Wednesday, September 30, 2009
C-A-P-S Caps! Caps! Caps!
The Capitals' regular season starts tomorrow on the road in Boston! Let's go Caps!!
My children are not normal
We walked into the exam room and the nurse practioner (Mary) assumed we were there for flu shots. Afterall, two healthy-looking boys who are bouncing around like maniacs because they've been forced to spend the last hour waiting their turn and listening to every Hoops & Yoyo card in CVS can't be sick. Can they? Well, I don't know. The jury is still out on that one. Results due today. So why then were we at the Minute Clinic on Monday night?
The short answer is because my children are not normal. The long answer follows.
I was driving home from work on Monday evening and replaying the morning's and weekend's events in my mind. Those events included the normal myriad hockey and soccer events (as you would expect). However, also included was a very late night vomiting incident from Keeper Boy on Saturday (he made it to the bathroom) and a right-before-it's-time-to-leave-for-school-just-ate-yogurt-and-drank-milk-for-breakfast vomiting explosion from J-Mav on Monday morning (he did not make it to the bathroom... at least the sofa is leather). Both were once and done. Neither had any symptoms other than the vomiting -- not even an upset stomach.
Either incident on its own could be rationalized and explained away. For instance, Keeper Boy had eaten greasy food twice on Saturday between all of his activities... way more greasy food than he's used to. And sometimes yogurt on an empty stomach is not a good thing.
But as I said before, my children are not normal. And as I was driving home on Monday night, I had an "oh my Lord" epiphany.
You see, both boys have had strep throat many times... Keeper Boy more than J-Mav, but they've both had it. They NEVER have the "normal" symptoms. Neither has ever had the tell-tale white spots in the throat. A slight sore throat, maybe; but no spots. Neither usually has a fever. Neither usually feels sick in any way. J-Mav just acts lethargic. But they have almost always thrown up. And usually it's a once and done situation. That's like our warning flag to take them to the doctor. Usually we are greeted with doubt. "But he has no symptoms of strep throat." I have always insisted on the test and every time it has come back positive. Every time. Sometimes the quick strep wasn't positive, but the one that was sent out to the lab was positive the next day. But always positive. The last time I took them for strep tests was the last week of school this past June. J-Mav's quick strep was positive right away. Keeper Boy's (two days later) had to be sent out to come up positive. They both ended up on antibiotics for the end of school and a little bit beyond. And you'd never have known that either of them was sick!
So that's how we ended up in the Minute Clinic on Monday night with two boys who couldn't have appeared further from sick. I got a call yesterday afternoon that the lab hadn't shown up on Monday night to pick up the day's samples, so they didn't go until Tuesday morning. I expect that if anything grew, I'll get a call at some point this morning. But I'm actually HOPING this time I'm wrong. Given our history with strep, though, we figured it was better to be safe than sorry. My kids just aren't normal.
The short answer is because my children are not normal. The long answer follows.
I was driving home from work on Monday evening and replaying the morning's and weekend's events in my mind. Those events included the normal myriad hockey and soccer events (as you would expect). However, also included was a very late night vomiting incident from Keeper Boy on Saturday (he made it to the bathroom) and a right-before-it's-time-to-leave-for-school-just-ate-yogurt-and-drank-milk-for-breakfast vomiting explosion from J-Mav on Monday morning (he did not make it to the bathroom... at least the sofa is leather). Both were once and done. Neither had any symptoms other than the vomiting -- not even an upset stomach.
Either incident on its own could be rationalized and explained away. For instance, Keeper Boy had eaten greasy food twice on Saturday between all of his activities... way more greasy food than he's used to. And sometimes yogurt on an empty stomach is not a good thing.
But as I said before, my children are not normal. And as I was driving home on Monday night, I had an "oh my Lord" epiphany.
You see, both boys have had strep throat many times... Keeper Boy more than J-Mav, but they've both had it. They NEVER have the "normal" symptoms. Neither has ever had the tell-tale white spots in the throat. A slight sore throat, maybe; but no spots. Neither usually has a fever. Neither usually feels sick in any way. J-Mav just acts lethargic. But they have almost always thrown up. And usually it's a once and done situation. That's like our warning flag to take them to the doctor. Usually we are greeted with doubt. "But he has no symptoms of strep throat." I have always insisted on the test and every time it has come back positive. Every time. Sometimes the quick strep wasn't positive, but the one that was sent out to the lab was positive the next day. But always positive. The last time I took them for strep tests was the last week of school this past June. J-Mav's quick strep was positive right away. Keeper Boy's (two days later) had to be sent out to come up positive. They both ended up on antibiotics for the end of school and a little bit beyond. And you'd never have known that either of them was sick!
