All you women who have ever been pregnant will probably know what I'm referring to when I say the phrase "nesting." It's that energy to clean up and organize that you get when it's almost time to have the baby. Gotta "feather the nest" for the new little chick.
Well, I can probably say I've been un-nesting. I've already got four little chicks, and they've done a whole hecka lotta feathering themselves over the years. And we've lived in the same town for exactly 10 years now. Although we moved houses two years ago, it was only a distance of 1 mile away. And it was a mess because all we did was throw junk in the car over and over again and move junk to a different location. I did not clear out as much junk as I would had I truly been "moving."
Well, I'm trying to un-feather our big nest just in case we actually DO move. And this time it won't be a mile away -- it'll be 3000 miles or so. And you just don't move junk that kind of distance. At least, I don't care to.
(For those who read "In Limbo," I mentioned we're waiting to move. We're still waiting, but at least we have found out that someone has given notice, so there will be an opening at the hospital Marce wants to work at. It's just now more waiting to see what the official position will be and when he'll get out for an interview.)
I thought of myself as a bit of a packrat when I was young. But since I've been an adult, I have thought of myself as a "thrower." I have packed up enough boxes over the years that I can't bear to have to pack any more than is absolutely necessary. And I am a bit of a neat freak and probably a touch OCD in the sense that clutter around me just heightens the clutter that is often my mind. It makes me a little "itchy" psychologically.
So this past week, I've used the time Charlotte has been at her "preschool" for a few hours at a time to clean out stuff while she's not underfoot. I told the girls I was going to clean out their room and they would help me decide what to give away. Even though on Tuesday, I filled a huge bag full of paper products for recycling, and a small bag for trash, pulled everything off shelves and from under beds, organized, and vacuumed up a few litters' worth of dust bunnies, Marce couldn't tell a difference when he walked in Cami and Marissa's room. So on Thursday, I went in there and worked some more to find dolls and stuffed animals to give away. We ended up with two paper bags full of them, which we took across the street to a place that helps children who have been abused. I am quite sure Marce still couldn't see a difference in their room, because the stuff primarily came from boxes under their bunk bed. I also organized their book shelf. Of course, I didn't give away a single book.
Even though my dear husband didn't see a difference in the girls' room, he did see a major difference in the kitchen. I spent a couple more hours on Tuesday in there. I threw away junk and cleaned and organized. A couple of trash bags went out to the garbage bin. And we could see our countertops! I went to the store and brought home a big watermelon and two cantaloupes and laid them on the counter, with plenty of room to spare.
I cleaned out the bathrooms a bit. While I've done this in the fairly recent past, this time was primarily for the purpose of getting all the blankets and towels off the large wire shelf so we could put tile on the floor. The bulk of our bathroom redo was done before Charlotte arrived last year, but we have been walking on a yucky, un-matching floor all this time. We picked out backerboard and ceramic tile a few months ago. Now that it's 90 degrees outside, it's the perfect time to finally hunker down and put down the tile, especially since there is no AC in the upstairs bathroom (there was no central air upstairs in the house when we bought it, so we bought very nice individual "Mr. Slim" units for each bedroom. They have great energy efficiency and are very comfortable, and they were almost entirely non-invasive on our old house. But they were quite pricey for each unit, and it wasn' t worth putting just in the bathroom. So we have no air in there but a fan.)
So here we are trying to get the floor somehow level (Marce is working on that right as I write), and put the backerboard down. And then we can figure out the ideal time to lay the tile. That will mean a day to dry, a day to put in grout, etc., making the tub inaccessible for a few days, and the toilet as well (since we are going to put a new one in finally). Not sure how we'll swing that. We do have a full bathroom downstairs, but the clawfoot is just a tub and not a shower. And as it is, Marissa hates having to go downstairs to use the toilet when the upstairs one is ocupado. She'll stand there and fuss for a few minutes when she could have just gone down the stairs in that time.
So we're not luxuriating in summer relaxation. I'm playing host to a house full of children freshly out of school, and cleaning like CRAZY and all the usual stuff. But the house is looking pretty good. It's not nearly as cluttered, although I think it will still have to be photographed very strategically in each room to make it look really stylish for any real-estate listings.
I'm just pleased that at least I've hauled out a lot more lately than I've hauled in. It's a start in fighting the uphill battle that is the encroachment of entropy.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
In Limbo
Well, we've been hoping to move to California. That's it in a nutshell. I got the idea back in January, while visiting SF, that it would be really great for the girls especially if we could move to Visalia, where Marce's brother and his wife and their six kids live. The girls could grow up now near their cousins, the schools would invariably be better than what we have here, and the church would be a little bigger. Right now, the Primary is pretty small, and there aren't a lot of kids at church for our girls to hang out with. I'd really love it if they had a few more options.
So, the hospital out there would love for Marce to come work for them. But we've been waiting for a position to open up. Isn't anyone there quitting??
