Another hard week around here. But for different reasons.
We all have The Plague.
Specifically, nasty coughs and runny noses.
Rhys, I think, got it first. Sometime last week. And then I got it. Towards the end of last week. Now AK has it. Thankfully, Rhys isn't waking up coughing at night. Like me. AK is still awake coughing now.
So I've been losing a fair amount of sleep this week to coughing fits and then coughing all day long. My body is sore and tired and very over being sick. Assuming the kids feel that way as well.
AK's been quick to meltdown. There were a couple of changes at school this week and let's just say she's not a flexible, go-with-the-flow kinda girl.
Rhys has just been two.
Honestly, I can handle being two easier than I handle throwing a fit because school had early release today.
Anyway, yes, Mom, the kids have been taken to the doctor. Just a nasty cold. Mine tend to linger longer...especially once it's in my lungs...so if things haven't improved by the beginning of next week, I'm gonna be heading to the doctor myself. It's either a doctor or a day off and the likelihood of me getting a day off to rest is pretty much ZERO.
Regardless of coughs, we've been out and about this week. The weather has been so nice. Too warm for late October but still super nice. We've hit three of our favorite parks. Today, we went to the Wildflower Park, where AK had her fourth birthday party. While there, a nice man was kind enough to spin my kids (and his) around on the little merry go round. He pushed them fast and they went NUTS. He had a son named Rhys so when he heard me calling my Rhys he introduced himself.
Feeling not my best, I sat on the bench and he sat down with me to catch his breath after running around with the four kids. He was really nice. From Tennessee. Knew a good deal about Birmingham, Auburn and football. You know, the usual small talk.
What he didn't know was band.
Once I told him my husband was a band director the conversation was all about band.
Just my favorite topic.
Especially this time of year because things are busier and more stressful than earlier in the season BUT the season has been going on (and on and on and on) for almost three months. So I'm nearing my OVER IT point.
Chris is still riding high. In case you were wondering.
Or, I guess, even if you weren't.
As we discussed the hours, the competition, the commitment, he became more and more stunned. He works from home and works a good deal after the kids go to bed so he can have a three day weekend. Every weekend. He couldn't image working the hours the band directors do. He was brazen enough (it's okay, we're both Southerners) to joke about how nice the bonuses for extra hours and placing at competitions must be. Enough to take a relaxing vacation on a foreign beach, for sure.
Right.
I shared what I know. Most of my friends are in the same boat. Their husbands work in various fields but most of us have husbands who are gone until after bedtime. Part of that is being where we are. Next to the airport. It makes sense for frequent business fliers to be 20 minutes from the major airport. But part of that is simply our 24 hour culture.
Thankfully, most of them are working and serving in ministry. Some actual serve in ministry. Some are able to support ministries because of their jobs. But all, like Chris, believe his job to be his calling and his opportunity to serve.
So even though the hours are brutal and the compensation is, well, government pay grade, I am grateful Chris enjoys what he does for those 90 hours a week. He has the chance to impact hundreds of lives every year. Every day, really. And his dedication to both his education and his craft have brought us to one of the nicest places in the world to live. (No, Texans, not Texas. Our city. Thanks though.)
While the details of Chris' job might have sounded overwhelming to a nice man at the park, it's not overwhelming to us. It's another reason to be grateful. God has led us here. He has provided. He has blessed. We're grateful and humbled.
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