Ramblings of a Suburban Soccer Mom

Ah, Life's Little Ironies...

2009-11-14T07:42:00.007-06:00

After the Hospital Experience, they highly recommended that we find some H1N1 vaccine for Thing Two and Thing Four, because they hadn't gotten sick.

Yesterday the kids weren't in school. I had a follow-up appointment for Thing Three, just to get an x-ray of his lungs and make sure he was pneumonia-free. All the kids wanted to tag along, except Thing Two, who said he had a headache. But he didn't want to be alone, either, so he came with us.

We all trooped into the doctor's office, and after a harrowing fifteen minutes where I had to chase my two-year old all over the foyer while we waited for Thing Three to get his x-ray, they had the results. Clear and healthy. Hooray! The Dr. reassured me the radiologist even got out his magnifying glass, and looked for any pneumonia, and didn't find any. :-)

Then, they happened to mention that they had TWO doses of the H1N1 nasal mist. I was surprised and relieved. "Let's give it to the kids now!" While they were having me fill out consent forms, Thing Two, who is ten, started complaining that he felt dizzy and his throat hurt.

Uh, say what?

The nurse came back in, and gave my two-year old the vaccine. Just before she was to give it to Thing Two, I asked her to take his temp.

101.5.

Needless to say, she didn't give it to him. The Dr. came back in, checked him out, and asked his symptoms. Fever, sore throat, cough. (In my defense I hadn't noticed the cough because I am so used to hearing one these days.)

Swine Flu Strikes Again. I was seriously like, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

So, Thing Two is now quarantined to his room, and I am keeping him comfortable. THANK HEAVEN he can breathe just fine, so this looks like we're in for five days of fever, and hopefully that's it. And I can handle that. Truly, it will be nothing.

I can't help but wonder at the Irony of the whole situation, however. JUST as he was about to get the vaccine...

Good Luck Day

2009-11-13T07:43:00.005-06:00

I don't care what anyone says, Friday the 13th has always been a lucky day for me! :-)

My kids are going to hate me. I've already forewarned them, but I suspect they may only half-believe me. I told them, since there's no school today (conferences), BEFORE they go on the computer, video games, or play outside, they get to clean their rooms and clean the basement.

No fun stuff. Work first. Thing One's room is already clean, so she didn't complain much. Thing Two, however, had an out-and-out mutiny and told me he was going to stay in his room all day and not clean it. To which I replied, "Fine, I will just set the timer for 20 minutes and if there's no progress I'm going to SWAT YOUR BEHIND. And I will continue to swat it every 20 minutes until the room is clean!"

He simply looked at me. I think he realizes I'm serious about the cleaning thing. I have to clean my own room, as well. It's amazing how clothes seem to "be fruitful and multiply" in my closet.

Thing One begged me to watch Twilight for the umpteenth time with her last night. (My third time, HER umpteenth). I have to say, it really is a BAD movie. The lighting is bad, the music is corny, the CHEESEY LINES these poor actors had to utter borderline on the ridiculous--and I still detest how Edward meets Bella and after a few tense words and a mulch-dump field trip they are proclaiming their love for each other. WAY TOO FAST!! The book at least drew it out a little.

Looking forward to New Moon. (We have tickets for the 21st!) I really liked The Golden Compass so I think this director will have made a more emotional movie. Twilight reminds me of "Star Wars" where the pretty actors had more wooden, corny lines than the droids.

I'm sure all the Twihards will be sending me hate mail, but there it is. I have a feeling there will be a marked difference between the two movies. I'm just sayin...

I got all the conferences knocked out yesterday. Kids are doing great, and I think we need to get out and enjoy the sunshine today. Oh, and my two year old has started being SUPER polite, lately. "Thank You, Mommy." "You're Welcome." "Please?" "Sorry, Mommy." And my personal favorite: "Bwess you, Mommy!"

Crazy Thursday. Grin

2009-11-12T08:47:00.004-06:00

Yes, it's 8:45 and what have I already done today?

