Pixies, I'm still numb about the horrible tragedy yesterday in Arizona. My heart goes out to all those directly affected, but it seems to me that all of us are affected by something so unspeakable. Like many others, including the sheriff, I am heartsick at a poisonous political atmosphere that may have helped spark this insane and devastating violence.
Things are still happening closer to home, as they are wont to do.
AW: Daughter's birthday was yesterday!
W: Visited cousin and her daughter, still in ICU.
AW: Cousin's daughter sat up in a chair for the first time!
Funny W: Daughter went for a drive after BD!Cake!With BestFriend! and called home so we could mapquest her out of lostness.
Also, if you must know, the rate of misplaced pookiness around here has me ever so happy that I invested in a bunch of washable mats to place by all the litter box entrances. This is your Pixie investment tip of the week.
So, whining is now open, for whines and anti-whines of all stripes.
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I have no words to describe my feelings about yesterday's shooting. My thoughts are in Arizona.
Oh, me too. Horrific.
On the home front, I'll whine that Sweet Baboo has yet another cold. I'm quite sure that I am tired of her being sick. I don't know if I should be worried that she's been sick so frequently, or chalk it up to being exposed to all the germs we protected her from for the first 15 months or so. In any case, I'm tired of snot.
And I'll whine, completely unjustifiably, that AF has returned for the first time since Mini was born. Since she's almost a year old, I don't suppose a whine is really necessary, but I don't like it anyway.
And...I dropped an entire pizza in the bottom of the oven, goodie side down. I've spent the last hour scrubbing the racks while the self-cleaner does its thing. Stinky, but hopefully effective.
AW: pizza droppage was to prevent baboo burning. Baboos are fine, if a bit traumatized at the four letter words coming from mama.
AW: We were able to skip church today because I didn't have a preaching gig. Snot sharing avoided.
The news from Arizona is surreal and too sad and frustrating. It seems like a pretty clear wake up call for more civility and less violence as rhetoric and action.
whine/anti-whine: The whole family headed to our alma mater for my daughter's swim meet.
Whine: the meet was a bit over her head and I wish the coaches communicated better about which meets to attend.
whine: I'm a swim mom? How did this happen?
Antiwhine: we wanted to go so we could see some good friends. We did. The kids all had a blast swimming in the hotel pool.
Antiwhine: The hotel was fine, if worn and I think gearing up for a renovation but Priceline worked and we could afford it.
Whine: swimming in the very drying hotel pool 4-5 times was exhausting. I think the 2 year old will sleep all day tomorrow.
And we have 3 kids and our friends have 3 kids and having 6 kids around is ridiculous. Taking 6 kids under 10 out to dinner should probably be illegal. At least immoral.
yikes, pizza upside down in the oven!
sarah, that sounds like a good trip! 6 kids is about critical mass, no?
pook update: 2 more mats so far today. i'm so much happier letting the washing machine deal with it.
I've been thinking about this tragedy a lot. I certainly agree that our political environment and lack of a space for thoughtful and reasoned discourse could have been a contributing factor. But (based on what I've read and heard) I don't want us to ignore what surely must be some mental illness as a contributing factor as well. If we want to get political about that, then let's advocate for better mental health care. It doesn't diminish the tragedy at all, but as we're looking forward, I wish we could get sick people the help they need.
esperanza, i agree 100%. he sounds very mentally ill, and reports from teachers and other students suggest that his illness has been obvious for a while. i agree that we need better resources for mental health care. it seems to me a public health issue, because a severely mentally ill person affects those around him/her, even when the illness does not result in such a horrifying tragedy.
i have a lot of problems with the broad availability of guns, too. and i know people will disagree with me about guns. but i can't think of why a person this deranged should have access to such overwhelming firepower. i can't think of why any civilian would need a semi-automatic with an extended magazine. all that damage occurred in just an instant.
My husband and my co-bloggers vetoed my posting this (heavily redacted):
"You all know that I tend to disagree vehemently with writer over at blog. However, I want to give him kudos for his post about the shooting on Saturday. It's well-written, thoughtful, and he deserves credit for writing it.
