Pixies, I think my husband and toddler were conspiring against me last night. Here's how the night went down:
10:30: Mr. Q and I went to sleep.
2am: E shouts, "Mommy! All done!" Wha? (Silence after that. Of course it took me a bit to fall back to sleep.)
3:30: E shouts "Mom! Oh no!" She goes back to sleep. I start worrying that she's going to wake up for good at 5am.
3:30-4:18: Mr. Q, still recovering from last week's cold, snores loudly, while I try to sleep, still worried that E will awake again soon.
4:18: I try to check the time and drop my Kleenex box. Mr. Q wakes up. I make him blow his nose. We both fall asleep.
5:20: Mr. Q accidentally rolls on top of me, waking me up. He heads to the couch to get the last 40 minutes of sleep, to let me get a little more sleep.
6:30: E wakes up for good.
All the caffeine, please.
How are you all, this week?
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Week three of flu/assorted illness in the Neighbor House.
This time--me. Limped through last week at work. Had fever by the time I got home from a half day Friday and hasn't gone away until....knock wood....maybe today.
You know you've been sick long enough when all you want to do is go back to school!
Both kids finally back at school at the same time for first time since March 17 or so.
Send healing vibes, please!
Pixie power!!!!
--Neighbor Lady
Oh, NL, that sounds perfectly miserable. Glad the Neighbor Kids are back at school, and I hope that gives you time to recuperate. Healing vibes in your direction!
And, QWP, Mini is a night time talker. Actually she's a 24 hour a day talker, but she does talk in her sleep. And it wakes me up. Sorry for your night of poor sleep.
Sending pixie power in NL's direction!
W: E had decided that she CANNOT SLEEP without her brown blankie. Yes, she recently slept quite happily with both her pink blankie and her NICU blankie. But she had decided that, if she doesn't have brown blankie, she's going to wake up at 5:30am in a panic. I tried SO HARD to get her to attach herself to something that washes easily.
Crafty pixies, let's have a chat about handmade baby presents. They are beautiful, and precious, and I don't want to let any of them go, and I'm so honoured to have received such beautiful things. But, pixies, babies get bodily fluids EVERYWHERE. All the bodily fluids. Constantly. And so, I ask you, to ask yourselves, when considering giving a handmade present: will this come in frequent contact with a baby? Will it fall apart, as the result of frequent washings? Does it look like the sort of thing a child could attach herself to, and will it require more than 24 hours to dry?
AW: E has very beautiful things, from people who love her very much, and I'd rather that things like blankies get loved well.
My condolences, QWP, on the lack of sleep and on the trauma of a Very Special Present. It might be too late, but any chance Brown Blanket could take a very special place on the wall, so she can always see it? (Or else, you might think of disappearing it and living with the consequences for a while -- because not very washable is a real problem.)
NL -- oy, my dear! Hope you are feeling better. Hate it when the seriel sickness happens.
Whiney W: I've got some lung problems that have been worse lately due to allergies, and also I realized that doing the cat boxes is BAD. So my husband decided to help last night by doing the litter boxes, except I'm sitting right there in the room and he comes in and starts without even talking to me, and all of a sudden there is this cloud of toxic dust and I'm having this Event.
He is a prince of a man, but damn -- there are times he just decides he is doing something and it Never Fireplacing Occurs to Him that somebody else might be affected, or have an opinion. So there was some drama, which I usually try to avoid because life's too short. But it's not a net advantage when the helping gesture lands one wheezing in a distant room, clutching an inhaler and muttering.
AW: 31 years, and we're still working stuff out.
Kathy: it's good to know that it's always a process. (Going on ten years here, and some days we're still baffled with each other.)
AW: naps! Blessed, blessed naps. The weather is SO NICE today. Things are looking up.
Whine of absolutely no consequence whatsoever: are peplums flattering on anyone? All they do is accentuate my rear end, which is plenty accentuated already, thankyouverymuch.
Peplums (really, they still do that?) are flattering to all, because nobody can tell what is or isn't really there. (This severely sounds like a bridesmaid question.)
