We now have the house back to ourselves, which is mostly an antiwhine. Except where are those people who were cooking dinner and unloading the dishwasher and entertaining the children? Harumph.
Strange Thing, Whine Division: Mini and Sweet were fighting over a book today. Fighting is not the strange thing; it happens frequently. I should be pleased they both wanted the book, right? Anyway, Sweet won the tug-of-war and immediately raised the book over her head like a trophy. Not coincidentally, Mini cannot reach over Sweet's head. She could reach Sweet's triceps area, and BIT her there. Ugh. Mini got shut in her crib and screamed her head off. Sweet got cuddled and a little talking-to about sharing.
Strange Thing, Antiwhine Division: Sweet just started "swimming school" tonight (we're calling it that instead of "lessons," because she *loves* school of any sort. I was talking it up all day, but not expecting much positive to happen on the first day. Was I surprised. She put her face in the water and made chipmunk cheeks (to hold her breath) and *jumped* off the edge of the pool, multiple times (she really can't jump, but the effort was there), and kicked her legs and moved her arms and generally rocked the lesson. We were both on cloud nine. (I was in the water with her, as it was a Mommy & Me class. Small whine on behalf of Mini, who was not amused that she had to stay home.
What Strange Things are going on in your world, pixies?
45 comments:
mini's got some spunk, as a younger sib -- although obviously, biting is a Totally Unacceptable way to express it. best to nip that method in the bud, so to speak.
go, sweet! -- swimming is really wonderful, and petite children are not disadvantaged at all. great, confidence-building start!
daughter and i went to the family picnic. our train was delayed 3.5 hours, but it was still great -- got to see lots of relatives, some we hadn't seen in a long time, and some we had never met! plus the sibs, the first cousins, etc.
generations are strange things. i'm the oldest of mine; some extended cousins of my generation [who weren't at the picnic] are still teenagers.
my nephew [age 15] reached his crankypants stage when we made him and my daughter [22] pose for a group photo of the third generation. there were 8 kids under age 10, and he thought it unseemly to be photographed with them. later, he complained about having to assemble his own fajitas at dinner. shockingly, nobody took his side in either situation. ;)
In our family, I am a granddaughter, and a cousin (of some sort) who is exactly the same age, is a great-granddaughter of the same generation. What I'm trying to say is that her great-grandmother and my grandmother are sisters. Weird. And no one over the age of 3 should whine about self-assembling a fajita.
Mini is definitely spunky. We just need to channel it.
As the youngest of four girls, I have to admit, I laughed re: Mini. Spunk is a highly necessary quality when one is the youngest. However, biting is, of course totally not the way to Work The Spunk (sounds like a band name).
Yay Sweet!!!!
Kathy - I'm glad the family gathering was so good despite the train glitch.
W: Hubby and I spent Saturday night in the ER, fearing a blood clot in his right arm. It was all purple and swollen and VERY painful. Turns out it is most likely a very badly torn rotator cuff, and the torn muscles and ligaments are constricting blood flow. Ick. Poor guy, he's in some wicked bad pain. Waiting on an MRI and then probably surgery - we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
AW: Our son is the very first Drag Queen of our City's very first Pride Week. It's entirely wrong that he looked better than I do most days. Just sayin...
AW: I woke up with a Really Good Idea of the type that requires capital letters.
oy, sue! sending good thoughts to your beloved and you. xoxo
love your son's drag queen honor, and your celebration of it!
esperanza, my nephew is smart, accomplished, usually a sweet kid -- but his fajita whine was hilariously misguided. he couched it as "when i pay for a meal, i do not expect to have to put it together myself." the eyes of everyone else -- his nearest and dearest -- rolled mightily. i mean, it's fajitas, what did he expect? his cousin pointed out that he wasn't paying for the meal, either.
Whine of Almost Zero Significance: Hubby was doing really well in his golf pool, and then his best picks started royally screwing up every tournament.
Hey! Loser golfers! "I" could do better than that. Get with the program boyz. Sheesh.
Things are generally going well here, Pixies. We made a school choice and they had openings in our grades (it's the free option, with public school 2 days a week and doing assignments at home the other 3), no other bunnies have gotten sick, and we're settling into a summer routine.
Piddly little whine. DH mentioned to me this morning that he's been keeping track of his perception of my energy levels, with 1 being a full-scale flare and 5 being, in his words, "almost normal levels of energy."
