There goes my excuse!

According to a Sanford University study, if we ask the brain to do too many things at once, we simply won't have the energy left to either stop ourselves from overeating, ghrelin or no ghrelin, (an evil hormone that apparently induces us to overeat) or from imbibing in other activities we find rewarding. Since I've asked very little of my brain lately, I guess I have to find another excuse for my shortcomings.

I wouldn't be paranoid if everyone wasn't out to get me

Okay, maybe my germaphobia/paranoia is going too far. Since having a little one that seems to catch everything that comes down the pike, I have become a most valued consumer of handi-wipes, Lysol, and the like. After this latest nasty bout with pneumonia and with H1N1 and other stuff currently circulating, I have been very cautious about taking her around many people, because I have lived long enough to discover that many times people don't use their God-given common sense and keep themselves and their children home when they're sick. Call me crazy, but deal with a child that wheezes with the slightest cold and doesn't sleep when she is sick and spend hundreds of dollars a month on doctor bills and medicine because your insurance is crap and she's allergic to penicillin so her antibiotic options are limited, and you may change your tune.

Anyway, I did make an exception and we took the girls to see the Princess and the Frog, Little Bit's first movie and to Waffle House for supper afterwards. All I can say is, I'm dangerous with my pocket Lysol. I did get some strange looks from those around us in the theater, as well as a "What's that smell?" from our waitress. I had to confess that it was my handy dandy pocket Lysol that I used to disinfect the table as well as, um, all the condiments there. And the seats. What can I say...I know we're not the only weirdos that have ever frequented WH.

Feeling emboldened by not catching a bug there, I took the girls to Mass on Saturday evening. Of course, everyone holds hands and shakes them during the "Peace be with you" bit, but I was prepared with my pocket-size hand sanitizer. Alas, before I could cover the girls' hands with it, Little Bit, who had not had her hands anywhere near her face the entire time, decided to shove both sets of fingers IN HER MOUTH. I suppose that just goes to show, you cannot control everything, no matter how hard you try. It takes one shoving of fingers in the mouth (or nose), one neighbor coughing on a dollhouse and your kid touching it and contracting a virus, one whatever. I just have to get a grip and do what I can and calm down about the rest, I suppose.

There'll be Sad Songs

Well, who would've thought? Roo has always been very sensitive to sad-sounding songs, even as a little baby. We had a stuffed lamb that we finally had to give away because it would play a lullaby she would cry about when she heard it, even if it was only one note from being bumped (you could see where that would be a problem!).

Little Bit has never shown that tendency until today when Mickey Gilley's Tears of the Lonely came on. She started snuffling a little and looking extremely forlorn. When I asked her what was the matter, she burst into tears and said, "Because that song's so sad!!!" They keep you guessing, that's for sure....

OMG, it’s hereditary!

Okay, I knew TS cost us a trip to the ER when was about the same age Little Bit is now. Seems she crammed a piece of foil from a candy wrapper up her nose so far we couldn’t reach it. What I did not know, or remember anyway, was that Cuz’s son suffered from the same affliction. This is what she wrote:

Okay, deja' vu, genetics and family history strike again. Evidently there is somewhere in our DNA the "let's stuff foreign objects up our nose, it's SO much fun" gene.

TS, you probably don't remember but-----


B*******'s only 2 trips to the ER as a toddler were the results of his sticking a watermelon seed, and after that was so enjoyable, a pea, up his nose. Both episodes took place while we were eating (we would look at each other and say, "But we were both SITTING RIGHT THERE!") and I guess he just thought that if food was good to put in his mouth, it would be good to stick up his nose too.

The first time, neither the ER doctor nor his pediatrician could find the watermelon seed and he was sent to an ENT who didn't find it either so evidently it either came back out or went on down between the time he stuck it WAY up there and when we arrived at the ER. Even though there were no visible results from all the medical attention, there were still sizeable bills.


