out she was the last one standing. Two other colleagues were out of town and a third too ill to work. There were 64 hours remaining in the weekend and one doctor. One sick doctor.

As luck would have it a relief doctor was willing to cover some of the night hours but couldn’t work days. So Mamma worked from 4:00 pm to 12:30 am, plodded home, caught a cat nap and returned at 8:00 am to work another 16.5 hours. Mamma was tired. Mamma was sick. Mamma was coughing up a lung. Just ... keep ... moving.

Meanwhile back on the homefront:

A neighborhood dog, Chopper, was run over in the cul-de-sac: the boy a witness. Chopper did not survive. Later the boy said to the Mamma, "I don't understand how you do your job. You see stuff like that everyday."

Mamma tried to explain. There's an internal switch used for self preservation. You flip it to turn into an emotionless automaton. The problem is that when one is tired, when one is sick, the switch gets rusty. It's harder to flip; harder to run on auto-pilot. Tears typically result. You brush them aside and move on to the next patient. Rinse. Repeat.

Somehow Mamma made it through. She finally arrived home early Sunday morning. A bed never looked better; flannel sheets pre-warmed by a labrador - pure heaven! Mamma refused to return to work Sunday. She couldn't do it. Someone else had to step up to the plate.

Sunday was a day to relax, to unwind, to forget. The Mammas and the Pappas were going on an outing. They went to a local lake to watch the salmon run and to look for bald eagles.

The outing started off well. The weather was great 65 degrees and sunny. The children bounded ahead to the inlet stream. The stream was filled with fish. The Mamma closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Ah, finally, peace and quiet. Then the family marched along the trail by the lake - right into a hoard of yellow jackets. The wasps swarmed. Pappa and both girls were stung - several times.

Run family run! And the family did run with the evil insects in close pursuit. Finally they made it to the safe haven of their car and high-tailed it to the general store in search of benadryl.

The family just prior to insect invasion

At the store everyone piled out of the car and went inside. Suddenly there was another yellow jacket. The Pappa shooed it outside and closed the front door. "No more yellow jackets!" said Mamma as she brushed her hands together in an attempt to comfort her family. Then little sis screamed. She had a stinger in her finger and another wasp was climbing down her shirt. The realization hit - the family brought the yellow jackets to the store with them.

In a writhing flailing fit the family stripped down next to the souvenir mugs. Several additional wasps were outed and annihilated.

Benadryl, tylenol and popcicles were in order - stat! The family retreated to the outdoor fire by the lake with the hopes that the smoke would repel any further attacks. The remainder of the day passed without further incident. Nonetheless this family outing was par for the course on this trying weekend.

The Peculiar family is hoping their karma will improve. They'd like to close this particular chapter in their lives.

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And here is the upside:

What? You can't be serious can you? An upside?

Yes. Yes, an upside.

1. The weekend is now over.
2. We were attacked by insects rather than say a bear or cougar.
3. Nobody had an anaphylactic reaction.
4. We were not arrested for indecent exposure.
5. We did spend time together as a family (the family who endures pain together stays together).

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Here's hoping today is plain and ordinary.