Thank You Bugs Bunny!

So, I outsmarted my 5YO daughter today. The kids were getting ready to go outside and play in the water and the 5YO was refusing to wear a bathing suit that fit her. She kept bringing out swim suits that were more appropriate for her sister and I was getting really frustrated. I had picked up a suit for her which was the right size but she was insisting it was too small.

What did I do?
A little like Bugs Bunny arguing about duck/rabbit season, I took a different tact.
I said "I need to give this (holding up the new suit) to someone else, someone older, it's a bikini so it's too mature for you because you are 5."
It took her about 3 seconds to get that suit on.
Score 1 for mom and Bugs. 

First day of the week blues

I love the weekends, hanging out with my kids and usually seeing the parents. Sunday's are a family dinner and my husband makes fantastic food. As the non-cooking spouse it's my job to clean up. Today Is Tuesday after a long weekend and I am faced with a medium sized pile of dishes and boxes for the recycle bin. This will be my morning before heading into the office. Hope everyone had a good Memorial Day! Yeah Tuesday!

A Pox on My House

As mentioned in a previous post my poor mom us suffering from MRSA and this long Memorial Day weekend my youngest the 2.5YO had hand, foot, mouth. Thankfully a mild-ish case but uncomfortable none-the-less.
Here's hoping that the collective health problems pass soon so we can enjoy our work week. :/

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus and other fun stuff

Last week I was traveling for work. While away I got a call from my mom and learned that she was sick again. In the past 9 months she has had at least one case of shingles and it sounded like it was back. This sucks for her on so many levels. First there is the discomfort and general yucky-ness of being sick. Next because she is in an assisted living facility she is quickly quarantined which results in depression and sometimes after days of being alone she suffers from confusion. I got home from my work trip on Tuesday night and I phoned her on Wednesday to see how she was doing and she seemed OK. On Thursday I stopped in to see her and I learned that a nurse and Dr had been to see her the day before and the Dr had mentioned that it looked more like MRSA.
I am no health care professional and so had to google this mystery disease as soon as I could. It turns out it's Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus which is as scary as it sounds. It's painful and communicable, can be fatil, and likely being passed around her facility.
My poor mom! She has painful sores all over her body and basically feels like shit. She is confined to her apartment and the facility is delivering her meals to her there.
I went over on Thursday to pick up her laundry, she is not allowed to wash anything at the facility. I also spoke to a friend who was a nurse and asked her about this MRSA. She said that if she has had it more than once (they now feel her past case of shingles was more likely misdiagnosed MRSA) then it's going through the facility and we need to identify how she is coming in contact with the steph. Mom and I talked about the ways she comes in contact with the people of her facility aka SC. It's only assisted living and not a nursing home so while she has someone help her bathe a few times a week, monitor her meds and check in on her a few times a day, the physical contact is actually limited to a handful of times a week. The one thing that seems suspicious to me is the fact that the facility washes her towels and beding.
So, Friday we started new protocol. All her laundry comes to my house in a blue basket for washing where it is put into a hot water cycle with bleach and then a second cycle of hot water rinse. From the dryer it is folded and placed in a white basket. I went to CVS and picked up a giant bottle of hand sanitizer and put that by her door. Everyone who comes in or out of her apartment is required to sanitize their hands.
Thankfully she is on massive amounts of antibiotics and pain medication.
Until next time.....

WTH?

I realized this morning that I have started no less than 5 posts which are now out of date and sitting as drafts on my computer. Whats that all about? It's likely that the reason is my parents. Im not blaming them, it's just that the posts are all about them or things that are going on with them and because it's their business I feel shy about posting. But it occurred to me today that nobody is reading this anyway so what I am being shy about? seriously? WTH?!

6:03 am Thursday Morning

Today the 5yo got up at 6 and came out to the den where I was working on my laptop. She announced that she would be back because she needed to go use the bathroom but would not flush for fear of waking up her sister.
Moments later I could hear "California girls We're unforgettable Daisy Dukes Bikinis on top..."
How conflicted was I? She was sitting in the bathroom singing with her sister just down the hall asleep. My initial response was to get annoyed but when I stopped to listen it was co cute I just could not get upset. 
Sometimes I need to remind myself to take a step back and enjoy the moment. 

Color Me Amazed and Confused (which is a lot better than Cold and Afraid!)

My mom, post stroke a year ago, lives in an assisted living center which her long term insurance helps her with until she is able to live on her own again. She is just turning 70 this month and even still seems to be about 20 years younger than the rest of the people. Because of this and just because of who she is, she has become what I call the Mayor of SunnyC. She knows everyone by name, knows about their kids, their grand kids, their ailments and what they did for a living. My mom runs the moving nights for the community reviewing and choosing movies that will please the older folks. So that's my mom AKA the Mayor of SunnyC.
A few weeks ago she phoned me with the following story (insert blurry transition to Mom's perspective here)- She had gone down to the mailboxes and picked up her mail. In the bundle of envelopes and junk was her insurance reimbursement check which would go toward the next months rent. As she walked back to her apartment she entered the elevator. One of her friends, Ethel, or Mildred, or some other lady was coming along behind so she held the door of the elevator. As she was holding the door the mail fell to the ground. My mom is using a walker and bending down to the ground to pick things up is risky at best. She somehow picked up her mail and went on her way. When she got to her apartment she found the envelope from the insurance company was gone. She checked her bag and went back to look in the elevator. It was nowhere. She knew what had happened. It had slipped down the gap by the elevator door and fallen down the elevator shaft. At that point, she phoned the insurance company to ask about another check but they said it would take 3 weeks to cut and mail. SO. What does my mom do? She goes down to the office and tells them what has happened. They say that the elevator is checked the first week of every month and when the elevator man comes they will call her so she can ask him to look for the check. Did I mention that rent is due on the 10th and that if not paid in full she would be moving out on the 11th? They are serious and it's nearly $3,000 for her studio apartment at this mid-level community. Anyway, the first week of the month comes and goes but nothing has happened, no elevator service guy. We sat down and started looking at her finances and figured out how she could cover the total amount until the replacement check arrived. By this time I was not entirely sure it was down there, and if it was what shape would it be in? Would it be covered in yuck or damaged in some way that would make it useless? Anything was possible.
On Monday I got a call from my mom. She was so excited! The elevator man had been there that morning and she had gone with him to the basement where they found her check. The darn thing was a little dusty but otherwise you would have never guessed where it was for the past few weeks. It was amazing! It was fantastic. It was a huge relief.
At the end of it all, her rent was paid before the grace period was over and everyone could take a deep sigh of relief. Phew!

