Merry Christmas and stuff

I hope that this finds you all having survived a lovely Christmas-wherever you and and however you celebrated. I'd love to post some pics, but I'm on Matt's new computer and haven't loaded any of them onto this machine.

So, our holiday was lovely. We started out at our house and then went over to my folks. We had a lovely day (even though I had ANOTHER cold) and enjoyed each others' company. Then Matt, Joseph, and I left at 5:15 Friday morning for Chicago to visit his family. We pulled in around 10:30 (Chicago-time) and promptly crashed. Yesterday was spent re-couping and Christmassing with his parents, sister, and brother-in-law. Today (I'm finally feeling a bit better) was Church and then festivities with Matt's aunt, uncle, grandpa, and cousin (with family). Again, a lovely time was had...mostly. Matt's poor little cousin (4 yrs old) got a little carsick on the way over and ate too quickly once she got here, so she got sick all over the table. Yum. Then, Joseph had an allergic reaction (like none he's ever had--kind of scary, actually) and we almost ran out to the ER. Thank goodness for Benadryl. Then, Grandpa kind of had a bit of an accident on the couch. So, it was a crazy hectic and bizarre day.

This reaction that Joseph had really kind of freaked us out. He woke up from a nap and ate a piece of cheese. His GI told us a couple of weeks ago to start introducing dairy and see how he does. So, we've been feeding him yogurt and cheese with no adverse reactions. He ate this piece of cheese today, and then I gave him a cracker from a plate with a cheeseball on it and his face, neck, back, tummy, and arms started breaking out in itchy hives. He got all swollen and was a miserable itchy mess. Matt ran out to get some liquid Benadryl while I called his doctor. We were steps from the door to go to the ER (his face was like one big itchy swollen hive) when his doctor called back and said that as long as his lips and tongue weren't swelling up (which they weren't, and he could definitely breathe--he was screaming himself silly), that the Benadryl should do the trick. So, we dosed him and waited. That stuff is amazing. He cooled off and got his appropriate color back within about 40 minutes. He was down on the floor chatting and playing with his cousins again within about an hour. My heart finally started beating regularly around that time too. I couldn't believe that the cheese would have given him that reaction since he'd been enjoying it for a while. Matt's cousin, Karen, mentioned that he had gotten the cracker from the cheeseball plate and the cheeseball was covered in nuts. Ding! My mom has a terrible tree nut allergy, and it would seem that Joseph does too. He puffed all up after he got the cracker, and the cracker had been touching the ball. I think that it's just tree nuts since he's had tastes of Chinese food with no reaction and that's dripping in peanut oil (usually). But, we're probably going to get him officially tested when we get home. I'm going to wait a couple of days and give him some more yogurt just so that I know that it isn't the dairy. We're not going to give him a walnut.

Poor little guy. He had us all a little freaked out. I promise to post pics as soon as I can (not from his reaction--I was a little nervous during that ordeal). I'm collecting them on the camera for now.

Grandmas and rings

So, I'm feeling better. I think that the snow that fell this past weekend actually really helped me finally start to feel the Christmas spirit. I am just full of a multitude of thoughts this Christmas Eve...

For starters, I hope that Little Joseph can kick this killer cold that he's got before we leave for Chicago on Friday.

Then, this time of year is a Grandma-y time of year for me:
December 21 is my mom's mom's (Grandma A) birthday. So, when she was living with us we would always go out to dinner with her on her birthday. She moved in with my parents over Thanksgiving of 1996 and lived with them/us until she died October 26, 2001. There is so much to say about those 5 years and the things that we all learned throughout that time. Most notably, Max and I learned a whole new sense of responsibility in relation to our family. My parents took my grandma in with no questions or regrets when she was no longer able to live by herself. It certainly wasn't easy for anyone as I had just started college 1000 miles away and Max was in 5th grade...not to mention that my 85-year-old grandmother was moving to live with her daughter in NH after 70ish years of life in downtown Chicago...not quite apples-to-apples. And, the fact that she was moving because her health was no longer allowing her to be on her own made her even more frustrated. But, we (mostly they) persevered. Max and I ended up knowing Grandma A better than we ever did before and we figured out that Grandma was a pretty cool lady. So, thanks to that whole situation, we have some incredible memories and insights that we wouldn't have otherwise had. We still go out to dinner on her birthday so that we can remember her (although the snow kind of...snowed on that parade this year). There is so much more to say about this experience, but I'll stop here.

