Thursday, January 31, 2008

Wii wii wii all the way home

This week is much better than last week; though, I'm not sure if it could have gotten worse - Locusts? Boils?

Sunday, after shriveling under the icy glare of the video game dorks at GameStop and swearing never to go in there again, we stopped by T*rget and, lo and behold, there were two (TWO!) wiis sitting in the case. I rang the service bell, all the while playing it cool so as to not attract attention, and then followed the oldest T*rget employee (I mean, in the entire company) as he inched towards the register. I was shaking as I left the store and made my way back to the car - K started grinning as he saw the bags in my hands and hasn't stopped since...

Apparently I chose a magic wii that changed our luck, since yesterday K got a fantastic job offer - it uses his previous job experience and his recently earned masters, all the while paying more than he gets now as a float nurse plus benefits (retirement, what's that?) PLUS he will be working a normal 9-5 Monday through Friday schedule!!!

Since my brain (I just typed "brian") is tired and I'm not putting together a very coherent post, let me placate you with some pictures:


M. in her SUPERFIT shoes from Germany... I think we have a future rock star on our hands - Boom! Boom!

GO PACK!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Ok, this isn't funny any more

While I was at the dr with M this morning, K called and said that our power had been turned off... I was like, "What?! I paid the bill online last week!!!" So, he called the power company, sat through phone tree hell, and paid with a credit card. Right after he called me to tell me that it had been paid, the power company called and said super sweetly, "Oops, our bad... Our system was down and now it is back up and I seen that you made a payment online - would you like us to cancel it or the credit card payment?"

So, anyway, the power is back on, but WTF? I'm starting to get paranoid...

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

I think I'm going to start writing country songs...

This week has not gotten off to a good start.

On Sunday morning, K. wrecked our VW Beetle, sliding on some ice on the way to the hospital where he works... Luckily, only our car was damaged: He was ok, no one else was hurt, no other vehicles or property were involved. He went around a curve and slid on some ice, hitting a curb, and now the wheels on the passenger side are bent in underneath the car. Since the Beetle is a cross between a tank and an egg, none of the body is damaged (at least, visibly) - it just looks like our car has had too much to drink.

If that wasn't scary enough, M had her very own version of a no good, very bad, horrible day... I went to pick her up after work from the babysitter, getting there at 5:45. When I got there, Jenn (whom I think is awesome) apologetically told me about the day M had:

- At 3:30, she fell down a flight of stairs, somersaulting until she thankfully landed on her bottom...I burst into tears upon hearing this

- Then, her fingers got pinched in the cover that goes over the keys of the piano

- Then, Jenn's 3 year old threw a football and got M in the eye

- Oh, and by the way, at 4:30, Jenn noticed a rash on her stomach... when we checked out the rash, it had spread and was starting to look welty

I placed a call to Dr. Nice and then hustled M into the car. I was fine until I called my husband - then I really lost my shit... I talked to K, crying, and he said that I should come to the hospital, and he would meet me in the ER.

So, battling stupid "it's raining and we've never seen rain before" rush hour traffic and trying to keep M awake (she, of course, had no nap today) all the while saying Hail Marys under my breath (apparently I become Catholic when I'm stressed), I made it to the ER. We only had to wait 30 min or so before we saw a super nice triage nurse - the right mix of reassuring without patronizing - who talked us through what would be the signs of head trauma (which M has not exhibited) and said that the rash was most certainly from the new antibiotic. The pediatric ER was full, with 2 more unseen patients ahead of us, so I asked the nurse (mother of 4 kids) off the record what she would do. She suggested keeping an eye on M at night, letting her get some rest instead of staying in the ER until the middle of the night, and seeing Dr. Nice in the morning. Conveniently, we have an appointment already for 9:45am, so that's what we decided to do. Dr. Nice called as we were walking in the door, apologizing for not getting back to us sooner, and echoed what the ER nurse had said, making us feel even better.

