Well, we made it through the night. E and I are having a recurrence of the stomach virus that hit us a few days ago, triggered by my getting too lax with the gentle food diet, and by going out a bunch on a hot day. Mr. Q is camping, several hours away, with spotty cell coverage, with a group of grade 11 science students, and isn't going to be back until tomorrow night.
E last threw up at midnight, and I still haven't, but my stomach is still sore and angry today. There's a pile of disgusting laundry in my hallway, which I need to clean up immediately, but I'm not sure how to do it when I'm this sick. I'm hoping that my mom and come and help for a while today (I also checked with my in-laws, but they have urgent work today). E screamed at me a lot this morning, when I told her that she can't have any dairy today. (Dairy triggered all of this for her yesterday. Too much too soon.) I confess that I only got her to back down and have food and drinks within the BRAT diet by both sobbing and by threatening to dump out the rest of our milk, since she was trying to take it out of the fridge by herself. I now have her in front of the TV with toast, a banana, and some diluted juice, and I'm making some applesauce on the stovetop.
*Breathes* Okay. Mr. Q called and I whined at him a bunch, and E talked on the phone with him, and promised that she'd eat gentle food, and I'm a little more relaxed. I ignored the applesauce for too long and accidentally scorched it a bit, but I added some brown sugar, and I'll call it "caramel applesauce" and pretend it was on purpose.
Okay. Let's do this thing. How are you all doing?
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Oh right! Today's Memorial Day! I was just thinking that it was quiet today.
Sorry about the radio silence! And hope all the barfies settle the heck down already.
We have beautiful weather today! And, tonight we'll have ribs (pre-cooking on low in the crock pot), fresh corn, fresh bread, salad. The canine contingent is out for a hike. All good there!
Daughter's summer classes start tomorrow!
Building a basket for my son's BD and their anniversary, a few items at a time!
Feeling a little overloaded with the support group for my SIL's odd dementia right now, because holy cow, there is so much traffic, so many newbies have popped up, and etc. Mostly good, but too much of it.
This morning, though, I discovered that a relative known for late-night really nasty emails has taken it to a new level, with just an awful midnight blast on a friend's book of faces page -- one of my dearest college friends, in fact. The blast was all about how everybody and especially her family did her wrong. It was not responsive to the original post by my old friend. That'll shake a person up, all right.
My dear friend took that down, bless her. And I remembered something another dear friend said: "Don't let the toxic people have free rent in your brain." Anyway, there are things I do not understand, and probably never will. But my BP's OK, and we're gonna have a nice dinner.
I'm sorry that your toxic relative has been spreading toxicity online. Is there a way to block that person without drama? Are they seeing the friend's book of faces page through you, or are they FB friends?
AW: my MIL came to spend the afternoon and give me a break. She also brought the entire grocery store's worth of gentle food. I'm sipping ginger ale, eating crackers, and listening to her read E a story. E is tired, but her tummy is okay for now. She's already had a bath and is in tonight's jammies, and so I'll give her an early, easy supper (apple sauce and toast, mostly), and put her to bed early. Since this bug seems to only be operational at night, I'll have towels surrounding her bed, the plastic cover on the mattress, minimal (and washable) stuffed friends, towel around the pillow under the case, and a pile of clean bedding, towels, and jammies on the toy box. Mr. Q will be home in 24 hours. We can do this.
They are FB friends. My old friend is FB friends with 6 more of my best college friends. This sib is mutual FB friends with a good many family members, not to mention a bunch of old family friends. Everybody could have seen this, and probably some did before it was taken down.
Sure, I could block this sib, but what would that do? If she's going to post this stuff to the universe in the middle of the night, not sure it helps me to never know I'm being publicly trashed, and broadly.
I do not think it is possible to talk this out with someone so self-absorbed; who goes on binges of trashing people in the night, after getting good and worked up about how everybody's wronged her. I had hoped we were in a better place recently, but this is only the most public recent glitch. SIGH.
((kathy a))
((QWP and E)) Taking care of a sick kid is bad enough, but taking care of a sick kid while sick yourself is the pits. I'm glad your MIL could come and help.
W: Sweet is sick, too. She started complaining of tummy upset shortly after lunch, but nothing happened. Continued to say she didn't feel good. Mini brought me the thermometer, at which point I rolled my eyes, but lo and behold, she was running a little fever. That has continued, and she now says her throat "has a thorn." In the absence of other symptoms, I'm suspecting strep throat.