--Woke up (A feat in itself since Thing One ran downstairs at 2am because she'd had a nightmare--I had to go re-tuck her in and soothe her--shoot me now)
--Drove the kids to school
--lugged out the stroller and took the baby into school with said kids, to buy books for the school Book Fair
--Bought Books
--Back to the car and to the gas station because my car told me I only had 55 miles to go until I was empty. (oops!)
--Got Gas
--Mailed a package
--Ran to the Cleaners
--Dropped off a prescription refill
--Went to the bank
--Grabbed a bowl of Mini-Wheats and sat down at this computer.

WHEW!!

I still have to mow the lawn (ONE last time!), run to the store, and go to parent/teacher conferences. Oh, and a basketball game, ACROSS town, later.

I'm loving it! Normal is good!

Wednesday Out of Nowhere...

2009-11-11T08:02:00.005-06:00

Happy Veteran's Day!

*Sigh* What a crazy two weeks!

Thing Three went back to school yesterday (we kept him home on Monday because he was still a little weak) and it was like a Rock Star returning to the school. Seriously. I hadn't realized how much his hospitalization had affected the school! All the students outside came running, yelling "(Thing Three) is back! He's back!" and they literally rushed him. We had about 100 students crowded around us in no time, asking if they could carry his bag, welcoming him, etc. All the ladies in the office cheered when I brought him in. I didn't realize how popular he was! (Thing Three has always been our "charmer" and he unabashedly gives out compliments like the BEST brown noser in the world, but I suspect he's sincere.) So, it was a bit of a shock. But it was nice to see his big grin and the sparkle in his eyes back. He can't do Phy Ed or recess until he's cleared by his doctor at the end of the week, but he's glad to be back with his friends and back to school.

And I'm glad of it, too. It almost seems surreal, all we went through those eight days. I think I got lucky--I was almost too exhausted during the ordeal to be hysterically upset, and now that it's over and he's out of the woods, I'm just grateful. Sooooooo grateful!!

Call me crazy, but I am doing something a little early this year--since we're going out of town for Christmas, I'm going to put up all my Christmas decorations next week! Next week will be Throw Every Christmas Decoration Possible Up Week. I am going to get all my trees up, my garlands, my STUFF, and play Christmas music. You watch. I am going to have the most cheerful house ever!

I am so in the Christmas spirit, now! Although a friend of mine and I agreed we need to move Christmas to January 25th, because it's always so DEPRESSING after Christmas when you take all the decor down and everything is plain and empty and you still have THREE FERSHLUGGING MONTHS OF WINTER to get through.

Anyone vote for Christmas January 25th? It would be evenly spaced between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day. I think it sounds fabulous.

Who's with me???

;-)

And Now...Back to Normal...

2009-11-09T07:02:00.003-06:00

...pretty much.

Thing Three came home from the hospital on Saturday. It was good to have him home! He's still a little weak (we're keeping him home from school just today) but he sat in a wagon while we took a family walk (it was beautiful weather this weekend, in the 70's!) and he sat in the grass and watched us while we raked leaves and bagged them. He wanted to join in, but he still gets short-winded just walking up the stairs, so I told him to hang in there a few more days, and he'll be back to normal.

Which is what we'd like to get. We are doing something today we haven't done in a while--we're going SHOPPING! :-) Hubby is staying home one more day to hang out with us and Thing Three, and MIL and I will be at Target, Boston Store...and...the hospital...because guess who, like an idiot, left her only phone charger plugged into the hospital room? *wink* Yeah. That would be me. (I could have sworn I'd gotten EVERYTHING!) I guess just not that one thing. So, we have to go back. But we had such a good experience (despite the bad circumstances) because the nurses were the most caring, awesome bunch ever.

Thing Three can't do phy ed or any recess until he's cleared by the Dr. We'll meet with her in about a week for a follow up. So, things should start getting back to normal! Which means back to crazy, but we have a sports break coming up soon. Thing One only has two more weeks of basketball, then we are on a break until January. Then we have Basketball for Thing Two, Volleyball for Thing One, and Indoor Soccer for Thing Three. I will be living in my car.

