March Madness is Right!

What a week! Kayaks, fevers, leprechauns, basketball, hockey and Friday night festivities!

The past week was the longest week I’ve had in a very long time. I hadn’t really thought about it until now, but it’s the first time I’ve considered a week to have been long since probably before Mikayla was born. Here’s the rundown…

A week ago yesterday, John took off for his T-6 cross country flight. He, three other student pilots and a handful of instructors headed to Santa Fe via Roswell, NM where, unfortunately/fortunately, they were the closest thing to UFOs in the sky.  Back home, Mikayla and I enjoyed a relaxed Friday around the house, followed by a mysteriously difficult dinner when the munchkin decided that the only solid foods that she was going to eat moving forward were green beans and peas. Apples, sweet potatoes, bananas and carrots – not for Mikayla, unless of course you serve them with a chaser of peas or beans, in which case you may be able to slip a bite or two through her gridlocked jaws. Still, even when Mikayla tests her, I mean my…, no, I mean her, authority, it’s just too ridiculously hard not to smile at those big brown eyes.

On Saturday, John’s crew woke up – supposedly before noon – and headed north into Colorado. They cut across the Rockies before heading south to Amarillo on their way to Fort Worth where they stayed Saturday night. Mikayla and I greeted the morning before the dawn and while I was disappointed to find that my sore throat had gotten worse, I was thrilled to hit the water with a friend for an afternoon of kayaking. It wasn’t quite a dragon boat, but it felt great to be on the water, at least until I got home…

During the course of the next 72 hours, my respect for single parents increased as my temperature bobbled between 96 and nearly 102 degrees in a matter of hours. Kayaking apparently pushed my cold over the edge and gone are the days when treatment consisted of aspirin, a good movie and curling up on the couch with a hard drink. Rather, I decided to treat my pounding head, shivering body and aching throat with poop, burp, verse after verse of Pop Goes the Weasel and late night feedings.

In all seriousness, Mikayla was an angel and entertained herself for several periods of time allowing me to rest, but parenting while ill is still quite the experience. Amidst my demise, however, and with a bit more negotiating about mealtime, Mikayla and I came to an agreement. Mikayla could have her own spoon so long as every time she put her spoon in her mouth, I could put my spoon in her mouth.

On Sunday, with the help of the all too tricky time change, John’s crew got a little later start than anticipated. Still, they made it to San Angelo and finally home to Del Rio by that night. Their trip seemed to go really well and Mikayla and I were both thrilled to see him walk through the door.  

The rest of the week took off running. John double-turned (two events in one day, a flight and a simulator, two simulators, two flights, etc.) nearly every day, work was extremely busy for me, Mikayla figured out that while her Army crawl isn’t quite perfected, she can roll just about anywhere and it was the start of March Madness! We rooted for Gonzaga on Thursday (Go Zag!) with shamrocks and all. Cheered for the UND Fighting Sioux (Sioux, Yeah! Yeah!) today, as they went on to become number 1 in the country, and closed out the week with Friday night festivities with John’s class.

It was a rollercoaster week, yet we all survived. Thank goodness it’s finally the weekend!



To do a Leprechaun dance or not to?

To do!



Thanks for the pretty daffodil hat Grandpa T!

 

The photo speaks for itself.



That's right, I've figured out how to stick
my tongue out over my teeth.

Surfing on my magic carpet before the Zags' game.

No worries, we've got this.