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.

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...'

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.

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?

That didn't work...

Chat with the Cable Company's customer service advised me to, wait for it... contact the exact same people who 'fixed' my bill before. Oh, and get this, requests for a manager were met with 'We don't have a manager in this queue.' Yeah, right... they're just putting all these guys on their little computers with nobody over them? I did not just fall off the turnip truck.

I called the customer service number on our Collections notice suspecting they just might have some experience dealing with people's screwed-up bills. Veronica was very pleasant and apologetic and assured me she had everything fixed. I guess I'll know for sure if/when my cable gets turned off.

Ya know, if my bill is still screwed up, I'm going to post the name of this Cable Company on my blog so all 10 of my readers will know. (very small laugh at myself here)

Normal Channels Haven't Worked

E-mail sent to my oh-so-lovely Cable/Internet Service Provider:

I would like to please speak to a customer service representative, any customer service representative who is capable of providing just the tiniest margin of customer service. My bill is a screwed up mess, and I am begging, please, please, please, let me speak to someone who is even remotely capable of managing a billing customer service issue. Surely there is someone left.

Account: XXXXXXXXXX
Issue: $60.64 in excess charges plus a $5 late fee and threatening disconnect letter
Documentation: Transcript promising free installation; receipt dated 9/24/08 showing $0 balance and printout showing that we were charged for 2 installations. This was after speaking to an exceptionally disinterested customer service rep in person in Waco.
One unreturned voice mail from Sunday evening (I left this after being transferred three times and spending 30 minutes on the phone).

I am seriously doubting that customer service is anywhere on This Company's list of priorities.
I wonder if this will get anyone's attention. It feels like I've been yelling down an empty corridor just listening to my own echo for a month now...

The most beautiful word you ever heard... October!

My darling, sweet, L. of the speech impediment can now say the word 'October' perfectly. She was so proud of herself that the first thing she did when she got home that day was come straight up to me and repeat 'October' over and over until it dawned on me that she said it as well as her older sister.

Now, if she just hadn't stayed up half the night practicing...

Going Political (just this once, probably... maybe)

I plan to vote Libertarian this election. Quite frankly, I can't tell any real difference between the Republican and Democratic nominees beyond one of them seems more likable than the other. They've both had to sell at least 3/4 of their souls in order to get the backing needed for the nomination. All those concessions will mean that significant change to the status quo just can't happen.

If you are serious about making changes, then you should back a third party. Traditionally, it's the active third party that has ultimately made significant changes to the way our country works (abolition and women's right to vote to name a couple).

I don't trust the government to look after anything other than its own self interests. That, again, means keeping the status quo to a certain extent. Those currently in power have zero incentive to make any significant change.

I am pro life, and cannot begin to wrap my mind around choosing to have an abortion. However, I don't trust the government to enforce that, either. For one, there are way too many uncertainties. You just cannot legislate for every possible scenario. I think the pro-life movement would provide a FAR greater service if they focused on pregnancy prevention and support.

I think marriage should be between a man and a woman, and if my church officiates a same-sex marriage, I will be ticked. However, it is none of the government's (or my) business what two consenting adults of sound mind decide to do. The thought of a constitutional amendment defining marriage burns me up as a huge waste of time, energy and violates its very spirit. Beyond enforcing the marriage/civil union contract, the government should butt out. I do believe that if two same sex adults bind their lives together the same way a traditional married couple does, then they should experience all the pluses and minuses (including taxing negatives and sharing work benefits pluses).

I'm also ticked with all the political parties (even minor third parties) that turn this into a combat-fest. Come on, we are citizens and only want the best for our country. When you consider how evenly split the nation is just looking at Democrat/Republican side of the world, it is insane to keep things so full of animosity. We are going to end up (yet again) with half the country jeering at the other half, and I am dreading that.

Having been anti-major party so far, I will say that I am encouraged that whichever party wins, it will be historic. It is exciting that the Republicans were able to put a woman in the VP slot and the Democrats put a black man in the Pres spot. Who could have predicted this even 20 years ago?

Someone else who could use a science book...

The original doesn't have the inspiring music. But, the music just adds that little 'something' to her rant.

What has she been up to lately?

Baby A is on the move. Crawling, standing, trying desperately to pull up. Here are some pictures from when she turned six months old earlier this month:

Crawling, with drool:


Standing with drool:

Love those baby blues, without drool:

First Aid in the First Grade

S started first grade on Tuesday. Where, oh where, has the time gone. She has gotten to be such a big girl. It sounds like she had a good first day, even came home with a band-aid after ripping a scab off her elbow while playing outside.



First day of school. Can you tell she just could not WAIT for me to get out of there?

Isn't amazing what you can find on the web?

Awww, look, someone's created a Muppet Wiki: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_Wiki

*sigh*

Shiny, Happy ULEV having fun...

Mr. W. has taken a new job, leaving me alone and forlorn. Gee, I didn't realize how much I relied on him to keep me grounded and as a release valve for stress. He has been my sounding board and reality check here since before we started dating. Many people I've talked to have said they can't imagine working with their spouse. I, however, am trying to figure out how to work without my spouse. I miss him.

Since we no longer work at the same place (or even on the same side of town), we can't exactly commute together any more. Soooo, Saturday, we took the plunge and bought a shiny new Honda Accord. The car is big enough to fit three carseats across the back and small enough to get 30 mpg. Another bit of greenery is the ULEV label.

Since Mr. W. will be working close to daycare, he will continue to drive the minivan while I get to drive the car. It has been so long since I've driven a car, I forgot how much fun they are. I'm glad we got the little 4 cylinder model or I'm afraid I'd be zipping around a little too fast. I did learn how to drive in Germany... and going fast is fun!

Doing the Locomotion

Little Miss A. is on her way. We now have rolling front to back and back to front. We have scooting forward and backward. We have getting up on hands and knees and rocking back and forth. We also have frantic attempts to stand up. And we are scooching from a laying down position to almost sitting up.

She will be six months old next week... What a change from when S. was a baby. She rolled over the very first time a week or so after she turned six months old. The way A. is going, I expect she will be walking by 10 months old. It is definitely past time to baby proof.

Heh, heh, heh.

Just imagine Mr. W.'s name is 'Carl' come July 29...

Good News, Bad News

Good News:

Since we started working closely with L. and her speech issues, she has become more intelligible. She still needs professional assistance, but we're definitely making progress while we're working out timing for her therapy appointments.

Bad News:

I have no idea how long she's been calling me a poo poo head, and I just didn't understand her before now.

Isn't parenting grand.

Good grief

Perhaps someone should send these two yahoos a dictionary and a couple scientific articles.

From the Dallas Morning News:

Dallas County officials spar over 'black hole' comment
5:34 PM Mon, Jul 07, 2008

A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon.

County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts.

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.

Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."

That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.

Mayfield shot back that it was a figure of speech and a science term. A black hole, according to Webster's, is perhaps "the invisible remains of a collapsed star, with an intense gravitational field from which neither light nor matter can escape."

Other county officials quickly interceded to break it up and get the meeting back on track. TV news cameras were rolling, after all.

Conversation in the Wheezer household

S: I wish I had someone else for my daddy!

Mr. W.: Go to timeout

S: I wish you didn't have any kids!

Hoo boy are the teenaged years going to be a fun time for all...

Because it's Saturday, I'm at work, and I'm grumpy...

see more dog pictures





see more dog pictures






see more dog pictures




see more dog pictures




see more dog pictures

Fences

I was recently invited to and joined an online community for people who attended my high school. Since my school was a Department of Defense Dependants School located in Germany, about the only way we can keep in touch is via the web. Alumni are literally scattered across the globe. It has been fascinating getting back in touch with people I haven't seen in the past 18-20 years. It's bringing back a ton of memories and some bitter-sweet nostalgia.