Yep, normalcy. Happy Monday everyone!

Best Day Ever.

2009-11-06T19:18:00.004-06:00

That's what tomorrow will be!! We are spending our LAST night in the picu, and Thing Three will be going HOME!!! WOOO!!

They took him off his breathing machine this morning, and he's been on oxygen, walking around the halls, but he's improved so much they took him off oxygen and he's good to go tomorrow! They want us to see a specialist for a follow up. But that's fine. He seems to have improved 100% in just one day. The H1N1 lasted about five days, the pneumonia part just got better today, so seven days. SEVEN DAYS in the icu! Craziness!

The best part is, (and yes, I'm being sarcastic here)-- his two other brothers could STILL get H1N1, because we don't have the vaccine! They don't have it at the hospital, at the local clinics, nowhere! Talk about LAMENESS.

I've washed everything on sanitary, wiped/sprayed down all the surfaces in the house, and hopefully all the H1N1 germs are gone. One can only hope. All I know, is I'm grateful to have my little Thing Three back home where he belongs. A lot of people out there haven't been so lucky. They have children who have died from H1N1 and respiratory complications.

We have SO much to be thankful for! (We may not feel that way when we get the hospital bill, heh heh, but there are worse things!)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The Chest Tube Is Out!

2009-11-05T06:59:00.003-06:00

We are very excited about this. Having a tube leading into my son's lungs wasn't exactly an idea I was in love with. But it was necessary, and since he stopped draining they took it out this morning. Wooee!!

And I have to share a PRICELESS card my son was given by a classmate. His whole class made cards for him, and one girl wrote this: (Original spelling intact):

Dear (Thing Three),
I want to tell you a story about me going to the hostptel.
I was about one or two years old. I had a Seasher.
A seasher is when your eyes role back into your head.
That's when I went to the hostptial.
Get Well!!

The things kids say. PRICELESS. It was hands down my favorite card.

His color is much better, he's joking with (and charming) his nurses, and I just ordered him waffles. Hopefully in a few days he'll be asking for waffles at HOME.

:-)

Update on Thing Three.

2009-11-04T04:55:00.003-06:00

JUBILATION!!! Yesterday started out badly for us, Thing Three had gone off the bi-pap machine because he had an air leak in his lung, and with the pressure from the breathing machine, air was starting to fill the cavities in his body. So, they'd taken him off the machine and put him on oxygen, but he started complaining of pain and not being able to breathe. They decided he wasn't ready to breathe on his own, yet, so he had to go back on the bi-pap machine. Much to our chagrin, of course, because he already resembles the Stay Puft Marshmallow Boy. Seriously. He has so much air in him, he looks like the Michelin Man.

BUT, his ct results came back promising--the "mass" they'd seen on his lungs turned out to be an accumulation of fluid in the collapsed portion, and it's slowly draining out. So, no growth, or anything scarier than what we already knew. We are SO relieved!

Last night was probably the best night for him, he got about 3 hours of sleep (coughing up gunk keeps him awake) and we only had one episode of The Freak Outs at 2am. Although I was sort of not happy because he finally fell peacefully asleep at 4am and not five minutes later they wanted to come take labs (blood) and x-rays. Poor little guy.

So, relief and joy. He still has a ways to go, but at least we don't have to deal with eventual surgery on top of everything else. Hooray!!

Thanks again for everyone's support and love, and prayers. It means the world to us.

We Have a Lot to be Thankful For.

2009-11-02T21:34:00.003-06:00

I have to say, these last few days are days I hope to never repeat. I took Thing Three to the Dr. on Thursday, because he had a fever and a cough, and she told us to call if he got worse. Well, he got WAY worse. His fever spiked and he couldn't breathe well, and it hurt. Turns out he had a partially collapsed lung, and pneumonia, and H1N1.

