I woke up in a foul, cranky mood.  I’ve been trying to talk/pray myself out of it, but so far, it’s only moderately working.  I was sounding like a 4-year old: I don’t want to go to Karen’s, I don’t want to babysit, I want to sleep some more, I can’t get the juice open, I’m tired of wearing sweatshirts in May, etc., etc., etc.  I was starting to annoy myself.  It’s a good thing I’ll spend most of the day with a dog and a baby who don’t really understand me anyway!  A grown-up would get sick of me pretty quickly…

Thankfully, it is a fabulously beautiful morning out there, so I will enjoy that.  And I am fully intending to go somewhere with J today just to get out of the house.  No use sulking inside when I can distract myself outside.  So maybe a trip to the library or even the mall will be on our agenda today.

Of course, that all depends on J’s schedule which has been strange the past couple of days.  Apparently, he’s growing bythesecond because he’s eating a ton and he keeps getting hungry an hour after he’s eaten.  It’s kind of cute, though, because when he’s hungry, but not so much that he’s upset by it, he snorts.  A little up-in-the-nose snort.  It’s the only time he does it, too.  So funny!

Last night was not exciting.  I ironed while watching a Modern Marvels about milk.  Then I was flipping channels and came upon Stranger than Fiction (in progress), so I stopped to watch that.  Unfortunately, at 8:00, my television flipped the channel to something else for me.  I guess we’d scheduled two recordings at once, and that means you have to watch one of the two channels.  So I didn’t see much of the movie.  And since I didn’t want to watch the recording shows (that’s why I was recording them), I went upstairs and played on the computer.

I guess that’s all I have today.  Have a lovely Thursday!

The Highlights…

Since I normally spend a lot of time on the boring, everyday events of my life, I think I’ll spend today on just the major highlights from yesterday.

• I took J to my house yesterday morning so I could put dinner in the crockpot.  He ended up falling asleep for over an hour and a half, so I actually got to be home for the morning.  It was nice.
• I got a haircut yesterday.  It was really a trim, since I’ve been growing my hair out, but my last cut was in January, so it really needed some help.  Today, it’s a little shorter, the layers are clean again, and some of the natural fuzziness is gone.  And both my hair and I were happy this morning!
• I was surprised yesterday that the sun came out for most of the afternoon.  It was supposed to be rainy and gray all day, so I took special pleasure in the sun.  It wasn’t really warm, of course.  But it was so pretty out.  I can wait a few more days for normal temperatures, I guess.
• The soup I put in the crockpot wasn’t that great, sadly.  So after dinner, I put it in a large pan and worked on getting it ‘fixed’ before putting it away.  I thickened it up and seasoned it more and let it simmer for a while. I sent some with Eric for lunch today, so hopefully it will be better than last night’s was!
• My mom called while I was doctoring the soup to give an update on Dad’s knees (see next bullet).  They had stopped at the mall, so she also reported being able to buy new clothes that fit in much smaller sizes than she’s been getting.  Jenny Craig has really worked for her, and it’s so fun to watch her be so excited about how she looks and what she wears.
• And finally, my dad’s appointment went well.  They really liked the doctor, and he actually listened to them (which the other guy really didn’t).  The problem is really bad arthristis in both knees. The doctor said Dad will need knee replacement surgery in the future, but they’d like to put it off if possible.  So they did cortisone shots again (which went much better this time) which usually last 1-2 months, and they are starting the process to get the insurance to okay a gel shot in each knee which should last up to 6 months.  He also gave my dad a prescription for anti-inflammatory drugs. 
• Basically, this should get him through golf season , and then they will see where to go from there.  The doctor was surprised by one thing, though.  My dad asked what the cut-off was for the pain/problem before knee replacement, and the doctor said, “When the pain interferes with daily life, wakes you up at night, stuff like that.”  When my dad told him they were already there, he seemed a bit taken aback.  So it is likely that my dad will have knee replacements in the next year or two, but for now, both of them were happy with where things were and the response they got from this doctor.  And that’s good.

