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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

WW: Too much to do, too little time to do it in edition

Did you know that we are 36 days from the election? And I'm here at work instead of knocking on doors?

Need to do laundry, pay bills, feed my child...and here I've got a meeting at 10 AM that I'm not prepped for.

How's by you?

89 comments:

Liz Miller said...

Meeting moved to Thursday. YAY!

kathy a. said...

yay! you sound so incredibly busy, liz. and 36 days to election, wow. go team go!

AW: son's doing so much better! the culture came back with nothing unusual. he played a gig and asked his dad to come last weekend. sigh of relief.

W: a friend recently talked about a "trail of wreckage" left in the wake of adult children coming home for a while. that is so true.

W/AW: daughter's so busy with her new friends and school that we didn't get to skype this weekend.

W: mucho work. AW: making progress. W: achy and tired.

AW: had a date and nice dinner this weekend, with my beloved.

esperanza said...

W: The weather. It finally cools off enough that I can bear to take the Sweet Baboo outside. I looked over at her, and there is a swarm of mosquitoes surrounding her, just trying to bite her cute little arms and legs. Argh. (also? this is weird. I usually am a mosquito magnet, getting lots and lots of itchy bites any time I'm out. Except when I'm pregnant. No bites at all. Weird.)

W: snot. of the husband and Baboo varieties. Am trying to keep myself unsnotty. Also...

AW: grandma and great-grandma are coming today. It will be a major challenge to keep great-grandma unsnotty.

kathy a. said...

esperanza, how terrible about the skeeters! poor baboo! maybe some of the pixies have suggestions for the small folk. the traditional skeeter remedy in the south was avon's skin so soft, which worked so well that i have mosquito scars 20 years later.

sending you a virtual gallon of hand gel, and a virtual case of anti-viral kleenex.

Madeleine said...

So help me pixies, I am just trying to be a decent mom. SG is downstairs listening to a mushy pop love song on eternal repeat. I helped her buy it from the iTunes store.

Does that make me an enabler?

Blame where blame is due: her 4th grade teacher let the class listen to the radio today while they worked on a project. Apparently the whole class, including the teacher, were left humming this song. (As an aside, the next song that came on was some "horrible" thing with NO WORDS! so they turned it off. Because no one likes an instrumental, I guess.)

I clearly remember my days huddled by the radio listening to Casey Kasem and singing along with Rick Springfield or Air Supply. But I'm pretty sure I wasn't nine. It's all the plastics messing up our hormones, I'm sure of it now.

kathy a. said...

i think that music is good, even if i hate it. unless it is too loud, in which case it makes my head explode and is bad.

amy said...

Somebody had better stay off of Kathy's lawn!

kathy a. said...

amy -- years and years of band practice in the family room. i love the boys, really i do. the former bandmates still stop by every so often, and they always check out the fridge.

Elizabeth said...

Huge AW: My mom got a liver transplant on Friday!! She's doing amazingly well so far -- to my shock and astonishment, they're planning on sending her home tomorrow.

W: Hard to be both a good daughter and a good mom/wife/worker when parents live 300 miles away. I see lots of miles on the NJ turnpike in my future.

AW: Can take the bus for ~$20 each way, so don't need to drive.

W: My mother will be on immunosuppressants. Anyone want to bet on the odds that I can keep my self and my kids from getting swine flu this winter?

kathy a. said...

huge WOO HOOOOOO for elizabeth! keeping many good thoughts for your mom and family. xoxoxo

esperanza said...

Great news, elizabeth! And good luck with the flu avoidance. If you figure something out, please, let me know!

Sue said...

Wow Elizabeth - that is GREAT news!!!! Sending virtual anti-sneeze masks for you and the family.

esperanza: skeeters and snot make for Old Skool classics, no question.

Yay Liz - don't you love it when meetings are canceled or rescheduled????

kathy a - I'm glad your son is feeling better. And as much as you miss your daughter, at least you know she's not pining for home and feeling miserable, right? That's sort of anti-whiny, isn't it?

madeleine - I'm with kathy - music is okay until it gets TOO LOUD - then it's problematic.

