April 22, 2010

I haven't talked about my boobs in a while

So I haven't said anything about this boob deal, because I've had this one really silly symptom. But it's a symptom that keeps coming back, so I added it to my list of issues to bring up to my doctor at last week's physical. I figured at the best, I can stop worrying about it for the summer (I would have brought it up to my gyn in August) and at the worst, at least we would have caught whatever it was early.

The symptom? My left nipple itches.

It doesn't itch all the time, more like a few days on, a few days off. It doesn't look different. It's not red, or flaky, or dimpled. In fact, aside from the inconvenience of regularly trying to itch the damn thing in public without being considered uncouth, it's no more or less than a minor discomfort.

A stinking little itch that my doctor took seriously enough to do a breast exam, which I expected. And to sign me up for a mammogram and breast ultrasound, which I didn't.

I instantly felt a little worried that such concern was warranted, relieved that my doctor was taking me and my itch seriously, and very, very old, because the doc said something to the effect of "you're old enough to get a baseline, anyway."

Wha?

When did I get old enough for mammograms?

Nevertheless, yesterday I found myself wearing a less-than-stylish wrap gown, and having my boob molded like playdoh, then squashed like, well, playdoh. Two sets of images later, I was laying in a dimly lit room with a ceiling covered in pulsating starry lights, waiting for another physical exam, followed by an ultrasound of the offending boob. The concern, Paget's disease, is so far unfounded. No calcium deposits under the nipple, no lumps found either by touch or imagery, normal lymph node, no visual abnormalities.

Barring any flaking, redness, puckering, discharge, etc., I'm good to go until I turn 40.

Which will be here sooner than I think.

Posted by me at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2010

Normal, dammit

Well, shit. I got all my bloodwork back from my physical, and everything is normal, including my thyroid. It's not borderline normal, it's not at the low end of normal, it's dead center of normal.

Which means my tired fat ass? Is tired and fat because I'm freaking OLD.

And the 10 pounds I've gained in the last 4 months? I'm not getting any help getting rid of it.

I was really counting on having a little medical help getting rid of this weight. More energy. More zing. More zest.

I'm glad I'm healthy and all that, but I'm really not sure how I'm going to get this weight thing under control if this is the new, normal me.

Posted by me at 9:19 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2010

Weighty matters

About a month ago, I started writing about my weight, and how I was 10 pounds up from the lightest weight I've been since Owen was born. Then I saw something shiny and never finished writing about how enough is enough, it's time to lose my "winter fat."

Since then, I've lost a pound and gained three. For those of you playing the home game, that means I'm up to 148 pounds.

Then on top of my need to take control back of my muscles, my eating, and my jiggle, Rex started talking about going somewhere warm and beachy this summer while the kids are at my dad's. Somewhere that inspires bikini wearing.

So I've come up with a plan, a goal and a timeframe. I'm going to post updates on Weigh-in Wednesdays to keep me honest and (hopefully) shame me into sticking to the plan.

The goal: 12 or more pounds (136 or less).
The date: July 1, 2010.
The plan: Do the Couch to 5K program three days a week, ideally MWF after the kids are put to bed. Shred TR while Owen is napping. Saturday and Sunday will serve are make-up and rest days.
The metrics: Post weekly weight on WiW, along with waist, hip and thigh measurements. Show calendar with actual workouts.

I will admit that I'm skeptical about this working, after my last foray into diet and exercise. Also, I love the feel of control of having goals and a plan and all, but sadly, I'm less keen on the hard work it takes to make it happen. Having to write down my results for (potentially) all the world to see really helps to keep me moving, though, so I'm confident that I can keep this up.

I think.

Posted by me at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2010

You know what drives me nuts? When someone says they are done eating, and then as soon as I start moving toward the table to clean up, starts shoving food into his mouth like it's the last crackers he'll ever see on this earth.

Posted by me at 2:28 PM | Comments (0)

February 15, 2010

Whine

I'm not sure why I haven't felt like writing lately. It could be because I don't seem to have anything interesting to write about, at least nothing that isn't a whine. It's more likely that by the time I finish updating Twitter and facebook, I've pretty much said all I have to say. Jut in case though, I'm going to list my bitches, and then maybe tomorrow I'll be able to write about our weekend or upcoming birthday's or my inability to decorate.

Let's start with the weather. Always a hot topic with me. This winter has been cold. Cold, without the usual random 70 degree days that perk me up. It's been cold, and dreary, and last week it snowed for 24 hours straight. We had at least 8 inches accumulate in our yard. Strangely, that's probably the only upside to the cold. At least snow is fun, until it goes all ugly.

I've had problems of and on with my camera. Particularly when I take our Christmas picture, the focus would always be behind the kids, on the tree. At first, I thought it was just me, trying to watch the kids faces and not paying close enough attention to the focus points. A year of some hit and miss action shots just convinced me that it was me, not the camera. Another set of out of focus Christmas pictures confused me, but it wasn't until I got what should have been some wonderful shots of the kids sitting outside on the wall that I was sure I had an equipment problem. I knew with absolute certainty that I had that focus point aimed properly, with room to spare. I need to take the the thing in to make sure it's just the lens, and not the camera body, but I'm already convinced that I'll have to get a new lens. The upside is that I have every intention of upgrading.

I the last month, every last one of us has had a cold. Some of us (me and Owen) seem to be dragging this thing out like it's fun. It's not.

Last summer, I decided I was going to get into shape and lose a few pounds doing it. I worked out. I ate less. I ate healthier. I gained weight. In the last couple months, I've completely given up with the eating right and exercise. Why bother, if I'm just going to get heavier and hungrier? I'm up another 5 pounds and have consumer record amounts of chocolate. (i'm not totally sure the last 5 pounds aren't weaning related. I just recently realized the same thing happened after Jamie. Sadly, it took nursing Katie to get rid of it last time, and that method just isn't available.)

The lack of sunshine and warm breezes is really starting to take their toll. Is it Spring, yet?

Posted by me at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2010

All about the cat

I've never been one of those people who compares their pets to children, even before I had kids. Don't get me wrong, I love my cats; They're still cats, though, and in a whole different class than spawn.

In the last year, Tana has been losing weight. It started slowly enough that I didn't really notice, and continued slowly enough that I wasn't in huge hurry to rush off to the vet when I did notice. She finally got thin enough that I knew I needed to take her in to be seen, and I planned to take her in during the Christmas break when I would have other adults around to watch the kids. I was rather convinced that her weight loss was due to something terminal, and I really didn't want to have that kind of visit with kids in tow. All that changed when I was up with Owen in the middle of the night and witnessed what the vets call an "episode," behavior that may have been a stroke and was possibly indicative of high blood pressure.

I was sure at that point that Tana had something terminal. I was also sure that I couldn't wait to take her to the vet, because on the off chance that what she had was painful, I refuse to let her suffer. The next morning I took Owen, Katie and the cat to the vet clinic where Bubba was put to sleep.

Long story short, the vet was pretty sure that Tana had hyperthyroidism and high blood pressure. She confirmed the bp while we were there, and had bloodwork results back to us by the next morning. She called in a couple prescriptions, told me to come back in two weeks to recheck her levels, and we were good.

I expected Tana's activity level to decrease, in fact, if it didn't, the drugs weren't working. And she did get less active. After two weeks, her blood levels still looked good, but she was still losing weight. A week or so after that, and she was practically comatose. I would search her out several times a day, just to make sure she was still alive. I never saw her eat or drink, and she felt lighter. I tried to get a last minute appointment, but they were booked up. Instead, they suggested splitting her meds and gave us an appetite stimulant.

The stimulant woke her up again, and she started acting like a very toned down version of herself. She still wasn't eating, though, so I took her back in for another visit. In less than two weeks, she had dropped another pound. My cat who used to be a well fed but not fat 14 pounds was now down to 6.5. I was sure (again) that this was going to be the end, apparently there was just a little hope left. Her bp was fine, and the drug for that was the likely culprit of the nausea and lack of appetite, so we dropped it. We kept the stimulant, and started force feeding her a high nutrient wet food to try to jump start her system.

