An open letter to the jane q. public i wrote those tickets to…
Posted: August 26, 2013 Filed under: blogging, Day-to-Day, family, parenting | Tags: law enforcement, people, tickets Leave a commentSadly, too many people are like the woman described here. Maybe you know a few…
An open letter to the jane q. public i wrote those tickets to….
I wish I knew more people like the officer who wrote the tickets.
The Proust Questionnaire: Egghead23
Posted: August 21, 2013 Filed under: blogging, family, kids, parenting, Relationships, writing | Tags: meme, Proust Questionnaire, self Leave a commentI actually meant to write this as a post for this blog, but I accidentally wrote it on the Practice What You Pinterest site. I couldn’t figure out how to move it without ruining the format, so I just reblogged it. You get the idea.
The Proust Questionnaire: Egghead23.
Endless Summer
Posted: August 21, 2013 Filed under: family, funny, kids, parenting | Tags: edna Mode, funny meme, parenting, Summer Vacation, The Incredibles, turning 50 Leave a commentIt’s been a good summer. It’s been a busy summer. There was a good bit of traveling, a few camps, and lots of laughs. But you know, it’s time to return to our regularly scheduled programming. The school bus schedules arrived yesterday and every night this week there’s some event at each of their three separate schools to welcome back and introduce new teachers and friends. The long days of sleeping in, playing as many video games as Mom will allow and staying up late are drawing to a close.
I turned 49 this summer, and I don’t know if it’s this feeling like I’m on the downward slope of a roller coaster ride into 50, but I feel the need to make some changes, get a few things done. First thing is to get the house in order, just rearranging all the pieces that have just been sitting in places where they originally landed. Then I’m also getting myself in order, trying to exercise both body and mind more than I have in recent months…or years.
I started in the office, which looked like this:
but now looks like this:
Then, yesterday, I rearranged a junk drawer in the kitchen, though there are still two more of those left. Basically, I plan to be an organizational tsunami from one end of the house to the other, hopefully finishing the whole thing before the end of September.
But mostly, I am looking forward to the quiet that the school day brings to my life, a chance when I can gather my thoughts and actually follow through on them, or use the bathroom without hearing my name called on the other side of the door. I realize that some day, too soon, this will be the whole of my life, once the kids are grown and out of here. It’s not that I don’t cherish the moments of chaos, but I do love the quiet.
This is pretty much the story of every morning, when they are talking to me about who hit whom, who’s not being fair and what kind of breakfast they want, when all I can really think about is that first cup of coffee.
Birds at the Feeder
Posted: March 28, 2013 Filed under: blogging, Day-to-Day, Environment, family, garden | Tags: bird feeder, bird watching, birds, birds photos, feeder, nature, outdoors, tufted titmouse, woodpecker 3 CommentsI put up this feeder over the winter, and just recently caught a few birds in photos. I know the second one is a tufted titmouse, but I’m not sure about the first one. It looks like some kind of woodpecker. It had a hard time finding purchase on the feeder, hence the angle.
Drug Fiend
Posted: March 6, 2013 Filed under: blogging, family | Tags: Advair, anxiety, asthma, chest cold, cough, doctors, drugs, Prednizone, Promethezine, sickness, steroids, Tessalon, whooping cough, Zithromax Leave a comment
It started as a little cough. I’ve had mild asthma for several years, so when I get sick, it always goes to my chest. I had switched doctors not too long ago, because my former GP had decided to go into teaching and leave her practice, and because of the change, I hadn’t renewed my Albuterol prescription in so long that it had expired. And as I got sicker, I found that I no longer had any working inhalers in the house, so I made an appointment at the new practice in hopes of getting a refill for those.
Since she could see me sooner than the doctor, I went into the office and saw the nurse practitioner. She’s really great, very thorough, and took a good look at all the things I was complaining about. Basically at that point, I had sinus and upper respiratory infections, so she gave me prescriptions for Augmenten (antibiotic), Tessalon (cough suppressant for day time) and Promethezine (cough suppressant with codeine for night time), and she renewed my script for Albuterol.
Two weeks later, the Augmenten was all gone, but the cough stubbornly lingered; not only lingered actually, but worsened. It was as if the cough had been waiting for the Augmenten to clear out of town and then just bloomed once it was. I waited another few days, and then went back to see the nurse practitioner, who figured that a low dose of Prednizone would knock out the cough, and she also upped my dose of Advair, a steroid inhaler that I take every day to maintain the asthma.