I graduated from General H.H. Arnold American High School in 1990. At the time, the base was open to anyone who cared to drive through all the military housing units, past the BX, around the commissary and schools. September 11 changed a good many things... Now there are fences and soldiers surrounding everything. Without a military ID card, I cannot enter the premises. Unlike most Americans, I can never go back to my high school to look around and walk the halls.

Even though the odds of me making it back to Germany in order to take such a walk are fairly slim, the fences hurt. It is another shock to the system how things changed post 9/11... If I had thought about it, I would have realized fencing and security guards would be a part of HH Arnold, but I didn't think about it.

I am excited about the online community. I hope we find enough graduates that we can put together a decent 20 year reunion come 2010.

How to get a 3 year old to thoroughly clean herself

1. Allow three year old and her 6 year old sister to color... with markers.
2. Get distracted with 4 month old for a few minutes.
3. Discover three year old has decorated herself with said markers, which are blessedly washable.
4. Put three year old in shower and tell her to scrub until she is a single color (not GREEN!) again.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to get three year old to clean carpet which has also been decorated with washable marker.

Trying to find my way out of the blues

This has been a rough couple months on the mental/emotional health front. Between postpartum hormones, work stress, home stress and seeing my co-worker go through losing his son, my mental health is a little precarious. To the point that I've gone on bcp to try to regulate the hormone flucations at least. They don't seem to be working. Next step would be to go on some anti-anxiety medication.

Logically, I know I should probably bite the bullet and take my doc up on the prescription he offered. Emotionally, I just can't quite do it. The funny thing is that I am almost certain that the emotions keeping me from taking the anti-anxiety medication are false and would go away once I finally started the meds. The analytical part of me is slightly amused by the cyclical nature of what's going on in my head. Uber-anxiety leads to a need for the medication but the uber-anxiety keeps me from taking the medication I need.

The not-so-analytical part of me is afraid to go to sleep at night thanks to the nightmares I've been having. The nightmare/lack of sleep thing is also very chicken-and-egg. Poor sleep leads to nightmares which leads to worse sleep which leads to worse nightmares and on and on. I've taken to working out at night for two reasons: 1. the endorphins are good for the spirit and 2. if I'm physically worn out, I fall asleep faster and am somewhat less likely to have nightmares.

On the bright side, I'm not in a position of being a danger to me or my family. However, I am not nearly as laidback as I ordinarily am. To the point where my boss asked me what was going on after I snapped at her a couple times.

Humbling Experience (in more ways than one)

I've recently decided to boost my German proficiency. After not speaking it in any way, shape or form for 14 years, I've managed to forget quite a bit. Sooooo, I've started reading Welt Online thinking it would be easy-reading enough that I wouldn't be completely lost.

There was an online quiz today on the good ole' USA. I thought that surely I'd know the answers to any USA questions asked of Germans. Right? Right? Well, maybe not so much, LOL. Out of 25 questions, I got 17 right. To be completely fair, I did miss a couple because I did not understand what they were asking (note to self 'Opfer' is not German for 'opera' it actually means 'victim').

The so nice comment from Welt Online:

Sie haben 17 Fragen korrekt beantwortet.
US-Präsident können Sie als Deutscher zwar nicht werden - aber den Job haben schon Leute gemacht, die das Land schlechter kannten.

Roughly translated (I think): You got 17 right.
Since you're German, you can't be President - but others who know less have held the job.

*ouch*

Just for fun, I went back and re-did the quiz and got them all right (wanted to see what the message would be, LOL).

Sie haben 25 Fragen korrekt beantwortet.
Sind Sie vielleicht Amerikaner? Jedenfalls kennen Sie sich mit den USA so richtig gut aus - Glückwunsch!

Roughly translated: You got 25 right.
Are you an American? Anyway you know a lot about the USA - congratulations (or something to that effect)!

Go check out Bananas & Toddlers

A lovely PIM is battling breast cancer. I certainly hope her quilt gives her some comfort.

Check out the story behind the quilt here.

Fun with the Wheezers

Arriving home from visiting with co-worker whose son passed, I walked into pandemonium:

S. sitting in the timeout spot: He put me in time-out for NO REASON. I got a color change for NO REASON. *all said while wailing away*

Me: So, L. how was your day?

L.: I had a blue day *code for good day*

Me: Oh, that's nice. S. sounds sad.

L.: No. S. not sad, S. in trouble!

S.: I'm not in trouble, YOU'RE in trouble.

L.: Not in trouble.

S.: YOU'RE in trouble!

L.: NOT in trouble!

S.: YOU'RE in trouble!!!!

L.: NOT IN TROUBLE!!!!!

Me *laughing at this point*: Mr. W. can we run away from home now?

Gloomy, gloomy day

Went to the funeral of a former co-worker this morning... He retired almost 4 years ago, but he was so very helpful to me the 6 years we worked together. A very kind man devoted to his church's youth, volley ball and M&Ms. He assured me he could taste the difference in each color M&M. Of course, he also once tried to convince me I broke our mainframe.

Mr. W. knew him just about his entire life due to church connections.

Can we please have a do-over for May?

What...

What do you say to a man when he tells you he's relieved that he will be able to have an open casket for his son?

What do you say when he shows you the newspaper article, tells you that it was a horrific crash and says that they haven't seen their son, yet?

What do you say when he tells you how fortunate they were to have had their son for 25 years?

I stopped by their house yesterday evening and brought a bunch of paper goods (plates, napkins, tissues, etc.) after my mother suggested that those would be handy. I'm both glad I went and really wish I hadn't gone. The funeral will be Friday...

How...

How does a person keep breathing after his/her child has stopped?

There is a very kind and generous spirited man who works in my department. We've done Toastmasters together and are both involved with CPCU Society.

His son was killed in a wreck yesterday. Head-on collision with a truck...

Edited to add: Please, please, please wear your seatbelts. This kid may have been okay if he hadn't been thrown from the vehicle.

Unusual problem

Ugh... I'm still breastfeeding baby A., and it's going quite well. In fact, it's going a little too well. I am way over-producing in the milk department. This morning, I had to pump off a good 7 ounces worth of milk in order to relieve the pressure. Then this evening, I pumped off another 6 ounces. I'm still pretty full, but I need to hold off pumping any more since that just makes the problem worse.

This wouldn't be a distressing problem if things were a little more 'even.' Those extra ounces? All came from the same breast. The other one is showing all the signs of drying up. *sigh* I would so like to match, but I haven't found a good way to pad my bra.

I figure I have two choices: Figure out how to effectively pad my bra on the lagging side or try to stimulate milk production on that side. I really don't feel like working that hard. It's been nice being lazy with only one or two pump sessions during the day at work. Far cry from when I religiously pumped three times a day every day during the work day.

I don't know why I've been so 'blessed' with milk production this go around. I've never suffered from under supply issues. This go around, though, my body is trying to feed an army. Too bad I can't donate the milk. Thanks to living in Europe at the wrong time, I am no longer eligible to donate blood, milk, marrow, etc. etc. etc. here in the US.

There are milk banks that provide donated human milk for preemies and other babies in desperate need of the special qualities that only human breastmilk can provide. It's an interesting process with a screening process similar to blood donation. But again, I'm not eligible to donate...

New Toy(s)

I am writing this using our very old computer, but looking at our very new monitor. We've gone from 17" CRT to 22" flat panel. What a difference (and what a lot of room on our computer desk)!