Okay, the baby is fussing a lot now, so I’d better go.  Happy Wednesday!

So I had a good start to my post this morning when Karen’s dumb laptop erased it because I was trying to see the smileys pop-up box.  Grrr… 

Yesterday wasn’t terribly exciting, really.  The baby doesn’t seem to be too unwell.  His temperature is a few degrees above normal, but nothing that raises any real concern.  I did have to take his temp. once yesterday, and I think that I’ll just do armpit readings whenever whe have kids!   But overall, he slept well and ate well, so I can’t complain too much. 

I was having some trouble with the excessively loud PA system that the elementary schools nearby were using for field day yesterday.  The voice was audible inside the house (though the words weren’t clear), but it was enough to mess with the dog.  I spent much of the morning trying to keep Maggie from barking at the disembodied voice she was hearing.  Dumb dog…

Last evening, I washed up the dishes and then Eric and I ran some errands.  We stopped at AutoZone and Home Depot.  Then we came home and watched a Good Eats.  Then we went to bed.  Apparently this early wake-up schedule is starting to mess with Eric’s sleep, too.  So we crashed about 9:30.  Lovely!

And finally, just for fun, here is a little thing my brother sent in an email yesterday.  I decided to to respond to his email, but since he reads my blogs, he can see my answers here!

A) FOUR PLACES I GO OVER AND OVER:  Church, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Kroger

Another Monday…

The weekend was good, but not terribly eventful. 

Friday went well.  Jason slept really well and regularly all day long.  He was on a very “normal” schedule for the first time all week.  It was nice for me for sure.  I spent most of the day reading Pride and Prejudice.  Friday evening, we had a supper club with 2 of the couples from our small group.  We met at one of their homes, had dinner, and hung out until about 10:00.  Our group is a good fit for us, so we always have fun doing that.

Saturday, Eric slept in and then spent the entire day playing with his computer.  I slept in some, as much as I can, but then I got up, read the newspaper, and then read more of P&P.  I exercised, showered, ate lunch, and finished P&P.  Then I spent the rest of the day doing chores: laundry, tidying up, cleaning bathrooms, etc. In the evening, we just watched some television and went to bed. 

Sunday was church, dinner (we grilled chicken), and relaxing.  I ironed while we watched the 3rd Indiana Jones movie (I’ve had the theme song running through my head all morning ).  Then we went to our last small group of the spring.  We’ll meet for summer gatherings, but there won’t be anything official until the fall now.  So that means we’ll have our Sunday nights free for a while.

I guess J was running a slight fever yesterday.  Karen caught a cold mid-week, and the baby seems to have picked up a little something.  Karen said he hasn’t been very fussy, but she was giving him baby Tylenol if his temperature read too high.  So that means that, today, I may learn how to use a rectal thermometer and give a baby medicine.  Should be interesting…Hopefully, we’ll still have a fairly quiet day.  Happy Monday!

My Dad’s knees

Yesterday my mom told me that they finally got an appointment for my dad to get his knees looked at.  This is a huge praise, and I am thrilled.

My dad has had bad knees for a long time, but it probably wasn’t until we were in college or just after that it became bad enough that he couldn’t hide it anymore.  They’ve steadily deteriorated over the years until now, at 57, he can’t walk down steps without bracing all his weight on the railing, he can’t walk from one end of town or the mall to the other without being in serious pain, and he can’t make it through the day without popping pain relievers like candy.

A little over two years ago, he was referred to a knee doctor, but it didn’t go well.  That doctor refused to consider knee replacement until Dad was at least 60; he said it was just arthritis, so he’d only consider options like cortisone shots and braces.  So Dad stopped seeing him.  Two years ago.