AW: Before she felt sick, she had a hilarious line at lunch that made me LOL at length: She was eating a corn dog for lunch. It was resting in her plate when she spilled her glass of water in the plate. She said, "Oh no! Now it's a sog-dog!"
Sog dog! What a clever kid! And oh, those poor sick little ones, and poor esperanza, dealing with the sick kids.
So many hugs, Kathy. It doesn't sound like this sib is a well person, and I'm sorry that you're so frequently caught in the crossfire.
Oh wait. I see I was unclear. It's only Sweet that is sick (as of now).
And "clever" is just what I said, QWP. Sweet has struggled with rhyming and speech and so much to do with language, and yet she came up with that line instantaneously.
Mini brought you the thermometer to check Sweet's temperature? What lovely sisters they are. And it's extra wonderful that Sweet's word play shows some excellent progress in her language development.
AW: my MIL stayed around until E fell asleep, even though the kid fought sleep for far longer than usual. Now that E is asleep, I think I'm going to bed early.
I'm calling "sog dog" for Style! Because, that's excellent.
So good you had backup with E's malady, QWP.
That sib sent a friendly political-ish email to me today. And, wtf. I can't even.
But... An old college friend got in touch, and we've been catching up some! My beloved grilled a holiday dinner that couldn't be beat! Apparently, I am still the alpha dog around here -- or will be, once I get the dog to come back inside. The boyz are apparently having a tiff.
With the swings that involve lashing out online late at night...substance abuse? I've seen those patterns in loved ones, and they've involved substance abuse and/or untreated mental illness. Hugs, Kathy.
Is Clyde not talking to Dog Man because he was away for so long? My cousin and I joked that this behaviour is common in both dogs and toddlers.
Yes, about this sib; that is a likely reason.
I think the canine dysfunction involved someone trying to get something off of fur. Plus, it's been a nice night out, and is only now dark. And who knows? I just lost a chunk of the last half hour to trying to entice the dog to come inside, and now I'm really really tired.
Sweet is much perkier this morning (after sleeping for 13 hours, I would think so!), but still running a low grade fever (likely to rise, if her usual pattern holds), and still a sore throat. I will not bore you with the recitation of parental schedule juggling that has ensued, but will just say I'm grateful that Mr. E and I have jobs which allow us to be flexible.
Yes, flexibility helps a lot with the dance of parental responsibilities!
It is excellent that you both have the flexibility to manage days like this, esperanza.
AW: we got through the night without vomit! Mr. Q will be home before supper today! We did it!
He's coming home to a mountain of clean-but-not-folded laundry in our bedroom, and a house that's desperately in need of a disinfecting, and I'm going to tell him that I handled the hard part, and he can do the rest.
Verdict: um. We don't know. Quick strep test was negative, but they are notoriously unreliable, especially when negative. So we will wait for the culture (3 days). Could be strep, could be viral. She's feeling a bit more energetic today, but fading toward the end of the afternoon. She'll be home from school again tomorrow because she had fever up through lunchtime today.
AW: My chunky meeting was really good today, so there's that.
Hopefully it ends up being a real negative strep test, and whatever it is clears up quickly. And hugs as you face a second day of her at home.
AW: Mr. Q is home!
Having Sweet at home is easy peasy. Two introverts, doing their respective things. Convincing Mini to go to school today, however....
(((kathy))) I'm sorry you have to deal with such toxicity and horrible behaviour, but I'm glad you've been able to connect with college friends. Silver lining??
QWP and esperanza, sorry to hear about all the sick. I hope everyone is feeling better soon!
I'm back at work today after a very full weekend away at the final Big Chunky Meeting before our structural change. It went fairly well. I ended up visiting a friend from seminary whose partner was in a car accident on the way to the chunky meeting. He is in stable condition, she is sick with worry. It was good to see her again, but I wish it had been under better conditions.
W: I'm so darn exhausted. I have that kind of tired where you wonder if you're coming down with something, but I don't think it's that. I'm just done in. I ache everywhere, I'm crabby, and the pile of work on my desk is just annoying me. It's only 10 am...I do not see myself getting to 5:00 without a nap. Nope. No way.
There's no way to put up a "do not disturb" sign on your door and take a cat nap on the floor, is there? No wonder you're so tired, after that strenuous weekend (and hugs for you and your friend and partner: I'm glad he's stable, but what a scary thing to happen this weekend).
W: even though Mr. Q is home, E only wants Mama at night time, and woke up twice (once because she was scared she was going to have a nightmare, and once because she actually did have a nightmare that freaked her out a lot). That stomach virus has thrown off our nights so badly. I'm so exhausted.
