When I started working for MPS Sales in 1994, I worked with Harris, Reyn, and their Dad, Harris Sr. aka Gumpy. Gumpy had tons of one-liners, one of which was, "It's better than a sharp stick in the eye." Well, tonight's events proved that pretty much anything is better than a sharp stick in the eye.
At around 6 p.m. today, Norah jabbed Adlani right in the eye with a pencil. I don't know what possessed her to do it. It was an unprovoked attack. For the first half hour Adlani wouldn't open either eye and he cried for most of that time. At 6:30 I called our pediatrician, and coincidentally it was his late night at the office so we ran over so he could take a look. Three of us held Adlani down so his eye could be pried open. The doctor saw "something" on his cornea, so he sent us to Children's Hospital in Boston since Metrowest didn't have an ophthalmologist on call.
We arrived at Children's around 7:30 p.m. and were immediately checked in, weighed, blood pressure and temperature checked, and put into a triage room. That's when time stood still. After an hour, a nice nurse came in and asked a few questions which had already been asked by the check-in lady. Another hour went by and the doctor came in and asked the same questions. Luckily, she decided not to look at his eye, and to leave that to the ophthalmologist. After ANOTHER hour, the resident ophthalmologist showed up, having been called in from home. After asking the same questions, she moved us to the eye clinic, so I had to carry Adlani's 45 pounds of bulk to the 4th floor.
I swear, the character of Dr. Christina Yang on Grey's Anatomy was based on our ophthalmologist - Dr. Grace Chang. She seemed to know what she was doing but her bedside manner could use a little work. She seemed kind of annoyed that she was called in from home for a mere pencil in the eye. She warmed up after a little while but she was a little brusque at first.
At the eye clinic, Adlani transformed into the Incredible Hulk. I had the impossible job of holding him still so Dr. Chang could put in the anesthetic eye drops. He struggled, he kicked, he spit. Snot flew. The three of us ended up covered with bright yellow eye drops. It's tough to check Adlani's eyes during his annual physical because he's more interested in the one-sided glasses than identifying the house (according to Adlani, an "arrow pointing up"), apple ("heart"), circle, or square. Last night he was really upset about the adhesive patch Dr. Chang put over one eye to test the other, so he whined and pulled at that instead of identifying the symbols. Considering that it was around 11 p.m., I guess I can't blame him.
When Dr. Chang finally found the magic bullet - "Finding Nemo" on the monitor, she got a pretty good look at his eye and said that he had a corneal abrasion. She sent us back down to the E.R. where we waited ANOTHER WHOLE HOUR for a prescription for Bacitracin. We finally got home around 1 AM, and he didn't even get a cool pirate patch.
UPDATE (Friday at 4:30 PM): Adlani has not willingly opened either of his eyes for almost 24 hours. He stayed in bed until after noon, and when we coaxed him downstairs to watch TV, he sat on the couch with his eyes closed for the entire afternoon. We've tried to bribe him with toys, chocolate, and a trip to the park. No dice. Hopefully his self-imposed blindness will end by tomorrow morning.
UPDATE: Aliya announced at dinner tonight, "Adlani is nicer when he's blind." .
I gave blood today. I'll admit, it's not my favorite way to spend an hour, but based on the nationwide need for blood and the fact that I have the almost-universal blood type, I feel like it's my civic duty. The process is pretty painless, in fact the most painful part was when the young woman checking me in asked if I was comfortable using the computer to answer questions about my health history. When I laughed and said (duh...) yeah, she said, "Well, my mom's not." Wow. That hurt.
If you don't donate your blood every 56 days, here are a few facts to convince you that you should:
Every 2 seconds, someone in the US needs blood.
One out of every 10 people admitted to a hospital needs blood.
A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood.
25% of us will need blood at least once in our lives.
Less than 38% of the population is eligible to donate blood.
Only 5% of the eligible donors donate blood, but the rate of blood transfusions is rising at 9% per year.
One donation can help save the lives of up to 3 people.
It only takes about an hour to give blood, and of that hour, only 10-12 minutes are spent actually donating blood. The rest of the time is spent answering questions, having your temperature and blood pressure taken, and eating cookies at the recovery table!