Truth be told, I haven't been wanting anyone to quit too soon, anyway. We have a lot to do around here to prepare to move, and school has still been in, etc. So we feel pretty determined to move, but all we have right now are plans. And plans are SO subject to change. In the meantime, we're quite busy living life (as noted in my other posts) and going about our business. But we've got in the back of our heads (and often in the FRONTS) that we're going to be moving. We're trying to fix up what needs to be fixed up in the house; I'm trying to box up junk we don't use often or throw it away or give it away. Trying to get an idea of what finances will be like. All that kind of fun stuff.
Of course, if we stay, we still have to deal with the big issue of the schools. The public school system here in the city of Anniston is the pits. It may be slowly back on the rise, but it will be a very long, slow process. In the meantime, it's become untenable for us and for our girls. Brianna has been in a private Catholic school this past year, and it has been great for her. We thought the elementary school closest to us would be fine for Cami and Marissa, which it has been mostly, and mainly academically, but it has just not been good in terms of the other students. Everyone who could has left the system, either moving away to other areas or paying for private school. So everyone who's left has no money or doesn't care. (I'm talking families, now, of course.) So what we feel remains is a lot of kids from families who largely don't seem to care about the kids and their lives and their discipline. It makes for a pretty crazy environment for our girls. The principal over at the school spends quite a bit of her time paddling kids who are acting up. I could go on and on. But as much as I've wanted to help the school and the whole system, and to keep my kids in it to try to help, I'm way beyond my depth at this point. It's sad and frustrating. I want to be part of the solution, but at the same time, I simply can't sacrifice my children on that altar. They seem to have been acting up more and I just feel it has a lot to do with the kids who surround them every day.
SO. Either we move, to California, or to outlying areas of town, or we send them all to the private school. If we don't move this year, that's what I will do. But even that isn't a permanent solution. The private school won't have the resources or the mandate to provide Marissa with the extra help she needs. That's the big issue.
In the meantime, we stay busy, we clean, we throw away, we fix up, we live our lives. And we have faith that it will work out the way it should. And it will. Just not exactly sure what to prepare for. And that's kind of the hardest part of being in Limbo.
So, the hospital out there would love for Marce to come work for them. But we've been waiting for a position to open up. Isn't anyone there quitting??
Truth be told, I haven't been wanting anyone to quit too soon, anyway. We have a lot to do around here to prepare to move, and school has still been in, etc. So we feel pretty determined to move, but all we have right now are plans. And plans are SO subject to change. In the meantime, we're quite busy living life (as noted in my other posts) and going about our business. But we've got in the back of our heads (and often in the FRONTS) that we're going to be moving. We're trying to fix up what needs to be fixed up in the house; I'm trying to box up junk we don't use often or throw it away or give it away. Trying to get an idea of what finances will be like. All that kind of fun stuff.
Of course, if we stay, we still have to deal with the big issue of the schools. The public school system here in the city of Anniston is the pits. It may be slowly back on the rise, but it will be a very long, slow process. In the meantime, it's become untenable for us and for our girls. Brianna has been in a private Catholic school this past year, and it has been great for her. We thought the elementary school closest to us would be fine for Cami and Marissa, which it has been mostly, and mainly academically, but it has just not been good in terms of the other students. Everyone who could has left the system, either moving away to other areas or paying for private school. So everyone who's left has no money or doesn't care. (I'm talking families, now, of course.) So what we feel remains is a lot of kids from families who largely don't seem to care about the kids and their lives and their discipline. It makes for a pretty crazy environment for our girls. The principal over at the school spends quite a bit of her time paddling kids who are acting up. I could go on and on. But as much as I've wanted to help the school and the whole system, and to keep my kids in it to try to help, I'm way beyond my depth at this point. It's sad and frustrating. I want to be part of the solution, but at the same time, I simply can't sacrifice my children on that altar. They seem to have been acting up more and I just feel it has a lot to do with the kids who surround them every day.
SO. Either we move, to California, or to outlying areas of town, or we send them all to the private school. If we don't move this year, that's what I will do. But even that isn't a permanent solution. The private school won't have the resources or the mandate to provide Marissa with the extra help she needs. That's the big issue.
In the meantime, we stay busy, we clean, we throw away, we fix up, we live our lives. And we have faith that it will work out the way it should. And it will. Just not exactly sure what to prepare for. And that's kind of the hardest part of being in Limbo.
Birthdays galore
May is a very busy month at our house. It contains a plethora of birthdays: mine on the 14th, Brianna's on the 16th, and Cami's on the 31st. It also contains Mother's Day, which is very close to my birthday, if not actually the same day some years. Charlotte was due to be born on May 12th but graciously arrived on April 30, so she's not actually a May birthday as well. So while she gets to say she was born in April and have a diamond birthstone (I would prefer that neutral "color" to the green of the emerald that is MY birthstone, but hey, what can I do about that? I was due to be born in April and I chose to stay inside my cocoon for way longer), she still kind of piggybacks on the May train. She is now the start of birthday season for the Lims.