It took two days of bi hourly feedings, stunk both of us up and reminded me why babies are such a pain in the butt, but Tana finally started drinking. And then she started eating. She's started to feel a bit more substantial, and even though I still haven't seen her play, she's rejoined the family. I need to take her in to check her weight and make sure her bp is still ok (although I think we'll risk high bp over the meds), but I think she's going to make it through this.

My cats don't share the same level of importance as my kids. That doesn't mean that they aren't important to me, though. So yeah, I jumped through a lot of hoops, paid more than I probably should have and stress ate my way up a few extra pounds.

And I'm really grateful that it worked.

Posted by me at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2009

4.22: Suspension

Bra shopping sucks.

I've been holding out on buying new bras until I was done being pregnant, then until I was done nursing. Then I found a bunch of bras I hadn't worn since I got pregnant the first time, and I thought there were one or two in there that would work.

After I got stabbed by an escaping underwire, I rethought my position.

So for weeks, bra shopping has been on my to do list. It's not exactly the sort of thing to do with a boob obsessed toddler, though, so it took some time before I got desperate enough and had Rex along to wrangle kids.

I managed to find two bras that I thought might work at outlet for an absolute steal. One of them didn't make the cut once we got home, but the other does an admirable job of propping the old girls up to a position equal to their former glory. And it's comfy, which is probably more of a requirement than it's suspensory abilities. The downside is it's bright blue color. As my sole source of lift, this just won't do.

I'm going to need a backup.

So tonight I went back to my old, if expensive, standby, . It took me a while to find my old friend, the unlined Body by Victoria, since they've changed the damn thing yet again. Fortunately, the damn thing was still comfortable and much more supportive than my old bra, which said the same size on the tag but is now at least a size larger in every direction.

However.

They don't have a single bra in that style in the color I want, much less one in my size.

Did I mention that this was at the regular, here's-my-firstborn, I-can-only-afford-the-one store at the mall? And that they haven't had the right color the last three times I've shopped there?

For now, I guess I'll be the woman at the PTA meeting wearing the white shirt with the shiny blue boobs. The PERKY blue boobs.

Posted by me at 10:24 PM | Comments (2)

November 21, 2009

4.21: Sparkle!

The last time I had someone come clean my house for something other than a move, I was 6 months pregnant with Jamie and was hosting my first ever Bunko for the women in my neighborhood. The next time we had that house professionally cleaned was after we moved out and I never even got to see it.

We were barely in the next house long enough to get it dirty, and the two times I paid someone to clean it were in preparation for showings, and again, after we moved out.

The apartment, the rental house, I took care of the move out cleaning of both of those myself.

I've always felt a bit guilty, paying someone to come clean my house. Not as much when we're moving, because at those times I usually have so much on my plate that I'd delegate to a street person if one would be kind enough to wander by. In normal times, though, cleaning is part of my job description, right? Shuttle the kids, shop for, well, everything, pay the bills and clean the house.

Besides, it feels wrong to make someone else clean up my mess. I was taught growing up that you clean up your own stuff and take care of your own crap. And I'm generally cool with that. I take care of the regular cleaning: vacuuming, dishes, kitchen counters and table, laundry and parts of the bathrooms. What I don't get to is dusting the blinds and fans, windows, more than spot cleaning the floors, doors, etc.

I decided long ago that it was probably worth the money to have someone come in and clean quarterly. It costs a bit more per cleaning, but is still way cheaper than having someone come in every two weeks. I just really have hard time actually making that call.

I did it, though. Today, a woman and her daughter came over and spent SEVEN HOURS cleaning. S-E-V-E-N. That's 14 man hours of work, and they weren't interrupted by other people's needs, no one snuck up behind them and pressed their face to a freshly cleaned window, and the entire house is done in the same day. It would have taken me at least a week to do what they did, and by then I would have had to start over again.

I can't tell you the weight that's been lifted. My house is CLEAN. I have company coming for Thanksgiving in a few days, and my number one to-do has been crossed off my list.

It was worth every penny.

Posted by me at 8:01 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2009

4.18: Blerg

I think I've caught Rex's case of the vapors.

Posted by me at 7:29 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2009

4.17: So there!

Rex and I were having a discussion about turning Owen's car seat forward facing. Calling it a discussion makes it sound way more heated than it was. Really, Rex mocked me a little and laughed at me for "babying" my baby.

And to be fair, there are ways in which I try to keep my youngest child a baby as long as I can. I nursed him longer than the other two. I probably carry him more than I did the girls at this age. I feed him, rather than letting him wield the spoon more often than I did with my older kids. (Although, to be fair, part of that is that he still lets me, most of the time. The rest is a matter of practicality: If I let Owen have the spoon and applesauce, a bath becomes a certainty. I'm too lazy for all that.)

I retorted that I waited at least as long, if not longer, to turn each of the girls. Hell, Katie didn't even make legal weight until she was 18 months! And I knew that I had waited quite a while with Jamie, that she was almost two.

And because I can never let anything go (Just ask Rex!) I spent an hour tonight looking through my old blog for references to turning car seats.

Jamie got to face forward at 21.5 months.

Katie was just a hair over 20 months.

Owen won't be 20 months until next week, and I plan to turn his seat as soon as the weather gets warm enough for me to want to stay outside.

Take that, Mama mocker!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go rock my little man to sleep.

Posted by me at 9:02 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2009

4.7: Pearly whites

We're in Houston tonight, visiting Rex's side of the family, and letting the girls have a night on their own with his mom. I'm pretty sure something really funny or cute happened with at least one of the kids on the way down, but I'm so distracted by this thing that's stuck in between my teeth that I can't remember past five minutes ago.

Ah! Teeth. That reminds me. The girls and I had our biannual dentist appointments this week. They did wonderfully. Their teeth are pretty and perfect and cavity free, and so they still think it's fun to have their teeth cleaned and watch videos and get new princess toothbrushes.

I used to think it was fun to go to the dentist.

I still don't really mind the cleaning and all that, and I'm also happy to get something for "free." (Side note, they had your-name-here lip balm in a basket as a consolation gift. I don't know what brand it is, but I keep curling my lip up under my nose to smell the vanilla. Yummy.) And I was happy enough that I don't have any new cavities, since for years I had at least one new one every visit. I'm less thrilled that all of my old fillings are falling apart and need to be replaced. I could shove hundred dollar bills into my mouth and not be able to fit enough in to pay for what that man is going to do to me over the next month.

And when he's done, I won't even have anything to show for it, since he's replacing my silver fillings with composite that looks like normal teeth. For $2K, shouldn't I get some bling?

Posted by me at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)

September 4, 2009

Cloudy with a chance of barf

It's been one hell of a week.

Actually, it didn't start out so bad. Jamie still admits to loving school, Katie had her first day of preschool without a hint of anxiety (that I could see. And I was really looking!) Tae Kwon Do, Ice Cream Social at the school...

And then I had to plunge the downstairs toilet. I'm still not sure what clogged it. It actually looked like something came up, as opposed to something big being forced down. But after a couple minutes of scrambling, trying to find the plunger, everything worked it's way down just fine. Minor inconvenience.

Not going to let a tiny little white puffy cloud spoil my sunshiney week.

It was just after midnight when I heard my name being called from upstairs. Just once or twice, enough to wake me up and get me moving, but without any real urgency. In fact, by the time I was halfway up the stairs, I wondered if I had dreamed being called at all. I peeked my head in the girls room, anyway, just to make sure. That's when Jamie told me she had puked in her bed.

Oh, boy, had she puked in her bed.

How can a meal pass entirely through your GI tract in under 24 hours, but still be swirling around in your stomach in it's entirety 6 hours after you ate it? The upside is that most of the mess was in the middle of the bed, with just some minor drippage off the one side that landed on Katie's bed. Way better than the night of down-the-ladder. (I really do like bunk beds, most of the time.

