Emergency Room Part II

Not a good weekend. Little baby girl had to go back to the hospital. She wasn't responding to her inhaler Friday evening and hubby finally took her to the ER Friday around 9:30. He and my dad spent the night in the ER with her and my mom relieved them Saturday morning. The doctors were still concerned with her breathing and they admitted her that afternoon to watch her over night. We finally brought her home yesterday morning. She'll probably get the diagnosis of asthma at her pediatrician's office when I take her in tomorrow.

She is such a brave little girl. And she can manage to have fun no matter where she is. I just worry so much about her. Not being able to breathe must be the most terrifying experience. Fortunately this time was no nearly as bad as in April and she didn't have to get an IV or go to the progressive care unit. The incidence of asthma in children is growing rapidly and especially in the Houston area. Maybe we should move.

Quirks

I'm walking back from a snack break with several coworkers when one of my quirks came to light. They had ice cream bars and had finished and were chewing on the wooden sticks. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me and I couldn't hide my reaction.

Another quirk surfaced at the dentist's office today. I hate going to the dentist. I usually receive nothing but compliments (thanks for the great teeth genes folks, but I'd rather have the fast metabolism gene.) The hygenist is scraping and buffing and polishing and she starts working on the back of my top teeth and I can not stop giggling.

The weekend

The weekend was nice with not too much going on. The kids had swimming lessons Friday evening. It was the girl's first lesson without us being in the pool with her. She has no fear in the water whatsoever, which is terrifying. She'll push off the step out into the pool like she can swim. The Houston Swim Club teaches toddlers how to survive if they fall into a pool. After just 4 lessons, she can already flip over onto her back and float for a few seconds.

Saturday I ran 8 miles with Fort Bend Fit. I'm in training for the half-marathon in January, but our group is running with the full marathon training until next month. Saturday afternoon we headed over to Star Pizza to meet up with our friends who are in a fantasy football league. Half the group was busy with the draft and we visited with everyone else.

Saturday evening, hubby took the boy swimming and I put the girl to bed early since she'd missed her nap that afternoon. Sunday was filled with errands and laundry (fun stuff) and then we took dinner to my folks and after dinner we all went swimming in their neighborhood pool. Too bad every day can't be a weekend day.

First Day

I didn't make it into work yesterday. My baby started kindergarten. He did great- sat right down in his seat and started coloring. Looked up and smiled for the pictures. Didn't even notice when we left. I did have to drag hubby away from his class room. Said he wanted to just stand there and watch when class started. He probably could have stood there all day.

Afterwards, we took the little one to her day care and then went to breakfast. I really didn't feel like going to work after that, so instead we went home and took a nap. Then went to the grocery store and I prepared a special meal- snacky type stuff for dinner and a fruit pizza for dessert. Then dad and the boy headed off to sign up for teeball. It's all happening so fast. They don't stay babies for long, do they?

*giggle*

Is it terrible that the kids are in rare form tonight- bouncing off the walls- and I'm letting hubby deal with it all while I sit downstairs on the computer pretending to be working but just giggling to myself ?

Cafeteria changes

The food services group which runs our cafeteria changed hands this past weekend. Considering the only food I would eat before was salad, soup, or sandwich, I welcomed the changed. And became very excited once I saw the menu. Full of my kind of food- the frufru kind. Today I had the grilled salmon raspberry salad. It looked beautiful. Unfortunately, the salmon had no flavor and the price wasn't any better than I can get off-campus. I'll give it a try a few more times, but it looks like I won't be eating lunch in the new cafeteria, er cafe as we're supposed to call it, any more regularly.

Red swingline stapler!!!!

I would just like to thank S&K for my new red Swingline stapler (collector's edition). I went downstairs to the cafeteria for a bagel and when I got back to my office, my supervisor and engineering manager were standing in my office. Not sure whether to quietly back away without being noticed, I quickly became worried about them swiping my stapler. I rush into my office and I am greeted with- hey, nice stapler. And then, that makes quite a statement. Yeah, like you're going to burn the building down.

I answered- just don't move me to the basement. Or touch my stapler again.

Scenes from Office Space.

Day 2 no voice

Yesterday was fun- three teleconferences and I can't talk. I had to whisper my part to others in the room for them to relay. And the phone rang off the wall last night.

