Move over Oscar, there's a new grouch in town.

Such a long week and a half this has been. I went from having a mild sore throat to Strep AND a Peritonsillar Abscess on my left tonsil in the space of a week. I couldn't have been more upset with my body. I avoided the ER (thanks to amazing pain meds) and went to a ENT clinic instead. <----- Most awful experience everrrr. But, she must have done something good because the swelling went down and by the end of the day, my throat was greatly improved. So thankful that the abscess didn't fill back up making me go in AGAIN. I don't think I would have handled that well.

Fast forward to a week later: I'm on antibiotics and still trying to kick this infection. My body is still working quite hard at getting this infection taken care of. The swelling is still there and even though I don't have any throat pain, the swelling on my left tonsil is reeking havoc on my jaw. I've had jaw pain before and just like before I'm having to focus on not clenching and putting even more stress on it. The stress of my jaw pain is radiating to my head and neck. Headaches and back pain. So much stress. I hope I never have to deal with this again. If I do...these tonsils are outta here!

On a random note, have I mentioned how much I hate antibiotics? I guess I should clarify that I have a love-hate relationship with them. I love them for the obvious reasons...but I hate them for the side effects. Bleh. I don't know much about antibiotics, but the ones I'm currently on are making me ohsotired and they leave a nasty taste in my mouth that lasts for a few hours. I'm also on a smaller dose, so I'm having to take 2 pills 8 hours a day, which equals 6 pills a day. The second set are the easiest. The  morning and and late-night timeslots are awful because I have to have to eat food at unconvient times of the day. I HATE eating food first thing in the morning. And drinking copious amounts of water doesn't sit well either. But it's either that or throwing up on an empty stomach. Waaaa. I don't like being tired all the time and I don't like being forced to eat. Antibiotics make me cranky.

My friend Johanna gifted this fun postcard to me at Christmastime.

I love everything about it. The structure, the print, the font and design. And the saying. She knows me well. Honestly, when I first got it, I thought of my kids. But lately, the saying has been a good reminder to me that I need to quick whining and complaining. It's hard to do when one is so tired and exhausted, but it's not impossible. My husband has been quite loving towards me even when I'm cranky and glum. He's shown me undivided attention and unconditional love when I'm at my lowest. He's the best. Seeing how wonderful he is almost makes me even more cranky (I don't deserve him). Haha. I'm hoping this dark cloud of gloom will go away soon. I miss the sunshine and flowers.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good  {Romans 8:28}

Is it February yet?

Oh look, it's still January. Maybe if I go back to bed, it'll be February. Or not.
I'm cooped up here at home for the millionth day. I hate being responsible and keeping us sickies at home - spreading germs is so tempting right now. Buuuut, I wouldn't wish Strep Throat on anyone, so I'm staying put.

I'm trying to stay busy and not daydream of being outside in warm weather with the sun shining down on me... There's a lot to do around here.  Being sick for 3 weeks (over Christmas AND New Years) really made a mess out of our home. Just picking one of those things would make our house messy....add being sick and preparing and living through the holidays...yeah. CRAZY.

To help me stay busy, I decided to tackle one room a day and DEEP CLEAN. I'm also working through the 21-day Organization Challenge. I love a good challenge that seems doable. So far, one day down, 20 to go.

The other thing I'm tacking this month (and hopefully for the rest of the year) is setting aside quite time for ME and the Lord. I'll be honest. I failed miserably in my quiet time in 2012. I couldn't seem to find anything that worked for me. I always fail at reading plans and reading random parts of the bible just doesn't work for me for long periods of time. I need more structure...but a manageable plan. I'm a finicky person.   

This is a picture of what my morning looks like:

1. Coffee. I have to have my coffee in the morning to calm and sooth my crankiness away. I'm not a morning person. I love my ombre tumbler from my sweet SIL. I can't drink my coffee out of a normal coffee cup anymore...at least during the winter months. It gets cold way too fast. In my tumbler it stays warm for hours. Love.

2.  My phone. While my littlest one takes his bottle, I check my email, facebook, instagram....  I also, use my phone for my first set of devotions. She Reads Truth has become a favorite mini-devotional for me. I can access it from my phone, read the short (and deep) devotional and look up scripture all from one app (or you can access it from the She Reads Truth website or YouVersion's website. I like SRT's devotionals because they're not overwelming and it usually gives me something to chew on during the day. And it gets me in the Word.

3. My bible. Most of the time I'll just use my phone to look up scripture, but sometimes when I'm doing my other devotional (more on that later), I like to use a real bible. There's just something sweet about opening up my well-loved bible and seeing highlighted spots...and notes with dates on them. It's almost like reading a journal.

4. Q&A journal. I love this book. It's pleasing on the eyes and fun too! Here's today's question:

 

5. Jesus Calling. I received this book as a Christmas gift. It was on my wish list as I had only heard good things about this devotional. I'm 10 days in a love it. Just like She Reads Truth, it's a short devotional with scriptures to look up and meditate on. So far I've been challenged to be thankful and to work on trusting. Two things that I have realized I'm not very good at doing in my walk with Jesus. I can already tell these two things (among many) will be my theme for 2013. 

6. Finally my planner. I love this planner (I bought it at 70% off a couple of weeks before the New Year). It's not exactly my style - but I love the format of it. Lots of space to write down to-do lists for the day and even a place to journal about the month. When I'm done with my devotionals, I open this book up and write down my list for the day. Yesterday was my first day feeling well enough to actually accomplish tasks. Today seems to be a good day too. On my list for the day:

- Day 2 of The 21 Day Organizing Challenge (Coat Closet)

- Hem the boy's bedroom curtains with my *new* sewing machine!

- Deep-clean Front Hall/Steps

- Figure out dinner. Again.

It may not look like much, but it'll keep me busy. 

Count it all joy.

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

This is our fighter verse for the week at our church. The book of James has always held a dear place in my heart. When I was younger, my dad memorized a few chapters from selected books of the bible with us. He memorized  Romans with the boys and  James with me. We didn't get through the whole book of James, but we came close.  Every night we'd recite from memory the verses we had learned. Those were precious nights for me and my dad. To this day whenever I read the book of James, I think of him. Because the book of James was so special to me, the name too has become dear (it's even cute when shortened to Jamie, at least I think so). I just happened to marry a guy whose middle name is James...and we've since used that middle name for our son, Simon. Simon James.  It's a very popular and somewhat overused middle name, but I don't care. It's a name that's dear to me and my husband, seeing as it's also his late Grandpa O'Malley's first name.

I thought the verse very fitting for today. Not that I'm going through a horrible spiritual trial, but I'm finding myself weak in knowledge and not knowing what to do for my son, who is for the first time in his 2.5 years of living, super sick. He's been sick before, but never to this extreme. It's hard taking care of a sick baby-child, when one can't explain what's going on and how one's feeling. He points to his open mouth when I ask where it hurts. I'm assuming that means he has a sore throat. I know from his flushed face/head/body that he's fighting a fever. I also know he has a drippy nose from the mound of used tissues and the gasps for breaths as he sips his water. His cough is deep and barky. His energy level has gone down quite a bit, but even still, today he had these bursts of energy that surprised us. It reassured us that he wasn't all sick and that a tiny part of his lively self was still there, fighting to break free of his sick body. I wish more than anything I could release his body of the war that's waging within. That I could trade my health for his sickness. It kills me seeing him so uncomfortable and scared. I hope his body will let him sleep tonight...so far, it doesn't look promising.

Please dear Jesus, heal my son's body.