But, all that had no effect, so a week later, I went back to see the doctor, thinking that another opinion might help to get rid of this thing. She thought I might have whooping-cough (though I had a vaccine for pertussis in 2010) so she gave me a prescription for Zithromax, and thinking that the cough may also be caused by post-nasal drip, added a steroid nasal spray called Flonase.
Three days later, not only did I still have the cough, but I was completely a mess. Between all the steroids and the six weeks of Promethezine, I felt like a dozen ping-pong balls were bouncing on the inside of my head. My heart was racing. My chest hurt and my skin was clammy. I took the kids, who had the day off, to the grocery store, and I felt like I was going to pass out in the cookie aisle. I was afraid I might be having a heart attack. And then I remembered, I’m on so many drugs, I don’t know what day it is. It was like Brave New World over here.
So despite my fear that they might throw a net over me when I got there, I went back to see the doctor. I finished the Zithromax, but I stopped all of the other drugs. And I felt better. My head is stable and my heart is back to beating within the confines of my chest. I still have the cough, but at least I can see straight. They ran some blood tests, and it’s all normal, no worries.
I’ll be glad when the cough is gone, but overall, I feel like the attempted cures were worse than the underlying condition. February was quite the pharmacological odyssey.
Playing Catch-Up With ThinkIt
Posted: December 6, 2012 Filed under: blogging, Day-to-Day, family, friends, kids, parenting | Tags: 2012, Book of Mormon, End of Year meme, George Clooney, memories, Potter Puppet Pals, Thinkit Leave a commentOne of the problems I have every year with these prompts is that it takes me a day or two to think of an answer. That being said, I’m sure you will look at a few of these and think, That took her time to come up with? Jeez. Click!
So, without further adieu…
December 3 – If you could meet someone new in 2013, who would it be? Or would you rather spend more time with someone you already know?
No, I do a pretty good job of socializing as it is. I’m kind of making a career of it. Who would I like to meet in 2013? Anyone but my maker.
December 4 – What was the wisest decision you made this year?
They ask this one every year, and if I can think of anything, it’s stupid material stuff. I got a minivan that has made it easier to load the kids into the car and has cut down the squabble factor. I bought a new toaster oven that seems to do the trick. I started Practice What You Pinterest, but I can’t say that has turned out to be wise. Decisions? I didn’t really make any major ones this year, and I make too many little ones every day to single any out.
Oh, wait! I decided to avoid MSG. It’s made a world of difference with my migraines. That counts as wise, right?
December 5 – Interview 3 people about their favorite moments of the year. Share what you heard.
This was a fun one, and I actually got several good answers:
Michelle H. said that her best moment was her sister’s wedding and seeing her own daughters all dressed up for the event. She also enjoyed a moment the day before the wedding when she threatened to bitch-slap her sister.
Nadia had two as well. First was the day (May 23, 2012) when she had lost enough weight to fit back into her wedding gown. (Way to go, Nadia! I’ve kissed my gown goodnight until my daughter can wear it.) And October 31st, when she had officially lost 100 pounds.
Robin said the day after Election Day was the best moment for her. (Yes, many of us felt we could breathe easier that day…)
Meredeth gave some silly story about her daughter becoming potty trained, until she remembered that she had met George Clooney. Not to belittle A’s milestone, but duh, M. I would deal with diapers for a decade to have that guy press his shoulder into mine like that.
Michelle M. enjoyed seeing her daughter graduate high school to go study veterinary medicine.
Several friends said that their moment was when Notre Dame beat USC to go to the National Championship.
Three friends had babies this year, so those moments trumped all the others for them.
Kelly’s daughter underwent surgery that changed her life for the better.
Bill got pulled onstage during a concert to sing and dance with the band.
Kevin had a great one too. He said his moment was seeing his wife present their son with his high school diploma on a stage, where they shared an affectionate whisper. It was a message. “Tell Dad,” the graduate said, “the Phillies are tied in the tenth.”