So that's how we ended up in the Minute Clinic on Monday night with two boys who couldn't have appeared further from sick. I got a call yesterday afternoon that the lab hadn't shown up on Monday night to pick up the day's samples, so they didn't go until Tuesday morning. I expect that if anything grew, I'll get a call at some point this morning. But I'm actually HOPING this time I'm wrong. Given our history with strep, though, we figured it was better to be safe than sorry. My kids just aren't normal.
Thinking...
It's a little creepy how the elevator sometimes (but not all the time) opens when you walk into the lobby of my office building. It happens too often to be coincidence, but I haven't seen a sensor anywhere. Creepy.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Surprisingly good movie!! We saw it last night in 3-D (and yes... both the boys left their glasses on for the entire movie). This is progress if you remember our experiences with the 3-D attractions at Disney World in January...
Seen... / Heard...
Last Tuesday, J-Mav and I had to do a weeknight run to the grocery store. We parked and saw a very strange site as we were walking into the store... a car that had a ginormous Cowboys star in the back window, AS WELL AS a large Redskins R on the back of the car.
J-Mav looked at it then said, "that's just not right."
J-Mav looked at it then said, "that's just not right."
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Weekend update...
Soccer! Hockey! Uncle Hooter! Huh?
Hubby's little brother acquired the nickname "Hooter" many years ago. I won't go into the whole story, but it's a funny one. :-) Anyway, he had to report back to Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) on Friday for a follow-up on his surgery last month. He checked in and proceeded to journey over to our house for the weekend. Needless to say, the boys were THRILLED!
But before the weekend of sports, we put Uncle Hooter to work. He and Hubby assembled J-Mav's new bed... the bed that came with the enourmously-less-than-helpful instructions... the bed we tried to assemble LAST weekend and couldn't even figure out where to start. Frustrating to say the least. Anyway, Hubby and Uncle Hooter figured it out and built a beautiful new bed for J-Mav. Yay! One step closer to the completion of the room makeover. :-)
Next on the agenda was J-Mav's soccer game. Due to it being a Jewish holiday, our roster was quite short. Of our 11 players, we had only six. But we made due and Uncle Hooter got a kick out of watching J-Mav play. J-Mav, knowing that Uncle Hooter played soccer all the up through college, even asked for some tips and pointers (and listened when they were given to him)!
From the soccer the field, we went directly to the hockey rink. Uncle Hooter, J-Mav, and I were able to partake in the organization's annual picnic prior to going inside to see Keeper Boy's team play. They were playing a team from Ashburn for which a few of Justin's former teammates play this year. It wasn't Keeper Boy's turn in the rotation, so he got to keep stats and watch, and I got to sit and talk to friends we hadn't seen in awhile. Keeper Boy's team won.
After the game we went to dinner with great friends (the family of one of the kids on the opposing hockey team) and had a fabulous time catching up while watching VA Tech win a great football game. Good times.
This morning Keeper Boy had hockey practice at 6am! Yeah, I didn't go. Neither did Uncle Hooter. Nor did J-Mav. There was some Rock Band competition, some chores, and some lunch. Then we all trekked up to Frederick, MD for another hockey game. Keeper Boy was in net and had a really good game! The whole team played awesome... for the first two periods. Then I think the 6am practice kicked in. There was a lot of standing around and not a lot of skating. We ended up losing by one goal that was scored in the last few minutes of the game. Kind of a heart breaker.
Went to dinner after the game (thanks, Uncle Hooter!) and then Uncle Hooter headed back to WRAMC and we headed home. The kids are in bed, Hubby has gone off to play hockey (his third rink of the day), and I am flipping between the Emmy Awards and the football game. Neither are really holding my interest.
We're all looking forward to having Uncle Hooter back with us next weekend!
Hubby's little brother acquired the nickname "Hooter" many years ago. I won't go into the whole story, but it's a funny one. :-) Anyway, he had to report back to Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) on Friday for a follow-up on his surgery last month. He checked in and proceeded to journey over to our house for the weekend. Needless to say, the boys were THRILLED!
