Post Thanksgiving Debrief

Mitch got called into work - at 7 PM on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend - so I'm taking the time to catch up on stuff.  And by stuff I mean paying bills and eating nachos.  And of course, writing here.  And eating fudge.  (It's almost gone though, which will leave a huge hole in my days.)

Thanksgiving was uneventful, which is just the way I like it.  We ate turkey around 12:30 PM, had a nap and ate some more turkey.  We went to see Harry Potter, because I mistakenly thought it wouldn't be too bad on Thanksgiving night.  Please note the use of the word "mistakenly" in the previous sentence.  Even half an hour early, the only seats we could find were in the 2nd row.  And I like Harry as much as the next person, but holy smokes, I don't need to be that close.  My neck and eyes were aching by the end.  Sara was getting a headache about 45 minutes in, so she and Mitch ended up standing further back against the wall.  (Any mention of her having a headache makes us nervous any more.)  I'd like to go back and see it another time, just to get another look.

If you didn't already know, Mitch had to go the ER last Tuesday.  He had another swelling reaction and this time it was his lower face, including his mouth.  I'd post a picture, but he'd be really mad and then you'd all be coming to my funeral, so let's leave it at you wouldn't believe it even if you saw it.  They hooked him up to an IV and gave him 4 different meds and managed to get it under control.  He's got an appointment with an allergist next week and a steroid prescription along with an epi pen.  He's also under strict instructions that if his face swells again AT ALL to take some Benadryl and come to the ER.  They were pretty convinced it's going to affect his throat next.  I'm hoping this allergist can get him figured out.  He can't keep having these episodes.

We had some snow overnight so that's been fun.  I didn't go out at all today so I can't speak to the condition of the roads.  We'll see tomorrow, I suppose. 

Tomorrow is Cyber Monday.  I'd appreciate it if all of you would stay off the Internet and away from the great deals I'm anticipating scoring.  Thanks in advance. :)

Thankful Thoughts

Here on Thanksgiving Eve, I'm sure it's reasonable to think this would be a post about things I am thankful for.  To that I ask:

Did you people learn nothing from my 40th birthday post?

I won't bore you with the fact that I am of course thankful for my husband and kids and various extended family members.  And you already know I am thankful for all my fabulous friends, who at this point in my life are spread over a great many states but thanks to the power of the Internet and free long-distance don't seem any further that just down the street.

Health has been tricky here for us the last few months, so let's just settle for I'm thankful for the degree of health we currently enjoy and hope that by this time next year, we can remember where we are now and be glad this is all behind us.  I am well aware that many, many people have health problems far worse that what we have/are currently experiencing and I think of people like this often.  A daughter who who has some deposits on her brain that don't interfere with her daily life is indeed a blessing after you've spent any time at all in a pediatric hospital and have seen what others are going through.  And Mitch's swelling face is still a mystery but as long as it doesn't explode all together, we're good.

Even though I'm not spending the holiday with family, I am thankful to know that they are all safe wherever they are celebrating, when there are many, many servicemen and women who are spending their Thanksgiving far away from everyone they love in places that are not the safest.  I am thankful for those men and women as well and do not forget what they are sacrificing that allows me to sit in my house peacefully and gorge myself on fudge and turkey.  (Okay, well maybe just fudge.)

And while many of you are surely shocked to find out I am working in a school - around CHILDREN, no less - and even though I'm only 3 days in, I am thankful to be there.  Jobs aren't easy to come by and despite my reckless disregard of the first one I had here, I do know that.  That this one allows me to be close to my kids in case Sara needs me and understands when I have to call in on my third day because my husband is in the emergency room is something to be thankful for indeed.  And I really like those 2nd graders, let me tell you.  The rest of them are pretty awesome too.  It's maybe not what I had planned on doing here, and it's not what I'm used to at all, but it's perfect for me right now.  So I'm thankful for that.

I am thankful for you, dear readers and Internet stalkers, whether you be friend or family or random stranger.  Whether you read this because I bullied you into it or because you think I'm slightly crazy or because you're slightly crazy or because you are truly interested in my little life here, I always love to look and see how many people have stopped by.  I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are.

Maryann's Monday Madness

Maryann posts these and tells me to do the same and I obey.  You can repost and answer on your own blog, just come back and leave me a comment so I can go read your answers.

