Time to meet your Maker

For the past two weeks, a horrific creature has been stalking my son at night, leaving behind itchy red evidence of his presence, but hiding when I would go hunting for him.

Today, however, I cracked the case and found that dang bloodsucker.

I trapped him in the closet and smashed him into the wall, laughing maniacally. Should the police happen to come investigate my home anytime soon, I will need all of you kind readers to vouch for me that it was a mosquito, not mass murder. Given the amount of my poor son's blood that he'd been devouring, I'm pretty sure the mosquito could have been used to transfuse at least one unit of blood.

I may be pro-life, but that mosquito deserved to die. :-)

10 things about me... late as usual

1. I procrastinate. Proof: this post. Lauren tagged me weeks ago, and I'm finally getting around to doing this. Oops.

2. I technically think this is "10 Surprising Things about Me," but here's the thing: given that only about 5-10 people that I know in real life read this blog, anything else I mention will be surprising to everyone else. So... surprise! And I like surprises, so long as I have on mascara.

3. I was surprised when my now-husband proposed to me. I knew he had a ring and was planning to do it at some point in the not-so-distant future, but it totally caught me off-guard. As in, I was upset with him at first when he got down on one knee. We were in a prayer garden after Mass, praying (so I thought) for Mary's intercession for a very sick friend of a friend (who was with us at that moment, about 5 feet away). I was using my prayers to storm the gates of Heaven when M got down on one knee and started talking. With my eyes still closed, I kept shushing him and telling him to pray! Finally I opened my eyes, saw him in front of me, and told him that it was mean to joke like that, especially when a sick person so desperately needed our prayers. :-)

4. I can never decide whether or not my smiley emoticons should have noses or not. Sometimes they just look so incomplete without them.  :)  So then I go back and add them.  :-)  And then I think their faces look too long on my screen. So I scrap them all together and add ellipses... or an exclamation mark!

5. I write blog posts and poems and songs and stories and movies in my head ALL. THE. TIME. 99.9% of them never see the light of day... or the glow of the monitor. Since I censor what I write about my family, and my husband would freak out if I wrote about a multitude of subjects (use your imagination and then add things that you don't think are personal at all... he would think they are), I sometimes wish that I had a completely anonymous blog. So, if someday there is an unknown blogger out there who really likes ellipses and writes about all sorts of things that I don't, it's likely me. Or even more likely someone else. But still... it might be me.

6. I have ridiculously complicated pregnancy issues. Here is what my perinatalogist told me: to have one of the complications I have is something "regular Ob's" see once a year. To have two of the complications is something they see once every 5 years. To have the three complications is something they see once in a career. This means that I have "made" the careers of 2 Ob's. And you know what? They didn't even send me a thank-you card.

7. I think this may need its own post, but I don't agree with the idea that "you should never regret anything, because each decision shaped you and made you who you are today." I have a few major regrets that would have made my life better, no doubt, and only helped others in my life. Taking two extra summer courses in grad school in order NOT to have to write a thesis while raising children and living hours away from my University? That should have been a no-brainer. Why didn't anyone, particularly me, think of that solution??? And seriously... no procrastinator needs to do a thesis when completely removed from an academic setting. It's just wrong. Morally wrong, probably.

8. Stories about children getting sick or dying keep me up at night. When we first brought C home from the hospital, I read the pamphlet on SIDS and didn't sleep (literally) for 3 days or nights. I had her on a Tuesday, so from 6 or 7 am when I woke up on Tuesday until late Saturday night, I slept a grand TOTAL of 6 hours. I couldn't get comfortable in the hospital bed and then when she was sleeping in my room at night I was afraid something would happen, so I laid there and stared at her. When she was home with us, I jumped up every 5 minutes if she made a sound, and every 5 minutes if she didn't make a sound.

9. I think my husband is ridiculously hot. So do other women. I like that.  :)  (see... that smile looks like it's missing something). Nothing in my life on earth is as certain as my husband's love and affection. I am totally aware how lucky I am, too.

