Oh My GOD - two ways
This morning was the first day our new house cleaner started. Remember a little while ago when I interviewed someone to trade with & I was pretty certain it would work out? Well, it didn't. Her husband ended up convincing her that she didn't need a personal trainer & that she could do it on her own (this is a great rant for another day). So, I continued my search. About a week later someone else wanted to interview. She works professionally for a new company here in town who does background checks & they gave her a really good reference. She's a little odd (like ADD eccentric), but I hired her without hesitation.

I trained her here at home in the playroom (I'm not going to build a studio) & afterward she stayed to clean everything from top to bottom. I had to leave her here alone while I dropped Bill off at work & trained photographer friend at the gym. I was only going to be gone an hour, so I felt OK about leaving her for the first time. However, when I was getting Logan ready for the morning, I noticed that he had something stuck up his nose AGAIN & knew he would have to get it extracted at the Doctors office.

On the way to Bill's work, I called the pediatrician whom I have on speed dial specifically for this very reason. I got him scheduled for after the gym workout. I thought it would only take a few minutes (like it did when he had to get the corn kernel extracted). But it didn't. This time was a little more complicated.

At first glance, it looked like he had a pasta spiral stuck up there. It was far enough in that I couldn't reach it, but close enough to see. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. This stuff up the nose business is old hat for us. The shock has worn off. When we were escorted into the exam room, we were soon moved to an operating-type room. There were tools of all sorts to pull things from toddler's noses. Unlike the kernel incident, there was no knitting-needle-like tool in sight. It was all tweezers, syringes & suction machines. After the Doctor took a look at it & thought it might be a pea (again) she decided to use the suction machine.

First she put some numbing medication in his nostril because his nose was swollen from being irritated (clearly, this had been in there for a few days). She tried to suck it out, but it was wedged in there pretty good. Logan never cried, never flinched. Just sneezed a couple of times. They tilted his head back & used the long tweezers to pull out...

Now, Logan has had all sorts of things suck up his nose. First, it started with a pea & leaning the "nose maneuver". Then it was the dried corn kernel that had to be extracted by the Doctor. A couple more peas went up that I was able to pop out, then the eraser head that I pulled out with a tooth pick. But this. This beats them all.

A Sponge Bob band-aid.

I am not kidding. The second it came out, I put my hands on my face McCully Culkin style practically yelling, "OH MY GOD! IT'S A BAND-AID!" The Doctor was equally as shocked & disgusted. I'm sure this was a first for her.

She actually thought it would be a prudent decision to check his ears since he's been packing them with sand (they checked out clear) & she gave him a lecture about putting things up his nose. The first time he's been sternly lectured by someone else other than me. He nodded yes, gesturing that he understood, but I highly doubt this will be the last thing that gets pulled out of his nose. He's also now lost his Sponge Bob band-aid bribe for naps & bedtime. I'm going to have to find something bigger than his nostril.

An hour later we finally drove home to check on the house cleaner. She was still working hard (very hard). I packed some snacks & we headed off to playgroup while she finished, leaving her to escort herself out when everything was clean.

After playgroup, we drove home, parked the car in the garage, opened the back door & again, I put my hands on my face McCully Culkin style, "OH. MY. GOD! My house is sparking clean!" The sliding glass door to the backyard was spotless without a sticky hand print or muddy paw print in sight. The floors were shiny, the bathrooms smelled wonderful. I almost fell over with happiness. A HUGE burden had been lifted from my shoulders as cleaning this house has weighed heavily on me (& Bill). With her help every week, it will be so much easier to keep the cleanliness at a level that I prefer, but am unable to maintain.

Today has been shocking on both ends of the spectrum. That's for sure.