Just a bit of this and that

There really hasn't been too much going on here lately.  My dad and Princess Bear (PB) were both sick from Friday morning through the weekend.  They had some stomach bug.  It wasn't too awful but PBs GI system isn't recovered completely from the illeus so she wasn't a happy camper.  It was interesting to see how much sleep can happen when there is no one around pushing an agenda.

On Saturday my mom decided she wanted to go for a mini road trip.  She just wanted to get out and shop.  At first her plan was to go to Galesburg which is about 45 minutes from here.  She decided that she didn't want to go that far just in case my dad or daughter got sicker or needed something.  I get the reasoning but I must say I was bummed.  I love going to Galesburg and haven't done it in a very long time.  Seminary street has some amazing shopping.  Instead we went to Washington to just putz around in the shops around the town square.  It was nice and we spent several hours being bums.  I'm not sure if would have stayed away that long but PB threw an unholy fit about me leaving her.  Whenever she does that it just makes me inclined to stay out a bit longer.

Sunday I woke up for the 2nd time in 3 days with a bad headache.  I made it through church.  I then came home and took some meds and laid down for awhile.  I was praying it wouldn't go into a full blown migraine.  It was bad enough as it was but I got lucky- thank G-d!  Then my mom wanted to go back to Washington.  Her favorite Mom & Pop grocery store is there and we'd run out of a few things.  My mom is one of those people that doesn't do sick well.   It's just not her personality.  The only person she even tries for is my daughter.  When my sister and I got sick when we were little we'd call for my dad.  He was the one to change sheets if we got sick or bring us 7up if our stomach hurt.  So I think 2 days of my dad and PB sick was enough to make her want to run away....repeatedly!

There was a downside to running away.  Ever since our vacation to Florida I've been saying something was wrong with my foot and ankle.  My dad said it was swollen so I had a Dr's appointment for this past Monday.  Well after walking around for quite awhile on Saturday not only did my foot and ankle hurt but everything clear up to my hip did and my knee was way swollen.  Several years ago I twisted the same ankle big time.  As in the Dr told me I would have been better off breaking it.  Instead I did a lot of tissue damage and some of it in spite of a lot of PT was never quite ok.   This picture was taken 4 or 5 days after the initial injury several years ago.  That means some of the swelling had already gone down.

 

Looked awesome, huh?  

 It seems as though I've done a good job re injuring it.   The Dr ordered Xrays just to make sure there wasn't a hairline fracture.  I start PT again in 3 weeks.  Why in 3 weeks?  The Dr. wants me to have it wrapped and elevated just to see if that helps.  Dude- she has kids too so doesn't she get that there is no real rest or elevation happening?  She did say that last time the ortho wanted to operate to see if that would help some of the muscles and tendons that had been stretched and twisted and did I want to consider surgery now.  Um, let me think about that for a sec.  Nope!  I think we'll try PT for a few months along with some lovely little drugs to take at the end of the day.  I'm not a big surgery person.

On the whole hospital/hospitalist fiasco it's literally becoming a game of who can pass the buck.  The hospitalist still insists that he saw PB on the first day of her hospitalization.  Funny how I was with her unless I had to go to the bathroom which only happened twice and my daughter has no recollection of him coming into her room.  I finally called his boss whom I've known for several years and said that he was flat out lying.  I did have a great conversation with her and we've come up with a plan so I never have to deal with this Dr. again for any other hospitalizations that PB may have in the future.  That's definitely good news for PB but not any other kids and families that have to deal with this jack wagon.  I'm not entirely done fighting this.  I just don't know how much further up the flag pole I can fly this. 

Oh, something very exciting, to me, almost happened yesterday.  I was listening to the Glenn Beck show on the radio.  I adore Glenn Beck.  They were discussing the Chris Kyle movie (which I see a post on in this blogs near future).   I called in and was actually on hold to talk with him.  I was SOOOOOOOO excited.  Total case of  idol worship going on.  After being on hold for over 20 minutes I had to hang up because of my Dr's appointment.  How disappointing! 

So that's the news and excitement in this neck of the woods.  Hope things are good with you!

Life plods along

I've been working on getting all my ducks in a row so I can respond to the people that did the inquiry on the Dr. I filed the complaint about.  Fun and games.  I did get a copy of Princess Bears (PB) records for the hospital stay.   Nowhere in the report did I see anything saying that anyone but a resident saw her the 1st day she was admitted.  That's a good sign for me to keep fighting this.