I noticed that all the days he ranked 4 and 5 this week were days where my total number of hours out of bed in a 24-hour period were 6 or less. But, yes, the days when I spent 18 or more hours resting (primarily weekend days when DH took the kids and let me sleep most of the day, and then got home just as I got out of bed in the early evening) probably were the days in which I was more functional and cheerful during the time I was actually up. So from his perspective those were my good days. I guess maybe they were. But that's rather discouraging.
Yay for Sweet! I loved those Mommy and Me classes.
Love when family events go well! And Pride Weeks too.
PK - glad to hear you've settled on a school. I hope it works out well for your family.
AW: Sent DH and the boy off to "the hunting camp"(no hunting or weapons involved, so why they can't call it "camping" is beyond me) for the weekend for some Guy Time with the extended fam and they came back with a cooler of fresh fish and many exciting tales of campfires and exploring.
W: The girls now desperately want individual camping weekends with Daddy.
Painful reminder that I need to get back in the habit of exercising regularly: I'm a bit stiff and sore this afternoon from... playing Wii video games with the kids last night. Looks like I'll be walking to school for pick-up time.
Yesterday: High point of the day was cleaning the fridge.
Today: High point of the day - buying a new shower curtain....half-price!!!!
I can't decide if this is sad, or just a sign that I could really use a vacation.
PK, not sure what DH hoped to gain out of that exercise -- you've got some tools to assess more directly -- but maybe the take-away lesson for him is that you only get close to normal when you spend a LOT of time resting, and someone else is doing the heavy lifting. he's not weighing the down time in the "good day" calculus.
days -- camping with daddy sounds like a good thing!
sue, i think our high point will be when my beloved gets home and we eat pizza. it was not that fun fetching the pizza from this chi chi place he suggested in a crowded little upscale area, which took 45 minutes altogether, although i did avoid hitting 48 million pedestrians enjoying their marketing and evening walks.
Sue, I'm a bit concerned that *you* had a great idea first thing in the morning. You're not turning into a morning person on us, are you? Hoping hubby can heal quickly.
p_k, I can certainly see the good news/bad news in hubby's scientifice research. Staying in bed 18 hours a day is not so feasible, huh?
Spot the whine(s) in this sentence: It's hot enough outside that the car seat pad dries quickly.
AW: Day 2 of swimming school went even better!
No worries Esperanza. The reason I mentioned it is that it is so rare. I barely think prior to 10:00. Today was an astounding exception.
Anti-whine: bagpiper and parade past my office window.
No. Really. :)
Whine: 2:00 meeting scheduled for here at my office. Present time 2:08. I get to go home after this meeting is over.
Late people make me sleepy.
A dear friend of mine had her baby this morning. A girl. Seven weeks early. There is no news, other than her name and weight, but the three pictures they posted to FB look okay so far. I have my fingers crossed. I hope it's enough.
Oh Amy, I hope the little girl is okay.
amy, fingers crossed!! photos on facebook seems a good sign. also on the hopeful side, preemies today do much better than in decades past.
go sweet go!
sue for old skool -- people late to meetings.
W: trying to provide professional assistance to someone who doesn't see pitfalls, and trusts his gut. his gut tends toward a dismissive "that won't work" instead of, ya know, trying to work up the problem and see what happens.
AW/W: last night's designer pizza was OK, but i don't recommend wads of chopped kale on a pizza, even if the crust is divine.
AW: perfect weather
AW: nice week with daughter home visiting.
My sister has been researching trying to figure out why such a huge percentage of my family have chronic health issues, and sent me this link:
www.reumatologia-dr-bravo.cl/...ntosuspect.htm
Honestly, my first thought was, "That's just silly. Almost all of that stuff is normal."
Isn't it???
Can all you pixies do that stuff with your hands, etc? I thought everyone could; or at least a large percentage of people.
Oops, sorry, I messed up the link. You have to add the http://www. part to this, as I didn't want to post a live link: reumatologia-dr-bravo.cl/whentosuspect/Whentosuspect.htm
Kathy A, my DH has a niece who is older than he is. It was a common thing in the not-too-distant past, and still not that unusual in large families. I did LOL at your nephew.
Sue, how is your hubby today?
Amy, sending thoughts for the baby and her family. FB pictures do sound like a good sign.
And thanks for all the thoughts on DH's project . . . I must admit I found it a bit annoying that he was ranking how I feel without actually asking me, since some days I work harder at not complaining or at pushing through symptoms than others, and he was weighting it heavily based on things like whether I used the word "crash" that day, went to bed in the middle of the day, etc. Grrr.
Amy, preemies (and their parents) always get good thoughts and crossed fingers and prayers from me. Hope things turn out well.
p_k, I checked out the link, and I can't do hardly any of those things (resting head on hand maybe). I think my hands are unusually stiff, though. Hmm.
