I hope next year will be better.....

The end of 2005 was not the best for me. I am still struggling with lowering my blood sugar and blood pressure but I am happy to be alive and grateful to be well enough to have these struggles. That being said.......

Last Friday,the day before Christmas Eve, the back of one of my teeth broke off. It has a temporary cap on it so I didn't panic because I never chew on that side anyway. The nerve is dead so it doesn't hurt. I managed to enjoy the weekend holidays with the gaping hole in my tooth.

Since my dentist is on vacation, I didn't bother to call his partner who is covering for him. I saw that doctor once in the 27 years since I have been a patient there and that was plenty. He has zero personality and he seems to enjoy being a little bit mean. My own dentist is happy,funny,comical and loving and he does everything he can to not cause me pain. I like that quality in a dentist.

This afternoon I was eating a few fat-free potato chips when something didn't feel right in my mouth. I thought it was a hard piece of chip but I should've known that I'm not that lucky. My bottom left tooth had split and the outside was wiggling back and forth. Damn! I called the dentist's office knowing my dentist's secretary was there since she had called me earlier about scheduling my appointment next week for the tooth with the hole in it. She scheduled me in with the mean dentist for tomorrow morning at 8:30am.

That means I have to be late for job #1. I am usually there at 7:30am and I already called to tell them I would be late. I hope this goes well because I have to be at job #2 at 1:00pm.

I am concerned with why my teeth are suddenly breaking. I have had extensive work on my teeth over the years and they are probably just brittle since they are almost 43 years old. I just wish they would stop breaking. I don't want to look like a jack-o-lantern.

I hope 2006 will be a better year for me and for all of you.
Happy New Year!

Holiday Traditions

I'm a little late posting this. You can read about our holiday traditions at DotMoms.

How did I get here?

Last night at 2:30am,(ok,make that this morning),Lillianna came in our room complaining of a tummy ache. Usually the reason is too much junk food before bed. Last night I let her stay up until 10:00pm to decorate the tree with Rich and I know she was nibbling on the yummy cookies my sister-in-law gave her.Those cookies look and smell delicious! *sigh*
Lillianna tried going to the bathroom but it didn't help.Her tummy still hurt.

Rich heard me telling Lillianna that I would go in her bed with her. He mumbled,"I'll sleep in her room. Let her stay in here with you." He gathered his pillows from our bed and shuffled out the door.

This morning at 7:35am,after Lillianna was dressed and I had made the lunches, I decided to wake Rich up. I stood by the bed and said,"Rich.It's time to get up." He opened his eyes and looked confused.He looked at the purple flannel sheet he was covered in and frowned. He looked up at the white ruffle canopy over his head and his eyes opened wide. He kept looking around the room with panic on his face.

"How did I get here?" he asked incredulously.

I rolled my eyes and gave him my best did-I-marry-a-moron? look and said sarcastically,"I carried you in here!"

He blinked and asked again,"How did I get here?"

At that point I got nervous and wondered if something was actually wrong with him. I sent Lillianna out of the room to eat breakfast.

Cautiously,I asked,"Are you ok? Do you really not remember how you got in here?"

Rich said,"No,I don't."

I reminded him about Lillianna's tummy ache the night before and slowly he began to remember. He said,"You could hand me a gun and ask me to kill the neighbors and I'd never remember it."

All I could think of was thank goodness I like my neighbors!

The thing that drives me crazy is that there have been many times that I have had a conversation with Rich in the middle of the night and he responds appropriately. He doesn't just grunt or mumble. He has whole conversations with me but he can't remember them in the morning.

Have you ever had this problem with your spouse?

Lillianna's poems

Lillianna finally decided to post something on her blog! She hasn't written in months.
Some college students from the local teaching college came into her class today to teach them about poetry. They will be doing this all week.
You can read Lillianna's poems here.

A tale of two Disneys

You can read this post over at DotMoms.

I've been quoted on Yahoo!

Ok,I'm not quite famous but I have been quoted in an article on Yahoo. You can check it out here.

Hey what?

When Lillianna was around two years old,we had to decide what words we would teach her for body parts. Most books said not to teach nonsense words because it may be hard for teachers or relatives to understand our made up words. I thought that sounded reasonable so I taught her "vagina" and "penis." Rich nearly had a coronary right there on the spot.

"I don't want to hear my two year old say vagina," he protested.

"What would you have her say,then?" I asked.

"Why can't she call it a "foo-foo"?" he suggested.

"You mean like little bunny foo-foo hopping through the forest?" I asked.

"Yes!" he said with great joy.

"Hell no! She will use the correct words and that's that!"

Rich was not pleased but I am the mom so the case was closed.

This morning,Lillianna wanted a bath but when Rich ran the water it was yellow. This happens sometimes and it's not harmful,so they say, but Rich didn't want to take any chances. He told Lillianna she would have to have a shower. For some reason it doesn't look yellow this way.Probably because you're not sitting in it.

When Lillianna protested and demanded an explanation, I heard Rich exclaim,"Because it's not good for your "hey nonny nonny" if you sit in that water!"

I was on the computer and started to laugh. Lillianna came in and threw herself on my bed in a fit of laughter. You gotta love that guy.

Did you teach your children the correct names for their body parts or did you choose to use other names? Why did you make that choice?

Two doctors' appointments

Well,I've been busy. I saw my primary care physician yesterday.I'll refer to him as Dr.B and I saw the GI doctor,Dr.K today.

Dr. B said my triglycerides are in the 300's now which is so much better than the 3,000 reading I got in the hospital. My blood sugar runs between the 120's and 160's which he is happy with for now but hopes it will eventually be under 120. He is pleased with my diet and exercise and referred me to a diabetic counselor so that I could learn more about what I can eat. I kind of have a fear of foods right now and I will only eat certain things so he thinks that if I learn more, I will be more comfortable trying new foods.

I had gone to urgent care right before my trip because I had that 8 week old cough and for some reason they weighed me. I asked Dr.B what I weighed at that appointment and then I did the math. I must've lost 11 pounds while I was in the hospital....ice chips for 4 days will do that to ya and I have lost 8 pounds in the last 2 weeks since I have been home,so that's 19 pounds. Gee,I only need to lose another 81 pounds.....woohoo! Dr.B was pleased with this too. So,I got a good report from him.

Today,I saw Dr.K. He is affiliated with Dr.B so he had my chart. Here is a bit of our conversation.

Dr.K: Your triglycerides are too high. They're in the 300's.

Me: Yes,but Dr.B said that was ok since they were 3,000 in the hospital.

Dr.K:(His mouth dropped open and he stared at me) Did you say 3,000?
Me: Yes.

Dr.K: I don't think that's right.(He flipped through the chart again.) Are you sure?

Me: Yes. I am quite sure. The doctors in the hospital were surprised too.

Dr.K:(He looked at me so strangely and said...) Wow! 3,000! People die from that.

Me: Yes I know. People keep telling me that.

He kept shaking his head and flipping through the chart. It was like he couldn't believe I survived. Sometimes I wonder about that too.....but here I am!!

In the end,Dr.K said he thought Dr.B was doing all the right things for me but he wants me to call him next Friday. He said,"I want to research this more deeply and make sure I am doing everything that I can for you." Sounds good to me.

So,all in all,I think I turned out ok after all this. Tuesday night,I will return to work. Hopefully I will get back into some type of routine and feel "normal" again......Whatever that means.

Lab results

While I was sitting in dancing school, waiting for Lillianna, my cell phone rang. It was my doctor's nurse with my lab results from last week. She said my blood sugar was way too high at 256. I told her that I have been checking it twice a day and that it's never been that high. She said that this particular test averages my blood sugar over the last 3 months so it would be high because of the pancreatitis. DUH!

I guess I am wondering why they did that test at all. Of course I had pancreatitis. Isn't that the point? Then she said I could discuss this at my next visit. I said,"Well, that would be tomorrow." She said,"Great,see you then."

That just seems like a very odd test to me. I am glad I have my appointment tomorrow because I have a lot of questions. Number one on my list is,"Why I am still so tired all the time?" This is driving me crazy. I can't nap at work. It's really frowned upon.

I'll write again after my appointment. Wish me luck!

Getting back into the swing of things

I can't believe that tomorrow will mark 2 weeks since I've been home. I couldn't even walk the day I was discharged from the hospital. Rich had to help me check my blood sugar in the airport because I wasn't even sure how to do it.
I've come a long way since then.....thank goodness!

The pain is nearly gone although night time is still uncomfortable for me. The least painful position for my stomach is sleeping on my back but it's not a comfortable position for me to sleep in. I'm hoping this resolves itself quite quickly because I love to sleep and would prefer to be comfortable.

I still can't shake the feeling of being tired. Rich said this morning that he thinks it's because I stopped drinking coffee so no caffeine and I'm on a low sugar diet as well as low fat so there is no "sugar high" either. I forgot about that.

I had to go to CVS earlier and when I got out of the car,my legs felt like limp noodles. I felt like I had run a marathon. I will have to tell my doctor when I see him on Thursday. I need to have more energy. I am going to take a little walk while Lillianna is in her Brownie meeting today. Maybe I just need more exercise.(Which I could do if I wasn't so exhausted! It's a vicious circle!)

Other than that,things are going pretty well. My blood sugar has been staying in the same range over the past few days.Lillianna draws a happy picture in my book when it's a particularly good number. She always has to know what my blood sugar is. It seems to give her a sense of peace to know it's not too high.

I will try to write after my doctor's appointment on Thursday.
Stay healthy everyone!

Just a quick update

I wanted to thank everyone for their thoughtful emails,cards and phone calls. I have heard from internet friends, co-workers from both jobs, friends and family.
Your outpouring of love and concern has been overwhelming.

I can happily report that I am much better than I was last week. I still can't do as much as I could before because I become exhausted and need to rest but the pain is almost completely gone. For that,I am extremely grateful.