Her Dr's office and I are still trying to deal with the GI problems that PB is having from the ileus.  She'll be fine and dandy for a few days and then just have a horrid stomach ache.  It kills me to see my baby in so much pain.  The patient case manager at her pediatricians office is trying to get her into a new GI Dr.  I think I also need to see her pediatrician.  In looking at her records from the hospital stay there are several tests that were either high or low.  I don't want to borrow trouble but I don't want something to fall through the cracks either. 

In our school district every three years in addition to an IEP a big formal round of tests are done to see how every child receiving special education services is doing.  The first few times the kids are little.  3, 6 and 9 years old.  This year PB is going to be 12 and it gets a bit more dicey. Do I want them to still work on an academic approach or start focusing on life skills.  The next one at 15 PB will be the first time that PB has say in what is going on.  Part of this every three years battery of tests is meeting with the Social Worker from the District that is assigned to PB.  Last time the woman and I butted heads.   She didn't like one of the requests I made.  Every year I will grant them permission to do whatever testing they need included standardized IQ testing.  Then I make them crazy by not letting them include her IQ score in any of the paper work.  It's not that I don't want to face the facts.  By all means of testing my daughter is developmentally delayed and I know it.  My problem is that I still want her teachers to push her.  I don't want them to make her miserable but I do want her limits tested.  She can't grow if she isn't pushed.  SO, I don't want any teacher to get a preconceived idea of what PB is capable of based on a test score.  I want it do be determined by the work they do with her.  It really pissed off the social worker last time.  This time she was much better about it since she does see where I'm coming from.  I went into this meeting very unsure of how things would go.  Turns out I was worried for nothing.  She was really wonderful about everything and also gave me a lot of information about local resources I didn't know about.  She had information about  an upcoming 4H event where the kids get to participate in 4 different classes for $10.  There are 32 classes to pick from.  PB picked crochet, dog care and grooming, cupcake decorating and how to build a birdhouse.  Can't beat that for $10!

I was super stoked about the announcement of Luke Bryan's upcoming tour.  If he'd play a stadium show in Chicago PB would have been over the moon since Florida Georgia Line are playing the stadium dates.  Alas, no stadium tour in Chi town.   I did try to convince my mom that we could turn PBs birthday into a Nashville weekend and in addition to the concert go to the Louisville Zoo and the Louisville Slugger museum.  Only problem is by June and July Nashville can be pretty darn hot and why risk all that money only to have a chance that PB could overheat?  That also took the St. Louis concerts out of the running.  Then I saw that he's playing 2 shows at the United Center in Chicago.  I love the United Center.  They serve super yummy Bob Chinns Mai Tais there.  Well, they used to.  I've been to Bulls games at the United Center when Michael Jordan was still playing.  I've been to some awesome concerts like U2 at the United Center.  Fun times.  So, I started looking at the Chicago dates and rolling it around in my head whether my child missing 1.5 days of school for a concert was something I could justify.  Then a wonderful idea struck.  PB is supposed to do her yearly trip to Shriners in September.  Bet I could just nicely ask if she could do it the end of October and bam!  Excused absences from school!!!!  So tomorrow I'm going to be calling Shriners and hoping like all get out that I can schedule her visit then! 

So that's pretty much the story here.  I was considering covering the SotU address but really how many times and ways can I say that Barak Obama is a complete idiot before its just redundant?  Then there's the whole deflategate deal.  That one really pisses me off.  I was really hoping for a Seattle vs Indianapolis Super Bowl.  Mostly because I really hate the Packers and I'm no big fan of the Pats.  I think Belichick is a complete a$$hat that needs to be banned from coaching and Tom Brady needs to take a long walk off a short pier.  After some thought though I decided not to broach the Deflategate fiasco! :)  (ok not in depth!).

When did I become a Crusader?

