This is a test of blogspot. Recent comments I saw posted earlier all said the year was 2011.
I'm posting this on 11/12/2012 at 2:43am my time. Let's see if I was trying to comment on a year old post, or if Blogger is really off by a year. [Maybe from a typo changing the time during the daylight savings time change???]
Monday, November 12, 2012
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Mantra to say after talking to my mother
"I will not break this phone. I will not break this phone. I will not break this phone. I will not break this phone...."
Due to her stroke, she has aphasia. This means she often swaps words... either the words she says, or the words she hears. Basically, her speaking interface is kinda broken, like a broken Star Trek translator.
And she thinks with the emotional side of her brain, since it was the logical side that had the stroke. And that's also the highly suspicious part of her brain, and resentful, and basically uncooperative side of her brain. And aggravating side of her brain. And...
I have broken the work phone handset by hanging up on her, and then lifting the handset back up and pounding it, oh, about 4 times on my desk. For some bizarre reason, although other people could hear my speak, I had to turn up the phone volume to max to hear other people. Hmmm. Very strange. As if I had done something outside the normal working parameters of the phone. What, you mean I'm not supposed to expect the phone to work after heartily pounding it on my desk?
After another phone call, I destroyed the hearing-side of one of our cordless home phones, as well as it's crystal display. The only way to answer phone calls with that phone was to answer it then put it in speaker mode.
We've got people who asked to come over today. 2 or 3 of the same people were there yesterday. I called my Mom to let her know, and make sure the time was ok.
Mom: "They were already here today."
Me: "What? No, you mean yesterday,"
Mom: "Yes, they were here today."
Me: "They were here this morning??"
Mom: "Well, there were 2... 2... 3 people here..."
Me: "Mom, what TIME this morning were they here?"
Mom, after consulting with her caregiver:"10."
Me: "Mom, that's impossible because it's 9:45am!"
Mom: "They were here today!"
Me: "Mom, let me talk to your caregiver."
Mom: "You don't believe me? Well, shit, son of a bitch, here!"
Talked to caregiver, confirmed those same people had been there YESTERDAY.
Talked to mom again.
Mom: "You didn't believe me..."
Me: "No, Mom, I did believe you. It's just you were using the wrong word. You meant 'Yesterday', and you kept saying 'Today'."
Mom: "Oh. Well, you know I can't make sense."
Me: "Yes, I know. Anyway, the same people will be there again at 3:30pm."
Mom: "Oh, that's ok. Thank you for letting me know."
Me: "You're welcome." Click.
I will not break this phone. I will not break this phone. This is a new phone to replace the phone I broke. I will not break this phone... I will REALLY NOT break this phone....
Due to her stroke, she has aphasia. This means she often swaps words... either the words she says, or the words she hears. Basically, her speaking interface is kinda broken, like a broken Star Trek translator.
And she thinks with the emotional side of her brain, since it was the logical side that had the stroke. And that's also the highly suspicious part of her brain, and resentful, and basically uncooperative side of her brain. And aggravating side of her brain. And...
I have broken the work phone handset by hanging up on her, and then lifting the handset back up and pounding it, oh, about 4 times on my desk. For some bizarre reason, although other people could hear my speak, I had to turn up the phone volume to max to hear other people. Hmmm. Very strange. As if I had done something outside the normal working parameters of the phone. What, you mean I'm not supposed to expect the phone to work after heartily pounding it on my desk?
After another phone call, I destroyed the hearing-side of one of our cordless home phones, as well as it's crystal display. The only way to answer phone calls with that phone was to answer it then put it in speaker mode.
We've got people who asked to come over today. 2 or 3 of the same people were there yesterday. I called my Mom to let her know, and make sure the time was ok.
Mom: "They were already here today."
Me: "What? No, you mean yesterday,"
Mom: "Yes, they were here today."
Me: "They were here this morning??"
Mom: "Well, there were 2... 2... 3 people here..."
Me: "Mom, what TIME this morning were they here?"
Mom, after consulting with her caregiver:"10."
Me: "Mom, that's impossible because it's 9:45am!"
Mom: "They were here today!"
Me: "Mom, let me talk to your caregiver
Mom: "You don't believe me? Well, shit, son of a bitch, here!"
Talked to caregiver, confirmed those same people had been there YESTERDAY.
Talked to mom again.
Mom: "You didn't believe me..."
Me: "No, Mom, I did believe you. It's just you were using the wrong word. You meant 'Yesterday', and you kept saying 'Today'."
Mom: "Oh. Well, you know I can't make sense."
Me: "Yes, I know. Anyway, the same people will be there again at 3:30pm."
Mom: "Oh, that's ok. Thank you for letting me know."
Me: "You're welcome." Click.
I will not break this phone. I will not break this phone. This is a new phone to replace the phone I broke. I will not break this phone... I will REALLY NOT break this phone....
Screw life, we're going to talk about a movie!
Or maybe a few movies.
My life has been too stressful. So instead, let's discuss some really good and really bad movies to watch and to not watch, respectively.
First of all, if things are so bad that you need something horrific to watch in order to deal, especially in order to work through some anger, I highly recommend the following movie:
"The Descent"
It has gotten me through a great deal of stress. It is very depressing in places, I admit. But the main characters, and how they change into very strong, and yes, violent, people in order to survive... oh, man. When you are very angry at your circumstances, sometimes it is just so nice to see the "victims" in the movie kick some serious asshole butt.
And this is also just one of those perfect movies that does the character building, and gets you all spooked and concerned, even before they pull all the stops out. It's already intense before they even let the monsters come out to play.
It's good horror in the way that Alien is absolutely good horror. It captures you. It has a good plot. It maintains believability. The characters are engaging. Just trust me and watch it, damn it.
"Paranormal Activity"
Excellent movie. Watched it maybe 1 or 2 months ago. Hard to watch in the sense that you want these people to get help, get the priests out and/or move, if it would help. One character treats the experience like an experiment for most of the time. The other one, who has more experience with this sort of thing in her past, is frustratingly mocked by the first character, who has no clue what he's playing with.
Don't watch it when your significant other is away on travel. Or you'll be sleeping with the lights on.
"Paranormal Activity 2"
This was also an excellent movie. But if you are a parent / dog owner and are going through a sensitive time, do NOT watch it. There's nothing explicit, but that feeling of wanting to protect the child or the dog may make it too hard to watch. For me, I ended up sitting there furious at the demon that was harassing the child and the dog. And furious at the father, who had his head in the sand and was refusing to believe anything weird was happening. And furious ... just furious. Probably because my husband is on travel, and I have a toddler and 2 dogs. And I was pissed off at being frightened and then feeling the need to sleep with the lights on, lol. It was VERY hard not to wake up my toddler and make him sleep in bed with me. But hey, he hadn't watched the movie. He was sleeping peacefully, except for a sunburn I stupidly forgot to protect him from. He didn't need me projecting my fear onto him.
So I let him sleep, and prayed alot of prayers to God for protection.
So, yeah, choose wisely when you watch it. And if you are wiser still in realizing that maybe movies that touch on the occult are not a good thing to add to your life, then don't watch it. I both enjoyed the movie, and regret watching it, you know? Not sure God wanted me putting that movie into my memory banks.
Just like you shouldn't consume poison, and you shouldn't drink yourself stupid, there are ideas or memories you shouldn't intentionally put into your head, if you can help it. Heh. Call it "brain poison".
I guess "The Descent" might qualify as brain poison, I don't know. So, take my movie advice with a grain of salt.
"Shaun of the Dead"
Fantastically funny movie. It's so good I don't want to tell you anything and spoil it, lol. Just watch it. Trust me. Probably the best movie to watch if you are down in the dumps but don't feel the need to get some anger out of your system. It's the sort of dark comedy that will leave you feeling ironically better after you've watched it.
If it's brain poison... well... it's got to be one of the less damaging and sweeter ones, lol.
Ok, will come back with more movies that are helping to keep me sane, or less insane. And the occasional one that will hurt more than help.
Anyway, yes, I'm still here. Just having a hard time keeping my head above water. As usual. ;)
My life has been too stressful. So instead, let's discuss some really good and really bad movies to watch and to not watch, respectively.
First of all, if things are so bad that you need something horrific to watch in order to deal, especially in order to work through some anger, I highly recommend the following movie:
"The Descent"
It has gotten me through a great deal of stress. It is very depressing in places, I admit. But the main characters, and how they change into very strong, and yes, violent, people in order to survive... oh, man. When you are very angry at your circumstances, sometimes it is just so nice to see the "victims" in the movie kick some serious asshole butt.
And this is also just one of those perfect movies that does the character building, and gets you all spooked and concerned, even before they pull all the stops out. It's already intense before they even let the monsters come out to play.
It's good horror in the way that Alien is absolutely good horror. It captures you. It has a good plot. It maintains believability. The characters are engaging. Just trust me and watch it, damn it.
"Paranormal Activity"
Excellent movie. Watched it maybe 1 or 2 months ago. Hard to watch in the sense that you want these people to get help, get the priests out and/or move, if it would help. One character treats the experience like an experiment for most of the time. The other one, who has more experience with this sort of thing in her past, is frustratingly mocked by the first character, who has no clue what he's playing with.
Don't watch it when your significant other is away on travel. Or you'll be sleeping with the lights on.
"Paranormal Activity 2"
This was also an excellent movie. But if you are a parent / dog owner and are going through a sensitive time, do NOT watch it. There's nothing explicit, but that feeling of wanting to protect the child or the dog may make it too hard to watch. For me, I ended up sitting there furious at the demon that was harassing the child and the dog. And furious at the father, who had his head in the sand and was refusing to believe anything weird was happening. And furious ... just furious. Probably because my husband is on travel, and I have a toddler and 2 dogs. And I was pissed off at being frightened and then feeling the need to sleep with the lights on, lol. It was VERY hard not to wake up my toddler and make him sleep in bed with me. But hey, he hadn't watched the movie. He was sleeping peacefully, except for a sunburn I stupidly forgot to protect him from. He didn't need me projecting my fear onto him.
So I let him sleep, and prayed alot of prayers to God for protection.
So, yeah, choose wisely when you watch it. And if you are wiser still in realizing that maybe movies that touch on the occult are not a good thing to add to your life, then don't watch it. I both enjoyed the movie, and regret watching it, you know? Not sure God wanted me putting that movie into my memory banks.
Just like you shouldn't consume poison, and you shouldn't drink yourself stupid, there are ideas or memories you shouldn't intentionally put into your head, if you can help it. Heh. Call it "brain poison".
I guess "The Descent" might qualify as brain poison, I don't know. So, take my movie advice with a grain of salt.
"Shaun of the Dead"
Fantastically funny movie. It's so good I don't want to tell you anything and spoil it, lol. Just watch it. Trust me. Probably the best movie to watch if you are down in the dumps but don't feel the need to get some anger out of your system. It's the sort of dark comedy that will leave you feeling ironically better after you've watched it.
If it's brain poison... well... it's got to be one of the less damaging and sweeter ones, lol.
Ok, will come back with more movies that are helping to keep me sane, or less insane. And the occasional one that will hurt more than help.
Anyway, yes, I'm still here. Just having a hard time keeping my head above water. As usual. ;)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Where am I, and why am I strapped to the bed??
Hi everyone. Sorry for being non-responsive. Not sure where to start.
Mom is getting better (for those who haven't heard, she had a stroke on December 8th)
Dad is wiped out
Logan is getting over a cold. Now I have the cold.
My husband sortof has it.
I need to finish de-cluttering my parent's place in preparation for when Mom goes home. I have been paying my folk's bills (with their money, not mine) as Mom was the one who handled all of that, but Dad isn't up to it. He's still working, and that's keeping him going. But it's been a long time since he had to handle bills. And he's stressed out and so tired. And he's 86, of course. Considering everything, he's handling things, and holding up, really well.
Mom wants to come home so bad she can't see straight. She is doing well, but doesn't always realize how many skills she has lost and needs to relearn. She should be able to come home in about 1.5 weeks, and continue the rest of her therapy from home.
I'm currently not on speaking terms with my Sister. That's mostly my fault, but she owes my husband both an "apology" and a "thankyou", and I really need her to give me some space, so I've been happy to just enjoy the silence. She was trying to handle things from her end (Nevada), and she was just one cook too many. And sometimes she can be someone I really don't like. But I still love her.
If she posts the text of the scathing email I sent her, yeah, I really said all of that. Some of it I meant, as there are alot of things she and I haven't dealt with yet, and some of it was me just completely wigging out from the pressure.
Haven't gotten my folks to sign the wills that my Mom had me go online to prepare. A corrected will was sent to my folks place, Dad thought it was junk mail, and tore it up! He put the part with his name in the burn box, and the part w/o in the recycle bin. I was just lucky I found it in both places. I taped it up and photocopied it and Mom's will, and gave them the copies. I'm not sure Mom can sign hers yet (she's re-learning reading, writing, and math), and I think Dad just let the signing of his will go, even though there was a good opportunity a week or so ago, with 2 friends who could have been witnesses. So, all that insane rush for nothing. :P And I hate to have to PUSH him, or her. They are already really pushed. Me too.
Mom's wearing Dad out. I can't convince Mom to let Dad have one day a week off from going to see her. I know she's lonely, but it takes alot of energy to deal with her. He works Wednesday and Thursday evenings for 4 hours each, and Saturday and Sunday mornings thru early afternoon, for 8 hours each. He gets Monday, Tuesday, and Friday off. I just think he should get Friday to SLEEP ALL DAY IF HE WANTS TO, but Mom... well, she misses him so much, and... it's a long story. :P
I'm not sure how much of this was Dad being worn out, how much was Dad being 86, and/or how much of this was maybe Dad forgetting to eat and having low blood sugar, but Dad got confused a couple weeks ago, and after bringing home groceries, managed to lock himself out of their home.
And then he convinced himself that he had left his car/home keys at the grocery store.
Mom had called him, asking him to come see her. I spoke with him too, I think. And in the confusion, when trying to leave the house to go see Mom, he went outside without his keys. And then started walking back to the store to find those keys!
He slipped on some loose gravel as he was exhausted, skinned some skin off his head, and was rescued by some people and taken to the management office of the place they live in. I was called in. I searched Dad's car for the keys (he had left his car door unlocked), and found...
