Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

major blow out

both of my girls had their battles with the diaper. they just had a tendency

to blow out. with pooka, the poop crawled up the front, with bug it crawled up the back. it happened so frequently, kisu and i have earned this merit badge dozens of times over, but i have to say the most inconvenient event i can remember is when we took the girls to my work to show off new baby bug during my maternity leave.


ironically, we were having a conversation with 1 mother and several childless/single women about how once you have a baby, you have to accept that you will be 'in the goo'. from spit up to poop to snot to baby food. it's just a fact of babies. you only have to be exposed for a month or so before you realize: resistance is futile; you will be goo-d.


it was about this time that i realized that part of my shirt--the part i was holding bug against--was starting to feel warm, and a little damp. i lifted her away to reveal a giant pale orange wet spot. she had exploded the diaper. poop. all over me.


of course, i hadn't planned on staying at work this long, so i had left the diaper bag in the truck. 8 floors down.


i handed bug to kisu and flew out the door, impatiently waited for the elevator, and ran out to the truck. when i came back up to our floor, i panted, "this is exactly the kind of goo you have to get used to."


being an experienced mom, i naturally had a clean change of clothes for bug.


uh, being a bit, shall we say rusty, at mothering a child who wears (and blows out) diapers, i neglected to pack a clean shirt for myself.


needless to say, that ended the visit.

in the merit badge series: birthday, medical

Monday, October 29, 2007

silent observer

today pooka and i had dentist appointments. she was very grumpy beforehand, but when it was actually her turn she cooperated just fine.

instead of dropping her at school and hurrying home to savor some me time empty the dishwasher, i hung out for a while to observe.

my friend becca, who is a mother of a kindergartner herself, was teaching today. she doesn't stand for any nonsense and boy, was that good to see. those kids are not getting coddled at school.

when we arrived they were just beginning handbell practice. they were seated on the floor in an arc in front of becca. i was pleased to see and hear the kids greet pooka warmly with their pet name and make room for her to sit. most of the kids managed to ignore my presence behind them, but one (the one pooka calls a she-devil) kept looking back at me and missing her cues.

after the handbell session, they got some free time and i managed to talk with becca a bit. she said that the kids are all doing really well and are ahead of where she usually expects a class to be at this point. having only 10 students really helps. but she said that because they mostly grew up together in this daycare/preschool facility, they bicker like siblings. she said they are all very familiar with which buttons to push on whom and when.

(but apparently, they love each other like siblings, too. when we showed up at school after clinic last week, a boy from her class saw her and said, "i missed you today."

[everybody now: aaawwwww])

the kids were so entertaining. at one point, s came out and sadly said, "i don't have anybody to dance with."

becca said, "you guys aren't supposed to be dancing in there, so if you don't have anyone to dance with, i don't think that's a problem."

she then related an anecdote that made me very proud of pooka and her skills. this morning while the kids were trying to read the 'morning message', they said, "we don't know that word and [pooka's] not here to tell us."

my kid's the smartest. and if you don't believe me, just ask her her friends.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

scrap that

i had set aside saturday to be a day of scrapping for pooka and i. there was an organized crop at church, but i didn't want to pay $40 for us to go and socialize. plus, i have a lot of tools at home that don't get used when i crop elsewhere. so i asked kisu to watch bug (except when i had to feed her) so pooka and i could focus.

i printed out pix for her to do 3 different layouts, but we only completed one. i tried to demonstrate a task and then let her go while i prepped a page for myself, but that didn't work as well as i'd hoped. i managed one single page 8.5 x 11 layout in the time it took to complete her two page 12x12 layout. and that took us about 2 hours. towards the end, she was obviously showing signs of fatigue. i guess i shouldn't have picked a weekend when she was on steroids.

after that layout, she wanted lunch, and after that she wanted nothing to do with scrapping. so she went off to become a tv zombie while i tried to get more done.

by then bug was up from her nap and wanted mommy. kisu was not as helpful as i think he could have been. there were things he wanted to do, too, though.

between napping and the jumparoo (and enduring her trying to eat my keyboard from my lap), i got bug entertained enough to gather materials for more pages (her album, actually) but i didn't really get to work on putting anything together until the girls went to bed.

so bug's first year album is officially underway. let's see how long it takes me to complete it. i was about this far behind on pooka's too, as i recall.

final result:
"scrapbooking day= 1 layout for pooka, 1.5 layouts for mommy"

not my most efficient outing.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

greatest hits on cd

bet you don't have a picture of your kid's cat scan on disk.

i do. courtesy of a visit to the er friday.

let me back up.

thursday night bug fell off the bed and whacked her head on the wall/floor. she raised a good lump that disappeared within 5 minutes and spent the rest of the evening acting normally. (i spent the rest of the evening in self-flagellation for letting my baby fall off the bed.)

friday morning she was fine, but i informed sarah at daycare what had happened and asked her to be on the lookout for odd behavior.

meanwhile, i had a conversation with kisu about trying to get bug in to the doctor to evaluate this cough she still hasn't kicked. after the fever broke, the cough got worse. it got juicy. kisu's opinion is that i habitually overreact to baby snot and it's causes. i freely admit to being a hypochondriac, but sometimes it's justified.

sarah called around noon to tell me that, in her opinion, bug was not herself. she wasn't sleeping, wasn't rolling around as usual, and was excessively irritable and clingy.

i called kisu and then the doctor's office. i explained the whole scenario to the nurse on the phone, and it was her expert opinion that bug was most likely fine, but we should take her to the er to waste a $100 co-pay make sure.

so pile on the guilt. we have better ways to spend the money, and if i had been paying attention like i should have, this situation would never have occurred, and even worrying about the money when my kid's health is at stake.

kisu and i determined that i would take bug to the er and he would stick with his plans to take pooka shopping for a halloween costume later that day.

when i retrieved bug from daycare, the shift had changed and diane's observations showed that bug was just fine. oh, well. i already blew the day, i might as well take her and get that cough checked. two medical complaints for that price seems a little more reasonable.

the er doc was certain that bug was fine and decided against a cat scan at first based on the difficulty in getting a baby to sit still in the machine. after i told her about the torticollis and the neurologist appointment next week she changed her tune. "they'll probably want a cat scan anyway, so we might as well do it as long as you're here. and a chest xray for that cough."

the cat scan machine? not bug's favorite carnival ride. well, she's never ridden any others, but i'm pretty sure she'll like those better when she does.

the xray actually wasn't that bad. i remember pooka doing much worse when she had hers done at 9 months. but they used a different restraining contraption for her.

conclusion: bug is fine. neither diagnostic showed anything to concern the doctor. and we go to the neurologist fore-armed.

p.s. why does my family make a ritual october visit to the er?? kisu has done it twice, i believe, both times when i was pregnant. pooka did it at 9 months and then of course at 3.5. now bug. what the hell??

Friday, October 26, 2007

Thursday, October 25, 2007

you won't see me in an allstate commercial

you know that recent allstate commercial, where jonas blaine from the unit the spokesman talks about all the things people try to do while driving?

well, i don't apply makeup (ever), or shave, or change my clothes while driving, but i do pump breast milk.

that's right, i did. twice. while driving. without a fancy bra-holder contraption.

it wasn't pretty and it wasn't very effective. but it was a case of better this than nothing. both times i was in a predicament of not having a better opportunity to get it done for several more hours.

the second time i was 'detaching' in the parking lot at work when someone pulled into the spot next to me. he got an eyeful of something he was probably not expecting. or maybe he was.

i knew i should have parked in the back of the lot.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

despite the hospital

this was an awesome mommy/pooka day.

we played on the new touch screen game consoles at clinic, read a book (with lots of drum noises from mommy, despite my sore throat), drew, talked, laughed, defused potential tantrums, ate out, went to the library, used the computer catalog to find books (dewey decimal code and everything!), did a pumpkin experiment, made cookies.

phew. i'm re-exhausted just thinking back on all we did.

seriously, this was one of the best clinic visits ever in terms of attitude and behavior. those game consoles totally ROCK! i wanted to stay and play longer.

when we were at the restaurant, pooka commented on the background music:

pooka:"this is farm music."

why? p:"because farm music's played on a banjo, and that's a banjo playing, isn't it?"

mommy:"yes it is."

p:"they should play some michigan music."

m:"what kind of music is that?"

p:"pussyc*t dolls, laurie b*rkner, stuff in english."

p:"farms are in different countries and states, and they don't speak english in other countries."

sorry, rest of the usa, you don't speak our language.

Monday, October 22, 2007

formula for success

well, the day i have felt looming for the last 2 weeks has finally come. bug finally needed a bottle of formula. between traveling, being sick, not sleeping, and pump desensitization, i can't keep up with her nutritional demands.

last week i thought it was going to end up being a cold turkey switch. i had kisu pick up the formula early in the week. i felt like i had nothing. i was very emotional and frustrated about the whole situation. i debated whether to even bother taking my pump to the football game.

but behind the bitterness, there was a hint of relief. a thought that finally i can stop dragging the machine around like a ball and chain. stop taking breaks during the work day to struggle and squeeze out a few ounces. (i feel like pumping is a full-time job in itself.) start going back to the gym during lunch and get rid of this baby weight (of which i have lost NONE since coming home from the hospital).

along with the relief came just as quickly the concern about affording formula. even though kisu has a new job, we have a lot of things to catch up on. we're not exactly on easy street just yet.

and of course, the guilt. even though i dithered about how long i wanted to breastfeed early on, i never really imagined the day i would stop. i felt (and still do, to an extent) that i should give bug the same benefits as i gave pooka. pooka started formula supplementation pretty early, but continued to nurse all the way until her first birthday. i joked that if i could do exclusive with bug for 6 months, that would be equivalent to what pooka got. but faced now with the reality of weaning, i feel like it's not enough.

i used up the last of my frozen inventory during the week, and then because of the therapy visit wednesday and staying home for the fever on thursday, we didn't have to use the formula until friday. kisu tried to mix formula into a breastmilk bottle to help her transition flavor-wise, but ended up spilling the breastmilk (GASP! dagger to the heart) and she took a formla only bottle, anyway. she had no problems with it. she even had two formula bottles yesterday while i was at the game.

you know what? i'm okay with it. i am still going to try like the dickens to bottle my milk, but i won't feel like a failure.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

i'm a good luck charm

so says myself.

we went to the lions game today. with dad and tina, who were decked out in bucs gear. coincidentally, there was a pocket of bucs fans where we were seated.

upon entering, the security guys check all bags. i brought my pump with me again. last time, i got no comments. this time, the guy asked if i had a baby with me.

i said, "no, that's why i have the breastpump."

he said, "then why do you have all this baby stuff with you?"

i said, "if i had the baby, i wouldn't need the breastpump!"

"oh." he was an "older" man, and i don't think he even knows what a breastpump is.

there were a few drunk people seated around us, which made for bonus entertainment, until one in particular got stupid in addition to silly and started calling the bucs fans losers and betches, etc. (some of these opposing fans were minors.) he got hauled away sometime in the second half, but then must have convinced his babysitters that he sobered up because he returned with about 5 minutes left in the game. he wasn't sobered up. there was some kind of altercation in the section next to us. although many people in our area stood up to ogle, we never did find out what happened. i don't understand why people feel it necessary to attack fans of the opponent. cheer your team and get on with it. live and let live.

anyway, the lions won, but it wasn't very pretty. tampa made a lot of errors although they did have some steady play. they had one drive that took 16 plays. the crowd was very much into the spirit and caused several false starts and time-outs. (my throat hurts now from cheering.)

at first, dad and tina were talking a little smack, but they soon quieted down. i felt bad for them.

on the walk back to the truck we decided to stop and eat dinner. surprisingly, we were seated immediately. dinner was great, and afterwards we walked to the ice cream place, and then finally to the truck, where dad managed to find some more displaced bucs fans, from canada, no less!

and on top of that lovely afternoon, the bills won, too! kisu and i watched scores all day to keep tabs on our pool picks. he went against buffalo, the fool. i did not. never pick against your home team-unless they're playing the patriots.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

and then the fever came

it's not bad enough that bug has had coughs and stuffy nose for almost 4 weeks, on wednesday she spiked a fever.

it was nothing like pooka's fevers at this age, but still. pooka was the queen of fevers. i guess she figured if you were gonna get one, you might as well burn it up. she regularly hit 103 and 104, and even clocked in at 105.5 once.

bug stayed around 100-101 until it finally broke this afternoon. she has the same sick-time disposition as her sister, though. you could hardly tell there was anything wrong with her. she was the same laid-back, giggly bug as always. the only tell-tale differences were the decreased appetite and the extra sleepiness.

we were giving her alternating doses of tylen*l and ibupr*fen to help keep her temp down. the ty wasn't helping much until i called the doc to get an accurate dose. turns out we were giving less than half of what she could have taken. DOH!

i stayed home with her on thursday and kisu was with her on friday. killed his plans for the day, but at least neither of us missed another day of work. (i have 2 days left, but i'm taking one this week for pooka's clinic visit.)

so now the fever is gone, but the snottys are back with a vengeance. poor kid.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

to life

two years ago today we received the scare of a lifetime. our sweet, intelligent, energetic pooka, just 3.5 years old, was diagnosed with leukemia. our paradigms were permanently shifted. never again would we have that illusion of invincibility.

last year and again today, we celebrate. because on that day, before we had honestly had time to wrap our brains around reality, a dedicated team of medical professionals at the hospital took our little girl's frail body and began a ferocious battle that brought her back from the brink of oblivion.

it wasn't until much later, when we started to understand the terminology and the metrics of blood and cancer, that we saw just how close to oblivion she had come. what we had seen as her 'general malaise' had developed gradually over the 6-8 weeks prior to diagnosis. if we had waited just one week more, there would have been no recovery.

she spent two weeks in the hospital. she endured bone marrow aspirations, spinal taps, whole blood and platelet transfusions, surgical implantation of a port, and the overwhelming confusion, fear, and frustration of a toddler trapped in a strange world. they pumped her so full of fluids that we were forced to return her to diapers full-time. even then, she would overflow and we would have to change the sheets at least once in the middle of the night every night.

and then we went home. and nowhere else. her distressed immune system would not tolerate exposure to the plage central station that day care is. when she ventured out in public she wore a surgical mask. she has been hospitalized several more times, totalling approximately 2 months out of the past 2 years.

her hair fell out. adults stared rudely. children honestly asked questions.

nurses came to our house to show us how to administer injections to our patient. at one point, she was on an antibiotic schedule that required her to wear a tube accessing her port to which we attached bottles of medicine every 4 and 6 hours.

we rejected all forms of counseling. we could get through this. we would get through this.

reluctantly, we became adept at sterile manipulation and proper disposal of chemo. our kitchen was decorated with a glaring yellow sharps/biohazard disposal unit. we became versed in cancer related acronyms and other shorthand verbiage.

we endured pooka's hatred, however brief, after giving medicine. we learned how to anticipate and handle side effects, meltdowns, and intransigence. we discovered ways to cheat the doctor's admonitions in order to gain a little more cooperation without jeopardizing the overall treatment regimen. we found out which medicines she secretly liked to taste.

we became friends with other families dealing with cancer.

we absorbed everything there was to do, we set schedules, we grew accustomed. these days pooka takes her pills with no disturbance, except on very rare occasions. we know off the top of our heads how many and which pills she takes on any given day of the week. we are close enough to start counting down the months until treatment is completed.

earned our medical merit badges?
bet your ass we have.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

wedding recap

so last weekend we were in aunt ali's wedding. by we i mean me, pooka, and aunt pami.

we have yet to recover.

not that we're hung over or anything like that. we're the wrong age to be drinking like that. (actually, i never drank like that.) no, no, no. we're sick with colds.

see, all three of us had something lingering before. after spending the afternoon in strapless dresses in 50 degrees and more-than-breezy winds, the germs have stepped up their attacks. not only was the ceremony outside, but the extra photo session was in the (breathtaking) landscaped backyard of ali's friend scott. the pictures will be gorgeous, if the photog can photoshop out the goosebumps.

the wedding itself was very nice. i had steeled myself not to cry, since i didn't have anywhere to stash tissues, but i couldn't help tearing up when i saw the groom crying. sucker so sweet.

i was concerned about the logistics of being in a wedding party while still nursing a baby. i was right to be concerned. while we were getting hair, nails, and dressed, bug was too stimulated to sleep or eat properly. once we got to the reception, it was more of the same. i had kisu give her a jar of food (yes, i allowed jarred food-for convenience while traveling out in the boonies of town.)

i tried to nurse once after dinner in the nicely appointed restroom. it was quite a trick to get the dress's bodice clear of my breasts. the silicone cup-holder flopped like a live appendage in my lap. oh, boy. (my milk had let down twice during the day, so i was sure there would be a river of milk escaping when i took that thing off. turns out, it was just a small trickle.) and then the company. pooka insisted on accompanying and entertaining me while i fed bug. coupled with the steady stream of visitors to the loo, well, have i mentioned that bug is easily distracted while nursing? eventually, kisu took her out to the parking lot and let her sleep in the truck while i completed my bridesmaid duties. once the ritual dances were done, we lit out for my uncle's house where we were staying.

personally, i had a good time. i feel like i totally rocked my dress, although i ditched the shoes at my earliest chance. (why in heaven did i decide to wear 2" heels when i haven't worn heels since my wedding 8 years ago?) my only problem with the whole proceedings is the language that bombarded pooka in the limo. as the flower girl, she was entitled, nay required to ride with us. she should not have had to absorb the steady stream of profanity and snark that came from the other passengers who were supposed to be adults. yeah, it was a celebration and there was drinking, but come on. there were two kids in the limo. a little consideration for innocent ears isn't much to ask.

pooka has a spinal tap next week. while she's under anesthesia, i'm considering asking the doctor to erase last weekend from her memory.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

if doctors are so smart...

...why did she give me the phone number to a specialist's office on the east side when said specialist also has an office on the west side where i live (and where, incidentally, the primary doctor's office is)?

ok, the number was probably supplied by the nurse, but still. imagine my surprised frustration when i called the office to schedule an appointment, only to find out that the first opening is in january.

WHAT!?

i thought this was supposed to be kind of an urgent matter?

oh, the doctor's only at that office 2 days a MONTH.

"yes, please give me the number to the west side office."

bug sees the neurologist on 11/2.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

hooky

i took a half day today to take bug to therapy and then to her 6 month checkup.

i did not foresee the checkup taking 2 hours. by the time i dropped her off at daycare, it was later than i had planned, so i called up work and asked if anything was going on. it's a looong commute, and not worth the mileage on my vehicle if i don't get at least 4 hours in.

i stayed home.

and did way more work than i would have done at work.

5 loads of laundry.
emptied/loaded the dishwasher.
made baby food.
scrubbed the kitchen floor on hands and knees. wiped up the pureed sweet potato that i tracked across the floor with my shoes.
culled pooka's schoolwork papers. (shh, don't tell her i filed them in the recycle bin.)
pumped twice.
changed sheets on our bed and pooka's.
put mints on the pillows.
purged old magazines into the recycle bin.
cleaned litter box/random cat poop.
strangled the cat.
watched bones and house on tivo. (while i was folding- not slacking.)
emptied garbages.
cleaned up bug's room. (it was a disaster area, as we were slowly transitioning from 3 month clothes to 6 month clothes.)

the main floor of the house is in much better shape than it has been for quite awhile. our schedules don't allow for frequent cleaning. (our personalities don't allow it, either, but let's blame the 'schedules', ok?)

the basement? a project for another day.

***
so bug's checkup:
26" and 15.6 pounds. (i think that's right on schedule, but then why is she straining the length on her 6-9 month sleepers?)

although i have been worried about making enough milk, the doc said, "this baby is not underfed." regarding the future of my production, she said it would be ok to either add a small bottle of formula or make fewer but bigger bottles of milk and give her 2 servings of solids per day at daycare.

regarding her head, the doc is sending us to a neurologist. she's worried that there may be premature fusion of one of the cranial seams. although the therapist thinks that bug is making good progress, i guess it can't hurt to have the neurologist check. talk about anxiety. thank God for our health insurance.

bug got 4(!) shots today. the nurses teamed up on her and each jabbed twice. the theory is to get all the trauma over with as soon as possible and in her case it works. (this is why i try to clear her nose and administer medicine back to back and withhold the comforting until it's all done-as opposed to kisu's idea of trauma, comfort, and repeat.) she didn't start crying until they were removing the first set of needles and she stopped about 30 seconds after they removed the second set. 10 minutes later, she was babbling and laughing again. what an amazing kid.

Monday, October 8, 2007

locate my butt

our friend noel is very nervous about becoming a dad. he's not very comfortable around babies. he's more comfortable with teenagers, because he does theater work with a local high school.

while we were discussing funny ways to deprave your children parenting theories, he regaled me with some of the more roguish scams that teens are perpetrating these days. like conning doctors into prescribing high-dosage ritalin for them. and then selling it, because they don't really have a.d.d. apparently, you can find detailed instructions for feigning symptoms of this disorder on the internet. who knew the internet could be so subversive?

the other story he told concerned duping the tracking functionality of a cell phone. in this manner, the teen could be wherever he wanted, while still in touch with his phone, which is in a place that is acceptable to the parents.

as an aside, noel confided that he was totally getting a gps-enabled phone for his kid.

determined not to be hoodwinked, i said we were gonna skip the phone and have lojak implanted directly in pooka's ass.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

i've never heard of that breed

how nice to see my two girls sitting on the lion rug, playing together.

bug was just babbling away, she's always so happy to see her sister.

pooka asked, "what is she saying?"

i said, "she says, 'give me back my toy, you curly-headed freak, before i bite your knees!'"

if there's one drawback to having a baby in the house, it's that pooka is regressing for attention. when she stubs her toe, she immediately sticks her thumb in her mouth, something she never did when she was an infant. similarly, she wants to reclaim all the baby toys she hasn't played with in years.

the baby was chewing on an inflatable block. pooka wanted to play with it, too. she said, "look, mommy, we're both playing with the block."

when i turn around, i see they're playing tug of war with the block in the manner of two dogs: with their teeth. pooka's even growling to boot.

pooka thought i called the two of them "pig bulls".

Saturday, October 6, 2007

sing, sing a song

i have always loved to sing. i have been in school choir since first grade.

pooka's got a love of singing, too. she even goes so far as to make up her own songs. songs about bathing, doing laundry, she even sings about going potty. (in fact, if ever she manages to actually close the bathroom door, it's guaranteed she will start singing while going potty.)

my senior year in high school and in college, i was part of select singing groups. we did mostly typical songs, but we did them well. it was a world of elation for me. being with a group of people (with whom i might not otherwise socialize) weaving harmony in the air was euphoric.

being without that magic has left a sizable hole in my heart.

i'm not me without singing. (my life's not an opera soundtrack or anything, but it's important to me. )

it is only my tremendous insecurity that has kept me from attempting to joining the church choir (they take anybody, don't they?). i have made excuses about scheduling, finding childcare, etc., but they're just platitudes meant to disguise my shyness.

well, finally i have received divine direction to get off my butt and do what i love. the church bulletin has issued a call for altos. (that'd be me.)

unfortunately, i now have a bona fide reason for not doing it: it conflicts with sunday school.

we have already discussed the issues of breaking a commitment and cloning. furthermore, sunday school has the more desperate need.

i guess i'll just have to stick it out this school year and join the choir next year.

Friday, October 5, 2007

grasshead

the kids at kindergarten made grasshead people. take an old stocking, put in some grass seed, some dirt, then tie it off and put it knot-side down in a plastic cup of water. glue on some eyes and wait. eventually, it sprouts hair.

pooka brought it home this week and decided to style his hair.

we now have grass clippings on the bathroom counter, in the sink, and in the top drawer. i think she used my comb, too.

great. i managed to avoid getting headlice when i was younger, now i'm gonna get head-aphids.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

2007 Bocce Charity Challenge Champions


are not us.

i am taking this very badly. i had such high hopes.

in reality, it was a huge accomplishment to make it to the finals out of 44 teams.

but i'm thinking about those shots i made that went completely off course. the shots i made that were right on target, but short on speed.

that's typical me. my own worst critic. never good enough. (i made some crucial point-winning shots, too.) props to the other team. they used the backhanded technique that can be deadly accurate.

honestly? i had a blast. how many companies would let you waste up to 10 hours, paid, to goof around on the grass? and serve beer to you and your throngs of adoring fans coworkers while you play? and give you a free t-shirt with which to boast about your truancy?

the bottom line is some deserving charities are going to be the recipients of a small pot of gold. good for them.

next season? totally doing two-a-days.