As Lillianna and I were driving out of the supermarket this afternoon,I was feeling very grateful about getting a second chance to do it all over correctly.Very humbly I said,"We have an awful lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving." She said,"Ya,Auntie Kara is getting married!" (Kara got her engagement ring while we were in Florida so now it's official......thank goodness!) I said,"Ya,that's true but I was thinking more along the line that I was alive and getting better everyday." Lillianna said,"That too but Auntie's getting married!" Ahhhhhh,kids....they bounce back so quickly!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

An unplanned side trip

I have received so many emails from people asking how our vacation was. I will be writing a more detailed post for DotMoms in a few weeks but for now,here's what happened.

The first 4 days were wonderful. It was the vacation we had been hoping for even though the heat and all that walking just about wore me out.
On Monday,November 7th,we went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast. We had so much fun seeing all the characters but as we were leaving,I didn't feel very well. We decided to sit down for about 30 minutes to rest then we headed out to the parks.

By 2:00pm the pain in my stomach had become unbearable and I told Rich I had to get back to the hotel to lie down.I felt like I needed to throw up in order to move the pain. We got back to the room by 4:00pm,canceled our dinner reservations at my favorite restaurant and I got into bed.
At 9:30am the next morning,the pain was so much worse.I couldn't stand up. Rich called 911 and I was taken to the hospital. I was diagnosed with pancreatitis.

I ended up spending 7 days in the hospital. For the first few days I cried and moaned a lot from the horrific stabbing pain. It took a while for them to regulate my pain meds. Every time I moved,I was in the worst pain imaginable. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. I can't even believe I survived it. It was a complete nightmare.

The pancreatitis was so bad that it gave me diabetes. Hopefully,that's only temporary. I am on a low fat diet. I check my blood sugar twice a day and take meds for diabetes and for my triglycerides. So far I am doing ok.I was told it could've been much worse. I could've had a heart attack or a stroke.

So,that's the story of our vacation. Since I was smart enough to buy travel insurance prior to our trip,our extended hotel stay,taxi fare and other expenses will be taken care of once we submit our receipts. Always buy travel insurance because you just never know what is going to happen.

All in all,this was quite an eye opening trip. I don't know if I will ever want to return to Disney World again.

And we're off......

Our vacation has finally arrived.
See you next week!!

Persistence pays off......I hope.

Last night I coughed for most of the night and ended up sleeping in an upright position on the couch. This post nasal drip is chipping away at my sanity. Since I barely slept,I decided not to go to work today. I wasn't on the schedule but I said if I could,I would come in.I was barely coherent so I didn't go in. Instead,I marched myself back to the doctor.

I was just there 4 days ago but the allergy med hasn't helped. In fact,I am much worse than I was on Monday. I saw the nurse practitioner that I saw 4 weeks ago and this time,she said since nothing else has worked,I should be on Prednisone for 6 days.She is hoping that this will do the trick. I hope she is right because my nerves are frazzled from all this coughing and I have to work all weekend. Talking for hours and hours makes me cough so this Prednisone had better kick in soon.

I hope that my persistence pays off. The allergy med didn't work and I just want to be cured.I wouldn't have been such a nag if we weren't flying in a few days but come on....I've been sick for 6 damn weeks already. Enough is enough.

Let's hope that this med will work.

Cooking up a remedy

Last week when Rich was sick, I made him my famous chicken soup.This soup is just a simple,ordinary soup but for some reason,it helps to cure whatever ails us.
Lillianna and I stayed home yesterday because we were both sick and we don't feel any better today. I told her we have to run to the store for soup fixins' because we need to get well.....Fast! Disney is just one week away.

I am hoping this soup,which is called Mommy's magic soup (the magic is love)will speed up our recovery. I have to go to work tomorrow and Lillianna has to go to school so this had better work! Wish me luck!

What makes you feel better when you are sick?

I hate holiday cartoons!

Rich and Lillianna are in the living room watching It's The Great Pumpkin,Charlie Brown. I am in the bedroom hiding. They asked me to snuggle up on the couch and watch it with them but I have never enjoyed these movies.

Most people will tell you that they love the Peanuts characters. I don't have any feelings for them one way or another. I used to watch their holiday specials when my sister Kara was younger but I never enjoyed them. It was like having a root canal without the novacaine.

Christmas cartoons are the worst.Rich came into our marriage with every holiday cartoon on video. He watches them religiously every year. Rich and Lillianna like to talk along with each cartoon since they know all the words. I cringe and walk away. I am glad Rich has his cartoon buddy but I don't want any part in it.

On the one hand I am sad that I am not a part of their holiday joy but on the other hand I absolutely hate these cartoons and can't make myself sit through them.

Am I the only one who doesn't like holiday cartoons?

Congestion for two

Lillianna and I are both home sick today. I barely slept all night because I couldn't breathe.I still can't breathe through my nose,swallow or hear completely. My ears are blocked. I feel like I'm in a tunnel and people's voices seem to be very far away. Every so often I have a coughing fit which just exhausts me.

Lillianna is lethargic and keeps looking at me with her tired eyes and asking me to snuggle her. I know how she feels. I want my Mommy too! There's no chance of that. My mother won't come near us because she is going to Florida in a few days and she doesn't want to be sick. Neither do we!

So here we are,congested and cranky. I hope that by staying home from work tonight and tomorrow morning,that I will be better on Thursday. I can't afford to lose the money from not working but I do want to be well for Disney next week.

Lillianna just came in and announced she needs a nap. Sounds good to me. I can barely keep my eyes open.

She can't be sick! We're leaving on vacation next week!

I have had this cough for over six weeks and I am really tired of it. I went to see the doctor again today and this time I saw a pulmonary specialist. I have seen him before and I like him even though he is really old fashioned. Apparently all my recent problems,sore throat,cough,congestion and ear pain is all caused by post nasal drip. I have had that for as long as I can remember. I hate it!

Luckily my problem can be solved with adding Claritin to my Flonase every day and taking a cough medicine with codeine at night. I love easy solutions. I was in a happy mood when I picked Lillianna up from school today because I thought,"Good,I won't be sick for our vacation."

Lillianna did not look so happy when I got to school. She had to drag herself into the car.She looked exhausted.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm sick," she said.

Sick? She's sick????? We're going to Disney World next week! She can't be sick!!
She was all sniffly and her eyes looked like they do when she is sick,kind of grayish pink below the lids. She felt hot but her temp was 99. I gave her Motrin along with Pedia-Care for allergies. She asked if she could sleep with me tonight and stay home from school tomorrow. This is a child who cries on no school days. She hates to miss one single day so if she is asking to stay home,something isn't right.

The bad part is that my Mom takes care of Lillianna on Tuesdays so that I can work at 4:00pm but since Mom is going back to Florida this Saturday,she doesn't want to be exposed to what Lillianna has. I will have to wait and see how Lillianna is in the morning and then make my decision about work.

I just want us all to be healthy for our vacation. Is that too much to ask?

Crash!

I hate the drop off/pick up circle at Lillianna's school. Parents in giant SUVs double and triple park when the area is made for single vehicles. The process should be that the parent pulls up to the walkway,the child gets out and the parent drives away.That's quite simple,isn't it? Well not the way these parents do it.

Many parents pull up to the walkway while another vehicle parks next to the first one blocking the way. Then the parents get out of their vehicle to help their child/children get out with their back packs which weigh more than they do. Then they get back in and drive away. This ties up everything!!

I get very frustrated with this procedure and people are quite nasty and impatient. This adds heat to an already volcanic situation.

So this morning,I had Lillianna and Allison in the car ready for drop off. (Allison is our 6 year old neighbor who comes to our house Monday and Tuesday mornings.) There were 2 SUVs ahead of me. The front vehicle was parked and the father got out,held up the one finger "just a minute" sign,and helped the kids out. The SUV right in front of me had already dropped his kids off and wanted to leave. Even though there were only 6 inches separating us,he backed up......and hit my car.

I had beeped as he came too close to my car but that didn't stop him. He got out of his car and said he was sorry and that it was only the front light that was damaged. I sat there,stunned. He immediately said he would pay for the repairs and that he'd prefer not to have it go through insurance. He said he owned the liquor store down the street and all I had to do was bring him the bill and he will pay it. I got his name and said,"ok." He drove away.

None of the teachers who were outside guiding the kids into school came over to see what had happened or if anyone was hurt. Nice! I was going to call the principal because she has to change the drop off/pick up procedure. It's chaotic and dangerous. Rich said it was a good thing a child hadn't been crossing in front of my car. They would've been crushed!

When I told my sister,Kara,about this she said not to call the principal because she won't change anything. Sadly,she is right. Knowing my personal experience with her and the stories I have heard from other moms,nothing will be done.

In kindergarten,when Lillianna's teacher made the kids get in a circle and stare at one student as a punishment,I was horrified. The teacher said,"This is a boy who wants attention. Let's all stare at him and give him what he wants." Lillianna was uncomfortable doing this and felt bad since this was a boy she knew from our apartment complex. When I had a meeting with the principal she said,"You should be so lucky you have Mrs. T. She almost didn't come back after maternity leave. You are very fortunate!" Hello!!!!!!! She had the class stare at a student. I don't feel lucky at all!Lillianna was horrified that she made her friend cry by staring at him.

So you see,calling the principal is not going to work and I will probably end up yelling at her. I think I will write a letter and just get this off my chest.

What would you do?

Underage Drinking

Were you allowed to drink alcohol in your house when you were under age?
Do you allow your children to do it?
Today's post Underage Drinking is posted at DotMoms.

Idiots are protesting the American Girl Dolls

I couldn't believe it even after I read this article.
I am all for empowering girls. I thought that meant that you taught young girls that they could be anything and that they could do anything that they set their minds to. You know,giving them power.You can see the word power right in the middle of the word empowerment.

