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Five Question Friday

Posted on May 4, 2012 | 6 comments

1. What did you wear to prom? Include a picture if possible.
I haven’t thought about prom in a long, long time! I went with my BFF, Rodney, who despite everyone’s thoughts to the contrary, was never someone I was interested in romantically (and no, he wasn’t my gay BFF, we were just inexplicably friends without any benefits – an anomaly). [Side note: Any time Rodney would call my house, my dad would ask who was on the phone and then say, “Rodney Dangerfield?” thinking he was so hilarious. Every time. And every time, it was not really that funny. Though after the 20th attempt at this joke, I do believe I started laughing at him because it was so ridiculous that he tried to sell it every time so really, he won.]

Anywho… back to what I wore to prom. It was a red dress and I LOVED it. I need to dig up a photo because it was everything I wanted a dress to be, flattering, with great flow and dramatic details without being trashy or too old for me. When I find a photo, I’ll talk more about it and my prom hairdo, which I also loved!

2. Would you rather be on the biggest loser or a food eating challenge?
I don’t know that I could actually survive the biggest loser but I really don’t want to be on a food eating challenge (unless that challenge was something like traveling around the world and trying a specific type food – that’s a challenge I’d be totally up for). So given the choice between those two, I guess I’d go with the biggest loser because at least I’d lose more weight, which is a good thing. Though I can’t say I would like to be away from my family, or on TV for that reason or be yelled at while I was working out. Sounds lovely.

3. Done fave sonic drink? Refreshing summer drink? (Hey, Kristina…was that a typo, or some “done good” Southern thing?)
Tie between: Cherry Limeade Slush OR Grape Cream Slush. So glad we now have TWO Sonics when we didn’t have any a couple years ago, though we had commercials for them for AGES prior to their coming to our neck of the woods. Note to Sarah: Next week – Sonic date and Frog Hollow – okay?

4. What was your first car, and what did you call it?
My first car was my parent’s old Buick LeSabre. It was awesome. I drove it during high school and college and then took it with me to Chicago, where it was stolen. Have you ever had a car stolen? It’s the strangest thing because it is fairly unbelievable that it has happened to you… And in my case, who steals an old Buick LeSabre on a street filled with nicer cars? I had been living in Chicago for about six months when it happened. I came out of our apartment (we lived in a residential area with mostly single-family homes, but our building had four apartments, including our Indian landlord who lived upstairs with his mother who cooked a whole lot of curry but sadly never shared – I have lots of fun stories about Kenny) and walked out to where my car was supposed to be on the street and it wasn’t there. And I just stood there looking around, like perhaps it had moved itself or I had forgotten where I parked it the day before or maybe I just couldn’t see it. It was gone, but rather than run back inside and call the police, I walked to the post office a mile away because I needed to get there before it closed and my car would still be missing when I got back so that detail could wait.

I went to the post office, picked up some food and rode the El back to my stop, walking up and down every street between the station and our apartment, hoping my car would appear along one of those streets. (I knew I hadn’t parked it on another street, but I had a friend in Chicago whose car had been moved by the city to another street because they were doing work on the street and she hadn’t moved her car and although they hadn’t posted warning signs on my street and weren’t doing construction, I held out hope that this had happened to me. It had not.) After I got home, I called the police and filed a report. My parents were coming to Chicago on their way back to Michigan from Texas so they arrived later that day and I told them what had happened – I remember hoping they weren’t mad at me, like I was to blame for someone stealing my car. The next morning at 5 a.m., I got a phone call from the police, my car had been found abandoned but was all banged up with the ignition ripped out of it and the front passenger door missing (apparently those doors were matches to lots of other cars so it was likely stolen just for the door but also got taken on a joy ride) – it had been towed to an impound lot. We ended up sending them the title to the car since it wasn’t worth even paying to the towing fee to retrieve it. Awesome. Lesson to be learned: if you live in Chicago: park in a garage, have an alarm or get one of those steering wheel lock things, otherwise your car just might get stolen.