But before the weekend of sports, we put Uncle Hooter to work. He and Hubby assembled J-Mav's new bed... the bed that came with the enourmously-less-than-helpful instructions... the bed we tried to assemble LAST weekend and couldn't even figure out where to start. Frustrating to say the least. Anyway, Hubby and Uncle Hooter figured it out and built a beautiful new bed for J-Mav. Yay! One step closer to the completion of the room makeover. :-)
Next on the agenda was J-Mav's soccer game. Due to it being a Jewish holiday, our roster was quite short. Of our 11 players, we had only six. But we made due and Uncle Hooter got a kick out of watching J-Mav play. J-Mav, knowing that Uncle Hooter played soccer all the up through college, even asked for some tips and pointers (and listened when they were given to him)!
From the soccer the field, we went directly to the hockey rink. Uncle Hooter, J-Mav, and I were able to partake in the organization's annual picnic prior to going inside to see Keeper Boy's team play. They were playing a team from Ashburn for which a few of Justin's former teammates play this year. It wasn't Keeper Boy's turn in the rotation, so he got to keep stats and watch, and I got to sit and talk to friends we hadn't seen in awhile. Keeper Boy's team won.
After the game we went to dinner with great friends (the family of one of the kids on the opposing hockey team) and had a fabulous time catching up while watching VA Tech win a great football game. Good times.
This morning Keeper Boy had hockey practice at 6am! Yeah, I didn't go. Neither did Uncle Hooter. Nor did J-Mav. There was some Rock Band competition, some chores, and some lunch. Then we all trekked up to Frederick, MD for another hockey game. Keeper Boy was in net and had a really good game! The whole team played awesome... for the first two periods. Then I think the 6am practice kicked in. There was a lot of standing around and not a lot of skating. We ended up losing by one goal that was scored in the last few minutes of the game. Kind of a heart breaker.
Went to dinner after the game (thanks, Uncle Hooter!) and then Uncle Hooter headed back to WRAMC and we headed home. The kids are in bed, Hubby has gone off to play hockey (his third rink of the day), and I am flipping between the Emmy Awards and the football game. Neither are really holding my interest.
We're all looking forward to having Uncle Hooter back with us next weekend!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Oh, and work...
I forgot to mention work in my last post. Work is good. Started the new gig the last week of June. I'm basically doing the same thing I did in my last job (overseeing proposal production, doing all the editing, and creating the look of the proposal responses), with one more direct report and a slightly different title: Technical Publications Manager. Sounds fancy, no?
The commute is about two miles longer (for a total of five door-to-door) and adds almost 10 minutes. That's the downside. Upside?
Some are big things; some are little. All combine for a job I enjoy going to each morning.
The commute is about two miles longer (for a total of five door-to-door) and adds almost 10 minutes. That's the downside. Upside?
- Working for my former boss again, with most of my former team (who came over here with me from the old place)
- Closer to Target for lunchtime shopping
- Big company with a smaller company feel with regard to treating employees fairly
- Company that's actually winning new and repeat business regularly
- Flexibility
- Office with a window!
- Slight pay raise (always good)
- Fridge stocked with Diet Coke
- All Federal holidays off (not just the "major" ones)
- Top Secret clearance (as of last week)
Some are big things; some are little. All combine for a job I enjoy going to each morning.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Oh Where, Oh Where Has my Summer Time Gone?
Seems like it was just yesterday that I quit my job and had two glorious work-free weeks that coincided with the boys' last two weeks of school. And then we had the WHOLE summer before us with fun plans and things to do. And now it's done. Wow, that was quick! I did the summer wrap-up a few weeks ago. Here's what's happened since then...
Hershey Tournament
So the tournament wasn't great for Keeper Boy's new team. Three losses; one win. However, the coaching staff learned a lot about what worked and what didn't. (There was a lot to learn considering the team had exactly zero practices prior to the tournament). We had a great time and got to know the new hockey family. And, my aunt, uncle, and cousin surprised us by showing up at the game the day after I wrote from the tournament. It was their first ever live hockey game! Good times!
School
We're in week 2 and all is well as far as I know. J-Mav loves his teacher (he does magic!). And Keeper Boy isn't too overloaded with homework... yet. He did have a writing assignment on the second day of school, which didn't make him too happy. But he did well... at least on his second attempt, when he actually put some thought into it. J-Mav's Back-to-School Night is tonight; Keeper Boy's is October 1.
9|11
Eight years?!? Unbelievable. Remember that day like it was yesterday.