I would think that empowering young girls would include helping them to make the right choices in their young years and when they are older.You know,giving them the tools and the confidence to say,"This is my life and I can decide for myself." Shouldn't this include all choices?

Apparently,it doesn't.The protestors don't like the fact that American Girl supports abortion and homosexuality. I am not pro abortion but I am pro choice. My decision may not be your decision but we are each entitled to make the choice that is right for each of us.

What's wrong with being a lesbian? If Lillianna tells me she is a lesbian one day,will I love her any less than I do now? Hell no!! That's my baby and I love her unconditionally!

I am all for GIRL EMPOWERMENT. In my opinion,these protestors need to go get a life or maybe play with a doll or something.

Call her Charlene

Lillianna and I were chatting over breakfast about my Nana. (Lillianna is named after my Nana and Rich's Nana who were both named Lillian.)Lillianna said,"I wish I could've met your Nana." With tears in my eyes I said,"I wish you could've too. She would've loved you." Then I thought for a moment and said,"But then, if she were alive when you were born and if Daddy's Nana was still alive,you wouldn't have been named Lillianna. In the Jewish tradition,you can only be named after someone who has died."

"Then what would my name have been?" she asked. "Well," I said,"I would've named you after my Dad so you would've been Charlotte or Charlene after my Dad,Charles."
Lillianna's face lit up. "I love the name Charlene. I like it better than Lillianna."

She just about broke my heart. She always says how much she loves the name Lillianna.Now she prefers Charlene? I love the name Charlene too but....her name is Lillianna!!!!!

You just can't win!

Feeling BLAH

I'm tired....not the kind of tired where I have to take a nap,although that would be splendid,but tired like I've given all I have to give.I totally get that life is not easy for anyone. I should be grateful and happy for the goodness in my life......and I am. I really am. And yet mentally,I'm all washed up.

Our Disney trip is only a few weeks away.I have to add an extra morning in to work for 2 weeks to make up for 2 of the 4 days I will miss at one job.For those other 2 days,I just lose the money since I'm per diem and don't have any benefits. I dread working those extra days.I really do.

I know I will have a fun vacation to look forward to but then I have to return to reality. Reality exhausts me.

Sometimes I just want someone to take care of me. Rich cleans the house and does the laundry while I am at work all weekend so it's not like he is sitting around eating chips and scratching himself. He does a lot.And yet,I need more.

I'm just cranky today.Cranky and tired.

Living in 2005

My friend Liane emailed this to me and I thought it was so funny.....and true,that I decided to post it.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2005 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your
coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

No fashion sense

Yesterday,Lillianna and I went through the clothes that a friend of mine gave us from her daughter. She always buys the best of things and Lillianna loves to see what "new" clothes Maggie has sent her. One pair of jeans was a little too long and the butt was tighter than I would've liked. Of course Lillianna shrieked,"I love these jeans!"

I didn't feel like they were appropriate. Who thinks an 8 year old needs to be wearing tight jeans? Not me! She said she'd only wear them in the house. I told Rich that they were never to be worn outside.....ever.
Then today,she tried on a cute shirt. Well,it was cute until she put it on. The neckline was way too low. Way too low.

I could see by the look on Lillianna's face that she knew it wasn't a keeper. She immediately pulled the shirt up so that it wasn't so low. "It's fine," she said. I shook my head and said,"Sorry babe. It's gotta go." Lillianna pulled the shirt up again. "MOM! It's fine. It's not too low." I laughed and said,"Tell me the truth. You knew it was too low before I said anything,right? I could see it in your face." She smiled and confessed,"Ya. I knew. Ok mom." She took it off and threw it in the "donate" pile.

This happened a few more times with shirts that just didn't fit right. After the third shirt that Lillianna wanted to keep but I said no to,she sighed and said,"Sometimes I think you don't know anything about fashion!"

That may be true,but I do know what is inappropriate for an 8 year old to wear. Those clothes will not be hanging in my child's closet.

What fashion limits do you set for your children? How do they react to that?

The impatient mom

Today's post,which is actually yesterday's post is over at DotMoms.

Happy Birthday Lillianna

I wrote a happy birthday post on Lillianna's blog so if you would like to wish her a happy 8th birthday, please go here.

Our 12 year jellybeaniversary

Ok,so jellybeaniversary isn't a word.......until now. I just made it up!
Today is the 12 year anniversary of the day Rich and I met in Kristy and Jerry's kitchen. Wow! 12 years seems like a life time ago. October 2nd was also my due date for Lillianna...4 years to the day that Rich and I met. When the midwife told me that date,I nearly fell off the table. How could two magical things happen on the same day? Fate is a funny thing.

If you haven't read it before,now you can read Our Cotton Candy Jellybean Story.
It was those pink little beans that got us together.

Happy jellybeaniversary,Rich!!

September 29, 1987

Eighteen years ago today my dad died. It's still painful to remember.
I spoke to Kara this morning and said,"Do you realize you have been without Daddy longer than you were with him?"

Of course she knows that information but I had to say it out loud to make sense of it. Kara was just about to turn 13 when he died. I was 24. It will never make sense to either one of us.

Daddy has missed my life. Lillianna will be 8 in just a few days. He would've loved his grand daughter. She is happy and funny and full of life. Daddy loved that. He would've loved Rich too. They have a lot in common.

So,I've lived my life but there will always be a missing piece of my heart. Eighteen years or one hundred and eighteen years....it doesn't matter.....I am still sad that my Dad is gone and that he wasn't here to share the good things in our life.

How do you remember?

Someone at work asked me how to spell psych.
I immediately blurted out,"P-S-Y-C-H." Then I admitted,"Well,I know that from cheerleading."
Even though I have always been a good speller,there are just some words I learned from cheering in high school.

There was the famous,"P-S-Y-C-H-E-D...let's get psyched!" or
"S-U-CC-E-SS,that's the way we spell success!"
The confusion came in with the following cheers,
"R-O-W-D-I-E...That's the way we spell rowdie....rowdie....let's get rowdie....WOOO!"
and then "Let's get a little bit rowdy....R-OW-D-Y." Uhm...ya...so which is it? (Spell check accepted rowdy but not rowdie....what do they know? They wouldn't accept cheerleaders as a word!!)

So,I try not to use rowdie/rowdy in a sentence. Who needs the hassle?

I went to college at UMASS Amherst. I didn't cheer there but their cheerleaders did a cheer that spelled out Massachusetts. Before that,everything was abbreviated Mass. so I didn't have to worry about spelling it at all. Thank goodness for the cheer. I have been able to spell my home state for the past 24 years.College.....good! I admit I do cheer it in my head as I spell it though...you know,so I get it right!

This got me thinking about tricks to remember other things. We all know the spaces and lines in music,right? The spaces spell out F-A-C-E while the lines are E-G-B-D-F which can stand for many,many things. We used Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge or
Empty Garbage Before Dad Flips!

In my college astronomy class,we used this sentence to remember the order of the planets: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us New Prunes. I don't know if I'd think Mom was so excellent if I got prunes but...that's the sentence.

We all have little tricks to remember things. How do you do it?

Please hang on to your child!

Monday was the first day of Brownies for this year. Lillianna's troop meets in a conference room in the local library. After her meeting,Lillianna and her friend Emily went off in search of books. Emily's mom Janet is the troop leader and also one of my friends from childhood.

After the girls checked out their books,we all headed out the front door. For some reason we stopped in the doorway to chat for a few minutes. Janet was leaning against the open door when a 3 year old girl walked out of the library...alone. I remembered seeing the little girl in the children's section when Lillianna was waiting for Emily but I didn't notice an adult with her.

Janet asked the girl,"Should you be out here?"

The little girl looked up at us and asked, "Where's my mommy?"

Ya,that was what we wanted to know! Sure,we had the front door opened but she had to go through another door to even get to the front door. Why wasn't a parent watching her? We took her inside and as Janet reported this to the librarians,I walked around a bit with the girl to see if she could spot her mother.

Finally,a woman from the complete other side of the library came running towards the girl. She thanked us a million times and then took her child back to where she had been. Lillianna wanted to know why the mother hadn't been with her child? Why wasn't she watching her?

I don't have the answers to those questions. When Lillianna was 3 years old,I was with her in the library. She was not out of my sight for any reason. At the end of last year,when she was 7 1/2,I allowed her to go into the main library with Emily after Brownies to pick out some books to take home. Emily is one year older than Lillianna.

I trusted Lillianna to pick out her books in the children's section and then to come get me in the adult section when she was ready to check out. The two girls stayed together and I felt like this was ok for me to do. The library is only one level so I wasn't very concerned. Lillianna knew this was a big step for me and she appreciated this little bit of freedom.

At 3 years old,there is no need for freedom. There is a need for complete vigilance. Turning your back on your child for one minute in a public place could prove to be fatal. That little girl could have been scooped up and taken away if we hadn't caught her when we did.

How much freedom do you give your young children in the library?

Short hair

Lillianna hates when her hair gets too long because she hates the snarls and she is not too happy when I put her hair up in a ponytail either. She will use any excuse to keep it down. Lately she has been asking to get her hair cut. Today,I finally agreed.

"How short do you want it?" the hairdresser asked.
Lillianna pointed to her shoulders.I tried not to scream.

"Uhm....I still want to put it up in a ponytail from time to time," I chimed in.

"Ok,I'll leave the front a little longer and angle it so that it can still go up," the hairdresser replied.

I bit my lip,swallowed hard and sat quietly in my hair. I sighed and clutched my chest as big clumps of hair fell to the floor. My baby! All that beautiful hair.
I looked at Lillianna. She was one big smile. Her smile got bigger as more and more hair was chopped off. She was loving this.

When the hairdresser was finished,I looked at Lillianna. She was thrilled. She did look adorable but she looked older. She'll be 8 in two weeks and she didn't look it. She just looked.....Older. She hugged me and thanked me a million times. It was worth it.