Thank you, writer, for writing it.
That said, as usual, I chose NOT to go swimming in the comment stream there.
Until a friend of mine pointed me to a particular comment. So I put on my mental hip-waders and went for a look.
In the comment, commenter says, "I’d ask you all to another beer bash, but I’m afraid DPV would gain access to the coordinates and mow us all down for alledged violations to the State."
Are you, a major player in the local Republican Party, actually suggesting that the Democratic Party of Virginia would shoot you, another commenter, and third commenter?
Wow.
Commenter, you are...astounding.
Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, Sharon Angle, Glen Beck, Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan, Michelle Malkin, Pat Roberts, Michael Reagan, and Michael Savage have all used violent rhetoric, and a few have called for the actual killing of people who disagree with them.
Find me anyone in the Democratic Party of Virginia who has used violent rhetoric against our political adversaries.
Go ahead.
It ain't Democrats who come armed to the Board Room, my dear sir."
I'm in agreement that I shouldn't post it on my blog, but I'm kind of proud of the writing, so I'm putting it here.
oh, liz. the violent, hateful words of some of the people you mention make me feel such despair. it's all a show to them, something to get the ratings up. but Words. Have. Meaning.
this fireplacing crap has no place in civilized discussion -- particularly when spouted from major media outlets. it promotes blind hate, which isn't a good thing -- even when the listener isn't a person with a semi-automatic and serious psychosis.
giffords herself said something like that, months ago -- she urged that all of us need to stand against the violent rhetoric. and her friend the sheriff has said the same thing.
this horrible turn of events should cause all of us -- everyone, of any political persuasion -- to reflect on what we can do to tone things the fireplace down, to have civil and thoughtful discussions about our differences, to prevent feeding actual threats and violence.
i'm not usually so outspoken here at the WW ranch, but i'm really distraught about all this.
First - pizza upside down. Old Skool win for sure. Also: "snot sharing avoided" is a good candidate for Elevated Risk of Mullet.
I'm so sad, but also frustrated by the situation in Arizona. Liz - thank you, thank you, thank you, for posting what you did about the rhetoric of violence that surrounds the people named. How can they possibly believe that type of commentary is helpful?
I DO NOT on any level claim to live in a perfect country. Far from it - our present Conservative government can make my head spin in perfect circles and pea soup spew from my ears. They are little more than US Republican wanna-be's and I could scream.
That said, in a country where a clearly mentally unstable individual can walk into a gun show and walk out with a weapon designed specifically to kill as many PEOPLE as possible (this was no hunting rifle) - well, how can anyone really be surprised when mass shootings happen?
I promise, I do not say that to offend anyone, it simply is what it is. I think hiding behind the second ammendment is cowardly and I always have. That was a document intended for a particular time in history and has no place in a world where AK 47s can be purchased out of the back of a truck.
Canada has had its shootings. The most significant was the Dec 6, 1994 shooting and killing of 13 female engineering students at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal. Look at that date again. 1994. And we still memorialize those women every year.
Sorry - weapon rant from the frozen north. Still, it comes from a place of deep sorrow, not a place of criticism. I'm not sure that comes across here, but there you have it.
Personal Whine: My doc ran a great marathon time in the Disney Marathon yesterday of 3:15:45. Yay! Now I need him to get back to the office. My head is KILLING me. OUCH!!!! The past week has made it pretty clear that I have no option but to get another set of occipital nerve injections. Bleh.
Sorry - even Google told me that comment was too long. ~looks sheepish~
Sue, the level of gun violence in the US is ridiculous, especially considering we have fewer guns per capita than your country or Switzerland.
I hope we can learn what you and Switzerland do right, so that we can fix what we do wrong.
And speaking of doing it wrong...
I'll bring some serious mixed blessing whine/antiwhinage here:
AW: I've had 2! interview! in the past week for jobs post-internship. Woo!!
W: They are both in frozen, desolate wastelands.
AW: One is only 4 hours from beloved family-in-law!
W: That one is the much less promising job, with a slightly higher paycheck but only 1 day off a week and no health insurance.
W: The other one is 2 hours north of toronto, aka nowhere near ANYONE EVER.
