Stuff

Man!  Somebody sure told winter that it'd been on the  weak side and it decided to rectify the situation!  Now I'll be the first to say that overall this winter at least here in the Midwest has been pretty darn mild.  A bit of snow but nothing that stayed around.  The worse thing we've had this winter was the horrible freezing rain and high wind storm that blew through here almost 2 weeks ago.  As I type this the snow has stopped (it was a predicted 3-5 inches but I'm pretty sure that we fell short of that) and the wind and bitter cold have kicked it.  It's currently 16 degrees with a windchill of 2 degrees.  That's cold folks!  Yep, I'm whining and I know it.  This winter really had spoiled us!

On Thursday I took Princess Bear (PB) in for the blood work that the allergist wanted done.  We're still trying to find a rhyme or reason to PBs frequent hives outbreaks and the allergic reactions she had last week.  For the most part PB is a trooper about blood work.  After she had an 8 day hospital stay a few years ago she was leery for a bit but she's never been one of those kids that totally freaks out at needles.  Good thing too since she seems to want to get a couple of tattoos when she's grown up!  Anyway, since we were getting them down at the hospitals outpatient lab she asked my mom to be there.  For this second time this week waiting for some freaking blood work to get done too WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too long!  It got to the point that my mom took PB on a walk to check out the gift shop.  They came back and went on another walk to get some snacks.  Finally they call us back to the lab and ask PB for her name and birthday.  She's getting settled in the chair and looks over to see 7 vials.  She suddenly had a deer in the headlights look and I truly thought she was going to book outta there.  Thankfully the phlebotomist was a great stick and it went well.  Right until the very end when I asked them to use coband to secure the gauze to her arm.  I was told that coband is too expensive and paper tape works just as well.  That may be but my child has an allergy to adhesive that is getting worse.  She's also like me in that she tends to bleed a lot.  Since her arm was still bleeding we had no choice but to use paper tape.  She took it off within 15 minutes and still had a significant rash.  My mom had me take some pics and email it to her work account.  I'm pretty sure that no one in patient relations was having a good Friday by the time my mom was done with them.

Now this is a bit like last nights current event post but I'm going to go into a bit more depth.  Let's talk a bit about the latest of Obama's Executive Orders.   First of all lets take a look at the 2nd Amendment:

Let's not even go into the legalities of it although why impeachment charges haven't been dropped since Republicans now hold majority of the House of Representatives is beyond me.  I digress.  Back to the newest executive orders.  What exactly is the most polarizing President ever trying to succeed in doing?  How is it that he things these executive orders would have stopped ANY of the mass shooting tragedies of the last decade or make our streets a safer place?  Let's take the 3 mass shooting tragedies that to the top of my head:
-South Carolina
-San Bernardino
-Sandy Hook
I'm just dealing with this but I think you'll find that what I'm breaking down here is the case in all the recent mass shootings.

-South Carolina.  Dylann Roof if he had gone to a gun shop would not have been able to purchase a weapon due to Federal laws already in place.  Rather he received a gun from his father.
-San Bernardino.  The terrorists used guns obtained legally
-Sandy Hook.  Adam Lanza used the guns his mother had legally obtained.

So anybody seeing where the latest and greatest of Obama having a pen and a phone is not really going to accomplish anything worthwhile?

There are also those who debate that those with mental illnesses should not be allowed to purchase firearms.  This is where you get into a very slippery slope.  I don't believe it is the issue of whether or not these individuals should be allowed to purchase firearms rather addressing the huge gaps in our countries mental health system.  Asking Dr's to report patients that meet certain "criteria" that would put them on a no purchase list is a) a HUGE violation of HIPAA and b) incredibly subjective.  See where the slippery slope is coming in?

As far as the whole aspect of keeping our streets safer by requiring all guns to be registered you'll never get all the thugs, low life gang bangers and general law breakers to register their guns.  It won't happen. 