I started stripping and remaking Jamie's bed while she changed, and then laid out on the floor. I was halfway through yanking the bottom sheet into place when I realized making the bed was stupid, since Jamie should really be sleeping somewhere more, uh, toilet accessible. Right about that time, Jamie made my point by running to the bathroom. I finished anyway, since I was already up there sweating, banged the crap out of my knee on the ladder, and stripped (and made) Katie's bed.

I sent Jamie on her way to the couch and bent to gather enough laundry to keep my washer busy most of the next day. That's when Katie started crying that she wanted someone to sleep with her. Oh, for... Talked Katie into having a good dream about butterflies, and then finally went down and got Jamie settled, then, uh, yeah, and then I got her settled again. She's apparently quite ok with barfing alone in the middle of the night, as long as she has her bowl, so I think I got to sleep in until 5, when Owen woke up the first time.

Jamie was pretty rung out the next morning, going so far as to fall asleep on the couch again before I had to take Katie to preschool. Luckily, she woke up before we had to leave, but I had to make the poor kid ride in the van (with barf bag). With as much energy as she showed, I probably could have left her home for the 20 minutes or so I was gone, but then I couldn't have blogged about it for fear CPS would be a knockin' at my door. As it was, I parked the van in front of the front door, asked the director to keep an eye out on the van, and Owen and I ran Katie into class. Cannot wait for the dropoff/pickup line to start. I was glad I didn't leave her in the middle of the parking lot, since I saw not one but TWO cops dropping kids off. I was nervous enough with the director on my side.

Around lunchtime, Jamie felt good enough to have some milk, and then some water and a bit of bread. Thank goodness she made it to the bathroom before that came back up, although I wish she had made the extra two feet to the toilet. By the time I was done, that entire bathroom had been scrubbed in ways it hadn't since we moved in.

Luckily, that was the last of yesterday's barf. It wasn't the last of the drama, thought. Owen managed to dump a cup of milk all over the couch and the carpet (I'm hoping I got that up, because I'm not fond of the smell of rotting milk in my living room.) and there was a bit of a poop incident with Katie. We generated 5 loads of laundry in 12 hours yesterday. Thank god I don't have to beat it on a rock.

I'm happy to say that in hindsight, I totally should have just sent Jamie to school today. The fever is gone, no one but the cat puked today, and eating and complaining have returned to normal levels.

Posted by me at 5:52 PM | Comments (1)

September 2, 2009

Tummy trouble

Monday night I was going to post a rant about how Katie had a stomach ache that somehow turned into an issue with the insurance company over a $200+ prescription, but in the end, the whole thing worked out for the price of a $35 copay and a return trip to Target that I needed to make anyway. Goody for me and my checkbook, but not so much fun to write.

I suppose I may as well document the visit, in any case. It's that or tell you about the way my husband avoids doing things by pretending that HE CAN'T EVEN HEAR ME.

Anyway.

Last spring, Katie had mentioned a couple times that her stomach hurt. She even told her preschool teachers once or twice (which is astounding in itself, since she wouldn't even tell them when she had to pee.) It only happened occasionally, and at the time, I chalked it up to the stress of the boy she was concerned about.

She still mentioned her stomach a few times after summer break started, though, and even brought it up to her grandpa a few times while she was in Maryland visiting him.

In the meantime, she got an ear infection, and then swimmer's ear. She would mention ear pain maybe once a day, even several days into the infections. I'm sure her ears must have been quite painful, but apparently she's incredibly stoic.

So that clinched it. I'm normally hesitant to make doctor's appointments for things like a stomach ache, because really, how can you pin that down? I don't want to waste my time to hear that it's gas pain or a plea for attention (and to be fair, I'm not sure that some of her complaints weren't for the attention factor. Especially after she came bouncing into my office one day and told me it hurt pretty bad, with a giant smile on her face.) but at this point, I'm starting to get concerned.

Luckily, our doctor knows me well enough to realize that if I'm concerned, there's probably a good reason. He took me seriously enough to follow up a "relatively benign" physical exam with an x-ray (that showed that her colon was enlarged on the left side, which would have been expected if she were "backed up," something Katie, uh, never is). We're going to try a 3-4 week course of Prevacid, and if that doesn't help, he'll refer us to a gastroenterologist.

It took a couple days to get everything straightened out with Katie's prescription, during which time she kept walking around saying things like "Do you have my medicine yet, Mama? I need my medicine." like a tiny little addict. I'm starting to wonder if I could have fixed the whole thing with a week's worth of sugar pills.

Posted by me at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

August 6, 2009

How do you befriend a popular internet personality without seeming like a stalker?

I had fully intended to send an invite to a couple of bloggers I follow to my dad's annual BBQ. They live near where my dad is, seem to be people that would be good friends if we lived nearby, have kids near in ages to our own and have occasionally replied to my comments.

But seriously, I think one of them makes a point to reply to almost all of his commenters. And the other, while less trafficked comment-wise, has a definite following of her own.

So who am I to them but one more of those freaks on the internet who got a little too wrapped up in their lives, and should therefore be kept at arm's length.

So, yeah, I totally wussed out. Much like the way Rex is willing to send me to Blogher every year, and I come up with some reason (ok, lots of times they really are good reasons) to not go to a conference where I will know not ONE SINGLE PERSON in real life, and in fact don't have much of an online relationship beyond readership with any of them. And judging by my stat counter, not a one of them has even that shallow of a relationship with me. What would I say to them?

So does sending an invite make me a crazy? Does thinking that they might actually come make me delusional?

Guess I'll never know.

Posted by me at 9:35 PM | Comments (3)

July 22, 2009

Hum drum

On and off for the last, oh, month maybe, I've had this hum in one ear. I can hear just fine, as long as you talk louder than the hum (I swear it's not voices, it tells me NOTHING) in my head. The hum is intermittent, and if I hear it in the morning, it is often gone by that afternoon. For a while I thought I could keep it from happening by not turning my head to the left in my sleep, but lately it's been showing up anyway.

I have poked things in my ear canal, stolen Katie's swimmer's ear drops, filled my ear with peroxide, tried to depressurize and slept flat on my back with my face pointed directly at the ceiling for days on end, and it keeps coming back.

So today, I did something radical.

I went to the doctor.

I had to combine it with something real, just in case the ear thing was all in my imagination. After all, I don't want to look like a hypochondriac to my doctor. I've made repeated pleas for thyroid retests and antibiotics, taken my kids in for multiple kinds of ear infections and broken bones, bot to mention well checks. He's going to start thinking we're medically fragile, or that I have some huge crush on him, and I'm willing to pitch myself in front of a bus just to see him more often.

I combined my frivolous ear check with a gratuitous thyroid recheck. It was the best I could do, and I was hoping at least one of them would pan out into something real.

I didn't get to see my regular doctor, which worked out fine, because Dr. Fonze (not his real name, but the name I keep thinking in my head) may barely have been able to look me in the eye, but he could see fluid in my ears, particularly the left. He offered steroids, which I took, and some comforting advice about there being worse things than nursing a baby while on Prednisone. He even bolstered my position that if I'm feeling tired, the thyroid is the first thing we should check, which I am, and he did. Last, but not least, he offered his personal "ripping the kid off the boobie" story, one that involved Mama leaving town while Daddy deals with the resulting hell demon.

I'm left with high hopes for a hum free life, where a tiny pill allows me to sleep 7 hours and wake without feeling the need for an immediate nap.

We'll just see how that goes, shall we?

Posted by me at 2:37 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2009

I'm going to blame Bill for my flabby abs

Tonight's activities have been preempted by Microsoft.

No blogging.

No working out (and dammit, I needed to move, move it!)

No tv.

Just several hours of frustration that have so far gained me nothing I'm capable of using.