10. I need to lose at least 20 pounds. I'm putting that out there so that SOMEONE will keep me honest on this. It starts NOW... 10 am on October 4, 2010. Anyone else want to do the C25K plan with me, albeit long distance??? I'm already thinking babies again, so I need to get my body in shape to house another one, once it's even possible. And, I'll post once I lose 5... 10... 15... and finally 20 prednisone/pregnancy/dessert-induced pounds.

I'm hiding from my children...

One is insisting loudly that Quiet Time, that sacred bit of time where I can relax do chores, is over.

No! It can't be over yet! I haven't even finished unloading the groceries from the car, which had to wait until two children were fed and bathed and dressed and hugged and put down for Quiet Time or Nap Time, depending upon which child we're talking about.

The other is shrieking sobbing uncontrollably if he's not attached to my breasts. 

You're fine! You're clean and dry and burped and fed! I just need TEN MINUTES to regroup. 

I think it's time for a brief walk in the backyard, before I start shrieking as well.

Then I'll go get the kids and thank my lucky stars that I even have this "problem" today.

A mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful life

 

Replace "spring" with "fall" in the Cummings poem below, and you'll feel the same joy C felt as she splashed through the mud in an outfit she put together on her own. I love this precious girl so much that it hurts sometimes. And, WELCOME to our wonder Fall weather-- in the FIFTIES this morning! 

PS Our weeds aren't usually this... weedy. This is after the week of rain, plus it's in the newly-enclosed-with-a-fence-and-still-being-improved-lot-that-is-now-part-of-our-yard AND after a water main leak!

[in Just-]

by E. E. Cummings 

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee

Yes, ma'am, we have some good news

Imaginary doctor, entering room: Well, we have some good news, and we have some bad news, ma'am.

Me, nervously: Give me the bad news first, Doctor. I can take it. (tenses body slightly)

Imaginary doctor, hesitantly: Well, ma'am, your ring is still stuck on your finger.

Me, exhaling: Ok, I can handle that for a bit longer. What's the good news, doc?

Imaginary doctor, jovially: The good news is that your finger is still stuck on your hand!

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 10)

1. Ring status: still stuck on finger. I tried once yesterday (with Windex again), but decided to wait it out a bit longer. The first time that the swelling in my finger really appears to go down, I'm going full-force. I figure that I'll give it a week, then get it cut off my hand (the ring, not my finger).

2. I have a new pumpkin pie plate that I found on sale at Kohls,  and I LOVE it. I made a pumpkin pie in it already, and it looks just as fabulous with a pie in it as it does empty. For all of you GF (gluten-free) people, you should know that I made it GF... I just made it crustless, like my mother-in-law does. It tastes just as great, without the extra crust-calories! I love this season so much, pie being a primary reason!

3. Speaking of delicious GF food, you've got to try the Amy's frozen meals. I haven't had a frozen meal since M and I got married. The meals were on sale at HEB today for... get this... $1.88/meal. So I bought a few for me and the kids (since H is still GF and is pretty hesitant regarding solids, but likes rice, beans, and cheese enchiladas!). Here's the story behind why I went ahead with frozen meals instead of cooking like usual: my mother-in-law always tells me about how whenever her husband would go out of town on business, she and the boys would go to the store and pick out frozen dinners. The boys would always get the "Hungry Man" dinners, which makes me laugh, picturing these young boys eating Hungry Man meals. Since M had to go out of town for the night, I decided to try out the frozen dinner plan! Anyway, the meals we tried and loved were the Cheese Tamale Verde, the Cheese Enchilada Whole Meal, and the Cheese Enchilada Entree. Yum to ALL of them!

4. Cloth-diapering mamas, I have a question for you. What sort of bag do you use at home to store your wet/used diapers before washing them? And how do you deal with the wipes? When I was using disposable diapers, I used a Diaper Champ pail and tucked the wipes into the used diapers then threw them away. Now, I'm not sure if I should just throw the wipes in the trash or put them in something with a lid, like the Diaper Champ (but I can't just drop them in there with the flip lid because they'd get stuck and it'd get all gross...). I'd love to hear about your diaper storage plan!