Whine: Bossy hubby telling me I need to get some sleep - who made him my babysitter anyway?? Ptttthhhhh ~that was me sticking my tongue out at him~

Whine: He ignored me.

Anti-whine: He's right, I do need to get to sleep. Busy day tomorrow. He is either taking very good care of me or he doesn't want me to come home tomorrow evening in a seriously bitchy mood. Which is it????

Stay tuned to tomorrow's episode of Sue's Bossy Husband.....

Um, G'nite all. I'm being sent to bed for the first time since I was eight.

Sarah at ratatat said...

Yay Elizabeth. What wonderful news. And maybe all of the hand wringing and hand washing will keep us cold-free too :) Yeah, didn't think so.

KathyA - I'd be missing the daughter, even if it is good she is busy. And glad to hear your son is on the mend. And you hosted band practice? I bow before you. My husband keeps telling me as the drummer he is supposed to host. And I keep saying, no, no, no.

Sue - my husband just told me he was going to sleep and he wasn't going to chit-chat with me. And I should be sleeping too. But a little WW first, right?

Liz - election fever at your house, wow!

Madeleine - a good enabler? I am with Sue and Kathy on the too loud is the only problem. And repeat in the car...

Esperanza: stay well. stay seated. And maybe your husband can get you and apply the anti-mosquito stuff that comes as granules? You sprinkle it on the lawn and it lasts for ~30 days. We did it three times this summer. It smells a bit like garlic. Mosquito Beater. I think. We live in a wet area and it has been amazing.

Sarah at ratatat said...

Hmmm, I almost forgot to whine:

Anti-whine: The baby (now a year old!) took 3 steps today. 5 times. She is finally going to walk. She has been hesitating about letting go for the last 6 weeks at least.

whine: I am totally jinxing that.

whine: I am re-reading "How to talk so your kids will listen and listen so your kids will talk." More of it applies now that I have an 8 year old. But she - or even the 5 year old - never follows the script. I never get to be empathetic or reflective. I can't seem to get a hang of the "describing" technique. I sort of hate the book and I think the hatred is not helpful.

purple_kangaroo said...

Elizabeth, Yay! My mom has a kidney transplant and she pretty much stays away from crowds and anyone with any sign of illness during cold/flu season.

Sarah, something about that book rubs me the wrong way, too.

purple_kangaroo said...

AJ had her third appointment with the new counselor today. Well, actually the counselor hardly talked to her, and when she did it was more like lecturing her and telling her what she was doing wrong, without giving her any tools to use to do better.

I came away from it feeling like she basically just thought we were bad parents who weren't disciplining our naughty child enough, and if we just punished her for her freaking out and for the on-whatever-spectrum behavior, it would go away. Even though she thinks there's definitely a neurological/chemical issue going on.

And my dog is sick. I'm worried about her, and I feel like a horrible dog mommy, because I think the lamb I gave her last night must have been too old or sat out too long or something.

She's never been sick like this before, and never refused to eat. She's having diarrhea and vomiting--not massive, but frequent small amounts.

She's eating grass and drinking water, but wouldn't touch the things I've tried to tempt her. I wish I could get her to eat at least some pumpkin or some of the broth from the hamburger I just cooked up for her. No go. Even stuff she normally goes gaga over, she just turns her head away from.

My antiwhine: We're participating in a project with our church to raise awareness of world hunger, pray more effectively for those suffering from it, and raise money to dig a well (or hopefully two) in a destitute village in a Latin American country that rhymes with the Spanish word for water.

We're all subsisting on beans, rice and water for a week, and sending the money we save on groceries to dig a well.

The kids and I are eating some vegetables along with the beans and rice because of my health issues and their youth, but it's still a very effective way to help us all understand how most of the world lives, and how blessed we are. Lots of good conversations coming out of it.

It's really an amazing thing to be able to participate in, and I'm so pleased that our church makes it a priority to do this sort of thing together as a church as well as individually.

purple_kangaroo said...

Liz, I'm glad your meeting got moved.

Read the rest of the whines, but must go to bed now, so sending general hugs and warm thoughts to everyone.

