Lazy Me

Because all three of us are ill, hubby has forbidden me to do chores and such until I'm better.

This is rather difficult for me because... well... being sick has caused me to be a bit of a slob. There are clothes lying around, bags of groceries not put away, large toys not put away, trash in places other than the trash can, etc. I still even haven't unpacked from our trip this weekend.

I did convince him to let me do two loads of laundry yesterday, though he did not like the idea of me putting away said clothes. Oh well, wrinkles come out with wear.

Forks Over Knives

I watched a rather important documentary tonight while I was coaxing my son to sleep called Forks Over Knives. It showed the correlation between cancer and eating meat and dairy products while also showing the benefits of eating a plant based diet.

I realized while watching something very important- I am killing myself.

Candy and chocolate are a special treat, not a dietary staple. Cheese should be a flavoring, not a major part of the meal. Veggies are IMPORTANT.

I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. This will be discussed.

The Sickies

After we landed in Virginia, both hubby and I took naps. We both woke up with sore throats but ignored it for the most part. Friday came and hubby felt absolutely awful so he slept all day while Luke and I suffered through.

It's just a cold more than likely, but it comes with clogged sinuses, sore throat, runny nose, cough, and feeling drained. I've been sleeping since we got home and it's not enough. Luke is sleeping in his crib- he was sleeping with me but I worry about overheating him. I woke up not long ago and felt like staying up a bit, but it's been less than an hour and I already want to curl up in a ball and cry. Pressure in my head and behind my eyes is just killing me. I feel even worse for Luke- he can't complain about his ails or even tell me what hurts so I can make it better.

Virginia

After a rather long night, we've arrived in Virginia and eaten turkey. We were allowed a wonderful nap while the family took over watching the baby.

Still tired. Long night. Can barely focus. Night y'all.

Charlie vs. Edward

I turned on TV today and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory was playing (the Johnny Depp version) and it got me thinking about the seven deadly sins. Hubby and I watch Fullmetal Alchemist on a regular basis, which also has sin representation, and I started wondering if there's any real difference between the two shows.

Willy Wonka has Augustas (Gluttony), Veruca (Envy), Mike (Greed and Wrath), and Violet (Pride). Not all deadly sins are represented, but the few that are show the sins rather transparently. Fullmetal has physical representations of all of the deadly sins, but they have a more human element to them. Some characters can elicit sympathy from the viewer, like Gluttony when he loses Lust.

Wonka's visiting children are portrayed as completely evil, with Charlie being the only exception. They don't listen to their parents nor Wonka and end up almost dying because of their ignorance. All of the homunculi (the sins in Fullmetal) end up dying in the end.

What I'm having time with is deciding which or if either is appropriate to show Luke as he gets older.

This post is what happens when I don't get enough sleep. Ugh.

This week

This week is going to be very VERY trying on my patience.

I'm working 9pm to 2:30am Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week. I haven't slept all that well today, but I'll see if I can't get some energizing caffeine in me before I start the shift.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), I have to drive hubby to and from work because of a doctor's appointment at 1:30pm. The last time I went, I sat for an hour and twenty minutes before having to reschedule, so hopefully I do not have a repeat experience. My father in law has agreed to watch Luke while I'm at the doctor, but I'm not sure he still remembers that. Wednesday, I need to pack up what we need and hopefully geta little sleep before work.

We're heading down to Virginia to visit my folks right after I get out of work Thursday morning. I'm picking up snacks, driving home, getting the baby and hubby, then hopefully sleeping a little in the car during the six hour drive. We're staying with my parents Thursday, Friday, and driving back Saturday. I have to sing in the church service on Sunday.

Next Monday I'll most likely be comatose.

Videos!

I promised videos and here they are!

Kiddo Kid

Luke has taken to whining or crying when hubby and I are talking to one another and he is not participating in the conversation. This is most apparent while in the car, since we're often both in the front and he's in the back. It got so bad today that we had to stop that car, shuffle things around, and have me sit in the back to hold his hand.