Some people hate curse words, some people love them. Which side are you on? And what's your favorite curse (or curse-substitute) word?  Okay, I think we all know I swear.  A lot.  I don't like to play favorites.  I'm an equal opportunity curser.

What's the best thing that could happen to you right now, and if it did, what's the first song you'd turn up loud and start dancing to?  The best thing would be for all these medical issues we're having here to just go away.  And basically, I turn everything up loud and sing along.  But right now, my two faves are Taylor Swift's Mean and Sugarland's Stuck Like Glue.  (Shut up, I never claimed to have great musical taste.)  And there will be no dancing.  I don't believe in dancing. 

Who's your favorite writer, and what work of theirs would you recommend we read first?  Stephen King is my all time favorite writer and I tell everyone to read "Thinner".  He wrote it under a different name and it's not very well known, but it's amazing,.

Post a photograph that means something to you and then tell us why you chose it. (It can be your photo or someone else's.)

This picture is totally Jacob and Sara.  He would never want anyone to see him being silly with his sister, and she lives to make him be silly.  She adores him, and would rather spend time with him than anyone else.  You never hear Jacob laugh the way he does when he's with her. 

Happy Labor Day! What's the first job you ever had?  Besides babysitting?  Then Taco Bell.  For a whopping $3.35 an hour.  Oh, and the free brown polyester uniform and matching visor.  What a vision of loveliness I was.

What's the difference between men and women?   Ummm, really?  Did you not take 6th grade health class?  Seriously though, the difference I see is that women have an incredible amount of daily information in their heads - what kid needs to be where and when, what time school starts and lets out, family birthdays, their husband's family birthdays, etc.  Men, on the other hand, have an incredible amount of useless information in their heads - the price of gas in 1989, the final score of the last football game they played in high school, a "better" route that the GPS doesn't recognize.  Stuff like that.

Just a Job to Do

I started at the school today.  I'm a math factor tutor for seven classes (15 minutes per class) and the last 15 minutes of my day, I am out front helping with Track A dismissal.  I will also be doing playground duty starting on Monday, so I can add an extra hour to my time card bringing the grand total to 3 hours a day.  I fully expect to be exhausted.  But I don't have to be there until 11:30 so that will help. 

But I got my very own whistle today so that was an unexpected surprise.  Who knew this job came with accessories?  I thought it would just be flashcards. 

To celebrate my new employment - do you think maybe I should wait a few days to see if this sticks before I start celebrating, because we know new jobs aren't carved in stone with me - I went to Yogurt Bliss and it was delicious.  Obviously.

Random Things on Thursday

- Mitch is going to a dermatologist today in (yet) another attempt to determine why the left side of his face swells up.  And now this morning he said his left hand is swollen as well.  I've decided that Utah is bringing out the weird health issues in this family.

- I hate drinking out of cans.  I prefer bottles.  Glass for beer and plastic for soda.  I harbor a bizarre belief that my clumsiness will result in cutting my lip open while drinking from a can.  Which may explain my stress level this week while I try to finish off this case of Dr. Pepper cans I bought while Mitch's dad was here.

- Note to James Patterson:  I just saw your commercial for your new book "Cross Fire" and you, of all people, should know that "unputdownable" is not a word.  It's not even acceptable as "un-put-downable".  I'm making my disappointed face at you for allowing the voice-over guy to use that non-word.

-  The local CW station here follows a noon showing of "Law & Order: SVU" with "Matlock".  Seriously?  "Matlock"?

- I have a grocery list a mile long for Thanksgiving dinner and it's just the 4 of us here.  It seems unlikely that I seem to have NO SUPPLIES for this meal, yet that appears to be the case.  And I have to buy stuff to make for pumpkin pies and I don't even like pumpkin pie.  Ironic, I know.

- Tonight begins Thursday night football and it's the Bears vs. the Dolphins.  I love Thursday night football.  I won't say who I'm rooting for, since sometimes my brothers read this blog and I don't want to make either one of them mad.

- My most recent "completely attainable, yet highly unlikely I will actually do" goal is to read my camera book and find out how to use all those features past "Easy".  Because since they went to all the trouble of putting those features on the camera, it seems that the least I could do is try one of them.

Eight Days a Week

Again, where have I been?  Ugh, as soon as I wrote last Tuesday's post, things went crazy!

I had a job interview that day.  It went well, except it was about 30 minutes away and only paid $7.50 an hour.  The hours were not fabulous, 9 to 5:30.  I was pretty sure I wasn't taking it when I left, though you never can tell with me.  I do have a history of taking weird jobs.  Funeral home receptionist, anyone?