It seems as though more and more I spend time fighting for something that is right just because it's right.  Not that it will have much bearing for me but just because it is something that needs to be done.  I suppose in some ways my parents formed my sister and I to do exactly this.  Stand up for those who can't or don't.  Question authority if things don't seem to be adding up.  I guess that's what happens when 2 hippies have kids!  I remember being little sitting at this kid sized table my parents and writing a letter to President Jimmy Carter encouraging him to do more to help get the hostages from the Iranian Hostage situation home.  I was 6 y'all.  That's the kind of stuff my parents thought was important and encouraged.  All through grade school every time we had parent teacher conferences my teachers would always comment that I questioned them often.  My parents had no problem with this as long as I did it respectfully and since getting sent to the Principals office wasn't fun you can be sure I was respectful as all get out while still questioning what was what.  When I was in 8th grade I really rocked the boat.  My sister was playing on the schools volleyball team.  The team had made it to sectionals but didn't play all the players.  Just the good ones.  That was against school rules.  The coaches just hoped that no one would connect those dots or rat them out.  Yeah, I don't think so.  Oh before I go any further here my sister was not one of those kids that was benched but 2 of her friends were.  I said something to the coaches and they disregarded me.  I said something to the principal.  She disregarded me.   Yeah ok.  You can try to ignore me but I'm not going to go away.  As it turned out I wrote a letter to the Bishop breaking down what had happened.  That really got people's panties in a bunch.  My parents backed me up.  Better yet the girls benched were apologized to and it didn't happen again.  I would have loved it if they hadn't let those parents coach any longer but you can't win them all!

So what is all this back story about?  Remember the total POS hospitalist that did nothing as far as treatment or following the orders from the admitting Dr. from when Princess Bear (PB) was in the hospital?  Well I got the follow up letter from the inquiry.  Long story short they are saying that this Dr. didn't do anything wrong.  No where things got really interesting is that it says the Dr. saw PB on the day she was admitted.  That is a bald faced lie.  So after talking to the patient manager PB has had at her pediatricians office since birth the wheels are being set in motion for me to pursue this further.  Do not lie and say you saw my child.  Do not lie and say my daughters admission orders were different than they were.  I'm going to call you on your bullshit.  So I have the office notes from the Dr's visit that led to her hospitalization.  Monday I'm going to the hospital to get a copy of her records from that hospitalization.  The patient manager pointed out that if I want to pursue this for legal reasons I didn't have much of a leg to stand on.  After assuring her that I wasn't in it looking for a payout but rather to make sure PB and any of the other kids in the practice that might have to deal with this hospitalist deserve more she completely encouraged me to run this further up the flag pole.  It's not just about my daughter.  G-d willing and the creek don't rise she won't have another hospitalization  (ok so I might not bet the ranch on that but I'm going for positive) but there are a lot of kids that get sent to the hospital by the pediatric group we use that deserve a hell of a lot more than this clown Dr. is giving them!

I'm also embroiled in a similar situation with our local school district.  I'm not going to say too much about it at this point in time just because it's a very volatile situation and I am trying to keep my head covered while still stirring the pot.  Hard yes but not impossible. 

So that is the story here.  Never thought that advocate would be a frequently worn hat but it's happening more and more often.  Guess I'll just roll with it!

This country is toast folks!!!

OK, I know the gun debate will rage on for all time.  Personally, I think everyone should have the choice to carry a gun as long as they know how to use said gun.  That means spending some time on a range practicing.  That doesn't mean buying it out of some pawn shop, taking it home and hoping for the best.  I could go off on this gun thing all night but I'm going to narrow it down just a little bit so we can have some fun with it.

Have you heard about this school in Alabama that wants every child to bring an 8oz can of food to school?  Why bring a can of food to school you might ask.  Is it for a food drive for the less fortunate?  No.  Is it to help stock the local soup kitchen?  No.  It's to help thwart a potential gunman!  Yes I'm dead serious.  You can find an article about it HERE.    I'll give you a minute to head over there and read the article.  After you've stopped laughing and shaking you're head c'mon back here and join me, ok?

It's educators that think like this that truly scare me.  That principal is serious has a freaking heart attack.  She's a principal.  I'm guessing that even in Alabama that means she has a masters degree.  If not a Bachelors with a lot of work experience.  And yes I just made fun of Alabama.  Sorry.  I used to live in Alabama..it has some great aspects to it.  Then you have something like this.