Sue said...

PK - what a wonderful project and a great learning experience for the whole family! I may just hijack that idea for a week in Lent - would you mind? We would probably give the money to Project Plowshares - they feed millions all around the world.

Anti-whine: Funny, but I'm feeling quite refreshed this morning. Perhaps this "going to bed earlier" thing that hubby is encouraging isn't so bad after all.

Anti-whine: My hair salon has an opening at noon. I SO need a haircut. Because it's always about the hair, right?

Whine: After the haircut I have to attend a Meeting Without End. These ones never clock in under two and a half hours. But then, I'll have great hair, so it won't be ALL bad.

Sue said...

Heh - I just took another look at my post and thought "Meetings Without Borders". We could have a global slogan - "The United Church will bore anyone, anywhere, anytime."

That just struck me as funny this morning. I'm just not a "meeting" kind of person, I guess.

Sue said...

Whine: My step-mother just called to let me know that my step-sister (the same one who set me up with the trigger point doc) is splitting with her husband. I tried to call my step-sister to offer some support, but she's either not picking up or she's not home. I'll try again tonight.

Crap. She has had such a run of bad luck with men. This one has her convinced that their problems are ALL her fault (not true). She's convinced that if she could just change, he would stay and everything would be fine. Also not true. He's going to leave regardless. Rat bastard.

kathy a. said...

PK, hope the pup is feeling better soon!

sue, so sorry about what your step-sister is going through. she won't believe this now, but sounds like she's lucky to be getting that bully out of her life. it's so toxic to live on a diet of constant criticism.

sarah -- the guitar and bass blamed the drummer for the volume. he was very energetic. they said they had to crank up the amps "so it would sound right." [at least i knew where they were and what they were doing, eh?]

kathy a. said...

soo -- my husband said he had to turn off my computer in the middle of the night because it was making a noise, like an alarm. it turned out to be our daughter, skyping from japan!

and the emergency was: she found a lost and injured kitten! it's someone's pet, very social and claws were trimmed. she's keeping it in her bathroom overnight, then taking it to the office to see if they can find its owner. clearly, she got the cat-magnet gene.

purple_kangaroo said...

((Sue's sister))

Sue, of course you can join in on the beans and rice project. I'd love to see more people doing this sort of thing.

Today the kids and I are going to learn more about the kids who live in the garbage dump near where we're drilling a well, and why clean water is so desperately needed.

Liz Miller said...

Our newest ad is up. Get out your hankies, folks.

Liz Miller said...

Sue, I'm so sorry about what your step-sister is going through.

PK, bring your pup to the vet...she may have eaten something other than the lamb - like playdoh? Or a needle and thread?

kathy a. said...

liz, what an ad. go team go.

PK, liz is right -- dogs sometimes swallow other things. i've heard tales of sox or other items causing an obstruction, for example. xoxo

purple_kangaroo said...

She doesn't seem to have symptoms of an obstruction. What she's vomiting is just small amounts of grass and stomach bile, and her stools aren't tremendously watery. But I plan to take her to the vet today unless she improves significantly. She did eat a couple of bites this morning, and she's drinking lots of water.

purple_kangaroo said...

Oh, and she hasn't vomited since last night and hasn't had any diarrhea so far this morning.

Jenevieve said...

Hi PK! I heard a rumour that your pup was ill, so I wandered over from my exotic animal rotation to give you some Uninvited Internet Medical Advice(tm):
for vomiting/diarrhea, we generally say to starve them for 24-48 hours to give their guts plenty of time to empty out and settle down. They can have water during that time, but nothing else. Once they've had at least 12hh without any vomiting or severe diarrhea, you can introduce a bland diet (boiled skinless chicken and rice or the like), then gradually introduce their normal diet back. Essentially, treat them kinda like a sick person.

I'd say go to the vet if a) she seems really ill, b)she passes any blood or tarry feces, or c)if she hasn't stopped being sick after about 48 hours.

In other words, hang in there! Also, I doubt it was the lamb unless it was really manky-- food-borne illness is quite rare in dogs!