RK Treat Popsicles

One of the best in the bunch

Birthday Snack for a Preschool Class

Today my daughter who recently turned 5 is scheduled to have snack as her class party. At first she wanted popsicles, American Cheese slices, and bananas. For several reasons I discouraged the popsicles and agreed to Rice Krispy treats. I told a friend about it and she suggested an idea- Rice Krispy treats shaped like popsicles. The 5yo loved the idea!
They are not perfect but I got them done. Here's hoping her classmates enjoy them!
Thanks for the idea Wendy!

101 ways to entertain yourself #1

While watching the New Girl, the one where Jess finds out that a guy cheated with her on his girlfriend who looks a lot like Jess.
I felt the need to needle my significant other (aka SO or Grumpy Smirf) a bit.
I spent about 4 minutes saying "how did they find an Asian girl who looks so much like Zooey Deschanel?" and "what sort of casting call was it? Must be Asian and look like Zooey Deschanel?" it only took him a few of those before he broke down! And replied "OMG! She has on glasses and the same haircut thats it!" Success!

5:13am Wednesday Morning -Zombies!

I woke with this thought "Why have I never seen a zombie in a wheelchair?" and have sat and pondered this for the last 20 minutes. Is it because they (Zombies) have such limited abilities, propelling the chair would be too difficult? Are wheelchair bound victims saved from the zombie fate somehow and simply allowed to die? If the zombie disease overcomes death can it also beat MS? Do directors simply not know what to do with someone in a chair?

I asked my husband as he was getting ready for work and he said "the zombies dragging themselves on the ground used to be in wheelchairs" with such confidence it blew my mind! Where did he pull that from? Has this question already occurred to him? Ah well. He is a cleaver one!

I have another 15minutes before I need to jump into the shower and get this day going. Happy Tuesday!

Pb&b sandwich

Tonight's dinner

Tuesday Night Post #1

It’s a Tuesday night after work. The kids got up at 6am today and I started work at 7:15. It’s just the three of us tonight because my husband has used one of his “kitchen passes” to play golf with friends after work. Both kids are sitting at the kitchen table with me, as we listen to Pandora (VicTorious Cast theme), my older daughter colors, and the younger one distracts us both and runs amuck.

The 5yo has decided she wants Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches for dinner. Who am I to defy this request? I have all the ingredients and frankly I can’t imagine thinking of something to make that doesn’t involve a bowl filled with cereal. Also her 2yo sister is grumpy-as-cus starting one thing and quickly growing board and moving on to the next mess making venture.  7:30 will not get here soon enough for me tonight. Don’t get me wrong, I adore my kids, but they drive me totally batty too. Sometimes the craziness of it all just gets to me. As an example- to get this far in my first entry it has taken me nearly a half hour. I have stopped twice to help the 5yo write a word and three times to help the 2yo, 2xs in the bathroom and once to keep her from pulling the batteries out of a toy.

A little background about me for my first blog- I was born in Orange County California in the late 1960's. My formative years were the 70's and 80's. If you did not live through this time yourself you may have seen That 70's Show or watched one of the many early John Hughes movie. These fine documentaries chronicle the decades I am talking about.  From these sources or others like them you will know it was a confusing mix of change, optimism, newfound freedom, excessive use of drugs and alcohol, divorce, social and sexual exploration, financial crisis, reaction, and fear. Being a child in the 1070’s in particular was an interesting experience. Parenting meant sending your kids off to play for hours on end with little to no supervision, possibly without shoes, and certainly without a helmet. We were feral children in many ways. We came home when the streetlights came on, M-F often to an empty house after school. There was a lot of responsibility to being a latchkey kid.  There was also a feeling that the neighborhood was watching out for you, and would pick up a phone and call your mom if they felt the need. A positive and a negative in oh so many ways.

As a member of Generation X I spent my teens watching the prosperity of the baby boomers, hearing about the depression and hard times from my parents. In my 20's my generation was characterized as slackers who spent too much time in school and coffee shops or as wanta-be-boomers stressing out about the previous generation and attempting to live up to the mythical standards they set for all future Americans. Every TV show was about growing up in the 50's or early 60's and we were constantly being hit over the head with information about this golden era of endless opportunity, liberty, and optimism (ha!) which we had just missed out on.

I learned about JFK and Camelot in school and what they didn't cover in class I learned at the loving and all knowing knee of made for TV movies. (My own Camelot didn't happen until the 1990's, ah the Clinton years!) I am a product of the decades in which I have lived and the forces which formed those times.

I am not a slacker, most of the time. I work hard, as a mother, wife and employee. Like many women I need to have a job to help support my family. There are days I wish I were in the position to be a stay at home mom and days when I am so glad to have a place to go, where I can talk to grown-ups and I am not required to wipe anyone else's rear end.

Well, it’s now nearly time for dinner. The rest will need to wait because I gotta get cooking!