I have been yelling at people on the phone. The Research People, who just freaking keep calling, even after I say "Please, do not ever call again." The fireplacing bill collector people who are after my SIL, who is severely incompetent -- and they call on my office line, even, and today's yelling session included "NO, you cannot have the number of her care home. She is severely ill, and under a conservatorship. And again, she has no money. And never call here again."
Sorry. It's 2 years today when we took over with SIL and her mess of horrors. We had to; nobody else would. Maybe if I yell at enough of the vultures, they'll eventually go away. You have all been very kind and loving to me. xoxo
Just devastated. Husband of a friend died this weekend. My age, their kids are a little younger than mine. He had cancer and was in remission, but they had just learned it had come back and were at the start of figuring out a treatment plan. Boom.
And my son did not get into the high school he wanted. Which is trivial by comparison, but still stinks.
((( Elizabeth ))) Oh, how awful about your friend's husband. What a shock. She will need your love, and practical help you can think of. Sending much love. xoxox
Sorry, too, about your son's HS choices.
Oh Elizabeth, I'm so sorry.
Sorry about the continuing phone calls, kathy a.
(((Elizabeth))) I'm so sorry. And it's so hard when it happens so quickly. Kathy's right about the practical help: babysitting? Food? Oh, those poor kids. (And a sudden loss doesn't make it any less difficult that your son didn't get into his high school of choice. I'm so sorry!)
Kathy a: I'm rounding up the posse. Wanting to call SIL's care home?!
Because I'm sure this would be funny were it not happening in my house:
Setting: almost TWO HOURS past bedtime.
Mini gallops into the living room, where Mama is desperately trying to concentrate, on her stick horse. She's wearing her pajamas, sunglasses, and a pink cowboy hat.
Sigh. She took a nap at preschool today. I'm ready for preschool to be over. No naps in kindergarten.
(((NL))) Sending healing energy to your house.
QWP - I like the idea of hanging the special gift on the wall. And I hope you can catch up on the sleeping - soon!
kathy a - sorry to hear the calls are still coming in about SIL. Two years is way too long to be dealing with that nonsense. Keep yelling at the vultures until they buy a clue.
(((Elizabeth))) I'm so sorry about your friend's husband. And your son's HS choice.
esperanza, sorry, but yes, I kind of giggled when I pictured Mini's horsy ride. :)
kathy a, I answered a phone call this evening: BEEEEEEEP! (silence) We will remove your number, as you requested.
So they called to tell me they aren't going to call me? Gee thanks.
(((Elizabeth))) I'm sorry about your friend and sorry too about the HS.
mr. Spock has come down with whatever muffin man had. Fortunately, mm is all better. I'd better not catch this crud
More pixie power going Liz's way, to ward off the household crud.
Esperanza: oh my. (And you're making me glad that E's future preschool is half days only, and so she can nap or -- more likely -- not nap at home.)
I think if I keep up with the backwards sleeper strategy, I won't have to wash Blankie as often. Hanging it on the wall would be far worse than taking it away, at this point. She's very attached, and wouldn't understand why she couldn't just have it. (And it's not falling apart: it's just showing signs of wear, and really shouldn't be washed as frequently as it's currently being washed.)
W: we're down to only a handful of sleepers that work backwards. A couple of the sleepers that I thought would work are causing E's eczema to flare up (either by not being breathable, or by being too tight for her now). I'd better go buy more sleepers.
You guys, with all of this undressing, I should have guessed that the kid's skin was starting to flare up. Poor, itchy sweetheart.
Spraying "Crud-Be-Gone" in the direction of your house, Liz!
Poor itchy girl, QWP.
W: Snow. More snow. In October, it was charming. Now it's just wrong. On the other hand, it could be worse, I could be living on the East Coast.
W: Holy Week - feeling the burn. The hope of two days off in a row next week is keeping me (almost) sane.
(((Elizabeth))) so sorry! for both your loss and about your son's HS
((Liz)) the crud stinks...wishing you and your household lots of health, stat!
--Neighbor Lady
Crud B Gone!
QWP, poor sweetie. Loose and breathable sound like the ticket. (Suspected the wall idea wouldn't work; but dang, that blankie isn't all that easy if it has to air dry...)
Sue, may the force be with you, and spring actually arrive one of these days. ;)
NL, I assume you are feeling better?