Jenn called and apologized for not calling me at work when M fell down the stairs, and I just clarified that I'd rather know and get to make the call that she's fine, than not find out until later. I also added that it isn't fair to her (Jenn) to have to take that responsibility, esp. if something happened. So, we're cool now, which is a relief - I really like her and her family, and I trust her with M.

I really feel like we've dodged a couple of bullets this week...All that stuff about fragility/resilience in toddlers in the last post - I believe it doubly now. Hopefully, this is it for us, at least this week! (Knock wood, spit over my shoulder, poo poo poo)

Next up, I've got a couple of posts brewing about pregnancy-related stuff - I know, shocking!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

2nd verse, same as the 1st

Damn, this blogging stuff is difficult! So much pressure... (I know, like anyone reads me except my sister, whom I talk with every day!)

So, M. has pneumonia - pretty scary, especially when she started wheezing Wed night - but thanks to the power of steroids (look out, Marion Jones) and a new antibiotic, she seems to be on the mend. This was the first time in my parenting career that I thought that I might actually have to call 911 or go to the hospital... toddlers seem so resilient one minute, slamming into things and falling down and just going on their merry way like nothing happened, but then you realize how fragile they really are. The stakes seem so high with your first child... is that a hold over from a time when you needed several children to survive? Not that having more than one makes any of them expendable, but it seems like it would feel different, if only because you have more experience to draw upon.

Wow, what a way to bring a blog down quickly, huh? I'm great at parties!

On to a different topic... Things on the weight loss front have been progressing nicely: I've lost about 5 lbs, mostly due to the "Great Austerity Project" (or, GAP, for short) that we're on in an effort to stop the Christmas hemorraging - eating at home is making a big difference weight-wise, as well as financially. But, I think I'm going to have to haul my cookies to the Y to at least swim or take a class or something if I want the downward trend to continue. Lots of people rave about T-Tapp, but I don't have such a great track record doing things at home by myself... I definitely need some external motivation. Maybe the library has some DVDs I can rent before making the committment.... Ah, the library! My sister says I'm the only person she knows who has larger late-book fines than late-video fines.

Well, here concludes an incredibly boring post... They better improve from here, or even my sister won't read me! It is supposed to snow today, so maybe I can salvage this blog with some cute pics... Here's hoping.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Since all the cool kids are doing it...

Welcome to my lame attempt to fit in with the A crowd... Since I'm an avid blog reader who is increasingly thinking in blog posts, I decided to just start one. I have a feeling that this is going to turn out as badly as my middle school fashion attempts (what? No one else thought green glitter eyeshadow was a good idea?) but, what the hell...

So, here is the pertinent cast of characters in my life:

- My husband, K - the murse...Think Ricky Schroder as Paul Flowers on Scrubs, but cooler and looking more like Fred Flinstone

- my 21 month old daughter, M - a highly entertaining spitfire

- my sister, Jennifer (check out: http://jenprosser.blogspot.com/)

- my mother, Mom, who is married to JB

- my father, Dad, who is married to Mimi

- my two younger sisters, MarP (14) and AB (11)

- my primary care physician, Dr. Nice

- my reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Twitchy

M was born in March 2006, after 4 previous pregnancies ended in miscarriage... It was a rough pregnancy, to say the least: Hyperemesis gravadarium, preeclampsia, induction at 37 weeks (that, at least, was ok), post-partum staph infection, and then the little ingrate wouldn't latch... I ended up exclusively pumping for 14.5 months... Yeah, it sucked even more than you think. BUT, I was blessed with a child with a sunny personality and a husband who is super supportive, making all that pumping possible.

Public Service Announcement: Anyone who is searching the internet frantically for exclusive pumping info, please email me - I've got lots of advice just percolating under the surface, looking for an outlet.

Now, I'm trying to lose weight - each of my 5 pregnancies added about 5 lbs as a parting gift - with the hope of getting pregnant again this summer and making it through without losing the pregnancy, puking my guts up, or a BP of 140/90...