(Hope that wasn't too pedantic, I don't have my "client communication skills" rotation until November! :P)

kathy a. said...

yay, jenevieve, the pet vet expert! hope all is well with you and the family, and the exotics!

purple_kangaroo said...

Aw, thanks so much Jenevieve. It's so nice to see you.

Mira went about 36 hours without eating, and then she ate some plain boiled hamburger (no chicken in the house at the moment).

She hasn't had any diarrhea or vomiting since last night, even after eating, so I think she's on the road to recovery. I'm just planning to let her rest as much as she wants and feed her small amounts of bland food until she feels better.

Thanks for the reassurance that I probably didn't accidentally poison my dog. :) Would it more likely be some kind of virus, then?

Thanks also for the reminder on signs an illness is severe enough to need a vet. I've been watching her stools and vomit for signs of blood and all that, ready to take her in to the vet if needed.

I was only a lowly veterinary assistant, and that was almost 10 years ago, so I'm sure I don't know much. But I am fairly confident that she's not sick enough to need a vet at this point.

purple_kangaroo said...

Oh, and I'd totally forgotten about the not feeding them for a 12 hours after they've been actively having vomiting/diarrhea. That made me feel so much better--thanks again!

Jenevieve said...

You're welcome! Yeah, she probably just had a wee stomach virus. Glad she's on the road to recovery!

Can I whine that I never have time to party over here? You guys are so cool.

purple_kangaroo said...

Well, Jenevieve, maybe today could be the start of a trend, and you could come party more often. We'd like that. :)

Sue said...

Yay Jen!!!! We are the luckiest pixies anywhere because we have all kinds of experts when we need them. I glad the pup is starting to feel a bit better PK.

Great ad Liz - still sniffling here...sad, but very effective.

Sue said...

Great Anti-whine news: My step sister (hereafter known simply as my sister - because that's what she is in every way except by DNA) is coming home with her two sons on Tuesday and staying for a week. That means she will be here for Canadian Thanksgiving!

I'm so glad she's coming home. She needs her family around her now, and most of us live here. I wish it were under different circumstances, but I can't wait to see her again.

purple_kangaroo said...

Teh doggeh is eating, having solid stools, NOT vomiting, and now running around playing. Yay!

purple_kangaroo said...

Sue, yay! And BTW, I think the caring about us and caring about not getting their heads bitten off does often overlap with the spouses. Either way, I find that mine is usually right. :)

Sue said...

PK - you're right. But it's so annoying when spouses are right. So very annoying. Even when they're just trying to help - still annoying. Even when they love you and just want you to get well - yup, still annoying.

Spouses being right = just plain annoying. Or maybe it's just MY spouse and that "I told you so" grin he can't get off his face when he's right....yes, it could be unique to him. Loving? Definitely. Annoying? Oh yeah. It's a good thing he's so cute.

KLee said...

Glad to see Jeni popped over! Hey, Jeni -- I have a question for you -- Commander Bun-Bun's nails are like little Ginsu knives...I don't want to hurt her by clipping the quick, so do you think one of those pet pedicure tools would be okay to use on her periodically? I tried it once, and it seemed to go okay, but I really don't want to a) hurt her or b) frighten the beejeezus out of her.

As for me, I am pleased beyond everything to tell you that, as of yesterday, my aunt was sitting in a chair and eating regular food. When I saw her in the ICU last Friday evening, I was so afraid that we might lose her. Saturday morning, she was off the vent, recognizing us, and making jokes. The human brain is a marvel to behold. Thank you all for your prayers -- they matter more than you can possibly know.

Sarah at ratatat said...

Yay KLee! So glad you aunt is recovering.

And so nice to read that P_K's dog is well again. And a good reminder that while I am not sure my daughter's therapist is helping dramatically, she is very gentle and kind to us.

And Sue - how nice to see your sister for Thanksgiving. Hope she is feeling happier by then.

Sarah at ratatat said...