So Charlotte turned 1. Brianna has turned 12. Cami's about to turn 6. I'm astonished at how big they are. Charlotte is a solid 24 pounds, and getting heavy for any of us to carry around. Brianna, to contrast, was just over 15 pounds at a year old. She walked right at a year. Charlotte still hasn't gotten that far. I'm thinking she has a lot more to lug around. But she does crawl with amazing speed and agility. I put her down on the floor of Circuit City the other day so I could pick something else up, and she was GONE in a split second. I had to run around a couple of different aisles till I found her! It's like she just teleported. (Note to self: will find a cart there next time, no matter what.)
Brianna is 12 now, and officially a young woman. She really is, at least in our church lingo. Kids from age 18 months to 3 get to go to Nursery at church on Sundays; kids from 3 to 11 go to Primary for their lessons and singing time, etc.; and the girls go to Young Women at age 12, until they hit 18. This means she gets to go to classes now with teen girls instead of little kids. It means she gets to go to the yearly Girls' Camp, which here is being held in just a couple of weeks. And it means that she gets to go to do some work at the temple, which is really neat. I can't believe that she's 12 now. Brianna is still a very gracious, sensitive and kind, and delightful girl. She rarely makes me frustrated with her and she is very helpful around the house. She has a fun sense of humor and is just sweet and enjoyable to be around. I am so proud of her, if you hadn't guessed it yet!
Cami lost her first tooth, finally, just a couple of weeks ago, and was able to get a visit from the tooth fairy. The other tooth was fully grown in, and luckily it moved right into place pretty quickly. Now her other tooth next to it is doing the same thing: growing in, tooth in front barely loose. That means Marce will harp on her every day to WIGGLE IT, ALREADY! Or I'LL YANK IT OUT MYSELF! A fun bit of entertainment.
For Charlotte's birthday, we had a little party and invited a few people (would have loved to invite more, but I was trying to keep it under some control) to witness the cake-eating, etc. Charlotte turned out to LOVE the cake. She hesitantly took a bite, reaching out with her hand to pluck off a bit of frosting from the top, and then looked very pleased at the result. She took a few more little nibbles, and then her hands started moving much faster. Grab cake, stuff in mouth, other hand follow. It was a great show. I believe it was the most entertaining of any of the girls' cake-eating experiences to date. Pictures are on my Smugmug site.
Brianna will have her party on Friday night. Details to follow if I survive.
My birthday, you ask? I took a day off. I drove to Atlanta and spent the night the night before my big day and then spent Wednesday shopping for clothes. I hung out with a friend and talked like crazy late into the night and watched a movie on her big-screen TV. It was a very nice day for me. I got to eat a nice, healthy lunch at a very pleasant restaurant, and that night I came home to have a TCBY ice cream pie. And then ... I went to a meeting at church. But hey, all in all it was very nice. It was most enjoyable after the previous week of hospital "fun."
So Charlotte turned 1. Brianna has turned 12. Cami's about to turn 6. I'm astonished at how big they are. Charlotte is a solid 24 pounds, and getting heavy for any of us to carry around. Brianna, to contrast, was just over 15 pounds at a year old. She walked right at a year. Charlotte still hasn't gotten that far. I'm thinking she has a lot more to lug around. But she does crawl with amazing speed and agility. I put her down on the floor of Circuit City the other day so I could pick something else up, and she was GONE in a split second. I had to run around a couple of different aisles till I found her! It's like she just teleported. (Note to self: will find a cart there next time, no matter what.)
Brianna is 12 now, and officially a young woman. She really is, at least in our church lingo. Kids from age 18 months to 3 get to go to Nursery at church on Sundays; kids from 3 to 11 go to Primary for their lessons and singing time, etc.; and the girls go to Young Women at age 12, until they hit 18. This means she gets to go to classes now with teen girls instead of little kids. It means she gets to go to the yearly Girls' Camp, which here is being held in just a couple of weeks. And it means that she gets to go to do some work at the temple, which is really neat. I can't believe that she's 12 now. Brianna is still a very gracious, sensitive and kind, and delightful girl. She rarely makes me frustrated with her and she is very helpful around the house. She has a fun sense of humor and is just sweet and enjoyable to be around. I am so proud of her, if you hadn't guessed it yet!
Cami lost her first tooth, finally, just a couple of weeks ago, and was able to get a visit from the tooth fairy. The other tooth was fully grown in, and luckily it moved right into place pretty quickly. Now her other tooth next to it is doing the same thing: growing in, tooth in front barely loose. That means Marce will harp on her every day to WIGGLE IT, ALREADY! Or I'LL YANK IT OUT MYSELF! A fun bit of entertainment.