I try to listen to what she wants to wear and how she wants her hair to look. She still has days of,"Whatever," which means I pick out her clothes but I want her to be comfortable making her own decisions. More than that,she has to know that I have faith in her decisions. It's difficult and it's a learning process,for both of us.

What decisions do you let your children make on their own?

It's all about the friends

Lillianna will turn 8 in just two weeks. Her party will be in 4 weeks so we are starting to plan for that.Thankfully,she likes simple parties. You can read about it at DotMoms.

Off to the doctor

Well,I've had this hacking cough for the past 3 weeks and it's just getting worse.
When I first got sick,I had sinus congestion along with the cough. The congestion cleared after about a week but the cough has lingered.

Both of my jobs require constant talking for the entire shift. Many times,I have lost my voice and talking can be painful. Last night at work,my cough seemed to get worse and I had a pounding headache to go along with it. Nice bonus!

I dragged myself home last night after telling Rich that I just didn't have one bit of energy to go food shopping after work like I had planned. He said he would shop on Saturday. Thank goodness for that.

This morning,my cough frightened Lillianna. She looked at me with wide eyes and asked quietly,"Are you ok Mommy? You don't sound too good." That's an understatement. So,as soon as Rich is out of the bathroom,I will take my shower,get dressed and call my doctor. I am hoping I don't have pneumonia like I did last year. I guess I'll know soon enough.

{5:00pm...Update: I have a bacterial infection. I am now on an antibiotic,Tylenol and a cough syrup with codeine. The fact that surprised me the most was when the doctor told me I had a slight fever! I almost never have a temperature. When I called Rich with the news,I said,"I have a fever. I only have a fever when I am really sick." Rich laughed and said,"What makes you think you aren't really sick now?" Good point.

The doctor also wrote a note and told me to take the weekend off from both jobs. That was dicey because I hate calling in sick. The guilt is overwhelming but I had to do it. Right now I am making a huge pot of chicken noodle soup. That's all I want to eat when I am sick.

So,there you have it!}

Hair don'ts

The sky just suddenly opened up. I can hear big, fat raindrops plopping on my air conditioner. I dared to look out the window and could only see grayness through the swirling rain.

I wish this could be a day where I could stay snuggled in my jammies,sipping lemon tea and cuddling Lillianna. Unfortunately,I have to hop in the shower,iron my clothes,eat lunch and get Lillianna from school at 2:40pm. Then it's a 30 minute drive to my Mom's to drop Lillianna off so that I can go to work.

Since it is so windy and wet outside,I figured I would pull the front of my hair up so it won't be whipping in my face when I go outside. Nothing looked right. I hate having my hair all flipped out and frizzy in this weather. Headbands give me a migraine but I might just give in to it today because it is really nasty outside.

If I were in a magazine,I am sure I would be a hair don't with this headband but....what can ya do?

Another traveling companion to Disney World

Tonight was open house at Lillianna's school. It was my first time meeting her teacher,Miss L. I was very impressed. The classroom has a lot of fun and interesting things in it and I just got a really good feeling. Well,I could barely feel anything as it was 100 degrees in the school and the sweat was pouring down my face like rain.

Like many classrooms around the world,Lillianna's class uses Flat Stanley. Each child made their own flat people last week. Miss L said we can take Lillianna's "Flat Lilly" with us to Disney World and document the trip. We are all very excited about that.

Does your child's class use Flat Stanley?

Once nation,under nothing

So,they want to take "under G-d" out of the pledge of allegiance and try to take the pledge out entirely. Apparently,atheists are offended.
Do school children get to believe in anything anymore?
On the news they said that even a moment of silence in the morning is inappropriate.
How is 60 seconds of silence inappropriate?
So,I guess we can be one nation under nothing. That's sounds depressing.

Are you offended by "under G-d"?

How young is too young to be alone?

Thirty four years ago,when I was Lillianna's age,I walked to school by myself and no one worried about that.My Mom left the house at 7:00am every day and I left the house at 8:00am and walked to school. Dad was home but he was asleep.
I can't even imagine this scenario for Lillianna.

Up until I was 10 years old,I had a babysitter at my house after school. I didn't enjoy them all that much so I asked Mom if I could stay alone until she came home at 5:00pm. With some hesitation,she allowed that. I was a bit scared but I did it.

I make sure I am home for Lillianna every single day after school. If there is a reason why I can't be home for her,I ask a friend or neighbor to pick her up for me. She is 3 weeks away from turning 8 and I would never leave her alone for any reason.

A ten year old boy who lives in the building next to us,is left on his own from 2:30pm-6:30pm. He seems absolutely fine with it. He rides his bike all around the complex as well as in the woods on a bike trail. When he told me that, I tried not to shriek in horror. Alone in the woods? No matter how you spin that,I am not comfortable with that.

The other day he was out riding when he saw Lillianna on her bike and asked her to come up to the club house. So, we went up there and the two kids rode around on the basketball court. He is a sweet boy and he seems like he has a good head on his shoulders. He said that he would love to play basketball with Lillianna one day after school. Her face lit up. She loves basketball.

We just found out that a woman was raped this past Saturday,three buildings away from us. She was outside,in the middle of the day, and a man dragged her into the woods. That puts me in a panic because I come and go as I please and don't worry about being dragged anywhere and raped. We pay high rent here and it's a gated community! Yet,we're not safe at all.

Rich always watches me from the window when I come home late at night but now he will start watching me when I leave the house early in the morning.

But what about the young neighbor who is home alone every afternoon? Is he safe?
I have already told him what apartment we live in and that he can come to me anytime he needs anything. My friend,Sherri,lives in his building and he knows he can go to her too. I guess that's all we can do.

How old do you think a child should be to stay alone for 4 hours every day after school?

Please don't offend the sex offenders

Massachusetts has welcomed some of the Hurricane Katrina survivors which I think is great. However,there are 7 sex offenders among them. They have put the 7 men on a floor by themselves but gosh darn it,they don't want to offend or stigmatize them. Are you kidding me?
You can read the pitiful story here.

Just like Hester had to wear a scarlett "A" for adultery in the Scarlett Letter,the sex offenders should wear a 5 foot penis on their head to literally give us a heads up! If I saw a 5 foot penis heading my way you can bet I'd be running in the other direction.

It's not a good thing to be a sex offender.There's nothing to be proud of. I think we can all agree on that. So who cares if we point a finger and yell,"SEX OFFENDER!!" That's what they are. We know it and they know it. If they don't want to be offended then they shouldn't be molesting anyone!!!!! It's pretty simple. I don't care about their feelings. Did they care about the children they molested? I don't think so.

So I am giving a big F&*$ You to the disgusting sex offenders and I hope the people at Camp Edwards will protect the innocent survivors there.

Do you think sex offenders should have any rights?

September 11th

It is unbelievable that four years have passed since the horror of September 11th.
I just re-read my post from last year and decided to post it again since I think it was a good post,if I do say so myself.

Yesterday I heard on the radio that we have 1,400 illegal aliens in Massachusetts who are running around with an illegal driver's license. That is not a typo. It is one thousand-four hundred people. Why are we so lax with our illegal aliens? I mean it's not one or two who slipped through the cracks. It's 1,400. That's way too many cracks!

I completely understand wanting to live in the good old U.S.of A.
If someone wants to live here then they must do what it takes to become a legal citizen,get a job and pay taxes. I have no problem with that. What are 1,400 illegal aliens doing here in Massachusetts? Are they plotting our demise?

So,here we are four years later......do you think our security system is better or worse than it was on September 10,2001----the day before our world came crashing down.

What does it mean?

We were talking at work about expressions. Since I work in an ophthalmology practice,we were discussing the phrase,"blind as a bat." That brought me to the expression,
"deaf as a haddock," which is something my elderly patients always say to me.I always ask them what that means. Do haddock have ears? If not,are they the only fish without ears?

We googled "deaf as a haddock" but we couldn't come up with an explanation of this expression. If you know of a link that explains this odd saying,please send it to me. I have to bring it to work.
Thanks.

I am entitled to my own feelings

When I was in my early twenties,I used to read parenting magazines to gain some insight. One of the articles that I read said that if a child says,"My knee hurts," don't say, "No it doesn't," just because you don't see anything wrong. If you keep denying your child's pain,it undermines their ability to trust their feelings. I thought their was some truth in that and I have made sure that I have never denied Lillianna's feelings about anything.

What about adults? Aren't adults entitled to feel any way that they want? Lately I have found that there are people who want to tell me how to feel and I am annoyed and angered by it.

If I am sad about something,I hear,"That shouldn't have upset you. Forget about it." If I could forget about it,I would,but obviously I can't. Please allow me to feel sad. It's okay. It won't last forever.

If I am frustrated,I hear,"You shouldn't feel that way. It's no big deal." Well, to me, it is a big deal so let me feel my feelings.

I honestly wanted to hit someone the other day for telling me how to feel but luckily I am not a violent person and I just let it go. I wanted to scream in their face,"Shut the F*&$ up!!!! Don't tell me how to feel! You can't belittle my feelings just because they are not your feelings." That makes my frustration doubly frustrating!

I am not sure why people feel compelled to tell others how they think they should feel but it needs to stop......NOW!

One is not the loneliest number

Being an only child is not a bad thing.In fact,it can be rather fun. You can read today's post over at Dotmoms.

What's in the trash bag?

Today is another one of my famous trash bag days. I take a bag in my room and I give one to Lillianna and we throw away whatever we haven't used since the last trash bag clean up. I know this isn't exactly a day of fun on Lillianna's day off from school but since I work all weekend,this is a necessity.

I started by just going around and picking up the little pieces that everyone leaves behind at the computer: a popsicle stick(Lillianna or Rich's),a thank you note from a party Lillianna attended a month ago,a Christmas cassette (I have no idea why it was there), papers with email addresses on them(that's Rich's stuff for barter town where he trades toy soldiers),nail polish (ok,that's mine. I polish my nails and then play Chuzzle on the computer while they dry!), coupon book (ya,mine again. I look for coupons then type my list out). The computer on it's own is a dumping site!