And Liz- that was a great ad. Keeping my fingers crossed for happy election news...

kathy a. said...

wooo hoo, what great news, klee! i'm so glad your aunt is doing so well! xoxo

sue, i think my beloved and i still get along because we decided "i told you so" is not a good conversation. also, for some reason, he still thinks i'm cute. go figure. no accounting for taste.

esperanza said...

klee, great news! Jeni, good to see you again!

Antiwhine from me today: Went outside to find sprinkler that was not working, water gushing across driveway. Antiwhine? Yes. Because Sweet Baboo said, "ater! ater! and tromped through it leaving sweet little footprints across the driveway." Two things she couldn't do six weeks ago. I am so thankful for her recent progress. And her birthday is tomorrow!

kathy a. said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET BABOO! oh, she is doing great!!! passing the virtual birthday cake, raising a toast of the bev of choice.

debangel said...

AW: Yay, Jeni's back! I vote she gets the "Vednesday Vet" award for long-distance pixie advice! (Remember when I e-mailed you a couple of years ago when my DD dislocated my cat's tail?)

PK, what an awesome project! Think I'll try that for Lent this year.

WHINE: Stoopid scary unexplained bleeding at 25+ weeks. Spent last Friday at Labor and Delivery, testing for placental abruption. Antiwhine: none, according to the blood test

Whine, part deux: Bleeding again all yesterday. Full pelvic rest. (Can I get the TMI award?) I think I'm concentrating on being ticked about that b/c I don't want to think about having an extremely premature baby. Doc is determined to figure out what is going on and so am I! 26 weeks tomorrow. Baby is fine but is sooo grounded for scaring da mama!

Big-bellied hugs to all the pixies!

Unknown said...

Hi Pixies, so happy to hear that pets and babies are on the mend, that parents and sisters are doing well, and that all of you seem to be hanging in despite adversities.

AW: I got my car back. It took 7 trips to the RMV, close to $2000, an arrest error where I was handcuffed and put in a cell for almost an hour before we solved the misunderstanding (I couldn't drive for 6 months after my defibrillator was installed, but they never released the revocation, so they thought I was driving on a revoked license. A phone call to my doctor, and a fax got it cleared up in an hour. But geesh!

Whine: Holy cow, my blood sugar is out of sight. Like so high I should be keeling over. I spent the day dizzy and avoided walking at all cost.

AW: My presentation at JFCS tonight went really well. Phew.

Whine: My daughter, a senior in high school, has a guidance counselor that is only working 2 days/week because she has a newish baby. And they have no replacement for her, so she has done NOTHING I've asked her to. Like helping the kid with colleges, the SATs, etc. She's basically worthless and my daughter is getting a really raw deal.

Whine: My son continues to decline. I really can't say more than that right now, but it's not good.

kathy a. said...

debangel for the butt-planted-on-couch award this week, with a full complement of snacks and mindless DVD's! thinking good thoughts for the wee one.

margalit, glad your presentation went well. also glad you have the skills to help your daughter narrow down some college options, and get the apps in. maybe she also has some teachers/mentors with ideas? we found that the whole college prep/app process was pretty much do-it-yourself.

purple_kangaroo said...

KLee, I'm not Jenivieve, but I do know about rabbits! I use a dremel on my bunnies' nails sometimes, and it's fine. The other thing you can do is use one of those guillotine-style dog nail clippers, and jut trim off a tiny sliver at a time until you see the pink of the quick getting close.

The rabbit rescue in my area offers monthly workshops where you can take your rabbit in and get free grooming, anal gland cleaning and nail trims. You might check and see if there's something similar in your area. If I were close enough, I'd just have you bring the bunny over and I'd do it for you.

Sue said...

Yay KLee for your aunt's progress. I don't know a thing about bun-bunns, but I do have some nice treats for them! (For our blessing of the pets service this weekend)

Yay to the Amazing Sweet Baboo!!! Happy Birthday sweet one!

Oh my goodness debangel - same instructions for you from pixieland that we gave to esperanza a few weeks ago. Plant thy butt on thy couch and stayeth there. (Was that bossy?) Ok, I'm bossy.

margalit - I'm just speechless. Pixie hugs to you. Handcuffs???? Holy carp.

kathy a. - I think teh cute goes a long way toward helping relationships at times. (Sadly, not for my sis at the moment, but that's another story). Hubby and I agreed many moons ago that it's better if we say very little in the early hours of the day. Not. Morning. People.