For Charlotte's birthday, we had a little party and invited a few people (would have loved to invite more, but I was trying to keep it under some control) to witness the cake-eating, etc. Charlotte turned out to LOVE the cake. She hesitantly took a bite, reaching out with her hand to pluck off a bit of frosting from the top, and then looked very pleased at the result. She took a few more little nibbles, and then her hands started moving much faster. Grab cake, stuff in mouth, other hand follow. It was a great show. I believe it was the most entertaining of any of the girls' cake-eating experiences to date. Pictures are on my Smugmug site.
Brianna will have her party on Friday night. Details to follow if I survive.
My birthday, you ask? I took a day off. I drove to Atlanta and spent the night the night before my big day and then spent Wednesday shopping for clothes. I hung out with a friend and talked like crazy late into the night and watched a movie on her big-screen TV. It was a very nice day for me. I got to eat a nice, healthy lunch at a very pleasant restaurant, and that night I came home to have a TCBY ice cream pie. And then ... I went to a meeting at church. But hey, all in all it was very nice. It was most enjoyable after the previous week of hospital "fun."
An onslaught of posts
OK, here's what I'm gonna do. I planned to write numerous posts this month on numerous useful and pertinent, even poignant, topics. Now here it is May 20, and I've had friends/family wondering where the posts are. So rather than write one HUGE post, I'm going to introduce the topics by first explaining why in the world I didn't write earlier. I really, really did want to post earlier. But I got sidetracked.
One main sidetracking: Charlotte. She got some kind of infection and was hospitalized. Yeah, in the hospital. With four children and their illnesses and accidents under our belts, so to say, we have not yet had a child admitted to the hospital. Sure, we've visited the ER a few times (mainly for Marissa and whatever little hijinks she managed to pull, like chewing a whole bottle of Cami's Singulair medication or getting her thumb squished in a door by a very active little boy), but haven't had to STAY in the hospital for more than a few hours. Charlotte's a first in many ways now (possibly see another related entry). She spiked a fever, not a really high one, but a fever. Then she had a dr checkup, and he was afraid that her eye looked like it had cellulitis. He had blood work done. Came back, and her white blood cell count was 28,000. A tad high. So he tossed it around. He sent me to another pediatrician who works with Stringfellow (Marce's hospital... our pediatrician doesn't sent kids there but to the other local hospital) so we could get the visit covered without paying an exorbitant sum out of pocket. That dr decided to admit her. That was Monday the 5th. I spent 5 hours in the doctors' offices that day before we even went to the hospital.
SO, I let Marce take Charlotte into the hospital to get her admitted at 6 p.m., and I ran home to pack up our stuff. I was hoping that he would be present for the insertion of the IV. I had already witnessed her stuck about four times that day, and it was not a pretty sight. She started to scream just when a medical person approached her. So I got to come home, field phone calls, do stuff, feed the children, etc., before I ran back to the hospital for what would surely be a "way fun" time. Needless to say, I was a bit perturbed when I arrived two hours later and found Marce lounging on the hospital bed with Charlotte cuddled next to him, watching ESPN. No IV, nothing. In two hours, NOTHING HAD HAPPENED.
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. Medical stuff does not happen quickly unless gallons of blood are spurting out of a detached limb. But I did allow my hopes to rise only to be dashed. It wasn't the first time hopes would be dashed in the following days.
The nurses finally got the IV in Charlotte around 10 p.m., after four tries in different spots. Then we were able to settle in and sleep. She was exhausted from the whole ordeal and I was ready to get some sleep myself. And it was a decent night.
Tuesday was fine; Charlotte was a bit tired and listless but was managing. The listlessness part worked for me. I could rest a bit, read, etc. I got a couple of hours away when Marce relieved me for a bit later in the day. I spent another night there. It wasn't as fun. The IV pump beeped off and on for half the night and I didn't sleep so soundly.
On Wednesday morning I was really thinking we'd get to go. But the dr came by and said that while he was happy that the IV antibiotics had already helped her blood cell count to go down to 13,000 the day before, he was wanting to make sure her fever had been gone for a while before he sent us home. (Pop! Sounds of bursting bubbles.)
So I had to endure another day. Friends came by and helped out a bit, relieved me for a little while, talked, brought chocolate milkshakes... After my near-breakdown of not being able to handle the strain of the experience (by this point, Charlotte was feeling pretty good and was wanting to be mobile but couldn't be because of the IV in her foot. Not fun.) anymore, Marce volunteered to stay the night that night. So I got to sleep at home in my comfy bed. Thursday, I resumed my post in the hospital, expecting the dr to let us go anytime. I was not at all pleased when by 7 p.m. he still hadn't shown up. The nurse made phone calls to his beeper, cell phone, etc. which he didn't answer. Then the other pediatrician on call graciously let us go, before I caused any damage....
