Thursday, November 20, 2008

He had to be sick...

Nine years ago today, Mr. W. and I pledged our lives to each other before God and more than 200 guests. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day, much like today has been. We were surrounded by friends and family who wished us the very best. I laughed until I cried about the shoe polish smeared across Mr. W.'s brother's face and the electrical tape used to hold the best man's shoe together. The photos with Mr. W.'s family show me just about in tears as we called out 'shoe polish' instead of the traditional 'cheese.' It was a lovely, laughter-filled day.

Poor Mr. W., though. He had been sick like crazy the night before. Fever, cough, chills all night. The fever broke the morning of the wedding, and his voice held out just through reciting our vows. My running joke has been that he had to be sick to marry me.

I still wonder what the people at the hotel thought about us as I did all the talking while Mr. W. signed all the bills for our honeymoon...

I love you, Mr. W. You make me a better person, and I'm grateful for that.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Ironically...

Two days after my Socioeconomically Oriented post, we get the latest food security numbers from the USDA. They are, in my opinion, appalling. The fact we have so many children going hungry is deplorable.

This makes me want to cry: More American Kids Went Hungry Last Year.

From the USDA: Food Security in the US.

I wish you would read, think and contribute to your local food bank. We contribute around this time of year, but the beginning of summer vacation is another time the food banks are hit hard as children are released from school.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Socioeconomically Oriented Post

There has been much ado about the definition of 'rich' lately. Where is the line between middle class and rich? How much does that vary based on location? What percentage of the tax should the rich contribute? How awful is it for people to be making so much more than the average Joe? And on and on and on.

Quite frankly, I don't understand all the fuss. I don't really care about the income/taxation of the wealthy. It's basically immaterial. What I care about is the number of people and families living below the poverty line. Shouldn't we, as a nation, be more concerned with that?

It just feels like the low-flow toilet debacle. Congress said, 'We need to conserve water, so all toilets can oly use X amount of water per flush.' Poof! We wind up with crappy (pardon the pun) toilets for a decade or so while the engineering catches up. If you want to conserve a resource, just make it more expensive. Americans are quite ingenious. Shoot, we even managed to drop our gas consumption when gas prices were so high. I know I saw quite a bit of car pooling at work. I'm not anti low flow toilets, I just think we would have found better ways to conserve water if water were simply made more expensive.

Now we're saying, 'We need more tax dollars, so we're going to boost the taxes of the wealthy.' Wouldn't it be better to investigate how to provide the skills, training, etc. to get people above the poverty line? You raise the standard of living across the board and tax revenue will go up. Why wouldn't this approach work? Why isn't it even discussed? And I'm not talking about a 'redistribution of wealth' situation, either.

I don't believe I'm the only person who thinks this way, but I really don't see anyone in the media asking those kinds of questions.

Driving a Rental

Dealership confirmed that yes, indeed, I have a severe oil leak (yeah, the 3 quarts of oil we poured in over three days kinda said the same thing). They don't want me driving the car around while they wait for a part to come in, so they set me up with a rental.

Meanwhile, I have researched Texas Lemon Law requirements and have started the paper trail. I hope it doesn't come down to this, but just in case, I want all my paper work in order.

I Not L, I Tinkerbell!

L. is in the middle of a love affair with Tinkerbell, and I think it is adorable.

We have a tattered old Tinkerbell costume that L. adores. When she gets home in the evening, one of the first things she does is strip out of her play clothes and put on that costume. The wings are falling off the back, the hemline is approaching Paris Hiltonesque proportions and the fluffy little skirt is unraveling. But, L. loves it.

So long as she is wearing that costume, she refuses to answer to her name. We must call her Tinkerbell.

The funniest thing about it, though, is that she immediately changes back into her play clothes at meal time. She doesn't want to get food on her precious Tinkerbell dress. I'm more accustomed to three year olds who insist they will NOT change a treasured piece of clothing.

I have the fixings to make a new costume, and hope to have three matching costumes made for the girls for Christmas. Who knows if I will find the time, but I plan to send Mr. W. out with the girls over the Thanksgiving break giving me a few hours with the sewing machine. Wish me luck!

Exasperated

I've got two 'oh for crying out loud' issues. Let me just get these off my chest.

1. Before you start spouting how giving the bailouts directly to the American people will make us all wealthy, please do just a tiny bit of math. Please? $700 billion divided among 300 million does not come out to $233,000. Really. It comes out to $2,300.