Now let's talk about what happens after you've sent little Timmy off to school with his can of chicken n stars soup and little Susie with her can of spaghetti Os.  The principal at this school thinks that storing their little 8oz can of food in their desk is going to empower them.  Really?????  Really?????  Oh and lets not forget to make sure its a can of food that needs a can opener to open it.  You wouldn't want little Timmy or Susie to get a case of the mid morning munchies and open that bad boy up!  No siree!  That could open whole other can of problems! Oh and let's hope that none of these kiddos go rogue and take justice into their own hands. You know little Mikey tagged little Ashley too hard in gym class (the one day a week that they have gym) and when they get back to the room little Ashley fires her can of peaches in heavy syrup at little Mikey. Then you'll have the food police sending a note home to little Ashley's mom about how unhealthy heavy syrup is. Hell....DCFS might even get involved. Heavy syrup is child abuse to be sure!

Now I'll be the first to admit that this sign is much more in line with what I'd like to see happening in schools:

 

Really. Let any potential gunman stop for a second and decide how lucky they feel that day. Completely works for me. Now I know most schools don't have the cojones to stand behind a policy like this. Instead we now have schools that are on lock down and kids have to have drills on what to do if a potential gunman does enter the building. If you live in Alabama that means little Timmy is going to be beaming a can of chicken n stars at the gunman. Now color me crazy but to you really think provoking said gunman by beaming them on the head with a can of soup is a really good idea? Yeah- not so much!

Pas Peur

I pondered whether I wanted to address the massacre at Charlie Hebdo.  Yes.  Yes I do.  It's time to not be afraid and it's time to stop trying to say that Muslims are practicing a peaceful religion.  What really did it for me though was the hostage situation that unfolded in Paris at the Kosher grocery store.  On a Friday.  This was deliberate and as evil as it gets.  For those who haven't connected the dots on this one Fridays are always the busiest at Kosher grocery stores.  The people are there to buy the foods they need for Shabbat. 

Yes I take this personally.  As I've mentioned before although I was raised Catholic my mother is Jewish and to many peoples way of thinking I am Jewish as is my daughter.  It absolutely breaks my heart that my daughter at my mothers insistence doesn't know my mom is Jewish.  She figures that Princess Bear (PB) has enough issues to deal with because of her physical and mental disabilities she doesn't want to "add another to her plate."  How fucking wrong is that?  Not only does PB not know her grandmother is Jewish but somehow in the effort to not share this part of her heritage with PB my parents have taken so far that PB began to think there was something wrong with Judaism.  PB and I were looking at holiday manicures on Pinterest.  She was giving everything a thumbs up or thumbs down rating.  We ran across a Hanukkah manicure and PB reacted very negatively.  I instantly about blew a gasket but caught myself.  I asked her why she thought that.  She replied that her Boaby thought Hanukkah was bad.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  She also doesn't know how much her grandmothers faith touches her life without her having any real knowledge of it.  Even the name she calls her grandmother is what Jewish children call their grandmothers (although most spell it Bubbe).  We did have a talk with PB and let her know that Judaism is a wonderful religion and Hanukkah is a fun holiday.  On the one hand I hate that my mom wants to hide this from PB but on the other hand I can understand why she feels that way.  Growing up I always wore 2 necklaces.  One had 2 pendants on it.  An S and a Celtic Cross.  The other had a chai which is the Hebrew symbol for life.  From the time I started wearing the chai my mom started schooling me on how to handle it.  Ever on an airplane in a hostage situation.  Rip it off and hide it in the seat.  When we were on our way to Huntsville for a summer job I had we were near Memphis around 1am.  I looked over at the truck next to me.  There were 3 people in KKK robes.  Without a word my mom held out her hand.  I knew what she wanted.  She took my chai and gave it back to me when I came home at the end of the summer.  Can I tell you how crazy it is that we're living in a world were this is a concern?  Where my daughter can't safely be told all about her heritage?  There is something wrong with all of this.

Now if the folks at Charlie Hebdo were just drawing anti Muslim cartoons there might (might) be some room to say that they were doing something wrong.  That wasn't the case.  The fact that the gunmen were yelling "We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad" and "God is Great" in Arabic ("Allahu Akbar") is just more reason to question why if Islam is such a religion of peace that Muslims all over the world are not decrying these situations.