Posted by me at 9:59 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2009

Bruised and battered, but making progress

I'm slowly working my way through my to-do list while the girls are gone. I don't know why I can't seem to get some of this stuff done while they're here. It's not like they are the ones that can't be told to cork it while I may a phone call, after all. Heck, they're really quite good at occupying Owen for short periods during the day when I need to get stuff done.

Maybe I just needed an excuse to stop procrastinating.

This weekend, I finally got around to painting Owen's room. I think I bought the paint last November, and it's just been hanging around spewing insults at me and dragging me down. I did the majority of it on Saturday, and by Sunday afternoon I was so sore I could barely walk up and down the stairs. How I overworked so many muscles in my legs when it was my arms doing most of the work is beyond me, but one leg is still so sore than I'm using it as an excuse to skip exercising again, and I'm not even feeling horribly guilty about it.

I am feeling horribly guilty over poor Owen. He sidled up behind me while I was vacuuming, and I knocked the poor kid over on my back swing. When I picked him up, I saw the abrasion and swelling where the thing must have caught him just below the eye. I swear I looked behind me, saw nothing, and figured he'd gone into the dining room. Doesn't really make me feel much better about giving my kid a shiner.

And this was after he managed to trip over absolutely nothing walking through Target and smack his head into the floor. I still haven't figured out what he cut, but there was some blood in his mouth, and a cherry red spot on his forehead. Maybe he reopened the cut in his lip from where he put his teeth through last week. He's a fairly tough kid, but he made sure everyone in the store knew he was displeased.

Posted by me at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2009

Fit

I started working out (just a little bit, nothing too crazy!) about a week and a half ago. I'm a little hesitant to say anything, since who knows how long it will last, really.

I've done fairly well with the actual movement thing, although as I type this I realize I've done nothing for today, and I'm about to go sit down and watch a movie for a couple hours. The problem is, the more I move, the more I seem to feel entitled to eat. Which might be ok if I were, say, training for a marathon or something. What I'm really working toward is just being a little more...firm. I'm fairly happy with my weight (although I wouldn't cry if another 5 pounds happened to go missing), but I've noticed, when I look straight down, that my belly looks similar to what it did when I was oh, say, four months pregnant. You know, right at that point where people start to wonder, but they don't want to say anything just in case.

And so I will try to keep up with my "5 Hot Bod Exercises for Mom" (I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth) and with the Wii Fit, and I will hope that next month I look more like a rockfish than a jellyfish.

Posted by me at 8:41 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2009

Hypertension

Yay! We managed to take all the bits and pieces of the grill, along with the packaging (which I had to dig out of the trash and recycling bins. I actually almost feel bad for the poor guy who has to deal with all the styro that is now poo scented), back to the store. Turns out, the guy who assembles the grills in the store had found four more of the same model with the same damage. We decided to take one that was already put together instead of taking a chance on another closed box. After a bit of disassembling, creative loading, and reassembling, we have a working grill. And it only took a couple extra hours of our day.

HOWEVER.

The annoyance gods giveth, and the annoyance gods taketh away.

Last week I ordered three things from amazon.com. These three things were to be shipped together, to qualify me for free (snail's pace) shipping. All good. I got a shipping notice saying they were all coming in one package, via USPS, here's your tracking info that says what we just said, have a nice day.

And that's how I got my Baconnaise.

In a box with a receipt that said 3 OF 3.

And nothing else.

Amazon shows my one box delivered, USPS hasn't deposited any other goodies on my doorstep in the last two days, and now I will spend another nap time trying to figure out who gets yelled at next.

Posted by me at 4:05 PM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2009

Frustrated

This is totally not the post I was planning to write tonight. That post was preempted by my annoyance. Why the hell can't things ever go right the first time?

It started with the fridge. The new one I got for my birthday. What can possibly go wrong with a brand new fridge? I wasn't home when it was delivered, but it arrived with a dent in the door. The delivery driver offered to take it back, or give us a 10% credit. Rex took the credit, I was thrilled to get it cheaper (I hadn't even noticed the dent until he pointed it out), it was all good.

Except the credit hasn't shown up yet.

A couple weeks later, we picked up a grill from the same place. I took it home in the box, in spite of their free assembly offer, since there was no way it would fit in the back of my van set up. I started unboxing it about a week ago and noticed a bow in the door, but then I got distracted by the kids. I didn't get back to putting the thing together again until today. There is a definite dent in the door, but it didn't look like it was going to affect anything functional, so whatever. I got to the point where I needed Rex to help me lift the box onto the frame, and that's when I noticed the whole front of the control area is pushed in. I think it will still work, but I'm not willing to keep this much damage without compensation. What I haven't figured out is *how* to deal with this. There are pieces all over the place, half the packing stuff is in the trash, and I'd never manage to put the puzzle back together again, anyway. I guess I'll try to just haul the giant bent up piece in and see if they'll give me a discount. Sounds like a fun way to waste a morning, right?

So I was all in a tizzy to write this "why doesn't anything ever work right the first time" post, but Rex and I rented a movie, so I unplugged my laptop to take it into the living room. Apparently there's a short in the cord for my iMac, because it went black at the same time. I thought it was a fluke the last time it happened, but apparently it's just one more thing that doesn't work the way it's supposed to the first time around.

Posted by me at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)

May 31, 2009

Twitchy

There is a remarkable confluence of events occurring in my house right now.

I'm running out of everything.

Paper towels, napkins, body wash, shampoo and conditioner, hair goo, laundry soap, diapers. All the things I tend to buy in bulk and/or take up large amounts of space.

It seems like a good time to move.

It's not that we have plans to move. Or even really want to. But it's been feeling like that time for a while. (We've moved so often in the last few years that I start getting the itch if we've been somewhere more than a year. It just feels like it's time for another big upheaval.) And what better time to go than when we've used up all the bulky, heavy stuff?

I'm convinced that the day after we go out and restock my entire inventory, Rex will come home and tell me he got a great opportunity in Houston, or he got laid off and they found a spot for him somewhere else.

Hey, It's happened before!

Posted by me at 10:43 AM | Comments (1)

May 22, 2009

A letter to my reproductive processes

Hello, old friend.

I thought you might be coming, although I had hoped you wouldn't.

I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other for the next 15 years or so. I can't say I'm looking forward to our monthly get togethers. You make me so emotional, reminding me of things I'll never have again, which makes me sad even though I don't necessarily want those things. You also turn me into a fat bloaty bitch, and spend a day or two punching me in the gut. And the mess! Oy! There has to be a better way.

I guess I should be grateful that I managed to dodge your visits for nearly 6 years. I hear most girls aren't so lucky.

Welcome back. Now will you leave already?

Love,

Me

Posted by me at 8:32 AM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2009

TMI

A few days after I night weaned Owen, my body started going haywire. My weight is fluctuating wildly, daily. I've gone from Sahara to oasis, been bloaty and crampy and probably moody (although who would be able to tell?)

It's like I'm having my period, but without, well, the period.

I figured my hormones are adjusting to Owen finally eating less often than a newborn, but shouldn't that be over by now? I mean, I stopped feeding him overnight weeks ago, and the weight and bloating is still out of control.

Worse, I'm not sure he's getting enough to drink anymore. And I don't mean that I think he should still be getting a ton of calories from boob juice, but he doesn't do much drinking from cups, and he seems to be a bit parched in the diaper area, if you know what I mean. (Also, I would nurse him until he left for college if it would make/keep me skinny without the need for exercise.)(I don't kid.)

I'm about to call my doc and get my thyroid rechecked, since it's probably the most quantitative thing I can do (and I'm about due for a recheck, anyway, so I don't have to worry about looking like a hypochondriac, for once.)

What else would make my body go haywire like this?

Posted by me at 8:36 AM | Comments (0)

May 1, 2009

Motivation

I just got some sausage out of the freezer to make a frittata for dinner, but I have less than zero interest in eating it. I suppose I could pull something else out of the freezer, or pull a recipe out of my ass, but I'm just not in the mood. No excuses, I just don't feel like it. I'll probably suggest we go out, although I have no particular craving or restaurant in mind.