I do not condone this behavior, however, I have a really hard time dealing with his crying, especially in a confined space. Often when he cries, I say "Oh yes, I know. Mommy's so mean!" or something to that effect. However, the point of this is to get him to stop crying and entertain himself, which I stop by talking to him. It's hard to justify letting him cry because I know he's lonely without one of us there (all it takes is holding his hand to calm him down), but he also needs to learn that his parents don't need to be around for him to feel secure.

It sucks. I feel caught between a rock and a hard place.

Occupy... what?

Everyone's talking about this "Occupy Wall Street" movement and how it's branching out to banks, states, and even freeways.

Can someone please explain to me exactly what the occupy movement is? What the hell are they occupying? Why are they occupying it?

From what I've been told, it's a bunch of folks blaming stock brokers on them not being able to find jobs in their field. Like a carpenter can't find carpentry work because most states have suspended home construction. What's stopping the carpenter from working at Lowe's or Home Depot or even finding some other type of work to bring in money for his family? Is it pride? Is it the belief that he shouldn't have to "lower" himself to that level?

I may be completely off base here, and if I am please tell me, but there is nothing wrong with working any job if you're supporting your family. If this is what the occupy movement really is, then I feel very sad for those folks involved.

::flop::

Today was an incredibly busy day.

First I woke up, changed and fed Luke, drove hubby to work, then went to give blood for tests that my doc wants done. Get home, realize I haven't made the earrings for the order I got on Monday, figure I should do that but only after I've started the laundry. While the glue is setting on the backings, I change over the laundry and give Luke his mid-morning bottle. Both of us fell asleep. Yay for naps.

Wake up, changed over the laundry. Only two loads today, which is awesome. Put away said laundry while Luke goofs off in his exersaucer. Feed the baby lunch. Glaze earrings for order and take out the last load of laundry while they dry. Get the package ready, get self ready, get baby ready, out the door to the post office.

Get to the post office and realize I won't have time for the bank. Drive to the gastroenterology specialist and fill out paperwork. Sit an hour and 20 minutes waiting to be seen then have to reschedule because I have to pick up hubby at work. Go and pick up hubby, scarf down some dinner, then feed the baby. Get dressed, go pick up a coffee drink for the caffeine and head on over to work from 7pm to midnight. Go shop for chicken stock and end up picking up some other items while contemplating what to make for dinner for the next night (I settled on grilled chicken club sandwiches)and get home at 1am.

I'm finally crashing. I've just been go go go all day and my brain's pumping out dance music to keep me awake, so I have to wind down and figure out a way to sleep.

Jammies

I like dressing Luke up and all, but I think he's cutest when he's in his jammies.

I need to buy adult size footie PJs for my hubby for Christmas. Not the kind with plastic on the bottom, since those always make your feet cold. I mean the super comfy, all fleece PJs that look incredibly warm and snuggly. Of course I'd never wear them myself since I didn't like them as a kid, but I'm more than willing to buy them for hubby (and take pictures for publication).

Late Night Musings

Since working late nights, I've had issues falling asleep at the right time.

I find myself sitting at the computer, staring at the screen, hoping and praying I fall asleep but knowing that something will keep my attention and prevent me from sleeping. This is also making me slightly neurotic since every sound my little guy makes in his sleep makes me nervous. Of course, this is not unusual but it's intensified, as has my hatred for hubby's snoring.

On a side note, live action Disney shows seem much more tolerable this late at night.

He looks like me...

... when he's asleep. He's the spitting image of his dad as a baby when he's awake.

Part of me wishes my genes gave him a bit more in the looks department, but I hope and pray the kiddo gets my husband's metabolism. I want him to have my teeth though.

Eh, nit picking. Today was relatively lazy as I am still feeling under the weather. Now my father in law is also sick and we've discovered the source of the illness to be my hubby. So glad he brought it home from work.