Oh, Sue! I'm so sorry about your friend's husband's accident, but glad you were able to see her in her time of distress. Sounds like a good chunky meeting, but yeah -- who wouldn't be tired to the bone?
QWP, hoping for a more peaceable kingdom tonight, and that Mr. Q can keep E busy while you catch up some on rest.
Yes, I'm so happy to be back in touch with one college friend. And, ever grateful for the long and dear friendship with the other, whose book of visages page was the scene of the crime. We had a good long set of chats! Oh, I love to hear her voice.
There's this local gift / toy / card store run by a wonderful family, which also owns the coffee / sandwich place next door. And, there were things I needed for upcoming festivities, but I totally fell for the book of visages post about The Cutest Kitten, At the Store Now! There is absolutely nothing like a purrfest of a cat sitting on one's shoulder, while browsing this wonderful shop, with her sweet friendly protector dog tagging along for the occasional scritch. I might need to go back. Best therapy ever.
So nice that you had a good chat with your friend, Kathy!
W: this week's stomach bug, which has basically gone away, has broken sleep in this household. E keeps frantically trying not to go to sleep (because all vomiting has happened in the middle of the night, and because she keeps having nightmares), and waking up multiple times a night. She desperately wants us to stay with her, but also can't sleep with anyone else in the room. I'm so tired, and just want her to sleep.
Shopping with a kitten! Kathy, have had a good day.
AW: I've finally gotten that kid to sleep. It took so much work, and I had to disguise the fact that Mr. Q had to sneak away to visit someone at the hospital, but she finally got tired enough that she kicked me out of her room.
Solidarity, QWP. Sweet couldn't go to sleep for at least 1.5 hours last night. I usually sit in her room till she drifts off, and I thought she was asleep. An hour later, she emerges, sobbing, because she can't fall asleep. She was fretting about returning to school today. (Her throat is almost well; she could have gone yesterday had it not been for the 24 hours fever-free rule). Once she gets started with the fretting, it's hard to turn that train around.
Then Daisy the puppy had to fuss about being put in the crate (which happens every. single. night.--why did she have to whine about it last night?).
W: I'm fairly certain Mini is getting sick with Sweet's illness. She fell asleep on the couch after school, has a headache, and a "scratchy" throat. Sigh.
Oh dear, Mini!
W: another fraught bedtime. I'm so tired of this. It's made worse by how constipated she is, since I failed to sufficiently rehydrate her when she was throwing up. Her tummy is so sore, and then she has nightmares because of it, and then she gets stressed that the sore tummy will give her nightmares, and then goes to bed stressed...
Oh, Mini...
QWP, just keep on with the hydration -- are you using something like pedialite or Gatorade? Or, you know, whatever she will take. Don't buy into a potential nightmare tonight, unless it actually happens! (Sufficient unto one day is the difficulty thereof....)
Embarrassing whine. I've had this scalp thing going on, with crusty patches. AND, been using a medicated dermo-recommended shampoo, so it is improving, plus a tad of an Rx ointment is helping. And, it seems to be clearing up. But, some hair is dropping out, too, if it's attached to the bad spots -- like, I'm OK with the hairbrush picking up strays, but not with a concentrated nano-sector of scalp just quitting the game. This is such an incredibly vain whine.
Also, I'm turning in early, finishing the pending book, then going to start on a new book that landed today.
The difference between the Baboos, with the same illness as a control variable:
Sweet: "I have a thorn in my throat." "My throat is really red.>
Mini: moaning, groaning, moaning, groaning....all. night. long.
Irony: Mini is usually WAY more verbal than Sweet. Sweet has been known to communicate in grunts and squeaks for hours at a time.
Hugs to kathy for the frustrating scalp patches and the hair loss! Not just a vain whine at all: that's really stressful!
Passing caffeine to esperanza, since I presume the "all. night. long." Mini groaning means that you didn't get much sleep.
AW: I'm going to get excited about this every time it happens for the next while (the drought we had was so bad!), but it's RAINING! AGAIN! It's rained heavily, multiple times over the past week! I think we've now had more rain than we had all last year! (I suspect that Kathy will understand this anti-whine well.) The drought last year was so bad that, even though we had a reasonable amount of snow this summer, after it melted, the ground was STILL dry and shifting. Because the snow melt wasn't enough to replenish the parched clay soil. And so these downpours are so needed. (Did I mention that we had grass fires around the city within days of the snow melting?)
W: Constipated child continues to be constipated. Her breakfast so far has consisted of prunes, an entire mango, and juice mixed with her stool softener, and now she's camped out in the bathroom. Good thing she doesn't have school until the afternoon.