PK, thanks for asking......hubby is still in some pain but trying really hard not to use the arm and that helps a bit. Once we get the MRI done we will know more.....
P_K, I've got most of those hypermobility signs, and as I was reading, I also thought, "Well, *yeah*" and then I remembered that I'm the oddball, LOL. I have or have had the frequent sprains, the growing pains, the cracking, the "double-jointedness", the scarring and "dirty elbows", and hernia. My daughter inherited most of that stuff, plus the blue sclera from her dad's side. At this point, I wonder why we *don't* have CFS or Fibro in our family...
News on le bebe -- there is not much of it. I know she was helicoptered to the nearest children's hospital for what the mom called "prenatal lung care", but that's all the story we have so far. Having had a baby in the NICU, I can interpret some things from the dozen pictures on FB, and a few are good. Baby does not have a feeding tube (yet). Baby's head is round, meaning born by C-section, which the docs wanted because of my friend's Chron's disease. So, they made it to the hospital. That's an important something. The baby is not terribly chubby, but she does not appear emaciated (like the tot was when she was born).
I don't know. I could ramble about this much longer. My husband and I are having flashbacks, and it sucks. And to add insult to injury, this isn't even the only preemie I heard about yesterday. A friend of mine's nephew was born on Tuesday at 29 weeks (1.5 pounds), and that same friend reported yesterday that her friend's water broke in the morning -- twins at 33 weeks. I know many women who are pregnant right now. I would like them to stop having their babies prematurely -- for everyone's general well-being and my personal sanity.
(((((Amy)))))
Whine: I gave it my best shot. Really I did. My accumulated overtime hours are over 50 hours. Given that my covenant ( contract) says that I should be getting time and a half for OT......that's a metric butt load of days off.
All I wanted was ONE. Today.
Last week I buried two people and put in Hours of time at Pride week. It looked like today was a quiet day, so I told admin assistant I would be off today.
Well, that lasted until 9:30. Phone call. Not. Fireplacing. Important. Could have waited until next Thursday, or some Thursday in March.
I put on my smiley face (because of you actually smile, your voice sounds smiley) and a half hour later was freed.
Yes. I'm blessed to have a job. I know. But right now, my standard one day a week that I have off (Monday) just isn't cutting it. I'm exhausted. My head hurts most days but mostly not more than 5/10, which is good.
Sorry - major whine, but dammit, ONE day people. That's too much to ask? Seriously?
((( amy ))) so sorry for all the scary memories this is bringing back, and trying to piece together how things are from small hints.
my baby sister was a preemie in 1965 [2.5 lbs.], when such small babies were not expected to live -- but she did, and i have a special affection for preemies. tomorrow, i'm going to a 1st birthday party for my friends' preemie twins. keeping fingers crossed for all the tiny ones and their loved ones. xoxoxo
sue, it sounds like you need to screen calls when you are off duty. and if you pick up, once you hear the non-emergency nature of the call, i think it's fine to say, "thanks, we need to discuss this, but this is a bad time for me. can i call you back [date/time]?"
you don't need to explain why it's a bad time. people most likely call at home because [a] they trust you, and [b] they don't think of their whatever as being an intrusion. the trust is good. rescheduling shows your respect for them -- and the "this is a bad time" part might make them think twice before the next call at home.
Kathy- we have that system pretty much perfected for regular phone calls.
This fellow was buzzing the condo from the lobby! He had come to my house to get the key to the church (admin assistant is not in on Thursdays). When visitors hit the call button in the lobby, the phone rings......which is why I described it that way.
So, he came back half an hour later to return the key, pretty much destroying my hopes for a work-free day. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal.
Some days I wish I was invisible. Today just happens to be one of them.
Oh, Sue, I know. "Day off" seems an unattainable goal most days.
Amy, much love to your preemie friends and you. I know the flashbacks, too. There's one doctor's office we go to that uses the same soap as they had in the NICU. Instantly, I'm back there, washing my hands for the 5000th time, wondering how she would be doing today. I guess that never goes away.
Oh, Awards Ceremony will be late. It ain't happening today. The Baboos and I go on to an overnight meeting out of town (3 hrs away) tomorrow. Back on Saturday, when I'll be trying to write a sermon and prepare for supper guests on Sunday.
A day off is sounding mighty good.
ack! i like people, really, but someone dropping by the house unannounced is much worse than a phone call. since the kids don't live here anymore, and i work mostly at home, i'm likely to still be in jammies at 9:30 a.m. unless i have other plans.
so, my cluestick is ready, to reinforce the lighthearted message that HE MUST PLEASE CALL BEFORE DROPPING BY.