... THE WALLET THAT DAD THOUGHT HE HAD LOST IN THE HOSPITAL CAFETERIA, BACK IN AUGUST, WHEN MOM WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR 3 SEPARATE TIMES. It was stuck to the floor under the drivers seat by some candy.
I took it out, peeled the candy off, went inside their home, found Dad's keys where he'd left them, went back outside and drove to the management office. I then drove Dad back to their home, and sat with him and filled out some documentation for the convalescent home Mom was in. [The documentation was just for admitting her, but hadn't been filled in for almost 2 weeks from when she'd arrived at the nursing home. Several family members were afraid it was a trick to make it that she'd be stuck in the nursing home, i.e., admitted for life.]
Mom is now at a more aggressive convalescent home. They spend many more hours per day training her. It's wearing her out, but she needs it before she goes home.
I've just been really drained. I pay their bills, I found a new doctor for them when their doctor announced last minute he was retiring, I "rescue" them from various mistakes age, stress, and exhaustion are causing them to make... As to the bills, I had to do "bill discovery" as Dad was so stressed out he was misplacing the mail. "Hello, electric company? Yes, do you guys have an account with my parents, what do they owe you, and when is it due?" I spent much of last Saturday trying to "find the floor" in their place, decluttering like a mad fool. I would have gone back for more on Sunday, but my stomach had other plans.
I picked up their medical files from the doctor that retired, and paid their final bill with that doctor, and am holding on to the files until they see their new doctor in February.
I stayed home sick today. There was stuff I should have done for my folks, and for us, but I so badly needed to just chill that me and my cold went to bed after my Father-in-Law picked Logan up and I emailed work to let them know I was sick. I stayed there for several hours, in the happy oblivion that is sleep.
*SIGH*
Everytime my cell phone rings, I groan because I'm afraid it's my Mom with another request.
Ok, so other than all of that, everything's great, lol!
Anyway, Mom is going to get to go home soon. I need to hurry up and get her enrolled in Medi-cal. Hoping they qualify, as then someone can come to their house, in between the home-therapists that will visit, and help them out. 'Cause I need to work, and if I try to be there with Mom while Dad is at work on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, I'm going to break into several tiny pieces. I just don't have enough of myself to spread around. Which is pretty impressive considering how fat my ass is.
I also can't deal with taking care of Mom on the weekends while Dad is working. I mean, I'd never see my husband or my son, at that rate.
And really, when Dad is home, Dad can't physically take care of her if she's having problems taking care of herself. Dad can't bathe her. Dad can't lift her if she falls. And I can't quit my job and become her full-time caregiver, anyway. But she could get some help if she qualifies for Medi-cal.
And... and... that's not even everything, lol!
I... have... lost... what... little... mind... I... have... left.
My husband, my toddler, and my job are keeping me sane.
My husband has been incredibly awesome through all of this. And his Dad has been incredibly awesome. I don't know what I would do without those two.
Anyway, that's the current situation.
I'm just glad that Dad is still up to working at his part-time job. It's keeping him alive. And I'm glad Mom will be coming home soon. Although I know it doesn't mean I'm off the hook. Until she can really do math and write checks and read bills, that's still my bailiwick. But Mom's sure that her coming home will make life much easier on me.
Heh.
Heh-heh.
Heh-hah-heh-hah-heh-hah-hah-hah!!!!!!!!
*SIGH*
Ok, where's my Xanax??
Mom is getting better (for those who haven't heard, she had a stroke on December 8th)
Dad is wiped out
Logan is getting over a cold. Now I have the cold.
My husband sortof has it.
I need to finish de-cluttering my parent's place in preparation for when Mom goes home. I have been paying my folk's bills (with their money, not mine) as Mom was the one who handled all of that, but Dad isn't up to it. He's still working, and that's keeping him going. But it's been a long time since he had to handle bills. And he's stressed out and so tired. And he's 86, of course. Considering everything, he's handling things, and holding up, really well.
Mom wants to come home so bad she can't see straight. She is doing well, but doesn't always realize how many skills she has lost and needs to relearn. She should be able to come home in about 1.5 weeks, and continue the rest of her therapy from home.
I'm currently not on speaking terms with my Sister. That's mostly my fault, but she owes my husband both an "apology" and a "thankyou", and I really need her to give me some space, so I've been happy to just enjoy the silence. She was trying to handle things from her end (Nevada), and she was just one cook too many. And sometimes she can be someone I really don't like. But I still love her.
If she posts the text of the scathing email I sent her, yeah, I really said all of that. Some of it I meant, as there are alot of things she and I haven't dealt with yet, and some of it was me just completely wigging out from the pressure.
Haven't gotten my folks to sign the wills that my Mom had me go online to prepare. A corrected will was sent to my folks place, Dad thought it was junk mail, and tore it up! He put the part with his name in the burn box, and the part w/o in the recycle bin. I was just lucky I found it in both places. I taped it up and photocopied it and Mom's will, and gave them the copies. I'm not sure Mom can sign hers yet (she's re-learning reading, writing, and math), and I think Dad just let the signing of his will go, even though there was a good opportunity a week or so ago, with 2 friends who could have been witnesses. So, all that insane rush for nothing. :P And I hate to have to PUSH him, or her. They are already really pushed. Me too.
Mom's wearing Dad out. I can't convince Mom to let Dad have one day a week off from going to see her. I know she's lonely, but it takes alot of energy to deal with her. He works Wednesday and Thursday evenings for 4 hours each, and Saturday and Sunday mornings thru early afternoon, for 8 hours each. He gets Monday, Tuesday, and Friday off. I just think he should get Friday to SLEEP ALL DAY IF HE WANTS TO, but Mom... well, she misses him so much, and... it's a long story. :P
I'm not sure how much of this was Dad being worn out, how much was Dad being 86, and/or how much of this was maybe Dad forgetting to eat and having low blood sugar, but Dad got confused a couple weeks ago, and after bringing home groceries, managed to lock himself out of their home.
And then he convinced himself that he had left his car/home keys at the grocery store.
Mom had called him, asking him to come see her. I spoke with him too, I think. And in the confusion, when trying to leave the house to go see Mom, he went outside without his keys. And then started walking back to the store to find those keys!
He slipped on some loose gravel as he was exhausted, skinned some skin off his head, and was rescued by some people and taken to the management office of the place they live in. I was called in. I searched Dad's car for the keys (he had left his car door unlocked), and found...
... THE WALLET THAT DAD THOUGHT HE HAD LOST IN THE HOSPITAL CAFETERIA, BACK IN AUGUST, WHEN MOM WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR 3 SEPARATE TIMES. It was stuck to the floor under the drivers seat by some candy.
I took it out, peeled the candy off, went inside their home, found Dad's keys where he'd left them, went back outside and drove to the management office. I then drove Dad back to their home, and sat with him and filled out some documentation for the convalescent home Mom was in. [The documentation was just for admitting her, but hadn't been filled in for almost 2 weeks from when she'd arrived at the nursing home. Several family members were afraid it was a trick to make it that she'd be stuck in the nursing home, i.e., admitted for life.]
Mom is now at a more aggressive convalescent home. They spend many more hours per day training her. It's wearing her out, but she needs it before she goes home.
I've just been really drained. I pay their bills, I found a new doctor for them when their doctor announced last minute he was retiring, I "rescue" them from various mistakes age, stress, and exhaustion are causing them to make... As to the bills, I had to do "bill discovery" as Dad was so stressed out he was misplacing the mail. "Hello, electric company? Yes, do you guys have an account with my parents, what do they owe you, and when is it due?" I spent much of last Saturday trying to "find the floor" in their place, decluttering like a mad fool. I would have gone back for more on Sunday, but my stomach had other plans.
I picked up their medical files from the doctor that retired, and paid their final bill with that doctor, and am holding on to the files until they see their new doctor in February.
I stayed home sick today. There was stuff I should have done for my folks, and for us, but I so badly needed to just chill that me and my cold went to bed after my Father-in-Law picked Logan up and I emailed work to let them know I was sick. I stayed there for several hours, in the happy oblivion that is sleep.
*SIGH*
Everytime my cell phone rings, I groan because I'm afraid it's my Mom with another request.
Ok, so other than all of that, everything's great, lol!
Anyway, Mom is going to get to go home soon. I need to hurry up and get her enrolled in Medi-cal. Hoping they qualify, as then someone can come to their house, in between the home-therapists that will visit, and help them out. 'Cause I need to work, and if I try to be there with Mom while Dad is at work on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, I'm going to break into several tiny pieces. I just don't have enough of myself to spread around. Which is pretty impressive considering how fat my ass is.
I also can't deal with taking care of Mom on the weekends while Dad is working. I mean, I'd never see my husband or my son, at that rate.
And really, when Dad is home, Dad can't physically take care of her if she's having problems taking care of herself. Dad can't bathe her. Dad can't lift her if she falls. And I can't quit my job and become her full-time caregiver, anyway. But she could get some help if she qualifies for Medi-cal.
And... and... that's not even everything, lol!
I... have... lost... what... little... mind... I... have... left.
My husband, my toddler, and my job are keeping me sane.
My husband has been incredibly awesome through all of this. And his Dad has been incredibly awesome. I don't know what I would do without those two.
Anyway, that's the current situation.
I'm just glad that Dad is still up to working at his part-time job. It's keeping him alive. And I'm glad Mom will be coming home soon. Although I know it doesn't mean I'm off the hook. Until she can really do math and write checks and read bills, that's still my bailiwick. But Mom's sure that her coming home will make life much easier on me.
Heh.
Heh-heh.
Heh-hah-heh-hah-heh-hah-hah-hah!!!!!!!!
*SIGH*
Ok, where's my Xanax??
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Patio Floor 1, Logan 0
Logan tripped on the rail for the sliding glass door and did a 360 onto the patio floor. :P During his tumbling "experiment", he unfortunately used his nose as a pivot point.
His nose didn't fare so well.
The dot on his forehead isn't part of it... it's just food he rubbed off his hands and onto his forehead.
His nose didn't fare so well.
The dot on his forehead isn't part of it... it's just food he rubbed off his hands and onto his forehead.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Yet Another Fire
So, we had another fire maybe a mile from our house.
The order was reversed from what we've become used to. Normally, fire happens, ash falls on power lines, power goes out. In this case, power line fell, power went out, downed power line caused fire. I don't know what brought the power line down.
I think I've lost count the number of times I've had to feed Logan IN THE DARK, WHEN THERE WAS A FIRE SOMEWHERE NEARBY. And it was strangely hot again, even though it's January. [The Gap Fire was in July. The combination of smoke outside and an unbearably hot house from the heat of the day, and no power to even run fans, was unbearable. The Tea House Fire was in early December, I think, and didn't actually affect us, but of course made us really nervous. And it managed to destroy alot of people's houses. :( ]
Anyway, I'm becoming old hand at feeding Logan and changing Logan in a blackout.
Man, the news sucked for this one. I tried various news channels on the radio, but couldn't get anything about the current power outage or fire. Didn't know if we might have to evacuate, or what the heck was going on. Sat there, changing radio channels, squinting in the dim light of candles and a flashlight as I tried to get the spoon into Logan's mouth.
My husband and I both have headlamps for hiking at night. They have become very useful during these fire-blackouts. My husband, after noting how we've had to feed Logan way too many times during blackouts, that Logan deserved his own headlamp now.
We had a load of work clothes in the dryer, sopping wet. The blackout lasted just long enough for me to think I might need to hang a clothesline in front of the fireplace. But it was back on at 9:30pm in our area (8:30pm across the highway from us)... 2 hours after it had gone off.
So I'm hurriedly getting loads of laundry done. I feel like I'm 2 hours behind on a Sunday night. :P
Just glad I didn't have to bathe Logan by flashlight. :P
Ok, goodnight everyone. Be safe. Godspeed.
Oh, almost forgot. Nothing like a blackout to make you take all your toys and ensure they are in their chargers once the power is back on. ;)
The order was reversed from what we've become used to. Normally, fire happens, ash falls on power lines, power goes out. In this case, power line fell, power went out, downed power line caused fire. I don't know what brought the power line down.
I think I've lost count the number of times I've had to feed Logan IN THE DARK, WHEN THERE WAS A FIRE SOMEWHERE NEARBY. And it was strangely hot again, even though it's January. [The Gap Fire was in July. The combination of smoke outside and an unbearably hot house from the heat of the day, and no power to even run fans, was unbearable. The Tea House Fire was in early December, I think, and didn't actually affect us, but of course made us really nervous. And it managed to destroy alot of people's houses. :( ]
Anyway, I'm becoming old hand at feeding Logan and changing Logan in a blackout.
Man, the news sucked for this one. I tried various news channels on the radio, but couldn't get anything about the current power outage or fire. Didn't know if we might have to evacuate, or what the heck was going on. Sat there, changing radio channels, squinting in the dim light of candles and a flashlight as I tried to get the spoon into Logan's mouth.
My husband and I both have headlamps for hiking at night. They have become very useful during these fire-blackouts. My husband, after noting how we've had to feed Logan way too many times during blackouts, that Logan deserved his own headlamp now.
We had a load of work clothes in the dryer, sopping wet. The blackout lasted just long enough for me to think I might need to hang a clothesline in front of the fireplace. But it was back on at 9:30pm in our area (8:30pm across the highway from us)... 2 hours after it had gone off.
So I'm hurriedly getting loads of laundry done. I feel like I'm 2 hours behind on a Sunday night. :P
Just glad I didn't have to bathe Logan by flashlight. :P
Ok, goodnight everyone. Be safe. Godspeed.
Oh, almost forgot. Nothing like a blackout to make you take all your toys and ensure they are in their chargers once the power is back on. ;)
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Lessons in Love
My son is sick. And I think I've caught it.
Last week he started having a cough, then a runny nose, then post nasal drip I think. [You try looking into the throat of a stubborn, strong, uncooperative 13 month old. I figure post-nasal drip was involved as he would sniffle while sleeping and then have a coughing fit that sounded to me like some of the snot went down his throat.]
Sunday night he puked up the little bit of formula he was able to drink. Monday morning, I got 4 ounces of formula into the little guy, and he promptly puked that up at the doctor's office. So, the rest of Monday, and all of Tuesday, the poor little guy lived on nothing but Pedialyte.