TMI AW: Success!
Sorry to hear about all the little ones who are feeling awful. :(
No nap the other day, but an evening nap, then a good sleep that night. I'm beginning to feel more life-like. We've had a ton of rain over the last 48 hours, which is good, but the low-pressure system is not so good. Ugh. Sore head. Six weeks until my appointment in the Big City.
Huge hugs to everyone dealing with sickness and dysfunctional people, ugh!
W: Still waiting on the DV report.
AW: I got a job! Part time legal assistant Basically my dream job, and everything about this law firm and job seems like a perfect fit for me.
P_k! Congratulations on your dream job! What wonderful news. (Hugs about the system being so slow that you still don't have the DV report.)
Congratulations, PK!!!!!
Sue, hope the head monster slows up. xoxo
Hooray for PK!!!
Nap has been procured for both me and Mini. Diagnosis from doctor, based mostly on Sweet's negative strep culture from Tuesday: viral tonsilitis. Her fever was 102F at the doctor's office, so they gave her a dose of Tylenol, and she's felt better since then.
Viral tonsillitis! The poor girls.
So, I think we overshot the fibre today. Kiddo pooped FOUR times this morning, and when I dropped her off at school, she was complaining about a sore bum. (She also thought she pooped herself when we got there, but I checked, and it was just gas.) Still left her at school, because I know it's not sickness, and because she has already missed so much over the past few weeks. I sure hope she doesn't have an accident at school, or spend the afternoon in pain.
PK, I'm just so glad that opportunity opened up for you! And, with a perfect job and perfect people!!!
Esperanza, I was one of those kids prone to tonsil things, and yuck, ouch. But, glad Mini's on the mend.
Big AW: Daughter's been worried about her grades from last semester, because she has a scholarship and needs to maintain grades; and, the grading system is competitive (curve), rather than rewarding mastery of material. But she did well! Her worst grade was totally acceptable; her best grade made her mama proud as heck. She is celebrating by going to love on every kitten and pup in the entire shelter who could use some love.
Well done, daughter!!
Yay, daughter!
The doctor's office Tyl3n01 has worn off by now, and the headache has returned but not the fever, so maybe she's over the worst of it.
AW: Sweet received the "Star Eagle" award today--each class awards it to two students each month. She was beaming as she got off the bus with the yard sign. And because she's getting it at the end of the year, she gets to keep the yard sign all summer.
W: Developmental ped asked teachers to fill out same form again, to see if new med is working. Result: not particularly. I'm still waiting on one form before I email him the results, but it's not encouraging. (aside: thankful that he trusts me to compile the data and give a somewhat objective analysis of things).
That last whine was about Sweet, which was not abundantly clear, though y'all probably could guess.
W: Renewing my bimonthly "reply all" whine. I have a bimonthly meeting, in which people "reply all" in order to let ONE PERSON know if they want lunch.
W: In bonus "reply all" abuse this month, we have someone correcting the minutes (her corrections consist of the spelling of her own name) in reply all, rather than a simple note to the minute-taker. Sigh. Church people.
Ack! Sadly, the reply all people come from many walks of life. I'm on a national list serve of hundreds of people, and -- yep, we very often get these little person notes meant for one person, despite frequent warnings and advanced degrees held by all. Grr.
I somehow have stronger cluestick urges when somebody notices they did a bad, and then EMAILS THE ENTIRE LIST AGAIN to apologize. Yeah, it sounds polite, but everybody on the list gets dozens of emails already, and has to triage already.
Emailing again to apologize! That is indeed a cluesticking offence.
AW: we made it to the weekend! E's bedtime was the least dramatic of the week! Now, if she could have a night free from nightmares, we might get a break from the bedtime Scared Clingies.
Congratulations p_k!!! Wonderful news!!
Hope that mini feels better soon, and congratulations to sweet!!!
Yay for your daughter, Kathya!
QWP, hope the nightmares stayed away!
Sue, hope your head feels better soon!
W: mountains and mountains of grading
AW: my sister is in town!
Love to all!
:)Neighbor Lady
pk, that's great news about your job!!! I'm so glad it's a good fit for you.
esperanza, I was speaking with someone this week who had viral tonsillitis recently. She said the only thing that helped was the ty@lenol. Ugh! Sorry about the new meds not giving the best results for Sweet, but hooray for her for the award!
Yay kathy's daughter!!! Well done!
QWP - the fibre, it's a fine balance, yes?
I will add a cluestick to the Reply all emails. Yikes.