Poor Planning

The past few days have been a little rough.

Friday I had to work, so I was at Wegmans til 1:30am. I realized when I got in the car that I had forgotten some key things for my craft show the next day, so I went to Walmart. I was there for an hour or so and still forgot a few things I needed, but did purchase a lovely new hat. This teaches me I should not go to Walmart at 2am.

I slept maybe 3 hours, woke up and drove hubby to work. I went home, rushed around like crazy, then gave the baby over into my in-laws' care while I went to the craft show. I forgot so much at home, it's ridiculous. I didn't have a cloth cover, I didn't have a proper display, I didn't have a measuring tape to cut necklace cords, I was a mess. Luckily, these two sweet ladies lent me a measuring tape and a table cloth to help a bit. The show was long and barely anyone showed up. Made me sad. Maybe if I had planned better I would have had a better display and maybe if I had helped advertise the show to friends, we would have had more people.

I came home, played with Luke, slept for an hour, then went to see a play at my church. It was fantastic, well acted, and very entertaining. I ended up staying to help clean up and set things right for church the next day, so I didn't get home til around midnight. I dozed while hubby played some games and didn't officially go to bed til 1:30am.

I had every intention of taking the baby to church today, I really did. I woke up at 6:30am with a TERRIBLE sore throat and headache, both of which have lessened but are still with me. I felt horrible so I went back to sleep. Around 8am, I woke and got the baby to take his morning nap with me. I think I slept til 1pm, though my body is telling me I need even more rest. I feel incredibly drained and have had difficulty controlling my emotions. Maybe if I had planned to sleep more, I'd be in better shape.

Teething

Dear God,

Please let my son finish his teething soon. He becomes a pain in the bazooka when he's hurting. The whining makes me want to claw off wallpaper and trying to remain positive is frustrating. I know this is the first of many problems I will not be able to solve for him, but did the helplessness have to start so early? Yeesh.

Sincerely,

Luke's Mom

Baby Butt

My darling, darling boy has been a total butt today. He's not wanting to eat at the right times, play with the right toys (mommy's computer is NOT a teething toy), and has taken to arching his back and crying when I move things away. Lovely. I hope this is not a glimpse into my future. I like my sweet little guy.

Second night of work tonight. Heading out!

Rolling down the...

Luke is now rolling over regularly and trying to crawl. He successfully flips from back to tummy and tummy to back. He's moved a little crawling-wise, but more drops his head and tries to use his legs to wheelbarrow himself down the bed on his face. It looks incredibly painful, so I generally tuck his arms under him before he gets going. It now all comes down to coordinating legs with arms and he'll take off like a bat out of you know where.

He is also attempting to use his exersaucer as a walker, rocking it back and forth to scoot it along to floor to get it closer to the television, bed, cats, etc. While I applaud his ingenuity, I'm not sure it's the best idea.

Driving

After a very close encounter with a 16 wheeler this morning, I feel the need to express my concern about the way some folks drive. Here are a few things that we learned, but have forgotten in the years since school.

1. If you're in a bigger vehicle and can't move because of a smaller vehicle, let the smaller vehicle move to safety before attempting to move on. Driving forward as the smaller car is driving backwards, thus giving the smaller car's driver a small heart attack and fear for the life of her baby in the backseat is unacceptable.

2. When someone leaves three car lengths between herself and the car in front of her, that doesn't mean zoom up and cut her off. The space is so that if someone slams on their brakes, she has enough time to brake and not destroy the car.

3. Tailgating for no reason is ridiculous. While my perfume is lovely, you cannot smell it through the vehicles. Back off my behind, you're scaring me and making me angry.

4. When there's an opportunity to let people merge, DO IT. Not letting people onto the road is selfish and rude. Common courtesy is each car on the road lets one merging car in, in zipper fashion, to keep things smooth. Stop being an idiot.

5. Be aware of your surroundings! Merging without looking is dangerous! Your blind spot is a real thing. Do a spot check before almost causing a car crash.