Now all I need to do is get the computer my parents left with us up and running. Since it is only a couple yeras old (vs 6 years on our old computer), I think it'll have a driver that will actually take advantage of the 1680 by 1050 resolution. I'm stuck using 1280 by 1024 on the old machine, so things are a little bit stretched out and there wasn't a driver to be found that would let me upgrade.

Next on my agenda is to get high speed internet access. Limping along on dial-up was livable when using a piece of junk machine. However, it's going to be really, really frustrating once we're working on the newer pc.

So, Mom & Dad. Thank you! And our cable company thanks you, too.

Funnines for the day

1. Driving to daycare this morning, I followed a new sedan occupied by 3 senior citizens. The bumper sticker read: Eat Rice! Potatoes make your butt BIG

2. I am wearing the same nursing bras I had when L. was a baby. It is time to go a-shopping. The one I'm wearing today squeaks every time I move my left arm. Seriously, I can make 'armpit noises' on demand.

Offended

This is mostly a rant, I've just got to let this out before I come apart on some unsuspecting soul...
To each and every person who has implied or will imply that Mr. W. and I are anything less than delighted that our third child had the audacity to actually be a GIRL... Back off!!!!! I am getting royally cheesed that ninety percent of the people we know have responded to our wonderful, beautiful, delightful, healthy little girl by asking if we're going to try again for a boy.

Normally, when people say stupid things or imply that I am somehow inferior, stupid, wrong, etc., I let it go. It's just not worth the energy to respond to others' hurtfulness. But, when you ask me if I'm going to keep having babies in order to get a 'desired' gender, you are no longer insulting me! You are implying that my daughter is somehow unwanted, and I can't stand that. It is hurtful to my daughters. Yes, all three of them can be hurt by your stupid questions.

I am in my mid-thirties and Mr. W. is in his forties. Do you realize how fortunate we are that we conceived naturally and easily, and I delivered a beautiful, healthy baby? Do you? How on earth can you respond to our children with anything other than happiness for us? You know something else? I am DELIGHTED our third child is a girl. We have a pretty good grasp on what it means to raise a girl. Raising a boy frightens me a big.

I've heard people asked my grandmother (one of three girls) why she wasn't a boy. That hurt her, and I will NOT permit my daughters to be hurt that way.

Oh, I'm just so angry right now! We've been getting the comments since we first announced we were expecting. Would you believe I received condolences from a couple people when I told them that the u/s showed a healthy girl? Condolences! One induh!vidual mentioned it several times, even after I told her in no uncertain terms that I was nothing but delighted. We attended a birthday party last weekend, and one particularly bad-mannered busybody asked not only me, but also Mr. W. if we were going to keep trying for a boy! In front of my girls!!!! GRRRRR!!!!

Entertainment among the senior set

My dad bought a radar gun. His 'mission' is to get the speed limit on their street enforced. So, he is keeping record of how fast people fly down that street.

Lately, though, he has been exploring the entertainment value of owning a radar gun in a state where radar detectors are both legal and prevalent. Apparently, it's great fun to 'shoot' people driving way too fast just to watch their brake lights come on when their radar detector goes off. I imagine you could really mess with someone's mind with one of these gizmos.

Parents...

Laughter

Baby's first out loud giggles are magic. This evening, Miss A. gave me a good 5 minutes of giggling, chortling and belly laughs.

Of course, she made up for it by having a short screaming fit right before bedtime. She last pooped on Friday and has progressed to the point of gassiness. I'm expecting massive blowout any time now... Big sister S. was on an every 7 to 10 days poop schedule right around this age. Good kid managed to save up her explosions for daycare. Mr. W. and I seriously went several months without having to change a single poopy diaper.

Because I needed a laugh today...

see more crazy cat pics


see more crazy cat pics


see more crazy cat pics

Fly on the wall, II

Mrs. W.: I'm sorry.

Mr. W.: Hmmmm

Mrs. W.: I'm so, so sorry.

Mr. W.: Huh

Mrs. W.: I'm really sorry about your truck.

Mr. W.: How many times are you going to say you're sorry?

Mrs. W.: As many times as it takes for you to say, 'It's okay. It was an accident.'

Mr. W.: Oh! ... It's okay. It was an accident.

Yes, Mrs. W. managed to back the minivan into Mr. W.'s precious red truck. We have a big ole dent in the truck now. Fortunately, the van doesn't look like it took any more damage than what the accident did. *sigh*

Security Deposit Forfeiture

To: Former Tenants
Re: Forfeiture of Security Deposit

Be it known that former Tenants, S., L. and A. have been found jointly and severally liable for the following damages.

1. Vericose veins: 1 on inner right calf;
2. Significant Stretchmarks: Lower, mid and upper belly plus chest and outer thigh;
3. Bust droopage;
4. Odd skin pigmentation: 2 brown spots on face; and
5. Sleep deprivation corrollating to the loss of 1 year life expectancy.

Former tenants may choose from the following options for repayment of structural damages:

Option A
1. Erase, remove or otherwise obliterate Vericose Veins;
2. Erase, remove or otherwise obliterate Significant Stretchmarks;
3. Repair and/or replace bust back to its original pre-tenancy condition;
4. Erase, remove or otherwise obliterate strange facial colorations; and
5. Permit Landlord to sleep in until 10 am each and every Saturday morning into perpetuity.

Option B
1. Provide hugs, kisses and 'I love you's into perpetuity;
2. Provide entertainment by way of cute child moments on into adulthood;
3. Provide stress while Landlord and Landlord's Partner attempt to prepare former tenants for adulthood.
4. Tenants are to cherish one another even in the midst of ridiculous bickering that has left Landlord feeling the urge to pierce her own eardrums; and
5. Tenants to serve as reminder for Landlord and Landlord's Partner's devotion to one another.

Be it known that Landlord hopes and prays that former tenants choose Option B. Landlord loves tenants very much even if she does experience some insecurity concerning her appearance post-tenancy.

Timeline - Or I Didn't Need This Right Now

How my Thursday went:

5:30 am - A. wakes up ready to eat. Diaper change, nursing session, back to sleep

6:00 am - Lay out clothes for L. hop in the shower, get dressed

6:30 am - L and S up out of bed, eat, dress, mess around

7:00 am - A up again and ready to eat

7:30 am - load everyone up and out the door

7:45 am - drop S. off at school

8:10 am - rear ended while on the way to drop off L and A, minor tension headache worsens considerably. L. very angry that I allowed the bump to happen. Nobody hurt.

8:45 am - Still waiting for officer to finish paper work and L has to potty NOW. Use potty in back of van (thank you, Mr. W. for ensuring we are prepared for this sort of emergency).

9:00 am - Finally get A and L to school.

9:20 am - Finally get me to work, call mom and boohoo on the phone a few minutes

10:00 am - Call to agent of guy who rear ended me and give claim info. All's good and claim will be paid

10:10 am - Call to body shop that has already replaced our bumper twice. Consider asking them if they can replace with flourescent pink this time.

12:00 pm - Call from claims office. Further claim information taken and all is good.

12:10 pm - Another call from claims office. Claim is denied after all since driver was excluded. Driver all kinds of apologetic and wants to pay my damages out of his pocket.
Tension headache getting really bad at this point

1:00 pm - Call to body shop to ask their experiences with having another pay for repairs. Trying to decide if I want my insurance company to deal with him or just do it myself. Ultimately decide I want to let my insurance company deal.

1:30 pm - Call to guy's agent to make sure he knew what was going on. I suspect there may be an E&O issue, but don't plan to mention that to anyone involved.

1:40 pm - Call to my insurance co. to set up claim. Very nice claims rep answered all my questions. She needs to verify that the accident will be covered under Uninsured Motorist (it will be), which will be to my financial benefit.