AW: That one has awesome salary, seemingly sincere attempt at work-life balance, and 2 weeks PAID VACATION. Whoa, people, entering Real Jobsville here!
Stupid W: Back. Out. Again. No doctor offers any real advice, just throws stronger pain meds at me. Sigh.
W/AW: Doc booted me out of work from saturday-wednesday. Nice to have the break, but will be skewered for it when I go back. Like 5-nights-on-call-in-a-row skewered.
I have some fresh bread and squash gratin cooling to share! Not very festive, but warm and hearty on a chilly day!
Wow Jenevieve!!! That's some collection of Whine/Anti-Whines! I'm not sure whether to offer congrats or consolations, so consider both present and accounted for.
I do get to Toronto now and again, and the trains are really good down that a way (assuming you're talking about Toronto Ontario - it just occurred to me there might be another somewhere).
Whine: I feel terrible about my earlier uber-rant. I'm sorry pixies. I really didn't mean to sound all in-you-face righteous, but that's how it came across. I just feel sad and helpless like everyone else, but you of all people don't deserve my soap box. I'm really sorry.
For what it's worth: I had a paper cut that I'm sure was sent from the seventh circle of H E Double Hockey Sticks today.
Eh, Sue, don't worry about it. Seems to be the week for soapboxes.
Paper cuts are a sure contender for Old Skool.
Jeni, I'm not sure what to offer either. The second job sounds like manna from heaven except for the location. (Nothing against Canada, you Canadian pixies). Hmm. Two interviews is quite exciting, though. Get well soons to your back.
WW seems like a place that is safe to rant. Without crazy commenting threads that end with Nazis.
Jeni - Maybe a nice third location (warm weather and vacation) will pop up. Good luck wrestling out the right decision.
whine: my husband is away on business all week. The kids are overtired form our fun weekend and now miss him immensely. It's going to be a rough week.
Jeni! two! interviews! I'm going with the good news part of it, for now. Go team go!
Eh, Sue. I have a lot more to say about gun insanity. We have to talk about the hard stuff, and have to be able to do it in civil terms, even if there are points on which we disagree.
W: my mailbox place is closing. That's where my work and other mail has gone for almost 10 years. I feel abandoned.
W: now Mini has a runny nose and, as of 11:00 pm, a 102 temp. Hmm. Motrin, rocking chair, nice cool cotton sheets. She's back in bed, hopefully to sleep now.
AW: Sweet's cough seems better. We were up twice in the night with her friend the nebulizer last night.
Jeni, I meant to add a bit of geographical perspective re: the second job. Two hours north of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) is actually not bad in terms of distance. A short drive will put you right in the middle of lots of great cultural activities and fun places for children.
Where I live, it's a good 23-25 hours by car or bus due West of Toronto. Now *that* is the middle of nowhere (with three super cheap flights to Toronto daily, thank the heavens!). Ya. It's a big country and we tend to measure distances by time. We're an odd bunch, eh?
Another advantage of that part of the country is that the weather isn't nearly as harsh in the winter as the deep freeze we see here.
*This whine was not sponsored by the GTA, however Tim Horton's coffee asked me to mention their fine, fine java. Kidding.
Also, sending good kiddie vibes for sarah and esperanza.
That would be me.
I live in Wisconsin, and miss Tim Hortons dearly... so I would put that in the pro column for the Toronto job :-)
AW: Baby! Due in Sept, c-section in August most likely.
W: Summer baby means all my maternity clothes and newborn clothes are the opposite season from what I need. Not that my maternity pants fit anyway.
AW: C-section will be scheduled, not emergency this time
W: Speaking of clothes... apparently stores and manufacturers have a deep hatred for non-skinny pregnant people.
WOOT!!
Mazel tov!
re: Maternity clothes. Take what you've got to the nearest consignment shop, and trade for the other season.
Congrats JenR! Sorry I can't add to your maternity clothes stash - I was so happy to get them out of the house after we were done. Good luck shopping - it isn't nearly as fun as the baby clothes shopping.
That's such happy news!! You've made my day!