2. About the Baylor University 'noose' thing. People, it was a rope in a tree. Kids were swinging from it. You know, for fun? It was as racially motivated as the pumpkins they tossed off the parking garage. Don't get me wrong, I know there are racial issues and racists that attend, but those are actually the exception.

FWIW, the only noose I ever heard about at Baylor was when some students attempted to lynch a (white) Catholic about 100 years ago. Fortunately, they were interrupted in this endeavor. One of my history professors pointed out the tree, which was still standing when I was a student. It's the big, ugly tree in the quadrangle, by the way.

Friday, November 14, 2008

What a hoot!

Got this from Mayberry Mom's blog:

1. ROCK STAR NAME: Chad Honda
2. GANGSTA NAME: Mint Chocolate Chip Sneaker
3. NATIVE AMERICAN NAME: Green Cat
4. SUPERHERO NAME: Yellow Coke
5. NASCAR NAME: Hugh William
6. STRIPPER NAME: Roses Chocolate
7. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: Forgotten Frankfurt
8. SPY NAME: Spring Rose
9. CARTOON NAME: Orange Jeans
10. HIPPIE NAME: Muffin Magnolia

If you want to play, here's how:

1. first pet, current car
2. fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe
3. favorite color, favorite animal
4. 2nd favorite color, favorite drink
5. the first names of your grandfathers
6. the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy
7. 5th grade teacher's last name, name of city that starts with the same letter
8. your favorite season/holiday, flower
9. favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now
10. what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

So why did I buy a new car?

Lucky me just got finished buying a brand new tire to replace the brand new tire on my brand new car thanks to the brand new puncture in the side wall.

Lucky me, 2, is going to be dragging said brand new car to the dealership because:

1. The oil light has started flickering on. I should not be losing oil. The car only has 3,000 miles on it and oil shows 70% lifespan left.

2. The car has started making ugly noises when shifting gears. This started out mild and has gotten progressively worse. I should not be hearing funny noises from the transmission.

I just wish I trusted my dealership...

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Back off the meds

I am back off the anti-depressants. Many of my fears concerning them were coming true.

The side effects lessened in some areas and worsened in others.
I could not stop having anxiety issues that A. was suffering from the effects of the meds.
I also basically stopped eating since my appetite was completely gone.

I've talked to my doc, and I won't be trying again until after A. is weaned. He did say that if I could find out if any member of my family had successfully taken an anti-depressant, I'd run about an 80% chance of it working for me. I told him based on the amount of alcoholism and other issues, my family was far more likely to self-medicate. He just wasn't interested in prescribing valium like my grandmother took for so many years, LOL.

At least it wasn't RSV

Miss A. knows how to do misery right. Poor little lamb ran the full spectrum last week and this past weekend.

Fever, congestion, wheezing and the struggles to breathe weren't enough. She also cut her first two teeth. Poor little thing.

She is a pretty remarkable baby, though. Through it all, she still remained in pretty good spirits, so long as I was holding her. At the doctor's office, she went to the nurse, the x-ray tech (had to rule our pneumonia), back to the nurse and back to the x-ray tech without complaining. I had to run into work for a few minutes with her and stashed her with three different people so I could get a few things done. Again, no complaints (but she was awfully glad to see me).

She would have an awful coughing fit and then go right back to cooing and babbling just as soon as it was over.

I wasn't kidding when I told Nurse Bonnie that A. is like that fantasy made-up perfect baby. She makes me feel positively competent as a parent.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Jesus would be so proud...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27639792/

Or not...

It makes me very sad to see Christians behaving so badly on behalf of their faith.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Three words

Time Warner Cable!

Will these guys EVER get my bill straight?

I *heart* Dave Barry

Dave Barry's election column made me laugh, in a good way. Here's to an America that grows up!

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/dave-barry/story/756596.html

Editing because I've visited some blogs more political than mine, and I'm disappointed. Deeply and truly disappointed.

Why, oh why, do people take at face value what their party says about the 'other guy'? I just don't understand it at all. I find that the least accurate information I will get about a Democrat comes from a Republican and vice versa.

Just a couple of notables:
1. Barack Obama is not now, nor has he ever been a Muslim. In fact, his father was an ex-Muslim.

2. You know John McCain's comment about $5 million in income being rich? It was followed by, 'But seriously, though... I know this will be taken out of context...'