4:45 pm - Headache bad enough that I decide to go home. Halfway there, realize I left claim paperwork on my desk. Go to call Mr. W. to ask him to grab it when I realize the cell phone was left on top of the paperwork. Briefly consider returning to the office to get phone and paper work but decide not to.

5:00 pm - Pull into Sonic to buy a strawberry limeade. About to head out without tasting the drink first, and realize what kind of day I've had. Take a big swig and realize that the drink is very, very, very wrong. Wait 5 minutes for them to change out the Sprite machine and fix a new drink.

5:10 pm - Get home and realize I don't have the clicker to the garage door and the front door is chained. Fool with the gate to get into the backyard and hope and pray the bees that have been hanging around our back door are gone. Get in the house, put an ice pack on my neck, lay down on the couch with my drink and call my mom again.

This was a pretty yucky day, but it would have been unbearably worse if my foot had slipped off the brake when the guy hit us.

Pavlov would be so proud...

Back in late February, I broke out ye olde breastpump. I was having trouble with too much milk production and needed (among other things) some tubing for my breastpump ASAP. So off to the medical supply place I went with baby in tow. They had the tubing at around 2x the price I could have ordered it elsewhere, but it was a bit of an emergency. After we got home, I nursed A. put her to bed and then started up a pot of water to boil for sterilizing the tubes. Once the tubes were boiled and as emptied of water as I could get them, I hooked them up to the pump. In the past, I've used the pump to air dry my the silicone tubes faster. It is a matter of attaching the tubes and turning the pump on without anything else attached. Interestingly enough, the 'girls' remembered the sound of the pump and immediately let down just a ton of milk all over the place. I did grab a bottle and 'caught' 3.5 ounces or so. Arf, arf!

***

Today's my first day back at work, and in a truly boneheaded moment, I only brought three bottles to pump in. I have a stack of baggies for breastmilk storage still sitting at home, where they're just a big help right now. The three bottles have been full for a few hours, and I could really stand to pump right now. However, I just can't seem to bring myself to dump out any milk... Thinking about my baby causes my milk to let down, and well, let's just say I'm VERY thankful I wore my Lily Padz today. I don't usually leak, so I wore them mostly so I don't show through my shirt, if you know what I mean. However, leaking is definitely an issue right now.

Can anyone say 'conditioned response going awry'?

Pavlov's Wikipedia entry

Fly on the wall

Mrs W.: *crying*

Mr. W.: I'm sorry.

Mrs. W.: *sniffing*

Mr. W.: I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you.

Mrs. W.: *sniff**sniff* I know, but you can be such a stupid man sometimes.

Mr. W.: I know. I'm sorry.

To be completely fair to Mr. W. This was a case of minor dumb man syndrome combined with minor post partum hormonal fluctuation. You know those medications that warn not to take with alcohol because combined they can be fatal? There should be a warning not to combine dumb man syndrome with postpartum hormones.

Isn't it just too darn bad...

My doc has been giving me fits about how long he will sign me out from work. As in, he insists I only need 6 weeks. Based on previous experience, I know I need 8. I was supposed to schedule my final post partum check the week of March 17 or March 24. These would be at 5.5 or 6.5 weeks post partum. Isn't it just too darn bad the earliest appointment I could get was March 31? Since I can't be released back to work until he sees me, this will work out just great!

This was not fun!

I took S. to the doctor today since she has these bumps on her thigh that just are not going away. Not only are they not going away, but they are beginning to multiply. Doc took a good look and pronounced them to be some unpronounceable thingy or the other that is akin to warts. Soooo, he told S. he needed to blow some cold air on them so they would go away. S. promptly fell apart.

Ugh! I had A. with me, and handed her to the nurse to hold while I held down S. The doc then sprayed the spots with liquid nitrogen. Oh, the screaming and crying! You'd think we were beating her. The child never even winces during her flu shot... this should have been nothing. The promise of a treat and a visit from Daddy did soothe her.

Now we get to inspect L. head to toe tonight for the same condition. I really hope we don't find anything...

Well Baby Checkup

February 15, 2008

Miss A. had her 2 week check at 9 days old. A little early, but it was either then or wait 2 more weeks.

Vitals:
Weight: 10 lbs 7 oz or 95%ile (doc was impressed we already exceeded the birth weight, especially since I'm breastfeeding)
Length: 21.5 inches or 90%ile. Somehow, she shrank half an inch in 9 days? Methinks A. did some squirming somewhere somehow.
Head: 14.75 inches or 75%ile.

Doc asked how things were going, and I told him that we were doing fine. I was thinking about moving the rocking chair since A. keeps wanting to look out the window while I'm feeding her. This becomes a little painful since she doesn't let go before turning her head. I'm not sure the doc quite believed me until she demonstrated her 'advancedness' during the check up by picking her head up and staring directly at the doc. Pretty good trick for a baby only 9 days old. The doc and nurse were both pretty surprised.

All in all, she's in great shape and growing nicely!

Birthday Girl!

L. turned 3 on the 18th. Where on earth has the time gone? I'm a bit fuzzy-headed for writing anything sensitive, thoughtful, worth reading, etc. so instead I'm pulling pictures from the past year.

Pictures!

Yes, Virginia, there is such thing as a 10 lb newborn. Isn't she a chunk?










Big Sister S. wasn't quite as into holding the baby as...











Big sister L., who has claimed baby A. is all hers.











Don't you love family pictures where Mrs. W. is chewing on her chapped lip, S. is picking her nose, L. is looking somewhat demon-possessed, A. is crying and Mr. W. is the only one who looks normal? This is what happens when several family members are all trying to take pictures with their own camera at the same time. *giggle*

Tooth Fairy Cameth

I'm so behind... Wonder what could be distracting me...

So much excitement. We picked up S. from the after school program last Monday, and she was bouncing off the walls showing off her new gap! My baby lost her first tooth at school that morning. So exciting. The Tooth Fairy managed to remember to swap the tooth for a crisp $1 bill, and S. is incredibly proud of her dollar. I still haven't made her Tooth Fairy pillow, though. It is on my list of projects while I'm on maternity leave (along with a million other things that may or may not get done).

The school has a neat little 'lost tooth' program, and the kids get to make up stories about what they think the Tooth Fairy does with all those teeth. Very cute.

Five People in my Family!

I have an old, old Sesame Street song stuck in my brain today. We don't have the same family make-up as the five-member family in the song, but there you go...

The Wheezer family welcomed Girl Number 3 on Wednesday, February 6 at 11:23 pm. Yes, just 37 minutes left in the year of the pig, LOL. She weighed 10 lbs 3 oz and measured 22 inches long.

Now for the gory details... bum bum ba bum...

My blood pressure had been going up, up, up and my lab results showed too much protein in my urine Wednesday morning. The doc was concerned and strongly suggested an induction for Thursday morning, when he would be on call. I agreed, and we were all set to come in at 6 the next morning. Doc ordered me to get home shortly and rest due to the blood pressure thing. I asked him if I could just go into work for another couple hours, he sighed and said yes. Soooo, I went back to work and knocked off a couple little projects and updated some out of office documentation.

When I stood up after shutting down my computer, my water broke. Allllllll over the place. There is absolutely no dignity in pregnancy, is there? All I can think is that I'm glad it happened AFTER I stood up, so my chair is still usable. A good samaritan, ie my office neighbor, happened to stick her head in to wish me well. I was standing there trying to decide which would make more of a mess, walking to the bathroom or standing still until the gushing stopped. I told her what happened and asked her to call Mr. W. Then, I got my trash can under me to catch the worst of the dripping (did I mention, it went EVERYWHERE?!?!).