Monday night he could not get comfortable when I tried to rock him to sleep. He was coughing, dry-heaving, and basically very miserable. He would start to get comfortable, fall asleep for maybe 5 minutes, and then a coughing fit would wake him up. On top of that, with no food in his stomach and trying to drink fluid with a clogged nose, he had swallowed alot of air and was having gas pains which would also wake him up.
If I tried to put him down in his crib when asleep, he would wake up and cry. If I tried to do it when awake, after having had a wrestling match with him in my arms, obviously totally uncomfortable there due to gas pains, he would cry. Either way, he'd want to be picked back up.
I tried explaining to him that there was just no way that I was going to be as comfortable for him as a bed, but all he knew was he felt like crap, was often in pain, and wanted to be held. Even if that meant he was being held in my arms while he flung himself all over the place, as if attempting to get me to drop him.
I started getting angry. Not at him, but at God, and at the virus. I mean he was just a little kid, and he was suffering so much. And the times he got to sleep, he would be asleep for about 3 to 10 minutes, and then wake up. It started to feel like I was being teased! After maybe the 5th time, I was all like, "ah, come on!!!" Again, I wasn't mad at Logan but at the bug that was doing this to him. Or at God, I guess.
I failed the Job test.
Good thing God is forgiving.
I was praying that Logan would get better and be able to sleep. At first it was for his sake, but as I got more and more exhausted, it started selfishly being more for my sake. :P Some mother I am.
Anyway...
Either Tuesday or just today the following hit me: this was nothing. Absolutely nothing. I knew a little 3 year old girl named Katie who has liver cancer, and suffers terribly. I knew that her Sister, Parents, and the rest of her family got very little sleep on the bad nights. And that the bad nights were numerous, due to the illness and the chemo. And, like me, they still had to work in the mornning. Unlike me, they couldn't take days off if they weren't feeling well or felt too tired... like I took Tuesday off as I was exhausted and coming down with Logan's bug. They need all the money they can get to pay for Katie's treatment. I mean, there's no way in hell that if there's a treatment that could save her, that they were going to avoid it because of their budget.
So, I'm a moron. I'm fighting off a bug, Logan is fighting off a bug. But Logan doesn't have cancer, and I can afford to take a day off if I need to... although not too many days off, as Logan and I have both been sick on and off all December. [Ah, December and winter in general: 'tis the season to be sneezing.]
But anyway, this has been a lesson in love. A lesson in humility. A lesson in counting my blessings. A lesson in not feeling so sorry for myself.
Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go cough up a lung.
Oh, I forgot to add one thing. Realizing the mercilessness of the bug Logan was fighting, I started wishing there was some way I could cause it pain. Some way I could find it, it's parents, it's siblings, it's children, and it's friends and other family, and kill them all slowly... with immense pain.
I started to fantasize that once I got to the vomiting stage, maybe I could take the vomit and heat it up over the stove to painfully torture and kill any of the virus that I puked up. Yes, I was starting to get a, uhm, little strange.
Feeling helpless does weird things to you sometimes.
Last week he started having a cough, then a runny nose, then post nasal drip I think. [You try looking into the throat of a stubborn, strong, uncooperative 13 month old. I figure post-nasal drip was involved as he would sniffle while sleeping and then have a coughing fit that sounded to me like some of the snot went down his throat.]
Sunday night he puked up the little bit of formula he was able to drink. Monday morning, I got 4 ounces of formula into the little guy, and he promptly puked that up at the doctor's office. So, the rest of Monday, and all of Tuesday, the poor little guy lived on nothing but Pedialyte.
Monday night he could not get comfortable when I tried to rock him to sleep. He was coughing, dry-heaving, and basically very miserable. He would start to get comfortable, fall asleep for maybe 5 minutes, and then a coughing fit would wake him up. On top of that, with no food in his stomach and trying to drink fluid with a clogged nose, he had swallowed alot of air and was having gas pains which would also wake him up.
If I tried to put him down in his crib when asleep, he would wake up and cry. If I tried to do it when awake, after having had a wrestling match with him in my arms, obviously totally uncomfortable there due to gas pains, he would cry. Either way, he'd want to be picked back up.
I tried explaining to him that there was just no way that I was going to be as comfortable for him as a bed, but all he knew was he felt like crap, was often in pain, and wanted to be held. Even if that meant he was being held in my arms while he flung himself all over the place, as if attempting to get me to drop him.
I started getting angry. Not at him, but at God, and at the virus. I mean he was just a little kid, and he was suffering so much. And the times he got to sleep, he would be asleep for about 3 to 10 minutes, and then wake up. It started to feel like I was being teased! After maybe the 5th time, I was all like, "ah, come on!!!" Again, I wasn't mad at Logan but at the bug that was doing this to him. Or at God, I guess.
I failed the Job test.
Good thing God is forgiving.
I was praying that Logan would get better and be able to sleep. At first it was for his sake, but as I got more and more exhausted, it started selfishly being more for my sake. :P Some mother I am.
Anyway...
Either Tuesday or just today the following hit me: this was nothing. Absolutely nothing. I knew a little 3 year old girl named Katie who has liver cancer, and suffers terribly. I knew that her Sister, Parents, and the rest of her family got very little sleep on the bad nights. And that the bad nights were numerous, due to the illness and the chemo. And, like me, they still had to work in the mornning. Unlike me, they couldn't take days off if they weren't feeling well or felt too tired... like I took Tuesday off as I was exhausted and coming down with Logan's bug. They need all the money they can get to pay for Katie's treatment. I mean, there's no way in hell that if there's a treatment that could save her, that they were going to avoid it because of their budget.
So, I'm a moron. I'm fighting off a bug, Logan is fighting off a bug. But Logan doesn't have cancer, and I can afford to take a day off if I need to... although not too many days off, as Logan and I have both been sick on and off all December. [Ah, December and winter in general: 'tis the season to be sneezing.]
But anyway, this has been a lesson in love. A lesson in humility. A lesson in counting my blessings. A lesson in not feeling so sorry for myself.
Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go cough up a lung.
Oh, I forgot to add one thing. Realizing the mercilessness of the bug Logan was fighting, I started wishing there was some way I could cause it pain. Some way I could find it, it's parents, it's siblings, it's children, and it's friends and other family, and kill them all slowly... with immense pain.
I started to fantasize that once I got to the vomiting stage, maybe I could take the vomit and heat it up over the stove to painfully torture and kill any of the virus that I puked up. Yes, I was starting to get a, uhm, little strange.
Feeling helpless does weird things to you sometimes.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Asses of Fire
It's 4:57am. The Friday after Thanksgiving.
If I have the runs one more time, I think I will implode. :P
I don't think it's a food bug. I think I just ate alot of stuff I really shouldn't have.
Still, other than the runs, Thanksgiving was quite nice. :)
It was my baby boy Logan's first Thanksgiving. He turns 1 year old on December 5th.
My husband and Logan and I met my parents at the Frog Bar and Grill at 1:30pm for a Thanksgiving brunch. My Dad had to be at work at 4:30pm, so eating a brunch worked out quite well. And the weather was lovely, in spite of all the rain and fear of flooding after all the fires in the area. The sun came out, expansive blue skies, and everything.
Logan got to have scrambled eggs and pieces of a croissant. And of course cheerios. Can't have a meal w/o cheerios anymore. ;) I also offered him pieces of a cantaloupe and pieces of a sweet potato, but I don't think he ate any of it.
My Father-in-Law spent Thanksgiving with my husband's brother, so he missed out on our fun, but got to enjoy time with his great-grand-kids. I think he may have wished he could be in 2 places at the same time, as he seemed a little bummed about missing Logan's first Thanksgiving. But he still had an awesome time with the rest of the family. :)
What did I eat... what did this to me. Let's see. Pre-brunch was a Jimmy Dean breakfast croissant with sausage, egg, and cheese. But not all of it. And some of Logan's cheerios. And some green tea.
Brunch was 2 orange juices, 2 champagnes, croissant, sweet potato, stuffing, cucumber, bell pepper salad, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, strawberries, cantaloupe, and I think that's it. All small portions: it all fit on one plate, except the eggs were on a separate plate that I then used to feed Logan from. Well, the champagne probably dehydrated me.
Then when we went home, after some tea, and after a bottle (for Logan, not for me, LOL), went down with Logan for a nap at 4:30pm. Woke up at 6pm. Fed Logan. And ate... the wrong thing. Obviously. Chips and hot cheese dip. Lots. And a strawberry frozen fruit bar. And chocolate milk. And a turkey/cheese/bread sandwich husband called a "Royal George", but now he's not so sure of the name. Normally also includes mayo, but I included mustard instead.
Did have some of Logan's banana, and more of his Cheerios. But that was the only healthy thing this Thanksgiving evening.
Anyway, something I ate was the wrong thing.
So far, poor Logan is having the opposite problem: he is pooing less than normal. It takes time for a baby's system to become used to new food. Really, to solid food in general. It's just a new way of digesting. I think he's just overwhelmed by the whole "chewing" experience, LOL. Ok, "gumming" -- he only has 8 teeth, and they are all incisors. However, judging by the drooling, chewing on anything that's immobile and not nailed down, and general grumpiness, he's definitely trying to cut a tooth.
Well, campers, it's after 5am. My intestines feel like they may be done for the moment. And the Tylenol PM is winning over my feeling like crap from the runs, so I think I can finally get some sleep. At least until Logan wakes up, LOL. ;)
I think Friday is going to be an oat-meal and banana and Cheerios kind of day.
Ok, I was going to post this before I crawled back into bed at 5am, but didn't do it. Doing it now.
If I have the runs one more time, I think I will implode. :P
I don't think it's a food bug. I think I just ate alot of stuff I really shouldn't have.
Still, other than the runs, Thanksgiving was quite nice. :)
It was my baby boy Logan's first Thanksgiving. He turns 1 year old on December 5th.
My husband and Logan and I met my parents at the Frog Bar and Grill at 1:30pm for a Thanksgiving brunch. My Dad had to be at work at 4:30pm, so eating a brunch worked out quite well. And the weather was lovely, in spite of all the rain and fear of flooding after all the fires in the area. The sun came out, expansive blue skies, and everything.
Logan got to have scrambled eggs and pieces of a croissant. And of course cheerios. Can't have a meal w/o cheerios anymore. ;) I also offered him pieces of a cantaloupe and pieces of a sweet potato, but I don't think he ate any of it.
My Father-in-Law spent Thanksgiving with my husband's brother, so he missed out on our fun, but got to enjoy time with his great-grand-kids. I think he may have wished he could be in 2 places at the same time, as he seemed a little bummed about missing Logan's first Thanksgiving. But he still had an awesome time with the rest of the family. :)
What did I eat... what did this to me. Let's see. Pre-brunch was a Jimmy Dean breakfast croissant with sausage, egg, and cheese. But not all of it. And some of Logan's cheerios. And some green tea.
Brunch was 2 orange juices, 2 champagnes, croissant, sweet potato, stuffing, cucumber, bell pepper salad, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, strawberries, cantaloupe, and I think that's it. All small portions: it all fit on one plate, except the eggs were on a separate plate that I then used to feed Logan from. Well, the champagne probably dehydrated me.
Then when we went home, after some tea, and after a bottle (for Logan, not for me, LOL), went down with Logan for a nap at 4:30pm. Woke up at 6pm. Fed Logan. And ate... the wrong thing. Obviously. Chips and hot cheese dip. Lots. And a strawberry frozen fruit bar. And chocolate milk. And a turkey/cheese/bread sandwich husband called a "Royal George", but now he's not so sure of the name. Normally also includes mayo, but I included mustard instead.
Did have some of Logan's banana, and more of his Cheerios. But that was the only healthy thing this Thanksgiving evening.
Anyway, something I ate was the wrong thing.
So far, poor Logan is having the opposite problem: he is pooing less than normal. It takes time for a baby's system to become used to new food. Really, to solid food in general. It's just a new way of digesting. I think he's just overwhelmed by the whole "chewing" experience, LOL. Ok, "gumming" -- he only has 8 teeth, and they are all incisors. However, judging by the drooling, chewing on anything that's immobile and not nailed down, and general grumpiness, he's definitely trying to cut a tooth.
Well, campers, it's after 5am. My intestines feel like they may be done for the moment. And the Tylenol PM is winning over my feeling like crap from the runs, so I think I can finally get some sleep. At least until Logan wakes up, LOL. ;)
I think Friday is going to be an oat-meal and banana and Cheerios kind of day.
Ok, I was going to post this before I crawled back into bed at 5am, but didn't do it. Doing it now.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tastes like chicken
I haven't posted since July 30th 2008. Whoa.
What's happened since then? Let me see.
August: uhm... hmph. It's like a blur. September: we had our 10th Wedding Anniversary. My parents had their ... 41st? 42nd? Let's see... I'm 40, it took Mom a year to talk Dad into having me... probably 42nd.
October: Logan had his first Halloween. :) Dressed him up as Yoda. Pics are up on Flickr, but more pics need to be uploaded due to not everything getting offloaded from our digital camera. 'Course, he didn't like wearing the ears, and his head was too big for the ears to be snapped up underneath his chin, so he was sorta Obi-Wan Kenobi for the rest of the night. :)
I let him play with my lightsaber. Yes, I'm 40, and I own a lightsaber. *Brrrrssshhhhnnnnnnng* Want to make something of it?
I bought it from ThinkGeek a few years ago. Makes all kinds of cool sound effects. It's red. Of course. :)
Logan liked it. Kept touching the part that, if it were real, would have sliced his hands off, but I'll teach him the importance of only touching the hilt when he's old enough. :)
Yes, yes, I'm such a geek.
Ended up with ALOT of Halloween candy left over. Not too many trick-o-treaters this year. Bummer. I think the trend of going to "safe shopping malls" where stores are handing out candy is affecting our foot traffic. :P
Ok, that and I didn't decorate until the very last minute. I've heard that if you want foot traffic, you want to decorate at least a week in advance. Apparently the kids scope out the houses prior to the event to ensure they hit the high-candy spots.
Early November we went to our niece's son's 1st birthday party. I think their son had a good time. Our son took over one of the blankets laid on the grass and started playing with their son's toy humvee, LOL! But their son didn't seem to mind.
Logan is all about things that roll. Especially things with wheels. My Mom keeps saying I gave birth to a linebacker because of how quickly he's grown, but now I'm wondering if he's not going to be a race car driver!