Then I found my old iron sitting in the corner of the room. One day, a few months ago, I plugged it in and nearly got eletrocuted. We immediately replaced it but for some reason,that old one is still here. I tossed it in the bag along with my old cordless phone that died a slow,painful death about 6 months ago. My bedroom is a graveyard for dead appliances.

So, after almost 3 hours of cleaning,we are taking a break and going out for Thai food. After that,I hope to tackle the rest of the apartment.

How cluttered is your house?

Miss A, Mrs B and Mr C

Lillianna loves her 2nd grade teacher, Miss L. That's what the kids call her because apparently her name is too hard to say. For privacy reasons I won't disclose her name but believe me,it's not a difficult name even though it has 4 syllables. Yes, 4 syllables. Our last name has 3 syllables and I would hope people could pronounce it unless they are brain dead. Oh sure they may ask how to pronounce it the first time but then I would expect them to be able to say it.

Lillianna's art teacher is Miss G. Her name is not difficult at all and it only has 3 syllables but apparently the children are not bright enough to take on this challenge. Lillianna is almost 8 years old. When does the school think she will be able to say a teacher's 4 syllable name....maybe by high school?

It is no secret that I hate Lillianna's school. They have disappointed me in the past 2 years and I had been hoping that this year I would be pleasantly surprised. With more and more teachers being called by their first initial,I doubt this is going to be a better year.

At what age do you think a child should be able to pronounce their teacher's name?

Gas Prices

I drove by two gas stations today because I refused to pay $3.25 per gallon. I did find one that was $3.15 and since I was on "E" I had to suck it up and put $20 worth in. It filled it half-way. I couldn't afford to fill it.
This totally sucks.

Gas prices were rising before the hurricane. I think they are using that as an excuse to keep them rising. The news said prices could go as high as $5 per gallon. Are they insane? I won't be able to afford to drive to work. Something has to change.

What is the price of gas in your area?

More commercials that drive me insane

Is anyone else creeped out by the Quaker Oats commercial? You know the one. A bunch of school age children pull a life size Quaker Oats statue around in a red wagon and pass out something....granola bars,maybe? What's up with that? Lillianna said this commercial scares her because the statue looks so weird. I have to agree. I would've liked this commercial better if it had been someone dressed up like a Quaker rather than hauling the statue to school. Why can't the kids just bring the bars to school? Why does the statue have to come too? That's just odd.

Speaking of statues.....when did Burger King become a peeping Tom? One of the commercials for their breakfast sandwich has the Burger King statue standing in the front yard looking in the window of someone's home. I guess he's supposed to wake them up with his delicious sandwich. Ya,well,ok but he looks all shiny and plastic like because....he's a statue! He's creepy too.
Whatever happened to actors? Is it cheaper to replace them with statues?

Now,on to one of the dumbest commercials....for Ziploc containers. That's the one where the husband is carrying his Ziploc container of salsa from the kitchen into his all white living room....white couches,white rug,white everything! While he does this he is reassuring his wife on the phone that he has not been in the living room all week and no, he isn't eating in there. Lies,lies,lies. During this chat,his one year old son is tossing the salsa container all over the living room which goes to prove how good those Ziploc containers are.
Here's my question....who,in their right mind,has an all white room if they have children? Who? I want names! Why is the husband such a moron? Just because the container doesn't leak,that doesn't mean he won't drip salsa on something while he is eating it! I hate this commercial.

What commercials drive you crazy?

Home sick

I've been sick since I woke up Thursday morning. I worked until 11:00pm Thursday night and I felt horrible when I woke up Friday morning. I did manage to drag myself out of bed and get Lillianna's back to school supplies Friday afternoon and believe me,I felt like I had accomplished a lot with that little task.

Saturday was exhausting. By the end of the morning,I had lost my voice,so my last two patients were difficult for me and I think that thought I was bitchy because I only spoke when I had to. If I talked too much,I went into a coughing fit. I tried to protect the patients from that. I would've explained that to them but I didn't want to risk coughing.

At 12:00pm I ate 2 huge bowls of soup and went off to job #2 which is 6 1/2 hours of non-stop talking. I was feeling worse as the night dragged on. Luckily a co-worker offered to work for me Sunday morning and although I was reluctant at first, I took her up on it. (Thank-you Samantha!! You saved my life!)

Sunday morning I woke up feeling like I was in a fog. My cough was worse and I was ready to collapse. Rich and Lillianna left at 8:00am to go to their wargame and they didn't get back til 6:00pm. I had the whole day to re-group and rest.

Last night I was up in the living room watching t.v. from 12:30am-3:00am because I couldn't stop coughing in bed. I tossed and turned all night. One minute I was freezing. The next minute I was in a pool of sweat.

Today I have had moments of thinking I am much better followed by a coughing fit.
It's 2:30pm and I haven't managed to shower yet. I did the dishes and became exhausted. I don't have any energy at all. Now I am wondering if I should stay home from work one more day or suck it up and just go tomorrow. I hate calling in sick but I hate being sick even more!

Sorry,honey....I just have to write about this.

Rich told me I didn't have to write about this but,I do. I really do.

I may have mentioned in the past,that Rich isn't too computer savvy. He can check his email and surf the net but that's where it begins and ends.
I don't ask him anything when I have a computer problem. I know he won't have a clue. Generally, I call Comcast and talk to a customer service rep. That always gets the problem fixed.

This morning,I was trying to send an email and the computer froze. I waited a minute. Nothing. I pressed Ctrl Alt Delete but it was still stuck. I tried it again. Nothing. I sighed.

"The computer is frozen," I said in frustration.

Rich,being the helpful guy that he is suggested,"Why don't you push Cottorall Alt Delete?"

Trying to keep a straight face,I asked,"What?"

He flew across the room to rush to my side and bestow upon me his great computer knowledge.

"Just push Cottorall Alt Delete," he repeated.

He reached in front of me to push the 3 buttons that would hopefully reset my computer. I couldn't help myself. I had to ask him, "Did you say Cottorall?"

"Ya," he replied.

I said,"C-t-r-l isn't Cottorall it's Control! Control Alt Delete."

Rich looked at the keyboard and said,"C-t-r-l....there's no 'N'in that."
I didn't challenge him that Control is actually a word where Cottorall is not!

It's moments like this that I am reminded why I married this guy. He makes me laugh!

August 25,1997

Eight years ago today,two things happened.
The first thing was that I had a freckle removed from my right foot. It was a big round spot on top of my foot,right between my big toe and the one next to it. Mom always called it a beauty mark and said that my foot was beautiful. Parents lie a lot, don't they?

I remember when I was about 5 years old and an older neighbor boy jumped on my sandaled foot. I kept screaming and trying to get away. He was convinced he was killing a bug on my foot. Hmmmph! Why didn't he know it was a beauty mark?

I may not have loved this spot all of my life but when the dermatologist decided to remove it,I was devastated. It had been a part of me for 34 years and I didn't feel like parting with it. I had mentioned that it had gotten lighter in color over the years and that sounded suspicious to the doctor, so off it went. There was nothing wrong with it and even now,eight years later,I feel a sadness wash over me when I see the empty spot where my beauty mark used to be.

The second thing that happened on this day was that Rich and I attended our last birthing class. After that,we were on our own. I felt safe in that class with other pregnant women,knowing we would all be going through the same experience. As long as we were in the class,nothing could happen to me.

On this last class,one couple didn't show up. They were in the hospital trying to have her labor stopped. She was carrying twins. She actually ended up delivering a few days before I did because I had just had Lillianna when she was being discharged from the hospital.

Once our class was over,I passed out a box of baby chocolates that I had made to every couple and to our birthing instructor. We wished each other luck and planned to meet at my house in January 1998 after the last baby in the class was born.Then we said good-bye.

For some reason,I remember this date every year and think about those two moments.

Mary Poppins 911

Yesterday I started thinking about Nanny 911. Lillianna and I watch that show every week. I know it has been compared to Mary Poppins because all the nannies are English but I realized Nanny 911 is Mary Poppins!

In Mary Poppins you have the dysfunctional Banks family. Jane and Michael are mischievous children who act out because they don't get any real attention from their parents. Mr.Banks is a workaholic who doesn't have time for his wife or kids. Mrs. Banks is wrapped up in her own world and gives little thought to her children as well.(She's busy fighting for the women's right to vote.)

Mary Poppins flies in. She brings a new way of thinking and a bright and cheery attitude. She speaks to the children on their own level.She makes them feel that she is interested in them,because she really is. Their attitude changes.
She gets the parents to realize how important being a family really is and to see what they were missing.

Mary Poppins realizes her job is done and she says goodbye to her beloved Banks family. There are some tears but Mary waves goodbye and flies away. The Banks family heads off to go fly a kite....together. And they all live happily ever after.

Sound familiar?

How is this possible?

Here is another article in News Of The Weird.

Recurring Themes
Among the more astonishing repeat stories in News of the Weird are reports of people who had somehow managed to swallow their toothbrushes. The Saudi Press Association reported in January that doctors at King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Taif had removed a toothbrush from the stomach of a 70-year-old man (who claimed to have accidentally swallowed it 22 years ago). And in July, the Associated Press reported that a Taiwan surgeon had removed an eight-tooth, accidentally swallowed lower denture from the bronchial tube of a 45-year-old man. The man said he had misplaced the denture three years ago and had been looking everywhere for it. [Agence France-Presse, 1-18-05] [Newsday-AP, 8-1-05]

They've got to be kidding. I can barely brush my back teeth without gagging. How the heck did people swallow their toothbrush or their dentures? I mean seriously. When did accidentally swallowing dental products become an issue?