Obviously, I'm the best housewife/parent ever.

Posted by me at 3:13 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2009

Happy Easter. Is it over yet?

Yesterday was our nephews 2nd birthday, so we made plans to drive down to Houston to attend the party. I still feel bad that we missed last year, even though we had some great excuses: Owen was less than 3 weeks old, he had developed a passionate hatred of all things car, they had changed the date several times, and we had made other plans in the meantime. Still, I wanted to be there.

I figured we should be out the door by 9 Saturday morning. That would leave us enough time for the drive, plus a few minutes to stop by and see good ol' Mattress Mac and educate ourselves on the true price of living room furniture. After a leisurely morning, we were ready to get going at 8:30. I told you the kids get up too damn early! We had an easy drive, snacked on some cookies at the furniture store, and arrived in time to help a wee bit with the boys and the decorating. Party, party, party, and then we retired to the in-laws house for pizza, talk and what passes for relaxation when you have kids. Apparently it was quite the exhausting day for the kids, because by 9, Jamie was asking to go to the hotel to go to bed, and that girl is usually willing to shut any party down. They were all passed out as soon as the van started moving, and were down for the count as soon as their heads touched their pillows. Well, except for Owen, who had to spend a while SHRIEKING and refusing to go back to sleep until he was damn good and ready.

Owen got me up at 2, and I was just climbing back in bed when I realized we had never gone back out to the van and gotten the Easter baskets out. I thought about blowing it off, but I had even smuggled a dozen hardboiled eggs in a cooler into the back of the van, and damn if I was going to carry all that crap all the way to Houston and not get some kiddie payoff. So there I am, 2 in the morning in the parking lot of a hotel, making up Easter baskets in the back of a van. I managed to sneak back into the room and set everything up without waking the baby, and then I turned to get back in bed and there was Ninja Boy, standing in the Pack'n'Play silently watching me. I'm fairly sure he wasn't really awake, but that didn't stop him from putting up a fight.

All the kids were up bright and early this morning. Somehow we managed to do Easter, get breakfast, swim on the pool, shower, dress, and Play Doh and were still out of the room before 11. The ride home was full of (way too short) naps, peeing by the side of the road, diaper changes in my lap and most of a bag of peanut butter M&M's. I'm not complaining, it wasn't a bad drive. The bad part was arriving home at 3, and realizing I still had HOURS and HOURS before bedtime. We usually end up leaving for home later than planned, and putting the kids straight to bed so we can crash. We managed to kill some time watching golf and playing Mario Kart, and then it was FINALLY late enough to justify putting them to bed.

Which is exactly where I'm going. Happy Easter, folks!

Posted by me at 9:26 PM | Comments (1)

April 6, 2009

Now, where's my free Flip?

Ugh. This is totally one of those days where I did lots of stuff, but I didn't finish a single thing. The dishwasher hasn't been emptied, the clothes didn't get folded. I spent precious, child free time working on the taxes, and while I made headway, they aren't even close to done. I attempted to blow Vista off the kids computer and replace it with XP, and got absolutely nowhere. We bought and I assembled an IKEA piece yesterday, but it hasn't been bolted to the wall, so I can't load it with crap and make things tidy tidy.

I'm giving myself a pass, though, because Oprah and her guests said I could.

Posted by me at 9:29 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2009

I have three children, nearly one, almost four, and freshly six.

You would think at least one of them would be in a phase where they could follow some simple fucking directions.

Posted by me at 10:10 AM | Comments (1)

March 17, 2009

Oink.

Ugh, I have got to stop eating. A few weeks ago, I was mysteriously losing little bits of weight in spite of the fact that I wasn't being all that careful about what went into my mouth. That didn't last long, and in the last week of so, that number on the scale has starting slowing climbing. Yesterday, I was doing really well, until a can of squeeze cheese ejaculated into my mouth. I swore I was going to be as good as I could today, considering we're having Pizza Hut for dinner, plus birthday cake. We went out for lunch, and I ordered myself a chef salad like a good girl, figuring it would be the perfect combination of bunny food and stuff that would actually fill me up. Turned out to be a giant pile of ham and what I think was brisket on top of a handful of lettuce and a decent amount of tomato, most of which I let the kids have. Then the lovely motherly lady behind the counter brought out two pieces of cake, one for Jamie and one for Katie and I to split. She was really sweet to us the whole time we were there, she even brought green beans for Owen to try (HA!) and a piece of toast for him to munch. We may have eaten more free food than what we paid for.

All of that to say I feel like a pig, and I haven't even gorged on pizza and the *real* cake. If I don't stop eating I may have to take up *gasp* exercise. The horror!

Posted by me at 2:11 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2009

It's time to walk around with an Amoxicillin inhaler

It's with great relief that I announce that Monday was uneventful.

However.

I went back to the doctor yesterday with yet another upper respiratory infection. I've been sick so often in the last month that I'm starting to wonder what's wrong with me. It's not like the kids have been giving me the sick, unless they've just been evil little Typhoid Mary's. And poor Owen was just drying up his snot factory when I started getting sick and couldn't drink enough again. I mean, the kid isn't starving, but I'm sure he'd like a little more juice in his boob juice.

The drugs have finally kicked in, and I'm ready to be healthy for a while. I'm ready for all of us to be healthy for a while.

And while I'm asking for miracles, I'd like to get a good night's sleep, too.

Posted by me at 7:44 PM | Comments (0)

February 24, 2009

Yesterday was a really shitty day

Let me count the ways...

On Friday, I packed up the van and as soon as Jamie got home from school, we picked Rex up at work and headed to Houston. This becomes important later, although it's really just a footnote on the whole shitty day.

See, we had a nice weekend, delivered a bunch of Girl Scout cookies, saw all the family, spent some nice catch-up time with friends, and then headed back to Dallas, later than planned, as usual. And it wasn't until we pulled into the driveway and Rex said, "Where's my car?" that either of us remembered that it was still at work. With three sleeping kids in the van, we opted to wait until morning. It was unfortunate that it was one of few days that Rex had to be there right at eight, but at least we would still be able to get Jamie off to school before we had to leave.

So we put the kids in bed, unpacked our bags, noted the dried cat puke in the dining room, watched some tv, and headed off to bed. Rex slid under the covers and then immediately jumped back up. Bubba had peed on his side of the bed. (All weekend long, I'm guessing, since I could see about half a dozen dried spots when I washed the sheets.) So we stripped the bed, Rex cursed the cat, and I cried myself to sleep, because I knew what this meant. Bubba only managed to stay around this long because we've kept him in our bedroom, and aside from the odd basket of laundry, he's kept his pee to himself. Whether this particular incident was another UTI/inflamed bladder or just a behavioral problem, it was two straws past the last. I've tried pretty much every humane treatment the vet and I came up with, and none of them do more than borderline manage his urinary issues. It was time.

God, I can't stand thinking about it even now.

Rex and I alternated getting up with the boy, and then somewhere around 5, Jamie puked. I pretty much have two fears revolving around that bed, and one is the obvious kid falling off and getting hurt. The other is trying to clean puke that's dripping from step to step off the ladder. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as I thought, although I still have to try and move the damn thing so I can clean puke spray off the carpet.

We installed Jamie on the couch, started a load of laundry (Katie's bed was collateral damage), and tried to go back to sleep.

Puke.

Puke.

Hmm. I don't want to put a puking kid in the car for an hour drive, how 'bout you? Rex thought about catching a ride to work with a co-worker, but of course he's on a different schedule this week. So Rex took off in the van, with the understanding that he could be called back at any moment in case of medical emergency.

We settled in on the couch for a long day of tv watching and oh, my, what's that smell? Cat pee, you say? Well, crap. So I took the cover off the couch cushion for washing, and did what I could to mitigate the smell in the cushion, alternating between laundry, hair holding, cat puke cleaning (from the dining room), crying and baby needs.