Wednesday, October 3, 2007

semi-finals

after our last dismal outing, we were rescued by a call from HR informing us that we won a wildcard spot in the next round. (the secretary drew our name from a pool of this round's losing teams.) hallelujah! a chance for redemption.

the next match was scheduled for monday, so i called a team practice friday at noon. we scouted our designated court and practiced specific scenarios. we also had a chance to talk out some strategy and set our bowling order.

monday it rained like the dickens, so i called our opponents (the same team we had just lost to, by the way. crazy bracket.) and we rescheduled for tuesday. tuesday came around and they left a message to say they had client meetings all day. i wanted to call that a forfeit since they bailed on a mutually agreed upon time. HR said that we had until wednesday noon to play our match or one of us would have to forfeit. the finals are scheduled for thursday and there were special preparations to be made beforehand, hence the deadline. we rescheduled for today noon.

the weather held out and both teams showed. we quickly fell behind 3-0, but turned it around and never looked back. apparently, the extra practice session was beneficial, as we won handily, 21-8.

there is going to be a grand presentation and pizza luncheon for the company during tomorrow's championship matches. the winners get trophies and champagne, and of course the money for their charity. we're all very excited, but kind of nervous having a large audience. hopefully we can keep it together and bring it home for clf.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

take a minute

someone at work recommended this site today and i immediately went to send a card. check it out. regardless of the politics, our servicemen and women need support. show them some love.

www.letssaythanks.com

Monday, October 1, 2007

sick bug

bug is sicko. she picked something up last weekend at the end of our trip to the beauty pageant. when i woke her up to nurse before heading for home, she was already stuffy. sunday morning her eyes were glued shut with goop. (that seemes to be the way her body reacts to foreign invaders. kill 'em off and ship 'em out through the ocular orifices.)

her eyes and nose have not gotten any better in the past week, although her spirits have revived. she had left off babbling and singing for awhile, but has joyfully resumed. she's still sleeping more than usual and her appetite has lost any semblence of normalcy. one day she'll nurse every hour, another day she'll have just enough to doze off. one night she went to bed at 630. i woke her up once more before i went to bed and as soon as she was done eating, she conked right back out again.

i knew this was inevitable. starting daycare means meeting all the germs that hang out there, brought in by other little hosts (and their elementary-school-attending siblings) and shared via the slimy ends of sucked-on toys. i just hope that since she is still getting so much breastmilk, bug will not have the initiation that pooka did. pooka -and by association, I- were sick for the first 2 and a half months of her daycare experience. (a streak that landed us in a freakishly foreshadowing visit to the van elslander cancer center.)

i have tried to help bug out by washing her eyes frequently, and administering beastmilk to clear out any dormant infection. this she tolerates. what she cannot and will not endure is my assault on her nostrils with the evil blue implement of torture known in our house as the "booger eater".

once she catches sight of it in my hand, she immediately starts wailing. she thrashes so much that when i am actually able to access her nostrils, i damage the lining and get some bloody mucus. after the first 2 times with that result, i have to weigh the necessity of clearing an airway against the eerie sight of an infant nosebleed.

to achieve my goal without traumatizing bug too much, i have been trying less brutal methods. i can't bear to sit with her in a steamy bathroom because i break into a sweat. we have two kinds of nose drops: plain saline and baby decongestant. she dislikes the application of either of those, as well. my last resort is an outlet plug-in that dispenses sudafed vapors. i used the outlet right under her crib. (i also put one in pooka's room, since she has developed the husky cough that is passing through kindergarten, independent of any other symptoms.) within minutes of plugging these in, the entire house reeked of menthol. pooka claimed that it smelled like the mint cookies that she and granny had made.

the result?
pooka seemed to cough less and sleep more soundly last night. bug was still stuffy and goopy this morning. on the bright side, she doesn't really seem to care.