Then, Christmas Eve 1999 was when my dad's mom (Grandma W) died. She was another amazingly cool (in a totally different way) lady. She lived in Cleveland with the rest of my dad's family and we managed to see them once or twice a year while I was growing up. Once we moved to NH, though, they all came to visit us a little bit more and we developed more of a relationship. Grandma W was such a smart lady in so many different ways. She always had a story about something (I wish that I could remember more of them), she read everything that she could get her hands on, and she was such a talented seamstress and handcrafter person. When she died, her estate was split up amongst the 4 kids and many grandkids so that we all got tokens and a little bit of money. I got a lamp (that Matt hates, I don't know why, I think that it's so pretty--green Tiffany-style table lamp), and graduated pearls in addition to the money. Since I was anticipating more college, I put the money toward that expense, but I did a very smart thing: I bought myself a ring with a little bit of the money so that I'd have something tangible to look at and think of her. It was probably the best $225 that I could've spent. I love the ring, and it makes me think of her.

Grandma A also gave me a ring. She bought herself a diamond and sapphire ring when I was born (in September) with the intention of giving it to me for my wedding. I had no idea of this plan and was amazed when she gave it to me and told me the story shortly before our wedding in 2001. Of course, it was my "something blue." I love that one too, although I don't wear it as much.

So, this time of year always finds me reflecting on the amazing women in my family. I, actually, kind of feel like I've developed as a neat combination of these two cool ladies (and my mom, of course) and feel like if I can be as determined and inspired as they were, then I'll be okay. And, hopefully someday my grandkids can sit around and remember me with similar fondness and admiration.

I'm trying, really I am.

I really am trying to be Christmassy and spirited this year. I decorated, listen to the music, watch the programs, compiled gifts for lots of people, sent my cards, baked a few things, and even snagged an angel from the Salvation Army tree. Somehow, I'm just not feeling it though.

So, our power went out last Thursday and came back on Wednesday night. Thursday we cleaned and bought food. Friday Matt took Joseph to the doctor for his check-up with his GI lady and a couple of shots (flu and DTaP). Incidentally, he weighed in at 19 lbs 3 oz this time. By Friday night he was up to a fever of 101.6 (I think)...after it'd taken us an hour and a half to drive home from where we'd gone to pick up a gift for my mom. Yesterday he was on a Tylenol schedule since he kept heating up as it all wore off. Last night, he developed a chesty cough and what seems like a sore throat to go with it. His chest sounds really tight and congested and his cough sounds really painful. So, we "slept" on the couch together last night. He seems miserable this morning, so we've got an appointment at 9:30 (so much for church...) to make sure that he doesn't have pneumonia and/or croup. We'll see how that goes. We're supposed to be going out tonight for a real adult evening too--dinner with a pile of other adults and a one-man showing of "The Santaland Diaries." Which means that we've called a babysitter...who (although we know her and feel confident in her babysitting abilities) we're not going to leave our sick little boy with unless he's remarkably better by 4:30. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

In other news, Max and Jackie should be home tonight. They made it from Oklahoma City to Dayton yesterday and will hopefully make it the rest of the way today. I'm pretty sure that it's been snowing for the past 48 hours, so hopefully they don't run into treacherous weather. Drive safely!

Santa

Pretty sure that Joseph's face adequately describes his first encounter with Santa. This guy was in the church basement after Matt's concert last Sunday. He was all decked out in his open coat, Hawaiian shirt, and square of fabric hanging behind his chair. It was amazing.

The Ice Storm...

A tree by our house.

A tree by our street broken in half and laying on a power line.

A broken telephone pole.

Icy trees by the side of the road.

Icy bush.

Ice on my parents' lights.

The awning (with no awning) full of ice 'n lights.

More icy colors.

Our Nightmare Before Christmas may be over

Oh my gosh, we have power again. We figured out that it was 138 hours; 6 hours short of 6 days. Gulp. Hopefully it holds... I do have pictures to post at some point too.

