02.28.05

chronicles of sickness, chapter 5

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:26 pm by Anne

So we took the girls in the the dr this morning. No ear infection, no throat infection, but because the fever of 102 has been ongoing for 3 days, the pedia reccommended Lily get a white blood cell count (CBC) and a chest xray. Just to rule our a viral pneumonia. So we tromped downstairs to radiology and hurried up and waited. Emma slept. Lily walked around like a normal little girl and I followed while Shan fielded work telephone calls. At one point I followed her all the way to the ER and got the ingenious idea to buy some chips from the vending machine. “You want a snack, Lily?” She is a huge chip fan and watched me feed a dollar into the machine. The choice came down to a small bag of doritos and an even smaller bag of doritos. I picked the small one and pressed the button. Ever so slowly we watched the metal coil retract backwards, painfully waiting for the bag to drop so that we might retrieve and consume its powdered cheese splendor…and then the coil stopped. Nothing dropped. I should have expected this.

So I had to send Shan over to tilt the machine. and he did. and it was good.

Then Lily got her chest x-ray’d. This was surprisingly not very traumatic at all. Shan strapped on a lead apron and held her arms over her head for two shots and we were done.

The drawing of blood was much less pleasant. The nurse was nice enough but Lily knew something was up as soon as she saw the bandaid, pile of sterile guaze, and the finger-prick device. She didn’t know what exactly though, until the lady put the ZAP on her finger and then pressed and squeezed blood droplets out for 5 minutes. Shan held her while I got to be the diversion. “Hey Look Lily, Clifford the big red dog stickers!” “You want this orange lollypop? Okay! Here, let me remove the plastic coating ever so s-l-o-w-l-y” etcetcetc. The only complaint I have (and it is minor) is that at one point the nurse was distracted by my clown-like antics and missed a huge droplet of blood ( I think it landed on Shan’s boot), so we were there for that much longer.

Honestly, this two party tag team effort with a sick child really made me wonder how anyone can raise a child on their own. It’s so difficult to do with both of us present as it is.

Currently all bets are off for the cousin’s birthday party wednesday night. I think Lily is going to need to stay in, especially since her aunt called this morning from the drs office. The son has strep throat. nice. That could be a nice virulent cocktail to serve up at an otherwise benign birthday party.

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02.27.05

holy hell

Posted in Uncategorized at 4:49 pm by Anne

Lily has had a fever of 102 for the past 48 hours. Today we broke down and gave her some tylenol so she is behaving normally but it is just a ruse. Again I have a sick little girl. I must ask myself if she got the contagion from the grocery store cart or the gym playroom. I suspect the cart, at the front is a little truck like compartment with steering wheels and doors and it’s where she usually stays when we go shopping at a particular store.

Today has been very low key, much like yesterday, with the exception that I have been internet surfing almost all day. Here are some of the most interesting places I’ve been:

1. Terence Makenna Interview

2. Look around at these drawings!

3. Curious ideas

and of course the earlier link to those electron micrograph pictures…so incredible.

So alas, there has been little enjoyment to the weekend. How can it be very nice when one of us is ill? No planting of plants or playing at the park but at least the weather hasn’t been particularly inviting anyway. It is cold and gray and virtually begs us to stay inside with a cup of something warm. We did have a very nice supper last night:

grilled new york strip steaks
baked potato
baked sweet potato (for me)
toasted bread
spinach, strawberry, toasted almond salad with poppyseed dressing which is to die for

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photos

Posted in Uncategorized at 3:02 pm by Anne

very cool.

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02.25.05

How I know I am a Mom:

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:34 pm by Anne

1. My lower back hurts from picking up two kids at once.
2. There is pencil scribbling on the hallway wall.
3. Toys-are-everywhere!
4. I still haven’t taken a shower today but we have been to the gym and the grocery store.
5. Laundry is folded and sits in piles on the bed.

But what a great day it is! I love friday so much and hope this weather holds up over the weekend. I’m thinking parktime and gardening and familytime. yaahaww! Hope all of you have a good old weekend too.

Last night Shan finally brought down Lily’s old toys for Emma, the exersaucer, the crib mobile, the kickydoomusicallightshowthang, and a plastic bin full of rattles and squeaky things…it is awesome. I love seeing these things again, they remind me of Lily playing with them and now Emma get’s in on the goody! Lily is happy to see them too. She’s already tried climbing in the exersaucer once and I don’t expect it to be the last time. Colorful plastic goodness.