 

So you can spout off about expanded background checks and a tie in system that would be peachy but it still isn't going to eliminate the problem.  So if you really want to go for things like an expanded background check then you need to do it legally.  Whoa- I'll probably piss off a person or 2 here but maybe just maybe if our borders were more secure than the illegal gun supply would dry up.  Whatta ya think?  

A few great moments from the Presidents town hall meeting can be seen HERE.  First off is Taya Kyle, Chris Kyle's widow.  I will say it completely made my stomach roll the way Obama couldn't even give Mrs. Kyle the courtesy of looking her in the eye while thanking her for her husbands duty to the Country. 

Then there is a Sheriff who is running for Congress and having a few tough questions for Obama.  As usual Obama shares his half truths but its still an interesting few minutes.  You can see it HERE.  By the way what is it with law enforcement from Arizona being so bad ass?  Love it!

The last thing I want to delve into about this whole executive action law order fiasco is the Hollywood elite that have lined up to thank Obama for once again by passing the Constitution.  I get that Hollywood by its very nature is pretty damn liberal.  I also get that if people stop watching or listening to the items these people put out its a very organic way to make the voice of a less liberal part of the country heard.  At the end of the letter is everyone who had signed it.  Feel free to boycott these people as you see fit.  Also as usual the Hollywood elite show how very lemming like they are and how very little knowledge they actually have.  Internet gun sales do have background checks in that they are delivered to a local gun dealer that then must do the appropriate background check before releasing the gun to the person who originated the online sale.  Freaking idiots.  

Dear Mr. President:

Thank you. Thank you for having the courage and leadership to take Executive Action on preventing more unnecessary gun violence in this country. We are deeply thankful for the actions you took this week. Countless lives will be saved as a result.

Like you, and like most Americans, we have had ENOUGH. We have had enough of seeing unthinkable tragedies happen and nothing being done. Two masked people walk into a center for the disabled and murder 14 co-workers celebrating the holidays. A group of churchgoers are slaughtered during a prayer service even as they welcome the young man full of hate to their group. And the horrific day when 20 first graders and six educators were massacred in their classroom. In each case, the guns used were far too easily available to people intent on doing harm.

This level of depravity should rattle anyone with a conscience. We have seen how it has visibly rattled you.

Roughly 33,000 people die from gun violence every year in this country. Every day, we lose 89 more. Since Sandy Hook, 160 schools have experienced shootings. The homicide rate in the United States is 20 times higher than 22 countries like us in wealth and population – combined. No one is challenging the right of law abiding citizens to responsibly own a firearm. But like you, we believe that guns should be kept away from criminals, terrorists, domestic abusers, the dangerously mentally ill, and children. Your Executive Action will do exactly that – extending Brady background checks to gun shows and online sales.

Thank you for protecting our rights. The right to be safe. The right not to be afraid when you go into a public place. The right not to have a generation of scared kids raised on lockdown drills on what to do if a shooter enters their school. The right of our government to do what the overwhelming majority of people want.

We love this country. And one key reason we love it is that it was built on the principle that its people could change it. Thank you for doing so. We hope Members of Congress who have failed to act on the gun violence epidemic will support the will of most Americans and will take similar action to correct what has been a shameful period in our nation’s history. We deserve better than this.

Thank you for beginning to end this national disgrace and show your fellow citizens and the rest of the world that the United States of America does indeed stand for the principles on which it was founded.