The exact same bill collection firm called again today on the home line. (but from a bizarre area code.) This one got the reader's digest condensed version, which worked well; and this one wasn't so stupid as to ask for SIL's care home number. yay?
W: pollen. My goodness, the pollen. Achoo! Mini is sneezy and watery eyed and itchy (she and Lil E must be eczema twins). Great clouds of yellow pollen. Cars are covered. Blech.
AW: it's spring.
W: Holy Week = Grumpy Mr E
AW: At least I am not also busy/grumpy this year
Tis the season, I guess. Esperanza, can you talk to the ped about allergy meds? The pollen has been killin' me, too, and I just got Rx's for flo-nase (nasal spray; one squirt per nostril per day for peds 4-11, also available OTC) and singulair (a magic preventive pill, but I know nothing about peds dosing). Neither causes untoward side-effects; it's not like dosing up with benadryl or whatever. My son did singulair beginning in elementary school -- much more effective than OTC allergy stuff.
Mini is on flonase; it helps some. OTC also.
Sweet gets the singulair (5 mg, chewable--I'm in love with whoever manufactures it because that is so very easy to give her) because it is also (originally, I think) an asthma drug. I may ask ped about it for Mini.
Yeah, singulair was originally an asthma drug -- preventive, not "rescue" -- but it works by taking down the reactions to allergens that so often trigger asthma.
I'm fairly certain I whine about this every year, but in form of confession:
I am a slacker mom, if by slacker you mean:
1. I do not make Easter/Halloween/Thanksgiving/St Patrick's Day goodie bags for the Baboos' classmates. We do make gingerbread men for their classmates at Christmas. No cute Pinterest projects from us.
2. I did nothing for April Fool's Day. Not even explain it.
3. I pulled plain Hershey kisses that have been languishing in our candy jar and put two in each egg and sent them with Sweet.
4. I have to send 18 stuffed eggs with Mini tomorrow. I am planning on using the candy they get in 3 Easter egg hunts today. Shh. Don't tell. If that plan fails, there are always Hershey kisses.
5. I am actively praying for rain, so that the 3rd Easter egg hunt will be cancelled tonight.
Ah. I feel better.
Sounds like a great plan esperanza.
I quite despise April Fools Day. Do they make a thing of that for school????
W: With a few gazillion things to do between now and Sunday, I arrived at the office today wanting to do one thing only - organize. It happens every year. I feel overwhelmed by all the feels and tasks of this week, so I go into "If I can organize a few things, I will make it through the week" mode.
AW: My desk looks great!
W: The Giant Albatross of Easter laughs at my attempt to gain control of my life!! Laughs!!
Wait a minute -- 3 easter egg hunts? And you're supposed to bring treats for the entire class?? Every kid in a 10 mile radius is going to be on a sugar high for days. /faint/
Sue, here's hoping for some focus. For me, too!
Mini: Egg hunt at preschool #1 today
Church egg hunt tonight
Egg hunt at preschool #2 tomorrow
Sweet: egg hunt at kindergarten today
Church egg hunt tonight
So I guess it's really a total of 4 today and 1 tomorrow. See why I didn't want to buy any extra candy? You aren't *supposed* to bring treats for the class, but some mommies do. Not me.
This was not going to be any kind of special Easter dinner, anyway, since my beloved and I cannot agree on a menu and otherwise the only planning is baskets for the kids. But now I went and invited my cousins, which will make it cool! But there still isn't a menu, and now I'd better find more baskets. And food. Made an executive decision that even though we couldn't get corned beef for St. Paddy's, this will not be the corned beef Easter. (Yes, this is an actual dispute in my house.)
The one real tradition is that The Bunny Hops. My son would have a heart attack if he didn't get an Easter basket.
kathy a, I say the person cooking the meal gets double votes on the menu.
Must shop tomorrow. I'll let him cook the lamb, which I hate but he adores. Ham is my part, and sides that aren't rice pilaf. There is no room for corned beef in this holiday.
Those bill collectors called AGAIN. From yet another area code. Three times in 3 days that I have practiced phone karate. (I forgot to explain this time that I know she is just doing her job.)
My sneaky candy redistribution scheme has worked. 18 eggs for tomorrow filled with candy from today's haul. Heh heh heh.