And don't worry about the calories from those cookies because you burn 650 calories by donating a pint of blood. If you donate every 56 days you can lose 1 pound of ugly fat per year by donating blood!
You can make an appointment online by visiting www.givelife.org. Just do it!!! .
You know you've made the big time when you're featured on Lock Mommy's blog. Here's Uncle Josh at open mic night performing an original song. Kind of a sudden ending...but it's a catchy tune. ;-)
FYI...Uncle Josh is my brother, not my uncle, but if I just say "Josh", everyone in this household assumes I'm talking about Josh of Josh & Drake fame. "WHAT?! JOSH IS ON YOUR BLOG?! AAAAAAAAYYYYYYYIIIIIIIII!!!!!"
Today I received the best possible gift besides world peace, financial freedom, and eternal health. I was supposed to have a couple of appointments in western Mass, which would have required about 5 hours of driving and 2 hours of meetings. Last night I got everything ready for the morning rush (backpacks, lunch money, snacks, my IR uniform, etc.) and went to bed early. This morning I only hit the snooze button twice, and got the kids whipped into a frenzy of competing to see who would be dressed with clean teeth first, who would be done eating first, and who would be at the door with coat and backpack first. This method usually results in a few tears, but they might as well learn that it's eat or be eaten out there in the real world.
Somehow I got everyone into my CLEAN (thanks Ben and Aliya!) car, dropped Norah off at Lina's, and arrived at Adlani's school 10 minutes early. This probably doesn't seem like a big deal but since we usually have to break several laws to arrive in time for the morning drop-off drive-thru, we were shocked and amazed to be there before drop-off even began. I decided to drive Aliya to school instead of waiting at the bus stop, in hopes that I could get a jump on my trip west. We arrived at her school a half hour before school started - again, an unheard of occurrence.
As we pulled into the parking lot I got a call cancelling today's appointments. Wow...a whole day was suddenly mine. What would I do with it? First, I got to spend about a half hour with Aliya's teacher. Aliya loved showing me around the classroom. Then I stopped at Panache for a non-fat sugarfree caramel latte, and headed home. I could have filled my day with answering emails and all the other stuff that was calling out to me, or I could have filled my day with internet research on whatever struck my fancy, but instead I decided that I would pick one task that has been bugging me, and DO IT.
I chose to re-vamp the invoicing system for work. I know it doesn't sound that exciting, but it has been driving me crazy. I audited all of the projects for last year, transferred unpaid invoices to the new system, sent out invoices and late notices, and I'm done! It feels great to actually get something accomplished. Of course, a few emails piled up, just as they would have if I had spent the day on the road, but tomorrow's another day. .
A couple of months ago Jana sent an email around trying to drum up some excitement about going to Zumba class at the Y. At the time I was like, "Yeah right...I am having an affair with my couch...my foot hurts...it's too cold to go outside...I'm uncoordinated...blah blah blah." Well, now I'm addicted. Seriously, it's really fun although I will warn you - I have seen more butt-cracks at Zumba class than at the plumbers' convention.
GET A BELT, PEOPLE and GO TO ZUMBA!!!
This is not our class but you get the idea...
Caution: Attending Zumba class may cause an unavoidable attraction to high-heeled sneakers, undersized tank tops, and cargo pants. .
We've made really good use of our membership at Old Sturbridge Village. We took a short road trip there today to catch the last weekend of maple sugaring the old-fashioned way. I grew up taking annual field trips to the sugar shack so it was strange to realize that the kids and Ben had no clue about where maple syrup comes from. It was a little chilly but a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the early spring day until everyone simultaneously started melting down.
I can't believe a whole month has passed since I have been able to post on my blog. Now that the threatening emails have begun ("Post something or I'll volunteer you as assistant soccer coach."), I have vowed to make the time to do a catch-up post this weekend. It will likely be my longest post ever, so feel free to skim and then go directly to the pictures which are on the next post down.