Amy said...

i second the vednesday vet, and i'd like to also nominate p_k (and others) for an "it takes a village" award for all the pet help.

i'm sorry anyone has to win the butt-on-couch award, but i hope no one thinks it's cold of me to be happy it's not esperanza?

mullet nomination for madeleine's "Does that make me an enabler?" as well, because i lol'ed.

margalit, it sounds like a lot of drama still, so i'll just offer a hug and this: you are the best mother for your kids, and although the challenges are numerous, you know them best and can advocate for them better than anyone.

virtual earplugs to kathy and sue! my husband is in a band, so i get it. we're the practice house. did i ever tell you all about time my neighbor yelled at me in front of the tot for the volume? he *lost* it. turns out the soundproofing had fallen out of the basement windows, but we didn't know it. guy was a total a$$.

my husband has since improved the soundproofing and has devised plans for "bass traps", which should allow them to turn down the volume w/out sacrificing balance of instrument sounds. (this, from the guy who won't put away sippy cups b/c he doesn't know how they should go in the cupboard. ha!)

kathy a. said...

alternatively, madeleine's "It's all the plastics messing up our hormones, I'm sure of it now." is also mullet-worthy.

kitteh update: daughter was IM'ing me yesterday, all through her night, because the kitten was crying and/or wanting to play. she ended up taking it to the cat rescue lady in the city. yes, she's been in japan one month, and learned about the cat rescue lady within the first week. that's my girl!

Amy said...

kathy, i think your daughter deserves the hero by proxy award this week!

i need advice, pixies! tater's first birthday is saturday, and we're having a party. (there are actually so many whines there, i can't even whine them for risk of overload!) i'm swamped trying to work, deal with children, and clean the house.

here's the question: should i or should i not feel guilty about ordering all the food from my local grocer? for context, i've also ordered the cake, and what food i'd order would be a sandwich platter, and a veggie and fruit platter. is that wrong?

purple_kangaroo said...

Not guilty.

kathy a. said...

NO guilt, ordering food is absolutely the right thing to do! i kind of like doing party food, but not when i'm going insane with work/cleaning/ etc. call it "catering."

oh, and happy birthday to tater! this is quite the birthday week for cute little pixie offspring!

Liz Miller said...

Keep whining and voting folks. Awards will go up tonight or tomorrow depending on my level of post-work/post-walk creativity.

esperanza said...

Ack, debangel! Just yikes. Butt on couch and/or bed. No lifting. No--ahem--fun. Many wishes for clear thoughts and good brains to your doctor. And to that still-too-small baby in there: STAY PUT.

Madeleine said...

Amy, order the food! And be sure you get to eat some of it. It may be your best chance at a full meal all week, from the sound of it.

Liz Miller said...

Amy, order the food.

kathy a. said...

second esperanza on the STAY PUT to debangel's bambette! deb, the posse is here if those around you are not sufficiently covering the heavy lifting, the household stuff, the waving of palm fronds, whatever.

sue -- your poor sister; with things so ugly in general, she probably feels like something left under a rock.

amy -- i am in awe of soundproofing and "bass traps," whatever those are.

purple_kangaroo said...

Stay put vibes from me, too.

I have a late-breaking whine on behalf of NLASS, the teenager who lives with us. She babysits for a family who has one child, an older infant, and the parents are rather paranoid about him after losing 3 children before he was born.

She just called me, really freaked out. This family left a message on her voicemail saying that the baby was dead, and asking her to call because they had a question related to babysitting.

When she called and asked what was up, they asked her to babysit on Saturday because they needed to go pick up a freezer. No reference to the voicemail saying that the baby was dead.

She didn't ask them about the message, but she's really wierded out at this point. Says she's listened to it multiple times and is sure it says the baby is dead. And yet they want her to babysit the baby on Saturday.