J-Mav's Room
Progress came to a screeching halt when the bed was delivered as we couldn't make heads nor tails out of the instructions for assembly. After sending an email to the company (and getting a response that basically said, "the instructions that came with the bed are sufficient to put it together") and then speaking to a representative from the company, we're going to try again this weekend. I mean, we didn't even know where to START! I believe I could make serious money re-writing assembly instructions for companies such as this one... if only these companies would realize/admit that their instructions SUCK!
Football!!
The NFL regular season has started. Woo hoo!! Both the Eagles and Cowboys won in Week 1, which makes our house a happy place. Keeper Boy is playing in a fantasy football league with his Godmother/my BFF (through her office). Keeper Boy named his team the Deadskins... I'm sure not a popular choice with Godmother's co-workers, who are likely mostly Redskins fans.
Hockey!!
The Caps are in training camp. I am attending a pre-season game with BFF next week. Yay!! There was a big article on the team's three goalies on the front page of the Sports section in the Post yesterday. Regular season starts in less than a month!!
School Band/Rock Band
Keeper Boy has switched instruments... he played clarinet last year, and did well. However, he didn't enjoy it. He had zippo interest in continuing with said instrument and was ready to quit band. He had always expressed an interest in percussion and, after seeing him rock the drums while playing Rock Band over the summer, we asked (with great trepidation) if he'd like to see if he could switch to percussion and stay in the band. His eyes lit up like Christmas trees and last night I signed a rental agreement for a "bell kit" (practice drum pad and bell set... basically a xylophone). Lord help me.
Hershey Tournament
So the tournament wasn't great for Keeper Boy's new team. Three losses; one win. However, the coaching staff learned a lot about what worked and what didn't. (There was a lot to learn considering the team had exactly zero practices prior to the tournament). We had a great time and got to know the new hockey family. And, my aunt, uncle, and cousin surprised us by showing up at the game the day after I wrote from the tournament. It was their first ever live hockey game! Good times!
School
We're in week 2 and all is well as far as I know. J-Mav loves his teacher (he does magic!). And Keeper Boy isn't too overloaded with homework... yet. He did have a writing assignment on the second day of school, which didn't make him too happy. But he did well... at least on his second attempt, when he actually put some thought into it. J-Mav's Back-to-School Night is tonight; Keeper Boy's is October 1.
9|11
Eight years?!? Unbelievable. Remember that day like it was yesterday.
J-Mav's Room
Progress came to a screeching halt when the bed was delivered as we couldn't make heads nor tails out of the instructions for assembly. After sending an email to the company (and getting a response that basically said, "the instructions that came with the bed are sufficient to put it together") and then speaking to a representative from the company, we're going to try again this weekend. I mean, we didn't even know where to START! I believe I could make serious money re-writing assembly instructions for companies such as this one... if only these companies would realize/admit that their instructions SUCK!
Football!!
The NFL regular season has started. Woo hoo!! Both the Eagles and Cowboys won in Week 1, which makes our house a happy place. Keeper Boy is playing in a fantasy football league with his Godmother/my BFF (through her office). Keeper Boy named his team the Deadskins... I'm sure not a popular choice with Godmother's co-workers, who are likely mostly Redskins fans.
Hockey!!
The Caps are in training camp. I am attending a pre-season game with BFF next week. Yay!! There was a big article on the team's three goalies on the front page of the Sports section in the Post yesterday. Regular season starts in less than a month!!
School Band/Rock Band
Keeper Boy has switched instruments... he played clarinet last year, and did well. However, he didn't enjoy it. He had zippo interest in continuing with said instrument and was ready to quit band. He had always expressed an interest in percussion and, after seeing him rock the drums while playing Rock Band over the summer, we asked (with great trepidation) if he'd like to see if he could switch to percussion and stay in the band. His eyes lit up like Christmas trees and last night I signed a rental agreement for a "bell kit" (practice drum pad and bell set... basically a xylophone). Lord help me.
Accountability...
Still sucking, but going to start taking my sneakers to work and walking at lunch...
Hubby plans to do his first lifetime weigh-in tomorrow...
TODAY'S STATS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change from last time: +2.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change since starting WW: -26
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pounds to goal: 16
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hubby plans to do his first lifetime weigh-in tomorrow...
TODAY'S STATS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change from last time: +2.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Change since starting WW: -26
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pounds to goal: 16
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, September 5, 2009
End-of-Summer Wrap-Up
Haven't posted in awhile...