When I don't post for a while, there are people who email and ask if I'm dead, some who assume that there's nothing worth reporting, and others who know that I'm in one of my periods of not having a moment to pee, let alone type. Considering that I will post about the contents of my vacuum cleaner bag, the calorie counts of pre-packaged breakfast foods, and videos of diaper-changing, it's never a case of not having anything to report. For the last month+, I have been CONSUMED with multiple projects and I fell into bed every night with most of what I planned to do that day unfinished. Here's a rundown of what I've been up to (in random order):
1) Work - Work is always busy and I've been running behind for my entire career. Really. I have to change jobs to get to the end of my to-do list, and since I've had my current job for almost 15 years, I have had some things on my to-do list for years (seriously). There's always something that needs to be done immediately, and everything else gets pushed aside. My newest baby (luckily not a real one) is a work-related blog (here's a link). I wanted to get a lot of posts on the site before I introduced it at a class I taught last week, so it has taken every spare minute. Even though most of the posts are fairly short, it still takes time to do the research, find the photos and links, and post them to the site. I'm really enjoying it though...it feels good to get all of that stuff out of my head and somewhere that I can find it when I need it. We've had a lot of compliments so far and people really seem to like it. One problem that we're going to have to work through is that people from all over the country are accessing it, and I can't/won't answer questions about the situation in every state. My posts are about the New England states, although a lot of the information is applicable nationwide.
2) You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown - Aliya played the Little Redheaded Girl in the elementary school drama club's first production. It was a small part and she didn't have any lines to learn, practice every other week, good experience, inexpensive...what's not to love? Well, nobody who knows me is going to be surprised about this but I overcommitted. I can't help it! If someone needs something and I know that I can help, I can't stop myself from volunteering. So I agreed to be on the Program Committee and ended up with a 50+ page program that needed to be designed, ads formatted, cast and scene info typed, printed, etc., etc. At the same time I had the brilliant idea about videotaping the performance, which I already posted about. It was very fulfilling work but wow! it took a lot of time. The learning curve next time won't be as steep and maybe I'll stick to just the video. The play went really well though, and we had a nice visit with Uncle Josh and Auntie Rachael (who dyed her hair flourescent red in solidarity).
3) Team Fitness Challenge - Back in February I forced myself to sign up for a program at the YMCA, where you form teams and work with a trainer twice a week. The team that loses the largest percentage of weight wins (I have no idea what the team wins - probably just glory). I was really worried that I would have even more problems with my plantar fasciitis but Dr. Bob (chiropractor) has been working on my feet and I just decided to go for it. I have been working out 4-6 times per week and recording everything I ate for 3 weeks, and I've lost a whopping 4 pounds. I do feel good and clothes are fitting better, so the fact that it's a team effort and we have 4 weeks ago will keep me going where normally I would probably give up because it wasn't working. It is working, I'm just not seeing the results on the scale that I hoped for. Oh well, slow and steady wins the race. One negative (or positive depending on how you look at it) is that I'm so physically tired I can't stay up until 2 a.m. any more. I'm toast by 12:30 or 1ish, so I'm getting more sleep, but have less awake-time to get things done.
4) PTO - Both the elementary and preschool PTOs are on to me. They know I'm weak and love to help, so I'm involved in various projects - elementary school sportswear and staff appreciation day, preschool teacher appreciation photo video and bulletin board, as well as the wish list. I really like being a part of the PTO - I've met SO MANY people, but I had to turn down the request to think about being PTO president next year. I'm really not comfortable being in a political role where I have to make decisions that some people inevitably won't like. I'd like some props for saying "no" people! It's not easy for me to say no but there are at least 500 other parents in the school. Somebody will do it.