The second time, a particularly effective sneeze while we were waiting for his pediatrician blew the pea across the ER floor and we were able to leave before any probing and prodding took place, but alas, not before another ER bill was incurred.


The first time we were very understanding since he didn't know any better. The second time, not so much, since he KNEW better even though he didn't DO better. After that, if he stuck something up his nose, we didn't find out about it.


Good luck to y'all as Little Bit follows so closely in her cousin B*******'s footsteps through a never-ever-boring childhood. We somehow managed to survive as did he (his parents' healthy fear of jail time may have helped) but of course you are aware that we did NOT survive with much of our intellect left! Our prayers are with you--------Love, Cuz


Scary, isn’t it?

Random Musings

I don't care what circumstances brings homeless people to the streets, it still pains me to the core to see someone wrapped up as much as he can possibly manage, sleeping on a park bench in sub freezing weather like this morning. Or under a bridge like those we saw in all that cold rain earlier this week. I felt guilty about being in a warm car on the way to brunch today. It could easily be me there instead.

I was behind a car on 17th today (taking the back way home to avoid I-75 bottleneck) and I did a double take at the car stopped ahead of me at a traffic light. What I thought was a toy kitten turned out to be a real one, a cute little calico number. She raised her head and looked around at everything inquisitively but as soon as the car pulled away, she promptly laid it back down and seemed to go right back to sleep. Seeing her look so contented and realizing the obvious love the family has for her really warmed me.

On a funny note, there’s a house on Bohler near my condo that has as many inflatable Christmas things as they can fit into their yard and believe me, that’s a considerable number. (All that’s visible beside the decorations is the driveway.) It’s an older, ranch style house set among some much more expensive ones and I have to say it has been a great source of personal amusement every time I drive by. I couldn’t help laughing aloud yesterday morning when I passed and saw a pickup backed in beside one of the figures ringing the outside perimeter. Somehow, that seemed appropriate. Pickup aside though, they definitely have the Christmas spirit!

Santa finally found a Shaggy on eBay. Not only that, it also includes Scooby Doo and the nice lady is throwing in an extra figure that sounds like Velma from the description. How’s that for another example of real Christmas spirit!?!

Argh!

Just to ensure that her Daddy and I don't get accustomed to having a good night's sleep on a regular basis, Little Bit decided to throw us another curveball about 3:00 a.m. She came into our bedroom, sniffing and sneezing like crazy. My first thoughts are, oh no, here we go AGAIN! Not another cold after finally kicking croup and pneumonia...please, God, give us a break. I gave her some Triaminic and after a potty break and nose-wiping, she finally fell asleep next to me. I, of course, lay awake for a couple of hours thinking, is it another cold or an allergy to something? No fever (yet), so might be an allergy. Oh, Lord, is she allergic to the dogs? What will we do if we have to find them another home??? And on and on and on....

After not sneezing the rest of the night/morning, she woke up and as soon as she sat upright began sneezing again. After a particularly hard sneeze, she picked up something that flew out of her nose and handed it to me, saying, "Look, Mama, what came out of my nose!" It was a nice big wad of plastic remnant from the straw from her juice box the night before. This was apparently the culprit behind all the sneezing and sniffling. When I asked why on earth she did that, she said "Because I wasn't sick." Go and translate THAT one.

This is the second time she has shoved something into her nose, the first time being a little wad of tissue. We suspected something in her nose then, but an examination with a flashlight produced nothing since apparently it was shoved so deep in there.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...she'd better find us a darned good nursing home in our old age, because she has aged us several years in the three short ones she has been here. She's lucky God made her so cute.....

Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow

Santa is still looking for Shaggy but the little guy has been elusive so far. Hopefully, some of the stores will re-stock really soon. This Santa’s helper went out for a little while today but the crowds were horrific and parking at a premium in some places so I gave up until tomorrow. Just wasn’t in the mood to fight it so I dropped my library book into the book drop and headed home. Guess I’m feeling a little like Miz Scarlett when she said, “…tomorrow’s another day.”