Taking the Scenic Route

Halloween

We did get to go trick or treating!  Zach got off early and my back was doing well enough for me to walk around a bit.  We met Robert & his family at the mall for the trick or treating there.

My little pumpkin.

The first candy

Walking past the Disney store, Zane was entranced by the display.  We rented a collection of some of the Disney shorts (Mickey, Goofy, Donald Duck, ect)  and he just loves them.

I think Zach was having as much fun as Zane was

My back made it through most of the evening.  I did have to drop out the last little bit because it started pinching really hard and I was having problems walking again.  It did get a little better after sitting.  I guess I am not getting any more cleaning done tonight.  I really want to, but I guess it needs to rest a bit.

I am enjoying the cuteness of Zane as he eats his treats.  Lots of “mmm mmm’s” and yum-yums.  lol  I wish he understood to not bite the hard candy, but that is more because it makes my teeth hurt to hear it. lol.

Want to see the difference a year can make?  Here is last Halloween’s xanga post.  Yes, exactly the same costume.  He did all of his growing in the legs this last year, so we haven’t had to go up a size yet this year, just don’t have to roll up all the pantlegs.  lol.

Hey!  I can walk across the room today!  Yeah!  Still hurting, but definitely better than I was.

It looks like we will pass by another Halloween with no Trick or Treating.  Zach has class.  Once in a while he gets out early, but not usually, so we can’t plan on it.  I have severe back pain that is leaving me barely able to walk right now, so there is no way I can handle going out with Zane.  Before we realized he had a class, we were considering renting a wheelchair at the mall so I could come around with Zach & Zane, but I am not used to a wheelchair, so there is no way I can maneuver well enough to chase after Zane in it. 

I am hoping that I can have Chiropractic care covered because I don’t see any other way I am going to have mobility any other way any time soon.  Right now, something is pinched so hard in my back I am having problems controlling my left leg when I do stand, and really having a difficult time laying down.  Last night when I was almost asleep, I went to reshuffle to lay on my other side (normal for me, I have problems getting comfortable right away).    I moved without thinking and was in agony.  I couldn’t shuffle one way or the other and was in serious pain where I was.  It took me 45 minutes to try and get on my other side.  I did not sleep well last night.  It also takes me an insane amount of time to get up out of bed, especially since our bed is on the floor.  I am not wanting Zach to pull me up because I don’t want him to hurt his back helping me because then we would really be screwed.  I wish we still had a recliner because I would just sleep in that instead.  Two fortunate things though.  When I sit, it still hurts, but it isn’t sharp and stabbing as long as I don’t move, and second, the bathroom is small enough and the doorknob is at exactly the right place for me to use it as leverage to get up and down in there.  What could be the worse thing is actually not as bad as it could be. 

It is times like this that I really appreciate the fact I don’t usually have to live with pain like this.  Of course, there is always the fear it isn’t temporary, but I am hoping it is something that will resolve itself.

In other news, it looks like it wasn’t the Chicken Pox.  The neighbor’s kid’s rash is fading without forming pox, so it was probably a vax reaction.

Let’s look at the inner workings of people’s minds.  Here are some actual patents.

My nominees for “Worst Parent of the Year” awards   You really have to be twisted to actually get a patent on some of these.

Baby Cage  the jaw-dropping solution for co-sleepers

Baby patter  um, not sure whether to laugh or be horrified

Cry no More sadomasochism for the newborn set

Junior Jail almost puke worthy.

Diaper Alarm let’s put an electrical sensor against a baby to see if they are wet.  brilliant.

Milk Gun what were they thinking

And the ‘just plain odd”

Baby Shower yeah, this is just silly.

Dad Saddle  not exactly safe looking, but not horrific either.  Along the same lines, but looking a bit less safe is the Shoulder Saddle

Fashion Papoose.  I can appreciate the idea, but this is serious overkill.  lol.  Two main problems with this one.  First, why would you need a bottle, and how comfortable would it be strapped to your back, and Second, how would you get the diapers and bottles out of this thing?  This has to be the single most uncomfortable sling I have ever seen.

My parents would have liked this one  Squabble Shield

And not parenting related, but simply silly

Pantyhose 3x  so comfy looking too

Earthquake house  “nature’s bowling ball”

Hurricane House

Toilet Snorkel

and finally, the most practical invention, a Wearable Dog House

If you want to see some more, here is the link to the main website.

Well, we are better rather then worse.  I keep being hopeful that we are going to be able to be better enough to go out and do something, but we haven’t quite gotten to that point yet.  I just am not taking him out unless it is necessary until his immune system is back at full force so he doesn’t catch anything else.  Also, the neighbor kid, who is a day ahead of this in his cold, has a rash that looks like it might be chicken pox.  Zane hasn’t gotten that, and the other boys symptom might be a reaction to something too  (like the vaxes she gave him even though he was sick…geez that seems like a bad idea).  However, since it is a remote possiblity, I won’t take him into public until we are sure because some kids have compromised immune systems that would not be able to handle something like that.

A part of me is hoping it IS chicken pox, but another part of me is a little afraid of it being chicken pox while I am pregnant.  However, I had it pretty bad as a kid (and Zach had 2 cases of it when he moved to different areas of the country) and am not likely to have a problem.  Ann want Justin to come over here if it is chicken pox because her other one is so young and she doesn’t want him to get it.

Before I get a lot of posts, if it turns out to be chicken pox, I will post that right away and yes, you can bring your kids over. lol.  In this day and age it is hard to get kids natural immunity to chicken pox. 