What's next? What about an electric toothbrush? I suppose if it's swallowed while it's still on,someone would feel it and wouldn't wait a million years to tell someone.Right? Gosh,who knows anymore!! What morons.
What if someone swallows a bottle of mouthwash? Mmmmm....minty goodness from the inside out! How about a pack of dental floss? I suppose that would go down a bit smoother than the other bulky items but what would that do to your intestines? Of course if you swallowed a toothbrush and then swallowed the floss,maybe you could tie the brush with the floss and pull it out?

Have you ever swallowed any dental products? Do you really feel this is a public concern?

Idiot!

Lillianna and I are at Kara and Peter's office today while they are away with the kids. The office is located across from the courthouse on a very busy street. There is a small parking lot off to the side but other than that,it's all street parking with meters.

I happened to look outside the window just a few minutes ago and noticed this man standing by his car. The 5 year old boy inside the car was popping out the sun roof and pulling himself up so that he was sitting on the roof of the car. Non-stop traffic is passing by this car but did the man care? I don't think so. He looked to be the boy's grandfather but unless he is completely senile,he should have known better.

At this point,a police car with the lights flashing,pulled up next to the idiot old man. The boy was rolling around on the roof!
I watched the exchange between the two men and it was pretty clear from his expression that the old man didn't know what the big deal was all about. The officer talked briefly,shook his head in dismay and walked away. The old man shrugged and got the boy from off of the roof.

Is there any adult out there who wouldn't have known that it was not ok to allow the 5 year old boy to roll around the roof of a car on a busy street? Anyone?

Perception can change in an instant

If you would like to read Wednesday's post at DotMoms,then click right over here.
This is a story that just about broke my heart as I watched it unfold one day at the pool. I wish all parents were kind and loving to their children and to each other.
Wouldn't that be a great world to live in?

Working

Lillianna wrote about working with me at Kara's office yesterday and Friday.
If you have a chance,head on over to Lillianna's Place and answer her question about the best job you've ever had.

What a day

I have been working every day since last Tuesday and I am tired. I woke up at 5am for the 8th day in a row and dragged my butt to work. Tuesdays haven't been that hectic in the past month because doctors are on vacation so I was hoping for a nice easy day without too much effort on my part. I sucked down my Dunkin Donut's iced coffee on the 30 minute drive to work and hoped that was enough to get me through my day.

I got to work,put my things in my locker and went to check the list of technicians who were working with each doctor. I wanted to cry when I saw cross-outs and arrows and only Laurie's name with mine next to a doctor who was scheduled to see 26 patients from 8am-10:30am. Usually we have 3,possibly 4 techs with this kind of schedule because rather than being seen in the usual FOUR hours,it's being squished into 2 1/2 hours. Then I saw that there was only one tech with the other doctor who had 19 patients scheduled. For this particular doctor,that would require three techs.

I was told one tech was being sent to help from another office and she would "float" between both doctors. I told Bill,a fellow tech and our schedule coordinator, that I wanted to bolt out the door. I asked if he could pretend he hadn't seen me and was it too late to call in sick for today? He laughed. He was the one working alone with the other doctor,bless his heart. He always puts himself on the worst schedule.

I didn't know where I would get the energy for this but I had to suck it up,yet again,and do the job. Luckily,a friend of my mom's was my second patient and she put me in a happy mood. Other than one whiney patient who drove me nuts,it wasn't a bad morning and I was so happy when I finished the last one. What a relief. Since my co-workers still had the afternoon to contend with,I volunteered to be the "late tech" which stays until all the patients have been seen by the doctor,so they could go to lunch on time. They were all happy. Bill was very grateful.

Even though this day did not look like it was going to be a very pleasant one,it ended up not being too bad since the techs who had Visual Field Tests,Disc Photos and Ultra Sounds to do,came to bail us out when they had the chance. That made a big difference.Team work is very important and to have a coordinator who is compassionate and who has a good sense of humor, really helps to make a bad situation into one that is tolerable.

Does your supervisor or manager make your life better or worse?
(Get it? Better or worse? Like when you have an eye exam.....Is it better or worse? Ok,I suppose explaining that doesn't make it funny but.....I'M TIRED!)

What's in a name?

In 1974,my mother was pregnant. I was almost 12 years old. It was fun for me because I got to help pick out clothes and other items for "the baby." There was no ultra sound to reveal the sex of "the baby" so we had to patiently wait.

The hardest part was picking out a name. Mom came up with Brian Mark if it turned out to be a boy. I didn't care about a boy's name. Nana and I decided this baby was going to be a girl so the name we chose was extremely important.

I have always hated my name. How many times do I have to hear,

"Oh,are you the red,red,robin that goes bob,bob,bobbin' along?" How can you answer that? "Yes,that's me.How did you know?"

One dirty old man came into my work when I was 25 and when he read my name tag he asked,"So,Robin,do you have a red breast?"
What a perv! How could he not be ashamed of himself?

I have also heard,"Oh,so you're the Robin in the song,robin,robin,walking to Missouri. Can't afford to fly." Apparently that's some obscure bird song but several people have said it so it must be out there.

Then of course there's always,"Are you the Robin in Batman and Robin?" "Yes,of course I am. DUH!"

It's maddening. Robin is such a crappy name. (Sorry to anyone named Robin who loves the name. I wish I did!) When I lived in Israel and was introduced to someone new,they always asked,"Isn't Robin a boy's name?"

So,naming my sister was very important to me. I wanted her to have a beautiful name that she would always be proud of and love.
I came up with the name Heather. For me,Heather brings thoughts of lavender and joy to my mind. I wanted that for my sister.

Nana found the name Kara in my dance recital program. She liked it.
I wasn't so sure about that. Then we decided on the middle name Beth. I just loved Bethie from Little Women. I was ok with that. Hmmmm....Kara Beth. It wasn't Heather,but it sounded pretty and had a nice ring to it.

Thirty years later,Kara is very much Kara and not Heather. I still love the name Heather but it would not have suited Kara at all.
Names are funny,aren't they? Do we grow into the name that we are given or are we destined to have a certain name?

What do you think?

Flashback to the 60's

This post was inspired by Carol's post about traveling.

When I was a child,no one ever had to tell me we were going a a road trip. I always knew a vacation was coming up when Mom bought two things: Doo-Dads and Chicken-in-a-biskit. Now I had always thought it was biscuit but apparently,I was wrong. I couldn't find any pictures of Doo-Dads but they were a mixture of cheese nips,pretzles and I think maybe peanuts.

Looking back,I can't imagine who thought up the idea of a cracker that tasted like chicken. How is that delicious? I ate them because I didn't realize the weirdness of it but now,if I want chicken,I'll eat chicken. I don't want something that tastes like chicken.

It's not like chicken is super expensive and we can't afford it so we buy things that have that flavor. Most people can afford chicken.
I remember being in England years ago and they had potato chips (they are called "crisps" over there) that had weird flavors: chicken,prawn and who knows what else. So apparently there is a chicken demand somewhere.

So I have two questions that I would like to throw out to you.
1)What foods did your family pack for road trips when you were a child?
2)What is the weirdest flavored food you have ever eaten? (If you have had vomit jellybeans from Harry Potter please don't tell me. I really don't want to know!)

Kids and sex....in the news again.

I read this article in southofboston.com last night. I was appalled. Why do kids believe that oral sex is no big deal? I can't imagine being an 11 year old girl and thinking this was ok. It is as far from ok as you can get.

BROCKTON — Police are investigating allegations that an 11-year-old girl performed a sex act on three boys, with one as young as 9, as the children played video games.

The allegations surfaced this week after a 9-year-old boy told his parents that the girl performed a sex act on him and two friends in a bedroom at the 9-year-old's home, prompting a call to police Monday. The boy's parents were home in a different room at the time.

"This is unusual, but unfortunately it is becoming more prevalent," Lt. William Conlon, chief of detectives, said of pre-teen sexual activity. "It is starting younger and younger."

Conlon said some children are becoming sexually active and parents need to keep a close watch on where they are, as well as what they are doing, even when at home.

Studies are backing up that concern.

One study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy found that 18 to 19 percent of youths have had sexual intercourse at age 14 or younger.

Another study, commissioned by NBC News and People magazine, found 77 percent of teens surveyed considered oral sex "sex" but 43 percent did not consider oral sex "as big a deal" as intercourse.

However, when children as young as 9 and 11 are performing sex acts red flags should be raised, said Elizabeth Englander, a Bridgewater State College psychologist and author of "Understanding Violence."

"I would not accept the argument that they saw it on television," she said. "If my child is thinking about specific sex acts, perhaps the child has been shown pornography or has been sexually abused."

In the most recent case, police are continuing to interview people and gather information in the investigation.

The 9-year-old told his parents, and later police, that the incident occurred Sunday after the children watched a movie, "Hide and Seek," a 2005 horror film rated R for "frightening sequences and violence," according to the Internet Movie Database.

Then they went to an upstairs bedroom to play a baseball video game.

The 9-year-old told police the others went upstairs first and when he joined them the girl was already performing oral sex on one of the boys.

He said he went into the room and played video games with the other child.

The girl then performed the sex act on a 13-year-old boy and on the 9-year-old. He told police he did not want to participate but was pressured to.

The age of the third boy was believed to be around the same as the others. Police were trying to identify him.

The girl, interviewed at her home with her mother, told police the group watched a movie, went upstairs to play video games and the boys forced her to perform the sex acts, Conlon said.

The 13-year-old boy, when interviewed by police, also said they watched a movie and went to play video games, but insisted the girl "made them do it" and there was no coercion, Conlon said.

I don't even know what to say about this. I remember being French Kissed at the age of 15 by an 18 year old boy that I had had a crush on all summer. He finally asked me out on a date and I was thrilled. When he took me home,he stuck his tongue in my mouth and I swallowed my gum by mistake. I was shocked and horrified. What the heck was his tongue doing in my mouth?

Now, at 11,there is more than someone's tongue in your mouth to worry about. It's a scary world out there!