And he's almost walking. He will hold onto things and kindof totter around. And he will let go and stand and maintain his balance for a few seconds before DOWN HE GOES! :)
Well, his first birthday is coming up. December 5th. Then his 2nd Christmas. Alot to do before both events.
He's eating more "real food". It just needs to be chopped up into tiny bits as he doesn't have any molars yet. Just 8 incisors. No eye-teeth. He likes cheerios, cut-up strawberries, cut-up cantaloup, and chopped+skinned grapes. I tried just chopping the grapes, but he ended up with grape skins in his mouth that he couldn't quite swallow, and that I had to fish out.
He's also had spaghetti with ground beef and Ragu. Finely chopped up, of course. And I tried to mash some peas for him, but he's still not doing so good on any vegetables that are of the green variety.
Ellie, our female, hasn't been feeling well. But her numerous expensive tests haven't shown that there is anything wrong with her. Am thinking she must be getting into stuff. So am trying to be more careful... ensure she can't eat anything in the fireplace (sometimes we burn pizza cartons in there), and making sure there aren't any candy wrappers for chocolate candies anywhere she can get them. I think that her extra-curricular eating has made her stomach a little fragile. Kindof like after you have a stomach illness, it's easier to upset your stomach by accident for a while.
Logan... who won't eat any green vegetables... surprised us the other day when he went to Ellie's dog dish and ate some of the dog food Ellie had left in there from this morning! I truly didn't think he would do that. I truly thought he was just going over there to push her dog dish around, as he likes to do that. [And thankfully our dogs aren't food aggressive, so he hasn't started any fights by doing that. Heh... watching the dogs trying to eat from a moving bowl has been quite entertaining at times!] But anyway, yes, Logan put dog food in his mouth. And was working on gumming it and swallowing it, but I raced over and started fishing that out of his mouth. And then I started worrying that whatever was upsetting Ellie's stomach was now going to start attacking Logan's tummy! This is of course assuming Ellie might have been fighting something viral or bacterial off.
However, if she was fighting something off, it apparently isn't contagious to humans. Either that or Logan has a cast iron stomach. ;)
Ok, can't think of anything else. I know I'm forgetting something, but that is the highlights, as far as I can remember it. Consider yourself up to date... that is, until I remember what I forgot to post. :)
What's happened since then? Let me see.
August: uhm... hmph. It's like a blur. September: we had our 10th Wedding Anniversary. My parents had their ... 41st? 42nd? Let's see... I'm 40, it took Mom a year to talk Dad into having me... probably 42nd.
October: Logan had his first Halloween. :) Dressed him up as Yoda. Pics are up on Flickr, but more pics need to be uploaded due to not everything getting offloaded from our digital camera. 'Course, he didn't like wearing the ears, and his head was too big for the ears to be snapped up underneath his chin, so he was sorta Obi-Wan Kenobi for the rest of the night. :)
I let him play with my lightsaber. Yes, I'm 40, and I own a lightsaber. *Brrrrssshhhhnnnnnnng* Want to make something of it?
I bought it from ThinkGeek a few years ago. Makes all kinds of cool sound effects. It's red. Of course. :)
Logan liked it. Kept touching the part that, if it were real, would have sliced his hands off, but I'll teach him the importance of only touching the hilt when he's old enough. :)
Yes, yes, I'm such a geek.
Ended up with ALOT of Halloween candy left over. Not too many trick-o-treaters this year. Bummer. I think the trend of going to "safe shopping malls" where stores are handing out candy is affecting our foot traffic. :P
Ok, that and I didn't decorate until the very last minute. I've heard that if you want foot traffic, you want to decorate at least a week in advance. Apparently the kids scope out the houses prior to the event to ensure they hit the high-candy spots.
Early November we went to our niece's son's 1st birthday party. I think their son had a good time. Our son took over one of the blankets laid on the grass and started playing with their son's toy humvee, LOL! But their son didn't seem to mind.
Logan is all about things that roll. Especially things with wheels. My Mom keeps saying I gave birth to a linebacker because of how quickly he's grown, but now I'm wondering if he's not going to be a race car driver!
And he's almost walking. He will hold onto things and kindof totter around. And he will let go and stand and maintain his balance for a few seconds before DOWN HE GOES! :)
Well, his first birthday is coming up. December 5th. Then his 2nd Christmas. Alot to do before both events.
He's eating more "real food". It just needs to be chopped up into tiny bits as he doesn't have any molars yet. Just 8 incisors. No eye-teeth. He likes cheerios, cut-up strawberries, cut-up cantaloup, and chopped+skinned grapes. I tried just chopping the grapes, but he ended up with grape skins in his mouth that he couldn't quite swallow, and that I had to fish out.
He's also had spaghetti with ground beef and Ragu. Finely chopped up, of course. And I tried to mash some peas for him, but he's still not doing so good on any vegetables that are of the green variety.
Ellie, our female, hasn't been feeling well. But her numerous expensive tests haven't shown that there is anything wrong with her. Am thinking she must be getting into stuff. So am trying to be more careful... ensure she can't eat anything in the fireplace (sometimes we burn pizza cartons in there), and making sure there aren't any candy wrappers for chocolate candies anywhere she can get them. I think that her extra-curricular eating has made her stomach a little fragile. Kindof like after you have a stomach illness, it's easier to upset your stomach by accident for a while.
Logan... who won't eat any green vegetables... surprised us the other day when he went to Ellie's dog dish and ate some of the dog food Ellie had left in there from this morning! I truly didn't think he would do that. I truly thought he was just going over there to push her dog dish around, as he likes to do that. [And thankfully our dogs aren't food aggressive, so he hasn't started any fights by doing that. Heh... watching the dogs trying to eat from a moving bowl has been quite entertaining at times!] But anyway, yes, Logan put dog food in his mouth. And was working on gumming it and swallowing it, but I raced over and started fishing that out of his mouth. And then I started worrying that whatever was upsetting Ellie's stomach was now going to start attacking Logan's tummy! This is of course assuming Ellie might have been fighting something viral or bacterial off.
However, if she was fighting something off, it apparently isn't contagious to humans. Either that or Logan has a cast iron stomach. ;)
Ok, can't think of anything else. I know I'm forgetting something, but that is the highlights, as far as I can remember it. Consider yourself up to date... that is, until I remember what I forgot to post. :)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Oh, dear Lord, what is that disgusting stench?!?!?
... and other stories.
Not something I get to say often, even with changing diapers. But I got to comment about and smell a horrific stench Sunday evening AND Tuesday morning. I'm just special that way. ;)
So, we had a mouse in the kitchen cabinets. I was pretty sure it may have moved to other locations in the house... honestly, it may have, and the mouse I found Sunday may have been mouse #2. Whatever.
There was this strange smell coming from the kitchen for the past few days. I checked and changed the garbage fairly often. I ran the garbage disposal. Nope, not coming from there. I finally went ahead and looked in the lower kitchen cabinets on Sunday evening. I about fell on my butt, the smell was so bad.
Our electronic mouse trap definitely had something. I couldn't verify for sure until I opened the lid, but that horrific smell was definitely coming from it. The trap is supposed to show a little green light for 24 hours after it has killed something. Unfortunately, I must have missed the 24 hour window. By a few days.
I dumped Mr. Very Dead Mickey Mouse out into a trash bag. It was covered in maggots, and some of it's fur remained in the trap. I'll spare you a graphic picture... I didn't have the fortitude or disgusting forethought to capture a picture of Mickey, unlike the other 2 times I decided to gross out my audience with a picture of a still-alive-but-trapped Minny Mouse, or the picture of my puke on the lawn after a sudden bout of food poisoning.
After talking to my Father-in-Law, he told me it was highly likely the trap wouldn't work again, just on the basis that the smell of death would probably cling to it for a long while. I didn't have the courage to pull out the leftover mouse fur or even try to clean the electronic trap, so $20.00 of mouse-killing plastic hardware and wire went into a different trash bag.
So, that was Sunday evening.
Our female German Shepherd, Ellie, has been getting into the one trash can we have that sits at floor level. Well, we have a 2nd trash can that sits at floor level, but it's very tall, and the dogs haven't figured out yet that it's possible for them to tip it over. Thank the Lord!
Ditto for the fact that they haven't figured out they could probably jump the backyard fence if they wanted to, LOL!
Our male German Shepherd Boss has long been getting into any floor-level trash he can find, even if it was partially burned up in the fireplace. Boss has also been getting really sneaky and taking food off the kitchen counter-tops, or off of my tray next to the recliner. It's been getting worse, and Ellie has decided to follow suite. I guess I can't blame either one of them: they barely get any attention anymore with our baby boy Logan being around. They desperately need to be walked, and their nails are in bad need of filing down. :P They could also really use a bath. Oh, crap... and I'm about a week or so late on their Frontline and Sentinel!!! [Memo to self: medicate the dogs!!!!]
Boss eats poop he finds in the backyard. Thankfully he mostly finds his own or Ellie's poop. Hopefully he doesn't often find other critter's poop... that could give him worms. But anyway, he's used to eating the strangest stuff. His stomach can handle the most amazing things now.
In the little trash can next to the recliner there are often several Reesus Peanut Butter Cups wrappers. Boss eats these w/o any problems. Ellie, however, has been giving herself the runs from getting into them.
Well, Monday night she got into them again. It was a bad night for her to pull that stunt. My husband was getting up at 4:30am Tuesday morning in order to catch a flight. Logan needed comforting at 2am in order to fall back to sleep after a nightmare or some other problem. The he needed to be held and allowed to fall asleep on me while I sat in the recliner with him at 3am. I tried to let my husband sleep through both events considering he was going to have to get up so early.
After I put Logan back in his crib, I let the dogs out for what I hoped was the last time that night/early morning. I was so wrong.
My husband left at 5:30am for the airport. I passed into a deep sleep finally.
At 7:30am, the dogs desperately wanted out. They bugged me quite a bit. I finally relented and got up. But I wasn't prompt enough.
Ellie had left a huge amount of diarrhea on the living room carpet.
It didn't smell too bad just yet. Maybe my nose wasn't awake. I let the dogs out, and put their water outside, and kept them out there. I didn't want them walking through that mess, nor did I want Ellie making any new messes if she wasn't done having the runs.
I took a trash bag and used it to initially scrape up the poop. This disturbed the stench hovering above and in the poop. I about gagged and almost puked then and there.
About 40 minutes and several applications of Petastic and paper towels later, I gave up, poured a bunch of Petastic onto the poo stain directly from the refill jug, and took all the soiled paper towels out to the garage. There they joined Mickey Mouse in the trash can. I gave up cleaning the poo stain as Logan was crying. Ah, time to go from dealing with canine elimination to baby elimination. At least Logan wore a diaper and was unlikely to get poop on the carpet.
Around 8:30am, I gave the Little Guy a bottle and had him come back to bed with me. I was DEAD TIRED, and ended up passing out. I didn't wake up until Logan wanted another bottle after 11am.
The poor dogs watched me wandering around inside and begged to be let in. But I felt like I needed a break from any further doggy digestion problems that morning, plus I hadn't fully finished cleaning up Mr. Poo stain.
I was standing at the kitchen counter, making a bottle for Logan, while he sat in his rocking chair watching Baby TV. It was a little after 11:40am. I was SO late for work, SO dead tired, and had missed a morning doctor's appointment. I looked to my right, and saw some hanging items in the kitchen swinging back and forth. Huh? Looked to my left, and Logan's jumper was also swinging. Looked straight ahead into the dining room, and saw the chandelier also swaying back and forth. Hmmm... I could see we'd had an earthquake, but I had actually not felt it. Very bizarre. Guess my Spidey Earthquake Sense was no longer functioning.
I was 10 miles from the epicenter of a 6.2 earthquake in 1984. Ever since then, I was always hyper sensitive to the ground swaying. It was weird to see an earthquake happen, and not even feel it. I mean, I felt a San Francisco quake that happened in October 1989 and caused freeways to collapse... and I felt it from about 300 miles away, while sitting in the computer lab in college. Everyone there thought I was hallucinating when I asked them if they'd felt it.
Tuesday's quake was a 5.4 (downgraded from a 5.8) earthquake in Los Angeles... which is a ways away from us.
My Mom called to make sure I was ok. She lives in the same city as we do. I was highly amused, as being over 100 miles away from the epicenter of a 5.4 isn't usually cause for alarm! But she'd been lying down when it hit, and had totally felt it. I teased her before hanging up, saying that I was trapped under something heavy, but otherwise I was doing fine. :) "Very funny," Mom replied.
The next person to call was my husband. I don't think he was so much concerned as curious, as if it had been serious enough I'd have given him a call. [Unless I was still trapped under that aforementioned heavy object.]
Finally got Logan off to daycare and my butt into work. Worked really late. Got out... my right rear tire was flat. :P
And my husband was out of town...
But wait! I had the cool tire inflater that I'd purchased after talking to my Father-in-Law about it a while back. It's powered from the cigarette lighter. Worked like a charm.
Then headed off in search of "Fix a Flat", a can of compressed air and stuff that's supposed to seal flat tires. I just wanted to have it on hand. Then picked up Logan from my Father-in-Law's, and headed home to enjoy finishing cleaning up the poop stain.
And to enjoy dealing with a plague of flies in the house! We've been having some extra fly problems of late, but this was ridiculous! Ended up setting some bait out for them such that they would be sitting in a cup and I'd have a good chance of using the battery powered fly zapper on them.
And that's been my weird Tuesday. Well, weird few days.
I never thought I'd find something that smelled worse than skunk, but the dead mouse, and Ellie's diarrhea, were really just phenomenally foul.
Wednesday I get to call the tire place to get my tires checked. This is the 2nd time the rear right one has gone flat. Before the tire shop thought I might have a leaky valve stem. My Father-in-Law thinks I may have cracks in my tires that are more easily influenced to open up when my car is parked in just the right, or in this case wrong, position. His explanation makes the best sense at this point.
Well, I'm typing while sleep deprived. It's time to put he laptop away and try to get some much-needed zzzzzz's.
To quote one of my favorite Baby TV programs, "Shushy-Bye and Goodnight". :)
Not something I get to say often, even with changing diapers. But I got to comment about and smell a horrific stench Sunday evening AND Tuesday morning. I'm just special that way. ;)
So, we had a mouse in the kitchen cabinets. I was pretty sure it may have moved to other locations in the house... honestly, it may have, and the mouse I found Sunday may have been mouse #2. Whatever.
