What John Lennon Said…

“Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.”

Today, I am home with the little duffer as he hopefully kicks the viral infection he has had all week.  My goal is he rests up so completely he DOES NOT get the pneumonia that one of his friends has at school.  We were on chicken pox watch last night, which was interesting because I did not know that if one contracts it they have to be out of school for seven days.  Who knew???  I had almost prepared to be out of school because then that guarantees that it won’t happen.

Right now, he and the dogs are napping so I have a moment for me.  It is funny what kids will do to you.  In years past, I would be totally stressed that I couldn’t go to work and like eight million things aren’t getting done, but now I realize there are more important things (don’t tell my school I said that).

In addition, I realized the true power of saying NO this week.  I was asked to do something professionally related that to me seemed like if I turned it down would be the end of the world, but to do it would mean taking time that I don’t have away from my family on weekends and evenings SO I said no.  And truth be told, once I said no I felt empowered to be in control of my life and that it is okay not to always be a people pleaser.

In regards to books, I have slowed down a little bit, but I am reading the new Carlos Ruiz Zafron novel whenever I get a minute.  It is one of those books that you don’t want to read too fast because if it is anything like Shadows of the Wind then I won’t want it to end and I will be sad when it does.  I reread the short story “Demon Lover” by Elizabeth Bowen because a student was writing a paper.  Very gothic.  Lots to read into.

It has been a little hard to read this week because it is premiere week for TV shows.  Of course, I totally forgot to DVR Bones and Fringe so now I need to figure out how to get a hold of those so my husband doesn’t disown me.

Happy Fall!

Karma

Yesterday, we decided to have a fun day.  We went to Julie/Julia at the Mom’s Matinee. Despite not finishing the book, the movie was cute.  I say cute because anything Nora Ephron does is just that (think Sleepless in Seattle).  During the movie, which is a place where moms can take their babies and not have to worry about crying, there was one kid who just screamed.  Not cried, but screamed for almost the entire movie.  For the first half of the movie, I felt empathy considering my baby isn’t really a screamer (more on that later), but by the second half the tension headache I had arrived at the movie with was full blown and I was on pins and needles.  Driving away from the theater, I did make a comment to my husband about the baby’s screaming, but tried to feel compassion for the mom who probably just wanted some air conditioning and a a little entertainment.  Little did I know, I would be experiencing something very similar only at midnight and beyond.

Little duffer has had a cold since Tuesday, but somehow last night was the worst.  He work himself up at 9:30 and didn’t settle down until almost 1 a.m.  Plus, on top of that, I managed to get his cold so I couldn’t breathe.  It was worse than all those nights without sleep at the beginning of my child’s birth.  At least, I could breathe, read books, and watch bad t.v  I needed to catch up on even if I was delirious from having no sleep.  This time around he just wouldn’t settle and it involved lots of walking (I couldn’t put him down — talk about mama strength — he weighs 26 pounds), a car ride, and eventually taking the car seat out of the car so he could sleep in it.  Finally, we had some reprieve at 2ish until 5ish.

In the a.m., he didn’t really get any better and had a fever so inevitably he earned himself a doctor’s appointment.  Secretly, I think he likes visiting with his doctor, but he was just plain miserable so we needed something to make him feel better.  However, I admit I went to my hair appointment while my husband (the saint that he is) took the little duffer to the doctor.  No worries because I spent the entire hair appointment so stuffed up that I thought my head might imploded.  In addition, my hair dresser accidently drank my latte and then had to run in the back room to gargle so he wouldn’t end up miserable during a fun weekend away.  Great, I instill salt-water gargling in folk (at least I don’t instill vomiting).

All in all, the verdict for the little duffer — double ear infection.  No wonder he was upset.  Now, he is on the pink stuff and Tylenol as needed.  He is slightly better, but not really himself yet, which is okay because I am thoroughly not myself either.  Today, I can breathe, but now my cold has moved to my chest so I sound like I have a smoker’s cough and feel like someone hit me with an eighteen wheeler.  Good thing, little duffer has decided to take a nap so I can have a couple cups of coffee to help jump start my day to be a powerhouse or maybe just able to carry the 26 pounder to the car for a little shopping (after all — it is tax free day in Vermont!).