Mr. W. came by, really confused, and I told him what happened. He was ordered to go get the van and bring it out front. Meanwhile, the gushing lessened, so I did the walk of shame to the restroom. I wrung out my clothes a bit (I still cannot believe there was so much fluid...) and made a bit of a mess on the bathroom floor all while waiting for Mr. W. to call and tell me he was there. The good Samaritan brought me a (woefully inadequate) pad while we were waiting. Turns out Mr. W. kept calling my office and never thought to try the cell phone! Poor panicked guy...

We got in the car and headed toward home. Okay, it is really, really, really uncomfortable to be soaking wet in February, even in warm and sunny central Texas. I called the ob's office to tell them my water broke. They wanted me to come in to be checked despite my assurances that there was no way this was urine (if only I could have held that much pee, I could have slept a whole lot better the last few weeks). Still, they wanted me in.

We got home, and I took a nice hot shower while Mr. W. got last minute things together. Fortunately, I had purchased some Depends in anticipation of a possible catastrophe (too bad I hadn't thought to put any in my purse) so I was able to be relatively comfortable for the ride to the clinic.

When we got there, I checked in and the receptionist told me to have a seat. I started laughing and told her my water broke, so sitting on their furniture probably wasn't the best plan. They got me to an examining room ASAP, and sure enough, my water did indeed break. Meanwhile, contractions were really kicking in, but with all that water loss, I could actually take a deep breath. Breathing deeply felt really good and was a refreshing change.

We walked on over to L&D (clinic was located within the hospital) where I was checked out, hooked up and poked and prodded. All the while, contractions were strengthening.

I can't remember what time I was admitted, probably close to four. I labored naturally until around 9:30. They started tossing around the 'P' word (pitocin), and I was really in a lot of pain as the intensity kicked up tremendously. So, I gave up the natural childbirth in favor of an epidural. The anesthesiologist did a great job. I did not have a loss of muscle control, but the contractions weren't nearly so painful. Once the epidural was in place, I went from 4 cm to 7 in about 5 minutes so the pitocin was delayed a bit. By 10:45 ish, the contractions had spaced out a bit, so the doc ordered the pitocin. I wish he'd talked to me first, because I could tell things were transitioning pretty quickly. Anyway, at a couple minutes past 11, I could tell baby was coming and had Mr. W. call the nurse. She took half a glance and started calling for the doc and telling me NOT to push. That was the absolute hardest part of the labor. Five minutes or so of not pushing felt like an eternity.

Once the doc had his gloves on, I pushed 4 or 5 times and poof! we had a squawking, squalling baby. She was delivered so quickly, she still had some fluid in her lungs. It took her awhile to cry that out (the @#(*&# hour it took them to finally give up on getting a venous blood draw to check her blood sugar, but we'll leave that for now).

She's healthy and beautiful and perfect and nursing beautifully. I'm doing really well, too.

The delivering doc promised to give my ob a hard time about the baby's size. My ob estimated 9 lbs. I had warned him I thought this baby was big and that my first one was over 10 lbs... We gained a certain notoriety in the hospital. Between her excessive size, and the ease of delivery, we were quite a part of the gossip mill.

One nice thing about having a really big baby is that I'm already about 3 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. Yes, 27 lbs lost in 6 days! I should go on tv, LOL.

This Post Brought to You by the Letter 'P' and the Number '3'

P is for Party!

We held L.'s birthday party a little early this year. With the bean due any second, I figured we'd either celebrate early or not at all. I really didn't want to do 'not at all' for the poor kid. Besides, I LOVE 3rd birthday parties.

First birthdays are a haze of relief for the parents, who've managed to survive that first year. Second birthdays, the kiddo still doesn't quite 'get' the excitement of a birthday. But the 3rd birthday, oh that is magic. Presents are opened with glee, birthday candles are blown out and the birthday girl is well aware that it is 'her' day. I love it!

L. had a great time at her party. We threw it together at the last minute, but still had a good time with good friends and family. It's fun having a girly girl. When S. turned 3, the theme was Thomas. Nothing wrong with Thomas, but it's nice to see My Little Pony and girly clothes for a change.

P is for Procrastination!

Yes, I'm within days of my due date, and my doc has been telling me 'any day now' for 3 weeks. Do I have a crib set up? No. Do I have baby clothes washed and organized? No. Do I even have my hospital bag packed? No. We'll be working on those this evening thanks to the next item on the list.

P is for Pre-eclampsia.

Had my weekly appointment this morning and not only was my blood pressure initially sky high (150+ over 90+, YIKES!), but I also have protein in my urine. Soooo, the doc wanted to induce me today. I do not want an induction and if I have to have one, I really want to wait a couple more days. He's working with me, and instead, I am collecting my urine for 24 hours. The logistics of catching and storing urine while working a full day are a bit, erm, sticky. I don't think they want to see my bio hazzard jug in the employee fridge. *giggle*

P is also for Pneumonia

Which, I apparently have/had a touch of. No x-rays to confirm, but nasty fever, cough and bloody chunky stuff coughed up are pretty indicative. I've been on antibiotics since Friday, but I'm still wheezing and coughing whenever I lie down. Great way to rest up before the baby comes, isn't it. So, yeah, I'd rather keep this baby 'in' until I can, oh, I don't know, BREATHE!

Finally, P is for Pre-Labor

I swear, these contractions are going to either kill me or turn me into a raging hormonal homicidal lunatic. Yeah, 2 minute long contractions coming every 5 minutes for 4 hours is a great way to spend Sunday evening. Nothing to show for it beyond a cranky, crabby me...

Horrible, not horrible

Yesterday morning, it was time to get clothing on the girls and head on out the door for church. S., in typical form, stalled and stalled and stalled with getting her clothes on. I, in typical form, got louder and louder and louder with reminding her to get dressed.

When I finally reduced myself to making threats (no left over birthday cake for her!), S. looked at me with those big eyes and terrible frown, 'You're a horrible mama!'

Mr. W., who had done an admirable job staying out of it up to that point, yelled at S. to apologize. I told him not to worry about it. Every mother needs to hear her kids tell her she's horrible from time to time so she knows she's doing a good job.

S.' frown grew even deeper, and she marched up to me with her hands on her hips (and still no clothes on), 'Mama, you're NOT horrible.'

Two Calls in Two Days

Yesterday I got a call from school. S. had fallen off the stairs to the blue circular slide and landed flat on her back. S. was pretty hysterical on the phone, so I rushed over to take a look. Bruised from her shoulder to her waist, but not terribly damaged. By the time I got there, she was feeling much better and coloring. It is unusual for her to overreact to accidents like that.

Today, I get a call from her teacher. S. has been a royal pain in the you-know-where all week. Disrespectful, defiant, uncooperative and just flat out obnoxious. In fact, today she thought it would be REALLY funny to turn the volume all the way up at the listening center where the kids all have headphones on. She still thought it was funny after Mrs. G. spoke to her about bullying. I guarantee she will not find it funny when she gets home tonight.

I would have to have a very strong willed child.

Maybe she's picking up on my stress with my doctor. Maybe she's a little worried about how having the baby will change her life. Maybe she's just not getting enough sleep at night. I don't know. Quite frankly, I don't know how to deal with her just now.

Dear Dr. Arrogant Jerk

Your attitude is precisely why I did NOT want to have to see an OB for this pregnancy. I'm still angry that I was forced to come to your clinic instead of staying with my family practice doctor. The latest fiasco with my leave paperwork adds confirmation to my concerns.

What part of 'I need 8 weeks recovery time' do you not understand? Seriously, I've done this twice before, and I've got a pretty good feel for what my body needs to recover. I don't really give a flying fig that the standard is 6 weeks. I need 8 weeks. Period. I have excellent reasons for my statement. Anything you won't sign me out for on medical leave, I will be forced to use vacation for. No, my employer won't let me take unpaid leave. Yes, I have asked. Yes, I know my job is protected, but COME ON I have 5 MONTHS worth of sick leave. I'm not asking you to falsify documents. I'm asking you to freaking BELIEVE ME JUST ONCE!