Yay JenR!!!!!!! Congrats! I like the consignment shop idea too.
ooooh, baby! congratulations, JenR!
bleah about the maternity clothes. my problem was finding clothes suitable for work, something that wouldn't make me look like a mutant cross between an easter egg and a tent, so i ended up sewing a few dresses. that was so long ago, though -- no wonders of the internet then!
fortuntately, layers are always correct for bambinos. those onesies will be fine under some heavier garments.
It's been a long long time since my pregnancies, but I remember wondering why clothing manufacturers thought that all pregnant women wanted to wear plaid.
sending sarah good wishes for the long week of solo-parenting the hyped-up kidlets! and esperanza some wellness vibes for the baboos.
jeni -- i'm so astonished that you, a purveyor of health care, could be offered a job that doesn't include health care. isn't that weird? especially since your current job seems to be wrecking your back [not to mention the sleep] with some frequency?
seems to me that canada is miles ahead on health coverage. speaking of soapboxes....
Hooray JenR! Congratulations! And good luck with the maternity clothes. Blech, shopping.
School nurse called. I went and got MM who was complaining of a bad headache.
When we got home, he went straight upstairs and fell into bed. I gave him some Ibuprofen.
1 hour later, "I feel much better!"
Me: "Get your butt back in bed!"
Now he's doing his homework in bed.
liz, that's an old skool contender, for sure.
Yay JenR!!!! That's good news!
Get well wishes to MM and Jeni's back and Sue's head, and Baboos (and anyone else who needs it).
And, hearty agreement with Kathy a. and Sue on the gun craziness.
Whine: Daughter home with strep today (strep again!!)
Antiwhine/whine: Husband home sick today too, so he could be home with Neighbor Girl and I could go to work.
Antiwhine/Whine: Tomorrow we're supposed to get pounded with snow, likely a snow day, so I won't have to take a vacation/sick day to be home with Neighbor Girl while Neighbor Guy goes back to work, assuming he's better.
Antiwhine: things are getting canceled already, and our schedule is slowing down nicely for tomorrow
--Neighbor Lady
strep and snow, what a combo, NL. oy!
Oh no, NL, strep. Not fun at all.
Antiwhine in amendment to my previous whine - my parents live with me. Being solo with the 3 kids - I am not up to that world of pain.
Whine: pretty sure I have PMS. Or else I am just grumpy and have blown everything out of proportion all day with no hormonal cause.
Didn't have time to read the whole thread, and I don't know much about firearms, but I did want to point out that there are reasons other than wanting to commit mass murder to want or need a semiautomatic gun.
On another note, I finally heard back from the OT recommended by my daughter's therapist, and she said that it sounds like she's an excellent candidate for OT. OT is also very expensive . . . we'll see how much will be covered by insurance. It's also yet another weekly activity to add to our already overstuffed weeks. I'm so tired of constantly being on the go. Sigh.
We had our second appointment with the marriage counselor today. I still like him, and I think it went well. But it is a little odd when the marriage counselor is visibly impressed by your communication and general demeanor toward each other in the marriage. Yes, we like each other in general. But we still have some stuff we need to work through. Just saying. Not that it's bad that the marriage counselor is impressed with us, but it just feels a little surreal.
pk, do I ever hear you on the additional activities, good and helpful though they may be, the overstuffed weeks, and always on the go. Whew. I hope the insurance company is uber-helpful.
PK, best of luck with the OT.
(((PK)))
((((FB))))
I'll second the Oh No for the double whammy of strep and snow. Bleh.
W: Came home from work at 4:30, slept until dinner at 6:00, was back in bed with ice until 10:00, bath and now I'm exhausted and sore. Fireplacing headache. Anyone want a badly used up brain? Free to tough as nails person who can kick migraine a*s better than I can.
AW: Son had a wonderful time in NYC last week.
W: He managed to wear every piece of clothing he owns, plus some new things that he bought. He must change his clothes four times a day. I do his laundry. My own doing - I offer - but seriously, he gets more clothes dirty in a week than I could possibly manage in three.