Anyway, I got home and was goofing off, waiting for it to be time to pick up the kids from science club, talking on the phone to Jenni, when the call waiting beeped through at 3:20.  I didn't recognize the number, but thought that I should.  (Do you ever have that?  Hmmm, the number isn't immediately recognized, but I think I SHOULD know it, so what to do?)  Good thing I answered, since it was Sara's teacher.  He said Sara wasn't doing well and wanted me to come get her.  I could hear something in the background and finally said, "Is that her crying?"  and he said yes.  I clicked back over to Jenni, changed out of my yoga pants into something more publicly acceptable, and drove over to the school.  Luckily, we're only 2 miles away.

Kids were getting on the buses when I pulled in and I went straight up to Sara's classroom.  She was sitting on the floor with her teacher, holding a trash can.  I said "Hi Sara" and she looked toward me and then back at her teacher and said "Is that my mom?  Is she here?" 

I could tell from her voice that it was another temporal* lobe seizure.  When she stood up and came to me, she started saying "I need to go home, can we go home, let's just go home" and variations of that theme.  She said she was going to throw up and she needed to take the trash can with her.  I knew she wasn't going to, that it was a symptom of the seizure, and convinced her we couldn't take the school trash can home.  There was another teacher in there and she went to the science club room to get Jacob.  We took the elevator downstairs since she wasn't in any shape to take the stairs and I didn't feel comfortable carrying her and got her out to the car. 

She was a little better in the car, but still agitated and saying she needed to go home.  We got home and she barely made it in the house before collapsing on the couch.  She slept for 3 hours and woke up with a headache, but it wasn't too bad and some Motrin took care of it. 

I called the neurologist's office Wednesday.  They said they don't necessarily need to see her since she has an appointment already scheduled for the end of December, but if she has another one, they will want to.  They also said to make sure she stays hydrated and gets enough rest, because any kind of compromise to her system may contribute to a seizure.  They confirmed there isn't anything to do while she's having one, except wait it out and be there.

SO that kept us freaked out for a little bit.  Then Mitch's dad and Annette came on Thursday and stayed until Monday morning.  It was a great visit.  We went up to Salt Lake on Friday and to Antelope Island on Sunday and ate at the Red Iguana  twice.  Seeing her grandparents was just what Sara needed and took her mind off the seizure. 

I had a job interview at the school on Friday and they called right after to say I got it.  It's just as a Math Fact Tutor, 2 hours a day, but it's close.  And maybe too close, but until I feel more comfortable about Sara, I need to be close.  And with any luck, it will lead to something else with the school district next year when hopefully everything is back to normal.  Or back to acceptable anyway.  I went for fingerprinting today and will be starting soon.

So while we're in Salt Lake Friday morning, the agency called about the receptionist job.  I had no intention of taking that job, remember, but I wasn't going to tell HIM that. 

So I said, "Well, Mr. Job Guy, you said you'd call me on Wednesday.  I didn't hear from you so I figured they weren't interested.  I took a job with the school district an hour ago." 

Mr. Job Guy:  "Oh, no.  They called yesterday and they think you'd be perfect."

Me:  (To myself:  Well, of course I'd be perfect.  Duh!)  Out loud: "Sorry, but even if you'd called yesterday it would have been different.  Like I said, I took this other job this morning."

Unnecessary?  Yeah, probably.  But whatever.  I have few opportunities to be snarky anymore, I gotta take what I can get.

What have YOU been doing this past week? :)

* Corrected from earlier post:  I had written frontal lobe seizure which is not correct.  It's a temporal lobe seziure. 

More Photos

Some Photos I've Enjoyed

I did not take any of these photos.  I found them on the Internet.  There are more I like and I will post them as I find them.

So Swell When You're Well

Where have I been?  Apparently, I turn 40 and all my good blogging habits go right out the window.  I don't really have any excuses, nothing really awesome going on or anything like that.  Just regular day to day stuff that gets in the way of keeping you all informed.