My family doctor had the decency to believe me when I told him I needed 8 weeks after L.'s birth. I came back to my high stress job ready to go when she was 8 weeks old. All was good, if tiring. Quite a different experience than my return after S.' birth at 6 weeks post partum. My professional reputation is STILL not fully recovered from that disaster. And I TOLD you that I had problems at 6 weeks post partum, but apparently that didn't register.

This brings up my big concern (and the reason I am still awake at 3 in the morning). How on earth can I trust you with my and my baby's health when you do not believe me when I try to tell you something this important? You blew me off when I tried to tell you my recovery from surgery was harder than you thought it should be (nearly 6 years ago). You blew me off when I told you my contractions are normal and not a sign of pre-term labor. You've totally ignored the fact that I am trying to have a natural labor and even offered me an early induction. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think anything I've told you during this pregnancy has actually 'stuck' in your brain.

I am sick of this. You have one doctor in your clinic who treated me like an unfeeling uterus when I was in labor with S. You have another doctor who treated me like I was a complete idiot during my non-stress test a few weeks ago. Quite frankly, I don't care if I never meet the other doctor in your practice. If she's anything like the three of you, then why bother. It would just mean having another stereotypical arrogant MD personality for me to stress about.

Here I am at the tail end of my pregnancy, and instead of getting as much rest as I can cram into these last few weeks, I'm up in the pre-dawn stewing. 'Hate' is a pretty strong word, but right now I have to confess I'm feeling that toward you and your attitude. Hopefully, it's the hormones and I will be able to let this go. However, I feel like you are threatening my and my baby's health right now, and this mama has a really hard time with that.

I guess I will try AGAIN to get you to understand. If not, I'm not sure what I will do. My insurance limits my choice of doctor, and you should know that is the ONLY reason I am seeing you. If I have my way, I will never walk in your door again once this baby is born. In fact, I plan to call my primary care physician to see if he can take over my postpartum care.

Christmas Morning

Kids are so funny.

Christmas Eve was insanely busy. Church 'til 8:30; dinner at the in-laws; opening in-law gifts and then home by 11. Horribly long day, and I was miserable. Fortunately, the kids behaved pretty well. S. was excited to throw 'reindeer food' out in the backyard, and even L. got into the Christmas presents.

Christmas morning, L. came into our room to wake us. It surprised me that S. hadn't already gotten up. When we headed out to the living room, I found out why. Sitting up on the couch under the new blanket her grandma made her was a sleeping S. The girl had snuck out who knows when and sat down to watch for Santa while snuggled up under her prized blanket. Too funny that she missed the fact the stockings were already full.

Stressed - Non-stressed

Way behind on the blogging... Too tired, I guess.

Way back on December 11, I get a phone call from daycare. One of the kids in L's class showed up with donut holes, and L. ate one before the teachers could get them away from the other kid. Mr. W. raced off to watch her, give her Benadryl and see if she needed to go to the ER.

I freaking hate food allergies! I also hate that some parents cannot seem to get it through their thick skulls that 'NO FOOD IN THE CLASS' means 'NO FOOD IN THE CLASS' I was so mad, I was actually shaking.

I sort of had a feeling something was going to happen that day. L. was in wild-child do what I want mode that morning. She KNOWS she's not supposed to take food from other kids...

Fortunately, the worst that happened was that L. had a solid week worth of diarrhea. Her poor little bottom.

The kicker is when I called the daycare director to ask her if they could send another note home reminding parents not to bring kids to school with food, she informed me that she had talked to the mother in question. The mom's response? 'Well, I see L. eating with all the other kids all the time.' No freaking duh! It's only during mealtimes when L. HAS HER OWN FOOD AND IS BEING MONITORED! It's not when the kids are all running around and only one child has food. Ugh!

Even before L.'s diagnosis, I would have been appalled and deeply apologetic if something I had done led to someone else's child getting sick.

Adding to the stressed portion of this post, I had noticed an abrupt decrease in fetal movement. As in, nothing but a couple stretches for 3 days. I'm fine when it's one or two days where baby decides to sleep all day, but once day 3 came, I started to get very nervous. To top it off, I was pretty panicked about L.'s run-in with her food allergy earlier that week.

I called my ob office and cried until they let me come in for a non-stress test. In typical 'it stops making that noise as soon as the mechanic is there' fashion, the baby flipped and started kicking up a storm within 10 minutes of the monitors being strapped on. I suspect now that she had actually put her head down and settled into my pelvis. Once she popped back out, I could feel her move again.

Baby Poll

In a fit of maternal weirdness, I have created a baby poll at expectnet:



Have fun, take a guess at what the Wheezers will be bringing home sometime in February.

Whoever gets the lowest score will receive something from me (although I'm not exactly sure what, yet, beyond bragging rights):

Point system is below:

incorrect gender: 400 points
date & time: 5 points per hour
weight: 5 points per ounce
length: 10 points per inch

Vitals so far:
1. Doc at the ultrasound said this baby looks like a girl, but he's been wrong before. Current due date is 2/8
2. S. was 10 lbs 3 oz and 22 in. at birth. Due 4/4; born 4/17
3. L. was 9 lbs 5 oz and 21.5 in. at birth. Due 2/11; born 2/18

Click on the banner above and happy guessing!

I've been ELFED!!!!!

Many thanks to Chaos Among Us for the really cute notepad and bookmark (handmade by HER, no doubt). Both the girls wanted ones exactly like them. 'Santa' and I need to find some crafting time, LOL.

Time for me to get Elfing!!!!

Birthday Blues...

I am now old enough to legally date someone half my age. Mr. W. informs me that he does not approve of such activity.

The plan was for Mr. W. to take the girls to a Christmas parade. They would ride on the float their daddy, grandpa and other assorted males from Mr. W.'s church put together and toss candy out to the spectators. I would go home and sulk for a few minutes about being all alone on my birthday, and get over it once I realized I had peace and quiet for a good couple hours.

However...

Mr. W. called at 5:30 to tell me that S. ended her day a half step away from a visit to the principal's office due to misbehavior. Her daily folder merely had a note stating that her teacher would be calling that evening. She offered to tell her daddy what happened if he would let her still be part of the parade (love the little bit of blackmail). No parade for S. and her sister! In fact, no fun at all for S. the entire evening.

Neither one of us could get her to fess up to what she had done, but we did get plenty of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. After a very weepy dinner, I started in on S.

Me: S. what happened in school today?
S.: I don't know.
Me: Oh yes you do. Your teacher will be calling to tell me exactly what happened. I promise you it will be much better for you if you tell me first.
S.: My stomach hurts
Me: That's because you know you did wrong today
S.: *sniffles*
Me: You want to know how to make your stomach stop hurt?
S.: *sniffles* yes...
Me: There are two things you need to do. You need to tell me exactly what happened, and you need to apologize to everyone you did anything bad to.
S.: Why does my stomach hurt?
Me: Because there is a little voice inside you that tells you when you've done the wrong thing. I promise that if you tell me what happened, your stomach won't hurt as much any more.
S.: Is there any way to get that voice out of my body?
Me: No. That voice is good for you. It is supposed to keep you out of trouble. Now tell me what happened. Your teacher will be calling soon.
S.: *sniffle, sniffle, sniffle*
This is when the phone starts ringing and S.' eyes open very wide.
Me: Too late now, I'm sure this is your teacher, and she will tell me exactly what happened today. Go get ready for your bath.
Mr. W. carried her off while she started crying all over the place again.