I have had such mixed emotions about this whole situation. On one hand I am so grateful for so many things and situations in the way that this has all played out. The people that I work with and our other friends in the area have been so kind and so supportive. We have received offers for everything from a home to stay in, to meals, to laundry, to showers, to a sympathetic ear. I’ve mostly taken advantage of the ears—that’s what I needed the most (besides electricity in my home). We have been so blessed to remain healthy throughout this ordeal and not be faced with any all-out emergencies (knock-on-wood). All things considered, the contents of our refrigerator are a small price to pay to be able to come out of this whole thing. I have talked to a number of students who have witnessed much more damage to homes and cars as tree limbs and power lines have come down. We were so lucky to have been able to shelter at my parents’ house since, although their power was also out for 100 hours, they had a generator that was able to run their water, heat, and a handful of electrical appliances. Additionally, we were quite fortunate to find (and be able to buy) a generator on Monday. That has kept our house warmer than it otherwise would have been. And, although we had extension cords running all over our place, it helped us feel a little more "normal." So, I know that we have fared very well. My heart is so warmed at the out-pouring of concern and offers of assistance from everyone. You all have my most sincere thanks and gratitude.

On the other hand, I have a pit of fury burning in my belly as well. I am outraged at the electrical company (yeah, there’s only one) for their irresponsibility in this whole manner. One guy at the grocery store was blaming President Bush...not quite sure how that works, but I know that so many of us have been looking for a scapegoat. Mine is the utility company. Our rates have done nothing but go up, and they have continued to cut back and eliminate things on their end which have resulted in years of neglected maintenance that could have at least lessened the effects of this storm. I know that part of the NH charm is the extensive vegetation by the side of the roads, but if they had been trimming the trees away from the lines during the summer months, there wouldn’t have been nearly as much flora laying on the lines and snapping them in many cases. It would have made restoration so much easier and faster. I also understand that this anger that I feel is mostly wasted energy since it's not productive to do anything with it. So, I fester.

Additionally, I’m not sure that this could’ve come at a worse time. We have been so short on money this year for a variety of reasons (mainly our automobile and child care expenses), that Christmas was going to be a challenge, at best, regardless of this whole mess. Since this has played out, we have spent hundreds of dollars trying to keep our house and our lives from coming apart at the seams. And, I’m not done with my Christmas shopping. Again, I know that we have been so lucky, but luck isn’t bringing Christmas to my house. If we lived in Whoville, it might be another story. I just want…I don’t know…I want to be able to give my family and friends an appropriate gift so that they each know how much I love them and how much they mean to me. Somehow, I just don’t feel like I’m making it this year. I know that I’m the only one that can bring this kind of stress and guilt upon myself, but, I’m there. Is this what happens at this stage of life? I get pulled so hard in so many directions that nothing gets done the way that I want it done. Grr.

Oh well. My commiserating over the situation isn’t going to fix it either. So, I’m going to go try to pick up what pieces I can find and throw out everything that’s in my refrigerator and freezer since the trash guy comes tomorrow (I hope). At least I can now see the hundreds of dollars of food that I'm throwing away now. Is anyone looking for a gift for me? I’m easy to please—I’ll be happy with mayonnaise.

This too will pass and we will endure, but keep your fingers crossed for us--we've got a couple of more storms on our horizons. In the meantime, I'm hoping that my alarm actually goes off in the morning--it's all about the little things :)

Still dark.

We're still in the dark. It's been almost 5 days now. We're kind of sick of this. But, the road by our house is open which means that people are at least in our area. We've seen a few service trucks in the area too. Currently, we're warming at my parents' since their power came on this morning so we can cook and do laundry. Laundry was becoming a necessity, so it was either this or the laundromat.

School was back in for me today. I had about a dozen students who were still out and a pile of teachers were still in the dark. You'll all be glad to know that Waldo made it, as did Mufasa (my fish at school). My mom was out today and will be tomorrow too--that's 4 days for her. We're supposed to get more snow and ice tonight, so we may not have school tomorrow. We shall see...

Day...whatever

So, we're still out. It officially went dark for us at 1am on Thursday night. Today didn't seem so bad since it was like 60 degrees outside. Hopefully that means that the house didn't get too cold. It's supposed to take a wicked turn in the next day or so, though.