I'm sure there must be some kind of misunderstanding. I told NLASS to save the voicemail and I'll listen to it tonight also.

She was so upset, poor thing. I wish I was there to give her a hug.

kathy a. said...

PK, that is just the weirdest. i'm hoping she just mis-heard something -- the later discussion makes no sense otherwise. perhaps the message was unclear; or perhaps there is a cultural misunderstanding. [colloquialisms like "dead to the world" in reference to a good nap, for example, might not translate well.]

Madeleine said...

P_K, that is really odd, and I can see why she'd be freaked out. Almost certainly a misunderstanding, but wowza what a big one.

KLee said...

Our school is experiencing massive drop-offs in enrollment due to yet another mass deployment. This translates into lost positions for us. We've lost at least 7 staff members, and there are about five others who have moved positions within the school.

My department lost a vital component, and while that person stayed at our school, they aren't doing the job they were trained to do, and the job that they were hired to do. It sucks for that person, and to make matters worse, the place that she's been moved to hasn't been overwhelmingly welcoming. I feel so bad for her.

It sucks because we miss her, the kids miss her, and she's not doing the job she was born to do. Why would you put someone with specialized knowledge in a regular teaching position? That's like sending an astronaut to work in a planetarium because they "know a lot about space."

kathy a. said...

klee, i'm not clear on what is happening or why, but it sounds incredibly sucky. i'm just guessing that one teacher is one of the special-skills teachers you spoke so highly of, not long ago? my cluestick's ready.

Elizabeth said...

A late vote to Amy to order the food for pity's sake. NO guilt involved, even if you weren't having a crazy week.

Liz Miller said...

Am keeping whines open through tomorrow. KLee, that sucks. PK, how bizarre. I hope everything's ok there.

Sarah at ratatat said...

PK - that is too weird. And maybe time for a new babysitting job...poor NLASS.

Debangel - rest and answers soon, I hope. Positive, stay in your belly 12+ more week answers.

Amy - order the food. I did that for First Communion for my daughter and I got so many compliments, which bothered me more than any guilt I had. Like, don't thank me, I just paid for it. (baked potatoes, BTW, a real hit)

And Margalit - here's wishing things calm down, you stay driving, your son feels better,your daughter figures out some of her post-HS plans. We had terrible guidance counselors at my HS - no one actually asked them to do much related to college even though we were a college prep school. But that's hard on the parents or the kids.

Whine: I think I need Sue's husband to tell me to go to bed. I can't seem to get there before 11:30. I'd ask my husband, but he was a one-trick pony in that regard.

purple_kangaroo said...

I think NLASS decided that it was most likely a joke in excruciatingly poor taste, but she's planning to mention it to them next time she goes to babysit.

Teh Doggeh threw up again today after an attempt to return to her normal diet. Twice. On my bedroom carpet. So I'm not sure if I should take her to the vet tomorrow or just keep her on a bland, cooked diet for a few more days. Pixies? Veterinary experts?

purple_kangaroo said...

(BTW she's normally raw-fed, prey-model. She had frequent diarrhea or at least frequent icky stools on every kibble we tried when we first got her, even the grain-free ones.

She was so happy when we finally discovered raw-feeding, and she's been doing so much better on it. This is the first time she's had any kind of issue or illness since the switch.

Hard to believe we've had her over a year now.)

purple_kangaroo said...

LOL. It was totally an accent thing.

NLASS got home and let me listen to the voicemail. The guy said, "This is (name), (baby's name)'s dad . . . "

NLASS is from another part of the country. She was convinced the guy said, "(baby's name)'s dead." He didn't.

It took me a while to stop giggling and regain my composure. But I did give NLASS a hug.

LOL.

Amy said...

Okay, it goes like this:
If I tell you, "Hey, don't use X email address because I never check it. Use Y address instead," and I send it FROM Y ADDRESS, I do NOT want to stumble across the following reply in my inbox for X address:

"Don't know why I sent it to '[X address]', I have it written down'"Amy:not [X address]'".

[face-palm]

Amy said...

PK, what a relief!

Madeleine said...