2 night ago I read about Richard Dawkins response to the terror attack.  Now just so you know right off the bat I pretty much think that Richard Dawkins is a complete asshat and a waste of valuable oxygen.  Before you start questioning why I think this I'll just answer it for you.  It doesn't make a damn bit of difference to me that he's an atheist.  That's his concern or problem.  However you want to look at it.  I firmly believe that everyone needs to have faith in something higher than themselves.  There will come a time that you need to have faith in something and if you don't have that light at the end of the tunnel I feel sorry for you but I won't dislike you for it.  Now what he has said about Down Syndrome children and the fact that he things that every woman carrying a Down Syndrome child should have an abortion pretty much makes him a despicable human being in my book.  SO, it really grates on me when someone that I pretty much so have zero respect comes out with such great responses that I can agree with.  The following were taking from a Blaze article you can find HERE.    Here's the short version:

Richard Dawkins        ✔ @RichardDawkins Follow

They shouted “We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30710883 … Some useful idiot will claim it had nothing to do with religion.

8:55 AM - 7 Jan 2015

 

Richard Dawkins        ✔ @RichardDawkins Follow

No, all religions are NOT equally violent. Some have never been violent, some gave it up centuries ago. One religion conspicuously didn’t.

9:08 AM - 7 Jan 2015

Please tell me that either tweet isn't honest?

There are times that someone writes something that I read and say "Damn!  They hit it on the head!  Wish I said it that well!"  Someone who often does that is the Patriot Nurse.  Here are a few things she's shared the last day or so that really resonate.  

 

I stand with the non-Sharia Citizens of the Republic of France. The worldwide muslim community has my vote of zero confidence in its ability to win the ideological war it claims to wage against the supposed 'minority of radicals'. Moderate muslims cannot and will not outbreed, outshoot, outfight or outmanuever the violent ones. It's not going to happen. You know what that tells me? Islam is an epic fail. If it truly is about peace, Muslims, you failed in checking the violent ones, and you're gonna have to wrestle with your own cognitive dissonance to free yourself from death cult. If it is NOT about peace (true) and advocates intellectual slavery and violence, the system deserves to be annihilated for the sake of innocents not wishing to be shot, beheaded, raped or sold into slavery.

Postmodernism and relativism have CASTRATED the defensive and tribal mindset necessary for the perpetuation of Western culture. Acts of 'barbarism' are committed by...guess who... BARBARIANS. Fight them more barbarically if you want to destroy them. Limited warfare has produced what we see here today. Holding the hand of a culture and attempting to 'rehabilitate' nations who house and spawn violent death cult adherents does nothing but convince them of our weakness and facilitate their continued growth.
Holding candles and pens may be symbolic, but it accomplishes NOTHING. The threat is still the same because the ideology is RESIDENT in France...and in the US. It is coming. Here. Soon.



Let me call out the elephant in the room. The war against jihadi butchers is not going to be won by lofty speeches, platitudes, candle holding, or ideas. We are fighting a medieval ideology and a brutal enemy that doesn't hold to standards of Western decency. If we want to be secure in our Liberty we are going to have to be MORE brutal, more bloody, more ferocious and effective at killing and destroying their CULTURE than they are in beheading ours. Nation building has been an epic fail. And lest you have moral qualms about the severity of these statements...these animals and the cultures that spawn them don't deserve your pity, they deserve your utter contempt for perpetuating endless violence, victimization of women and minorities, and refusing to correct their own moral vacuum.

Our enemies are COUNTING on the self-congratulatory morality of the liberal minded, 'educated' masses of soft, weak men who are more concerned about cardigans and shoe leather than shot placement and reloading time. They are also counting on the decency of average people hesitant towards violence as a solution. Criminals ALWAYS do this. It is how they mentally destabilize and control their victims. Whether it's a thug on the street in an ATM hold up, or militant defenders of the false prophet, the pattern is the same.
The last time we had a enemy hell bent on martyrdom and destruction of the self for the ideology? Japan....think about what had to happen to force their surrender. But again, we aren't going to do any of these things. Our best blueprint for keeping a sense of open mindedness without letting people kill us senselessly? Look at Israel and do what they do...except more.


 We are how many days into this situation and now the muslim terrorists have HOSTAGES. The leaders of Muslim nations are SILENT...SILENT...SILENT. You know what that tells me? They 1) Agree and support this 2) Are so afraid of the terrorists in their own populace that they are silent.



Islam is the enemy of EVERY FREE man, woman, and child. It has no place in the United States or any western nation. The fundamental tenets of Islam are diametrically opposed to the foundational freedoms and truth this Nation was built upon. You cannot coexist with this level of backward evil. You may shake up oil and water all day long, but they will never mix.