5. What’s one thing your child or spouse does that sends you over the edge?
Since this blog is very much about the things that my kids do to drive me over the edge (to wit: last week’s post) and sometimes my husband (also, to wit: the dishwasher post), lets pick on someone else: me. I’m a procrastinator and this drives me crazy about myself and YET, I still procrastinate. Why? I don’t know. I wish I did and I wish I had more discipline to not procrastinate because I think I would be less stressed (at times) and sleep better (maybe). But I do work better under pressure and I think that people in general are more prone to procrastination, unless of course, you are my dad, who never procrastinates. He’s much more disciplined than me, why couldn’t I have gotten that gene from him? Alas.

Linking up with Mama M for Five Question

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Posted in Five Question Friday

This Week’s Random List

Posted on May 3, 2012 | 5 comments

When I got to work yesterday there was a woman getting out of her new Porsche and the alarm was going off and she seemed quite flustered. Does it make me a bad person because it amused me greatly that she was having a problem with it? To my credit I did not roll my eyes when she commented that she thought she was going to have to call her husband to help her with the car (the alarm turned off when she pushed the panic button her in key fob). She was on her way to go work out and turns out she is also one of the noisy worker-outers. [Her, I’m totally judging.]
Liam has to do a small research project for school. Pick an animal, report on what you already know about it, think of questions you have and research answers and creatively represent that animal. He picked sharks and last night we made his model and I had to restrain myself to keep from overly helping with it and fixing mistakes. Homework is going to be a painful endeavor – I need to resist my fixer tendencies.
Amazon has a new slew of $5 MP3 albums – I downloaded The Fray’s new album, “Scars and Stories” but I’d also recommend Amos Lee’s “Last Days at the Lodge”
I’m sort of loving the new show, Scandal, though I can’t decide for sure because well, the main character is sort of unbelievable but I like the rest of the cast and I’m eager to learn more about the secrets they have so I guess that’s a good sign. Plus Joshua Malina is in it and I LOVE him from The West Wing and In Plain Sight.
Liam’s been using the phrase, “Let’s stick with that” often in his chattering… it amuses me. He’s like a mini-politician trying to make his point.
Jack apparently thinks I know everything, including the lyrics to songs I’ve never heard. He was singing a song he learned at daycare the other day and stopped and asked me, “How does the rest go?” I had to clue but that didn’t satisfy him and he kept yelling at me to keep singing the rest of the song. I could have tried to make something up but he actually knows the song and would have yelled at me that it wasn’t right (we’ve tried this before). Alas.
There are only two more MOPS meetings for the year (today and in two weeks) and that makes me sad. It’s been a great year! I’ve only got two more left so I best enjoy them as much as I can!
Here’s a quick recipe for healthy soup that makes a ton. I’m not doing a whole post on this because I didn’t take pictures – you can make it all in a large Dutch oven or brown the meat and then put everything in a slow cooker on low for the day.
Turkey Taco Chili: Brown 1 pound ground turkey, add 1/4 c. taco seasoning and cook until meat is cooked through. Add: 1 large bottle or can of V8; two cans black beans, 2 cans corn, 1 jar salsa. Serve with sour cream and shredded cheese. Enjoy.
I need to get back on the exercise bandwagon
I also need a sugar/carb detox
My great-nephew turned 3 yesterday – I just love that I have a great-nephew and I’m not even 35 – and I love that Max! He has the cutest dimples and best smiles. Someday he and Jack are going to be marvelous buddies!
I have an iTunes playlist called “depressing music” and it makes me laugh every time I put a song in there, like I’m prepping for some future cryfest.
Do you ever tell a little white lie just not have an awkward conversation? We went out with friends on Saturday night for our anniversary and I offhandedly mentioned to the server that it was our anniversary, meaning more that we were celebrating our anniversary but she said, “Oh, it’s my birthday, too!” And rather than correct her and say that actually, our actual anniversary was on Monday, I just let it slide (I’m quite surprise that Simon let it slide because he’s a stickler for truthiness). But later she also commented about “April 28th being the best day…” and I just had to smile and nod, even though April 28th doesn’t really mean anything special to me. Whoops. I felt a little bad (which I think totally makes up for my feeling of happiness when Little Miss Porsche had car alarm troubles)
I really want to make fresh mozzarella sometime – we had it on our salads on Saturday night and I could just eat that always and be happy. But I feel like it would be fun to know how to make – I’ve watched someone make it before and it didn’t seem too hard if you have the ingredients. Though I wonder if touching the curds would gross me out – probably.
My SIL Lynn, posted the photo below on my Facebook wall and I thought, “What baby is Liam holding?”

