What a week!

Wow. What a week! I think this was one of the worst weeks ever, but I've decided to not dwell on what went wrong but instead on what went right. 


First of all, on Monday evening Annika decided it would be a good idea to take the next step in one of her favorite sports, "stair-sliding." Instead of sliding down feet first, her usual method, she decided to see what would happen if she slid down as fast as she could head first. We were clearing the dinner dishes at the time, so we didn't get to talk her out of this maneuver. We heard a loud thud and then a much louder "AAAAAAAAAH!" We immediately ran over to the stairs, where we both held Annika for a while, trying to comfort her. Now, Annika is a tough girl--she never cries unless something is seriously wrong. So when she wouldn't calm down, we knew we had to take her to urgent care. 


At the clinic, Annika got x-rays (which, thanks to the lesson from the "Franklin goes to the Hospital" book that she loves, she managed to endure bravely) and got to look at the "picture of her bones" that showed a broken collarbone. The doctor told us to give her some pain meds, keep her arm in a sling, and see the orthopedic surgeon the next day. 


There are various upsides to this story: 


1) An already adorable-beyond-belief Annika is even more adorable-beyond-belief in her cute little sling. She even does a little sad face that will literally crush your heart. 


2) The break in her collarbone was really minor. It could have been a broken arm, or a more severe break--so we feel really fortunate that she will make a full recovery in just 3-5 weeks. 


On Tuesday, we were taking Annika to her appointment at the orthopedic surgeon when, after pulling out of our driveway, we suddenly could not get the car into gear. Then we heard a "thump thump" and realized that the clutch just went out on our car. So we maneuvered the car back into the driveway, called the auto shop, and called the car rental place to get us a car to take Annika to her appointment. The upside here:


1) When the clutch went out, we were only one house up from our own house. It was really easy to get the car back into our driveway. Had we been on the interstate somewhere, or out of town, it would have been a much, much worse situation. 


2) Jonathan was home for Fall break, so it made it alot easier to get the rental car and get the car to the shop. And, as badly as it stinks to have to pay for a new clutch, at least the rest of the car is in good shape. It's always nicer to pay for some repairs on a car that you trust (and a car that's paid off!)


Wednesday, nothing good happened. Nothing good at all. Okay, I guess I can think of a few things. I got locked out of the house without my cell phone, but I did have the car keys. I'm still trying to figure out any good that came out of what happened on this day. I had to go to Jonathan's office to get the house keys. On the way, I saw a man on the sidewalk doing something unbelievably obscene. It was really traumatizing. The upside to this is that the kids did not see what was happening. I also found Jonathan at his office and he gave me the keys. I got a parking ticket as well. But, since we were in a rental car and NKU does not follow up on parking tickets, I decided to stick it to the man and throw it in the garbage. 


Thursday, we got the estimate on how much it costs to put a new clutch in our car. It turns out that it costs a lot. The upside to this is that we still have a good car and it was not so much money that it would devastate us. 


Friday, not much happened. We went to a community halloween festival a few towns over. We drove around for an hour trying to find it (it turns out the community park is off an unmarked dirt road in the middle of nowhere). The upside to this is that the kids had a good time for 5-6 minutes before it got too dark and we had to go back home. I was still in a bad mood about Wednesday. 


Saturday, I had this conversation with my doctor's nurse (who commutes to the doctors office from her home in hell):


Me: Hello?
Nurse/Devil: Is this Christina?
Me: Yes.
Nurse/Devil: Did you get my message?
Me: Yes, I'm sorry. I'm been having a really bad week and I forgot to call you.
Nurse/Devil: Well, it would have been really nice if you had (imagine if Satan himself were spewing these words at you with a fiery dismay)
Me: Why, what's the matter!? (here I'm imagining the somehow found out in my file that I had cancer or something).
Nurse/Devil: Well then I would have known if Annika had been taken care of or not (we called the doctor to let them know what happened since our doctor is Annika's doctor as well. They didn't call until a day and a half later, after Annika had already seen a specialist). 
Me: Oh. Well, I'm sorry, but it's been one thing after another this week. It totally slipped my mind.
Nurse/Devil: Did she get taken care of then?
Me: Yes, of course she did.
Nurse/Devil: Well, it would have been really nice if you had called and told me that (again, Satan spewing these words at you with a condescending voice that comes from years of practice on many sinners).


Take it easy lady, I'm having a crappy week!!


The upside here is that I will think this is funny someday. 


Today is Sunday, a day of rest. This day has been very nice. Tomorrow is a new beginning--we're really excited for a much better week. Hopefully, the "sidewalk perv" is spending his week in jail.