No day off

My sister is going away for a couple of days.She has asked me to work in the office and answer the phone for her while she is gone. Since the 3 days I agreed to work for her are my regular days off, I will be working for 13 days straight without a day off. Luckily the pay is good and it will give us extra money to spend in Disney in November, but 13 days with no day off.....what was I thinking?

TIMBER!

The funniest things make Lillianna happy. If I am sitting on my bed,she likes to come and sit on my lap facing me and rock. She rocks about 3 times and then we fall to the bed and she says,"TIMBER!" It's not like bungee jumping. It's more like the difference between "upright" and "reclining" in a seat on an airplane but she likes falling while I hold on to her. Maybe it gives her a sense of security. Maybe it's just the crazy mind of a 7 year old. Who knows?
I love the sound of Lillianna's laugh so if Timbering makes her happy,let's Timber!!

What funny things do you do with your children?

The Lipstick Chronicles

Today,over at The Lipstick Chronicles,there is a post called Dishing With the DotMoms.
It's part one of an interview with some of the DotMoms about books: what we read,how often we read and what we like. I am one of the lucky moms that was interviewed.

I think it's so cool to be on someone else's blog. Yup,I am a dork. I'm not ashamed to admit it. Go ahead and check out the interview. It's really quite interesting.

Look Ma,no cavities!

I remember that used to be the catch phrase,in the olden days,for Crest,Gleem or Colgate toothpaste. It was a phrase I never got to say. No matter how much I brushed,flossed or used those red Butler tablets,I always had cavities. Remember those red tablets? After brushing all the enamel off your teeth,you chewed up a tablet,swished it around in your mouth and then spit it out and.....smiled in the mirror! All the red spots were the areas that you didn't brush well. It was a shock sometimes,it really was.

Every time I went for a cleaning at the dentist's office,I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.It never helped. There were always cavities. When I was 13 years old,I had 13 cavities. It was depressing. It seemed like I was destined to have a mouth full of silver fillings. How attractive!

Well,after 38 years of going to the dentist,(I started when I was 4 years old),I can finally say,"Look Ma,no cavities!" I had my cleaning today and the dental hygienist said my gums looked great.I didn't have any tartar and she didn't think I had any cavities. When Dr.Q checked my x-rays he said there weren't any cavities but a piece of one of my fillings fell out so he would replace it at my next appointment. I was so stunned that I didn't have any cavities! Even Dr.Q was surprised. He said,"I think this is your best check up ever!" I've been going to him since I was 16 years old.

So,I wanted to share my good news with the world because to me,this is a miracle!!!

Premonition

Yesterday,Lillianna and I spent our typical 3 hours at the pool.At 5pm she asked if we could stay until 6pm. I wanted to get home,shower and make dinner before Rich arrived home from work at 6:30pm so I told her we could stay until 5:30pm. At 5:15pm it started to get dark and we heard thunder. I decided it was a good thing we were leaving in 15 minutes.

The clouds began rolling in at 6:05pm, but Lillianna and I were safely in our jammies after our shower by the time the thunder became rumbly enough to scare her. Then she saw lightning and began to yell in her room. She is quite a dramatic child so I didn't really pay much attention to her cries of,"He's never going to make it home safely," until she became upset. I asked who wasn't going to make it home? She replied,"Daddy,"

Well, that did throw me for a minute but I reassured her he'd be ok and I went about making dinner. I had the urge to call Rich on his cell phone to make sure he was indeed alive but in a storm like that,the last thing he needed was to be distracted looking for his phone and talking to me so I continued what I was doing and Lillianna calmed down a bit.

When Rich walked through the door he was frazzled. Here is his story.

"I was coming down the road and all of a sudden the sky just opened up and it started pouring. I couldn't stop because there were cars behind me and I couldn't see in front of me. There were branches falling off the trees and debris hitting the car and I saw the wind pushing half a tree onto the road. I didn't want to stop and didn't want to get hit by the tree so I slowed down because I didn't know what was happening with the tree. The wind let up a little bit so I drove past the tree and just as I went past the tree,the wind blasted again and half the tree fell down into the street. I couldn't see what happened but the cars behind would've had to stop.
There was debris all over the streets for the rest of the way home. I passed at least 4 accidents."

Lillianna was so relieved when Rich came home and I was stunned that she had sensed he was in trouble when I was completely oblivious. It really shouldn't have surprised me because she has always been able to see things that are unexplainable.
Thank goodness Rich came home safe and sound.

I'm not dreading the weekend

Today is Friday.(Sometimes I like to state the obvious.) I enjoy my Fridays since it's one of my days off but as the day wears on, I start to dread the busy weekend ahead. However,tomorrow is also going to be a day off for me. Saturdays I work two jobs: 7:30am-12:30pm at job #1,then 1:00pm-9:30pm at job #2. Not tomorrow!
Do I hear a big YAHOO!!!!!!! Come on people,cheer with me.

Originally,Jess was supposed to swim in Boston tomorrow but due to her shoulder injury, she wasn't able to make the trip. I told her months ago that I would take Aug 6th off just in case she could come because Lillianna and I were dying to meet her. The worst that could happen was that if she couldn't make it,I would have a day off. I know we will meet up eventually so although I won't meet her tomorrow,all hope is not lost. I'm hoping she goes to school in Massachusetts or at least a nearby state!(No pressure,Jess!)

So,today,after delivering our cable bill and eating lunch,Lillianna and I are heading to the pool. The temperature is high....too high to think about,so being immersed in cool water is the only fun solution.

Tomorrow is family day. We are thinking of going to the zoo and then out to dinner.
That's Lillianna's plan,anyway.

Have a great weekend!

Another advertisement that made me crazy!

I was clipping coupons a few minutes ago when I came across an ad for Always Pads.
Next to the coupon it said, "Have a nice period." Now why does that lead me to believe that a man wrote this ad? How does one have a nice period? Even Midol can't completely eliminate the cramping and head aches. The only way for me to have a nice period would be to have the week off from work,heavy meds to mask the pain and someone to rub my back for 4 days. It also wouldn't be so bad if someone were on staff 24/7 to run and fix the weird things I often crave during this time. If I can't have that,then there is no way to have a nice period,even when using Always pads.

So,to the delusional people at Always....get another slogan,please. You're just pissing me off with this one. And I'm not just saying that because I have PMS!!!!

Does it taste like chicken?

I read the following story in News of the Weird.

Mark Nuckols, a business student at Dartmouth, has begun selling a tofu-like food, Hufu, that is flavored to resemble what he believes is the taste of human flesh. His target audience is those who already enjoy cooking with tofu, as well as any actual cannibals who might settle for artificiality in order to avoid legal problems and logistical hassles. Nuckols said he has never tasted human flesh but based his recipe on cannibals' reported descriptions of the flavor. [Stanford Daily, 5-25-05]

Come on! Seriously,folks. Who the hell would buy this stuff? I want names!!
Is it you?????

Just a dream

The other night I had a dream about Lillianna. In my eyes,it was a nightmare. I wasn't Lillianna's mother. I was her babysitter.
She lived in a huge house with a selfish,hip and happening mother named,Linda.
Lillianna was still the precious,funny and loving child she has always been but her mom was not very nice.

In the dream,Linda called me to come over and watch Lillianna. She said she had to go to work. When I got there, I could see that a huge pool party was in progress and Linda was having a good old time for herself. I was told to keep Lillianna in the house. I hugged Lillianna and kissed her and we went to find something to do. She looked longingly out of the window at the people having fun in the pool.
"Can I go swimming too?" she asked me. I told her no. Her mom said no. In my head I couldn't imagine why Linda wouldn't let Lillianna join in the fun. It killed me that she didn't appreciate this child.

Finally I went outside and asked Linda why Lillianna couldn't swim. "It's too cold!"she insisted. "Keep her inside. I'm busy," and she ran off with her friends to have a cigarette. Lillianna looked at me with her huge sad eyes and I hugged her.
I could feel my heart breaking. I wished she were my chid.
Then I woke up.

I hate that dream.
Lillianna is such a joy to us. She is filled with life,laughter and love.

I let her go swimming on Monday with her friend Maddie even though it wasn't that hot out. She was so grateful. Suzie and I just laughed. As long as we didn't have to go in and the girls were happy,we didn't care if they swam all day.
I agree to lots of things that Lillianna asks to do because life is short. You gotta have fun when you can get it.

Thank goodness it was only a dream and I am really Lillianna's mom. It's the best job I have ever had.

I love you,Pumpkin!!

Have you ever had a dream like that?

Mock vs real

My friend Suzie and her daughter Maddie came over on Monday for a playdate. Suzie brought seafood salad,chicken salad and egg salad for lunch. I had never really given any thought to seafood salad but I figured I would like it so I tried it. It was delicious. When I went to the store to buy some more the next day, I saw a sign that said that it was made with mock crabmeat mixed with mayonnaise,celery and lettuce. Mock crabmeat? Hmmmm. I wonder what the heck that is.

Today,I bought Chicken Of The Sea real crab in a pouch. I had a coupon so what the heck? I mixed it with mayo,celery and lettuce. It was........Fine. It didn't taste as good as the mock crab.

Now why would that be? Do you eat seafood salad? Do you prefer mock or real?

Happy Birthday Harry!

I got an email from my friend MaryJo today. We have worked together for the past three years but she recently decided to leave. Luckily,there is always email!

MaryJo has a quick wit and an incredibly wonderful sense of humor so it is no surprise that her children do too.

Today is her son's 5th birthday. Here is what happened,in her own words.

Harry woke up and said,"Hey I have an idea.Since today is my birthday, I should get everything I want."

I said,"Within Reason."

He responded with,"The reason is it is my birthday!" Who can argue with good logic!!!!

Well, certainly not me. Happy 5th birthday,Harry!