But that’s not Liam, it’s my nephew, Andrew, holding my other nephew, Mitch, way back in the 90s (so very long ago). Apparently Liam does take after my family, just not me as much as my nephew (see below of Andrew and Liam last fall – at least we can see that Liam will still be handsome when he grows up).

And to complete the circle, Liam and Mitch from two summers ago… my how they grow. Mitch is graduating from high school this year and then there is a 13-year gap to the next grandkid (Liam).

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Posted in Food, Life in general, Random

Tagged new music, random

Housekeeping…

Posted on May 2, 2012 | 9 comments

My mother spent the weekend cleaning my house… it’s not looked so clean since, well, since she used to come up weekly and babysit my kids when Jack was a baby. She noted that all my windows were cleaned, save one and I’m not sure if she was hinting that I should clean that particular window myself or just finding glee in my not knowing which one it might be (I kid – she pointed it out to me and asked if I could tell the difference between it and the other clean windows and I was mean and told her that I couldn’t but I totally could because I am a punk). I so appreciate that my mom cleans when she is at my house. I used to hate it. I would spend a bunch of time cleaning before my parents came to visit and still she would go in the bathroom and not come out for a long time because she was cleaning it (not because she fell in, no matter how many times my dad and I would inquire). But now I realize that’s just who she is and what she does. I like to cook and read and spend time with friends, my mom loves to clean and she is good at it.

A friend asked me yesterday where I stood with cleaning. I answered that it isn’t/wasn’t a priority. I mean, we don’t live in filth and I clean things like the toilet, the sinks, the clothes, the dishes, the children but if I was given a day to myself to do whatever I wanted, no matter how untidy my house was, I would never choose to spend my time cleaning. Never. Even if the queen was coming over (she should see how the other side really lives).

I also don’t judge anyone else based on the messiness level of their house, the appearance of dirty dishes on their counter or the stacks of stuff next to their couch. Are their kids happy? Are they happy? Do they seem at peace? Are their families well fed? Do they laugh with their spouses? Do they find time to spend with friends? Those are the things that matter to me. Those are the things that make me know my world is all right and they are the things I wonder about the people in my lives. If cleaning makes my mom happy, more power to her (and please encourage her to come visit me all the time). If running for miles makes you happy – I’ll cheer you on at the finish line. If spending time in solitude and reflection calms your soul – please join me later for some coffee and chocolate. I’ll tell you all about a funny blog I read or my new favorite book and let you listen to a new-to-me song that I’m loving and I’ll for sure talk about my boys – that’s my life – it’s what makes me happy. It’s what’s important (to me).

Besides which, Jack gives me plenty of opportunities to clean… though this particular mess happened on Simon’s watch so he had to clean it up ;). Unlike the time Jack covered the couch, carpet and wood floor (basically everywhere you see couch cushion stuffing above, except more on the cushions) with swirls of chocolate syrup, that was all my fun and responsibility.

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Posted in Life in general

Insider’s Guide to Outpatient Surgery with a 5.5-year-old*

Posted on May 1, 2012 | 6 comments

*Subtitle: There are worse things, but that still doesn’t mean it’s enjoyable**
** Alternate subtitle: No matter what you think will happen, things will be different so don’t spend too much time preparing for anything (but do bring a snack)

As mentioned and documented on Instagram, Liam had a little outpatient surgery last Friday at our local [awesome] Children’s Hospital. Jack also had outpatient surgery in November 2010; a much more major procedure that resulted in lots of stitches on his foot (where a bone was removed from his toe) and 12 weeks with a cast and brace on his arm (where the toe bone was inserted into his thumb). Liam’s procedure resulted in a few internal stitches (to fix a previously undiscovered hernia), a single internal stitch to close up the small hole in his belly button where the unhealed spot was removed and a small square of gauze bandaged over the “wound.” Yet, our whole experience was completely different for many different factors.