I got home and changed into workout clothes and enjoyed a 90-minute workout, during which I did my usual elliptical workout and then ran on the treadmill, increasing the speed up to 7.5 mph before I started feeling a real burn that could allow me to release all my pent-up frustrations. It felt great.
Charlotte is doing just fine. Still has a bit of a cold and some ear infection, but the big infection part is gone. She is her usual funny, get-into-stuff girl.
And I hope that we don't have to enter a hospital again for a very, very long time.
One main sidetracking: Charlotte. She got some kind of infection and was hospitalized. Yeah, in the hospital. With four children and their illnesses and accidents under our belts, so to say, we have not yet had a child admitted to the hospital. Sure, we've visited the ER a few times (mainly for Marissa and whatever little hijinks she managed to pull, like chewing a whole bottle of Cami's Singulair medication or getting her thumb squished in a door by a very active little boy), but haven't had to STAY in the hospital for more than a few hours. Charlotte's a first in many ways now (possibly see another related entry). She spiked a fever, not a really high one, but a fever. Then she had a dr checkup, and he was afraid that her eye looked like it had cellulitis. He had blood work done. Came back, and her white blood cell count was 28,000. A tad high. So he tossed it around. He sent me to another pediatrician who works with Stringfellow (Marce's hospital... our pediatrician doesn't sent kids there but to the other local hospital) so we could get the visit covered without paying an exorbitant sum out of pocket. That dr decided to admit her. That was Monday the 5th. I spent 5 hours in the doctors' offices that day before we even went to the hospital.
SO, I let Marce take Charlotte into the hospital to get her admitted at 6 p.m., and I ran home to pack up our stuff. I was hoping that he would be present for the insertion of the IV. I had already witnessed her stuck about four times that day, and it was not a pretty sight. She started to scream just when a medical person approached her. So I got to come home, field phone calls, do stuff, feed the children, etc., before I ran back to the hospital for what would surely be a "way fun" time. Needless to say, I was a bit perturbed when I arrived two hours later and found Marce lounging on the hospital bed with Charlotte cuddled next to him, watching ESPN. No IV, nothing. In two hours, NOTHING HAD HAPPENED.
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. Medical stuff does not happen quickly unless gallons of blood are spurting out of a detached limb. But I did allow my hopes to rise only to be dashed. It wasn't the first time hopes would be dashed in the following days.
The nurses finally got the IV in Charlotte around 10 p.m., after four tries in different spots. Then we were able to settle in and sleep. She was exhausted from the whole ordeal and I was ready to get some sleep myself. And it was a decent night.
Tuesday was fine; Charlotte was a bit tired and listless but was managing. The listlessness part worked for me. I could rest a bit, read, etc. I got a couple of hours away when Marce relieved me for a bit later in the day. I spent another night there. It wasn't as fun. The IV pump beeped off and on for half the night and I didn't sleep so soundly.
On Wednesday morning I was really thinking we'd get to go. But the dr came by and said that while he was happy that the IV antibiotics had already helped her blood cell count to go down to 13,000 the day before, he was wanting to make sure her fever had been gone for a while before he sent us home. (Pop! Sounds of bursting bubbles.)
So I had to endure another day. Friends came by and helped out a bit, relieved me for a little while, talked, brought chocolate milkshakes... After my near-breakdown of not being able to handle the strain of the experience (by this point, Charlotte was feeling pretty good and was wanting to be mobile but couldn't be because of the IV in her foot. Not fun.) anymore, Marce volunteered to stay the night that night. So I got to sleep at home in my comfy bed. Thursday, I resumed my post in the hospital, expecting the dr to let us go anytime. I was not at all pleased when by 7 p.m. he still hadn't shown up. The nurse made phone calls to his beeper, cell phone, etc. which he didn't answer. Then the other pediatrician on call graciously let us go, before I caused any damage....
I got home and changed into workout clothes and enjoyed a 90-minute workout, during which I did my usual elliptical workout and then ran on the treadmill, increasing the speed up to 7.5 mph before I started feeling a real burn that could allow me to release all my pent-up frustrations. It felt great.
Charlotte is doing just fine. Still has a bit of a cold and some ear infection, but the big infection part is gone. She is her usual funny, get-into-stuff girl.
And I hope that we don't have to enter a hospital again for a very, very long time.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Pearly whites and the 3 dwarfs
Note: Just in case you were wondering, my April 1 post yielded no success. Life went on as usual. Surprise. But it is healthy to cultivate and keep a good imagination.
My children have kept the dentist and the tooth fairy busy lately. I'm not the only one they keep on her toes, at least. Marissa had to have two teeth pulled a few weeks ago -- again -- because not a single one of her teeth has gotten loose or come out on its own. SO glad to keep our peds dentist fed and clothed. Brianna even had to have one tooth pulled because teeth were growing in behind two other teeth. One was pulled because it wasn't loose at all, and the second tooth was loose, so it was spared the humiliation of being unceremoniously yanked. It fell out this week while she was eating. That meant that she was instantly finished with dinner because it became uncomfortable to eat.