Monday, November 03, 2008

Scene at the Wheezers Sunday Afternoon

We have a family tradition going back a couple generations where each child is professionally photographed in one of a couple different poses. The print is done in sepia and really makes a sweet picture. The plan is to have this photo done some time before losing the front baby teeth. Sort of a permanent documentation of the baby-toothed smile.

I'm a procrastinator. I always have been. As of Sunday morning, S. still had not had her photo done. When I picked her up after Sunday School, her teacher remarked on the fact that S.' top front baby tooth was about to fall out. My first thought was we haven't done the picture and Mom will be annoyed. Oops.

Since there was no time to get her in for a professional portrait sitting, we made do at home. A hastily thrown bedsheet made the backdrop and a towel covered the piano bench where S. leaned.

Chaos ensued.

L. insisted she wanted to get her picture done, too. Mr. W. failed to turn the flash on (and Mrs. W. failed to notice). S. had the darnedest time smiling for the camera. And, we have an odd shadow I hope to photoshop out of the final picture. A. laughed at our antics while safely tucked away in her exersaucer.

Meanwhile, S. could NOT leave that tooth alone. Every 30 seconds, someone was sternly reminding her to leave.the.tooth.alone.because.Grandmother.would.be peeved.if.Mommy.didn't.get.this.picture.done.before.that.tooth.came.out. S. thought that was the funniest thing she'd heard all week. I squished on the tooth trying to get it straight for the photo, but it was a lost cause. Hey, at least it was still in her mouth, right?

Would you believe that thing was still hanging by a thread this morning? I expect she's going to come home from school with it in a little box.

So Tired of Soggy Underwear

The lovely Zoloft continues to work it's... er... magic on my sweat glands. I'm not perspiring heavily, just constantly. Please let this be one of the side effects that goes away. I'm really tired of my underwear being in a constant soggy state. It's quite unpleasant, you know.

I'm still running the gamut of GI issues, but I think I see a glimmer of improvement in my temperament. It's probably a placebo effect, but still, I'll take it.

The speech issue has mostly gone away with mild tremors taking its place. Actually, the tremors could be due to Miss A. missing the memo about the end of Daylight Savings and waking up at 3:45 this morning. Mercy am I tired.

My very dear friend is being a godsend through this. She has bipolar disorder and has experienced every side effect known to man. If not for her encouragement and well-placed guilt trips, I'd have stopped the meds. As she puts it, taking anti-depressants isn't exactly taking the easy way out. I can think of a lot of things that would make me feel much happier much faster. Of course, they are pretty much all illegal and/or hazardous. Since illegal and/or hazardous substances really don't belong in my house, I'll stick with the carefully monitored by my doc prescription variety.

Have I mentioned that I'm tired of soggy underwear?

This is day 5.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Hush, Little Baby, Mama Needs Her Zoloft

Where to start, where to start...

For as long as I can remember, I have struggled with ugly mood swings. Specifically, during the winter months and during certain parts of my menstrual cycle, I spend a good portion of my time depressed. I'm not usually a weepy depressive. I'm more a screeching, temper tantrum throwing depressive. This can be very upsetting to my kids.

Since having miss A., my cycle issues have worsened. It is affecting my children, and I can't allow that to continue.

Enter the world of psychotropic drugs.

My doc originally prescribed Prozac, but A. reacted very strongly after just one pill. So, no Prozac. Since continuing breastfeeding is important to me, the next try is Zoloft. So far, so good for her. The side effects for me are worse, though. Those are supposed to lessen after a couple weeks, and I'm only on day three. I hope the reports that side effects lessen after two weeks are true.

At night, when I'm dealing with the nausea, sweats, GI issues, etc. I swear I am stopping the meds. During the day, I decide I am going to give it a month. At this moment (5:30 AM), I am on the 'no more' end of the spectrum.

So far, the most distressing side effect is this weird thing with my speech. I find myself unable to spit out the word on the tip of my tongue. It's not stuttering, but it is extremely annoying and frustrating. Frustration seems to make it worse. Poor Mr. W. is to the point of helping me finish my sentences. This is the one side effect that will make or break the Zoloft. I can't keep on like this. Being able to clearly communicate is important to me (and to my job). I exasperated the dickens out of an agent when I just could not speak. It doesn't affect my thinking or typing, just getting the words out. Strange...

My doc did let it slip that more than half his patients who work where I work (and where Mr. W. used to work) are medicated. Now what does that say about my working environment?