So, for what it’s worth, here’s what I learned and would like to share with you:

You have to use your own judgement in how you prepare your child for the experience. Liam is very laid back about things and I knew I didn’t have to prep him very much in advance of the surgery for what was going to be happening. After we initially met with the doctor, I told Liam he’d be going to the hospital to have the spot removed (never mentioning exactly how this was going to happen), that they would give him medicine to sleep when this happened and that we’d be there with him. But otherwise, we left it rather vague and it worked for us, though I probably should have mentioned to him that his tummy was going to hurt after the surgery because I think he was surprised by the pain and that upset him more than anything (Jack, on the other hand, didn’t seem at all affected by pain post-surgery).
Use the hospital staff to help explain the procedure to your child. They had a child/life specialist come talk to Liam and explain to him what was going to happen in terms he could understand that weren’t at all scary. I never would have thought to refer to the IV as a tiny straw that goes in his hand to give his body drinks while he was sleeping since he couldn’t do that while he was asleep. They also had a handy trick where they let the kid pick out a chapstick with a scent they liked and then “paint” the inside of the anesthesia mask with the chapstick so the child smells that rather than the “sleepy” medicine. Seriously phenomenal.

Defer to the professionals for how you should handle the situation but also follow your own intuition. We had the option of going into the surgical room with Liam to be there with him while he fell asleep but I knew that he didn’t need that from us (if there is a next time, we probably will do this because I think he’d have some apprehension given his experience with this surgery). I think the specialist was trying to encourage us to go but I know it would have been harder on both of us to do that so I’m glad we didn’t.
Nothing will prepare you for seeing your child curled up on a hospital bed, post-op. Liam’s surgery was pretty tiny and inconsequential but it still broke my heart to see him in the recovery room. It didn’t help that he started crying when he saw us.
Five-year-olds are more attuned to their feelings than younger children and therefore, harder to calm, soothe and distract. While Jack was out of it post-surgery and just wanted to cuddle, he didn’t think too much about it and wasn’t upset by it all. Liam was more upset about his post-surgical haze because he knew better and knew that he wasn’t feeling right but was confused by what was going on.
Morphine is good for reducing pain and making your child sleepy, but for us, I’d request a different pain medication because I’ve now learned it really makes Liam nauseous. And nausea makes everything worse. Duh.
Do not encourage your child to pick the blue slushie as a post-op bonus incentive, unless you want to attempt to clean blue slushie out of and off of any surface that child might throw up on later. Blue slushie on the way back out stains. Thankfully our kid has good aim and an ability to not spill while throwing up into a small container in a moving vehicle. (This would not have gone as well with a small child so there’s a bonus with an older one.)
Even the bathrooms at the hospital are cool and child-friendly.

Find a hospital or surgical center with WiFi and bring your smart phone – Simon and I spent our time in while Liam was recovering playing Draw Something, Words with Friends and checking Facebook. Liam wanted the room dark and quiet so TV and reading books were out as options. And since we sat there nearly 3 hours, having WiFi and a smart phone was super handy.
No matter how crappy he feels, your son will still find it hilarious if you suggest he not wear his underwear home under his sweatpants and if that’s what it takes to get him to smile, you do it. (Also, the thing he will talk most about after the surgery is the fact that he got a robot coloring book and crayons. For free. It was awesome.)
Try not to have any expectations for how the day is going to go. The person scheduled before us for surgery overslept and was late getting in for their surgery which meant they were late getting started for ours. And instead of the 1-2 hour recovery they said was normal, we ended up staying about 4 hours after the surgery was over because Liam was feeling sick and/or sleeping (in comparison, with Jack were went home much sooner, he never acted nauseous and was packing away the food within minutes of getting home and didn’t sleep any more than normal that day – but then it’s no surprise that even surgery doesn’t keep Jack down – the other day Liam knocked Jack off his feet by accidentally kicking him in the head awhile he – Liam – was coming back on a swing and Jack popped right up and cried for about 30 seconds before running back to play).
Once your child is feeling better, be prepared to get them anything they want to eat. Everyone will feel better about that arrangement.

Though it sounds dramatic, it really was a good experience, just not what we were expecting. The surgery itself went so well and one day after surgery everything was back to normal with Liam, we just weren’t prepared for the bumps in the road immediately post-op. Your child will likely have a completely different experience than Liam’s because that is one thing I know for sure about parenting… no matter how similar the set-up, the experience can be completely different.