Cami, not to be outdone, is growing in a new tooth, its baby counterpart at least a little loose. It didn't start off very loose, but after the other girls' dentist visits (can you say $80 per tooth?), we insisted on getting some movement going on our own. We did a little not-so-gentle wiggling and then reminded her to put hand to mouth to nudge it herself. It's still in there, but it should come out eventually. This will be her first lost tooth, which will earn her her first tooth fairy visit. Brianna, at almost 12, isn't majorly eager to have the fairy drop by of an evening. She's rather attached to her teeth, so for the past few that have come out, she has chosen to keep them as souvenirs rather than lose her mementos to the tooth fairy in exchange for the pittance of 50 cents or something (she's got a nice savings account going and four bits wouldn't make a big change in the ledger). I don't know where she's keeping them. She was going to give up this week's tooth just because it still had some food embedded in its ridges, but she ended up keeping it, apparently. I saw her in the bathroom sticking it with a toothpick to clean it out.
Charlotte hasn't been left out in the cold. She has also sprouted a new tooth, the same tooth that Cami is just now trying to get rid of. So no visits from the tooth fairy for her yet; simply lengthy stays by the drool and booger witches.
Meanwhile, I'm staying busy playing Cinderella. I've been cooking, cleaning and doing dishes like crazy, and keeping the dirty laundry at bay. I've felt like I've been living in the kitchen. But my family has eaten well lately. Today was just a day for leftovers. That's it.
I've also been living with the incarnation of three dwarfs: Sneezy, Sleepy and Grumpy. This three-headed creature (a truncated Hydra, perhaps?) is otherwise known as Marce, my husband. It's April and springtime, at last, here in the South. Spring is by far my favorite season. You can picture me in a pretty little floral dress, tiptoeing through the tulips, frolicking in slow motion in a breezy wonderland of flowers and trees. I'm happy and light-hearted, singing and tra-la-la-ing. The coating of yellow dust that settles onto everything around me doesn't bother me at all. I merrily skip as I sing and breathe in the heady scents of flowers and grass that is being mown in neighbors' yards. Oh, it is almost heaven!
Cut to Marce. He is beset by his yearly nemesis, ALLERGY season. He would otherwise enjoy spring, sure. But thanks to his body's reaction to the allergens in the air, he is miserable. His eyes are itchy and watery and red; they are puffy around the upper and lower lids. He is sniffling and sneezing and generally looking like death warmed over. He is truly misery incarnate for a solid month. Grumpy is not my favorite hubby. I notice Marce morphing into Grumpy at the start of allergy season and start asking him, "What's got you in such a bad mood?" I ask this every year several times (you'd think I'd learn after 15 years!) until it hits me that I'm dealing with Allergy-ridden Evil Twin Marce. I am trying to be patient and kind with him, knowing how bad it is to be miserable, but I am probably not doing so well. I also am thinking, you know, I should be sympathetic -- it's only fair since I am PMS Evil Twin Cathy once a month for maybe a week. His 1/12-th of a year is actually less than my 1/4-th of a month. But I suppose I'm less charitable than he. So while he is Grumpy right now, I do have to remind myself that he is much more often Long-Suffering Man, the kind, forgiving guy who I am always thanking heaven that I have in my life.
Now if we could just get Doc to move in for a while to take care of the dental and ENT issues, I think I'd be free to go outside as Happy and do some slo-mo frolicking.
My children have kept the dentist and the tooth fairy busy lately. I'm not the only one they keep on her toes, at least. Marissa had to have two teeth pulled a few weeks ago -- again -- because not a single one of her teeth has gotten loose or come out on its own. SO glad to keep our peds dentist fed and clothed. Brianna even had to have one tooth pulled because teeth were growing in behind two other teeth. One was pulled because it wasn't loose at all, and the second tooth was loose, so it was spared the humiliation of being unceremoniously yanked. It fell out this week while she was eating. That meant that she was instantly finished with dinner because it became uncomfortable to eat.
Cami, not to be outdone, is growing in a new tooth, its baby counterpart at least a little loose. It didn't start off very loose, but after the other girls' dentist visits (can you say $80 per tooth?), we insisted on getting some movement going on our own. We did a little not-so-gentle wiggling and then reminded her to put hand to mouth to nudge it herself. It's still in there, but it should come out eventually. This will be her first lost tooth, which will earn her her first tooth fairy visit. Brianna, at almost 12, isn't majorly eager to have the fairy drop by of an evening. She's rather attached to her teeth, so for the past few that have come out, she has chosen to keep them as souvenirs rather than lose her mementos to the tooth fairy in exchange for the pittance of 50 cents or something (she's got a nice savings account going and four bits wouldn't make a big change in the ledger). I don't know where she's keeping them. She was going to give up this week's tooth just because it still had some food embedded in its ridges, but she ended up keeping it, apparently. I saw her in the bathroom sticking it with a toothpick to clean it out.