Just trying to read my book in peace

My mom gave me The Passions of Chelsea Kane by Barbara Delinsky yesterday. She had read it and liked it and passed it on to me. I have picked this book up a few times in stores and in the library but never read it. Yesterday I started it and I had a hard time putting it down when I had to go to sleep.

This morning I vowed to spend a little "me time" and read my book. What was I thinking? As soon as I started to read,I realized Rich had 15 minutes to shower,eat breakfast and make lunch so I got out of my chair and made his lunch for him. He left for work at 9am and I sat on the couch to read. A few minutes later,Lillianna asked if I would help her with her blog. That required a few trips to my bedroom to read her post and then publish it. Just when I thought I could take a break,she decided to write another post. (She is not allowed to publish anything until I read it first.) So I got up again to make sure everything was ok.

Finally she was done posting. A few minutes later she came in to the living room because somehow she had rolled off her bed and hurt her arm,hip and leg when she landed on her pair of sneakers. First of all,she sleeps in a double bed. How the heck did she roll off that thing? Second of all, how did her sneakers cause multiple injuries? She's a size 12 for goodness sakes. These aren't sneakers for BigFoot! She said she needed more hugs and kisses,which I gave her,and then she was on her way.

A few minutes later she came in for a snack. I told her to eat anything she wanted. I JUST WANTED TO READ MY BOOK!

I think this is why people stay in the bathroom for so long. It's the only quiet place to read!

Do you have time to read without interruptions?

The rude and nasty driver

I was on my way to work this morning when I encountered a rude and nasty driver. Oh, I am quite sure you are shocked by this since most drivers are polite and courteous,aren't they?

I was at the end of the road,trying to go straight across this road which has traffic moving in both directions and then to take a left and merge into two lane traffic. The tricky part is that just because it's clear on one side,doesn't mean it's clear on the other side. Sometimes,you just have to wait.

Apparently,the impatient lunatic behind me,must've finished her double shot of Dunkin'Donuts coffee and was just not able to sit for the few seconds it took to make sure I wouldn't get killed when I pulled out of the street.
Maybe it was the 95 degree weather,although her windows were up so I am guessing she had air conditioning or maybe it was the fact that she was just a raving bitch, but right before I was going to pull out, she began to frantically honk the horn and gesture rudely.

I couldn't believe it. I wanted to laugh. She looked ridiculous. So, I looked at her in my rear view mirror and threw my hands up over my hand. Kind of like the "raise the roof" dance that Lillianna learned in Hip Hop Class. It may have been goofy but she was being stupid. Did she want me to plunge into the traffic so that I could be killed? Like I always tell Lillianna,"There's no where that I want to be so badly,that I am willing to arrive there,dead!" Wasn't the saying, "Arrive Alive!" a few years back? Ya, well I think that's a good motto to live by!!
Don't you?

Lillianna's Place

Lillianna decided that she wanted to write on her own blog. Apparently, she has a lot to say. Gosh, I wonder where she gets that from? It's just a mystery to me.
You can read her first post over at Lillianna's Place.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

A tale of two......situations.

The worst of times: Today just sucked.The end.

The best of times: Every Sunday,Rich and Lillianna prepare a dinner feast for me which is on the table the minute I walk in the door. Since I am exhausted and near starvation after my long day of work,this is such a wonderful treat for me. Ya gotta love that!

Last week it was chicken parm with ziti for dinner and a yellow cake with frosting for dessert. Today was roasted chicken with potatoes and carrots and hot biscuits!Yum! I also ate the leftover fried shrimp from the other night as an appetizer. Double yum! They made brownie sundaes for dessert.

Thank you,Rich and Lillianna! You're the best.

How does your family make you feel special?

Hooray for me!

I am one of the 7 finalists for Blogging for Books on The Zero Boss.
You can read my entry here.
For me,that is the same as winning first place.
I find it wonderful and fascinating that someone thinks my writing is good enough to be a finalist for anything.
So, because this day didn't start out so great and I needed a pick-me-up, I decided to toot my own horn. Toot! Toot!

The list

Years ago,Rich and I met a college student named Bill, through our friends Kristy and Jerry. He was a drama student and quite interesting in a slightly flamboyant way. One day he started to talk about putting someone on his list.

"What list?" I asked innocently.

"You know. The list," Bill explained.

I gave him my best puzzled but interested look.

"When people piss me off, I put them on the list," he said.

"Ohhhhhh," I said slowly with recognition. "You mean your SH** list!"

"Well, kind of," Bill said,"Except my list is of people I want to set on fire."

Wow! That was rather extreme and apparently Mental Health Services at his college thought so too. I think he had to see a therapist for this.

My point is,if I may be so bold as to have a point to this post, everyone has a list. There are people who do things to us that we don't deserve. They say and/or do things to us because they are mean spirited,jealous,nasty or just downright unhappy with their own life so they try to bring us down too. I hate those people. Unfortunately they are everywhere!

Rich told me that I have to forget the unkind and untrue things that are said but sometimes I can't. On those occasions, I picture a huge bird dropping a steamy pile of poop on the bad person's head! That makes me feel a little bit better.

Do you have a "list?"

Can you really say XYZ to a stranger?

Remember when XYZ meant Examine Your Zipper? (Why it wasn't EYZ,I'll never know. I guess it's like the 3 Rs....Reading,Writing and 'Rithmetic. Uhm,that's like one R,one W and one A if you spell Arithmetic correctly!) Anyway, yesterday I was remembering a situation that happened to me about 10 years ago at work.

I had a 35 year old man in the exam chair and I was updating his medical history. I was sitting at the desk,eye level to his crotch. Hey, that's the way it is,people!
I noticed his zipper was unzipped. Damn! As I wrote down his visual complaints, I silently pleaded with him to zip up! Sadly, when you are trying not to look at something, an oversized wart on someone's nose, a piece of food in someone's teeth or an unzipped zipper,your eyes are automatically drawn to the very spot you are trying to avoid. I told the patient that I had to get some eye drops in another room. I left for a few seconds hoping he would zip up. When I returned,he was in the same state as I had left him. Thank goodness nothing else had popped out.

Finally, as I turned my back to write something down,he stood up,walked to the front of the room facing the wall with his back to me,zipped up and sat down. I was so relieved. I didn't feel comfortable saying anything.

I have told women that their button on their shirt or skirt had come undone many times over the years,but telling a man to XYZ is way out of my comfort zone.

Have you ever been in this situation? What did you do?

How was my day? Thank you for asking.

4:00am- I realized a mosquito bit my ankle and scratched it for a while.
4:15am- Decided to get out of bed and put hydrocortisone cream on my itching bite.
Re-set alarm to go off at 5:30am instead of 5:00am.

5:30am- Got up.Showered.Got dressed. Made Lillianna a peanut butter and fluff sandwich for dance camp.The apartment,although air conditioned,must have been warm. I got peanut butter on my arm. I wiped it off. I got a blob of fluff on my hand. I washed it. I noticed a glob of peanut butter on my pants.*Deep sigh*
I made 2 sandwiches for Rich:one bologna and cheese,one ham and cheese, since he works til 8:30pm on Wednesdays. Packed up both lunches and left a note next to them on the counter. {The sandwiches went in the fridge.}

7:00am-Said good-bye to groggy husband and half groggy child.

7:15am- Finally got in the car and drove 40 minutes to work.

8am-12:35pm- Met a lot of interesting people. Ya,right. One woman,a little older than me, came in for a 3 month check up. She keeps complaining of lice in her eye lashes since she has had head lice for one year!!! The doctor thinks it's a psychiatric problem because he has never seen any sign of eyelash lice. None the less,I have been itchy since I read her chart. She scratched herself (arms,legs,face,lashes,stomach....) through my brief vision and pressure check. Creeped me out, I tell ya!!

1:00pm- Picked Lillianna up at dance camp.
1:15pm-2:45pm- Had a nice visit with my friend Kristy.
3:00pm-4:00pm- Came home,ate lunch.
4:10pm-Dropped Lillianna off at Kristy's since she said she would take her while I went to a meeting at work.
4:10pm-4:35pm-Drove to meeting.
5:00pm-6:35pm- Meeting at work.
7:05pm- Picked Lillianna up at Kristy's house. Talked briefly with everyone (they have a meeting at their house on Wednesdays),hugs all around, then went home.
7:20pm-Started to cook chicken patties for sandwiches.
7:45pm-Sat down to eat dinner with Lillianna.
8:50pm- Rich got home while I was washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. I offered to make him chicken sandwiches. Rich announced that Lillianna was sound asleep in her bed. *sigh* Poor pumpkin. Fell asleep on a full stomach. I hope she doesn't have nightmares.
9:00pm-Gave Rich 2 sandwiches and a glass of ice tea.
He made a happy sound and kissed me.
I sat for a few minutes watching the last few seconds of DOC then told Rich I had computer things to do. And here I am.
It's 10:02pm and I am ready to get in my jammies and relax for a while. I think I deserve it.

How was your day?

Ninety two degrees? Damn,it's hot here.

I hate people who say,"It's not the heat. It's the humidity." Can I just say that no matter what you think,it's freakin' hot here today!!!!
Lillianna just ran to tell me that Rich is on his way home. He's leaving work an hour earlier than usual because I believe he said he looks like he was hit by a truck. Sweating buckets while delivering heavy reacreational items is no picnic,I'm sure. Plus, for all his back breaking effort,no one ever tips.

Rich had a collapsed lung when he was a teenager and part of it collapsed again last year so this heavy lifting in the heat is not good for him. Of course when Lillianna told me Rich was on his way home I immediately panicked. I figured he collapsed or he had an accident. I'm Jewish. I always think the worst. It's in my blood.

So now dinner will be made an hour earlier and I should get things going. Lillianna is whining that she is hungry. She will get an egg white omelet because she will not eat what we are eating and Rich and I will get Tyson's sirloin tips with noodles and peas. Gotta keep it simple.
Did I mention how hot it is here????

What's the temperature where you are?