Worthwhile read on Dr. Tiff’s xanga site about Rosa Parks. 

Quick note:  we did end up turning on our heater.  I realized I was pulling a “Grandpa E” (maternal Grandpa) and it was more important for Zane to be comfortable than proving some point on ‘how long we can last without the heater”.  Zane probably has a low grade fever because he keeps getting dressed, then 10 minutes later he was undressed again, then dressed again.  I didn’t want to worry that he was too cold when he was undressed and obviously his clothes were driving him nuts at times. 

Grandma spent years being miserable because Grandpa had some unwritten contest going on with his buddies on ‘how low he could keep the heating/cooling bill”.   (not limited to that though…he was also a big on just about anything that proved how cheap he could be.  One time he bought around 20 tubes of toothpaste because he found a coupon that got them at a really good price.  He had dentures. )

My little sick one

How is it that kids can still manage to be cute, even when sick?  Grown-ups sure aren’t. lol.

We are trying to get Zane to blow his nose.  He is getting closer, but not quite there yet.  He doesn’t get runny/stuffy noses very often, so it isn’t something he can practice.  He comes and gets a kleenex (using the term loosely…we don’t usually have ‘actual’ kleenex in the house and usually just use toilet paper) and wipes his nose.  When I try to teach him how to blow he watches me very seriously as I blow my nose, and tries to imitate it.  I tell him to first try to blow through his mouth (he repeats), now, close your mouth and blow through your nose (closes his mouth, gets a look of utter concentration on his face, then ever so slightly opens his lips to make an “f” sound).  So, he is mostly going around wiping his nose, making the “f” sound at the same time.  It does actually sound a lot like blowing your nose.  lol.

I (obviously) use some disposable/convenience things in my house.  (I do not feel like washing snot rags when I am already sick)  However, there is one convenience product that I will not be using.  Remember the Vick’s Vapor Rub you rub into your chest when you are all congested?  (I wanted Mentholatum because that is what my mom used, but I couldn’t find it)  Well, they have been advertising a patch you just stick on your chest like a band-aid.  That just seems wrong to me.  One of the ‘good memories’ I have about being sick as a kid was mom sitting on the edge of my bed, rubbing that stuff on my chest for a while and talking to me.  It felt so good and I felt so cared about.  I think her sticking a band-aid thing on my chest would have really missed a wonderful nurturing moment.  Now, as a mom, after only a few times of doing this, Zane already gets a little smile on his sniffily little face as I rub the stuff into his chest.  I can’t imagine missing that.

Well, Sunday is not making me terribly hopeful for a calm week.  Zach woke up with a sore throat.  A few hours later I noticed Zane seemed to be a bit sniffily.  Zane’s symptoms have increased to definite stuffy nose, watery eyes that are looking sort of sunken, cranky attitude, and he makes a lot of noise when he breathes and sounds congested.  Within the last hour, he has started coughing a bit here and there.  My poor guys.  

Now, I am starting to notice a scratchy throat myself.  Oh joy!  I did a load of laundry on hot & then Zach ran a hot steamy shower with the door open to try and force some moisture in the air.  I am getting ready to put a pot of boiling water on the stove.  I am hoping that our symptoms are just because the air is dry, but I think it might just be denial at this point.  lol. 

Right now Zach has Zane all curled up on his lap with a blanket over him, playing a video game that has Zane giggling like crazy, so it is a really sweet scene. 

I have no idea what to make for supper now.  I was going to do biscuits and gravy and make some pudding, but both are dairy intensive…not good for congestion.  Maybe we will have chicken noodle soup like we did last night instead.  I don’t feel like making it from scratch again, but I think there are some cans of it back in the pantry someplace.

We don’t usually put the heater on until it starts staying in the mid-30s outside, but if everybody is getting sick, it might go on early this year.  Guess we will see how cold it gets in here and how icky we all feel. 

http://69.20.14.30/discussions/showthread.php?p=3979096#post3979096

Thread talking about dealing with people who are always late

My response:

I have no sense of time and neither does my dh. If we have something where we have to be someplace on time, both of us are a mess and stressed out, sometimes for days preceding it, because we hate upsetting people. We set alarms constantly for things, and still have problems. We both are hopeless….we have no idea if 5 minutes have passed or an hour many times because our brains just don’t function that way most of the time. The only way we can make it ‘on time’ to something is to literally not think about anything else. Even things like “what day is it” are difficult if we don’t have access to a computer (you can check what day/date it is by mousing over the bottom right hand corner of your computer)

The only reason we can make it to work and repetitive things like that are because we develop routines for it. That is a large part of why our schedule changes every sememster. We wake up 2 hours before his first class, whether the class is at 10am or 3pm, and then adjust everything else around that. The routine we have takes that long, and if we get up 3 hours before or only an hour before, we are more likely to screw up and lose track of where we are in the day. Appointments really mess with that.

You know, a lot of people that are extreme visual-spatial thinkers struggle with time (and other linear thinking skills) and it can take a lot of trial and error to be able to function. I spent years crying because I realized I was going to be late to something, then it took a bit for me to calm down enough so I didn’t show up crying. It is actually why I stopped wearing make-up…so that I didn’t have to add ‘reapply make-up’ to my list of things to do to make it someplace.

On a funny note. I called my mom today. The main reason I called was to tell her how excited I was because I was supposed to take my 3-hour gest.diabetes test. There were 4 of us that had to take it that morning and I was the first one there. Me! She laughed. She knows I try so hard and said she was proud of me.