Sincerely,

Jessica Alba
Judd Apatow
Alan Arkin
Dylan Baker
André Balazs
Talia Balsam
Elizabeth Banks
Jason Bateman
Tony Bennet
Aloe Blacc
Dustin Lance Black
T Bone Burnett
Steve Buscemi
Sophia Bush
Nick Cannon
Graydon Carter
Maverick Carter
Rosanne Cash
Liza Chasin
Andy Cohen
Bruce Cohen
Marc Cohn
Kenneth Cole
Maria Cuomo Cole
Bradley Cooper
Victor Cruz
Rosemarie DeWitt
Griffin Dunne
Jay Duplass
Mark Duplass
Steve Earle
Rich Eisen
Noah Emmerich
Carolyn Everson
Edie Falco
Marshall Faulk
Will Ferrell
Viveca Paulin-Ferrell
Jenna Fischer
Rupert Friend
Scott Fujita
Nely Galan
Alex Gansa
Victor Garber
Tony Goldwyn
Clark Gregg
Jennifer Grey
Ted Griffin
Dan Gross
Paul Haggis
Jon Hamm
John Benjamin Hickey
David and Joan Hill
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Arianna Huffington
Timothy Hutton
In-Q
Brad Jakeman
Richard Jenkins
Beverly Johnson
Rashida Jones
Michael Keaton
Michael J Kelly
Neil LaBute
Donna Langley
Kristin Lemkau
Nanette Lepore
Ben Lerer
Tracy Letts
Ron Livingston
Justin Long
Carey Lowell
Josh Lucas
Tobey Maguire
Julianna Margulies
Tom McCarthy
Adam McKay
Kelly Meyer
Ron Meyer
Julianne Moore
Mandy Moore
Elisabeth Moss
Olivia Munn
Liam Neeson
Edward Norton
Sarah Jessica Parker
Mandy Patinkin
Sarah Paulson
Amanda Peet
Jeremy Piven
Josh Radnor
Paul Rivera
Shauna Robertson
Holly Robinson Peete
Paul Rudd
Mark Ruffalo
Richard Schiff
Taylor Schilling
James Schwab
David Schwimmer
Adam Scott
Naomi Scott
Suzy Shuster
John Slattery
Sir Martin Sorrell
Nicholas Stoller
Steve Stoute
Ed Templeton
David Wain
Robyn Wholey
Kristen Wiig
Olivia Wilde
Debra Winger

 

Haven't done this lately

It's been awhile since I've done one of those what's happening in current events posts.  Since it's late and this is a pretty easy post lets do this tonight.  Here are 2 things that have popped up on various feeds on the innerweb lately. 

1) Bristol Palin baby daddy drama.
Now Bristol Palin had never actually named her ex fiancee Dakota Meyer as the father of her little girl.  It didn't take a lot to figure out that chances were he was the man in question.  Now it seems as though he's filing for joint custody and per some reports child support.  You can read about it HERE.  I will say that when I heard that Bristol was naming her little girl Sailor it seemed as though things were anything but ok with her former Marine ex fiancee.  Bottom line is that Marines and Sailors really aren't that fond of each other (I'm just basing this on working on a Navy base for 5 years).  I'm pretty sure there aren't any Marines that would want their daughter to be named Sailor.  On the other hand, the snarky single mom  who thinks sperm donors get off easy, loved the jab that Bristol took.  It should be interesting to see how this one will pan out.  Bristol lives in Alaska with her kids.  I'm not see a very even split of custody or him being awarded child support but I could be totally wrong. 

2) Ted Cruz's reaction to an illegal alien worried about deportation. 
Let me say that we're still a long way off from the election and I'm no where near ready to throw my hat into the ring for anyone yet.  I'm just sharing this because it's a refreshingly honest answer and something we don't see from politicians very often.  You can read the article and watch the video HERE. 

An extra day of vacation

Princess Bear (PB) should be returning to school tomorrow.  Operative word being should.  I took her back to the pediatrician today for a recheck on her walking pneumonia and to discuss the allergic reactions she had on Thursday and Friday of last week.  He is somewhat concerned about her lack of energy and the fact that she is still consistently running a low grade temp.  He said she could return for 1/2 days this week.  He also wanted her to be seen by the allergist ASAP.  I called the allergist and they were able to get her in at 9:30am.  Now this kid has been sleep around 11 or 12 hours a night.  I just didn't se6e the point in getting her up at 6:30 am to be at school an hour later and stay there for 1.5 hours.  So she's getting an extra day off.   The down side is that the pediatrician is sure that the Dr. will want to do an all new set of allergy testing.  That will require her to be off her allergy meds for 2 weeks which almost always results in a sinus infection.  If we could get some better idea of what her allergies are so the random hives and swollen lips would slow down that would be ok in my book. 

