A Pictorial Post

This is my bedroom.  It's probably nothing special, but I like it...
I like the big windows.

I like the view of the mountains.

I like lounging on the couch with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate.

This is the reading light by my bed.

I love the hot fudge sundae pendant--even if my kids call them the cow lights.

This is my nightstand table.  It's not anything special either.

But it's a great place to keep the telephone, a book, the tv remote,
and a drink of water...

This is the netbook I keep bedside for late night googling,

or insomniac blogging moments.  It gets a frequent workout.

Did you notice the glass of water in all these pictures?

Each night I put a fresh glass of water on my nightstand as I go to bed.

I drink the water when I take my evening vitamins. 

Last night I forgot to take my vitamin at bedtime.

This morning, the water still filled the glass.

I'm sure glad I didn't take my vitamin in the dark last night.

If I had, I would have gotten quite a surprise.  Yuck!

It was good 'til it wasn't...

I went took my visiting guest out to lunch the other day. I wanted to share one of my favorite luncheon spots with her. After a lazy morning at home, we set out for a little shopping and some food.

I think my guest was pleased with my choice, and we enjoyed a little gossip and some laughs, along with some good food... At least it was good, until we found this...


My guest found this at the end of our meal... I hope it didn't have any friends taking up residence in her salad. If so, they were never recovered (ew!). For the next few days, we joked about going out for another Fly Salad.

For the record, the price of her meal was fully refunded. But I have to wonder, would you rather have the free meal or pay full price for a Fly-Free Salad?

Where did those stitches go?

I have five kids. Five kids equals many trips to the ER. We've called 911 more than our fair share of times. I'm not sure if the worst part of these emergency visits is the wait time, or the culminating medical bill.

My new pet peeve is this: Waiting forever for treatment and/or waiting hours before figuring out that the medical attention provided was non-helpful.

A couple of years ago, I took JJ to a local ER when I was sure he had appendicitis. We waited for HOURS before even being shown to a gurney. After waiting for yet several more hours, we were told that they weren't sure what was wrong with JJ. They proceeded to tell me that if I was correct, and it was in fact appendicitis, there was nothing they could do for him. They told me that I should take him to Primary Children's Hospital where they were better equipped to deal with pediatric cases. Why on earth would they let me waste an entire night waiting for help before sending me out the door to another hospital? We arrived at Primary's at 4:30 am where JJ was whisked into surgery for an emergency appendectomy. His abdomen was full of infection.

JJ spent a few days in the hospital, but now he's fine... No thanks to the efforts (or lack thereof) of the staff at hospital Numero Uno.

Last night we had another trying experience. Max fell and cut his face open. It was immediately apparent that he needed stitches. The Mister took him to Primary Children's Hospital (per my request) where they arrived around 8pm. They waited until after 2 am before being seen by a physician. I understand that the ER was busy, and I have no argument there. The problem is this... After waiting for 6 hours with a gaping wound, he got stitches, but the doctor decided to use dissolvable stitches. The stitches were supposed to take 5 days to dissolve, and if they hadn't completely dissolved by then, we were to take Max in to have them removed. Here's the problem... The stitches dissolved completely by dinnertime tonight. They didn't even make it 18 hours! Now what am I supposed to do? I know they won't restitch him at this point. But now I'm concerned it's going to pull open again. What good are dissolving stitches if they dissolve before the wound is healed? Seriously!

Important PSA

While I'm sure nobody has noticed, I still feel it necessary to acknowledge that I've been delinquent in my blogging responsibilities. Since the end of the 30 in 30 challenge for January, I've taken a bit of a break. But don't be jealous--it's not like I've been sunning myself on the beach of a tropical island... No, it's much more mundane than that.

In fact, I've been here at home for the past week, moping around while harboring a virus. And as if that wasn't bad enough, now I've added strep to my repertoire.

But the PSA is this: I'm Alive!

Please feel free to send flowers, get well cards, and chicken soup. Popsicles of any flavor would also be appreciated.

And when I actually start leaving the house again (for something other than a doctor's appointment), I'll be sure to share the adventure.

This ends this very important Public Service Announcement. You can now return to your regularly scheduled life.

Karma or Murphy's Law

Isn't it always the way things go?

The kids are out of school for what, two weeks? That's plenty of time to catch a cold, nurse it better with the help of a favorite blankie, fuzzy socks, hot tang and/or other warm elixirs, and then get over it. Right?

But, no. Nobody around here (except me) gets sick all through the holidays. The kids are healthy and happy and fully enjoying the snow... And then the first morning back to school arrives, bringing with it sore throats, runny noses, and hacking coughs.

What's with that? Is it Karma? Murphy's Law? Bad Luck? Just typical? End of term testing? Do you think I should be a little suspicious???

And you know what? Those who aren't sick (yet) will be, just as soon as they mingle with all the other little germies in their Kindergarten classes! Oh, I can hardly wait!

What a Waste

It's not really 7:32 pm, is it? I have officially wasted an entire Saturday. I don't know how I did it. I showered, got dressed (in sweats), did a little (very little) laundry, and yet, the day is nearly gone and I still have so much waiting to get done!

Example: I still need to get Christmas packed away, I need to make the beds (ok, maybe not now...), I need to do about a zillion more loads of laundry, and I probably ought to brush my teeth (was that too much information?).

How is it that all my good intentions result in so little action? I guess I'll blame it on my ongoing lack of sleep, the sinus headache, and my annoying cough. Problem is, now I've set myself up. Now I'll be expected to accomplish more as soon as I stop sneezing and coughing... I'll have to see what I can do to extend those symptoms a little longer. :)

Ode to the Easily Cleaned

Leather Couch, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love that when a child vomits (ALL OVER THE PLACE), I can wipe you off and you're as good as new. I love that when a diaper leaks (and thank goodness that we don't have that problem anymore), I can wipe you off and you're as good as new. I love that when my child (who is not allowed to eat anywhere other than the kitchen) spills his *insert messy, wet, soggy, food item here* in your cushions, I can wipe it off and you're as good as new.

Shiny Concrete Floors, how do I love thee?

When anything (anything at all) spills, splashes, or in other ways defiles you, it takes nothing but a broom or a mop to make you pretty again. Bleach doesn't scare you and Lysol is your friend.

Comfy Blue Denim, how do I love thee?

Wash and dry (without the dry cleaning bill), need I say more?

This is dedicated to those with puking children. May we all get some sleep tonight!

Excitement Enough

After a week long vacation, you would think that we'd had enough excitement. Apparently that is not the case. Just a few hours ago I was sitting on the floor of my garage, crying kid in lap, surrounded by at least six EMTs. While I certainly appreciate a little male attention as much as the next gal, this really isn't the way I prefer to get it.

The neighbors will all be happy to know that the flashing lights of the ambulance and fire engine were not heralding anything too life threatening. A little scary for a minute, but we're all going to live.

Zeke was playing on our Little Tykes playset in the backyard tonight. The wind had blown the playset over during the week, so it wasn't set up properly. JJ, Max, and a few of the neighbor kids were climbing on the playset while Zeke was climbing through it. The whole slide, along with all the kids, fell on Zeke and he was hit on the forehead. Within 30 seconds he had a goose egg on his head (ok, it was more like a chicken egg--but seriously, it was really big!). The EMTs came and checked him for a concussion and neck and back injuries.

Good News: Z-man is A-OK and all the kids got pins and badges from the firemen!

Seriously--with five kids there is more than enough drama just in everyday living. Can we take a break from the extra excitement for a while???