That pretty much sums up my morning. At some point I sent Jamie upstairs to change her pants, and when I went up to check on her, I found her pantsless and asleep face down in a pile of stuffed animals. I got her to bed, forced Katie to take a nap soon after before her attitude was the death of her.

And this is the part where I have to call the vet to make an appointment for Bubba. Rex came home a bit early so I could have the van and take Bubba in alone. There was just no way I could have done that with the kids around. As it was, I think I made the staff a little uncomfortable with the amount of tears and snot I exuded. I had hoped to be in and out of there quickly, because frankly I just couldn't keep it together, and every minute of delay was just another minute to say another goodbye and as horrible as this sounds, at some point you just need to GO. Halfway through the waiting, I almost grabbed him and left, but that wouldn't have solved anything. (To be fair here, the clinic didn't do anything wrong. Bubba wasn't a patient of theirs, and they wanted to confirm that he had issues. They were being morally responsible. The vet consulted with me for a long time before he was ready to take this step.) Finally, it was done, and I cried my way home.

And the final clincher of the day was that I cried myself right into a migraine and let Rex put me to bed right after the kids.

Posted by me at 8:21 PM | Comments (1)

February 17, 2009

When it rains...

Owen has officially cut tooth number four. Although, to be honest, it probably came in yesterday while I was too comatose to notice.

We've had a busy couple of weeks, starting with Jamie being sick, then me, then a week at Disney World, where both Katie and my dad got sick, and then we returned home just in tome for me to get sick again.

I'm actually looking forward to our normal, boring life.

Posted by me at 8:27 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2009

Why real live stores aren't in any real jeopardy

In the last couple weeks, I've ordered five things online.

One is a gift. I got notice that it shipped, haven't heard anything else, so it either hasn't arrived yet, or all is good.

One arrived safe and sound, although pathetically packaged.

One is on backorder, possibly forever.

One arrived safe and sound, but was a completely different item than ordered. The incorrect item is being sent back, the correct one (I hope!) has shipped.

One arrived, and is a godawful fit. I refuse to waste a penny more to return it, so I'll be trekking to Sears to return it in person. I'm highly disappointed and will not likely order sized items from this site again.

As much as I enjoy shopping from home and receiving packages, most of my money and/or time saving attempts this week have failed miserably.

Posted by me at 9:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2008

PSA

Snot sucks.

That is all.

Posted by me at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2008

Blah blah no sleep blah blah blah

I have a weird post to write about how Owen puked in his crib Wednesday night, and not only is it the first time in three kids that that crib has been puked in, but it was also the best night's sleep I've had all week, but my mom is here, so I guess I just summed the whole thing up. The odd part is that even with the puking (and the sitting in it and playing), and getting up to nurse, he didn't cry a single bit the whole night.

Last night sucked ass. He kept waking up, and when I'd go up there he'd be on his hands and knees or sitting or trying to stand up. I'd lay him back down and he'd go right to sleep. After like five tries of that, he stopped going back to sleep. I let him cry, since nothing else was working anyway. He went for two and a half hours. In fact, he cried right through when I had to get the girls up for school. I mean, he cried the night away and right into nap time. He spent a lot of that time sitting up, and I know he can lay himself back down, but he either didn't remember or was too pissed off to care. I figured y that point that he had to figure it out for himself, because I don't want to spend the next 8 months getting up five times a night to lay his ass back down. The last eight of poking a pacifier in his mouth and rolling him back onto his tummy have been bad enough. IT'S TIME TO SLEEP.

Then he slept for half an hour and was back up.

I can't tell you how badly I need a good night's sleep. For now, though, I'm going to ignore the backup on bloglines and eat cookie dough and catch up on my shows for the week. I have company for all of next week, so posting is probably going to be pretty pathetic until after Thanksgiving. Not that anyone would notice or anything :)

Posted by me at 7:38 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2008

I'm totally making this all about me

Yesterday? It pretty much sucked. I had about eight different things to do or be at, and I got my schedule stacked up like a nice house of cards. It was perfect. As long as everyone did their part.

Yeah, right.

I'm not sure if I mentioned anything about Rex having knee surgery. Something about his ACL and cleaning up his cartilage. I can't tell you how much I've been dreading this. Him being drugged, doing his chores along with mine, waiting on him hand and foot, him not being able to help out as much with the kids. My stomach was starting to hurt on Sunday when I realized it was really going to happen.

So Rex told me he was supposed to be at the hospital at 10, surgery at noon. I was originally going to hang out there and wait for him, but then decided it made sense for Katie and I to skip out at 11:30 for gymnastics, since by then I wouldn't be able to see him or do anything, anyway. Then we put off talking to the neighbor about picking Jamie up from school for so long that I was going to have to come home and get her, so basically I'd just pick up Rex when he was ready to come home.

Yeah, right.

Just before Katie and I took off, the nurse told me that Rex was supposed to be there at 6, so they were really working him in, and he likely wouldn't go to surgery until 2. She was guessing he'd be ready to pick up at 4:30ish. Uh, fuck. But ok, the kids and I will just hang out at the house a little longer. At least I'm not going to have to keep three kids entertained in an outpatient waiting room all day.

After gymnastics, Katie and I got lunch at Sonic, then picked up a few groceries was a seriously undernapped Owen at Target. At home, I started taking care of all the crap I needed for the next day. Making mini cornbread muffins and rolling turkey rolls and prepping dinners. At 4:30 I hadn't heard anything, so I called to see what was up. The nurse told me he was in surgery. What? It was only supposed to take an hour and a half under the knife, he should totally be done by now. I don't know why I didn't ask more questions, but I assumed he had started late, and was partway if not most of the way done.

I went ahead and fed the kids, and then at 6, we got in the car and I called the hospital. He was just coming in from recovery. Fuck. I'm supposed to have Jamie at the School Board meeting to give the pledge at 7:15, and they're telling me he might possibly, maybe, be ready to go at 6:45. I tried to get hold of a bunch of people to get Jamie a ride and/or let them know she wasn't going to make it (Sorry, Jamie's teacher. I'm sure you don't give out your phone number for a reason, but Google knows all), and then we headed out.

Luckily Rex recovered fast, because we shoved him into the van and set out for Jamie's meeting. I think we left there at 7:05. We pulled into the education center at 7:29, and Jamie, Owen and I booked it inside just in time for her to pledge her allegiance. Then we jumped back in the car and headed back into town to drop off Rex's prescription. By this time I have a headache that's so bad I'm starting to feel nauseous. Get home, get Rex and the girls into bed, feed poor exhausted Owen dinner and get him to bed, and then I have to run back out and get Rex's Vicodin. If I weren't nursing Owen, I swear I would have popped one on the way home.

In my already pissed off and pained state, I figured I'd sleep upstairs where I wouldn't be able to hear Rex snore. I know it's not his fault, but listening to him snore when I can't fall asleep tends to make me want to punch him in the head, even when he's all pathetic and injured.

Today was at least as busy as yesterday, but waaay less stressful. Jamie had fun at her Daisy meeting, even though I couldn't be there, and Katie did an awesome job in her music program at school, even though it was just Owen and I cheering her on.

Tomorrow, I'm totally scheduling a nap.

Posted by me at 8:14 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.14: Conspiring

I've been having some serious connectivity issues lately. I always thought the Mac was surfing a bit slow, way back here in my office, but lately I'v been getting about 20 seconds of surfing for every 10 minutes of refreshing. I'll admit, I like to spend time back here with my electronic babies, but not futilely hitting refresh until a single page finally loads, and then trying to move onto the next to get it refreshed before my packets get sent off into oblivion again.

Then again, it seems like everything I do is futile, lately. I swear, I tell the kids the same things over and over, obviously without results or I'd shut up and move and nag them about something new. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? That's also the definition of how to teach your kids manners. No wonder i feel like I'm going insane.