There's a guy here cleaning our carpets right now, in preparation for Mitch's dad and stepmother's arrival on Thursday.  Honestly, if he'd started when he got here instead of standing around making small talk with me, he'd be done by now.  And who wants to stand around and make small talk with me?  I'm not very good at it.  He found out we moved here from Michigan though and had all kinds of Utah/Michigan carpet cleaning comparisons that he'd picked up from chat rooms on the Internet.  I don't even want to know why there are carpet cleaning chat rooms on the Internet.  But I guess there really is something for everyone out there.  Anyway, without knowing I had worked for a funeral home, he wanted to know if it was true that they don't bury dead people until spring. 

Now, as much as I would have like to look him straight in the eye and say "Why, yes, we just stack 'em up like cordwood and then come spring dump 'em all in a mass grave somewhere," I didn't.  I said, "Well no actually, I worked for a funeral home and we buried people every day of the year."  (Also not true, but I suppose for the right price, we would have buried your loved one on Christmas day.)

What else I didn't say: "Get to cleaning there sir, I didn't ask you here for entertainment purposes."

Again proving that not everything I'm thinking comes straight out my mouth.  It just seems like that sometimes.

Mitch's face swelled up again Sunday evening.  He had been to the ENT a couple weeks ago and was told it was a deviated septum and a blocked tear duct that keeps causing this.  It's been happening more and more frequently over the last year and it's happened at least 6 times since we moved here.  If you're not familiar with old swollen face here, what happens is the left side of his face, usually around his cheekbones, swells. Last time, the swelling was so bad, his eye was swollen shut.  We always associated it with an allergy to some seasonings, but more recently, there's been nothing to trace it back to.  And on Monday morning, his entire left side was swollen including his jawline.  It looked like he had an abscessed tooth or something.  He stayed home from work, because hello - he looked goofy - and I finally got him to call the ENT again.  He went in yesterday afternoon and they did a CT scan.  The doctor called this morning and wants him to go over to see an opthamologist this afternoon.  So maybe we'll get some answers this afternoon.  The radiologist yesterday said she thought it was cellulitis, but we googled it and it doesn't seem that's it.  ( I know what's wrong with that statement.  No need to point it out to me.  We don't really think google is more accurate than a well-trained radiologist.)  So now we wait.

Note:  This whole move to Utah so far has really just been a test of our medical insurance.  If Mitch needs anything major, he's having it done before the end of this year.  I'm not starting over on this whole deductible thing.

So since this is a health related post somehow, I will tell you that Jacob hurt his ankle at school yesterday.  He didn't tell his teacher.  What he DID do however, was get off the school bus at the first stop in our subdivision and walk home.  A good 5 blocks or so.  In the cold rain.  With a possibly sprained ankle.  (Maybe we've sent the wrong kid to a neurologist all this time.) 

I looked at it when he got home and it does look swollen - a recurring theme in this house apparently - so I gave him an ice pack and a lecture about why walking on a possibly sprained ankle might not be the best idea he's ever had.  But no, I did not take him to ER.  Mitch wrapped it when he got home and we'll give it a day.  Or until his grandparents show up and shame us into taking him in. 

The carpet cleaning guy is done.  He did mention, however that his equipment got tangled up in the dog leash and he cut his finger on an exposed wire from the dog leash so now he's going to get a tetanus shot.  Really?  Can we not do ANYTHING here without it turning into a trip to the doctor for somebody?

Fun Fact Friday

This was sent to me in an e-mail from my mother today.  I've seen it before and it's always funny.  So I share it with you.

Adult Truths

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.


2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font. So True!!!

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.


14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important...which makes perfect sense

Dear Comcast

Dear Comcast,

Hi!  It's me.  Again.  I know, right?  We're developing quite the relationship, wouldn't you say? 

So, let's recap, shall we?  We've had your service since the end of July.  Cable, phone and Internet bundle package.  $180 a month.  So far on our two TVs, we've had 5 different cable boxes.  Then you were here yesterday because my DVR wasn't recording well.  According to my phone call today, where I spoke with a supervisor, we've had 4 service calls.

Since July.  All for cable.

The Internet is fine.  The phone is fine.  It's the TV you can't get right.

This morning, when I got up, the guide was on the screen and wouldn't go away.  So I had to unplug the box and plug it back in.  And then this afternoon, while watching Law & Order, I went to check the guide and the remote wouldn't work.   It works to turn the TV off.  It works to run the sound system.  It just doesn't work with the cable box.  I called Customer Service and the very nice girl there ran me through a half dozen diagnostic tests to come to the conclusion that:

The remote and the cable box are not communicating.  But I can bring the remote back to the service center and get a new one.

Well, that's convenient.  Or not.  Mostly not.

