We went to Mansfield today to visit with some family. The first place we went was Bobby's grandparents. They are our favorite people! Grandma just got out of the hospital. I guess she had allergies, that turned into a cold, that turned into some kind of infection. She's on all kinds of medications now, but she's home and not contagious anymore, so that's good. I love her so much and I hate when she goes to the hospital and we can't go see her. Grandma and Grandpa are veterans and the closest hospital they are allowed to go to (unless it's an emergency) is in Columbia, which is a couple of hours away. She seems to be doing fine as long as she stays sitting. Bobby's aunt and cousin showed up over there too, and his uncle and other aunt. So that took care of a lot of the visiting. The next person we went to see was Bobby's dad. Bobby and Evelynn usually stay there with him, but I wanted to see my parents while we were out there, and they really only care about seeing Evelynn. I wanted Bobby to come with me, because I've been having a bit of a strained relationship with them for a couple of months. We had a lot of fun during the visit though and Evelynn was unusually good. Now, we're all home, exhausted, and starting to feel sick again. Ugh. Oh well, at least we had a pretty great day!

Wow! I feel so much better today! Bobby does too and he even wants to go to the gym with me later. That's pretty amazing, because he's a huge geek and despises anything that makes him sweat more than necessary. Ha ha! Evelynn is doing pretty good too and I think she'll be fine to take to the daycare. If she starts freaking out, I'm making Bobby stay with her. I am with her all week and I haven't been to the gym in days, so I'm not giving it up now. Ha ha! I'm not even totally sure he is going to come, in which case he and Evelynn can just stay here. When I told him I was going today he said,"Cool! I think I want to come with you... but not right now." And then he ran back off to the computer room. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but I am actually waiting on him to go. I just hope I don't wait all day for nothing.

I think I am getting sick now. And so is Bobby's mom. She's got whatever Bobby has and I've got Evelynn's. My nose is all stuffed up and I can't stop sneezing. I can feel my throat getting scratchier by the minute. I'm definitely not going to the gym today. Thanks to Evelynn getting sick, I didn't go yesterday either. But, all of the home-remedies I did yesterday seemed to work on Evelynn pretty well, so they should work for me too. I've got to get better soon, because between taking care of an incredibly needy toddler all day yesterday and not being well today, I'm starting to fall drastically behind in my homework and housework. It's getting scary. I get really stressed out when I get behind in homework. When I'm behind in school, cleaning my house seems like a waste of time, but I just can't stand it to be so dirty after I got so used to cleaning it every day! I'll make it through. A few bad days isn't going to set me behind for the rest of the semester, right?

Bobby and Evelynn are both sick. Bobby has a very upset stomach and diarrhea. Evelynn has allergies, that turned into a cold, and she had a slight fever for about an hour today. We've all been drinking hot tea with honey, though I'm cooling Evelynn's down and putting a lot of milk or water in it. All we have eaten is soup, crackers, toast, and other healthy things sick people are supposed to eat. I'm giving Evelynn medicine every four hours, switching back and forth between ibuprofen and a quarter-sized dose of children's allergy medicine. It seems to be helping a lot, but I still feel really bad for Evelynn. It's so sad when babies are sick, because they just feel terrible and they don't understand why. On the plus side, I keep giving her peppermints for her sore throat and she thinks she's getting candy. Ha ha! I just hope I'm not getting sick next...

So, I have had a pretty amazing day. After sleeping poorly for most of the night, Evelynn and I gave up and got out of bed at 6:30 this morning. I then had to dig out my coffee pot to make coffee, which led to me washing the dishes. This is actually not a part of my day that I enjoyed, because only half of my sink is usable because my garbage disposal is broken and not draining on that side very well and my landlord's plumber has yet to call me after waiting over a week. Anyways, I did the dishes and made coffee. Then, we got dressed for the gym and daycare. This was Evelynn's first time at the daycare and she was so good! I was so relieved when the woman in charge said she was great, because my little spawn has quite the temper. She immediately started playing with all of the kids and toys. The first thing she did was hug a baby, which scared the baby a little I think because it started kind of whining, then she patted his back and asked if he was okay. It was adorable! Then I got my exercise on with my mommy-in-law and came back home to catch up on homework while Evelynn caught up on her beauty sleep. Later that day, we went back to the community center with Bobby and his little brother Benji. Me and Evelynn swam in the pool while the guys climbed the rock wall. Actually, before going to the center, we played outside for a while and I got pretty tired out, which led to even further exhaustion at the pool. I'm pretty pooped right now, but I had such a great day!

Well, I was supposed to go to the gym today, but I slept in. I feel awful! Bobby's mom, Kim, wanted to go with me really badly! I didn't mean to sleep in and I wanted to go. We used to go together when we lived in Mansfield and it was so much fun! The community center here in Ozark is so much better than Mansfield's too. All Mansfield had was a reception-type room, a basketball court, and small gym. Ozark's has a court, a pool with lazy river and splash-pad, rock climbing, a track, all sorts of classes for kids and adults, daycare, and I'm sure even more. If we used to have fun at in Mansfield, just think of all the fun we could have here! She's one of my best friends. She's actually one of the only four adults that I know in Ozark, which also includes Bobby, his sister Brianna, and my neighbor Jacquie. I talked to Kim though, and I swore to get up early tomorrow morning and go with her. I'm so excited!

Oh my goodness! I don't know how, but my house is trashed. It looks like we had the party here instead of at Bobby's mom's. My dishes are piled up, my laundry is over-flowing, and I can't even find my dining-room table, kitchen counters, or living-room floor. I just don't understand. Cleaning is going to be fun. I have to go to Bobby's mom's to watch his little brother while she's at work until Bobby gets off of work and can watch. Then I have to go home and clean like a mad woman so that my house looks like a house by the time our friend Lacey gets there. She's coming over because she missed Evelynn's party yesterday and wants to give her a tri-cycle. She's bringing another little girl that is two and her boyfriend's baby. I love babies! Correction, I love babies that aren't mine and that I don't have to raise into the heathen toddler years and can just return to the parents when I don't want them anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love Evelynn and I love being her mom, but that doesn't mean I don't thoughtfully and carefully plan my escape at least once a week. That girl is a handful! She looks just like my mother. Red hair, same nose and eyes, same fat feet. You know that saying "paying for your raising?" Well, I am apparently paying for my mother's raising. To quote the woman herself, "That poor kid. She's raising me, and that's something I didn't wish on any of my children." I am not at all happy about this. It's just not fair. Ha ha!