This has been such a weird, not-the-norm kind of week for me.

If you didn’t already know, I had my appendix removed last Sunday evening.  I really hadn’t felt well all week but couldn’t quite put my finger on what was wrong.  On Saturday, I felt just…poorly.  I had a lot of abdominal cramping, but chalked it up to normal girlie issues and kept on plugging along.  I even started prepping the walls to paint our school room Saturday afternoon!  (And yes, our school room looks just the way I left it: a disaster.)

I ironed clothes on Saturday evening, and still felt that gnawing cramping that just wouldn’t go away.  I slept very little on Saturday night and got up Sunday morning thinking I should go to Urgent Care.  They sent me directly to the Emergency Room where a CT confirmed I had an angry appendix in there.

So in a very routine surgery on Sunday evening, my appendix was removed.

(And just as a side note, I have zero recollection of writing that post last Sunday after my surgery.  Did I do that on my phone??  I have no idea, but I am thrilled with my correct usage of punctuation, spelling and grammar in my drug-induced state!)

I’m leaving out all of the awful details of how painful it was.  And how I just couldn’t get on top of the pain.  And how I’d rather birth a baby any day (and I’ve had four – so I know that pain well!) than have appendicitis-type pain.

This has been a hard week for me though, in more ways than one.

I’m not a person who gets waited on too often.  I’m the one that does the waiting.  I was a bedside nurse for 9+ years and that involves a ton of waiting on people.  And of course, I have 4 children and a husband and I consider it my privilege to wait on them.

But I’ll be honest that I’ve had a really hard time with other people waiting on me.  My mother or mother-in-law or my husband has brought me meals in bed, washed our clothes, changed the sheets, and taken complete care of my 4 children (except feeding the baby).  I’ve done absolutely nothing in the taking care of my family and my home for 7 days.

And that is just really odd to me. 

Running our household and taking care of my family is usually a 24/7 job.  And I’ve been off duty now for a whole week.

Needless to say, I’m very ready to get back at it.  I’m ready to cook dinner, wash a million loads of clothes, take the kids outside and finally get to painting the schoolroom.

And I’m ready to get back at it here at Mama’s Laundry Talk.  You know, y’all are a very faithful crowd of readers here and I’m so grateful you stick around.  Hopefully this will be a more ‘normal’ week with Laundry Deals and other laundry-related posts. I’m not making any promises, but I do hope to post a few good laundry reads this week.

This week has shown me many things: I have a family who loves me in a real, genuine way and I am so unbelievably grateful for them.

Also, I cannot accomplish everything I want to do, as there is simply not enough time in the day. I don’t know why I’m so hard-headed and can’t grasp this concept.

Most importantly, I am reminded that God loves me in my weakest and ugliest moments.  And the number of ugly moments for me this week?  WAY too many to count.  But I’m grateful that He gives me second chances to do things over in a better way.

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Thanks for being faithful readers, y’all.  We’ll get down to some serious laundry business later this week.

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes here at Mama’s Laundry Talk this week.

I’ve updated my email delivery to a fabulous new service that I’m really excited about.  There are still a few glitches to work out, so hopefully it will be settled in the next few days.  If you’d rather read Mama’s Laundry Talk in your inbox, feel free to sign up in my rockin’ new box on the top right of the page.

I’m also updating the navigation and categories to make finding posts a little easier.   By the end of the week, you’ll notice a few new changes to the drop-down menus at the top also.

Hopefully this will make your reading here at Mama’s more pleasurable.

If you have things you would like to see improved, I’m always up for {constructive} criticism!

Before you ask, no I am not pregnant.  But I did write over at Life as MOM today on how to survive those hot summer days when you are pregnant.

I do have lots of experience in that department.

Head on over!

This is a very busy week at the Hill House.

This sweet little thing is turning two this week.  Charm and sweetness just ooze from her and she is just a (busy) joy to be around.

And this fine young man is turning six.  He’s a smart boy who loves to learn.  And talk.

Their birthdays are two days apart, and they also fall right around the Easter Season this year.  So I’m making plans, cooking up a storm, wrapping gifts, ironing Easter dresses, playing Memory, and taking a break from blogging this week.

I’m looking forward to spending these birthday days with my children and focusing on the most precious gift I’ve ever received.

I’ll be back on Monday with some great new posts – and something super cute to share with you.  So I’ll see you then!

There are so many wonderful little laundry links just waiting for someone to discover them on the internet.  Here are this month’s finds:

• If I were building a house, I would have to install this ironing board system in my enormous laundry room.  When stowed, it is completely compact and unobtrusive.  Great concept.

• Amanda from The Eco-Friendly Family lists some interesting reasons why it would be better to use alternatives to dryer sheets.

• And speaking of being a little more green in the laundry room, Seventh Generation unveils their new Paper Laundry Detergent Bottle.  It is recyclable many times over and looks fairly nice.

• The Laundry Pod.  Now this is an interesting concept.  It uses less than 5 gallons of water and is totally portable.  You could use this in your RV or in a small apartment or as a back-up for you washer.

• Alice.com asked their readers to list the most creative ways they used dryer sheets.  The comments are interesting if you need ideas!

• Package Speak has an interesting post on how packaging has changed over time in the laundry aisle.  Would you consider it more convenient?

• A very amusing look at washing one’s laundry while traveling!  I’m sure the frequent travelers among us can really relate.

A big huge thanks to everyone who took the time to complete my Reader Survey!  Once I compile the data, I’ll have a much more accurate picture of who reads here.  Hopefully I’ll be able to tailor a few posts to those readers of which I wasn’t aware (ie: single men, etc).

So the randomly drawn winner of the $20 Gift Card to Amazon is:

asmcl….@gmail.com!

You’ll receive an email from me by the end of today with information about your Gift Card.

We’re having a big week here at Mama’s this coming week – make sure you visit every day!  More details are coming later this afternoon/evening.

If you have a few moments this week, will you take the time to fill out my Reader Survey?

For a variety of reasons, I would like to get a better overall picture of who the readers are here at Mama’s.

One survey taker will win a $20 gift card to Amazon.com!  Make sure to text in your email address at the end of the form to be eligible.

The survey will remain live until Friday, March 18th at midnight.  I’ll draw for the Amazon gift card on Saturday and announce the winner.

Thanks for taking the time to answer the survey!

The winner of the $25 Kroger Gift Card is…

Cheri!  (Cherih….@earth….)

Congratulations!  I’ve sent you an email for your contact information!

Happy shopping the laundry deals at Kroger this week!

I’m posting over at Life as MOM today on grocery shopping with young children…and staying sane.

Part One is up today and part two will run tomorrow.  So go over to FishMama’s and leave your best shopping tips!

I am a huge Kroger fan. It is by far my favorite place to shop when using coupons.  In my area, Kroger offers the best sales among the grocery stores, so the kids and I make them a weekly visit.

Kroger is running a CartBuster Event from February 27 through March 12. And I am thrilled that Mama’s Laundry Talk is giving away a $25 Kroger gift card!

You can definitely add to your laundry detergent stockpile with $25 of free money!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post.  If you’d like to enter yourself again, “like” Mama’s Laundry Talk on Face Book and then leave me another comment here on this post telling me you did so.

The contest will be open until Sunday night, March 6th at 10pm EST.  I’ll choose a winner and announce it on Monday morning!

Disclaimer: The Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills/Nestle/P&G provided the gift card, information, and giveaway through MyBlogSpark.  I was also compensated for my time with a Kroger gift card as well.