Luckily (I think), Matt snagged a generator for us today. So, he's over at our house getting it up and running. It'll power our furnace so that we don't lose any pipes, and I think that he'll be able to plug in a few other things. So, we'll see how it all rolls. Regardless, we won't have any water since our well pump is in a separate building and runs all of the units in our complex. And, I'm sure that we won't have a phone, Internet, or cable since the company that services all of that stuff is just terrible.

And, my school district website has a big bold note that says that all schools will be open for school tomorrow. So, after dinner I'm going to go shower at a friend's house so that I'm not super-skanky for work tomorrow. Oh boy.

Stay tuned...

Some numbers and news from this "storm"

69: hours that the power has been off.
2: nights that we've spent away from our house (including the one to come).
6: fish that have frozen in our fish tank, so far.
6: remaining fish...
3: utility trucks that I've seen today...seems like more would be needed...
191,000: electrical customers still not with service.
2: "snow days" off of school so far, including tomorrow.
1: showers that I've taken since Thursday.

It'd be nice if the power would come back on. All things considered, though, we're so lucky in this whole situation. At this point my biggest concern is Waldo--my turtle who lives at school. His lights are on a timer, and if the building has been without power, Waldo has been chilly. He's not a very big turtle, so I hope that he makes it. I'll be sad if he freezes.

So, like I said, my folks have a generator. We tried to hook it up to our furnace last night with no success. One of our neighbors helped us set it up today, though, so that we could heat our place up a little. After a couple of hours, it warmed up to 63. After dinner it was back down to 59.

Hopefully tomorrow...

42 hours and counting...

We're figuring that everything in our refrigerator is gone. We're hoping that tonight's lows (supposed to be in the teens) don't freeze the few pipes of water that we have. The gas fireplace that we have warmed us up to 56 today. We've since left and are warm over at my folks. The cat is still there, but he's got lots of fur. The electric company says that there are still over 300,000 customers without power. They haven't touched the trees on the lines or the broken telephone pole by our house...I guess they're not priorities. And, as we were driving home last night, we saw that houses that are less than a mile from our house have power. What I would give for a hot shower...

Serves me right probably

So, this is what I get for shooting my mouth off about the weather. We lost power last night around 1am and it's not back on yet. At present, we're sitting at my parents' house because they have a generator, which means that they have: 2 lights, a refrigerator, heat, running water, television, and internet. We do need to head back to our house, though, to check on the cat and all that stuff. We're going to stay there tonight...probably all in the same bed with a big down comforter. Tomorrow, if we're still not back on we're probably going to warm the place up with my parents' generator and then let it sit again for a while. I've got pictures to post of some of the lines that were down by our house and all of the ice on the trees.

Since it was an ice day of no school, that also means that we had Indian food for lunch. That's just what we do on no school days. It was delicious. Then we got to go shopping at Target, which also had no power, but their generator ran half of their lights, the registers, and their credit card machines. What's really important, here?

I'll let you all know how we fare...

WATCH OUT!

It's December. In New England. And, what do you know? There's weather! You would've thought that the world was going to end. Oh my goodness.

So, we haven't gotten our first real storm of the year, and it seems like people are just a hankerin' for some winter weather to talk about. The meteorologists out here just get all excited at the thought of snow. They must have to keep spare pants in the weather room. Do you think they each get their own drawer? We get Storm Watch and Weather Doppler and all kinds of scrolling information at the bottom of our TV screens. You'd think that we'd never seen the stuff before.

Gee, Maw, what's that white stuff? Is it a cushion so that I can drive my car ridiculously fast? No, it must slow my car down to a SCREACHING HALT! Unless, of course, you drive a jacked-up 4x4 pick-up truck (that may or may not have a snow plow attached to the front of it). Then it provides super-chargers to your vehicle so that you are able to speed past the other cars being driven by white-knuckled people FREAKING OUT at the RAIN (I swear, it's not even snowing. I'm not even kidding. It's RAINING!).

Good-ness. This happens every year. During the first "storm" people are all over the place. It's like they forget how to drive and they turn into whiney little wimps. Joseph had a doctor's appointment today that was like 40 minutes away from my school...people were telling me that I should leave early so that I beat the storm. IT'S RAINING PEOPLE! I will grant them that we're forcasted to cool off and the rain will turn to an icy mix of badness which will make driving more complicated, but, for now, IT'S RAINING! Gah.

