The Maladies of "Nunya" and "The Tick"

Well, I started this post a couple weeks ago and am just now adding the text! Helllllllo, Summer Self, wake up and get with the posts! Anyway, let me tell you about the maladies...

"Nunya": def.: what i tell my kids when they butt in on my conversations with Daddy. In other words, "It's NUNYA business!" Anyway, Annie had Nunya. I know sweet, sad, quiet (yeah, right, I'm quiet), somewhat depressed and definitely not tan, Winter Self did not tell you about Annie's Nunya. But, my baby had Pneumonia in February. It was very scary for all of us (me), first because it snowed on that Friday in our little town in Alabama. Now, if you haven't been in Alabama when it snows, let me fill you in. Everything SHUTS DOWN! So, it snowed, my mama had been here, Annie had been coughing a little and mama told her not to play in the snow or she'd catch Pneumonia. I am a firm believer in knocking on wood, which no one did at that particular moment in time, unfortunately. At 11 p.m. I ventured out in the "blizzard" to get some Tylenol to alternate with the Motrin that my precious neighbor gave me. Thanks K! So, point is, Annie had Pneumonia, which she affectionately has renamed "Nunya". It sounds the same and it was hilarious when she told me, after the tick incident, "Mommy, remember when I had Nunya and had to get a shot!?!" Furthermore, when we were leaving the wonderful Chuck E. Cheese the other night after A's 5th birthday party, we walked out with Mimi and Pawpaw H, A's grandparents. Mimi and Pawpaw live at the lake and we went to visit 2 summers ago. Pawpaw had taken care of Aunt Lele's pet bird Sunny since she moved out long time ago and Beebs fell in love with the bird. Well, as we were walking out with them, I was reminding Beebs of our visit and playing with Sunny. As she, in the sweetest 7 year old way, was remembering, Pawpaw said, "Yep, Sunny's dead. I left him downstairs all Winter and he got too cold, caught Pneumonia and died!". Beebs was horrified, but all Annie had to say (once again), was, "Hey Mommy, member when I had Nunya and had to get a shot?" Only from the moufs (again with my previous posts, you'll have to go back and read it if you haven't already!) of babes!

On to the Tick! Summer self sends Beebs to Day School with Annie, because I must tackle the commercial real estate world (I really don't tackle, just take care of 3rd child - previous post). There was one day where I had to ask our sweet Mrs. F and precious Baby M to bring them home. That was the day we were leaving to visit Granny in Kentucky, or just plain ole "Tucky" as Annie calls it (could be worse). Anyway, Mrs. F made sure to tell Daddy that she had checked them for ticks because some of the Day School kiddos had them after being on the playground. Daddy failed to mention this to me and you know what happened...guess...Beebs found the tick on her own head. Now that was not immediately after F told Daddy to check, noooooo, it was 2 days later, while we were at Granny's (Daddy's mama), at around 11 p.m. as they were STRUGGLING to go to sleep. So, we carried Mr. Tick all the way from our little town, over the river and through the woods, to Granny's house. And, we played with cousins with Mr. Tick, and we had meals with Mr. Tick and we swam in Granny's pool with Mr. Tick. Anyway, in true Beebs fashion (she's a little bit like her mama, God love her), she was taking down her ponytail, rubbing the back of her head and then, screaming bloody murder. Well, Daddy in his infinite talk radio wisdom, told us that he needed baby oil STAT, which Granny promptly returned with. I didn't even know they made baby oil anymore. We used to use it for "sunscreen". Daddy had heard a doctor on the radio talking about ticks and using baby oil to make them back out of the skin they were attached to. (My skin is crawling just typing this.) After several douses with the baby oil and several very long minutes of freaking out (Beebs and me), and several suggestions (by me) of using the tweezers, Daddy finally caved on the baby oil gig and asked for the tweezers. Yes, I am the expert on tick removal as I had to pull one out of Aunt D's ear on our way to the beach in, oh, about '97 or '98 and let me tell you that the tweezers saved us. That story is what calmed Beebs after the tick had been flushed! But, Aunt D's tick is another story for another post.

Thank you Mommy (patting myself on the back), for taking care of me through the Nunya, for always being the expert on all things tweezers and tick removal, for finding my DS charger, for having Sponge Bob Band-aids when we have pool toe, for letting us watch Sweet 16 on Disney, for making us separate dinners so we can each have what we want, for helping me clean my room, for letting me eat the ice cream I just fixed for myself, and most of all, for letting us sit in the way back of your car! Mommy, you rock, and your tan is awesome!!!

Did I go a little overboard? Sometimes somebody's gotta pat ya on the back, even if it is yourself...