Keeper Boy, J-Mav, and I went to the shore last week. A good time was had by all (after the remnants of the hurricane passed through the night we got there). We were busy for almost all of the five days we were there, and we all came home a few shades darker. Mom and I hit the annual sidewalk sale in Stone Harbor and did some Christmas shopping. The boys and I went to the beach/ocean one day. We visited with my grandfather, aunt, and uncle one afternoon and had dinner with them and went on a boat ride. We went to the Ocean City boardwalk one day and rented a surrey and walked the boards. And we hung out at the lake at the campground. Good times. Great weather.
We got home at midnight this past Wednesday, went to open house at J-Mav's school Thursday morning to meet his teacher for this year, did laundry and re-packed. Thursday night we left for Hershey, where we are at a hockey tournament with Keeper Boy's new team. We arrived late Thursday night, spent yesterday at Hershey Park and Chocolate World, and played two games today. We went 1 and 1 today, and we have a game tomorrow and one on Monday. The game tomorrow was the first time this group has ever played together in a game situation, and it showed. They lost 6-1 with Keeper Boy in net, but he played well and I like to think that his play helped a lot in keeping the score to just 6. He got the hard hat for the game for being the hardest working player, so that was cool. I know he just really wanted to play well and not let the guys down in his first game with them. We're getting to know all the new names and faces. Again. But it's all good. Seems like a great group of kids and a great group of coaches and parents.
Bonus for today was that my cousin D and her hubby G came out for the game. The EARLY game at 7:45am!! That's some good family! It was great to see them, AND they're coming back for tomorrow's game! Yay!!
Let's see... some random items...
Happy Labor Day!!
Keeper Boy, J-Mav, and I went to the shore last week. A good time was had by all (after the remnants of the hurricane passed through the night we got there). We were busy for almost all of the five days we were there, and we all came home a few shades darker. Mom and I hit the annual sidewalk sale in Stone Harbor and did some Christmas shopping. The boys and I went to the beach/ocean one day. We visited with my grandfather, aunt, and uncle one afternoon and had dinner with them and went on a boat ride. We went to the Ocean City boardwalk one day and rented a surrey and walked the boards. And we hung out at the lake at the campground. Good times. Great weather.
We got home at midnight this past Wednesday, went to open house at J-Mav's school Thursday morning to meet his teacher for this year, did laundry and re-packed. Thursday night we left for Hershey, where we are at a hockey tournament with Keeper Boy's new team. We arrived late Thursday night, spent yesterday at Hershey Park and Chocolate World, and played two games today. We went 1 and 1 today, and we have a game tomorrow and one on Monday. The game tomorrow was the first time this group has ever played together in a game situation, and it showed. They lost 6-1 with Keeper Boy in net, but he played well and I like to think that his play helped a lot in keeping the score to just 6. He got the hard hat for the game for being the hardest working player, so that was cool. I know he just really wanted to play well and not let the guys down in his first game with them. We're getting to know all the new names and faces. Again. But it's all good. Seems like a great group of kids and a great group of coaches and parents.
Bonus for today was that my cousin D and her hubby G came out for the game. The EARLY game at 7:45am!! That's some good family! It was great to see them, AND they're coming back for tomorrow's game! Yay!!
Let's see... some random items...
- D and G are totally rocking Weight Watchers!! I didn't recognize them when they walked into the rink today! They've both dropped several clothing sizes and are still going!!
- Keeper Boy had his first "major" accident on his bike while we were at the campground... the pedal fell off his bike, and so did he. He got pretty scraped up.
- We got Keeper Boy on four roller coasters at Hershey Park yesterday, and -- more surprisingly -- we got J-Mav on three!
- My grandfather is still totally awesome at 96 years old; however, I was sad to see a marked decline from the last time I saw him. :-(
- Our Godson was almost totally back to normal just a week after his appendectomy. Kids are so adaptable!
- J-Mav is getting a room makeover. Hubby pulled up the carpet and laid laminate flooring, painted the walls, and put up new trim and baseboards. We are waiting for the new bed to be delivered. It's looking good!
- I can't believe summer is over and school starts on Tuesday.
Happy Labor Day!!
Heard...
So Keeper Boy's new hockey team sports a girl. She is a very good hockey player, and during this afternoon's game she was excellent. Apparently during intermission the head coach said to the team, "I want you all to play like a girl!" Silence. "Because SHE's getting it done." Or something similar. You go, girl!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