Anyway, so we made it to Joseph's doctor's appointment despite the impending doom looming in the clouds over our heads. He came in at 18 lbs 13 oz and 30" long. For those of you wondering, that puts him in the (ready for this?) 8th percentile for weight and 52nd for height. I'm done worrying about this. He's a healthy, happy growing boy. Matt was little until he was like 16. So, whatever.

We've got an appointment with his ped-GI lady next week and he'll get some of his 12-month shots then. He's sheduled for like 6 or 7 of them including MMR. Sorry, folks, he's not getting MMR. Not now. He weighs less than half of other kids his age, and he doesn't need it right now. He'll get it, but not now. If anyone would like to weigh in on that, I'm open to thoughts, but I probably won't change my mind. He'll get his flu shot. Does he really need the chicken pox vaccine? Doesn't somebody's kid have chicken pox that he can share a spoon with? Hep A, I'm good with. Vaccinate that. Polio--check. What else is he supposed to get? I don't know. Urgh...I'm having a ranty evening, it would seem.

'Nuff. Time to go stir my chicken 'n dumplings...mmm...good storm food--unless, of course, the world comes to an end. Then, at least I'm going down with dumplings.

On the mend

With teaching, it's often easier to drag your sorry sick butt through a day than be out sick. You've got to decide to be sick often before you are actually sure that you're sick. So, I decided last night around 7 that I was still sick today. When I woke up this morning to get Joseph ready, I decided that I probably could've gone in today. But, I'd already made plans to be sick, so back to bed I went!

So, I feel so much better. I can breathe. I can eat (and taste). My throat doesn't hurt, except when I cough. And my headache is down to a dull pulse that I can totally live with. My congestion has migrated to my chest so that I periodically hock up absolute grossness, but it's better! Yeah!

But, for some reason, Joseph had a terrible night last night and I really don't know why. He woke up screaming (he usually wakes up fussing) around 11:30 and didn't settle again until after 12:30, and then had a repeat performance between 2 and 3. He seemed to be gassy, which seemed to be hurting him. I mixed his cereal with some rice milk last night, which I've never done before. So, I guess that probably didn't sit so well with him. I don't know why...there's not much in it...so, we'll see how he rolls. Poor little guy.

And, I've GOT to finish Twilight today. I've got 40 pages left. I decided that I was annoyed with the way that the last situation played out so I didn't finish it last night. Then, I had dreams about vampires. Ridiculous, I know. And, (this gets better) while I was rocking Joseph last night, I found myself wondering how I'd feel if he fell in love with a vampire. I ended up deciding that if she came from a nice "family" like the Cullens, then I'd probably be ok with it, eventually. On another note, I need the next one now...who's got it that I can borrow?

In the meantime, I'm going to try to do some shopping online today for Christmas. I'm still kind of stymied on Joseph...he just had his birthday and got a ton of shiny new toys, and this is his preferred toy box (yeah, Max, that's your old sweater...Mom keeps everything and it's so cute on him!):

So, I think that we're going to get him fitted for his first walkers from Stride Rite and get those (because a one-year-old needs shoes that cost more than his parents' shoes...). But, otherwise, it's a lean Christmas 'round here. It doesn't bother me, but I have to be careful to not ruin Christmas for the rest of my family.

My teeth hurt.

My sinuses are so jam-packed solid full of disgustingness that my teeth hurt. Sleep is difficult, at best. Drugs are not an option. Bleh. And, I'm feeling this stupid mother guilt for sending Joseph to day care today so that I can sleep and take care of myself. I know that might not make a lot of sense...but, nevertheless...guilt. Stuffed up head, coughing, sore throat guilt. Hopefully I make it to work tomorrow...

You know how...

...your head gets all stuffy and food doesn't taste which tends to take most of the enjoyment out of eating since most stuff feels like mush...
...after you've blown your nose at least a million times your nose starts to do that thing on the Kleenex commercials where it tries to run away and glows all red...
...you know that there are things that you could or should be doing but since your head is full of mucus you're incapable of a coherent string of thoughts...
...you're pretty sure that there has to be some kind of exterior bulge that the world outside of your head can see to tell that your sinuses are compacted into a solid mass...
...your stomach gets kind of upset because of the seemingly astronomical amounts of aforementioned mucus that does the post-nasal-drip thing...
...you would love to put yourself on the -Quil regiment (NyQuil, NyQuil, NyQuil, we love you, you giant f-ing Q--click it, you have to), but you can't take anything stronger than Tylenol and Halls since you're still freakin' nursing...
...how Tylenol and Halls just don't cut it sometimes...
...sometimes you feel better just whining a little bit...