We went in an ambulance to Children's Hospital, where he's been in the pediatric ICU since Friday. He's in isolation, and everyone has to suit up like astronauts just to come in and take his vitals. Poor kid. He had tubes coming out of everywhere (and going "in" everywhere) and two IVs and a feeding tube and he had to be hooked up to a bi-pap machine. Then they inserted a tube and drained a liter and a half of fluid from his lung. THEN it turns out he has an air leak in his weak lung and with the pressure from the breathing machine the air was escaping into his body and he puffed up like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Boy. Only with a fever of 104.

Four days later, he's a little better, although he's suffering from what the nurses call "ICU Psychosis" at night (which resembles good old-fashioned Night Terrors) and he is coughing up FECES (I swear, that's what the crud looks like). And he is having a ct tomorrow because they found something "suspicious" on his lung, that apparently doesn't belong.

In short, we're ready for him to be all better and come home, and it looks like we've got a long road ahead of us. But he's getting better each day, and that is something to celebrate.

I appreciate the outpouring of love and well wishes you all have sent, in emails and phone calls. I know we have a lot of people pulling for Thing Three and we have faith he will recover from this and be back to his active, happy and slightly annoying eight-year old self once more.

We love you, Thing Three!!

Another One Bites the Dust...

2009-10-30T06:07:00.000-05:00

We were at the dr. yesterday afternoon. Guess who has Swine Flu now?

Thing Three. Only he had a chest cold first...so I'm nervous. Last night he woke up with night terrors (he only does this when he has a fever) screaming that he was floating, and he was going to die.

Not a fun time for me. And Hubby leaves for NYC on Sunday. I just wish all the kids would get it at once, instead of this "dragging it out/one-kid-at-a-time crap.

Keep us in your thoughts!

Eh.

2009-10-29T08:23:00.000-05:00

Eh.

'nuff said.

My Toddler, the Potty Mouth...

2009-10-28T06:59:00.005-05:00

Okay, well, he's not exactly cussing or anything, but the things that come out of my two-year old's mouth could only have been picked up from his siblings. I mean, the kid is a sponge. He absorbs everything, and retains it for later. For very opportune moments. Like, for instance, while Thing One was unwrapping her birthday presents monday night, Hubby was distracting Thing Four by tossing him in the air, and holding him up high in his hands.

Thing Four, like all my other children, has an irrational fear of heights. It's from Hubby's side of the family. So, imagine our shock when suddenly, my dear sweet angel baby shouted at the top of his lungs to his father:

"PUT ME DOWN, YOU MORON!!!"

We all gasped. It seemed unnatural, for such words to be coming from our little Thing Four. Then, of course, we all started laughing our heads off, which caused Thing Four to start repeating himself gleefully: "Put me down, you MORON! Put me down, you MORON!"

Great.

Cut to last night, where Thing Four was acting a little crazy and dancing to Halloween music, and he kept "falling down" at the end. (Such a ham.) At one point, Hubby stuck his toe out and nudged Thing Four in the rear end. Scandalized, he clutched his backside, and yelled out with a large delighted grin:

"DAD! YOU KICKED ME IN THE BUTT!"

What has happened to my little angel, who only says sweet baby things? He's become a human digital recorder, who spits out what he's recorded without warning. Literally. As I was trying to scrape up the last of his oatmeal to feed to him (he can't get the last part himself) he put both hands up to me and yelled:

"DOCTOR OCTAGONAPUS, BAAAAAAAUUUGGGHHHHH!"

No more Lazer Collection for his older brothers. Click here if you dare. (Pretty harmless, actually, but you'll know what I'm talking about. My older kids love this stuff.)

So, we had a "little discussion" with the older kids about how we need to curb what we say around our little sponge. No more letting him watch "older cartoons" or peeking over shoulders while we're on the computer.

Because I don't need my little cherub yelling "HOLY CRAP IT'S BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!" again in the church nursery. I think I might die from embarrassment.

HOORAY!!!

2009-10-27T08:25:00.002-05:00

Thing One's fever broke yesterday afternoon! No more Swine Flu!!! She still has a cough, and I'm keeping her home one more day (she has to be fever free for 24 hours) but she at least got to come downstairs and open her birthday presents and have cake and icecream.