5. On the cloth diaper subject, I had a glorious revelation the other day. I had been drying the diapers outside when it rained on them. I already had clothes in the dryer and some in the washer that had to get dried, since I consider it fairly important that M wear pants to work. I have (more than) several disposables left from H and C, so I just used the disposables. I realized that I don't HAVE to commit to cloth diapering when it's inconvenient for me, and that I can go back and forth. I'm doing this (cloth diapering) to save money, but since I already OWN a box full of disposable diapers, there's no monetary problem with using whichever ones work for me at a particular time and place. I love the cloth diapers, but don't need to feel guilty about the times that they're not convenient for me.

6. Marilyn-- this one is for you. If you're reading this, please e-mail me your address. I need to send the cookbook, and am missing all of my addresses. And stamps. It's starting to become a problem. If anyone sees a bag that has Simpsons and lighthouse stamps in it, and a typed address list with tons of cross-outs and handwritten addresses, please let me know. It needs to find its way home again. And if anyone happens to find it wandering out in the world, it will be easy to send back to me-- there are a TON of old stamps in there!

7. I'm going to turn my computer off all weekend. I think I need to practice better internet restraint, and weekends may be where I need to start.

In need of a helping HAND

Or a new hand. Or at least a new ring finger.

Anyone have a spare ring finger lying around? No? Oh well. It was worth a shot.

I rarely wear my engagement ring. I had to take it off right before I gave birth to C, and then once I put it back on when she was a baby, I was forever scratching her head when I nursed her and would switch her from one side to the other.

By the time she was weaned at 15 months, I was already pregnant again and a bit swollen from time to time, so I just stuck with my wedding band except for "dressier" occasions. I'm still nursing H, so the "don't scratch the baby" rule is still in effect.

HOWEVER, Saturday night was a "special" occasion in that our little family headed over to visit with some neighbors at their house. The adults drank margaritas and laughed for hours while the kids played on the swingset until they conked out and we put them all to bed. M and I so rarely stay out late anywhere anymore, so I decided that it was time to get dressy-- slide that ring on your finger, Lisa!

And my, didn't it glisten in the moonlight! Or, at least the back porch light...

However, when I went to take it off last night, I discovered that it was stuck. As in, my-finger-may-have-to-be-amputated-because-it-hurts-so-badly-now stuck. The more I twisted and tugged and pulled, the more swollen the knuckle area became.

I decided to enlist my husband in getting the ring pulled off. BAD IDEA. Not only was it super-late at night, but it made the situation so much worse that I lied awake for HOURS in pain. We tried all kinds of things this morning, to no avail. I ALMOST got it off during an afternoon shower, but I couldn't push past the pain, not knowing for sure if it would work.

Here's what I've tried:

- Ice packs to numb/reduce swelling
- Advil to reduce inflammation and pain
- Lotion
- Astroglide (yes, I just admitted that...)
- Wrapping dental floss around my finger to make it straight and not puffed out
- Windex (read this online...)
- Soap
- Topical lidocaine, in hopes of numbing it enough it yank the thing off. No luck.
- LOTS of coffee to act as a diuretic. It's a good thing I don't have to nurse H too frequently, or he wouldn't sleep for a month!

I know I can get it cut off if need be, and I can also wait again until the swelling goes down to try again. Each time I try I make it FAR worse for the next several hours. It has become so swollen now that I can't even twist it on my finger without cutting into it.

Anyone else have any other ideas? Just wait a bit? Get it cut off? I'm not so sentimental that this would bother me... I don't think my finger falling off from lack of circulation is anymore positive for my marriage than keeping the ring intact.

Sorry for the grainy, off-color iPhone pics. They're the least of my worries now.

PS No Homeschooling Discernment Series post today...  ring finger pain trumps school post :-)