There was this strange smell coming from the kitchen for the past few days. I checked and changed the garbage fairly often. I ran the garbage disposal. Nope, not coming from there. I finally went ahead and looked in the lower kitchen cabinets on Sunday evening. I about fell on my butt, the smell was so bad.
Our electronic mouse trap definitely had something. I couldn't verify for sure until I opened the lid, but that horrific smell was definitely coming from it. The trap is supposed to show a little green light for 24 hours after it has killed something. Unfortunately, I must have missed the 24 hour window. By a few days.
I dumped Mr. Very Dead Mickey Mouse out into a trash bag. It was covered in maggots, and some of it's fur remained in the trap. I'll spare you a graphic picture... I didn't have the fortitude or disgusting forethought to capture a picture of Mickey, unlike the other 2 times I decided to gross out my audience with a picture of a still-alive-but-trapped Minny Mouse, or the picture of my puke on the lawn after a sudden bout of food poisoning.
After talking to my Father-in-Law, he told me it was highly likely the trap wouldn't work again, just on the basis that the smell of death would probably cling to it for a long while. I didn't have the courage to pull out the leftover mouse fur or even try to clean the electronic trap, so $20.00 of mouse-killing plastic hardware and wire went into a different trash bag.
So, that was Sunday evening.
Our female German Shepherd, Ellie, has been getting into the one trash can we have that sits at floor level. Well, we have a 2nd trash can that sits at floor level, but it's very tall, and the dogs haven't figured out yet that it's possible for them to tip it over. Thank the Lord!
Ditto for the fact that they haven't figured out they could probably jump the backyard fence if they wanted to, LOL!
Our male German Shepherd Boss has long been getting into any floor-level trash he can find, even if it was partially burned up in the fireplace. Boss has also been getting really sneaky and taking food off the kitchen counter-tops, or off of my tray next to the recliner. It's been getting worse, and Ellie has decided to follow suite. I guess I can't blame either one of them: they barely get any attention anymore with our baby boy Logan being around. They desperately need to be walked, and their nails are in bad need of filing down. :P They could also really use a bath. Oh, crap... and I'm about a week or so late on their Frontline and Sentinel!!! [Memo to self: medicate the dogs!!!!]
Boss eats poop he finds in the backyard. Thankfully he mostly finds his own or Ellie's poop. Hopefully he doesn't often find other critter's poop... that could give him worms. But anyway, he's used to eating the strangest stuff. His stomach can handle the most amazing things now.
In the little trash can next to the recliner there are often several Reesus Peanut Butter Cups wrappers. Boss eats these w/o any problems. Ellie, however, has been giving herself the runs from getting into them.
Well, Monday night she got into them again. It was a bad night for her to pull that stunt. My husband was getting up at 4:30am Tuesday morning in order to catch a flight. Logan needed comforting at 2am in order to fall back to sleep after a nightmare or some other problem. The he needed to be held and allowed to fall asleep on me while I sat in the recliner with him at 3am. I tried to let my husband sleep through both events considering he was going to have to get up so early.
After I put Logan back in his crib, I let the dogs out for what I hoped was the last time that night/early morning. I was so wrong.
My husband left at 5:30am for the airport. I passed into a deep sleep finally.
At 7:30am, the dogs desperately wanted out. They bugged me quite a bit. I finally relented and got up. But I wasn't prompt enough.
Ellie had left a huge amount of diarrhea on the living room carpet.
It didn't smell too bad just yet. Maybe my nose wasn't awake. I let the dogs out, and put their water outside, and kept them out there. I didn't want them walking through that mess, nor did I want Ellie making any new messes if she wasn't done having the runs.
I took a trash bag and used it to initially scrape up the poop. This disturbed the stench hovering above and in the poop. I about gagged and almost puked then and there.
About 40 minutes and several applications of Petastic and paper towels later, I gave up, poured a bunch of Petastic onto the poo stain directly from the refill jug, and took all the soiled paper towels out to the garage. There they joined Mickey Mouse in the trash can. I gave up cleaning the poo stain as Logan was crying. Ah, time to go from dealing with canine elimination to baby elimination. At least Logan wore a diaper and was unlikely to get poop on the carpet.
Around 8:30am, I gave the Little Guy a bottle and had him come back to bed with me. I was DEAD TIRED, and ended up passing out. I didn't wake up until Logan wanted another bottle after 11am.
The poor dogs watched me wandering around inside and begged to be let in. But I felt like I needed a break from any further doggy digestion problems that morning, plus I hadn't fully finished cleaning up Mr. Poo stain.
I was standing at the kitchen counter, making a bottle for Logan, while he sat in his rocking chair watching Baby TV. It was a little after 11:40am. I was SO late for work, SO dead tired, and had missed a morning doctor's appointment. I looked to my right, and saw some hanging items in the kitchen swinging back and forth. Huh? Looked to my left, and Logan's jumper was also swinging. Looked straight ahead into the dining room, and saw the chandelier also swaying back and forth. Hmmm... I could see we'd had an earthquake, but I had actually not felt it. Very bizarre. Guess my Spidey Earthquake Sense was no longer functioning.
I was 10 miles from the epicenter of a 6.2 earthquake in 1984. Ever since then, I was always hyper sensitive to the ground swaying. It was weird to see an earthquake happen, and not even feel it. I mean, I felt a San Francisco quake that happened in October 1989 and caused freeways to collapse... and I felt it from about 300 miles away, while sitting in the computer lab in college. Everyone there thought I was hallucinating when I asked them if they'd felt it.
Tuesday's quake was a 5.4 (downgraded from a 5.8) earthquake in Los Angeles... which is a ways away from us.
My Mom called to make sure I was ok. She lives in the same city as we do. I was highly amused, as being over 100 miles away from the epicenter of a 5.4 isn't usually cause for alarm! But she'd been lying down when it hit, and had totally felt it. I teased her before hanging up, saying that I was trapped under something heavy, but otherwise I was doing fine. :) "Very funny," Mom replied.
The next person to call was my husband. I don't think he was so much concerned as curious, as if it had been serious enough I'd have given him a call. [Unless I was still trapped under that aforementioned heavy object.]
Finally got Logan off to daycare and my butt into work. Worked really late. Got out... my right rear tire was flat. :P
And my husband was out of town...
But wait! I had the cool tire inflater that I'd purchased after talking to my Father-in-Law about it a while back. It's powered from the cigarette lighter. Worked like a charm.
Then headed off in search of "Fix a Flat", a can of compressed air and stuff that's supposed to seal flat tires. I just wanted to have it on hand. Then picked up Logan from my Father-in-Law's, and headed home to enjoy finishing cleaning up the poop stain.
And to enjoy dealing with a plague of flies in the house! We've been having some extra fly problems of late, but this was ridiculous! Ended up setting some bait out for them such that they would be sitting in a cup and I'd have a good chance of using the battery powered fly zapper on them.
And that's been my weird Tuesday. Well, weird few days.
I never thought I'd find something that smelled worse than skunk, but the dead mouse, and Ellie's diarrhea, were really just phenomenally foul.
Wednesday I get to call the tire place to get my tires checked. This is the 2nd time the rear right one has gone flat. Before the tire shop thought I might have a leaky valve stem. My Father-in-Law thinks I may have cracks in my tires that are more easily influenced to open up when my car is parked in just the right, or in this case wrong, position. His explanation makes the best sense at this point.
Well, I'm typing while sleep deprived. It's time to put he laptop away and try to get some much-needed zzzzzz's.
To quote one of my favorite Baby TV programs, "Shushy-Bye and Goodnight". :)
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Bad parents, no donut
We're sitting here watching Law and Order. It's nearly 2pm. Logan (our baby boy) is asleep on our bed in our nice, dark, cool bedroom, after having been fed a bottle.
The dogs are VERY attentive to us.
Me: "They must be hungry."
Husband: "Oh, we haven't fed them."
Me: "No... we only feed things that scream and cry."
The dogs are VERY attentive to us.
Me: "They must be hungry."
Husband: "Oh, we haven't fed them."
Me: "No... we only feed things that scream and cry."
Sunday, June 29, 2008
4 a.m.
I woke up at 4am having to pee.
Husband was asleep. Boss and Ellie, our German Shepherds, were snoozing away.
Logan, our nearly 7-month old, was sleeping on our bed. At 2am, we'd given up and brought him to bed with us, in his co-sleeper. It was just easier than getting up to comfort him every hour. And yeah, we have to break him of that... he's got to sleep in his own room through the night. But I can totally understand his not wanting to sleep alone.
I have a bad habit of skin-picking when I'm stressed. I target bumps, bug bites, scars, pimples, scabs, edges of wounds left over after picking out a scab, etc. If I find something to pick in one area, I sometimes branch out in that area, continuing to pick.
Yeah, this is NOT a good thing to be doing to myself. :P I know. It's a form of self-injury, and is something that people sometimes fall into using as a bad coping strategy. It's sometimes triggered by my OCD.
So, the last bug bite or pimple or whatever was in my scalp, near my forehead. Been stressing in general... new project at work in new programming language, taking care of baby at night, sleep deprivation... wee. And I sometimes pick at night while lying awake, trying to fall asleep, and that was the case this night.
Anyway, 4am, and I got up to pee. I walk into the bathroom, turn on the light. There's a few small scabs that I'd peeled out of my hair, that's stuck to my bangs. I sigh. There's another peeled-off scab on the top of my head towards the back. Wow, they moved around after I picked them off.
I do my business, go to wash my hands. As I'm soaping up my hands, I look up at myself in the mirror.
The scab on my hair towards the back of my head...
... has 8 legs and is moving!!!
Husband was asleep. Boss and Ellie, our German Shepherds, were snoozing away.
Logan, our nearly 7-month old, was sleeping on our bed. At 2am, we'd given up and brought him to bed with us, in his co-sleeper. It was just easier than getting up to comfort him every hour. And yeah, we have to break him of that... he's got to sleep in his own room through the night. But I can totally understand his not wanting to sleep alone.
I have a bad habit of skin-picking when I'm stressed. I target bumps, bug bites, scars, pimples, scabs, edges of wounds left over after picking out a scab, etc. If I find something to pick in one area, I sometimes branch out in that area, continuing to pick.
Yeah, this is NOT a good thing to be doing to myself. :P I know. It's a form of self-injury, and is something that people sometimes fall into using as a bad coping strategy. It's sometimes triggered by my OCD.
So, the last bug bite or pimple or whatever was in my scalp, near my forehead. Been stressing in general... new project at work in new programming language, taking care of baby at night, sleep deprivation... wee. And I sometimes pick at night while lying awake, trying to fall asleep, and that was the case this night.
Anyway, 4am, and I got up to pee. I walk into the bathroom, turn on the light. There's a few small scabs that I'd peeled out of my hair, that's stuck to my bangs. I sigh. There's another peeled-off scab on the top of my head towards the back. Wow, they moved around after I picked them off.
I do my business, go to wash my hands. As I'm soaping up my hands, I look up at myself in the mirror.
The scab on my hair towards the back of my head...
... has 8 legs and is moving!!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Where do I start?
So, my parents have been having problems getting online. Last time they had problems reading their email, it was because they neglected to double-click on the email subject. I don't know if the reason they weren't double-clicking was because the web interface had changed and they originally didn't have to double-click, or if they simply forgot how the web email interface worked.
Anyway, I was pretty sure that this situation would be similar. I was thinking that in the long term, I should simply come over and install Eudora, a very good email client that I used to use "back in the day".
My Mom cut me some slack and said she would call Verizon herself, and talk to their technical support. I was very encouraged by her proactive attitude, and hoped it would all go well.
Well, she called the tech support, and talked to a very sweet gal. But there was a disconnect somewhere in the conversation. And about an hour later, while I was at work and about to head out to go grocery shopping, I get a phone call.
Mom: "Well, I talked to the gal at Verizon. And now I can't get the modem plugged back in."
Me: "Huh? What do you mean you can't get it plugged back in?"
Mom: "I just can't get it plugged back in."
After explaining I couldn't come over, being told that was ok, but then hearing of some more difficulties they were having, I groaned and said I was coming right over.
I drove like a bat out of hell to get there. I was hoping I'd lose a minimal amount of time plugging the DSL modem back in, and spend most of the time showing Mom how to reset it in the event it went out to lunch again. I assumed that's why the tech. had them unplug the DSL modem's power... to ensure it got a good reset.
I needed to finish helping my parents out quickly so I'd have enough time to go grocery shopping w/o wearing out our babysitter, aka my Father-in-Law.
It's been intensely and unseasonably hot for a few days. The baby has been sleeping with us in the "co-sleeper" bed, in the middle of our bed. He's too long for the co-sleeper, so I literally took scissors and cut off the end!
Logan's been sleeping with us because the master bedroom is the only one that has air conditioning. It got air conditioning in late May one weekend... about a week after a heat-wave.
During the recent heat wave, it never really cooled off at night. Well, our house didn't, anyway! The heat wave was breaking, but I was really wiped out and in a BAD mood.
I got to my parent's place after cursing out several very slow drivers. Knocked impatiently. Marched into the living room, went straight for the computer. Looked at the DSL modem, which was happily plugged in. Reached to my left towards the computer, and noticed...
...that the mouse was unplugged.
Me: "You unplugged the mouse."
Mom: "Yes..."
Me: "Why did you unplug the mouse?"
Mom: "Well, she told me to do that."
Me: "No, she told you to unplug the modem."
Mom: "Oh. I thought she said the mouse."
In all fairness, in the middle of the conversation with the tech, their portable phone died, and they had to call the tech back later to finish trying to fix their internet connection. So, that could have greatly contributed to their confusion about which device to unplug!
That and their hearing may not be all that great. My Mom is 79, and my Dad is 85! And the fact that they can get online and even check and/or type email, considering how recent that technology is and considering how they certainly didn't start out as computer geeks, is something I have to really give them credit for.
I've noticed that the older you are, the harder it is to go through a paradigm shift, especially if you aren't used to adopting new technologies in general. So in order to survive, you basically have to always be learning something new, if only to keep your brain limber enough to handle the next paradigm shift. And of course you have to watch to see what that paradigm shift is going to be, so you don't get left behind. My parents do keep learning, but high-tech stuff is still difficult for them. It would help if they actually were interested in computers... it's really hard to learn something that you aren't interested in. I know from experience, from starting in the wrong Engineering major before I got a clue and went after Computer Science.