I answered the phone, and sure enough, it was S.' teacher. She told me all about S.' morning. Apparently, she managed to get into all that trouble BEFORE lunch. Oh joy...

School Assessment and Report Card Time

I attended my first ever parent-teacher conference on Thursday, November 22. Overall, S. is doing quite well academically. She's blowing through her standardized tests. Her class is participating in an experimental study intended to identify students at-risk for math problems. Part of the assessment is to take a series of math tests at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. The big 35 question exam, she got all of 3 questions wrong and ranked 'Very Superior'. She's also showing proficiency in most of the verbal/reading elements. Her teacher indicated she's the only one in the class who has done that. (Big, warm, prideful mommy glow goes here)

However (and you know, there's always a 'however'), S. continues to have some behavior problems. I'd say a full 1/2 of the worksheets she brings home are only half done. This is because she is not listening to her teacher, following directions and being quiet during the 20 minutes she's supposed to be working on the blasted things. It's not a big deal in Kindergarten. She is learning the stuff as evidenced by her test scores. However, this will become a significant issue in 1st grade, when the kids will have much more in the way of silent work.

She is also having behavior problems in PE. The tail end of class, the kids are arranged in alphabetical order. Unfortunately, this puts her right next to the kid most likely to harrass another kid. He is having family issues, bless his heart, and winds up acting up at school. S. is the kid most likely to give a good reaction when harassed. I cannot believe the PE teachers haven't made a little change with the seating arrangement. S.' regular teacher and I both agreed that while S. needs to learn to ignore certain behaviors and this boy needs to learn to stop certain behaviors, sitting these two next to each other is not the best way to accomplish this. S.' regular teacher has asked that the kids be moved around, but the PE teachers have not agreed. If I get another 'fix your kid because she's been awful in PE' note, I will be setting up a conference with the PE teachers and make the same request.

Overall, S. is doing just fine. She's making lots of friends (judging by the fact we can't go anywhere without some kid running up to her and giving her a big hug) and really loves going to school. Plus, her penmanship has improved dramatically. I was writing as well as she is now only after my 2nd year of Kindergarten.

I know it's a few days late, but... YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Yes, I'm an insurance geek. Yes, I'm thrilled that hurricane season is over!!!!!!!

Please feel free to laugh at me.

482
ABNT20 KNHC 010302
TWOAT
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
1030 PM EST FRI NOV 30 2007

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...AS THE 2007 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON APPROACHES ITS CONCLUSION...TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48HOURS.

ISSUANCE OF THIS PRODUCT WILL RESUME ON 1 JUNE 2008. SHOULD ANYSIGNIFICANT DISTURBANCES DEVELOP DURING THE OFF SEASON...SPECIALTROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENTS WOULD BE ISSUED...AS NEEDED. SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENTS CAN BE FOUND UNDER WMOHEADER WONT41 KNHC...AND UNDER AWIPS HEADER MIADSAAT.

$$

FORECASTER FRANKLIN

Happy Anniversary!

Mr. W and I have now been married a total of 8 years. Wow! In some ways, I can hardly believe the time has flown by so quickly. In others, I can barely remember life before Mr. W.

He is my very best friend. Even though I love that we are raising a family together (he makes excellent X chromosomes), I do look forward to the days after the kids are off on their own. The kids are rewarding, and I wouldn't change a thing about our family. However, I miss spending more time with my sweetie. Especially uninterrupted time.

Ah, well, give us another 18 -23 years, and we'll have our house to ourselves again.

In the meantime, thank you, love, for the wonderful ride. I love you forever.

Ever wish your kid would go ahead and get sick?

I find myself in the rather odd position of hoping that L. breaks out in a bright red rash today. You see, her sister broke out with the rash that signified Fifth Disease yesterday afternoon. Ordinarily, Fifth Disease is a very mild illness that most Americans are already immune to. However, for a pregnant woman who has never been infected by the virus, this illness can have really nasty effects for her unborn baby. It is rare that an infected pregnant woman would have anything worse than achy joints, but it is possible.

We were scheduled to head down to Corpus Christi to spend Thanksgiving with my family and observe a memorial for my grandmother. However, my sister in law is pregnant and has never had Fifth's before. I would not dream of intentionall exposing her and her unborn child to something that could have bad health consequences.

So now, we're waiting to see if L. breaks out in a rash. You see, the odd thing about Fifth's is that once the rash comes up, the person is no longer contagious. Odd, isn't it? It could be that L. is already immune, but never showed symptoms. This would be fine, except we wouldn't know she was 'safe' in time for T-day. It could be that L. didn't catch the virus at all. Again, this would be fine except for the not being able to tell. So, I find myself hoping that L. has been infected and will break out in that tell-tale rash today.

Part of me is really upset about the timing, but another part is relieved the rash popped up yesterday and not a week from yesterday after we'd exposed my brother's entire family to the bug... Kids...

I should be okay since I had it as a child. However, my doc, being the cautious one, ordered a blood test to just be sure. Not a problem, really, since they were already drawing blood to check for anemia, Coombs test and glucose tolerance. I also got my RhoGAM and flu shots this morning. I'm feeling a bit of a depressed pincushion today.

Yes!

My blood pressure is normally quite low. At home, I typically got around 96/65. It's always quite a bit higher at the doctor's office, since I really dislike going to the doctor. Even then it would climb to the 116/76 range.

For whatever reason, my bp has been hovering in the 130/80 range for this pregnancy, and boy have I been stressing over this. I've been really nervous about PIH or pre-eclampsia.

Last night though, I took it and got.... 110/65! Woohoo!

Side note: At this precise moment, I have a little baby bottom poking out making a cute little lump off to the left side.

So why does it hurt?

My grandma passed away October 31. She had been very sick with circulatory issues, heart troubles and alzheimer's/dementia for a long time. She was depressed, scared, confused and difficult to be around. We knew she did not have much time with us, and yet it was a terrible shock to me to get the phone call. I had so hoped to see her at Thanksgiving so she could see my girls one more time.

Now she is at peace. No longer in pain. No longer confused. No longer angry. No longer sick. No longer depressed.

The vibrant, shopaholic, funny and interesting woman she used to be has been gone for some time now. So why does it hurt so much that she is gone? Did I have a hope in my heart that one day she would get better? Did I think that she would miraculously learn my girls' names? Did I really expect her to hop out of that wheelchair and go bowling again? Yes... I did. I really and truly did.

I have the engagement ring my grandfather gave her, but I'd much rather have one more night bowling. Her bowling technique wasn't exactly graceful, but she always scored much better than I ever could (even after taking a course in college). She was one of those lob-and-thunk bowlers. She'd get a good run up to the line and chuck that ball in the air. It would sail halfway down the lane before finally hitting the wood with a loud 'thunk' and then rolling the rest of the way down, knocking over most of the pins.

I miss you, Gramma...

Veni, Vidi, Flunki

Today was T-day. I packed my calculator, my calculator backup and my mechanical pencil and headed off to take my Actuarial exam.

Faced with a 30 question, 2.5 hour exam, I estimated that I would feel confident on 10 questions, iffy on 10 and completely clueless on the last 10.

Reality of the breakdown was: confident on 5, iffy on 15 and clueless on 10. Why on earth can I not remember ANY of the formulas for bonds, and I swear as I am sitting here I know how to do a Macaulay duration before I got up this morning.

Oh, well, I knew I'd flunk, but now I have some valuable lessons:

1. Do NOT try to learn anything new 1 week and closer to the exam. Spend that time making sure you are solid on what you already know.