I totally faked her out--her biggest present turned out to be a diaper box. Inside was an oatmeal box. Inside that was a ziploc bag box. And inside THAT box was an Advil box. And what was inside the Advil box? A new ipod Nano. A purple one. I think if her throat wasn't sore she would have shattered our eardrums with squealing.

The new nanos are cool--they record video! We gave her an iTunes giftcard, too. That was spent within ten minutes. She knew exactly which songs she wanted. And whoever Justin Beiber is, she LURVES him.

I just can't believe I have a TWELVE-year old! Waaahhhh!

This morning was strange--I didn't trust my boys to take the bus with their blow-up Ghostbusters proton packs (today is costume day at school) so I drove them. And it was the craziest thing--our house is at the top of the subdivision, and as we drove downwards, a thicker-than-thick fog bank had settled in the low areas, and I probably had 15 feed of visibility. It was freaky. And it felt like I was suffocating while I drove. I didn't see other cars' headlights until they were right in front of me. I have never seen it thicker in my life! Freaky.

Today is Tuesday! I feel like I can breathe, now, since Thing One is out of the Swine Flu Woods. And her siblings are still symptom-free! Is that luck, or what? Divine Intervention, if you ask me. But of course I'm stripping her bed and washing everything I can wash, and vacuuming her floor and spraying everything and wiping down every surface with Clorox wipes. Don't want to take any chances!!

Today is a good day!

Quarantine.

2009-10-26T04:52:00.002-05:00

I've got Thing One (a.k.a the Swine Flu Queen) quarantined upstairs. She has a pretty sweet setup. She's got a sofa with a flatscreen TV/DVD with Directv, a DS, an ipod, and her own bathroom. So, all the germs stay in one spot, and no one is allowed upstairs. She's got it made.

Except for having the Swine Flu, of course. I'm piggybacking Tylenol and Motrin every four hours for the fever, and she is doing ok..except her throat really hurts and she's coughing a lot. I'm trying to keep her as comfortable as possible. She's been in her room since Friday morning, and she's going a little stir crazy, but at least she has plenty to keep her occupied.

The best part is (I need to find some wood to knock on) the boys haven't gotten it yet. Thing Three felt warm yesterday and complained of a headache, but other than that we haven't had any high fevers. Maybe because I quarantined her early we isolated the germs? That's what I'm hoping. Plus we are all using hand sanitizer, washing our hands, NOT touching our faces (why is it whenever I'm upstairs dealing with her I suddenly get an itchy nose or eye? WHY IS THAT???) and I'm wiping down everything daily with Clorox wipes or spraying with Lysol.

Fingers crossed. Although it has put a crimp in today, because it's her twelfth BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday Thing One! I'm sorry you have to have your breakfast upstairs away from us this morning, and your cake too. I'm sorry we're going to have to bring your presents to you and let you open them in your room. I'm sorry you can't go to school and I can't bring cupcakes to your class and embarrass you when they sing you "Happy Birthday" in the cafeteria at lunch.

I'm so, so sorry, sweetie. Get better fast!

And the Winner Is...SWINE FLU!!!

2009-10-23T10:43:00.002-05:00

Yes, Swine Flu has invaded our house. Thing One is in quarantine, but of course yesterday when she came home with symptoms she was all over the stinkin' house. Off I go to disinfect...well...EVERYTHING.

BLECH. Poor Thing One. She'll have Swine Flu for her birthday. :-(

The Yucks.

2009-10-23T07:51:00.004-05:00

You know, sometimes I think public school is a bad idea. We are so HEALTHY during the summer, and then the kids go back to school, and the illnesses begin. We're all getting over bad colds right now, and NOW Thing One has come down with a high fever/sore throat/cough. And Thing Four has a low-grade fever and what I like to call the Grumps.