So, back to our story:
There I am, finding out that the device that was unplugged was the mouse and not the DSL modem.
I groan, and reach around to plug the mouse back in.
I can't get it to fit.
It's a PS2 connector. It can only go in one way. It's fairly idiot proof.
I carefully try to push it in the way it should go. It won't budge.
I pull it out and look at it.
The pins are bent.
Me: "The pins are bent."
Mom: "What?"
Me: "What did you do to this mouse cable's connector?"
Mom: "Well, we were having problems trying to get it back on. We tried to turn it."
Me, looking horrified, and turning back to the computer: "Oh, I'm sorry."
Mom: "It's ok, dear."
Me: "I was talking to the computer!" Literally, I was. Hey, I'm a computer geek.
I studied the connector. It might be salvageable. I asked Dad for some pliers, and was unfortunately kinda snotty with my folks at one point. I was tired, but I had no excuse. You're supposed to honor your parents. Heh... now that I'm a parent, am hoping my son is merciful with me in my old age, LOL!
I pulled out the keyboard connector and held the mouse and keyboard PS2 connectors next to each other, to get a GOOD reminder of the CORRECT position of the pins. And then I spent the next 20 minutes with the pliers, slowly pushing the pins back into place. It took 20 minutes in part because I'd think I had gotten it, would try to push the connector back in, and it still wouldn't fit. So I'd have to do more fine tuning.
Early on in my pin-unbending experience, I noticed my Dad hovering behind me. Unfortunately, more snottiness on my part ensued.
Me: "Hovering doesn't help."
My Dad took the Lord's name in vain and walked away muttering. I immediately regretted my impatient comment, and apologized later.
I should say that, given how hard it is to reach the back of the computer where it is in the living room, coupled with their age and the low light levels in that section of the living room, it's understandable that they, uhm, didn't get along with the PS2 connector.
And also, in their defense, they have NEVER thought the CD-ROM drive was a cup holder!!!
The long and the short of it is that the mouse is working again. And that as far as I could tell, their phone line was fine. So it was either the DSL modem or something wrong with Verizon. Or so I thought. Anyway, my parent's not being able to get online was not a PEBKAC at all. [PEBKAC == problem exists between keyboard and chair, i.e., user-error.]
Verizon sent someone out and the tech (who my parents were very impressed with) figured out that there was just too much hooked up to that one phone line. It was a very long line that was split twice to go to an answering machine and a fax machine. So he went ahead and added a jack in their wall, and now they are happily back online.
Still thinking about installing Eudora on their computer, though. ;) Afraid the web-interface for reading email is just SO busy. Very ad and news heavy, lots of popups and distractions. Makes it harder for non-techy people to get around. [No offense, Verizon.]
Anyway, I had thought I was doing really well with maintaining my patience, considering how I can handle Logan crying now, but I was wrong. Still need to work on my patience with people above the age of 1, LOL.
Oh, and my parents are NOW very much aware of the fact that NOTHING ON THE BACK OF THE COMPUTER REQUIRES TWISTING IN ORDER TO BE PLUGGED IN!!!!
Me: "Even if it acts like you can twist it, just don't!" Don't worry, I was laughing when I said it, and so were they.
Course, after I told them that, and had driven back home, I remembered how you have to unscrew the 2 screws on a serial connector in order to disconnect it. :P
I think I just need to give them a back-of-the-computer training session, LOL! Or hope that no techs tell them to disconnect a serial cable...
Anyway, I was pretty sure that this situation would be similar. I was thinking that in the long term, I should simply come over and install Eudora, a very good email client that I used to use "back in the day".
My Mom cut me some slack and said she would call Verizon herself, and talk to their technical support. I was very encouraged by her proactive attitude, and hoped it would all go well.
Well, she called the tech support, and talked to a very sweet gal. But there was a disconnect somewhere in the conversation. And about an hour later, while I was at work and about to head out to go grocery shopping, I get a phone call.
Mom: "Well, I talked to the gal at Verizon. And now I can't get the modem plugged back in."
Me: "Huh? What do you mean you can't get it plugged back in?"
Mom: "I just can't get it plugged back in."
After explaining I couldn't come over, being told that was ok, but then hearing of some more difficulties they were having, I groaned and said I was coming right over.
I drove like a bat out of hell to get there. I was hoping I'd lose a minimal amount of time plugging the DSL modem back in, and spend most of the time showing Mom how to reset it in the event it went out to lunch again. I assumed that's why the tech. had them unplug the DSL modem's power... to ensure it got a good reset.
I needed to finish helping my parents out quickly so I'd have enough time to go grocery shopping w/o wearing out our babysitter, aka my Father-in-Law.
It's been intensely and unseasonably hot for a few days. The baby has been sleeping with us in the "co-sleeper" bed, in the middle of our bed. He's too long for the co-sleeper, so I literally took scissors and cut off the end!
Logan's been sleeping with us because the master bedroom is the only one that has air conditioning. It got air conditioning in late May one weekend... about a week after a heat-wave.
During the recent heat wave, it never really cooled off at night. Well, our house didn't, anyway! The heat wave was breaking, but I was really wiped out and in a BAD mood.
I got to my parent's place after cursing out several very slow drivers. Knocked impatiently. Marched into the living room, went straight for the computer. Looked at the DSL modem, which was happily plugged in. Reached to my left towards the computer, and noticed...
...that the mouse was unplugged.
Me: "You unplugged the mouse."
Mom: "Yes..."
Me: "Why did you unplug the mouse?"
Mom: "Well, she told me to do that."
Me: "No, she told you to unplug the modem."
Mom: "Oh. I thought she said the mouse."
In all fairness, in the middle of the conversation with the tech, their portable phone died, and they had to call the tech back later to finish trying to fix their internet connection. So, that could have greatly contributed to their confusion about which device to unplug!
That and their hearing may not be all that great. My Mom is 79, and my Dad is 85! And the fact that they can get online and even check and/or type email, considering how recent that technology is and considering how they certainly didn't start out as computer geeks, is something I have to really give them credit for.
I've noticed that the older you are, the harder it is to go through a paradigm shift, especially if you aren't used to adopting new technologies in general. So in order to survive, you basically have to always be learning something new, if only to keep your brain limber enough to handle the next paradigm shift. And of course you have to watch to see what that paradigm shift is going to be, so you don't get left behind. My parents do keep learning, but high-tech stuff is still difficult for them. It would help if they actually were interested in computers... it's really hard to learn something that you aren't interested in. I know from experience, from starting in the wrong Engineering major before I got a clue and went after Computer Science.
So, back to our story:
There I am, finding out that the device that was unplugged was the mouse and not the DSL modem.
I groan, and reach around to plug the mouse back in.
I can't get it to fit.
It's a PS2 connector. It can only go in one way. It's fairly idiot proof.
I carefully try to push it in the way it should go. It won't budge.
I pull it out and look at it.
The pins are bent.
Me: "The pins are bent."
Mom: "What?"
Me: "What did you do to this mouse cable's connector?"
Mom: "Well, we were having problems trying to get it back on. We tried to turn it."
Me, looking horrified, and turning back to the computer: "Oh, I'm sorry."
Mom: "It's ok, dear."
Me: "I was talking to the computer!" Literally, I was. Hey, I'm a computer geek.
I studied the connector. It might be salvageable. I asked Dad for some pliers, and was unfortunately kinda snotty with my folks at one point. I was tired, but I had no excuse. You're supposed to honor your parents. Heh... now that I'm a parent, am hoping my son is merciful with me in my old age, LOL!
I pulled out the keyboard connector and held the mouse and keyboard PS2 connectors next to each other, to get a GOOD reminder of the CORRECT position of the pins. And then I spent the next 20 minutes with the pliers, slowly pushing the pins back into place. It took 20 minutes in part because I'd think I had gotten it, would try to push the connector back in, and it still wouldn't fit. So I'd have to do more fine tuning.
Early on in my pin-unbending experience, I noticed my Dad hovering behind me. Unfortunately, more snottiness on my part ensued.
Me: "Hovering doesn't help."
My Dad took the Lord's name in vain and walked away muttering. I immediately regretted my impatient comment, and apologized later.
I should say that, given how hard it is to reach the back of the computer where it is in the living room, coupled with their age and the low light levels in that section of the living room, it's understandable that they, uhm, didn't get along with the PS2 connector.
And also, in their defense, they have NEVER thought the CD-ROM drive was a cup holder!!!
The long and the short of it is that the mouse is working again. And that as far as I could tell, their phone line was fine. So it was either the DSL modem or something wrong with Verizon. Or so I thought. Anyway, my parent's not being able to get online was not a PEBKAC at all. [PEBKAC == problem exists between keyboard and chair, i.e., user-error.]
Verizon sent someone out and the tech (who my parents were very impressed with) figured out that there was just too much hooked up to that one phone line. It was a very long line that was split twice to go to an answering machine and a fax machine. So he went ahead and added a jack in their wall, and now they are happily back online.
Still thinking about installing Eudora on their computer, though. ;) Afraid the web-interface for reading email is just SO busy. Very ad and news heavy, lots of popups and distractions. Makes it harder for non-techy people to get around. [No offense, Verizon.]
Anyway, I had thought I was doing really well with maintaining my patience, considering how I can handle Logan crying now, but I was wrong. Still need to work on my patience with people above the age of 1, LOL.
Oh, and my parents are NOW very much aware of the fact that NOTHING ON THE BACK OF THE COMPUTER REQUIRES TWISTING IN ORDER TO BE PLUGGED IN!!!!
Me: "Even if it acts like you can twist it, just don't!" Don't worry, I was laughing when I said it, and so were they.
Course, after I told them that, and had driven back home, I remembered how you have to unscrew the 2 screws on a serial connector in order to disconnect it. :P
I think I just need to give them a back-of-the-computer training session, LOL! Or hope that no techs tell them to disconnect a serial cable...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Baby crawling still needs work
My husband and I were watching our son try to crawl on our bed. Forward crawling is no-where near sight, but there's a bit of reverse going on, but it feels partially unintentional. The concept of being up on his knees at the same time he's up on his hands is lost to him still. He covers a much larger distance when he rolls, although he also sometimes gets an arm stuck under him when doing this.
We watched him for a bit, encouraging him, laughing with him and playing with him. And it suddenly hit me:
Me: "He crawls like a defective hermit crab."
We watched him for a bit, encouraging him, laughing with him and playing with him. And it suddenly hit me:
Me: "He crawls like a defective hermit crab."
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Tasty knees
I was on the floor with Logan. He rolled over to me and started sucking on my knee. [He's teething.]
Me: "Logan, there's no breast milk in my knee."
He started acting like my knee didn't taste very good.
Me, grinning: "I'm sorry I didn't do anything to enhance the flavor of my knee for you, Logan..."
Husband: "Damn you..."
Me: "Logan, there's no breast milk in my knee."
He started acting like my knee didn't taste very good.
Me, grinning: "I'm sorry I didn't do anything to enhance the flavor of my knee for you, Logan..."
Husband: "Damn you..."
Friday, June 20, 2008
Milestones and Millstones
I started writing this ages and ages ago, and never finished. Kinda silly, but am posting it now.
Oh, and the skin cancer was removed. The scarring was minimal. And Logan is starting to almost crawl backwards. Forwards is still a challenge. And rolling is getting better, but his arms get stuck under him sometimes and keep him from being able to roll where he wants to, LOL! And he isn't sitting up yet, but is better at holding himself up a little with his arms. And we started solid food when he turned 6 months on June 5th. And I turned 40 on June 10th, but was sick with an intestinal virus. And then hubby got the virus for Father's Day. Weeeee.
And the sleep deprivation feels like it's killing me. But have started taking melatonin, since I'm no longer breast feeding, since (1) made it to the 6 month mark, (2) before the doc knew it might be viral, he thought it was an infection and put me on Cipro... no breast feeding while on that, (3) I was having issues, anyway, as my left boob had dried up due to an idiotic lack of using it that made it start to produce less that made Logan start to want it less that made it start to produce even less that... yeah. So gave up.
Anyway, here's the long update that never got posted. It's from April I think. :)
Oh, and the friend who was out of work is now working at my company. And we got our own Playstation 3 after he took his back, LOL!
Houston, we have roll
He's done it! Logan just turned 4 months on April 5th, and he's rolled over!
We need to get pictures... a sortof time lapse thing. Wait, our camera can take video... so it should be video. Definitely video. :)
Once he got onto his stomach, he managed to pull himself a little, but then got to the point where he didn't know what else to do now that he was there. And he didn't know how to get back to his comfort zone, i.e., lying on his back. So the crying started. So I rolled him back over. :)
He's done it twice today so far. I think I'd better bold the changing pad to the desk in his room, and start RELIGIOUSLY using the changing pad's strap!
Ack! Phbbbbbbbt!
Logan wasn't done with rolling... now we have raspberries! With tongue! So far, he hasn't sprayed anyone in the face. As fas as I know.
That accomplishment was April 6th's highlight. :)
Carpet Cleaning
So there's this new Woolite carpet cleaning thing, called a Rug Stick. You scrub the rug with it, taking care of high traffic areas.
Our entire carpet is one big high traffic area. The German Shepherds track in more dust and dirt than I would have thought possible. And man, do they shed! Husband bought a special vacuum in order to try to reign in the flying fur. He has to empty it for every room he vacuums. And he's vacuuming fairly regularly.
When we first looked at our house, we were told the owner had put in brand new white carpeting. We had been living in an apartment that didn't allow dogs, and knew that the moment we had a yard, we were getting a German Shepherd.
We'd looked at the beautiful carpet, at each other, and started snickering. It was NOT going to stay white for long! He should have just left the old carpeting.
And sure enough, it's more of a beige to tan now... at least we don't get upset at spills, or Logan spitting up.
But now, with Logan, we realize it REALLY needs to be a bit cleaner. Especially now that he's getting closer to crawling.
Crap... we need to get everything dangerous out of range of the Little Guy now. Well, at least he won't chew up and destroy the remote controls the way Boss dog did when he first joined our "pack". :)
Skin Cancer
So, I have this teeny black dot on my forehead. If you look more closely, you'll see that it's actually the black thread of stitches. It's from having a tiny sore on my forehead biopsed. The sore was one of those suspicious sores that refused to heal.