Sue - a day off isn't too much to ask. Hard to enforce, I think...even if it is contractual and all that good stuff.
PK- looked at your list. So not me, but now I am wondering about my oldest daughter. She has a few more of the list than I would like. (And the arthritis on my husband's side to boot)
Amy - thinking of your friend. And now all of you dear Pixies for the traumatic NICU flashbacks. Hugs to you all.
So grateful that the psychiatrist upped my daughter's dosage of anti-anxiety meds. I didn't even have to beg, just explain the flare in symptoms. I love being treated like a grown-up and a caring mother.
You may remember my BiL of [redacted] fame? He called yesterday to say he was in the state for the next couple of weeks and when would be a good time to come visit? We replied, any time AFTER Sunday. So when are he and niece coming? Yep. Tomorrow. Jerk. The only AW is that I think we're rescheduling the supper guests, so that is off my plate.
Oh my esperanza. Busy week for the Cluestick Posse for sure.
I'm on way out to our annual "father's day visit" with my two local sisters (there's another one who lives away). I bought the card, sister #1 bought the shrubbery for a gift. *add lighthearted Monty Python moment here*
When I looked at the card to sign our names on it, I thought it sounded kind of....cold. Well, not so much cold as lacking in warm fuzzy. I remember when I bought it that I picked up about ten gazillion before I found one that didn't turn my dad (whom I really do love - he did the best he could) into some kind of superhero.
Hallmark does not make a card for our family. Just sayin...
AW: i got the swimsuit that liz suggested, and it might just get me back in the water.
sue, hallmark doesn't make cards for my family, either.
esperanza, many hugs. at least he called, but what part of "after sunday" did he not hear? as host, you can't call the posse on this, but i can. ;)
yay, sarah, for a perceptive doc!
Oh Sarah, a good psychiatrist is a gem. I'm so glad you've found one!
Yay Liz, now also The Bathing Suit Queen!!!! Yay kathy a for finding the perfect suit!
Well, that annual father's day thingy could have been a whole lot better. The good news - it's over. It would have been fine except that he decided after my mother died that he had already been married to an amazing, intelligent, funny woman - so he did a 180 and married a complete B-word.
I can't believe the disrespect she shows him and the horrible way she treats him. He SO doesn't deserve that. He's a good man and all she can do is find fault in him and chew him out in front of his daughters.
A half hour with that woman should put me in the line-up for future sainthood.
Seriously.
((( sue ))) that sounds very unhappy. we can't choose the person our loved one loves, but that doesnt' mean we have to think it was a good choice.
W/AW: someone scheduled a "catchup" meeting that would take 3.5 hours including commute -- you know an in-person meeting will expand to fill the available slot of time, even if it only needs a little time -- and it will mainly be going down a checklist of things. mostly they are things i still need to do. i bailed and will join by telephone. i think she's trying to let her summer intern feel involved, which is noble but doesn't help me much. grouch grouch grouch.
Ouch. 3.5 hours on a Friday is rough kathy. Especially if it's not for a very productive face to face meeting. I think you're wise to do the phone-in.
it turned out to be productive, and i was ever so much happier to call in for one hour than be trotting around for 3+. i'm grateful that there are some people helping, just cranky about scheduling w/o consulting me first, since there are some other things going on that need attention.
all i wanted to do was make a sandwich, and mayo from the squeeze jar exploded all over my shirt.
Kathy a for Old Skool.....
Hi all... sorry to be late and nearly absent this week. Work was miserable, my pregnancy swelling has started (had to buy a fake wedding ring since I could barely get the real one off the other day), and some brilliant person at the maternity clothes place decided it would be a good idea to put itchy tags in the undergarments. Hope you're all having a good weekend.
Hey JenR! Sorry about the swelling. Not so swell. And boo to itchy tags. Another vote for Old Skool for sure.
oy, jenr! cluesticks to the tag people!
To deal with the itchy tag problem, we turn the underwear inside out. :)
Thanks for the thoughts& feedback, pixies. I probably have at least 16 of the listed symptoms/indications on that page, so it will be interesting to see what the geneticist thinks of my sister this coming week.
Oh, and a W/AW: We think we pinpointed the cause of AJ's bunny's death to ingesting masking tape that was part of a bunny toy she purchased for him. She feels awful, and so does the person who was making the bunny toys and selling them, but who would have expected it would kill the poor little guy?
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