Those were all taken from the Patriot Nurses Facebook page from the past couple of days.  If you aren't familiar with her do yourself a favor and get familiar with her.  She's a smart lady that shares some very valuable information.  Google her.  Find her youtube channel.  It will be well worth your time.

Also I must give mad props to the President of France Francois Hollande for being brutally honest with the citizens of his country and calling it a terrorist attack from the word go.  No whitewashing it.  No calling it workplace violence.  Honesty is the only way this problem can begin to be addressed.

I will apologize tonight.  Not for the content of my post but for going all political 2 days in a row.  Granted it was very different topics each time but I try not to do the political soap box too often.  Unfortunately there are some times it can't be avoided.  

A mish mash

Ok...not really sure were this post is going.  I've had entirely TOO much caffeine and I'm loose at the keyboard at 1:35am.  Much safer than other options but still leaves plenty of room for trouble!

First of all how about some yummy-ness?  My dad's cousin was sharing this link on Facebook earlier.  In my opinion there is no better taste combination than peanut butter and chocolate!  Many of these recipes have that exact combo.  In other words they'll work better than a Hershey bar dipped in Jif with a side of salt lick if you're particularly PMSy.  Check it out HERE.

OK next up.  Let's talk about that the fact that no one is entitled to their own opinion in Hollywood.  And I for one and damn sick of it.  What's bringing this little rant about?  Last night Princess Bear and I were watching the Peoples Choice Awards.  Did you see it?  If so did you hear Kaley Cuoco-Sweetings joke about her apology tour?  I absolutely love that she poked fun at it but wish it wasn't necessary due to BS backlash.  If you're not sure what I'm referring to it all started with a Redbook interview that Kaley did.  It asked her if she was a feminist.  This is her response:

Cuoco answered “Is it bad if I say no?” and continued: “Things are different now, and I know a lot of the work that paved the way for women happened before I was around… I was never that feminist girl demanding equality, but maybe that’s because I’ve never really faced inequality.” And: “I cook for [my husband] Ryan five nights a week: It makes me feel like a housewife; I love that. I know it sounds old-fashioned, but I like the idea of women taking care of their men.”

Apparently this is a HUGE sin.  It's not ok to not be a feminist y'all.  We're all supposed to be out there raging against men and railing for womens rights at all times.  Anything else is unacceptable.

What complete, total and utter bullshit is that?  Why isn't it ok to say "What makes me happy is being a homemaker and mother?" Why can't women find fulfillment in the home and not be ridiculed for that?  If it is their choice then why isn't that ok?

If you can't tell I find this horribly offensive.  It's kind of like when people had a huge piss fit because Legos came out with Lego Friends as a way to entice more girls to play with Legos.  Yes the Legos are in a more "girly" color format and have things like horses.  Why is this bad?  My daughter loves playing with her Legos.  Am I really supposed to get upset that hers are pink, purple and light blue instead of navy, red and black?  If I am I guess I've failed her on that front.  I'm just glad that she's playing with something that doesn't have a screen and makes noise.  I'm freaking ecstatic if she gets all those little fu$#ers picked up!

 

Seriously!  There is no pain like stepping on a freaking lego barefoot!  If you're a mom you know this!  You also know that the things multiply like Gremlins when you aren't looking!

Also before you get all upset with me I'm equally offended when women don't get paid an equal amount for doing the same work.  I'm upset when women receive backlash for entering into what is perceived as a "mans job".  Its all bullshit all the way around.  I just don't think it's acceptable when people have an issue with women staying home, raising their kids and taking on the more traditional role of a homemaker.  Whatever floats your boat should be enough....without having to explain or justify. 

I just have to say that I'm not happy about a world in which it isn't ok to make your family and home your main focus if that's what you hold important.  It's a bit like being PC.  It's gone way to far and the pendulum needs to swing back!  I wonder how many working mothers are working mothers because they find real fulfillment in it?  I wonder how many working mothers would quit their jobs if the lose of their income would not throw their family into economic peril?  Just pondering a few points.

 I could go on but I'm sure I've pissed off a few people by this point.  I'd say I'm sorry but I'm really not.  Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn if my post has your panties in a bunch!  Let's just agree to disagree from the onset, ok?