Speaking of insane, I got Wii Music the other day. At the time, I was hoping to interest the girls and get them off my back, and it's music, right? Can I call it culture if they learn it from a video game? They weren't too impressed at the beginning, mostly because it's a lot of tutorial stuff to get you going, and it's hard to teach them when I don't really know what I'm doing myself. They've asked for it the past couple of nights, though and will "play" some of the games with me. As in, I have a controller, and they watch.

Amusingly, I can't really tell who's playing what part and how badly in the Jam sessions (although the resulting "music" is horrific), but Jamie keeps going on and on about how good she is. Now that I think about it, she might not be half bad at the drums/percussion, since she apparently has rhythm, despite her complete lack of tune. I can't really tell, though, because the sound of six different instruments being played less than perfectly is my definition of hell. I've discovered in the last five years that I'm somewhat sensitive to sound, and that too much or the wrong kinds drive me absolutely batty,

Information that would have been useful to me prior to having kids.

Posted by me at 8:54 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.12:Unmotivated

I'm in bad mood, and I don't feel like talking about it. Suffice it to say, I've been a bit touchy, and my kids haven't figured out to stop poking Mama when she's in a mood. I don't really want to complain about them, especially when of all the bad behavior today, at least half of it was probably mine.

I'm having a hard time focusing on anything else, though, so I think I'm going to abandon my computer for the night (it's not you, it's me, baby) and throw down some more mood stabilizing chocolate.

Posted by me at 8:52 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.7: I need a nap

Last night was good, Owen only got up the one time. I no longer feel like I got punched in the face today. I feel more like I got punched yesterday or maybe even a couple days ago. My blood donation bruise is surprisingly small considering the way my arm felt yesterday.

And yet I'm pooped. Wiped out. Ready to sleep for days and days.

My dad, Katie, Owen and I ate lunch at Jamie's school today. Dad and Katie decided to be brave and buy a school lunch. I've seen the school lunches, and I'd rather not think about my kid eating that kind of food. Sure enough, the meat in the burger didn't really taste any different from the bun.

There wasn't enough room near where Jamie was sitting for all of us, so I got to sit with Jamie and her friends while Dad and Katie ate at the other end of the table. I think the other kids talk to me more than Jamie does, most of the time. It's sort of odd. Also sort of cool, since the other kids treat me like a rock star. Quite a change from how my kids treat me!

Posted by me at 7:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.6: Mustn't give in to the pain

I've taken a bit of a beating today. It started with a lot less sleep and a lot more crying that I prefer in the middle of the night. I have no idea why Owen was so awake, but I'm fairly sure I still had the crib rails imprinted into my forehead midmorning. It's hard to hum on key when you keep falling asleep in the middle of the song.

Then this morning I had to put off my blood donation appointment to have a partial crown put on. A few days ago, a big chunk of one of my fillings popped out, and the hole was causing me some trouble, in spite of the actual break being painless. That hole was a food attractor, and the resulting pressure and overflossing were quite bothersome. The repair itself only took and hour (although I was at the dentist for almost two and a half) and was fairly painless, but now that the novocaine has worn off, the side of my mouth is a bit raw and sore.

After coming home and acquiring both kids, we took off to finally give a pint of the good stuff. The techs kept asking me if I was ok, which I know is standard procedure, but they seemed to ask a little more than usual. One of them finally told me I looked like I had had a hard day. Until she said that, I hadn't really thought about it that way. Of course, now that one side of my face hurts and my opposite elbow pit burns a bit from the pressure bandage, I'm starting to feel a bit pitiful. I think I'm going to go sit on the couch and veg a while.

Posted by me at 7:55 PM | Comments (0)

November 3, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.3: It's a wonder I can even blog on this thing

Rex is having knee surgery later this month, so he's dropped out of TKD for the foreseeable future. This has the unexpected benefit of buying me some free time tonight, since he's able to take Owen along for the show.

Being left with surprise free time is strangely stressful for me. What to do, what to DO? Do I fritter the time away on me, watching DVR'ed shows and vegging on the couch? Spend two hours busy on the computer getting absolutely nothing of value done? Clean the kitchen, weatherstrip the air intake vents, declutter? Get some actual work done? Blog?

My to-do list is so long, it's hard to pick any one thing. Also, I've taken care of all the easy stuff, so what's left requires actual effort and/or brain cells.

Tonight, I decided to be responsible and do actual work for my friends site (that I actually get paid for!) As usual, completing this simple task has turned into an epic saga with no end. How hard can it be to crop six pictures and upload them to an established gallery?

Nearly impossible, since I'm still unfamiliar with my Mac. First, I accidently moved my downloads stack into a folder. A folder that I thought was empty, but either wasn't, or I accidently moved a whole shitload of other stuff into it by accident as well. I just left that alone and went on to import the pictures I needed to work with into iPhoto. Modified, exported, easy peasy. Next step, going to the site, logging into gallery, and uploading. Except the upload window refuses to show up. I allowed pop-ups, went to another subalbum and confirmed that *some* pop-ups work. WTF?

I boot up my poor belabored laptop and test uploading there. No problems. I still have no idea if this is a setting problem, a Safari issue, a Gallery glitch, or user error.

I need to get this done, so I'm going to end up emailing the pictures to my laptop and uploading them from there. This whole process makes me feel like a moron.

Any clues?

Posted by me at 7:48 PM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.2: I'm putting a hit on whoever came up with Daylight Saving

Last week I heard some news person mention that this weekend everyone would get an extra hour of sleep.

That person obviously doesn't have kids.

Owen was up at 5:20 this morning. At 5:45, Katie started crying. I think she smacked her knee into the wall. Of course, she's usually up before dawn no matter how much she needs more sleep, so I didn't hold out much hope of her nodding off again. And naturally, her crying woke Jamie up, and she's not so much a sleeper in, either.

We have this rule that the girls have to stay in their room until 7. In Rex's mind and mine, this also means staying in bed and being quiet. I'd be ok with quiet whispers if they're both awake, but the key here is that everyone else in the house should be able to sleep. The girls are either completely unaware of that part of the rule, or they just don't give a damn. I'm going with not giving a damn. On rare occasions, we can convince them to stay in bed until 8, bribing them with the promise of a "special breakfast."

So the girls have been upstairs squeaking and chattering and giggling for an hour. If I were actually getting to sleep in, I would totally be laying in bed fuming, plotting their demise. Then, Katie tried to come downstairs at 6:30 saying she slept in, can could they have a special breakfast. HA! I sent her back upstairs for another 30 minutes of not sleeping.

Naturally, I got Owen back to sleep about five minutes before the girls came downstairs.

Extra hour of sleep my ass.

Posted by me at 6:59 AM | Comments (1)

October 30, 2008

Poor me

NaBloPoMo starts on Saturday, and I'm totally unprepared. I haven't been posting as much lately, not because I don't have anything to say, but because I have other things to do. Sure, most of those other things involve TV, but dammit, I wanna watch my shows, now that they finally have new episodes again. This lack o' laptop is seriously cutting into my blogging time. And also my picture posting. And pretty much all the mindless things I used to do while I watched TV.

Maybe I could get just a wee flat screen for in my office? Ooh, and a little comfy couch! I could stay in here all day!

Posted by me at 8:55 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2008

A long one

Saturday night, Owen slept for eight hours straight for the first time since the night we attended our street's block party.

That was in May.

After I fed him at 4am, he went back to sleep and then was up for a little around 6, then slept until 8. I haven't had that much sleep since he was born. In fact, I was so not exhausted when I went to bed last night I was wondering if I would be able to fall asleep.

I wasn't, but it wasn't because I was overrested, it was because Owen was up at least half a dozen times between 11 and 6. I'm back to being irritable and grouchy and unproductive. Go me.

The day wasn't a total bust. I taught the girls The Name Game this morning at breakfast, and managed to get some great shots of all three kids together.

Still, I could go for a nap.

