Things I want to tell you

Things are moving as always around here and last week there was a lot of “moving” going on.

Mark and the kids had the stomach flu.

Of course it all started with the youngest at bedtime…..Why is it always bedtime? She was crying and yes, I fell for it again………While I was holding her trying to find out what was going and what she was trying to tell me the vomiting started……..all over me………and the new quilt I just that night finished repairing from the last time she got sick.

Mary Elizabeth vomited and vomited and vomited right into my hands, down my shirt, all over everything. Oh! Yeah, I forgot to mention everyone was standing there looking, watching saying ”OHHHH GROSS!!!!!” as they stood there in the way.

And the night began………..

I gave her a bath, gave me a shower, checked her temperature and thought hopefully…… maybe it was something she ate…….. Mark and I changed the sheets, the blankets, cleaned everything and settle down for bed with Liz snuggled in between us……Just to keep an eye on her.

30 minutes later it started again………UGGGGGG!

This time I was faster or maybe there wasn’t an audience standing in the way to hold me back.

I ran her into the bathroom and we took care of business. Changed the sheets again, changed her and thought mmmmmm “maybe this is bug….better bleach everything first thing in the morning.”

It happened again and again and again and again….. I gave her 4 baths, changed the sheets three times and changed myself twice through out the night.

Around 4 A.M. Mark started……… OH! BOY! Not good……I helped him find the medication he wanted to “try” to settle his stomach…..

It didn’t work......

5:30 A.M. now and things were still as crazy. I think to myself I hope this does not go through house…..Maybe I should get up now and start bleaching things. Just as the very thought crossed my mind Kathryn comes in to tell me she is very sick and needs my help right away……….

Just like the loving mother I am ~ I think………….OHHHHH!!!!!!! GREAT!!!

I go to her room …….find her new clothes for bed, change the sheets, clean the rug and get her settled down.

Ugggg!!!

The next morning it is 10:30 and I finally slept a little…….I check on the patients and see everyone is still pretty sick…..but at least the vomiting has stopped.

11:00 A.M. I talk to my mother and I tell her about the night and of course.... she runs right over……."Nana to the rescue" with Ginger Ale and chicken soup for her little Mary Liz…….When I see her I say with surprise……..”What are you doing here? You just had pneumonia. You can’t come in.” ……… Of course she does, she sits down and says, “Boy is there an odor in this house.”

“Yeah! I know!”

That day, I felt like Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie; tending to the sick, washing laundry, making chicken soup, giving them little sips of coke and scrubbing everything that didn’t move in the house with a bucket of bleach.

What a long night it was ……...What a long day it was.

What a long week it turned out to be…….

This flu went through our house claiming it’s victims……Stephen and Matthew were next. I kept my hands in bleach water and sprayed everything over and over again with Lysol....EVEN my boys .

This house has never been cleaner.

On the upside……….. I didn’t get it……..maybe it was all sanitizing I did.

The next week……My mother was sick!

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I watch the house for a couple of days and see men coming and going. December 22, Stephen calls me VERY excited. He says, “They are there!” as he, my mother and Matthew drove by that night they could see the car in the driveway.

Let’s see what else did I want to tell you?

To start with ………. Matthew got his drivers license December 22. He was so excited.

December 23 he and his brother were very very anxious to take the car out for a spin alone. I agreed…They did a little Christmas shopping and went to lunch. All went well until……… he hit the sign on our street bending it slightly…..and leaving my car with the passenger side fender damaged breaking off the light and the turn signal.

It is official! We now have a teenage driver and my car has been dubbed the sacrificial new drivers car………. Thank God Mark can fix anything! With a little magic dust and duct tape the car will be good as new in no time.

In all fairness to Matthew, I should say……..He had pulled off the side of the road to look at the neighborhood drug house on our street. He wanted to get a good look at the door the cops had broken into from the night before. When he decided he had enough of a look and thought it was time to get going, he put the car in forward AND forgot to look in front of him.

SLAM!!!!!!!!

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THAT brings us to the drug house and all the excitement!

Our friends HAVE moved back in.

Can you believe they have moved back in???

Well! They did. They even had the nerve to put up Christmas lights. Which…….needless to say freaked me and my neighbors out!

First thing Monday morning I called the police……I told them what was going on and they referred me to the drug investigations department. I had to leave a message. Tuesday I called again……Left a message……Wednesday…left a message……Thursday……Left a message…..Friday I get a call from “The Greenville County Sheriff” He says I have called a lot and can he help me……..?

?????

I say “Well, it is about time! I have been calling all week.” I told him our situation and he knew it well. He told me he would have Investigator Tony call me right away…….Which he did.

Investigator Tony said ~ He wanted to catch these guys……and asked me to watch the house and when I saw the car at the house to call him…….Which I did!

It happened to be Tony’s Day off ~ mmmmmmmm ~ I explained to him the men in this house do not seem to live there. I told him I thought they were just using it and I couldn't be sure how long they would be there or when they would be back.

He explains to me……..He cannot call in for overtime and he is off the clock. He cannot go to this house off duty and does not want to send a car down that way to tip these guys off.

He says he wants to catch these guys. He tells me this thing is BIG and he feels it is all tied with drug trafficing through Florida.

He asks me to really watch the house Tuesday and Wednesday of that week, December 22 and 23……I say all righty and think……..Oh! BOY!!!

I call my cop and tell him "Our Guys are There"…..I don’t know how long they will be there but they ARE at the house now.

My cop says he will be in touch……..He calls me back and says NO ONE seems to be home. BUT! The back windows are blocked out like before……He tells me he is going to call for a drug dog and asks me to keep my phone with me incase…..

InCaSe???? Incase of what?????? YIKES!!!

We can hear the dogs barking into the dark night………My phone rings …..It is my Cop! He tells me the drug dogs are going crazy and would I sign an affidavit saying I saw the car in the driveway so they can get a search warrant……Yick!!!

…I say…..”Of course I will…”

It makes me mad to think these guys think they can grow drugs, frighten the neighborhood and chop someone up while we all stand by and wait for them to make their money and then hopefully leave us alone.

My Father built this neighborhood…..It is a very nice neighborhood! I was with my father while he laid out the streets. This place is special to me and I will not have these people tarnishing our good name.

I meet the cop with the necessary information and do what I need to do.

20 minutes goes by and then we hear………”This house is surrounded come out with your hands up.” Over and over again…..The dogs are going crazy and then WE hear BANGING! BANGING! BANGING!

The cops are breaking the door down. ………Oh! My GOSH! Stephen and I are standing outside listening to all that is going on….We can't see a thing because we are surronded by trees.

YiCKS!!!

Then I think maybe we should go in or better yet get the party Margaret is having that night.

Then silence

MMMMM

We drive by the house and see people moving around. Cops are every where. They are bringing things out of the house. Things are every where.

Did they catch THEM???

MMMMM

We go to the party and then leave to check on our drug house……..We see things laid out all over the driveway……Every light is on in the house……The Christmas lights are still on.

The police work into the night

Did they catch THEM???

MMMMM

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December 23……….We see a white car go very slowly by our house. The driver almost came to a stop looking at the car parked in the drive way. My car!

Stephen looks out and says “HEY, that is the Mexican Drug CAR!”

What????

Did they catch THEM?????

NO!!!!!!! THEY DIDN’T!!

And you know what else???

The lights are still on at this house.

But here is the good news........The dog catcher cought this stray I named Sirius Black......He wasn't bothering anyone....Every now and then he came to my house to eat and play with our dogs...........

mmmmmmm

To bad I didn't call the Dog Catcher for this problem.