Unexpected Day Home

After a week off, I was back at work for two days and now I'm gone again. Yesterday morning my sister began experiencing abdominal pain- the kind that makes one double over. She went to her primary doc who ended up sending her to a gyno. It was a trip that would end in the ER last night and an emergency appendectomy around midnight. She came through with flying colors and is being released this morning. I spoke to my mom around 9:30 this morning and she said that even though she'd been up most of the night I could still bring CJ and go on in to work. But she also kept telling me the same things repeatedly and sounded very drowsy. I decided she really needed to rest today. Not that I mind being home- but I also dont want to burn another vacation day- less to have at Christmas. But with my sister coming home from the hospital- I figure they could both use a quiet house for the day. At the end of August CJ is scheduled to start three days a week the same preschool program WC has gone to since he was two. So it will be slightly freeing not to have to miss work if mom can't care for CJ- at least on Mon, Wed or Fri.
Tomorrow is test day for the aquarium. I picked up one of the big master test kits- touted on the Fish Lore website as being more accurate than the strips. I'm going to experiment and test w/ both and see how the results on the strip compare with the big kahuna. I practiced last night using the PH test on my tap water and discovered my tap water is very alkaline. I'm interested to see how it compares with the tank water. I'll be testing PH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. And I'm hoping the beneficial bacteria has successfully seeded in the aquarium. Fingers crossed. If all readings are appropriate I'm supposed to wait a week before changing water- if not I'll have to start changes immediately.