Apparently several kids out of each of my kids' classes are out sick. Swine flu? No idea. I just know I have a long weekend (possibly week) ahead of me...taking care of sickies, making them comfortable, comforting them during the night, giving them medicine, changing their sheets, wiping everything down and spraying it. I just hope I stay healthy so I can do all of it. There's nothing worse than being sick yourself and having to take care of the sick.

I can't believe it's Friday already! Wow. This week was like the blink of an eye. We were supposed to go out and celebrate Thing One's birthday dinner tonight, but that obviously won't be happening. We'll have to order in.

Cross your fingers for us!

The Alarm Didn't Go Off!!!!

2009-10-22T09:08:00.005-05:00

I'm sure everyone has had this happen to them. We usually don't. Hardly ever. So, imagine our dismay this morning, when we snapped awake (more like heard Thing Four upstairs shouting to be let out of his crib!) and realized the alarm hadn't gone off and it was 7:30. TWO HOURS later than we normally wake up! (Well, Hubby wakes up that early, I wake up at six).

Yikes.

The kids' bus comes at 7:35, so missed that. We had a mad scramble to get the kids fed, dressed, hair done, packed up and into the car. We almost made it. It was 8:05 when I dropped them off. I'm sure the ladies in the school office had a good laugh when my kids all trooped in.

*sigh* This morning started out...a little crazy.

I'm going to the dr. today. I suspect a sinus infection. My left eye/surrounding area feels like it's going to explode with pain, and don't even get me started on leaning forward. Antibiotics here I come...

Hubby is getting sick too. Even with all his hand sanitizing/wiping down/spraying/ingesting copious amounts of Zycam and Airborne, he's got the scratchy throat and stuffy nose, now.
To that I say HELLO, you've been sharing a bed with a sickie! (me). It's bound to happen. He's actually glad it's happening now, and not when he goes to New York in ten days. He should be over it by then.

I'm not running around much today. I'm going to do some research (I'm NaNoing this year) and stay in. It's pouring outside anyway. It was 70 degrees yesterday. I'm going to have to mow the *&!#%()**!! lawn again before Winter sets in. BLECH.

No Mallet-On-The-Head for Me...

2009-10-21T07:57:00.008-05:00

FINALLY feeling better this morning. I did a 45-min weight workout yesterday, and cloaked my head in a bowl full of steaming eucalyptus water (thanks, Dev!) and I felt MUCH better. Although I'm usually tempted to reach for the super-dooper drano-strength Afrin Nasal spray--with menthol. It's like the Lexus of Nasal Sprays. Yes, I know prolonged use is bad for you. I only use it when I feel claustrophobic. I swear it got me through my sister's wedding weekend. I LOVE it.

Thing One had a basketball game last night, and it was a slaughter. As in HER TEAM was slaughtered. The opposing team's girls were HUGE. It was ridiculous. Thing One, who is 5'3, was matched up with a girl who was 5'11 and probably weighed 180. I am NOT kidding. She was Huge Girl. I have to hand it to Thing One--she tried to guard Huge Girl, but it was like watching a fly bounce off The Titanic. And there were two more Super Amazonian Girl players on the opposing team who kept stealing the ball and scoring, and the score ended up 26-7. OUCH.

But at least they were trying. Our school is a small school, and half the girls on the team haven't played before, and the ones who can play are pretty short. Except Thing One. (I was pretty happy when she won the tip-off, at least!)

Thing Two, who is NOT athletic, has decided to go for 5th grade boys basketball this year. (*cough cough* I sort of bribed him *cough cough* with a video game *cough*) But it will be a good experience for him. And the bribe WON'T be awarded until after the season is over. Who knows, maybe he'll actually like it?

I made it through Craziness Day, and today is Run-Around Day. I have stuff to mail, birthday presents to buy (Thing One turns TWELVE on monday!) and lots of little errands that are annoying and eat up gasoline.

At least I refrained from using the mallet!

Cement and Red Berries.

2009-10-20T07:58:00.006-05:00

Why cement? Because that's what my head is made of today! It still amazes me the amount of snot/congestion our sinuses manufacture during a head cold. And how the simple act of blowing one's nose can bring on severe sinus pain. Not cool.