6. The biggest one- YOU ARE NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON ON THE ROAD. Everyone is equally treasured, with families who will miss them if they're gone. Stop driving like the rest of us peons are expendable and we'll all get along.

Cupcakes

My first craft show is this coming weekend, so I've been taking the time to make as many things as I can this weekend to help with stock. The quickest things I make are cupcakes so I've made several pairs of earrings and a few pendants.

The hardest part of it all is finding time to make things. Luke doesn't nap very long, the weekends are often jammed with activities, and now there's the evening job so I have no idea if I'll build enough inventory in time. I can only cross my fingers and hope.

Oh, in case you didn't know, I make clay jewelry. See side bar for the link to my shop.

In the meantime, Luke is continuing to eat like a horse while stealing the hearts of everyone who comes near him. We visited his NanaNana (hubby's grandmother) and she was rather angry when we had to pull him away for his nap time. I really hope he keeps this awesome personality.

Part Time

I am now an employee of Wegman's, a grocery chain up here on the east coast.

I had been looking for a proper overnight part time position to bring in some money for the family and luckily Wegman's was hiring. I just had my orientation today.

I'm not going to say much because no one wants a blow by blow account of what goes on during orientations, but I will say this- being there has inspired me. I am going to wear my shirt proudly, work there in overnight until Luke is in school during the day and then see about moving up in the company. From shopping there and being around other employees I can tell it's a wonderful company to work for.

I can't wait to start and be excited about going to work for every shift.

Allow Me To Lament

This is a bit off topic (i.e. it's not really Luke related) but it's bugging the heck out of me.

As you probably know by now, we have two cats, Marian and Dagmar. A few days ago, Marian started vomiting and we could not figure out why. Dagmar started vomiting on Tuesday. I called the vet, got an appointment, and took both kitties in for a check up. They looked at Marian's bloodwork since she was the one who was getting sick the most and found she has a lowered white blood cell count. This is often indicative of feline leukemia, but since she tested negative for it and was vaccinated against it in 2008, it's been ruled out.

The doc figures she has an infection of some sort and the white blood cells have moved to help it, thus why they were lowered in the area they took blood from. I got this big bottle of antibiotics and was told to give each cat a certain amount twice daily. Dagmar is believed to be throwing up because Marian is and it's stressing her out, but they wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

I gave them their meds last night. Both cats started foaming at the mouth and sprinted away from me. Dagmar started dry heaving. Both were smacking their lips and refused to go near me, even though I was trying to clean them up. At first I thought I'd just poisoned them, but upon reading (yay Internet!) I found this is perfectly normal behavior. Cats create a lot of spit when they don't like the flavor of something. Great. Someone on the Regretsy forums (I love those folks) gave me the suggestion to give some water via syringe right after I inject the liquid meds down her throat. Might create less spit.

I tried this this morning and yes, it does create less spit. However, the cats became VERY angry towards me and wouldn't go near me. Not even to get food. Since Marian in particular is on a lower calorie diet, I worry about her not eating. I called the vet and he said I could try mixing the meds with their food. After injecting the stuff onto their food, neither cat will go near their bowl. I ended up injecting meds down Marian's throat just to make sure she got some. She's mad as hell, but I'd rather her get better.

Luke has been rather whiny all day due to toothing pain. So to sum up- I have two cats who are angry over meds and a hurting baby who won't stop crying.

What a wonderful week thus far.

Do you know...

...how hard it is to nap with a baby having a bad dream? I was rather tired due to a long day of cat wrangling and driving, went to nap with the baby, and got repeatedly smacked in the face after an hour or so. He didn't know he was twacking my nose, but he was rather enthusiastic about it.

On a productive note, Luke moved forward in his walker! He's been consistently moving backward and sideways for a bit now, but hadn't mastered moving forward. Yesterday he took three steps forward and today he's gone much further. I swear, I'm going to blink and the little guy will be driving.