market, madness, and mayhem

I love the farmer's market. Yes, I said love. If I don't get to the market on Fridays (that is the day it is open 'round these parts) I feel as though a part of my life is incomplete. Ok, maybe not that drastic, but I get really sad because then I have to buy non-superior fruit at premium prices in the produce section of the grocery store. I thought when we moved here that I was going to be up a creek because of not having my Supersitition Fruit Market around the corner in AZ...but, God is good to my fruit and veggie loving soul, and we soon discovered the Farmer's Market - one stand in particular is my favorite. And this is why...

For example, on a recent trip, we got:

~A big box of fresh green beans

~4 kiwi fruit

~1 quart blackberries

~1 quart blueberries

~1 quart strawberries

~1 pint raspberries

~bananas

~1 seedless watermelon

~grapes

~1 onion
$11.00....I know at the grocery store this would've come to = let me calculate here = conservatively about $23.00. And my budget, my upbringing, and my veggie lovin' soul would have a heart attack at the register. This particular week we were good to go on veggies, and I must admit, we are always well stocked on fruit, but my kids love fruits so much that I always go overboard on those purchases (it doesn't go to waste!) and better overboard on yummy for your body than yucky for you body (like Hudson's necessary donut hole from the donut stand right next to our fave fruit/veggie stand).

Hudson and Daddy are there right now while Mommy is here with a sleeping baby. Ah yes, she has not napped regularly in the morning for about 2 months now, but the poor papoose has an ear infection and a respiratory infection....she has not been sleeping well and the princess that sleeps until 8 usually, awoke at 5:45 this morning coughing for an hour. Yes, the pea must've been felt under her mattress. (Insert the madness....and this is why....)

We were at the ENT on Wednesday to have her tubes checked and I told him she'd had a fever and there had been drainage from her ear on her bed (read: ear infection, but the tubes doing what they are supposed to and getting rid of the fluid build-up). We'd been putting the antibiotic drops in her ears like we were instructed. The doc took a look and said her ears were fine, as well as her tubes. He told me to stop the drops and then said, "are you sure it was from her ear?" At this point, I was already frustrated because he was not in a friendly mood to begin with and wanted to respond that I must be stupid because it was drippping from her ear but obviously it must be from somewhere else, but I refrained and said, "It was on her sheet where she lays her head at night." (Score one for Beth for holding her tongue.)

The appt. ended very shortly there after and I left thinking I must not know when my kid is sick and there must be something else wrong with her. We got home, she felt warm, I took her temp and it was 103 still. Ok, so something is wrong and she's got drainage and she's coughing up a lung....am I missing something? That night I was up with her from 11:45 to 3:15. I called the ped. the next morning just to check with the nurse on call what to do about her continued fever (it had been a few days) and the cough....oh, btw, they didn't take her temp, listen to her lungs or any of the other stuff at the ENT. She had me make an appt. immediately and when the ped. saw her, I could tell she was baffled by how much her ear was draining and how it wasn't caught. I know ear infections can develop over night, but the fact is that it was there before....uh, well, 18 hours before and wasn't addressed. Can you tell why I was mad when I left?

And then, the pharmacy (the local CVS stinks; really, they aren't on the ball) that it was faxed to didn't have her script ready 6 hours later - 6 hours!!!! When I called to ask about it, the tech on teh phone said they were days behind on their faxed in orders. "Can I have it ready for you to pick up tomorrow or the day after?" You know that I almost reached through the phone and touched someone? (Score two coming up here for holding my tongue...) I replied, "The pediatrician would like her to have a dose as soon as possible because she is 16 months old and has an ear infection and a respiratory infection. " pause.... "Ok ma'am, I'll put that in as a wait and you can get here for it in about 90 minutes."

And, here's just general pictures of our regular Smith family mayhem.... :) Thanks for stickin' with me - this was a cathartic post.

What happens when Anna finds a marker at the table to color with....