2. Do NOT waste cartloads of time breaking down formulas. Reduce and simply and THEN break apart.

3. Read the question carefully... twice... before deciding there isn't enough information to answer it.

4. A death in the family 1 week prior to the exam really screws up your study rhythm... another post for another day.

Just for grins

Every so often I take a look at who's coming to the blog and how they wandered here. The most entertaining are those who did some sort of Google search and wound up here. My personal favorite is still, 'broccoli is a fruit'. However, I no longer pop up in that search. boo hoo, LOL.

Recent searches go from the 'huh?' to the 'ick...'

AH.UN.OH - on a google.cl search
broke my toe mom blog - ooookay
how did you feel walking in the susan g. komen walk for the cure? - I think this one was pretty cool
i hate my feet - this one's quite popular!
cut roses sprouting - when the heck did I write about roses?
understatement of the century - on a google.co.uk search
i hate my mother - on a google.co.in search (I think someone has issues.)
dairy withdrawal - on a google.ca search
true or false 1 in 10 women diaper dinner - wha?

The 'ick' ones I'm not repeating because I don't really want those kinds of people coming back here again. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Anyone have blog bleach?

Can't look away

In addition to my daily check on the tropical storm situation in the Atlantic, I'm now checking in on the wildfire situation in California.

Professional interest has me keeping an eye out for developing hurricanes (none predicted at this time, thank goodness) due to the nature of my job. When Texas gets hit by a hurricane, my employer goes into 'crazy' mode trying to assess claims and check on policyholders. Fortunately, Erin petered out and Humberto really didn't do much damage. We've still got a ways to go until the end of hurricane season, though.

Personal and professional interest has me voraciously reading news reports of the California fires. Hopefully, policyholders have appropriate limits on their homeowner policies. Between the damage caused in 2003 and the resulting increase in the cost of building supplies, I really hope insurers are on the ball and have raised limits appropriately. It would be terrible to lose everything in a fire only to discover that you are under-insured and can only rebuild half your house...

I did read one commentary that rubbed me entirely the wrong way. Well, one sentence: 'And while insurance companies appear financially well-positioned to cover losses, they’re increasingly pressing homeowners to reduce fire risk and increase coverage.' Ummm, in order for an insurance company to be financially well-positioned to cover massive losses, the policies they sell MUST have adequate limits. Encouraging (read: offer premium discounts or surcharges based on meeting certain underwriting guidelines) policyholders to reduce fire risk is a win-win situation for both the homeowner and the insurance company. In order for a policyholder to have a valid financial cushion, coverage must be adequate.

One of the things I love about working for an insurance company is that I feel we make a difference. Yes, everybody hates their insurance co. Shoot, there are times I dislike my own. I pay a lot of money for a product I hope to GOODNESS I never have to use. When I do have to file a claim, there is definitely stress present. However, without that financial cushion, many, many, many people would experience financial difficulty and/or ruin.

On the personal side of things, the devastation felt by so many people who have lost their homes or are in danger of losing their homes is horrifying. My heart aches for so many who have lost so much. The loss of life is even worse...

Hiccups

Bump, tap.... bump, tap.... bump, tap....

The bean has gotten the hiccups a couple times. It's pretty interesting because she has a WHOLE lotta space to move around in right now. When she hics, I feel a bump on the right followed by a soft tap on the left side in a fine example of Newton's 3rd Law of Motion.

Just wait kid, it won't be long before you're out of room.

Non-toxicity test

Hopefully, Crayola's water color paints are as non-toxic as advertised. L. decided it would be great fun to taste her water colors last night.

7 Random Things about me - or I've been tagged

Ms. Aimee at Greeblemonkey tagged me a few days ago. About time I answered, huh?

1. Chocolate makes me sneeze. My nose can tell fine chocolates from a Hershey bar just by the number of sneezes. There's some Swiss dark chocolate that triggered a good 6-7 sneezes per piece. Mmmmm....

2. I had matching scores on the SAT verbal and math the first time I took it. I also had matching verbal and math scores on the GRE. No wonder I can't figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

3. I love writing queries in SQL. Yes, I'm weird.

4. I learned how to drive on a standard transmission. Nothing says stress like a very novice driver stalling out in the middle of a busy intersection in Wiesbaden Germany.

5. I took 2 years Latin in high school. Elephantus non capit murem.

6. I like Scooby Doo cartoons

7. Back in the original Power Rangers days, I thought the blue ranger was just the cutest thing ever. Yes, I realize I'm a little old for Power Rangers, see number 6.

I can't think of 6 to tag... so I'm going to be a slacker and let it die here.

M.W.

Throwing my own little pity party. Want to come?

L. was diagnosed with a severe allergy to cow milk 19 months ago. Since then, we've gone on a strict dairy elimination diet, and we've done quite well. Her last hives outbreak was a year ago (when I forgot to wipe down a restaurant table) and that one was pretty minor.

1 year ago, she had a follow-up RAST and skin test. The skin test came back negative, but the RAST showed her levels were unchanged. We continued the dairy elimination diet, and I just KNEW things were better this year. Her RAST test results looked good (from 2 to 1 for milk), so we were all set to do a food challenge yesterday. Right before the challenge, her allergist did one last skin test, and she failed miserably. Within 60 seconds of him applying the allergen, she was itching and developed 10 mm welt where he had put the whole milk.

We'll try again in another year... I had dreams of taking her to the fair and letting her have all the 'goodies', eating birthday cake and ice cream, enjoying my mother's pumpkin pie at T-giving, being able to go out to eat as a family, etc. Instead, it's another year of remembering to take epi-pens and wipes and special snacks and worrying about substitutes in L.'s daycare class...

I'm about to enter my 3rd trimester, so I'll be starting my dairy elimination diet soon. I hate soy flavors and cannot bring myself to drink soy milk. I guess I'll just have to suck it up... The allergist also recommended I avoid peanut and tree nuts since they are so allergenic. *sigh* I know it could be worse, and my heart breaks for the parents whose kids are allergic to unknown and multiple foods. But still, I'm having my little pity party today... I'll be better tomorrow.

M.W.

Exam's comin' round the bend

You may (or may not) have noticed a marked decrease in the amount of posting lately. Weeellll, truth be told I'm obnoxiously busy at work, and I'm actually still trying to study for the actuarial exam next month. I would dearly love to pass this exam, but realistically, I hope to merely flunk well enough that they don't toss out my score altogether. The concepts covered in the material aren't bothering me much at all. The killer part is all the math I forgot or never knew in the first place. Things like natural logs, integration, geometric series, quadratic formula, that stupid e, etc.

I checked my blog traffic yesterday and was pretty shocked at what I found. People are still coming to read here! In fact, somehow my Actuarial Schmactuarial post was linked to from Actuary.net. Weird... and unexpected. I don't believe I'm the only person to grouse and whine about actuarial exams on a blog. Maybe I should take a look and see if I can find any brothers and sisters in pain. LOL!

I have 6, possibly 7, days vacation I need to use before the bean gets here in early February. Between training up my fill-in for my maternity leave and dealing with end of year bonus schedules, I won't be able to take any vacation starting January 2. I'll be using 2 day in order to travel to see my folks over Thanksgiving and 1 day for L.'s allergy test.... oooh, I haven't posted about that one.... which leaves me 3, possibly 4, vacation days just begging to be used. Guess who'll be using 'vacation' time to study? No, no, no, YES! Yours truly.

Now, the big dilemma is deciding WHEN to use those days. Should they be grouped together right before the exam? Should they be spaced apart evenly between now and the exam? Should I save one for the day after the exam when I will be in a big sulk and not want to talk to anybody, especially co-workers who will be asking me how I did on the exam, thus bringing the pain of my first failure ever to the forefront over and over again?

M.W.