Amy, it could be a software error, not an operator error. My email program automatically suggests addresses to mail to and sometimes it picks the wrong one. I have to keep a careful eye on it for one particular colleague. Though I'm not sure how that would happen on a direct reply to a message from address Y.

Amy said...

Actually, it's a hardware error -- there's a nut loose on her keyboard.

(It's my Luddite Mother in Law. Bless her heart, she tries.)

kathy a. said...

oh, amy for mullet! "there's a nut loose on her keyboard."

PK -- poor NLASS! huge relief. i mis-remembered her being a foreign student, but accents can do one in, too. some of my clients thought i had a speech impediment, when i lived in the south; which, from their point of view, i did.

whine of internet discussions, and partaking in them too much: i am sick of hearing about norman polanski.

Madeleine said...

Definitely Amy for mullet.

The "official" name for that phenomenon in IT support is PEBCAK (problem exists between chair and keyboard).

Amy said...

ha! I forgot about PEBCAK! My husband usually call it an I-D-10-t error.

Jenevieve said...

You guys are awesome! Though seriously, calling me an expert is (to use KLee's example) like calling a planetarium worker an astronaut. :)

KLee, the dremel is fine. I wouldn't use the guillotine clippers, since they make me personally nervous, but would instead use the cat scissor-type clippers if you want to, a little at a time. But really, if she tolerates the dremel, it's what we use on the exotics ward. How's she doing?

PK, yeah, give the vet a call. Your poor pup's belly should have been feeling better by now.

Deb, stupid bleeding body! Stupid pelvic rest! Baby, stay put! I was born at 31.5 weeks, but I don't recommend it.

Happy Birthday, Baboo! YAY!!

My late-breaking AW is that I had a ton of fun on my exotic animal rotation, playing with snakes and 100+ years old tortoises birds and bunnies and the like. It was so challenging, but sooo cool! Yay!

Jenevieve said...

p.s. when I finally finish vet school, you all seriously are going to need individual boxes of chocolates and tequila for putting up with me the last few years!

kathy a. said...

jenevieve -- "putting up" with you??? my dear, you are a delight to us. no cluesticks headed your way. we could not be prouder about your adventures, and how sweet and helpful you are.

debangel said...

Jeni, I second Kathy A....although I think a virtual party with *real* party favors would be a great idea! I volunteer ;)

kathy a. said...

party! party! don't want to embarass jeni, who is deserving, but there are a lot of deserving pixies.

let's see, i've got some virtual chocolate, some virtual stickers for the little ones ... some virtual ribbons and streamers. oh, heck, let's just pass it all.

cheers!

Liz Miller said...

PARTY!!!

WOOT!

Sorry so slow on the awards, folks. Election stuff and parenting takes up all my non-work time. I WILL be able to put up awards tomorrow afternoon.

Meanwhile, keep at it, and here's some pumpkin pie from the woman who stars in that three-hanky commercial I showed y'all.

Name Under Development said...

Amy, my husband prefers to call such computer issues as a "wetware" problem.

NUD

kathy a. said...

NUD! that is a good one. and how are you?

kathy a. said...

i think i'm moving to facebook lite. in the last 6 hours, i've gotten 24 posts about games, quizzes, videos, etc. from just one person. also 5 posts from another friend's mentally ill daughter, who thinks she is connecting by putting stuff up on her mom's account, and also btw does not identify herself. and this is not even counting the relatives playing farmville or sending hearts or throwing things at people. sheesh.

purple_kangaroo said...

Kathy A, you can hide things by application (i.e. elect not to receive farmville updates), or select to display only status updates on your homepage.

purple_kangaroo said...

Jenevieve definitely needs some sort of dispensing-free-pet-advice award. :) Mira hasn't thrown up any more, and she had pumpkin and grain-free kibble today. My theory is that the vomiting and diarrhea wiped out the good intestinal flora in her digestive system, and a normal amount of raw meat was just a bit too much too soon. Kind of like people often can't digest milk for a while after having a severe intestinal virus.

I'm giving her NOW turkey and duck grainfree, which has probiotics in it, for a few days and then we'll try the raw again.