welcome home 'e'

My house is so clean… it’s so awesome!
I spent my morning actually putting stuff away! I am totally a ‘stasher’… I mean, I don’t like messes, but I am also not very “organized”, so usually if I am cleaning up, I am just re allocating stuff to places out-of-sight, but not necessarily put away. I broke down this morning and got it done. I did the one-room-at-a-time method. Usually, I have that syndrome of starting somewhere, and getting distracted but something in the next room and then the next. Never really completing something. Today I was the ultimate in disciplined! I carried a laundry basket w/ me and gathered stuff that needed to be moved, and put away. Then my cleaning lady came, and cleaned! And guess what, I even let her into my scrapbook room! This is a huge step for me! usually it’s so bad in here, that I don’t have her come in at all, it’s just too far gone! LOL. But I was able to straighten it up to the point that it could be totally dusted! Gasp. I think it’s been A LONG TIME since actual dusting took place. I think that it made my cleaning lady so happy to get a crack at it! I got super ambitious and even washed my sheets. I guess MONDAY really got to me! to top it all off, I decided to go to the grocery store. a clean house WITH food? Maybe you are wondering, what is the occasion!? (my kids were!)
Well, eric has been in Australia for 17 days. And he comes home in just a few hours. He and my brother-in-law Clark went ‘down under’ for a dive trip that they have had planned for months. They booked to go with Mike Ball diving excursions on a live-aboard for 4 days along the Great Barrier Reef. On the 3rd day of the trip, eric was having some trouble equalizing, and I suspect that may be when he ruptured his inner ear!
The inner ear is the part that is responsible for our balance! About that time, he was very dizzy, and spent the remaining 36 hours of the rather rough ride in, barfing and spinning! Once they got on shore, they saw a Dr. that recommended surgery… but that would require a 3 week recovery before he could fly home (yikes). He opted to wait the weekend and see how things went. He had to be laying flat on his back to not be spinning and was finally able to start keeping a little food and liquids down. Holy cow- I was totally stressing the 3 week delay in his return, but I felt so bad for him, cause I could tell he was in bad shape. He and Clark were planning on flying to Brisbane, to finish up their trip, but since eric couldn’t fly, nor could he sit up, they opted for the 30-HOUR train ride that they were able to book a sleeper car. Once in Brisbane, they met with another ear dr. and he put ‘grommets’ (I think tubes) in his ears… and told him he could come home in a week. By this time, he was feeling muchas better and LUCKILY was able to stay with the STUCK family in Brisbane… Chanel had just been here visiting, and it was such a twist of fate that eric wound up being able to camp out with them for the extra-unexpected week. I am so thankful to them, for taking good care of eric, (and clark)… for all their generosity and Chanel’s good cooking (thanks for making me look bad!)
It’s amazing how helpless you feel from across the world!, and even more amazing how the internet makes the world so small! I am so thankful to be getting eric back! We have missed him SO much! I can’t believe how much I depend on him for physical and mental support! (I HATE taking the garbage out, and forgot twice… UGH). The kids kept saying ‘if dad were here, we’d be wrestling right now!’… I think it’s going to be WWF here tonight when he finally gets home! So thankful that it wasn’t worse, and for all those who helped me out in his absence!