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02.24.05

aside

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:26 pm by Anne

I am baking this cake for my niece’s birthday next week. She likes chocolate cake but not icing or frosting or filling. In fact, this is the same cake I baked for Lily’s first birthday. It is most terribly delish.

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02.23.05

and if you like omega-3 fatty acids…

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:48 pm by Anne

this salmon recipe is for you.

seriously though, ever since I read some norwegian article on the dangers of consuming ‘farmed’ salmon, I haven’t eaten any. High toxicity levels due to fertilizer run-off and the like had led to a polluted supply of fish for all of us to eat. The scientists wrote that men could eat it occasionally, like once a month, but that if a woman wanted to have children ever, she shouldn’t eat any. not ever.

scary.

I am still intrigued with this recipe though.

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after the rain

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:27 am by Anne

After a damp and windy night with the window thrown open, what we have here is a beautiful day. I love these early spring mornings with the too-bright sun, wet grass, with blooming daffodils and mini-iris. It completely puts me in the mood for big time gardening exploits. This year I plan on having entirely too many dahlias. and lilys. and roses, of course. Now I just need a nice weekend to plant these dahlias. This season think RED. A sea of red. I’ve never planted a lot of one color, often because there are too many other lovelies to settle on just one. This is why it’s good to have a base of plants that come back every year because now I can just tweak it with some fun.

Last week I noticed a cyst on Emma’s right breast. It feels about pea-sized and is somewhat hard. After talking with the nurse (yesterday) as well as to my sister-in-law whose daughter had one years ago, I am much less worried. The nurse said it was caused by a discrete portion of tissue’s reaction to hormones from me, presumably, and that breast-fed babies tend to experience this phenomena more often than bottle-fed. So how’s that for a nice kick in the pants?

And speaking of Emma, this little baby is growing a fine personality. She smiles all the time and has become fablously responsive. It’s so excellent reaching this point where I know our interaction is going to keep growing. Babies are great but they are even better at about 3 months.

For tonight’s LOST party, I’m going to prepare another gargantuan pot of gumba ya-ya. I just love the stuff and cannot get enough. Served over basmati fragrant rice is to die for and if I have time there will be some homemade crusty bread too. Dessert? Chocolatesomethingorother.

Lily continues in her usual highly active 2 year old way to make my life more interesting. We’ve been spending a lot more time outdoors in the sandbox which in turn causes me to spend more time sweeping the house. I’m beginning to think that keeping the sandbox right outside the back porch is maybe not so good an idea but she just loves it. I may just suck it up and get a better broom. Yesterday she helped me move the laundry from the washer to the drier and with a promise of a cookie she put all of her toys away into the basket. Some kids may pick up automatically but we are not at that point yet and I find a little bit of bribery to be most efficacious. Still no word on when the potty chair will make it’s way back into her life. I ask her at some point each day whether she’d like the potty but it’s always a negative. Maybe I can teach her to change her own diapers since I surely won’t be tagging along with her in highschool.

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02.22.05

Free Mojtaba and Arash Day

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:09 am by Anne

Check it out. If you blog, yourself, it’s an easy something to contribute to. Information dispersal. More reason to appreciate the freedoms our country provides.

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02.15.05

Again with the sickness…

Posted in Uncategorized at 1:56 pm by Anne

I have something bad. Different from the last cold, this one is isolated to my lungs. I cough alot and have a bad sore throat and feel a bit feverish. So far the kids are fine but knock on wood. If only we had a substitute nanny for days like this; I am wiped. Will write more once I’m on the mend.

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02.14.05

National I heart You Day

Posted in Uncategorized at 1:50 pm by Anne

Happy Day! Lily got a few valentines in the mail today, her favorite food item from Gramma (lollipops), and we had a successful trip to the gym and UPS. The girls are all dolled up in pink or red and I came to the realization that once you are married and have kids, Valentine’s Day is no longer a romantic holiday. How could it be with two little ones? and that is just fine anyway. Lily ‘helped’ me bake sugar cookies yesterday and really really likes eating them. Today we’ll load up and take some over to her Grandparents house.

Meanwhile, Emma had a blowout either at the gym or shortly thereafter. She started in with her characteristic crying while I drove around getting Lily to sleep, and was quite damp when I pulled her out at home. Pooh everywhere. No wonder why she was pissed off.

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