Of course, the knees only got worse.  But a couple of days ago, my mom called another doctor recommended by a lady in C-ville (their age) who already has had one knee replaced.  After speaking to a not helpful receptionist, my mom was transferred to the actual doctor’s office.  And she was told that the first doctor’s methods were a bit outdated and they would happily see Dad.  They even had an appointment for today, which Dad couldn’t take, so they scheduled for next Tuesday.  My mom laughed outright; she was expecting this to take a month or more to get started.

So I am just overjoyed for my dad and my mom.  I am praising God for helpful doctors and fast appointments, and we are praying that my dad will soon be able to walk like he’s 57, instead of like he’s 85.  Maybe, by the time little J can walk, his Papa will be able to play with him like he really wants to.  And hopefully, in the near future, my parents will be able to walk together at a normal pace and do normal things again.  It will be a wonderful thing to see!

Happy Friday!

It was sort of a rough afternoon yesterday. *sigh*  It was pretty much my fault, but that doesn’t make it easier.  I realized (later, of course) that I had neglected to burp the baby after he finished one of the bottles.  The result was a screaming fit that was very unnerving since I couldn’t figure out why it was happening.  And of course, he was so worked up that he then couldn’t burp easily, so it was not an enjoyable hour or so.  He was also pretty tired. Then later he started the same thing, but it didn’t last as long (thankfully) since I just tried everything I’d done earlier in faster succession.  And he finally collapsed into sleep.  I let him sleep on me just so he’d get a decent nap (he’d slept well in the morning, not so well in the afternoon).  And we both survived.  Still, I will definitely be working to avoid that episode again!

Also, if you think of it, would you say a quick prayer for Karen.  It’s really hard on her to have to miss so much time with him while she’s at work to begin with, but when we have a “bad” day, it’s even harder for her.  And she has a cold now which she’s a little concerned that J will catch.  And neither of us want that!

The evening was pretty good.  Eric and I had “find-your-own” night for supper, and I watched some television. I also did a load of laundry, cleaned our bedroom and vacuumed the primary living areas of our house.  Our bedroom hasn’t looked this nice in a while! 

Today, I have no real plans (except for hanging out with J, of course).  I was thinking to make coleslaw for dinner tonight.  Anyone have a good recipe for that, especially the sauce?  The bottled stuff never tastes as good as I hope it will…

Okay, I guess that’s about it for now…happy Thursday!

So apparently, yesterday, J was afraid he would miss something important when it happened, and he refused to really sleep all day.  He’d doze.  He’d catnap.  He’d get about 45 minutes of sleep at a time (instead of 1-2 hours). He wasn’t unusually cranky…just not sleeping.  Until Karen got home that is…after he was fed, he slept for 3 hours, was up for a bit, slept for another 3 hours or so, and then slept from 11-7 this morning.  Hopefully, we’ll do better today because I know Karen and Erik like to actually spend time with him in the evenings. 

I did make it to WalMart yesterday with J in tow.  We had no crying fits, and the car ride did put him to sleep for a while.  And it was nice to figure out the car seat, the diaper bag, the process for being out of the house, etc. Not that I didn’t think I could handle it, but it hasn’t been a normal activity for me until now.  So anyway, I guess that means we can leave the house as often as we want to now!

The baby is making a lot of noise in the monitor right now.  I’m hoping he sleeps a bit longer, but of course, now he’s probably ready to be up for the entire day again (after all that sleeping last evening and night!).

Okay, I guess that’s all the interesting details I have for today.  Last evening was uneventful: I cleaned the kitchen and did a load of laundry (sweatshirts!).  I have no major plans for today either.  And with the gray/rainy weather back for a couple of days, I guess I’ll just stay inside and hang out with the dog and the baby.

Later!  Happy Wednesday!

