The week that began with a whimper and ended with a RubberBand...

Have you ever had one of those weeks that you were convinced would go down in the "Worst Week" Hall of Shame, only to have it end with a glorious bang? This was one of those weeks.

Tuesday started rather uneventfully but in the middle of the night, He-Man and I were awakened by 'that sound'. You know, the sound that's a mix of burping/gurgling/whimpering originating from the depths of a very dark and putrid place?

We both jumped out of bed and darted towards the girls' room. About a foot from the door we were met with the stench of toxic waste that I'm convinced, in concentrated doses, could double as an incinerating agent...(like in 'Spider Man' when the Green Goblin throws his little ball at the executive stiffs who cut off his research funding. When the ball exploded, the hoity-toities melted into a pile of dust...kind of gross, but you get the point).

Is there a nice way to hose down a dripping wet, slimy, matted haired four year old who is really ticked off by the fact that her dinner didn't stay where it was suppose too? You'd think we were torturing her by the sounds that were coming from the bathroom.

But, we finally got her cleaned off and settled into bed. As I snuggled with her, she wanted to feel the comfort of having mommy near by and would nuzzle her face, particularly her mouth, as close to my nose as possible. After about 5 minutes, I was never more in need of fresh air in my life.

I don't know how it happened, but it seems as though I washed just about every set of sheets and most of our blankets over the course of the next few days. By the end of the week, we could almost predict when the next kid was going to blow. You'd think I'd have thought to cook accordingly but somehow, I managed to feed our children the foods that were especially noxious on the way back up.

By Saturday morning, the stomach flu had passed (bwahahaha...I'm so punny!) and I went out for a well needed run. It was cold and wet, but glorious. It was just right to pump me up for a night on the town with He-Man. He's been working 80 hours a week for months which makes a date night tough...unless you consider late night movies, a carton of ice cream and a snuggly blanket built for two a date (it's actually kind of fun if you manage to stay awake).

I was determined to get gussied up. I interpreted 'Christmas Sweater-type' attire as my favorite dress with light brown fishnets and a wrap. Note to self, holey stockings are not great for sub-freezing weather and don't look all that fabulous when your legs are covered in goosebumps.

We attended He-Man's second job's Christmas party. It was beautiful. We were served a delicious dinner while the band prepped for their performance. He-Man was commenting on the close proximity of the front door and the draft, but it had the bonus of being almost front row to the band. I looked up to see who was playing. My first impression was that one of the guys looked a lot like Ryan Shupe from 'Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand'. Then I thought, "Hey! Is that..., could it be?" Then the announcer announced the band as RYAN SHUPE AND THE RUBBERBAND!!

I almost hyperventilated! I had to call my friend Carol since only a few short months ago, she introduced me to their music. They were amazing! Good grief, there were moments I almost expected Ryan Shupe's fiddle to burst into flames he was playing so fast! They're great entertainers so if you ever have the chance to see them live, DO! You won't be disappointed.

After the performance, He-Man won a ping-pong table in the Christmas drawing. I'm not sure what we're going to do with it yet, but I foresee a future of many blanket forts in the play room.

In the end, it was an amazing event. One that made He-Man's crazy work schedule a bit more bearable. I'll be high flying from this for at least a couple of weeks and He-Man came away looking like a hero for such a great date. Perhaps next year, his patient load with double ten-fold, I will get published and he will be able to quit the second job. Hey, Ryan Shupe and the RubberBand tells us to 'Dream Big'. That's just what I intend to do.