Guarantees in Life

People say that there are no guarantees in life.  However, I beg to disagree with them.  I believe that there are guarantees in cloth diapers, buzzy chairs, and Sports Center.  Those three things in combination or separately are guaranteed to make my son poo.  Right now, I risk everything by leaving him in a fresh cloth diaper, in the buzzy chair, and with Sport Center gearing up to do the top plays in less than ten minutes.  Top Plays, for some reason, are like icing on the cake.  My son is home sick today with me.  He stayed home yesterday with dad and now it is my turn.  I was supposed to go to a conference on technology, but alas instead I am using technology to connect with the real world right now.  My son has a hacking cough which is the result of this thick as glue green stuff that I suction out with our little bulb (yeah, he loves it).  Tomorrow is Kid’s Day and Duffer plans on walking in it (no, he’s not actually walking yet, but he is learning how to back up down the driveway).  We wanted to make sure he is well enough for that.  As for me, it gives me a chance to slow down.  The end of the school year is always a blur and so I now have a day to notice the details.  For example, the daffodils are gone and the lone tulip is up.  In addition, there are flowers on the apple tree.  This is year two of trying to get our apple trees to grow bigger apples.  The bears and deer have enjoyed our apples the last couple years so we are hoping to get in on the action this year.  Since the weather is nice than I anticipated, Duffer, the dogs, and I might take a hike around the back today to try out our new backpack.  In addition, we also hope to unload the dishwasher, vac the rugs, do laundry, and clean off the dining room table (this one my friends is my lifelong goal).  I know I am dreaming big, but if we got a couple of those done our weekend would run a little smoother.  But, I’ll tell you right now…they are dreams…the reality will be something completely different.  And that, I am okay with.

I saw it written and I saw it say…Pink moon is on it’s way…

or pink eye.  We’ve moved from a gray day to a pink day.  The road to hell is paved with good intentions.  At least, my husband and I had a chance to exercise.  He powered through a half hour or so bike ride in our hilly neck of the woods while I did a little under three miles in a little over a half hour.  Only minor glitch was the dry heaving at the end of it all.  I guess I pushed myself a little too hard coming back up the hill.  When you are out of the running world for a while you are never quite sure how hard it too hard to go out.  Now, off to spend the day with my eye-gooey son.  Guess he prefers hanging out with mom after all.

April in Vermont…

is a crapshoot — like Forrest Gump and his box of chocolates.  Just last week, it was fifty degrees.  Today, we have a light dusting of snow.  Luckily, the sun has started to light up the sky with cornflower blue instead of the sludge gray that has been lingering over the course of the last week.  Unfortunately, sickness is still rampant in our household.  My husband finally is better, but now my son is out sick from school with his first ear infection and other ailments.  Really, my son is a big golf fan and didn’t want to miss out on the first day of the Masters.  He is really routing for Sergio to take it all this year and wanted to make sure he could see his opening round.  Interestingly, his dad who is a huge golf fan is at work while mom is home with him.  We are hoping to get better in the next day or so because we have our first field trip to a local aquarium this Saturday.  The biggest compliment that my husband and I received this past week was our son’s pediatrician telling us that she was thankful for our positive attitudes around sickness because according to her not all parents are as understanding.  Our theory is it is what it is.  Getting upset about it doesn’t really change what is happening for our son so why use that energy.  On another note, I had a huge flashback to my youth when my local pharmacist handed me the cotton candy colored exilir that my mom once gave my sister in a plastic vial.  It is funny the way things move full circle as the crocuses break through the hard earth and the ducks return to the outskirts of the pond in hopes that the ice will melt soon.

What They Don’t Tell You…

is that being sick with a baby is like running a marathon backwards.  Even worse is if both parents are sick while baby is not sick.  I envision that all of the family being sick is even worse, but we didn’t encounter that this weekend.  Instead, we had two trips to the ER for their finest IVs and anti-nausea medicine and a mandatory rest period from work because neither of us could get there.  Today, I am out again because standing for any period of time proves tiring.  In fact, I am writing this during one of my only awake times so far today.  Luckily, we have a great baby who has his routine and doesn’t mind hanging out with his parents (sure, this will change when he is thirteen, but we got time).  I am resting up because my husband and baby are due back by the end of the day and I know I will need to be on.  We have over five baskets of laundry to fold and baby needs a bath tonight.  Dinner will be easy because both of us are eating — wait for it — soup again.  I haven’t had real food since Saturday.  Me, who loves chicken wings, almost had my husband get out of the car on Sunday after he went into our local supermarket to get supplies and came out smelling like a bar on Friday nights that gives out free wings with drinks.  Usually, I love that smell.  That day, forget it.  Maybe by tomorrow I will get to have a real meal, but again that could be a pipe dream.  One that I can’t wait to indulge in.