And yeah, it's skin cancer. It's malignant. But it's not something that's moving really fast. I've had it for probably about 2 years. Should have dealt with it earlier, but wasn't up to dealing with it during the pregnancy.
On April 23rd, I go back in to have it removed. If it's significantly large, maybe I'll get a tattoo over the scar... maybe a bulls-eye, LOL. :)
First Day Back
So, I'm back at work. The sleep deprivation and trying to get ready in the morning, trying to clean bottles every night in spite of Logan's fussing... well, sometimes I'm down to 4 hours of sleep at night.
Typing this while Logan is ironically totally asleep in his playpen. Am tempted to leave him there, since he's sleeping so well. Just worried that if I do that, w/o having the SID's monitor under him, that something will happen.
Of course, it's not like, while I'm sitting here typing this or watching TV or whatever, that I'm going to be able to watch him every second to ensure he's still breathing.
They just shouldn't tell new Mom's about SID's. They should just tell them to keep their babies sleeping on their backs because otherwise their noses will grow funny or something.
Oh my God, Ponies!
Well, our friend D came by and TOOK HIS PLAYSTATION 3 BACK. We have a widescreen TV, and so D had brought his PS3 here in... October? And was enjoying playing Warhawk 3 here. It looked so much prettier on our large flat-panel TV vs. his old TV at home that he just left the PS3 here and would come over to play.
He was laid off a few months ago, and he recently became gainfully employed again. He'd saved up enough, and purchased his own huge flat-panel widescreen TV. So his PS3 and his copy of Warhawk went bye-bye. Sigh.
We lasted about 3 or 4 days, and then Hubby went and picked up a new PS3, Ratchet and Clank, and downloaded Warhawk. :) Ironically, I bugged him about doing it... I don't play Warhawk at all, but I LOVE watching him play the game.
And so does Logan. :)
We also noticed that Logan likes Ratchet and Clank as well, but I think he's more fond of Warhawk, as he's more used to watching that game!
Parenting
Which brings us to a sad confession: because Logan enjoys watching PS3 games so much, we call it "parenting" whenever Hubby starts playing. ;)
Almost on a Schedule
Father-in-Law's been babysitting while I'm taking a break from motherhood known as a 40 hour a week job. Father-in-Law's obviously raised children before, and so has been getting a really good feeling for the schedule Logan's starting to settle into.
Oh, and the skin cancer was removed. The scarring was minimal. And Logan is starting to almost crawl backwards. Forwards is still a challenge. And rolling is getting better, but his arms get stuck under him sometimes and keep him from being able to roll where he wants to, LOL! And he isn't sitting up yet, but is better at holding himself up a little with his arms. And we started solid food when he turned 6 months on June 5th. And I turned 40 on June 10th, but was sick with an intestinal virus. And then hubby got the virus for Father's Day. Weeeee.
And the sleep deprivation feels like it's killing me. But have started taking melatonin, since I'm no longer breast feeding, since (1) made it to the 6 month mark, (2) before the doc knew it might be viral, he thought it was an infection and put me on Cipro... no breast feeding while on that, (3) I was having issues, anyway, as my left boob had dried up due to an idiotic lack of using it that made it start to produce less that made Logan start to want it less that made it start to produce even less that... yeah. So gave up.
Anyway, here's the long update that never got posted. It's from April I think. :)
Oh, and the friend who was out of work is now working at my company. And we got our own Playstation 3 after he took his back, LOL!
He's done it! Logan just turned 4 months on April 5th, and he's rolled over!
We need to get pictures... a sortof time lapse thing. Wait, our camera can take video... so it should be video. Definitely video. :)
Once he got onto his stomach, he managed to pull himself a little, but then got to the point where he didn't know what else to do now that he was there. And he didn't know how to get back to his comfort zone, i.e., lying on his back. So the crying started. So I rolled him back over. :)
He's done it twice today so far. I think I'd better bold the changing pad to the desk in his room, and start RELIGIOUSLY using the changing pad's strap!
Logan wasn't done with rolling... now we have raspberries! With tongue! So far, he hasn't sprayed anyone in the face. As fas as I know.
That accomplishment was April 6th's highlight. :)
So there's this new Woolite carpet cleaning thing, called a Rug Stick. You scrub the rug with it, taking care of high traffic areas.
Our entire carpet is one big high traffic area. The German Shepherds track in more dust and dirt than I would have thought possible. And man, do they shed! Husband bought a special vacuum in order to try to reign in the flying fur. He has to empty it for every room he vacuums. And he's vacuuming fairly regularly.
When we first looked at our house, we were told the owner had put in brand new white carpeting. We had been living in an apartment that didn't allow dogs, and knew that the moment we had a yard, we were getting a German Shepherd.
We'd looked at the beautiful carpet, at each other, and started snickering. It was NOT going to stay white for long! He should have just left the old carpeting.
And sure enough, it's more of a beige to tan now... at least we don't get upset at spills, or Logan spitting up.
But now, with Logan, we realize it REALLY needs to be a bit cleaner. Especially now that he's getting closer to crawling.
Crap... we need to get everything dangerous out of range of the Little Guy now. Well, at least he won't chew up and destroy the remote controls the way Boss dog did when he first joined our "pack". :)
So, I have this teeny black dot on my forehead. If you look more closely, you'll see that it's actually the black thread of stitches. It's from having a tiny sore on my forehead biopsed. The sore was one of those suspicious sores that refused to heal.
And yeah, it's skin cancer. It's malignant. But it's not something that's moving really fast. I've had it for probably about 2 years. Should have dealt with it earlier, but wasn't up to dealing with it during the pregnancy.
On April 23rd, I go back in to have it removed. If it's significantly large, maybe I'll get a tattoo over the scar... maybe a bulls-eye, LOL. :)
So, I'm back at work. The sleep deprivation and trying to get ready in the morning, trying to clean bottles every night in spite of Logan's fussing... well, sometimes I'm down to 4 hours of sleep at night.
Typing this while Logan is ironically totally asleep in his playpen. Am tempted to leave him there, since he's sleeping so well. Just worried that if I do that, w/o having the SID's monitor under him, that something will happen.
Of course, it's not like, while I'm sitting here typing this or watching TV or whatever, that I'm going to be able to watch him every second to ensure he's still breathing.
They just shouldn't tell new Mom's about SID's. They should just tell them to keep their babies sleeping on their backs because otherwise their noses will grow funny or something.
Well, our friend D came by and TOOK HIS PLAYSTATION 3 BACK. We have a widescreen TV, and so D had brought his PS3 here in... October? And was enjoying playing Warhawk 3 here. It looked so much prettier on our large flat-panel TV vs. his old TV at home that he just left the PS3 here and would come over to play.
He was laid off a few months ago, and he recently became gainfully employed again. He'd saved up enough, and purchased his own huge flat-panel widescreen TV. So his PS3 and his copy of Warhawk went bye-bye. Sigh.
We lasted about 3 or 4 days, and then Hubby went and picked up a new PS3, Ratchet and Clank, and downloaded Warhawk. :) Ironically, I bugged him about doing it... I don't play Warhawk at all, but I LOVE watching him play the game.
And so does Logan. :)
We also noticed that Logan likes Ratchet and Clank as well, but I think he's more fond of Warhawk, as he's more used to watching that game!
Which brings us to a sad confession: because Logan enjoys watching PS3 games so much, we call it "parenting" whenever Hubby starts playing. ;)
Father-in-Law's been babysitting while I'm taking a break from motherhood known as a 40 hour a week job. Father-in-Law's obviously raised children before, and so has been getting a really good feeling for the schedule Logan's starting to settle into.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Random
While bottle feeding Logan, was for some reason playing John William's music in my head.
Is it just me, or is the The March of the Villains song from the original Superman soundtrack VERY similar to the Ewok's theme from Return of the Jedi?
Is it just me, or is the The March of the Villains song from the original Superman soundtrack VERY similar to the Ewok's theme from Return of the Jedi?
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
All fired up...
My Mom does volunteer work for a particular charitable organization. New management has moved in. She and her coworkers don't exactly see eye to eye with the new people in power.
Mom: "I'm afraid they're going to fire me..."
Me: "How can they fire you if they aren't paying you?"
Hubby, grinning: "They'll just have to find someone else not to pay."
Mom: "I'm afraid they're going to fire me..."
Me: "How can they fire you if they aren't paying you?"
Hubby, grinning: "They'll just have to find someone else not to pay."
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Learning to walk on Coals...
Out of the frying pan, and into the fire...
So, learning how to walk on coals here. ;)
This is just getting bloody ridiculous.
Monday February 4th, after I had called my HR rep about my options for extending my maternity leave (in order to give myself more time to find daycare places with openings for Logan), I started to not feel so hot. Well, actually I started to feel very hot. And chilled. And cold. And sweaty. And shaky. And my back HURT.
My Father-in-Law was over, helping me out with Logan, so I could get stuff done around the house. His being at our place with Logan was also good therapy for him, considering he just lost his wife on January 18th.
I let him know that I thought I needed to go to the doctor, and asked him if he could watch Logan while I went. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and took my temperature. While shaking violently, I read it and realized it was nearly 102. And it had that feeling of something that wasn't finished increasing.
My Father-in-Law didn't like the idea of me driving myself while feverish, and I agreed. My parents weren't home. Hubby was busy. Father-in-Law put Logan in the car seat and drove all 3 of us in my car to the doc-in-a-box.
I had a urinary tract infection that had moved into my kidneys. Due to the C-section, I have reduced sensation in my bladder. Literally it's like I have a man's bladder... I can hold it until I finally sense I REALLY should find a bathroom. And unfortunately, the sensation of it burning when I peed was also reduced, so I didn't realize I'd come down with a urinary tract infection until it had already made it to my kidneys, causing my back to hurt. I did have a slight sensation of burning, but it was so slight, and I was so busy with Logan, etc., that I thought nothing of it at the time. It was just too low on the radar considering all the other blips I was dealing with.
The Doc thought my flu/cold may have also been coming back, as I also mentioned having a sore throat over the weekend. And of course there's the high fever. But in fact, the fever was entirely due to the fact that my body was trying to fight the infection off in the kidneys.
The Doc prescribed stuff for the flu/cold (just in case), for the fever, and for a urinary tract infection.
Hubby met me at the clinic. Father-in-Law took Logan back home. Hubby drove me home, where I crawled into bed and continued to shake violently. Hubby drove to Longs and picked up prescriptions, bringing them back after what seemed like an eternity to my fevered brain. I took meds, and ate a burger hubby brought back, and then curled back up into bed.
I couldn't stop shaking, and coming out from under the covers made me feel intolerably cold.
The next day I was feeling somewhat better. Father-in-Law came by to take care of me and Logan. By the afternoon, when it was too soon to take ibuprofin again for my fever, I got up past 102 again. I called to try to find the doc and see if I could take the ibuprofin earlier, but he wasn't at the clinic that day. I called hubby. Hubby came home and took me to the ER!
I whined when they wanted me to take my jacket off so they could take my blood pressure. I was so cold I couldn't stand it. My fever was getting close to 103. I was dehydrated. They gave me something for my fever, then tried to find a vein. I was super-sensitive to any skin pain due to the fever, and also feeling really sorry for myself. And highly emotional. Basically, I'm not at my best when I have a high fever. I cried like a baby when they kept having to stick me with needles to finally find a viable vein to pump fluids into. It was freaking embarrassing.
My fever broke finally with sufficient meds given to me to reduce it. Took about 1 or 2 hours. While it was going down, they tested my blood and my pee. They swabbed my nose to see if I had influenza. [I didn't.] They gave me antibiotics in the 2nd bag of saline they pumped into me. And they told me to quit taking my current antibiotics, and to start a course of CIPRO.
I was on @#$@^!Q#$ Cipro. They use that for Anthrax. I was on freaking Cipro.
Hubby dropped off the Cipro prescription on his way to work the next day, as we didn't get home from the ER until almost 10pm. My parents came by to take care of me, and picked up the prescription on their way in. I think. That whole week of dealing with the kidney infection is all a little fuzzy. Fevers are fun. :P
I spent most of that week sleeping alot. And not breast feeding Logan, as he couldn't have any breast milk with any of the 3 antibiotics I had in my blood by then. So I was pumping and dumping, and the plethora of baby bottles I had recently bought were suddenly coming in VERY handy for feeding Logan formula.
On Monday 2/11, I was well enough to take Ellie to the vet while my parents watched Logan. And that was about the extent of what I accomplished that day. But anyway, it was nice to actually drive my car instead of having someone else drive me due to my being too feverish!
Just to make life interesting, also on that day, my right boob felt like it had a clogged milk duct. But that passed thankfully on its own, w/o any extra doctor/ER trips.
On Tribe, I posted a prayer of sorts after having posted the above in my Tribe blog:
"Lord, please... we need help. My husband is SO tired of taking care of both Logan and me. I'm so tired of being exhausted, sick and useless. And I'm running out of time here... I need to be healthy and on top of things so I can find a daycare place and go back to work. Shoot, poor Logan is still stuffed up from catching our colds."
Yeah, I was feeling sorry for myself, and for Logan and for my Hubby. And for my tired Parents, and my tired and sad Father-in-Law. And for my Mother-in-Law's other Kids and her Sisters.
And I was just feeling really damned tired. :P
A couple of days later, Wednesday February 13th, I was in a better mood. A bunch of my Tribe friends had sent me their good wishes and prayers and comforting words, and I was getting my energy back. God was answering prayer, helping me to catch my breath.
Thursday the 14th I was able to start breast feeding again. Flow was a little slow... I hadn't been good about pumping alot while I was feeling so sick, as I was so tired all the time. But it picked back up, and I supplemented Logan's diet with formula until I'd talked my boobies into being good moo-cows again. ;)
I talked to my boss. He was ok with my taking 30 calendar days off at the end of the 12 weeks of maternity leave. If I were to go back at the end of the 12 weeks, my first day back at work would be Wednesday February 27th. Now, after I get the paperwork done, I'll be out until the end of March.
I need to fill out the stuff for "bonding", which provides 6 weeks of income from SDI I believe for bonding with Logan. I won't be able to use all 6 weeks of it... well, unless Logan has some illnesses that cause me to need to take 1 or 2 weeks off later on after this 30 calendar days off. Which is not a happy reason for doing more bonding with Logan, so I'll happily pass on that option, if given the choice, God willing.