In other news, the double preacher's kids are convinced that Easter is all about bunnies and eggs and have no idea what Jesus has to do with anything. Uh oh.
Excellent candy redistributing esperanza! With that many egg hunts it's not surprising that Easter is all about the bunny. Give it time...as they grow up they will start to sort out the Bunny/Jesus thing.
Easter lamb and ham sounds like a good compromise kathy a - and yummy! Sorry about the albatross situation and the ongoing annoying phone calls.
Esperanza, you're my hero for your candy redistribution strategy. I'm dreading the elementary years, with all the pressure to and Pinteresty treats for whole class, and throw birthday parties worthy of Instagram. I'm also that slacker mom.
Three times in three days with the bill collectors! It wouldn't work to tell them that they're telling to the wrong person, and that the person they're looking flit doesn't live there? (I know, I know. That didn't even work when Mr. Q was being hounded because someone with the same first and last name -- but all other different information -- had defaulted in a cellphone bill. It took us reporting both the collection agency and the cellphone company to the BBB to get everyone to say "Whoops! Wrong person!")
AW: my MIL is coming to take E for the day, so that I can do all the last-minute errands and packing, before we travel north tomorrow.
W: I know that this means no nap today, again. I honestly don't think E is going to nap fit the next week, unless she accidentally falls asleep in the car tomorrow.
I'm going to leave the thread open through the weekend, so that everyone has a plan to hide and whine during the holidays. Awards might be sparse on Sunday, however.
Very advanced candy redistribution, Esperanza!
I've tried the she doesn't live here strategy, and not picking up. They.Keep.Calling. (Her mail comes here.) At least I know this company and its tactics now.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend, QWP! Thanks for hosting.
You guys, how old were your kids, before travelling with them stopped being the most stressful thing imaginable? I'm fretting that this weekend is going to be a no-sleep, all-tantrum extravaganza. (We don't go until tomorrow, but I'm doing a good job of borrowing tomorrow's troubles.)
QWP, it kind of depended on the trip. A long car ride is hard at lil E's age, but if you can break it up, that might help. (Or power through, hope for a nap.) She might be getting big enough to do car games. Singing is always good.
xoxo
Car games = anything you can make up. If she is learning colors, look for a color. She probably isn't up to letters or numbers quite yet, but if you're working on that -- look for them. Animals. Any natural features you are likely to see. Anything you spot, then you have something to talk about.
Yes, our boys loved "I spy" games in the car from a young age. They also liked stories that were made up as we drove along... "And the Queen lived in a ..... (then someone else took over)... bungalow! She loved her pets, especially all of her (then someone would add a funny animal). You get the idea. It makes the time pass. It's a bit like improv now that I think of it.
So kathy, what's wrong with rice pilaf?? Not a fave in your house? :)
AW: the labyrinth service tonight was amazing. Just the right number of people, a beautiful space, and the quiet was heavenly.
No, I love rice pilaf! That is just a dish that my beloved Must Make Himself.
Love car stories!
I see. We have the same discussions re: gravy at our house. We all love gravy, but mine is best. It's the one thing I can make well, so it's always my job.
I may have come down with the crud. No fever ( yet), but coughing like mad.
Oh, Liz! Sending virtual chicken soup, and lots of steamy things (hot tea, hot shower) to relieve the cruddiness. Crud B Gone!
Sue's invited to my house for gravy occasions.
I'm not really sure where this holiday dinner is going. Beloved bought a pork roast, could only find small pieces of lamb, so then he bought ground lamb -- which I guess we can use for dolmas? Ah, well. It will be a feast, anyway.
Plus Aunt Flo has arrived for a visit after a 75 day absence.
ACK! Seriously, the universe is not looking nice right now. Wish I could be more encouraging, but Aunt Flo messed with me for a few years. That bitch.
Sue and I may need to compare recipes, because mine (from William-Sonoma Thanksgiving) is to DIE FOR.
Seriously, I want to have it for my last meal. As a soup, maybe.
Boy, do I want to punch a sister of mine. So I'll just contemplate Gravy, work a little on cleanup, and go watch some Grey's that I missed last night.