Posted by me at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2008

The good, the bad and the ugly, in reverse

Last night SUCKED. You would think by the third kid I would know why Owen keeps waking up, or have a better idea of what to do about it. Suggested/possible options so far include letting him cry til he falls asleep (I'm not ready yet) and nursing him back to sleep when he wakes up (doesn't really get me any more sleep, so I'm not really willing to continue feeding him when he really shouldn't need food). Adding solids hasn't helped, and I think may have something to do with the crankier waking (as opposed to pacifier pop-out and turtle wakings).

I actually fell asleep putting him down for a nap, which would have been wonderful if Katie hadn't come in to ask me to sharpen some pencils about 30 seconds later.


Since Jamie started school, Katie has been asking me what to do. All. Day. Long. She'll come up and say "I don't have anything in my head." The scary part is that she's the more independent of my girls. I haven't had a lot of errands to run, so we've been spending a lot of time at home, and I can't seem to come up with anything fun, either. Or at least, anything fun that lasts more than 5 minutes. We made Rice Krispies Treats today, which was a BIG mistake. By big, I'm referring to the size of my butt when I'm done eating the entire batch. I'm not even hungry after all that Brie cheese I had for lunch.

Did I mention my big ass?

Anyway, making the treats took all of 10 minutes. Chalk drawing, coloring, Old Maid and amusing the baby took another 8 and a half. I'm too tired to be more creative than that.


For Christmas, Rex gave me a card saying I could get a new computer. Specifically, an Apple product, since I had expressed an interest and he was impressed by the service and details when he went to the store to do some research. I didn't take him up on the offer right away, for a bunch of reasons. We were about to move, my laptop was still working fine in spite of it's small hard drive and failing battery, Apples cost about as much as a car, especially the laptops, and I would have to learn a whole new OS/change applications, etc.

I'm running out of excuses now. We're moved and I have an office all my own. I've so totally outgrown my hard drive it's ridiculous, the battery on this beast is toast, and I've lost a fan. The other fan comes on full speed when the laptop gets hot, but never shuts off. It sounds like a jet is taking off from the couch. I can't really justify the cost of an Macbook, but I really shouldn't need a computer on the couch anyway, right? At least, not in a few months when Owen stops sucking me dry so regularly. Plus, I just can't pass up the glory of the giant iMac screen. And then the applications. I'm concerned about the learning curve, but then, I haven't really gotten around to learning most of the photo editing/video editing apps I wanted to anyway. Might as well save time and just do it once.

And so, on it's way to my house from China, is a glorious 24" iMac. I can't believe I let Rex spend so much money on *me*, for something we don't really *need*.

I'm also so excited I could wet myself!

Posted by me at 1:40 PM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2008

Upstanding citizen or angry bitch?

You know, it takes an awful lot to piss me off enough to do more than rant. Even then, all my good comebacks come hours or even days after they would be useful.

Today was the day I acted.

We live right across the street from an elementary school. During the school year, drop off and pick up time can be a bit of a pain, what with all the cars parked on the street, in front of our house. I'm old enough to have a kids-stay-outta-my-yard attitude, but young enough to keep the words from shooting out of my mouth. It's really not that bad, since the chaos only lasts 30 minutes or so, morning and afternoon.

This afternoon was meet the teacher day, so a ridiculous number of people came to the school looking for a place to park. By the time we walked home, the parking lot, our street, and the street on the other side of the school were full. In fact, our street had cars parked on both sides, effectively leaving a single lane for traffic. That's what it looked like when I packed the kids in the car and ran to the store for a couple things before dinner.

We weren't gone long enough, because it still looked like that when we got home. Except that now, some doofus had parked in the tiny space between our driveway and the driveway next door. In fact, that space is so tiny, he was partially in front of our driveway. That in itself would have pissed me off. Add in that there was another car parked right up against the other side of the driveway, and cars parked on the other side of the street, and I couldn't swing wide to fit between the two fools parked in front of my house.

I wasn't about to find a spot on the street a quarted mile plus from my house so I could haul my crying baby and heavy groceries to my own front door, so I did a many point turn and managed to fit through the tiny gap left to me.

Then I went inside and had Rex look up the non-emergency line for the cops. Cause that SOB blocking my driveway? He parked directly in front of a fire hydrant.

Posted by me at 9:07 PM | Comments (1)

July 11, 2008

And I'm open to suggestions

Well, damn.

I made a new banner. A miracle in itself since I don't just not know Photoshop, I don't even understand the names of the tools and have no concept what they do. I need to get a book, but unless they make one that can automagically upload to my brain, it will sit on a shelf with all my other how-to's until I upgrade and it becomes obsolete and Half-Price Books offers me 20 cents for it.

Then I went into all my templates and changed the file names from gif to jpg, because I didn't like the way the new banner look converted to gif. And I changed some of the colors in the CSS file (HELLO! orange).

Then I tried to publish all the templates.

The stupid Master Archive Index still won't publish, so now everything is half updated. I have no idea why it won't work. I've compared it to a working file and can't find a single difference. I've mucked around in everything I can find and it hasn't made a difference. I even upgraded a while back in hopes that whatever was wrong would be replaced by the new version.

I'm assuming this is part of the same problem I have publishing posts and comments. I keep hoping they'll release 4.2 and the new format they have for archives will fix and replace my errors. Barring that, I may have to wipe the whole thing and start from scratch, which scares the crap out of me since I have a tenuous grasp on how the database works, and I don't want to lose any actual content.

All that to say, sorry for mismatched look of the site.

Posted by me at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2008

Two days in, and I'm ready to lower my standards

I have this huge list of things that I would like to get done while the girls are gone. Granted, most of them are things I wanted to get done even before they left, but the hope is that with two fewer kids it will be easier to knock stuff out. At the very least, running errands is simplier, since I have fewer kids to buckle and handhold and yell at them to STOP TOUCHING THINGS while we shop.

Unfortunately, most of the things on the list aren't errands, they're chores. Chores that require two hands. And some arms. Owen has yet to nap outside of my arms or the car since they left. Part of that is my fault, like today we ran a bunch or errands and so he caught a few catnaps in the car seat, or I let him sleep too long in my arms and he wakes up when I put him down. The rest is him. He's all about the one-on-one attention, even when he's asleep. On the up side, I don't have to divide my attention, and Owen has fairly simple and easy-to-meet needs. Also, I can eat all sorts of crap and I don't have to share.

All this boils down to a long list with way too few things crossed off. The things I have knocked off are the easy stuff. I haven't even bought the paint for either of the kids rooms, and I shudder to think how long it will take me to sort through all the crap in my office and file the box of papers.

Posted by me at 9:21 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2008

And when the hell did I forget how to smile?

That tweet this morning about losing my shit? I had no idea.

My meltdown was a combination of days of holding Owen with no relief, lack of sleep from his unusual nighttime habits, and yet another screaming fit that seemed to have no reason and no solution. It was just too much. I was trying to figure out who I could call to come help me, just for a few minutes, to entertain my poor daughters who have been so good and so neglected, to hold Owen for just a few minutes so I could *not* hold him and still not hear him scream. And I realized there was no one closer than 250 miles that I knew well enough to see me in the state I was in.

And then I cried harder. Cried because I feel so isolated and alone. Because apparently there's only one person in this town that I consider a good friend, and he was in California. Because I was completely incoherent, and not a single creature in the house even noticed.

I need to make some friends around here, and I know it. But aside from the fact that it's something I'm just not good at, calling people I don't know well to set up, uh, something, it's also something that takes time. There are a few women in this neighborhood that may someday be great friends, but I haven't known them long enough to know them well. We're still in the dating stage, where I don't reveal my true self for fear of alienating every woman withing spitting distance of our house. When do I let loose with the atheism and the computer addiction and the animal science degree that required activities that viewed the wrong way are illegal in some states? When do I let them know that I'm an oversharer, and reveal that I no longer have any hobbies or joys or personality, but I used to be loud and sarcastic and opinionated and obnoxious and I had FUN?

Posted by me at 9:11 PM | Comments (3)

May 18, 2008

Tattletale

I'm much less angsty than I should be, considering how this evening went. I think perhaps I will sum up with bullets.