Bah.

So, it's taken me a little while to get in the Christmas swing this year. It took even longer last year. I think that both years I've been so focused on Joseph's birthday that once that's over, it takes me a while to change gears. This year, Joseph got so much stuff for his birthday that it's hard to get excited about buying more stuff when I'm constantly stepping on an assortment of plastic things already. At least I'm sending Christmas cards this year--that was totally neglected last year. And, I have managed to procure a few gifts for people. I do have to say that I've obtained particularly kick-ass gifts for both of my parents which I can't describe because my dad reads this--hi dad! Although, he knows what I got my mom...since he's paying for it...thanks, dad!

Anyway, now for those promised pictures. Hold on to your hats! I must say that the only reason that this is even happening is because I've been all alone in my house since 9:30 this morning and have successfully resisted all urges to do things of a housekeeping nature. I have: eaten a leisurely breakfast (of chocolate chip cookies and coffee, mmmm), watched Spongebob, sewn on my new stupid sock creature, read Twilight, knitted, printed and affixed all labels for aforementioned Christmas cards, taken my sweet time showering and dressing, chatted with a high school friend on Facebook (who's son has the same dairy/soy issue as Joseph and who knits too--such a silly small world sometimes), taken pictures of my fo's and wip, loaded them, and composed this post. Sounds like a lot...of wonderful futzing! Such a short time ago I would be getting antsy for Matt to return home from shopping, but now I'm loving my time alone since it has become a precious commodity for this oldest/only kid (since Max is 8 yrs younger than me, we're both essentially only's, but it's cool to have a brother!).

First, the finished objects:

My first sock--yeah me!

Sock with little stocking

Stupid Sock Creature

And a work-in-progress:

Cutest hat ever

Loose ends

Couple things:


Kate passed this on to me a little while ago, and I need to respond...but I'm still deciding. Do people count as things, or do they need to be non-living, or at least non-human?


I finished my first stupid sock creature and, appropriately addicted, started my next. Matt came home to find a pair of his socks dismembered. I'm starting to look at socks as potential creatures instead of things to put on my feet. I'm ill.

I knit through one skein for the cutest hat ever and need to pick up the next one...I should finish this one pretty soon.

I know that I still owe pictures. One day you're going to tune in and see all kinds of fo's :)



The Egg (as in, our Thanksgiving turkey was cooked on it) is an amazing piece of equipment that my dad found...it's a giant green ceramic smoker/cooker thing. It's officially called the Big Green Egg, and it makes some good stuff. Max and Jackie make some kick-ass pizzas on the egg.

Back to knitting and Twilight...

Sleepytown, Population: me

Sooooo tired.......

Joseph is finally cutting his bottom two teeth and was absolutely miserable last night. He went to bed early and then woke up about 11:50. We snuggled and nursed and he fell asleep again. I laid him down and he started scratching at his face, which woke him up, so he started crying. Blah blah blah...repeat the same steps until about 1:20. At that point, I decided that it was time for him to "self soothe," or time for him to yell himself to sleep since nothing that I was doing was helping him get there. Matt decided that probably wasn't a good idea and took his turn until 2:30 when he finally stayed asleep. Needless to say, he was a tired cookie today at day care...not to mention mom and dad who are kind of like the walking dead. My dad says that I work on my eye makeup when I get so tired...I get disgusting huge purple rings under my eyes--so attractive!

So, I'm going to bed. I'm only going to read one chapter of Twilight first...

In the meantime, go check out Carrie's blog. She's taking a stab at daily blogging in December, and her kids are way mad cute too!

So...

I sort of feel like I should post here today...kind of like I've gotten into the swing of this regular blogging thing and like people out there thrive on my narcissistic issues and care about the rediculous stuff that I put up here. It's okay, I know that you're all just looking for pictures of the boy. So, here you go: