It's the changing of the season, Pixies.... To many of you, it means leaves in glorious colors, the harvesting of nature's bounty, and cooler weather.
Here in the tropics, however, fall means a gradual shift from "heat that melts asphalt" to merely "blazing hot weather with intermittent rain." We have more pine trees and palm trees than oaks and maples, so we're mostly gypped on the leaves, too.
To me personally, fall means that I turn another year older. Most of the time, this is a Good Thing. I mean, every day you're not six feet under is one for the win column, right? Except the older I get, the more the number seems to mess with my head. When I turned 30, I was depressed for a few days, all hung up on what I thought I should have accomplished by that milestone age. Now, at almost-38, I find myself very anxious at the thought that 40 is looming ever closer...out there, waiting for me. I know it's all in my head. I have LOTS to be thankful for: a great family, a daughter that I've managed not to kill due her angsty tween goth attitude, a job that I love, friends who are great, and my hobbies, which make me happy. So, why am I so hung up on a number?
Maybe because with age, I can fully appreciate that there is an end out there. That life is finite, and one day, it will end. And I don't want it to. I don't know exactly why I'm stressing, but I think I need to hear someone else's whines to fully appreciate that I'm cracked in the head for worrying about mere statistics.
So, pixies, if you think of me on Wednesday, at 7:21 am, think happy thoughts, and wish me less number-obsession. To all of you, may you enjoy your fall day, and may it bring you bounteous rewards!
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Klee, I've just found a web comic that has the perfect answer! In www.thedevilspanties.com, the main character, a college student at the time, has a birthday..."How old are you this year?" she's asked. "TEN!" she crows.
You are as old as you wanna be.
"Being a grown-up means taking yourself to the doctor and having ice-cream for dinner afterwards" says the main character.
in honor of your birthday, we'll just sing a chorus or 2, [credit to sandra boynton for this one]:
hippo birdy, two ewe!
hippo birdy, two ewe!
or, the traditional version, of course.
or, the one my little cousins sang during our Big Wonderful Happy 70th Birthday Trip, for my fabulous aunt jane:
happy birthday to you!
you live in a zoo!
[etc.]
~~~~~~~~~~~
my big antiwhine is the birthday trip for the fabulous aunt jane! a cousin, his fiance and i boarded at the northern station. two sisters, my BIL, and my nephew boarded about 1.5 hours south. then the big surprise! my cousin, her family, and the fabulous aunt jane boarded another 1.5 hours south -- and we 12 rode for a few hours to our desitination, where another sister and her friend joined us.
OMG, this was the best family trip! and janie wore her silly tiara and a feather boa; the conductors sang; other passengers came by to congratulate her; we had some great meals, wandered around this nice town, hung out and caught up! and then we did the train ride in reverse. woo hoo!
I'll send birthday wishes across the continent tomorrow morning. While I wrangle the girl into her clothes and down the stairs. (Oh, wait, time zone issues? Maybe while I wave at the departing school bus, then.)
Ice cream for dinner: it's the mature thing to do!
kathy a., that trip sounds like a perfect family reunion. What a great idea.
Yay, Happy Birthday!
My whine is that I'm tired. Really tired. And I don't know why. Also, the baby's getting a big, nasty, chompy tooth wayyy in the back. Yick.
I know I'm early, but I may not have whining time tomorrow.
I hear what you're saying KLee - but it's true what everyone is saying. You really are as young as you feel. You've had a rough time in the past few years (and i'm only thinking of the evil Girl Scout parent - I know there has been so much more!) - so please be good to yourself as you approach your birthday. You SO deserve it.
Anti-whine: Voting day today in Canada. No results in yet, but I love voting. It reminds me that I live in a free country.
Anti-whine: For the first time in over 30 years (since I first met her) my mother in law told me yesterday that I need to GAIN some weight. She had told me I'm overweight since I was a teenager.
Whine: I guess that means I'm pretty thin. She may have a point.
Anti-whine: Our Amazing Banker came to the house to sign the necessary papers to hand over this house on Monday. She didn't want my hubby to have to go out twice in the same day (he came with me to vote). She is so kind and has been really good to us. I'm thinking I'll send flowers after the condo sale is finished.
Whine: Condo. I get a walk-through on Thursday, but hubby can't come with me because the elevator isn't inspected yet. I'm excited, but also really stressed.
I've been really cranky to my poor hubby. He's so patient with it all, but going back to work and stressing about continually changing moving dates has me living on the edge.
Anti-whine: Sunday was my first sermon in six months. It went really well. Not my best sermon ever, but wow, did it ever feel good to be up there again.
Linky love! The birthday episode
Happy Birthday, KLee! Take it from this 45-year-old, growing older may be suboptimal, but it beats the alternative.
Whine: my wife is in Kentucky this week, so I'm on solo Dad duty.
Anti-whine: the boys have actually been behaving semi-respectably. My last nerve remains remarkably unjumped upon at this point.
Whine: Two more days of nerve jumping opportunities before the cavalry rides home.
hugs to jeni -- may you get a good night's sleep, and sending some virtual gum-number for the big boy!
sue -- sending virtual ice cream, chocolate, and congrats on the sermon! cluesticks to the condo people. good vibes for the move!
yay, gary, for preserving your last nerve thus far! that sounds award-worthy to me. crossing fingers.
whine: daughter lost her ATM card last week. in her dorm room. big drama ensues. a new one is on its way [to our house, in a different state than the one where she is in school], but she wants me to fed-x cash; whereas, i want her to find her checkbook, and/or borrow cash from a friend. gah. where did i go wrong?