I forgot to say: hooray for Sweet!! It's extra exciting that she gets the sign for the whole summer.
AW: E slept through the night!! She's feeling all better today! (I was worried she was still going to have a sore tummy through the night. You guys, she pooped FIVE TIMES yesterday.)
Hi, NL! Sorry about the mountain of grading -- but that means you get summer soon, right? Yay about your sister visiting.
Esperanza, hooray for Sweet!
QWP, glad things have settled down for E.
W: upstairs a/c isn't working. It's blowing air, but it's not cooling. It's not a disaster, because it's just the upstairs unit (and all our bedrooms are downstairs). Hopefully, continuing to purchase the "home warranty" is going to pay off, finally. Of course, it'll have to wait till Monday.
W: I can tell it's not working because it was 100F outside today. Already. Those are mid-July temps, not beginning of June temps.
Non-functional A.C. in that heat? How awful, esperanza! (I didn't know you have an upside down house! What a good idea, in that climate. I remember when you shared the house ad, but only noticed that there was no basement, and not that the bedrooms were downstairs.)
All that is upstairs in our floor plan is a "bonus" room, with a closet and a full bathroom. The previous owners used it as a media room. We use it as a guest bedroom/Baboo playroom/storage for things we don't otherwise know what to do with/exercise room. There are other homes in our neighborhood with bedrooms upstairs, but nobody has a basement. Too expensive to dig down into the rock, plus they would constantly flood. So it isn't a huge loss for the a/c to be out up there. There is no door, so it is warming up that end of the house a bit.
We have been on borrowed time with it, anyway. When we bought the house (2 years ago), the inspector said that the air coming out of the vents was not sufficiently cold. But it had kept up just fine until now.
Ack! That's some real heat, and at least it's just one AC unit. Hope this gets covered by warranty, and there will be a fast fix. Meanwhile, better upstairs than down, no? xoxo
W: E had a meltdown about getting out of her jammies this morning, such escalated to her biting Mr. Q. And now he's at church without E and me, and I just unplugged the TV (and took apart the gaming system and put it in the top of our closet). She's gotten so used to our afternoon preschool routine, and we've hardly gone anywhere in weeks, because of sickness, and I'm despairing about how we can't manage a single five year old, and get her out the door by mid morning.
She's now hiding in the basement, and I'm so frustrated by how this morning has gone that I'm about to start crying.
Oh, hugs to you QWP!
Please know that pretty much everyone who's ever had kids has been right where you are right now!
It's not easy!
Hope it has gotten better!
--Neighbor Lady
And now I'm feeling bad, because it turns out that, after the ridiculous week and a half she just had, she has hemorrhoids (sorry for the TMI), and was trying to stay in her pyjamas, because going to the bathroom hurts her! She's now had Tylenol, and is sitting on an ice pack, and I'm trying to convince her to try a soak in the tub with epsom salts. Witch hazel, baby wipes, more gentle fibre in her diet...what else do I need to do?
Poor E and poor QWP! And poor Mr Q too! What a terrible week. I haven't the foggiest idea of what to do about her poor bottom, but sending all the hugs to all the Qs. Maybe ibuprofen if she tolerates it, for its anti-inflammatory properties?
I'm tempted to give her ibuprofen, for exactly that reason, but am worried about it being hard on her sensitive stomach. (I've realised why the stomach virus screwed up her digestive system so badly: she caught it while she still had that powerful antibiotic in her system, which is notoriously hard on the stomach. I'm pushing a lot of probiotics, but she is just so sensitive and sore right now!)
Hm. You're probably right to be cautious about the ibuprofen.
Busy day, for me. We drove the distance up to see my SIL at her care place -- but stopped on the way to see my college friend's art show! She took up metal sculpture in mid-life, involving welding and re-used materials, and it is all rather fabulous!
They have been reducing my SIL's meds, and she was more alert, much more talkative, and steadier on her feet! Fortunately, it has not crossed the line to increased agitation and nonstop crying. On the down side, all she wanted to talk about was her first ex, how he's on his way to take her away, they're getting maaarrrrriiiieed, and he's rich so she will buy new clothes every day. It is really better she is functioning better, but I was kind of surprised by the return of Mr. Wonderful, an obsession for years. (Obsessions are part of her unusual neurological disorder).
Nice lunch out; bought some starter plants. It got so hot up in her area, 93F; but the temps drop a lot crossing the bay to our area, low 70's. My beloved is BBQing!
I have to do some substantial work this week, and would be very appreciative if someone can moderate. xoxo
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