(I don't actually ever punch anyone. Just in case you were wondering.)
(((Kathy)))
(((((kathy))))) the posse is being rounded up for your sister troubles.
Liz, no recipe for my gravy. I make it exactly the way my Mom made it, and it's perfect every time. I like the idea of gravy as a last meal. Mmmmm... Sorry about Aunt Flo. Ugh. And the crud. Double ugh.
Mmmmmm.
Muffin Man got a recalcitrant baby molar yanked today. The last of the baby teeth.
Hope he is recovering well! Ice cream all around. And happy retirement to the Tooth Fairy. ;)
😀
I think in my last whine, I told you all about my latest trouble with the principal from hell...
The boom lowered the other day -- he is recommending a 5- day suspension, and Human Resources is now involved. I had to meet with The Jerk and an HR guy, who says that they usually follow whatever the principal recommends, but they could recommend more or less time, or even push for termination, if they think it's warranted.
So beyond upset. Everyone I've talked to says it is purely a witch hunt, but that is no solace. I'm mad, upset, embarrassed, and depressed. I've been there 12 years, and this man is out to get me.
Good grief, KLee. That's horrible. I'm sorry. Is there a way you can have an advocate in this meeting?
(((KLee))) It would be really good if you could have an advocate with you. A friendly face to take notes and debrief with you after the meeting would be helpful. What a dreadful situation...I'm so sorry.
Oh, KLee! Did the meeting already happen, or will there be another one? When do you expect to hear? Is there an appeal process? Because one person should not have that much power....
xoxo
(((Klee))))
Oh no! (((KLee))) I'm completely outraged by how poorly your school has treated you. Are you not unionized?
W: I got four hours of sleep last night. Such a bad night. And E basically has handled none of this camp, so far. We lasted through only the first part of this morning's church service, and then had to take her back to our room to try to make her nap. I might have broken down sobbing in the dining hall. Travel with a toddler is hard, you guys.
She will not be at this stage for long. And even if they aren't saying it out loud, others there remember doing the toddler dance. I remember leaving my cousin's big church wedding with the grumpy toddler and preschool brother. And all the times my husband and I took turns walking Ze Grump outside -- more or less separate meals at the same restaurant table, taking shifts. ;)
AW: Friends who don't mind talking a person down. Sisters and brothers of the heart.
(((QWP))) this, too, shall pass.
AW: everyone is being so kind to us, and E and I napped all afternoon.
YAy!
My beloved and I just had an amiable disagreement about the filling for grape leaves (both of us referring to recipes in his mom's 1942 Armenian cookbook), and we wrapped them amicably. If anybody needs a half jar of extra grape leaves, come on by.
Toilet paper.
If it requires super-human powers to buy it, replace it, and keep supplies at hand near the point of need, how come the TP fairy never gets any credit?
Relatedly, getting one's period after a 75 day hiatus at the same time one has a bad cough causes seasonally appropriate events. Seriously, my laundry looks like one of the 10 plagues.
Or the set of Carrie.
AW two good reasons to fill up on the chopped liver.
I am so tired, and I don't know if it's the cough or my period or both. Eating all the chopped liver, just in case. And because the menfolk left me alone with the chopped liver.
Is it wrong that, when left alone with chopped liver and thin mints, I'm binge-eating the chopped liver?
Some days you need the thin mints; some days you need the liver.
For dessert, I found the most beautiful hand-decorated sugar cookies -- flowers and tulips. They make me happy just looking at them.
Six Easter baskets. The youngest people at dinner tonight are 26! (But my son is particularly devoted to all holidays and their traditions.)
Found the spare wine glasses. No room in the kitchen, so it was like a treasure hunt.
((((QWP)))) I'm glad you and E were able to score a nap.
(((Liz))) sorry about the cough and the csi laundry episode.
Easter baskets! Yay kathy!!!!
W: Fireplacing freezing for our outdoor service today. Seriously, it was -20c which is Freaking Cold on any temp scale. I skipped over an entire paragraph of the communion liturgy because I could no longer feel my hands and I could hear someone's teeth chattering. (No one noticed the shorter liturgy.)
AW: the sunrise was simply beautiful. We admired it briefly, took some photos, and hurried back to our warm vehicles.
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