Chickens in the Kitchen: September 2014

Hi. My name is Jennifer and it has been one heckuva week.

Lemme set the scene...

First, Monday was a holiday so I started one day behind. Then we added two different doctors visits to Lufkin. Added one trip to the Apple store in The Woodlands (because our iPhones won't hold a charge). Then three different therapy sessions. Also add in one major surgery for my mom. And to top it all off - new health insurance. There is nothing that makes you call on the name of Jesus more than changing insurance when you have a medically dependent child. Oh Blue Cross Blue Shield how I miss you. I have spent the better part of this last week wrangling the swap from Blue Cross to Aetna. In network. Outta network. Sweet Jesus, be near to me. I have almost lost my religion by having to change specialty pharmacies. Hell hath no fury like a transplant momma who can't get her kid's prograf and CellCept meds. If I got transferred to one more CAREmark pharmacy branch....... Oh, I need THEE every hour.

I guess it was a mistake to say out loud last night that I was glad this week was finally over. Hindsight's 20/20.

So today, I got up and went over to Mom's to help out by mowing her yard and cleaning out her fridge etc. Just trying to earn some brownie points after her surgery, but my sister Sandra has the #1 daughter position locked up tight. We ate a little lunch (about 3pm) and then somewhere mid-fridge clean out the phone rang...

"Hey Jennifer. This is Denise with Rayburn Reality. I know this is short notice but there is someone that wants to look at your house. Would that be possible?"

(It is 4pm. Our house is for sale. We want our house to sell. Did I mention it has been one heckuva week? )

"Absolutely Denise. Tell them they can see it at 5."

I jump in the truck (with trailer and John Deere attached) and head to make sense of things in the country. Wow. My house is a WRECK! I live with TWO curly headed tornadoes that LOVE to make messes.

I squeal into the driveway on two wheels, unhitch the trailer somewhere in the middle of the back yard and GO TO WORK! I wiggled my nose and nodded my head like I Dream of Jeannie, but nothing happened- so I started cramming stuff in closets. Pulling up covers. Kicking toys into baskets & getting after it. I'M BRINGING BOOGIE BACK! (I forgot to mention that my youngest tornado has a new found affinity shoes and has pulled out EVERY shoe in the house this morning. Ah sweet, precious Parson. And my oldest tornado is into creating things with duck tape. So tape, scissors and 1000 rolls of colorful duck tape lay amongst the sea of shoes. Ah sweet, creative Darby.) The floors desperately need attention, but there just is not enough time.

Somewhere in the midst of my desperation, I have hidden and crammed things to the best of my abilities and decide I need to devote 2.3 minutes to the outdoor area of the house. (The yard is a complete mess too and the grass needs mowing something fierce.) I quickly wind up the water hose into a nice, tangled mess and push all of the kids rolling toys into a cluttered pile on the carport. As I trip over the blower on the back patio, I decide that if I use the blower to blow off the back patio, carport and front porch that'll make the grass look shorter huh?!?! Anyhow, with 1.5 minutes left, I commenced to blowing. The back porch and carport looked a tad better, so I headed for the front. (I took the quickest route, thru the living room). Hi. My name is Jennifer and I may or may not have used the blower in the living room too.

With the front porch (and living room) blown, I said a quick prayer, threw Parson in the truck and headed out again on two wheels. It is 5:02pm - Bring on the buyer baby!

Now it is 11:47pm and everyone is asleep. I just had a much needed shower and I still don't think I have caught my breath yet. That last minute sprint to get the trash can from the curb nearly killed me. Can you say fat and outta shape? I feel like I have been on that old AstroWorld ride "The River of No Return." And now I can't find the little bag of rubber bands for my braces - guess they got "out crammed" in this drawer somewhere.

Hi. My name is Jennifer. I'm 41 years old with braces and used a blower to clean my living room today. Oh, and I'm bringing boogie back.

Just another day in my beautiful Plan B!