For me, there were a million little moments. Edison’s excitement waiting in the audience at Asbury Lanes for the Potter Puppet Pals to begin; watching Craig, one of my fellow wizards “bonding” with two “gnomes” made out of potatoes, while sitting on a bench looking serenely at the lake; laughing with Manfrengensen until tears came out of our eyes; asking Clooney whether I tell him I love him enough and his response, “Uh, duh”; laughs with my lady friends who lunch/and/or/breakfast at Panera; hearing my son referred to as “a ringer” during a Quidditch match; meeting our new niece and our new nephew; almost passing out while driving Manfrengensen to the hospital after his bike accident; holding my daughter’s hand; watching her try on the shoes I wore to my wedding; The Book of Mormon. I’m surrounded by magic every single day.
December 6 – How do you want get involved in your community this year?
I did a lot this year to get involved in my community. I still cook once a month for a local soup kitchen, and I started teaching Sunday school. I will continue to do those things in the coming year, and I will look for other opportunities, chiefly ones that involve aiding the poor in our area.
So there, all caught up…now let me get to the myriad other things I have on the docket today.
Pinheads Revisited – Random Acts of Kindness Day 2
Posted: December 2, 2012 Filed under: family, funny, kids, parenting | Tags: family, kids, parenting, teaching moments Leave a commentPinheads Revisited – Random Acts of Kindness Day 2.
The Year In Pictures
Posted: December 1, 2012 Filed under: blogging, Day-to-Day, family, kids, parenting | Tags: 2012, beach, End of Year meme, family, family vacation, kids, parenting, photos, summer, Thinkit, writing 1 CommentIt’s that time of year again, and this year, I really hope to keep up with ThinkIt’s Year-End Blog Wrap-Up. The prompt for December 1st is the Year in Pictures. I had a hard time reducing it to one moment, so I collected these, in no particular order:

This year, I discovered Pinterest, and have spent a good deal of time trying out ideas from the site and blogging about them.

Over the summer, I spent a week as a counselor at a wizard-themed camp. It was really fun, like working in an acting troupe for a week.
I’m surely leaving out many memories of the year, but hopefully they will come back to me as we continue this process over the next few weeks.
Homemade Halloween Costumes
Posted: November 1, 2012 Filed under: family, kids, parenting | Tags: Costume Party, costumes, Halloween, hundred dollar bill, penny 3 CommentsThis year I made costumes for the boys, and I was pretty happy with the way they turned out.
Clooney went dressed as a $100 bill. For this, I cut a box apart and attached a beach towel that had the bill’s image printed on it. I used staples to attach it, and then covered the staples with duct tape. The box had some creases in it, so I fortified those with popsicle sticks to keep the cardboard straight across his back. Duct tape was also used to make straps that went over his shoulders and through the back of the costume. Then I cut the real Ben Franklin out of the towel, and dressed Clooney up as the old man.
I also painted the back, using some leftover paint samples from when we painted the house and roughly sketched a facsimile of what’s on the back of the bill to finish it off.
Edison decided that he wanted to be a penny this year. At first, I was going to use cardboard, but then it turned out that a pop-up play tent that belonged to The Princess had broken, so we were going to throw it away. The base of it was round, made of nylon, lightweight and shaped with a wire frame. So, I got some copper spray paint, and changed the color from purple to shiny new penny. Then I got some stick-on glitter letters and copied the penny’s words. (There were no upper case letters to be had, so I had to go all lower case, but worked out fine. People knew what he was.) We got a stick-on Abe beard (which I also spray painted) and used a little face paint to recreate the coin.
And I decorated the back as well.
Lots of fun! Hope you had a great Halloween too.
Dress to Impress Day
Posted: October 11, 2012 Filed under: family, parenting, school | Tags: clothes, kids, parenting, Spirit Week, teaching moments Leave a commentIt’s Spirit Week at Edison’s school, and the theme for today is “Dress to Impress.” Yesterday was “Wear Orange” (It had something to do with an anti-bullying campaign), and Monday was “Dress like a Twin Day.” Edison pulled out his spiffiest duds for today’s occasion. Unfortunately, these include the sport jacket that he wore for his First Holy Communion four years ago. They are a size 8, and he is a firm 12-almost-14. I tried to dissuade him, to tell him that he looked silly, but then an argument began, and I thought, you know what, if he were The Princess, I would have given up at the first protestation. If she’s taught me anything, it’s to pick my battles, and what you are wearing is not worth fighting. So I let him go, even though he kind of looked like this:
Just hoping some of that anti-bullying rhetoric stuck to the ruffians in his middle school population yesterday.