I can't stand it when Logan isn't feeling well. He can break my heart by just pouting!!! When he cries because he isn't feeling well, I just wish I could take his pain away for him. And he can steal my heart away with his smiles. :)
Never thought I'd be a "baby person", LOL!
But anyway, the 30 calendar days will be paid for, at a percentage of my work wages, thanks to the "bonding" thing. Weee. :)
So, everything appears to be going ok so far.
I am feeling better. But I need to start researching daycare places again. I have contacted 2 places my Mom found for me. One requires that Logan be walking fairly well... which isn't going to happen for at least another 6 months -- more like 10 months? The other might be able to take Logan as early as June, or as late as Fall, and is ok with him being a non-walking baby in diapers. Since neither location is a public (i.e., advertised) place, they are both probably the best bets, as there won't be alot of other people trying to get into them. And they come highly recommended, so... :)
And I need to finish Logan's room. He'll still be sleeping in our room at night, but for naps, I should try to get him used to his crib. This was a recommendation from my late Mother-in-Law, as it would help in getting him used to sleeping in his room at night later on.
Damn, I miss my Mother-in-Law. She was really good with Logan, and alot nicer to me than I gave her credit for. :(
So, that's what's been going on.
As I said, I'm learning to walk on coals. And trying to just be glad for the good days, and not sweat the bad days too much.
Thank you everyone who's sent me warm wishes/positive mojo/prayers/kind words/etc. :)
Hope everyone out there is doing well. Godspeed. :)
So, learning how to walk on coals here. ;)
This is just getting bloody ridiculous.
Monday February 4th, after I had called my HR rep about my options for extending my maternity leave (in order to give myself more time to find daycare places with openings for Logan), I started to not feel so hot. Well, actually I started to feel very hot. And chilled. And cold. And sweaty. And shaky. And my back HURT.
My Father-in-Law was over, helping me out with Logan, so I could get stuff done around the house. His being at our place with Logan was also good therapy for him, considering he just lost his wife on January 18th.
I let him know that I thought I needed to go to the doctor, and asked him if he could watch Logan while I went. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and took my temperature. While shaking violently, I read it and realized it was nearly 102. And it had that feeling of something that wasn't finished increasing.
My Father-in-Law didn't like the idea of me driving myself while feverish, and I agreed. My parents weren't home. Hubby was busy. Father-in-Law put Logan in the car seat and drove all 3 of us in my car to the doc-in-a-box.
I had a urinary tract infection that had moved into my kidneys. Due to the C-section, I have reduced sensation in my bladder. Literally it's like I have a man's bladder... I can hold it until I finally sense I REALLY should find a bathroom. And unfortunately, the sensation of it burning when I peed was also reduced, so I didn't realize I'd come down with a urinary tract infection until it had already made it to my kidneys, causing my back to hurt. I did have a slight sensation of burning, but it was so slight, and I was so busy with Logan, etc., that I thought nothing of it at the time. It was just too low on the radar considering all the other blips I was dealing with.
The Doc thought my flu/cold may have also been coming back, as I also mentioned having a sore throat over the weekend. And of course there's the high fever. But in fact, the fever was entirely due to the fact that my body was trying to fight the infection off in the kidneys.
The Doc prescribed stuff for the flu/cold (just in case), for the fever, and for a urinary tract infection.
Hubby met me at the clinic. Father-in-Law took Logan back home. Hubby drove me home, where I crawled into bed and continued to shake violently. Hubby drove to Longs and picked up prescriptions, bringing them back after what seemed like an eternity to my fevered brain. I took meds, and ate a burger hubby brought back, and then curled back up into bed.
I couldn't stop shaking, and coming out from under the covers made me feel intolerably cold.
The next day I was feeling somewhat better. Father-in-Law came by to take care of me and Logan. By the afternoon, when it was too soon to take ibuprofin again for my fever, I got up past 102 again. I called to try to find the doc and see if I could take the ibuprofin earlier, but he wasn't at the clinic that day. I called hubby. Hubby came home and took me to the ER!
I whined when they wanted me to take my jacket off so they could take my blood pressure. I was so cold I couldn't stand it. My fever was getting close to 103. I was dehydrated. They gave me something for my fever, then tried to find a vein. I was super-sensitive to any skin pain due to the fever, and also feeling really sorry for myself. And highly emotional. Basically, I'm not at my best when I have a high fever. I cried like a baby when they kept having to stick me with needles to finally find a viable vein to pump fluids into. It was freaking embarrassing.
My fever broke finally with sufficient meds given to me to reduce it. Took about 1 or 2 hours. While it was going down, they tested my blood and my pee. They swabbed my nose to see if I had influenza. [I didn't.] They gave me antibiotics in the 2nd bag of saline they pumped into me. And they told me to quit taking my current antibiotics, and to start a course of CIPRO.
I was on @#$@^!Q#$ Cipro. They use that for Anthrax. I was on freaking Cipro.
Hubby dropped off the Cipro prescription on his way to work the next day, as we didn't get home from the ER until almost 10pm. My parents came by to take care of me, and picked up the prescription on their way in. I think. That whole week of dealing with the kidney infection is all a little fuzzy. Fevers are fun. :P
I spent most of that week sleeping alot. And not breast feeding Logan, as he couldn't have any breast milk with any of the 3 antibiotics I had in my blood by then. So I was pumping and dumping, and the plethora of baby bottles I had recently bought were suddenly coming in VERY handy for feeding Logan formula.
On Monday 2/11, I was well enough to take Ellie to the vet while my parents watched Logan. And that was about the extent of what I accomplished that day. But anyway, it was nice to actually drive my car instead of having someone else drive me due to my being too feverish!
Just to make life interesting, also on that day, my right boob felt like it had a clogged milk duct. But that passed thankfully on its own, w/o any extra doctor/ER trips.
On Tribe, I posted a prayer of sorts after having posted the above in my Tribe blog:
"Lord, please... we need help. My husband is SO tired of taking care of both Logan and me. I'm so tired of being exhausted, sick and useless. And I'm running out of time here... I need to be healthy and on top of things so I can find a daycare place and go back to work. Shoot, poor Logan is still stuffed up from catching our colds."
Yeah, I was feeling sorry for myself, and for Logan and for my Hubby. And for my tired Parents, and my tired and sad Father-in-Law. And for my Mother-in-Law's other Kids and her Sisters.
And I was just feeling really damned tired. :P
A couple of days later, Wednesday February 13th, I was in a better mood. A bunch of my Tribe friends had sent me their good wishes and prayers and comforting words, and I was getting my energy back. God was answering prayer, helping me to catch my breath.
Thursday the 14th I was able to start breast feeding again. Flow was a little slow... I hadn't been good about pumping alot while I was feeling so sick, as I was so tired all the time. But it picked back up, and I supplemented Logan's diet with formula until I'd talked my boobies into being good moo-cows again. ;)
I talked to my boss. He was ok with my taking 30 calendar days off at the end of the 12 weeks of maternity leave. If I were to go back at the end of the 12 weeks, my first day back at work would be Wednesday February 27th. Now, after I get the paperwork done, I'll be out until the end of March.
I need to fill out the stuff for "bonding", which provides 6 weeks of income from SDI I believe for bonding with Logan. I won't be able to use all 6 weeks of it... well, unless Logan has some illnesses that cause me to need to take 1 or 2 weeks off later on after this 30 calendar days off. Which is not a happy reason for doing more bonding with Logan, so I'll happily pass on that option, if given the choice, God willing.
I can't stand it when Logan isn't feeling well. He can break my heart by just pouting!!! When he cries because he isn't feeling well, I just wish I could take his pain away for him. And he can steal my heart away with his smiles. :)
Never thought I'd be a "baby person", LOL!
But anyway, the 30 calendar days will be paid for, at a percentage of my work wages, thanks to the "bonding" thing. Weee. :)
So, everything appears to be going ok so far.
I am feeling better. But I need to start researching daycare places again. I have contacted 2 places my Mom found for me. One requires that Logan be walking fairly well... which isn't going to happen for at least another 6 months -- more like 10 months? The other might be able to take Logan as early as June, or as late as Fall, and is ok with him being a non-walking baby in diapers. Since neither location is a public (i.e., advertised) place, they are both probably the best bets, as there won't be alot of other people trying to get into them. And they come highly recommended, so... :)
And I need to finish Logan's room. He'll still be sleeping in our room at night, but for naps, I should try to get him used to his crib. This was a recommendation from my late Mother-in-Law, as it would help in getting him used to sleeping in his room at night later on.
Damn, I miss my Mother-in-Law. She was really good with Logan, and alot nicer to me than I gave her credit for. :(
So, that's what's been going on.
As I said, I'm learning to walk on coals. And trying to just be glad for the good days, and not sweat the bad days too much.
Thank you everyone who's sent me warm wishes/positive mojo/prayers/kind words/etc. :)
Hope everyone out there is doing well. Godspeed. :)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The good, and the really really bad and ugly
Well, the good news:
Bad news:
She would have been 78 on 1/30/2008.
She was so good with Logan. And so sweet. She was a 2nd Mom to me. To everyone, really.
Hubby's in shock. Hubby's Dad is in shock.
Funeral was this past Friday, 1/25/2008. A bunch of family flew/drove in for it. Sister-in-law got in the Sunday after her Mom died, and was a big help both with Hubby's Dad and with Logan.
Hubby's Dad and Sister adore Logan. Hubby's Dad may try his hand a little at some babysitting, but we can't really hold him to what Hubby's Mom had agreed to. Especially after all the stress of losing Hubby's Mom.
However, Hubby's Dad does LOVE spending time with Logan. And he also ironically loves our dogs... and our dogs adore him.
Hubby's Sister threatened to steal Logan away this week. Had to watch Logan and Sister-in-Law CLOSELY. ;)
Logan steals the hearts of any adults who get to know him. :)
Thought my breast-milk antibodies were protecting Logan from getting sick, as even though Hubby and I had been sick for almost a week already, Logan was fine. But unfortunately, last night, 1/26/2008, Logan started sounding congested. :( Poor little guy...
So now all 3 of us are miserable.
Logan still smiles at us. I can't believe how happy he can be with us even when he's feeling like crap. He IS a little angel.
Not sure when I have to go back to work now. My HR thinks I only get 12 weeks from the date the baby is born. But my ObGyn's office is sure I get 8 (maybe 10 now) weeks of medical leave for the c-section. [8 is normal, but it may be 10 as I had complications.] And then another 6 weeks for bonding on top of that. So 16 weeks total. And my ObGyn thinks that my job is protected for 12 weeks from the END of my medical leave.
So, per my ObGyn, I get SDI money for the 8 to 10 weeks of medical leave, then another 6 weeks of money for bonding. But then I could stay out of work an extra 6 weeks w/o any income if I wanted to. But I don't think I'll take that option.
Confused? Sorry... it's confusing me too. ;)
Need to get my HR and my ObGyn's office to agree. Stressing me out.
If HR is right, I return to work end of February. If my ObGyn is right, I return end of March. Really hoping for end of March here, LOL! I hope to have everything figured out by then... taking care of Logan, and also who is babysitting him while I'm at work. That and I HATE leaving him. He's stolen my heart.
So... that's what's been happening...
- Getting easier to get Logan to sleep in his bassinett. Sometimes.
- My nipples have toughened up so breast feeding no longer hurts.
- Incision is mostly healed up... just a slight crack left. No longer has to be packed. I can drive, as I'm no longer on pain meds. And since it's no longer trying to heal too fast (outside first, then inside), as it was packed until it behaved, I'm also no longer on blood pressure medication.
Bad news:
- Hubby and I have a sore-throat/cold.
- My Mom can't baby sit as she realized her congestive heart failure was going to make it too hard on her. She can babysit for a couple of hours at a time, but that's it. No "all day" babysitting while I'm at work. Dad can't as he works... he's 84 and he works. :P They need the money.
- Hubby's Mom can't babysit. Because she PASSED AWAY FRIDAY 1/18/2008. Put us all in shock.
She would have been 78 on 1/30/2008.
She was so good with Logan. And so sweet. She was a 2nd Mom to me. To everyone, really.
Hubby's in shock. Hubby's Dad is in shock.
Funeral was this past Friday, 1/25/2008. A bunch of family flew/drove in for it. Sister-in-law got in the Sunday after her Mom died, and was a big help both with Hubby's Dad and with Logan.
Hubby's Dad and Sister adore Logan. Hubby's Dad may try his hand a little at some babysitting, but we can't really hold him to what Hubby's Mom had agreed to. Especially after all the stress of losing Hubby's Mom.
However, Hubby's Dad does LOVE spending time with Logan. And he also ironically loves our dogs... and our dogs adore him.
Hubby's Sister threatened to steal Logan away this week. Had to watch Logan and Sister-in-Law CLOSELY. ;)
Logan steals the hearts of any adults who get to know him. :)
Thought my breast-milk antibodies were protecting Logan from getting sick, as even though Hubby and I had been sick for almost a week already, Logan was fine. But unfortunately, last night, 1/26/2008, Logan started sounding congested. :( Poor little guy...
So now all 3 of us are miserable.
Logan still smiles at us. I can't believe how happy he can be with us even when he's feeling like crap. He IS a little angel.
Not sure when I have to go back to work now. My HR thinks I only get 12 weeks from the date the baby is born. But my ObGyn's office is sure I get 8 (maybe 10 now) weeks of medical leave for the c-section. [8 is normal, but it may be 10 as I had complications.] And then another 6 weeks for bonding on top of that. So 16 weeks total. And my ObGyn thinks that my job is protected for 12 weeks from the END of my medical leave.
So, per my ObGyn, I get SDI money for the 8 to 10 weeks of medical leave, then another 6 weeks of money for bonding. But then I could stay out of work an extra 6 weeks w/o any income if I wanted to. But I don't think I'll take that option.
Confused? Sorry... it's confusing me too. ;)
Need to get my HR and my ObGyn's office to agree. Stressing me out.
If HR is right, I return to work end of February. If my ObGyn is right, I return end of March. Really hoping for end of March here, LOL! I hope to have everything figured out by then... taking care of Logan, and also who is babysitting him while I'm at work. That and I HATE leaving him. He's stolen my heart.
So... that's what's been happening...
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