Sick of sick days

We have an epidemic at work of people calling in sick. I mean can you really be sick ten times a year? I use a handful at most. Last Thursday, a co-worker whose job affects mine directly called in sick. That means I couldn't take any sort of break and was basically sitting at my desk or on set for nine straight hours. I did rush down to the break room to microwave my dinner, but that was it.

Sitting constantly has really been aggravating my hip and pelvic pain in this pregnancy. I have to stand up every few minutes to rock my hips around and relieve some of the pain. Lately it constantly feels like someone kicked me very hard in the crotch, and like I fell really hard on my butt. It is not pleasant.

The next day, this co-worker made a miraculous recovery and said she "needed the rest." Nice of her to take a day to lay around at the expense of her six-months pregnant co-worker. I could use the rest! But, that's what weekends are for. I just thought it was incredibly selfish.

I have also been getting pretty constant Braxton-Hicks contractions. Your uterus tightens up in a practice contraction. A few of mine have been fairly painful, and on Friday they were just coming on continuously. This weekend, with some laying around, they have been much less frequent. It is a bit worrying though.

Ruby the mini-dachshund is turning out to be quite the handful. She has taken to eating poop out of the cats' litter box. It is nauseating. She also is not anywhere close to being potty-trained. Our cats and apparently the previous owner's dog also had accidents on the carpet. It is now spotted and gross. So, T has taken on the task of putting in hardwood flooring. It is actually laminate, but it should look nice and make cleaning up after all our various beasts easier. He is ripping out the carpet this weekend and will start on the floor next week.

We have made the decision to switch daycare. I previously mentioned how our provider wanted paid vacation, and this week we learned she is going through a divorce. I really feel for her. It sounds so difficult and complicated. Q is often the only one there after 5:00 p.m. when her husband comes home, so she has been taking him to her mom's at that time, which means extra drive time for us.

Her husband seems very nice, and they have three children. It is such a sad situation. I always wonder what went wrong? How can you go from being so in love with someone to not wanting to be in the same house with them? Divorce often seems to be for the best in the long run, but nothing about the process seems appealing, especially when children are involved. Who will move? Who will get the children for the holidays? How do you start dating again? I am not sure how she will keep her business up and running during the transition, so I feel like this is the best time to make the change.

Anyway, we met with a woman this weekend who has a toddler son. She would take care of Q and eventually the new baby in our home for less than what we are paying now. You can't beat that. She is a former paramedic and just seems great.

Now we have the awful task of telling our current provider the news. I hate to take away the money from her, when she is clearly in a financial tight spot with the divorce. Q has been virtually a member of their family since he was ten-weeks-old, and I know her daughters are close to him. It makes me sad just thinking about it, but we are giving her a month notice. I know we have to make the best decision for our family, but it is still difficult.

I am heading to the gym to swim in a little bit. I haven't done that in awhile. I think it will feel better on my hips than walking and running. As long as I can squeeze into one of my suits.

--MM