"Courtney? Are you there?"
yes
"Can you talk?"
no
"Ok, I'll talk but you don't have to answer."
"Still there?"
thought I didn't have to answer

It is coming back a little today, so now I sound like a 14 year old boy going through puberty.

Sticker shock

I've put off the eye doc for too long. It's been 7 years since I've had an exam and 5 since I wore my glasses. So I finally bit the bullet and went.

OMG!!!!!! $360 later (after a 40% coupon) and I get to the proud new owner of ONE pair of glasses. Have I forgotten or have they raised prices to cover their loss of business due to laser eye surgery?

I'm sitting here looking pretty damn cool in my office with sunglasses on and sitting back 4 feet from my screen thanks to pupil dilation.

The dangers of slippers

Saturday evening we had quite a scare with the boy. He was running from one side of the house to the other on the tile floor. He also happened to be wearing his spiderman slippers. And he slipped and fell, hard. He laid there for a few seconds in stunned silence and then started crying. We saw the event unfold and didn't think much of it until he stood up and tried to walk over to us. As he weaved from side to side, we saw the huge goose egg forming on his head. And panic took over. Hubby took him to the couch, I grabbed the ice and called the pediatrician. The nurse finally called back and told us to wake him up several times during the night for the next two nights to make sure he was still coherent and call back if his symptoms worsened. So of course I had to surf the internet for more information and totally freak myself out reading about concussions and bleeding in the brain. All is fine now except for a big knot and bruise on his head.

Is Santa real?

I think this question is coming soon. The boy, who turned 5 in June, is asking questions such as are Lilo and Stitch real? Is Buzz Lightyear? Is R2D2? Is 3CPO? And the other day he asked me if Santa was ever a baby. I hope we make it through one more Christmas at least, but it doesn't look promising.

New family tradition

I have started a new family tradition in my household. One that I'm sure the kids will gripe about when they get older. I've always been fascinated in learning how others around the world live and so I made a list of all the countries in the world and printed them out. Then I cut them into little strips of paper. Last night, I had my son draw one out of the bowl. We will learn about that country and make a native dish or two. I felt like this would be something educational as well as fun for all of us.

Country #1: Hungary

Are we finally getting it?

Hubby and I took the kids to the local high school track last night so we could get in some family time while I ran. My 5 year old has been asking to go running and that way we could each run at our own pace. He ended up meeting everyone at the track and racing several different runners. Too bad he's shy :)

What amazed me was just how many people were out exercising- a group doing some sort of boot camp, others walking around the track, some running, playing soccer, dad teaching his sons how to play football. Maybe all the advice is finally sinking in- it is important to exercise. It's hard to get and stay motivated, but so important for physical and mental health.

Biting my tongue

There's a guy who sits across the hall from me. And he sneezes louder than anyone I've ever heard. And he belches all day. Near the end of every day, he exclaims "what am I doing, what am I doing, oh, what am I doing."

I want so badly to retort- that's what we're all wondering.

Ain't cubeville grand?

How long would you last?

Because I like to torture myself, I've been thinking about how long I would continue to come to work even if I was independently wealthy. I would need a major incentive to put up with this crapola. How long would you last? I'm guessing I'd make it um, 2 days.

Buying a new car?

Be sure to check out Fighting Chance. Props again to Mister Crunchy for the link. They will help in negotiating the best deal on your new car. Buying a car must be my least favorite activity. Pulling into the dealership parking lot and seeing the vultures sitting on the steps. Watching as the rock/paper/scissors game quickly takes place and then the winner approaches before you can even open your door.

"Hi! How are you doing today? What are you looking for? How can I help you?"

Hours later, dazed, disoriented, hungry, and thirsty, you're left in a small office. The salesman enters with the huge grin.

"So, what is it going to take to get you in the driver's seat of this car today? What payments are you looking for?

Well, actually I would rather discuss price.

Sure, and how about $350 a month payments? That sound about right?

I don't care about payments, I care about the total price.

Okay, so, let's look at getting you in this fine vehicle for $350 a month."

And my favorite part is the dramatic pause, the passing papers back and forth, the salesmen running off to "get approval from his manager" and if you ever do get out of that loop, the financing and the extended warranty, rust protection, we'll keep adding costs until you say Uncle!

Maybe there is a better way to buy a vehicle.

Disclaimer: no offense intended towards car salesmen