It's been QUITE a week. So let's see what my pea-sized brain can remember that was worth commenting about.
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Female lawyers, on average, make 77.8% less than their male counterparts. Nice.
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Steve was particularly perturbed at the tree that fell on his DISH Network dish last Sunday, knocking out television service just as he was settling in to watch the Cleveland Browns. In fact, he was willing to go out.in.the.storm.with.a.chainsaw to try to restore tv service. I gently reminded him (what-the-f***-are-you-doing-out-there-a-tree-could-fall-on-your-hard-head!?!?!) that it could wait and we would survive without television.
Electricity was restored on Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning's hot shower was WONDERFUL! Television service was not restored until yesterday and sadly for my tv-head family, I so enjoyed the week that I have now developed a plan to lessen the amount of time we sit in front of that idiot box.
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Sam left school early due to illness for the very first time this week. He was out running around at recess (before lunch) causing his reactive airway to act up. When he sat down at the lunch table he was coughing too hard and he made himself sick. Poor kid suffered the second worst embarrassment one can face in elementary school (the first being the potty accident of course...I STILL remember Tracy Tinkles...poor girl...I wonder how she is today...we were so cruel).
It was, however, kind of funny because I had not been able to get Sam's medical permission form signed by his doctor and therefore was forbidden from bringing his inhaler to school. They still don't have the form but they have now allowed me to leave his inhaler for his use anyway. In fact, the nurse REQUESTED it. Guess a little vomit here and there can work in my favor.
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I've been working hard on the MOM Project. This past week I sent out 56 Commemorative Birth Certificates and/or Recognition of Life certificates. I was feeling kind of burned out by this when I attended a seminar on effective communication for lawyers. One portion of the seminar was about persuasion and the inclusion of people in the decision-making process. People want to help others. In fact, helping other people releases serotonin in the brain making us feel good. I think this selfish desire to feel good (or at least better) is what has motivated me to keep working at these volunteer activities.
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Also headlining my effective communication seminar...me in tears.
It is apparently impossible for me to "silently listen" to anyone talk about death or children. For some reason my brain switches into hyper-drive whenever one of these topics is brought up and I can't turn off the thinking. I'm not sure if my life experiences have re-wired my brain permanently (I hope not), but it is interesting to be aware of what is happening and at least have a chance to TRY to focus outside of myself. I was, unfortunately, not very successful at this exercise during the seminar and the voice inside my head screaming, "YOU CAN NOT DO THIS! YOU CAN NOT FACE THIS HERE!" got the better of me. Can I tell you how unattractive it is to snot all over a stranger?
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I met the Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, the other day. I hope this year's election doesn't highlight Ohio's mistakes again (and I'm going to do whatever I can to help my county avoid any serious gaffes)...but if we do have trouble, I feel much more comfortable knowing the lady who is in charge. She is an interesting and smart lady.
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I need a Jedi costume for Sam for Halloween...but I'm cheap. I wonder if I could make one?
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Sam's not allowed to watch television until he cleans his room. He just said to me, "Mommy, Myles wants to watch a show...can I watch it with him?" My goodness, that kid is cute!
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My CVS total out of pocket for this week was $41.96 for:
1 can powdered similac ($2 off coupon on can)
2 jugs premade similac (sale 2/$10.99)
1 six-pack premade similac individual serve
2 cover girl lip glosses (BOGO coupon)
2 glade apple air freshener (BOGO coupon)
Spent $9 extracare bucks and got back $3 extracare bucks
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Myles' first trip to the beach was with Steve and Sam...and not me. *sigh*
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Myles did a header on the living room laminate floor and gave himself a temporary fat lip. There was blood. It wasn't pretty and I learned a valuable lesson about putting him down on the hard floor (don't do it).
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"Go wake your father up."
"Why, are we going to McDonalds?"
I think we go to McDonalds too much.
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My aunt called to ask me if there is anything out of my grandmother's house I would like to have because they are "cleaning it out." I assume they plan to sell it for grandma since she is permanently in a nursing home due to dementia. She is my only living grandparent and it seems ridiculous to ask for a coffee mug when the only thing I would really like would be to turn back time for her...for all of us.
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Sam joined the cub scouts and his first activity is selling popcorn to raise money for a campout. If anyone wants to order (I believe we're in the OH-Greater Cleveland Council), let me know via email.
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A sick kid saying, "I think I need to throw up," can strike fear into the hearts of the most seasoned of parents. I learned that Sam, if nothing else, is a man of his word...he did have to throw up. I think I can live without eating cheese for a while.
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Mom
My mom insisted on living independently. She wanted to live in the two-story house she and my dad built in the 70s, despite the fact that da...
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"Unfortunately, honey, the baby is no longer alive.". -Ultrasound doctor
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When I was 18 years old, I wasn't paying attention while driving and I crashed my parents' van into a cruck (car with a truck bed) t...
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Hi Everyone, this is Cathy's husband Stephen. I am proud to announce that Myles Fisher entered the world this afternoon at 3:51 PM He ...
5 comments:
If you do a search for jedi costume online, you can find some suggestions from parents who made their own patterns, as well as some cloak pattern numbers you can find that look close enough.
I think the urge to help others who have dead babies is a need to help ourselves feel better, as well as a strong desire to lessen their pain or have them avoid something that we might have encountered...It's not all selfish.
I get so excited when I see you've done a miscellaneous thoughts.
That kid of yours is so funny - perceptive, too! :)
p.s. You know, I've had that thought before...that even being altruistic is selfish. ANY activity a human being engages in can, at its core, be construed as selfishness.
On the other hand, I am sure there are many times you'd rather NOT be working on that stuff and instead eating brownies at home.
I think it's amazing, all the time and work you've put into the MOM project. I was on the listserv for babies with omphalocele but they kept dying and my heart couldn't take it any more. One day I wrote, "This is SO FUCKING UNFAIR!" after recieving an email that a 5 month old had just died. I got a warning from the email moderator and realized at that point that I needed to quit.
It was at that point I realized I was too involved and was no longer able to help people in this way.
You seem to have found such a healthy balance of helping others and enjoying your own family. I envy that. It's so difficult for me to find that balance. And then I feel like an ass for pulling back a bit, but I realize I have to do it for my own family's sanity...that makes me feel a little bit better.
Sorry for the novel.
sounds like your kid and my kid have something in common, airways, vomitting at school.
ugh. 3 weeks into school and my son has missed 1 1/2 days for school for illness and I'm out 2.5
good luck on the costume. my kids wants to be the grim reaper and the costume is way too creepy
I am just catching up with my reader, so please excuse the tardy comment. We are facing having to move my only living grandparent, also a grandmother, to a nursing home sometime relatively soon. The whole turning back time thing is so familiar to me, to everyone in the family. I am sorry you are in this position. But I think even a coffee mug is important, if that is what you need...
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