Red Berries, because I've discovered them. Special K with Red Berries. I've never tried it before, and I decided "what the heck" and bought some, and now it's my favorite cereal. (Well, actually, a good bowl of oatmeal with raisins is my favorite, but it's my favorite cold cereal.)

Today is CRAZINESS day. I have to clean the bathrooms, do a weight work out, THEN go to a RS presidency meeting at someone's house in scary Waukesha (I get lost there all the time--even with a nav system, I know don't laugh!) and then I get to pick the kids up from school, and run them home, only to run one to soccer and one to a basketball game. I only get to stay for half the game because then I get to run pick up Thing Three from soccer and go BACK to the bball game to finish it out, and then as soon as it's over we have to runlikeheck to Cub scouts at the church 35 miles away. And I have to fit dinner in there...somewhere. Oh, and I get to do all this with a toddler. In a stroller.

Yep. CRAZINESS day. I am not looking forward to it. I need to take some cold medicine.

Or I could take a big mallet and gong myself in the head and wake up tomorrow, after it's all over.

:-D

Barely There.

2009-10-19T08:06:00.004-05:00

Heh heh. I remember in the 90's that was the color of nylons I once wore. Hanes "Barely There." I remember people wore nylons with sandals, too. The horror!

BUT, I only wore white shoes with black tights--ONE time. I swear.

ANYWAY, I'm sick. Barely here. My whole family has been battling the fever/sore throat/cough/chills thing, and finally, Saturday, during an all-day church thing, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Suddenly my throat hurt, felt scratchy, my nose plugged up, etc.

I skipped church yesterday, stayed in bed. I don't have chills today, so I just need to muscle through the cement head part. I'm taking my vitamins and my C and getting lots of rest. But we made a great Sunday dinner of pot roast, rhodes rolls and mashed potatoes last night, and I COULDN'T TASTE ANY OF IT! :-( Major Sadness.

Oh well. I rarely get sick. And when I do, I whine. So, forgive me.

I made a great discovery on Saturday. I was getting ready for a presentation on 72-hour kits (mine definitely rocks, I have to say) and I was going through our "go bag" and realized it hadn't been updated since 2005. And inside a packet I had three cd's, with our computer from 2005 backed up on them. That computer has long since gone the way of the dodo, and I popped the cd's into the computer to have a look at them. And I was SOOOOO glad I did! All the pictures and videos I'd thought we'd lost were on the CDs! Basically all the pictures of our Germantown house and all the kids from 2002-2005. I was so excited! And it was a bit like looking into a time capsule--the kids loved laughing at their pictures and hairstyles and how chubby they used to all be as babies. It was a fun even, to look through all those pics!

*sigh* Time sure does fly. And now, before I get all syrupy and sentimental, I'd better bundle myself and Thing Four up, we have some errands to run!

Adios!

A Public Service Announcement

2009-10-16T08:18:00.009-05:00

Today's Announcement Topic, Fiber One Bars:

To say they're fabulous is an understatement. I especially love Oats & Chocolate. It's a little piece of Heaven in a granola bar. A fiber rich granola bar. Which brings me to my other new favorite fiber product: Fiber One Yogurt by Yoplait:

Yummy. Seriously. Here's where my public service announcement comes in. I unwittingly the other day decided it would be fun to have, for my afternoon snack, a Fiber One granola bar, AND (drumroll please) A Fiber One Yogurt.

TOGETHER. At the same time.

I have not yet recovered.

So, please, for the love of heaven, DO NOT EVER eat these two things together. Unless you like liquefied insides.

Consider yourself warned.