Charlotte hasn't been left out in the cold. She has also sprouted a new tooth, the same tooth that Cami is just now trying to get rid of. So no visits from the tooth fairy for her yet; simply lengthy stays by the drool and booger witches.
Meanwhile, I'm staying busy playing Cinderella. I've been cooking, cleaning and doing dishes like crazy, and keeping the dirty laundry at bay. I've felt like I've been living in the kitchen. But my family has eaten well lately. Today was just a day for leftovers. That's it.
I've also been living with the incarnation of three dwarfs: Sneezy, Sleepy and Grumpy. This three-headed creature (a truncated Hydra, perhaps?) is otherwise known as Marce, my husband. It's April and springtime, at last, here in the South. Spring is by far my favorite season. You can picture me in a pretty little floral dress, tiptoeing through the tulips, frolicking in slow motion in a breezy wonderland of flowers and trees. I'm happy and light-hearted, singing and tra-la-la-ing. The coating of yellow dust that settles onto everything around me doesn't bother me at all. I merrily skip as I sing and breathe in the heady scents of flowers and grass that is being mown in neighbors' yards. Oh, it is almost heaven!
Cut to Marce. He is beset by his yearly nemesis, ALLERGY season. He would otherwise enjoy spring, sure. But thanks to his body's reaction to the allergens in the air, he is miserable. His eyes are itchy and watery and red; they are puffy around the upper and lower lids. He is sniffling and sneezing and generally looking like death warmed over. He is truly misery incarnate for a solid month. Grumpy is not my favorite hubby. I notice Marce morphing into Grumpy at the start of allergy season and start asking him, "What's got you in such a bad mood?" I ask this every year several times (you'd think I'd learn after 15 years!) until it hits me that I'm dealing with Allergy-ridden Evil Twin Marce. I am trying to be patient and kind with him, knowing how bad it is to be miserable, but I am probably not doing so well. I also am thinking, you know, I should be sympathetic -- it's only fair since I am PMS Evil Twin Cathy once a month for maybe a week. His 1/12-th of a year is actually less than my 1/4-th of a month. But I suppose I'm less charitable than he. So while he is Grumpy right now, I do have to remind myself that he is much more often Long-Suffering Man, the kind, forgiving guy who I am always thanking heaven that I have in my life.
Now if we could just get Doc to move in for a while to take care of the dental and ENT issues, I think I'd be free to go outside as Happy and do some slo-mo frolicking.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Fools' Day
I've never been much of a practical joker. I hate being on the receiving end, so I'd never dream of being on the giving end of a nasty joke. I have a hard time even with really minor pranks. No imagination for them, apparently. So I have nothing to share today that would be at all jokey.
I can, however, dream. ...
My day is perfect. My children are all absolutely, completely obedient and helpful. They play happily together, providing background noise of gentle, cute giggles. My baby isn't clingy -- instead, she watches her older sisters play and participates in what she can without making them say, "Mah-uhm! Charlotte's messing up our stuff!!"
I go to the gym for my daily workout and find that, unwittingly, I've lost 10 pounds overnight. I can fit into some nice pants that have previously been too tight. I look in the mirror and find my skin is absolutely clear and beautiful, no zits in sight.
I sit down at the computer and find that the text for my next great American novel is springing to mind completely formed, and lining itself up on my monitor with almost no effort from my fingers. Writer's block is gone, ideas are ingenious, poignant, at times gently humorous.
I don't have to worry about what to cook because a top chef is coming today to make a scrumptious meal everyone will love that is healthy and low in calories.
After dinner, my husband and I are able to jet out of town for a few days to Europe, for a quick, romantic getaway. The Concorde is still flying, so we can arrive in just a couple of hours without any jetlag. Our energy is high, and fireworks light up the night sky just for us.
... apparently I still have a little imagination left. Here's to life, love, and foolish dreams!
I can, however, dream. ...
My day is perfect. My children are all absolutely, completely obedient and helpful. They play happily together, providing background noise of gentle, cute giggles. My baby isn't clingy -- instead, she watches her older sisters play and participates in what she can without making them say, "Mah-uhm! Charlotte's messing up our stuff!!"
I go to the gym for my daily workout and find that, unwittingly, I've lost 10 pounds overnight. I can fit into some nice pants that have previously been too tight. I look in the mirror and find my skin is absolutely clear and beautiful, no zits in sight.
I sit down at the computer and find that the text for my next great American novel is springing to mind completely formed, and lining itself up on my monitor with almost no effort from my fingers. Writer's block is gone, ideas are ingenious, poignant, at times gently humorous.
I don't have to worry about what to cook because a top chef is coming today to make a scrumptious meal everyone will love that is healthy and low in calories.
After dinner, my husband and I are able to jet out of town for a few days to Europe, for a quick, romantic getaway. The Concorde is still flying, so we can arrive in just a couple of hours without any jetlag. Our energy is high, and fireworks light up the night sky just for us.
... apparently I still have a little imagination left. Here's to life, love, and foolish dreams!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Itty-bitty traveling space
Our family has never shied away from long road trips. So this month, we packed the van practically as full of people as it is capable of holding and traipsed on down to Texas. Marce, the girls, my dad and I all drove 11 hours or so from here to Houston. That's not including stops, mind you. I don't mind the usual 6-hour jaunts, but 11 hours is kind of rough. I try to avoid those types of long hauls on a regular basis, but sometimes they're important.
Such as this time around, when my niece got married. We couldn't miss this important event, especially since it was -- technically -- within driving distance. The girls have had several opportunities to meet Kim and play with her (she has a huge box of crayons and coloring books, to boot), so I knew they would appreciate seeing her in her beautiful wedding dress.
It was actually not so bad a trip, considering everything. Including the fact that Marissa got sick the day or two before we left, and I feared all of us catching it and being a car full of sick folks. Luckily, she wasn't vomiting sick, except for one occasion before the trip, and none of the rest of us got that way. I caught it, which seemed to have been a fairly minor version of the flu. So Marissa was somewhat short of her usual energy level, and I was far below mine. Lethargic certainly described us well. Luckily, Marce could drive and Dad could drive. I was almost useless. But the girls all did fairly well. Charlotte got to being not too happy to be put back in her car seat, but she survived.
The wedding was beautiful, and it was such a pleasure to be with family for such a happy occasion. It was also a wonderful opportunity to reinforce the value of the temple for our daughters, who a mere 3 weeks before were able to be in the Birmingham temple with us as Charlotte was sealed to our family for eternity. This time, they got to stand outside the Houston temple of our church to witness the bride and groom emerging from the ceremony we were able to witness inside. It was beautiful.
Since then, I've been busy uploading photos and posting them on the SmugMug site and getting prints made of a variety of pictures from the past 6 months so I can update Charlotte's baby book. Nice to be getting a handle on that again. She's changed so much. I can't believe she was so tiny 9 months ago, and here she is in the 75th percentile for height and weight and crawling all over, pulling books off the bottom shelves, yanking CDs out of their little tower. I walk around and find all kinds of detritus strewn about the floor. Ah. Fun having a crawler around. She also has discovered saying "uh-oh." It's absolutely ADORABLE.
I've been so busy with all the odds and ends around the house as well as starting and updating my books website, Rated Reads. If you haven't seen it, check it out and pass along the word to friends. I think it is a great resource and I plan on it just getting better and better and having more tools for discussion and so on. I'm really pleased with it.
So far, the year is going very well. So many neat things to enjoy.
Such as this time around, when my niece got married. We couldn't miss this important event, especially since it was -- technically -- within driving distance. The girls have had several opportunities to meet Kim and play with her (she has a huge box of crayons and coloring books, to boot), so I knew they would appreciate seeing her in her beautiful wedding dress.
It was actually not so bad a trip, considering everything. Including the fact that Marissa got sick the day or two before we left, and I feared all of us catching it and being a car full of sick folks. Luckily, she wasn't vomiting sick, except for one occasion before the trip, and none of the rest of us got that way. I caught it, which seemed to have been a fairly minor version of the flu. So Marissa was somewhat short of her usual energy level, and I was far below mine. Lethargic certainly described us well. Luckily, Marce could drive and Dad could drive. I was almost useless. But the girls all did fairly well. Charlotte got to being not too happy to be put back in her car seat, but she survived.
The wedding was beautiful, and it was such a pleasure to be with family for such a happy occasion. It was also a wonderful opportunity to reinforce the value of the temple for our daughters, who a mere 3 weeks before were able to be in the Birmingham temple with us as Charlotte was sealed to our family for eternity. This time, they got to stand outside the Houston temple of our church to witness the bride and groom emerging from the ceremony we were able to witness inside. It was beautiful.
Since then, I've been busy uploading photos and posting them on the SmugMug site and getting prints made of a variety of pictures from the past 6 months so I can update Charlotte's baby book. Nice to be getting a handle on that again. She's changed so much. I can't believe she was so tiny 9 months ago, and here she is in the 75th percentile for height and weight and crawling all over, pulling books off the bottom shelves, yanking CDs out of their little tower. I walk around and find all kinds of detritus strewn about the floor. Ah. Fun having a crawler around. She also has discovered saying "uh-oh." It's absolutely ADORABLE.
I've been so busy with all the odds and ends around the house as well as starting and updating my books website, Rated Reads. If you haven't seen it, check it out and pass along the word to friends. I think it is a great resource and I plan on it just getting better and better and having more tools for discussion and so on. I'm really pleased with it.
So far, the year is going very well. So many neat things to enjoy.
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