Off to the Sunshine State

I am off to Florida bright and early tomorrow. I might have to set two alarms without a fussing baby to urge me along.


T is now safely in Boston after a loooooong day of traveling. I hope my trip will be easy and problem-free. But, does that ever really happen?


Talk to you next week.


--MM

Nightmare trip

Poor T is experiencing a nightmare getting Q to Boston. I feel so bad for them.

To backtrack a little, I felt more dread than I expected in seeing them off. I was just so sad for some reason, even though it is just for a few days. I can not fathom the parents who go off to war for a year or more. I just can not wrap my mind around it.

I took T and Q to the airport last night before 7:00 His first flight was delayed more than three hours. So, we came back to work, and T returned several hours later. That was just the beginning of 23 hours of travelling. He had to stand in line for hours with a squirmy Q and ask flight attendants to hold him. He had to change airlines as well and fly into Providence instead. To top it off, his luggage is still on Delta somewhere between Vegas and Boston. A nightmare!

I just heard from him that he is on the East Coast. His mom was going to buy some diapers and outfits to tide them over, and I am guessing both will be in for long naps.

Our house feels awfully empty with just me and the cats. I am glad I have them at least. Since I am lacking my living alarm clock, I woke up at 8:12 a.m. for my 8:00 a.m. nail appointment. Oops! I made it there in an impressive 14 minutes, full of apologies. To add to my embarrassment, I forgot my wallet! My wonderful nail technician (whom I have been going to for years), refused to let me go home and get my checkbook and actually gave me cash to get a coffee. I don't think that is exactly how the transaction is supposed to go, but I like it! She is so wonderful.

On a very depressing note, a 13-month-old drowned in a pool yesterday in our area. A two-year-old drowned last week. It makes me physically ill. I hate pools in backyards. I will never have one.

--MM

Playing in the Spray

Q is sleeping after an exhausting morning at the spray park. I went to my second meetup today. It gets easier every time. I am so glad I went the first time.

Q liked feeling the spray and getting his little toes wet. I tried not to compare him to the other 13-month-olds toddling around on their own. He is just moving at his own pace.

On a drastically different subject, I watched a special last night on swingers. That concept might be a little more appealing if more of the swingers were actually attractive.


--MM

Separate vacations

T and I are preparing for separate vacations this week. I have missed many of my friends' weddings recently. I had one approaching and assumed I would have to miss it too because of the time and expense of travelling across the country. When T announced he was in friend's wedding the same weekend and was taking Q, I changed my plans. So, now we are travelling separately. T and Q leave tomorrow night on a red-eye for Boston. Sounds like it will be an adventure. I leave Friday morning for a wedding in Florida.

I am so excited to see my college friends and watch one of them get married, indulge in drinks with little umbrellas, and bask in the Florida sun. But, I am so sad to leave the tiny man. This will be the first time we will be apart for any length of time. I am not used to going more than five hours without seeing him. It kind of tugs at me a little to think about it. Thankfully, we will have cell phone contact for a few babbling conversations and maybe a few emailed pictures of toothless grins. I will miss him though.

I do think T is more worried about me being free and unattached at a beach resort. That will be quite lovely, won't it?

--MM

Meetin' moms

That crazy tongue. I tell you. It is always hanging out.

So, my throat is feeling pretty decent today. I am cutting back on the ibuprofen, because it was starting to hurt my belly. It's a catch-22. My tonsils are looking a little less gross, so hopefully I am almost over this ickiness.

I went to my first Meetup today. It is for moms in the area. Most seems to be stay-at-home or work-at-home, but since I work later in the day, I can make a lot of the events.

About ten moms and their kids met at a park that has a little spray area and an arts and crafts event. I had to hurry after yoga to get both of us ready and pack lunches. I can be an outgoing person at times, but generally I am pretty shy at things like this. I tend to just sit by myself and hope people come over to me. But, I worked hard at going up to other people, and I was glad I did. Q was scared of the spray park at first, but then got his little feet wet. He enjoyed swinging and ate a bit of his lunch before crawling over to another kid's snack and polishing it off. That was a little embarrassing, but the mom didn't seem to mind.

The gathering made a little twinge in me wish I didn't have to pack Q up and take him to daycare and then head to work for a nine-hour day. But, I try not to pay attention to that twinge.

I was glad I went out of my comfort zone and met some fun moms. The first time is the hardest, and we have a lot of fun events on the calendar.

--MM

Misdiagnosis

So it wasn't a tonsil stone. My self-diagnosing did not turn out to be correct. However, following the infallible online medical advice, I attempted to dislodge my "tonsil stone" on Thursday night. T held the flashlight while I jabbed at it with a thermometer. My tonsil started bleeding, and it was quite painful. Oops.

I had a fever that night and was very sore and uncomfortable. I ended up sleeping on the floor. The next day,I slept in a bit, and then went to one of those walk-in medical places. I had to wait for awhile with Q. Then T came to pick him up and take him to daycare.

It turns out I have tonsillitis. Unfortunately, it seems to be caused by a virus, so I can't take antibiotics or anything to knock it out. I just have to wait for my immune system to tackle it. It certainly seems to be taking its time. I am taking ibuprofen every three hours. She offered me some steroids, but said they could make me aggressive, depressed, or really mess with my sleep. I passed.

Both tonsils are now white-spotted, gross-looking, and extremely sore. It hurts to swallow anything. I have a wedding next weekend, so I am hoping my sickness is out of my body by them. It's no fun being sick.

--MM

Gray hairs and cat food

I got my hair done today for the first time in awhile. I have been trying to grow it out a bit, so I have been waiting. I think collarbone-length would be nice. I love the feeling of getting a hair cut and color. My highlights had grown out an inch or two. They are not very dramatic, so it is not a horrible striped effect. I do have lots of gray hairs growing in though. I got my first one in high school, so it is old news, but they are definitely getting more numerous. Considering I had an ulcer in third grade, I suppose it is not surprising gray hairs weren't far behind. They don't bother me much. I plan to dye my hair for a long, long time. I figure you can't dye bald, so I should consider myself lucky.

In other news, Q seems to like cat food. T says Q rolled his way over to the cat bowl this morning and immediately stuck some of the bits in his mouth! T scraped them out quickly. Later in the day, I also witnessed Q painstakinly scoot his way over to the cat bowl to grab pellets. I think if we just litterbox train him, this could be a good thing!

The left side of my throat has been hurting terribly, and my gland is a bit swollen. After a bit of examination in the mirror, I see that my left tonsil is white. I have a habit of diagnosing myself on the Internet and now believe I have a tonsil stone. It sounds pretty gross, but is apparently harmless. I guess I will seek the opinion of an actual doctor if it keeps hurting.

--MM