Okay, Here's Another One:

2009-10-15T12:28:00.000-05:00

Photoshop Disasters. HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

2009-10-15T07:07:00.003-05:00

Brrrrr. It's a crock-pot chili day, for sure! Besides, I am going to be gone most of the day, and Thing One has another basketball game almost right after school, so dinner in a crock pot seems ideal. And the fact that it's BUTT cold outside! Chili is comfort food in my opinon. :-)

Although thankfully, it hasn't snowed. It rained most of the night. We got lucky. In fact, I'm surprised it isn't snow. Suprised and thankful. I finally hung up all the kids bikes and scooters on the garage wall yesterday, they're done for the season. And the jogging stroller, and pretty much anything I could hang up, I did. Even the fertilizer spreaders. Hubby and his brother went nuts buying wall strips and assorted hooks and gadgets a few years back, why not make use of them? Because a three-car garage is never truly a THREE car garage. More like a two car garage plus your junk. You know?

I mowed the lawn for the last time on Tuesday, down to a three. Time to move the mowers to the back of the garage and the snow blowers to the front. Eeek!

I really have nothing more to blog about. Hmmm. Haven't run into that problem in a while. Guess that's it for me! Have a good Thursday.

Can I Veto Winter?

2009-10-14T07:06:00.002-05:00

Can I get a petition together and get signatures on it? I would like to rally to put Winter off, for at least two more months. My heat was running all night long (only because I don't want kid-scicles when they sleep) and that means it was BUTT cold last night. It was in the twenties, I just found out.

That's just not right, for this early! If we're supposed to have this "mild" winter like everyone is predicting, why is it getting such an early start? Unfair!

I sound like my nearly twelve-year old. But I'm honestly perturbed. At the weather. Yeah, I know.

I think I'm just grouchy this morning. Thing One decided to sleep with the baby (there's a queen bed in his room) and she must have snored or something, because he was bouncy and awake and ready to play at 4am. I wanted to die. Because I went to bed at midnight.

Thing One's basketball game was yesterday. They got spanked. It was the whole same thing as last year--one star player on the opposing team never sat out, and got the ball every time and sank basket after basket. Granted, Thing One's team held their own, but they lost by ten points. Thing One played well, she scored and had lots of key passes. I am proud of her. Every year she improves. But it always stinks to lose your first game of the season. Plus there was a lot of traveling and errors--it happens with sixth grade basketball!

I am NOT looking forward to the soccer game this saturday. I will be the shapeless lump on the field (because I will be wearing 8435 layers of clothing) with the thermos of hot cocoa, an electric blanket, hot bricks at my feet and pocket warmers. And a hot water bottle. The wind that comes off those soccer fields is RIDICULOUS. It should be a blast. (Yes, sarcastic pun intended!)

Help me.

Creeping Chaos.

2009-10-13T07:39:00.003-05:00

Mom's operation went smooth as glass. She's recovering well. Thanks for all the well wishes!

And I finally figured out why I'm grouchy. Irritable, even. Because living in a house full of kids is always...messy.

You know those paper towel commercial slogans: "Life's Messy. Clean it up." Well, it's the "Clean it up" part that really really REALLY gets on my nerves.

I seem to be cleaning up... a lot. Even with the kids helping. The house never stays perfectly clean. Chaos always seems to be around the edges, and if I don't keep up with everything, it creeps up, inch by inch, until it's HERE TO STAY and everything is a mess and I want to blow my face off. (That's Hubby's and my new favorite expression: "I want to blow my face off.")

I will be fighting this battle for the next 17-ish years. It's enough to make even the stoutest heart shrink, let me tell you. Why? Constantly keeping chaos at bay doesn't sound like much fun.

I stayed up until Midnight last night. I am so dumb. Shouldn't have done that, and now I'm going to be tired all day. Poor Hubby had a long day (he worked out at 5am) and didn't get into LAX until around midnight. Well, midnight OUR time. It was only 10pm on the west coast.

Poor Hubby. I can take a nap. He can't.

Thing One has her first basketball game of the season today, the 6th-grade team was so big, they split it into two teams, so the girls would get more playing time. Pretty smart, in my opinion. Although I'm not looking forward to dragging my very active two-year old to the game. I'll have to keep him in a stroller, and he's NOT very happy when I do that. Snacks and toys. Those are going to be the bribery items of the day. ;-)

Cross your fingers for me! But I guess it's okay if he screams, no one will hear him above the crowd. :-)