5) Goddess Weekend - A few weeks ago I spent a weekend in Lyndonville, Vermont with 5 of the most beautiful, kind, supportive, fun women in the entire northeast. We spent 48 hours doing almost nothing. We ate, talked, ate, drank, talked, laughed our heads off, ate, talked, and had massages from a woman who is obviously a witch disguised as a massage therapist (Ela). Amy told us ahead of time that Ela has a way of getting you to "release" the emotion that's trapped inside you but I honestly thought I could hold it together and just enjoy a relaxing massage. Hah! She got me on the table and started doing her voo-doo on me, bringing me to a "still place". I felt like I was hypnotized. When she was working on a spot beside my right shoulder blade she asked, "So what's the anger about?" I laughed and said that there were plenty of things it could be. She said it was old anger and a feeling of isolation from my childhood. That hit home and a few tears leaked out. Then she asked why she was getting a feeling of "Lori against the world." I said that I didn't feel like it was me against the world and she said that it was like I feel like I have to do everything for everybody. She said, "You know...people will still love you even if you don't do everything." She wouldn't have any way to know whether I'm a giver or a taker, so that's when I started to think she might actually be getting some inside information. I don't know if she was reading my mind or getting it from my body as she said, but it was spooky. At the end of the massage she did used her magic voo-doo hands - one under my back and one above my chest, and I started sobbing. I swear, I have not cried like that in years and I could not hold it back even though I was trying really hard. It was strangely therapeutic but I think I would need quite a few more sessions to release everything I've been carrying around.
6) School Vacation - We made it through February vacation by tag-teaming, working at home while the kids wrecked the place, working nights, etc. It was tough! For April vacation I'm planning to work just enough to keep up on my email and phone calls and spend some time during the day having fun with the kids. I think it will be much less stressful for all of us. I'm lucky to have the job flexibility to do that, and I need to take advantage of it. Norah can go to day care some of the days and I'll do things with Adlani and Aliya that I can't do with all 3. Here's a funny (although personally disturbing) story about February vacation. Around Thursday Adlani lost his sneakers. He only has one pair that fits because he has wide feet and I have to buy his sneakers at Stride Rite for about $50. I knew his shoes would turn up so he just wore his snow boots and rain boots around for a few days, but by Sunday I started to make it a priority since he would need his sneakers for school the next day. I did a bunch of errands (a.k.a. escaped) that day and as I shopped I kept an eye out for wide sneakers we could use as a backup. I couldn't find any. By 6 o'clock Ben and the kids still hadn't found the sneakers so I loaded Adlani into the car to take him to Stride Rite. I was hoping the mall closed at 7, but everything except Macy's closed at 6, so we checked Macy's and didn't find anything. We went back home and started getting the kids ready for bed. I threw something in the kitchen trash can and I had a flashback to the previous Thursday, when I walked into a room and found a pile of toys, clothes, etc. on the floor for the seven hundred and twelfth time that week, so in a rage I scooped up the pile of debris and threw it in the recycle bin. Luckily trash pick-up is not until Monday, so I sent Ben out to the curb in the pouring rain to search for the sneakers and the rest of the stuff I had thrown away. I had every intention of taking them out of the recycle bin once I made my point and Adlani wasn't looking, but what's disturbing is that I could so completely forget about it moments later, and it never crossed my mind again, even when I spent hours searching for something I had thrown away. I swear I think I have overload-induced alzheimers.
7) Identity Theft - I've spent HOURS in the last month (and many many hours in the last year and a half) trying to clean up the mess made by someone who earned income using my name and social security number. I have gone back and forth with the IRS SO MANY TIMES...they send a form letter, I respond as requested, they send another form letter which makes it obvious that nobody read my response...over and over again. It has seriously been hell, and I have considered paying the taxes on the under-reported income just to make it stop, but I have been advised by several lawyers, an accountant, and an IRS investigator, NOT to do that. I have to believe that innocence will prevail, but it has been a very trying experience. The legal system is very disappointing...if you're wily and you have guts, you can slide through unchecked. Not to mention the psychological effects of having a (formerly) trusted family member use me in this way. It really sucks!
I think I'm caught up on the past month's events now, and I can go back to posting random news, thoughts, and photos as they strike me. Thanks for hanging in there and in the future if you get sick of waiting, you can always go to my other blog and learn about hardware. ;-) .
At around 6 p.m. today, Norah jabbed Adlani right in the eye with a pencil. I don't know what possessed her to do it. It was an unprovoked attack. For the first half hour Adlani wouldn't open either eye and he cried for most of that time. At 6:30 I called our pediatrician, and coincidentally it was his late night at the office so we ran over so he could take a look. Three of us held Adlani down so his eye could be pried open. The doctor saw "something" on his cornea, so he sent us to Children's Hospital in Boston since Metrowest didn't have an ophthalmologist on call.
