What a Week!

Back in October, we had one of the craziest weeks of our year. And in 2012, that's saying a lot!

The Set-up (aka. what we thought would happen)
- I had accepted a new job the previous Friday, so the plan was to give my 2 week notice at work on Monday, followed by what could be a very interesting week at work...

- Spend a few evenings painting our bathroom and installing all new fixtures (including lighting)
- Josh's birthday on Thursday
- My parents come into town on Friday morning, bringing a bunch of shrubs for our front yard.
- Scott's parents and Ryan/Sara/Calla arrive on Friday evening to celebrate the birthday.
- Owen's final soccer day (and scrimmage against the parents) on Saturday.
- Celebrate the birthday and watch the Huskies Saturday afternoon.
- Home appraisal the following Tuesday (finishing it out!)

It looked crazy and pretty intense, but manageable.  And frankly, pretty much par for the course for 2012.  Why not have a birthday, a job change, a home appraisal, and a bunch of family visiting all at the same time?  It's just the Maxwell way.

The Actual Series of Events
- Turn in my notice at work on Monday. Though this went very smoothly, it really kicked off my week with a high stress level. It's hard to walk away from anything you've been a part of for nearly 12 years!
- Monday night, Scott started feeling lousy... 
- Tuesday night, Scott tore out all the fixtures in our bathroom and primed the walls. I wrapped presents.
- Wednesday, Scott had a second interview (with the company he now works for).  It was grueling interview, requiring him to really think on his feet and answer some pretty tough technical questions. He still felt miserable.
- As our evening progressed, Scott felt worse, and we found ourselves on WebMD looking up the symptoms of appendicitis...
- Thursday morning (Josh's Birthday), Scott called the nurse hotline, drove to work, waited for Urgent Care to open, WALKED to the clinic, and finally got instructed to go to the ER where they diagnosed appendicitis and lined him up for afternoon surgery. I spent the morning at Josh's birthday celebration at school, went to work, and finally got to the hospital around 2:00. Scott went into surgery at 4:00.
- Ethel hopped in the car to be at the hospital when he came out of surgery.

- I raced though Fred Meyer to purchase the nastiest tasting cupcakes possible and food for the weekend before snagging the kids from school. Once home with frayed nerves (all three of us), I attempted a birthday dinner while Josh smashed the box of cupcakes and we all put on brave faces to celebrate. The cupcakes were so bad that none of us finished one. Josh opened presents while I tried to do some frantic house cleaning. We waited for news on Scott's surgery (he was fine, just took a long time). I was stressed out and short tempered with the kids. At one point, we were all crying on the stairs. The kids finally got to bed and I A stressful day left us all crying and the kids finally got to be 1 1/2 hours later than normal,

- I spent Friday with Scott in recovery, while Ethel watched Josh and took the Owen to school. My parents showed up with two vehicles full of shrubs. By the time Scott and I got home, our yard was looking re-furbished on the outside and sparkling clean on the inside.

The rest of the weekend's events actually occurred as planned - soccer, birthday, husky game, visit to the Children's Museum - only with Scott knocked out on the couch. All of our family offered to reschedule their visits, but it turned out to be a great blessing to have everyone around. Uncle Ryan subbed for Scott at soccer, Calla gave the kids ample playtime and distraction, Sara helped me make proper cupcakes for our birthday, Josh had birthday toys galore, and Scott had lots of extra hands to take care of him in recovery.

On Sunday afternoon, I was even able to finish painting the bathroom while Ethel kept the kids busy. By the time our appraisal happened on Tuesday,  the house was clean and sparkly, with much improved street appeal.

We're glad to have that one behind us!

This was a week when we were SOOO thankful that our move away from amazing community in Bend at least brought us closer to family.  There's no way we would have managed this one without the help of EVERYONE that joined us for the weekend. It was also a good reminder of how much we all need a support system to come along side us when the going gets rough.