I freaking LOVE our snowblower!!!

Seriously!  My dad bought a new one two winters ago perhaps.  I dubbed this thing the Beast immediately.  It makes quick work out of clearing the driveway.  Frankly it took more time to back out the car, get it out from under its tarp, fill it with gas, start it and put the car back than it did to clear the driveway.  Now I always had a bit of a problem with my carpal tunnel and the Beast.  This was the first time I used it since I broke my hand.  About 1/2 way through the driveway I had to take a 30 second rest to shake out my arm.  I was also so thrilled to be out of the house and enjoying the outside that I went over to my neighbors and cleared off 2/3 of her driveway (she always parks in the middle so I saw no need to do the whole thing) and her front walkway.  After that my dad came looking for me.  Who knows how many other peoples driveways I would have done?  It definitely helped my cabin fever!  Good thing too because we're going to be housebound tomorrow.  The high for tomorrow with the wind chill factored in is estimated to be -25*.   The local school districts have all cancelled school for tomorrow.  My only plans for going outside will be a quick trip to feed the birds. 

Princess Bear (PB) had another good day.  She's tolerating food better.  She wanted to know if we could go out to breakfast.  Ummm...no!  She's really craving chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.  Who can blame her?  Unfortunately even if it wasn't going to be OMG cold her system isn't ready for that kind of food yet.  I did promise to make some plain pancakes.  It was a compromise she was eventually ready to make.

I spent a good portion of this evening texting with Mason.  I do love it when the man tries to appease me!  I asked him what his daughter received from her long distance beau for Christmas.  It lead to this whole "conversation".  I thought the young man was rather boring in his gift choices.  Mace then tried telling me that I was too high maintenance.  After awhile he came around to my way of thinking.  Good Mace!  Biscuit! :)    While I completely can sympathize with having very little money to spend on gifts I think with some thought and planning its very possible to get a gift that can be very personal.  What do you think?

Catch ups and blah

Today was back to the Dr. for Princess Bear (PB).  Poor kid has been on a liquid only diet since last Friday.  This is a child that loves to eat and does it often and with great gusto.  She of course lost more weight.  The kid really is a stick now.  The good news is that they heard "gut sounds" today!  Cue the real food!  We started slowly with graham crackers and some bread.  It seemed to go well.  Until it didn't.  All of a sudden her stomach started hurting and cramping quite a bit.  Thankfully a warm bath and tea helped a lot.  She did eat a small bowl of chicken soup and a matzo ball for dinner.  I've never seen anyone so bloody excited to eat a matzo ball!  Then she made the mistake to top all mistakes.  She told my mom that she likes my matzo balls better than hers.  My mom does not to well when she's told that someone else makes something better than she does.  One of my dad's favorite desserts is cherry cobbler.  One time many moons ago my mom wasn't feeling well so she asked me to make it.  I pulled out the recipe and made it.  My dad loved it and said it was as good as my moms.  No surprise since it was her recipe and I'd been watching her make it for years.  My mom didn't make another cherry cobbler for my dad for about 15 years.  My dad learned his lesson quickly.  Whatever I make is almost as good as my mom's but not quite!  I just sit back and laugh about it!

Winter seems to be hitting Central Illinois with force today.  We've had basically no snow this year.  Apparently Mother Nature decided we'd become too soft and has blessed us with 5" of snow and its still going.  Thankfully even though tomorrow is supposed to be the kids first day back at school from Christmas break her Dr. wants her to stay home a few more days.  That means I can just stay put.  I'm pretty basically ok with that.  I'm ok in that I have no desire to drive in the snow with all the idiots who have forgotten there snow driving skills since our last snow how ever many months ago.  That said I'm developing some cabin fever.  We've all been sick and more or less housebound for going on 3 weeks.  I'm not counting trips to the Dr./ hospital or the grocery store as excursions. 

This time of year is always tough.  Its such a downer to take down all the Christmas decorations and then you're back to the doldrums of regular life.  I'm feeling a bit antsy so I think it's time to start a few projects.  I've got over 300 pics from our Disney vacation to do something with.  I haven't scrap booked in forever but this seems to call for a scrapbook all its own.  Other than that I have no idea what to do to lift the blues.  I'm thinking there is going to be some Pinterest perusing in my future! 