So I spoke with a supervisor who confirmed that yes, we've had a high number of service related issues.  No, that's not right.  Yes, she can understand my frustration.  So you will send a technician out tomorrow to try to resolve my issues.

Again.

Somehow I'm not optimistic.  But let's consider this a final chance to not have me lose my mind and cancel your less than stellar service.

We'll see. 

Sincerely,

Me

P.S. - I fixed the remote.  By unplugging the cable box yet again.  But I don't consider that a long-term solution.  I'm not a fan of crawling behind my TV.  It's dusty back there you know.

To A Vote

So it's back to the real world today and the housework awaits.  I started some laundry, vacuumed and dusted.  Which I absolutely HATE dusting, so that really counts as two jobs. 

I'm really glad these elections are over.  I'll just come out and say it: I didn't vote.  I only got my driver's license a couple weeks ago, as you may remember.  They asked me at the DMV if I wanted to register to vote, but then I saw online that there is actually a form at the DMVs used to register.  And since we haven't been here very long, I don't know the candidates or the issues here.  So I skipped it.

And before you get all "It's your duty" and "How unAmerican" on me, keep in mind that I've voted in nearly every election for at least the last 10 years.  And I generally get those voting information things from the library so I know who I'm voting for and why.  (Those are especially helpful for the proposals.  Do they purposefully word those things so by the time you finish reading it, you don't know what to vote?  I think so. )  The bottom line is that missing one for my reasons doesn't bug me much.  I don't really care much about your voting habits either.  Vote or don't vote.  I don't care.   If you go, great.  If you don't, there are fewer people in line ahead of me.

Truth is, I'm really only in it for the sticker.

Anyway, now we get like 20 minutes before the next round of political ads and government bashing begins.  Enjoy it, friends. 

Forty or Fifty

Well, here on my 40th birthday, I bet you're expecting some funny little blog post about everything I've learned during my tenure here on this fine planet.  Unfortunately, this is ME you're reading, so you had to know that basically:

I GOT NOTHING.

I've lived 40 years and done a fairly decent job, I'd say.  I've got a great husband, a couple of awesome kids, and an incredible group of parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins and in-laws.  I have some terrific friends, most of whom are far away now, but I know I'll always have them in my life.  I've got this dog, which the jury is still out on, but she's not nearly Cherin's Charlie, so I won't complain.  (Hi Cherin!)

I don't think there's much I've done that would come back to haunt me if I chose to run for public office, and even if there is, we didn't have the technology in those days to document it for all time.  Thank God for that.  But I'm not a hugely political person, so running for office isn't a life goal of mine anyway. 

I've been on television once, during the high school teacher strike my freshman year of high school.  I've written 2 letters to the editor of the newspapers in Virginia Beach and in Kalamazoo.  I don't like to speak in front of groups of people.  I don't like crowds and loud places, so I haven't been to a concert since my sophomore year in high school.  I can't parallel park, so I don't even try. 

I hate consultants.  :)

I love crab legs and chimichangas.  Not together, because that would be weird.  And I don't guacamole on my crab legs.  I love strawberry milkshakes.  I read a lot.  Stephen King is my favorite, but I also like Dean Koontz, Jodi Piccoult, Stephenie Meyers, Suzanne Brockmann.  I watch Law & Order: SVU, Big Bang Theory, Fringe, Two and a Half Men.  I don't scrapbook or cross stitch as much as I'd like to.  I drive a minivan, and I like it.   I had a little Toyota truck for years and I liked that too.

I've lived in Rolling Meadows, IL, Cedar Rapids, IA, McHenry, IL, Virginia Beach, VA, Suffolk, VA, Kalamazoo, MI and now Utah.  I've liked them all.  Every place has its good things and its bad things.  It's always the people I meet that make it worth being there.   

I make lists, lots of lists.  Every day has a list of things to do.  I never get them all done, but it helps me remember what I want to do.  I put stuff on my list I know will never get done, like scrapbooking.  I also put easy stuff on my list just so I can cross it off.  Once everything on my list is done, I guess I am too.  Luckily, dusting will always be on my list so I might live forever.

I am 40 today, at least that's what it says on my birth certificate and BOTH of my parents mentioned it when they called.  (I don't know why they thought it was so funny - if I'm 40, how old does that make them?) But most of the time, I don't think I know any more than I knew at 14.  I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. 

Maybe when I'm 50.