AW: His response. "Mom, sometimes I just don't feel fabulous enough in one outfit, so I need another."
uh-huh. Bring on the laundry soap!
Wow, Sue. My hubby changes clothes like that, but he does his own laundry. Yes, really.
Why am I up? Because Mini is up again. No fever this time (I did a pre-emptive Motrin dose before bed, with only a 99* temp). Stuffy nose. She is now in bed with her beloved giraffe and a bear that giggles when you push its foot. I hope she doesn't roll over on it and wake up. How can an almost year-old baby have so many demands?
*whisper* I think she's finally back asleep. Sweet is sleeping soundly without coughing. Mr. E can take care of himself.
There's a reason I'm not a nurse. I suck at it. Get well already, people.
sue -- oh no no no no. son needs, i mean NEEDS, to do his own laundry. xoxox
Sue - you are very sweet. I should admit my mom does nearly all of the laundry at our shared house. I do know how to do laundry and took care of my own for 10+ years. :)
Esperanza - so get you. Hope the kids get better. My daughter (9) woke up with a fever in the night. Then my 6 year old son climbed into bed with me in the night because he was "scared." (this is sadly common around here). I just want to sleep at night. And I have no nursing skillz.
I think the morning sickness I skipped in my first pregnancy has decided to join the party this time around in the form off all-day sickness.
Gah. I even previewed that comment and still missed it - "off" s/b "of"
Ugh, JenR. I'd offer something reassuring, but it doesn't really make you feel any better. Wishing you an odorless world, nonmoving vehicles, and much sympathy. Yuck.
No worries re: Laundry. I really don't mind. He's only going to live in town for a few more months and he has no washer/dryer facilities in his present apartment, so that would mean the laundromat. Not such a bad thing, I know, but I find fluffing and folding quite relaxing.
The whine was more about the absurdity of the volume. I don't think I even own that many shirts. Whatevs...
AW: Slept well last night despite sleeping all evening. Feeling moderately human this morning.
saltines to jenr, stat!
sue, maybe you just needed that extra sleep. glad you're feeling better.
Double stat with the saltines. And maybe some ginger ale!
Yay! A baby!
Chicken soup for the sickies, and hugs and margaritas for those who desire.
JenR - sugar. Sucking candy and the like or nausene (sp?) which is essentially a not very sweet candy that you can buy to relieve nausea.
Hang in there!
JenR - Ginger Chews
W: I put up a post about the importance of proofreading. Followed by a post on something else, replete with errors.
W: Which I got justly dinged on
AW: By a person who, in his very next post, made a similar error, only worse.
Pixies, I had to skim the whines this week because I've had a never-ending eye strain headache. In a nutshell, Liz, that is funny about the errors. I second the Ginger Chews suggestion (even Mythbusters showed they give some relief!), and I add on Seabands. I don't know if Seabands are mostly placebo, but when I was ill, I didn't care about placebo. I just wanted the morning/all day sickness to Go Away. Only trouble with those is if you have chunky wrists, which I did with Tater. They didn't sit as well on the pressure point as when I was pregnant with the tot.
Whine: eye strain headache will last approximately a month, as it is caused by an extremely out of whack thyroid problem right now. In short, I'm very, very, very hypothyroid, and my eyes have sunken, so there is nothing to do but wait for the higher dosage meds to kick in and my eyes to shift forward. Well, that and cool compresses and resting my eyes whenever I can.
W: I have all my standard, classic hypothyroid symptoms, but I somehow overlooked them and/or rationalized them all away over the last few months, allowing it to get so bad. Sucky.
AW: now that I know why I feel like garbage, I can let go of the guilt I was feeling about how much caffeine it was taking for me simply to function, and I can give myself permission to take care of myself. As such, yesterday I took a nap and today I am drinking coffee guilt-free. Huzzah! In fact, I've made extra, and I'm happy to share. :)
Gotta go. I have to write some assignment stuff for my class tonight before my eyes poop out. Love you all, Pixies! Hugs to those in need!
((Amy)) I hope the new meds kick in quickly.
(((amy))) I hope the meds do their work very soon. In the meantime, I'm glad you can enjoy the guilt-free java!!!
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