Since we're not as busy since PB is pretty tired I've been doing a ton of reading.  I had to fill out my goodreads estimate on how many books I think I'll read this year.  I put 100 thinking that should be a pretty obtainable goal.  Since it's now January 4th and I've already read 3 books I'm thinking I should have gone with a higher number.  Then again it's always a lovely thing to meet your goals.  I've also completely caught up on all my shows on CBS.com, hulu and netflix.  I'm currently working my way through Hawaii 5 O again.  I need a new series or 2 to get started on.  I wanted to watch Vikings but that isn't available for streaming on netflix- the bastards! :)

All the garden/seed catalogs have started showing up.  I plan on growing some more things for tea such as chamomile, peppermint and lemon balm.  Then there will be the usual suspects I hope.  The gardening thing hasn't worked out too well the last 2 summers but I'm hoping with a good head start to turn that around! 

Well, I'm off to watch Scorpion and then fall out.  Have a good one!

New Years Eve

Well, that was fun!  Not!  As I was typing my last blog post we lost power so I wrapped things up quickly.  I figured if we were going to be without power for any amount of time that a full laptop battery and Netflix can stave off boredom.  I spent about 45 minutes on hold waiting to even report the power outage.  The woman I talked to at Ameren had no idea why there was an outage and consequently wouldn’t give me an estimated time that the power would restored.  I was less than a happy camper.  I had a child who was recovering from walking pneumonia and I had just gotten out of the shower so my hair was wet.  Great time to be without power, right?  Now the one thing we have in spades in this house is flashlights and battery operated lanterns.  Princess Bear started bringing out all of the lanterns until I explained that we just needed one per person.  It would have been a different game if we were going to be up for awhile.  One lantern per person is still enough to read by.  We did debate about whether or not to start a fire but decided we’d ride it out for awhile.  As it turned out I had bundled up too much and wound up kicking off my covers until around 2am.  At that point it was in the upper 40’s in the house and my toes were a bit cold.  The power came back on at 2:30am so all things considered we’d been pretty lucky since there was a bunch of people here in Peoria that had been without power for 4 or 5 days. 

New Years Eve day was spent babysitting my nephews.  Since PB is pretty good at riding herd on them I basically take a book and chill.  After that I had to run to the store to get stuff for dinner since I had volunteered to make a family favorite.  Shrimp in creamed tarragon sauce….yum!  It was a serious madhouse at the grocery store.  As in each checkout lane had a minimum of 5 people with 8 lanes going.  CRAZY!  Now a bit of back-story.  PB has always randomly broken out in hives.  Most of the triggers are unknown.  The things that we do know she is allergic to are cat and dog dander, eggs, oranges, adhesive, lobster and wild berry flavor.  I’ve discussed the fact that she is allergic to lobster but she eats shrimp on a fairly regular basis and has never had a problem with the allergist.  The Dr. said it was just fine for her to eat shrimp in that case.  Well, about 9:30pm on New Years Eve PBs bottom lip BLEW UP.  I mean it was huge!  She was a bit itchy but no other signs or symptoms.  I gave her a full dose of Benadryl and proceeded to stay up and watch the first 2 The Librarian movies.  New Years Day her lip swelled again.  No freaking idea what caused it.  It could have been the shrimp or any number of other things.  The child certainly knows how to get my attention!  New Years Day was spent watching the Rose parade and the last movie in the Librarian trilogy.  Noah Wyle was such a baby when he filmed those!  It also made me totally jones for Season 3 of the Librarians.  I really wish there were more than 10 episodes per season! 

So that’s how we started off the new year here.  It cleaned up 6 hours of space on the DVR which was nice and I got some serious chilling cuddle time in with PB which is always nice.  If it’s an indicator that this year will be laid back I’m ok with that!