Happy Birthday to KLee. I share the alleged "fall" weather with you. 90 degrees here yesterday, with rain.
No real whines this week from me (what? what's wrong with me?). Just the economy whines. And I'm tired of watching the news whines. And tired of doctors' offices who want to change appointments all the time whines. Maybe I'm just tired. That too.
Happy birthday, Klee!
Major whine is that my depression is back with a roar. I sleep and sleep and can't seem to get the energy to do anything else. I'm cancelling appointments because I can't get motivated.
Cat continues to pee under my bed and I have now abandoned my bedroom and sleep on the sofa.
Son continues to be verbally abusive towards me and I'm ready to toss him out the door.
Money continues to be a constant worry. I didn't even go grocery shopping this month and we're running out of food. We'll get through it, but this sucks.
My BFF, who KNOWS how poor we have been lately, invited us to a sushi party in her sukkah. A BYO sushi party. When I told her 'no way' she was all huffy. What is WRONG with people?
That's pretty much it. I'm gonna hit the couch for another nap.
((((margalit)))) I hope things turn around for you soon.
Happy Happy Birthday Klee. I used to take such joy in my birthday. And now...to quote Jon Stewart, "not so much." You'll find a balance. Or get revenge on the calendar with a nice gift to yourself. Age just is a number. Even if it sometimes it feels like a very important number.
Good luck with the move, Sue. And smooth sailing on the sermons.
And good luck surviving the next few days, Gary. I predict the second to last 2 hours will be the worst. The very end you realize you can make it. But before the end, ugh.
Kathy A...I think you can tell your daughter you can't FedEx cash. At least FedEx won't insure it. I remember reading that somewhere. Maybe Western Union? Best of luck with the offspring and the growing up.
Hugs to Margalit that thing get better.
Whine: I think we're in the path of a train carrying illnesses. Cross your fingers. My son is taking a nap (he's 4, he doesn't nap, naps are the devil, he's congested.) My husband is going to the doctor for the sinus pain that won't go away. My daughter is congested. I am sticking my fingers in my ears...la-la-la--I'm not getting sick.
Anti-whine: Baby Arabella slept from 10:30 - 4. And I only woke up once to try to wake her up :)
Whine: I have been sick for two weeks, Husband has been sick for two weeks minus five days, and now my son is sick. Last night, at 1 a.m., my husband raced into the living room where I had crashed out on the couch with my daughter, shouting, "the baby stopped breathing!" Which, it turned out, he HAD NOT, he had just made a gagging noise in between two spaced-out breaths, as he tried to figure out how to swallow all his snot and mucus. But of course I had a heart attack before I figured out that my husband was, um, overreacting.
After I calmed down, I asked my husband if he was planning to freak out like this every time one of our kids gets a cold. He said Yes, and I'm pretty sure he means it.
Also, hugs to everyone who has whines of substance. Mine is really not one.
My whine is that my "oooh, I'm really old" whine is so selfish in comparison to Anni's trials.
Maybe I should ask for some humility for my birthday!
Uccellina, you get a vote for me for the heart-stopping moment of doom. Plus bonus points for bodily fluids.
Oh, no, Uccellina. So sorry that the baby is sick. Snotty babies are NO FUN. And there's something about husbands that make them freak out way too easily. Hope all of you feel better soon. And that the daughter's Super Immune System keeps it up.
I would really, really like to be able to be functional for more than a couple of hours at a time. Maybe even for a day or two in a row. A little less pain, fatigue, brain fog and that sort of thing might be nice, too.
I did fire my doctor. I got tired of having her tell me that of course I feel bad because, duh, I have these conditions and no, they're not treatable.
And no, she won't do any of the referrals or follow up on any of the treatments the specialist she sent me to (at my insistence) recommended, because what would be the point?
Doing anything like referring me to the fibromyalgia clinic at the Excellent Teaching Hospital/Research Facility in the next state would just be silly, she says. All they would do is put me on medication or do other treatments that wouldn't work, or wouldn't work very well, or would work for only a short time and then stop working, she says. So she won't refer me. And they take patients only by referral.
So I called one of the premier FMS doctors in the next state (there don't seem to be any in my state that allow people to self-refer). The receptionist said he's not taking new patients right now as a PCP, but he'll probably be willing to see me and do a consultation and then hopefully recommend a new PCP for me. I know he refers patients to the fibromyalgia clinic.
But the scheduler hasn't called me back yet.
That is all.
Happy, happy birthday, Klee.
And uccelina, I'm glad your baby was OK. Is it bad that your DH made me chuckle? I'm remembering the time our oldest was a toddler and held her breath and keeled over, and he was so panicked and upset he couldn't even tell me what was wrong.
Oh, and right now I'd also like pain levels to decrease enough to let me sleep. Would that be too much to ask?
purple_kangaroo, I hope you can get help soon.
for the pixies who are sick and the pixie babies who are sick, and everyone pretending that they are not getting sick... I hope you all feel better soon too!
We are not sick! Finally, after three weeks of bodily fluids. I am denying that baby boy still occasionally acts like his ears hurt. I will give up the denial if he acts like that tomorrow and take him back to the doctor... because ear infections only seem to get worse on weekends when you can't see the doctor.
hugs to esperanza, margalit, sarah, uccellina, PK, and jenr!
hope you had a great birthday, klee!
JenR, we've had great success with the children's formula ear drops made of garlic, mullein and St. Johns Wort.
There are similar formulations made by several different companies, and there's even evidence to support that it's more effective than antibiotics (it certainly has been for us--got rid of repeated ear infections that antibiotics weren't fully killing).
http://bastyrcenter.org/content/view/721/
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