While I do love having PB home with me and I think I probably teach her more than her current teacher is there are a few downsides to having absolutely no time to myself.  The series finale of Sons of Anarchy is still waiting to be watched.  It played when we were in FL and I've had no alone time since to watch it.  I just don't feel it's an appropriate show for my 11 year old.  She assures me that her friend watches it.  Yeah, no.  That argument doesn't work now and won't ever.....wonder how long it will take her to figure that out.  Yes I know that Jax dies but damn....I watched the series from the beginning of season 2.  I've got some time invested here!  Also while she tries my daughter doesn't like it when she's not the focus of my attention.  The downside of being an only child.  Mason and I can't have a decent conversation when PB is home for extended periods of time.  It is kind of funny listening to them both compete for my attention though.  It reminds me of preschoolers. 

In same ways I really hate that PB is an only child.  I certainly never pictured myself with only 1 child.  That said I don't know how it would have panned out having another.  Certainly not at this point.  I think it gets to a point, sometime after the child has started grade school, and it just becomes a rude awakening to them if Mom has another kid.  They've been the center of the universe for how ever many years and bam!  You're sharing Mom (and Dad)!  Kinda sucks to be them.  I guess I'm thinking about this because I jokingly told Mason that I wanted to get pregnant.  As much as I'd love another child it almost seems cruel. 

Well, I'm going to watch a bit of TV, enjoy a cup of tea and watch the snow for a bit before I turn in.  Have a good one!

Poor Princess Bear

Princess Bear (PB) is still a pretty sick kiddo.  On Wednesday I took her to the Dr.'s office for her follow up appointment after being released from the hospital.  The nurse practitioner didn't like the sound of her breathing at all and felt that she was very dehydrated.  She sent us to the lab in the building for a chest xray.  They sent her down there with a Pedialyte Popsicle.  Both the nurse practitioner and the Dr. she asked for a second opinion thought there were a couple of spots that might be pneumonia.  One more thing that they should have handled better during the recent overnight hospitalization.  She increased breathing treatments, and oral steroids and told me I had to push liquids big time.  She was actually considering readmitting PB to the hospital but I convinced her I'd keep a close eye on PB and take her to the ER if anything changed.  That way if she was admitted through the ER we'd have a different hospitalist and not the clown we dealt with earlier this week.  We had to make a follow up appointment for today and PB left sucking down another Pedialyte Popsicle (Btw...have you ever tasted those?  ICK!).  The nurse practitioner called a few hours later to check on PB and let me know that they didn't have a final report back on the chest xray and everyone was cutting out early due to it being New Years Eve.  She let me know that she'd already called the Dr. on call and gone over everything going on with PB and reminded me what to watch for.  I will say that the phone call meant a lot!

PB's stomach ache has been getting worse as the week has worn on.  She's hungry but as soon as she eats her stomach hurts.  I mentioned all of this to the hospitalist and residents before they discharged PB the other day.  They were unconcerned.  I took PB back for her follow ups follow up.  She know has Ileus.  Basically her intestines have decided not to work for awhile.  Seriously?!!!?  My kid cannot catch a break.  The Dr. did say that he wasn't sure if they would have started an IV or kept her in the hospital longer that they would have picked up on this but he hoped they would have.  Again the question became whether to admit her again or keep a close eye on her at home.  So we're at home.  I left with a list of things I need to watch for and that's what I'm doing. 

I also started the process to file a grievance against the hospitalist who did absolutely nothing for PB when she was in the hospital the other day.  After talking to her pediatrician today he was upset that the admitting orders hadn't been followed and he was going to look into it as well.  The case manager at the office told me how to start the process.  The problem is that he is employed by Hospital A and PB was hospitalized at hospital B.  So they aren't sure which hospital needs to open the investigation.  I personally think even though she was hospitalized at hospital B and treated by the residents of hospital B those residents had received their instructions from the hospitalist so it is Hospital A that should be looking into this.  The patient advocate was pretty horrified to find out that PB had just been observed with no orders being followed and how much has happened since she was released.  That made me feel a bit better and not like an over reactive mom.  I'm also not trying to get the hospitalist in trouble for shits and giggles.  He dropped the ball on PBs care.  How many other kids has he done that to?  Not ok.  I'm waiting to hear back from the patient advocate on what the next step is.

For now I'm just going to sit here and watch my little girl sleep and relish in the fact that she's at home!