Random Information About Me:

• I am 4′ 11 3/4” tall.  I always hoped for just 5′.  I never understood why God didn’t seem to think that was as important as I thought it should be.  Apparently it’s character-building or something…
• I have tiny feet (size 5 women’s).  Obviously that size is hard to come by, so I wear a lot a children’s shoes.  I think they are changing the size of children’s shoes, though, because I used to fit only a children’s 3, and now often need a 2 or 2.5.  I guess the feet of the tween population are growing too much.
• These days, I am struggling with getting sufficient and effective God time.  I think I need a good bible study to work through.  Any suggestions?
• It’s finally sunny out today after over a week of cloudy/rainy days.  I need the sunshine, so I’m very glad.
• I made white chicken chili for dinner last night because I wanted corn bread and that dish went nicely with the corn bread.  It was yummy!
• I might take J to run an errand or two today.  This will be our first venture out of the house together. Should be interesting…
• My husband is very excited because Fedora 9 is being released today.  It’s the newest release of the Linux OS he uses on his computer.  I am not nearly as excited as he is…

I can’t think of anything else random enough to tell you today.  So I guess I’ll just stop now.  Happy Tuesday!

Sorry I wasn’t “in” on Friday…J and I have an atypically rough day.  It didn’t leave much time or energy for xanga.

But, I’m back today (he’s still in bed), and I thought I’d better get a post up now so I don’t forget (or get busy).

The weekend was busy.  We headed to the farm on Friday night about as soon as Eric got home.  It was a lovely, relaxing visit.  So nice!  We hung out, and in the afternoon we drove up to Pearl, OH, which is where Pearl Valley Cheese is made.  That is fresh made cheese (some of the farm’s milk goes there) and it is wonderful!!  So we got some to bring home.  I’m planning dinner tonight so that we can have some of it then…yummy!

We stayed until after supper, which meant we didn’t leave until after 9:00 pm, and it’s a 90-minute drive.  So we were pretty beat by the time we got home.  We brushed our teeth and crashed into bed.

Sunday was church and then down to my parents’ for Mother’s Day.  It was a lovely afternoon. Dad grilled and showed me all the flowers they’ve bought to plant around.  And they got each of us a hanging basket (I took the pink one), so that was fun, too.  We chatted for a while before heading back to Columbus, and spent much of the rest of the evening just relaxing.  Then an early bedtime to make up for the night before…and suddenly it was Monday morning.

So, now I’m sitting in Karen’s living room just typing away and hoping the baby decides to actually nap some before I need to get him up.  He does better if he sleeps a bit after Karen and Erik leave (he didn’t do this on Friday and it messed us up a bit).  But we shall see…

Happy Monday to you all!

So I’m back at Karen’s today.  The baby isn’t up yet, so the dog is keeping me company while I try to get this post done before he starts fussing. 

Yesterday wasn’t terribly difficult.  He’s an easy-going little guy, and at 11 weeks (today!), he’s not exactly mobile. But he does have a smile to melt your heart!  I watched a lot of television (which is unusual for me), but as I was figuring out his schedule, it made finding things to do a little more complicated.  I’m sure I’ll learn what I can do and when as I go.  I’d like to not spend the entire time watching TV, but it’s hard to find chores to do in someone else’s house!

I also had lots and lots of phone calls yesterday to distract me.  Karen called twice, Eric called, Mom called, Trisha called.  As Karen’s Erik said this morning before he left…he was about the only one who didn’t call me yesterday.  But he did send his wife flowers at work for her first day back, so that was probably more important!

Last night, we took my car to Westerville after dinner to drop it off at the place that will be replacing the cruise control today.  I’m very excited about having cruise again.  I’m not as excited about driving clear around the city at rush hour today to pick it up.  But I’m sure we’ll survive.  And I’ll have cruise control again…yippee!!!

This morning was a bit hectic since it was garbage day and Eric had to drop me off at Karen’s house, so we were both needng to be ready to leave at the same time (this is only ever true on Sundays).  So the result was that we did get the garbage out, but I forgot to brush my teeth and I left my cell phone on the end table at my house.  So much for my phone call distractions like yesterday!  Oh well…now things have settled down a bit (I’m just typing, the dog is sleeping on the back of the couch, and the baby still isn’t up yet).

I think that’s about all I have for now.  Happy Thursday!