Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Mistake
Attempted pedicure at 11 p.m. last night. Chose red polish. Wound up looking like I'd been in an industrial accident. Lesson learned: there's a very good reason why a Nail Fever, Nail Envy, or other Nails-R-Us type establishment seems to crop up on every corner.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Now...Where Was I?
Forgive the long pause between entries, but it takes my brain a lot longer to cobble together a coherent thought in the midst of the adventures of four little boys. The triplets have started solid foods, and just as I did with Jack, I have already threatened to cut out the middle man and smear the peas directly on their faces and chests -- with a little up their noses for good measure. Everyone is cutting teeth. Tom already has one, is working on his second and is trying to sit alone and crawl. Sam is polishing his charm with soft coos and shy smiles. And Will is plotting to take over the world. He hasn't said it in so many words, but a mother knows these things. How so much intensity can radiate from such a tiny creature is a mystery to me. Aside from a few allergy symptoms due to tons of pollen and no rain, all is right in their worlds.
Our big boy, Jack, gave us a terrible scare just over a week ago when he had a short febrile seizure during which he fell backward onto a brick floor. Before the ambulance ride was over, he was returning to his normal, irrepressable self -- wowing the pediatric staff with his friendly chatter and sweet nature. However, since this was the third event of this kind (the first was at 11 months and the 2nd at just over a year), we have to dig a little deeper to be sure there isn't some underlying cause that must be addressed. We are scheduled for an EEG at children's hospital in late April. Please keep our precious boy in your thoughts and prayers as we mark the hours until his scan.
I've been instructed to report on myself once in a while, and can honestly say I've never felt better. I think it's true that the more you try to do, the more you CAN do. Not that I don't have plenty of days where I can't name one accomplishment, but the good days are definitely outnumbering the bad. I've actually found myself gaining more energy lately -- due in no small part to the boys sleeping through the night on a fairly regular basis -- and am even finding time for things like reading the newspaper and BLOGGING, of course. My selfish goal for this week is to find time for a pedicure. Whether I get one or not is immaterial. The simple fact that I now CARE whether my toes look good or not speaks volumes about my overall feelings of well-being.
Thanks so much to all my friends for such non-stop loving support over these many, many months of challenges. You've made it possible for me to enjoy the journey so far and face what's ahead with more hope than fear. Love to you all.
And yes, I promise to post more pictures soon. They are ALL so beautiful, it's hard to believe they're real.
Our big boy, Jack, gave us a terrible scare just over a week ago when he had a short febrile seizure during which he fell backward onto a brick floor. Before the ambulance ride was over, he was returning to his normal, irrepressable self -- wowing the pediatric staff with his friendly chatter and sweet nature. However, since this was the third event of this kind (the first was at 11 months and the 2nd at just over a year), we have to dig a little deeper to be sure there isn't some underlying cause that must be addressed. We are scheduled for an EEG at children's hospital in late April. Please keep our precious boy in your thoughts and prayers as we mark the hours until his scan.
I've been instructed to report on myself once in a while, and can honestly say I've never felt better. I think it's true that the more you try to do, the more you CAN do. Not that I don't have plenty of days where I can't name one accomplishment, but the good days are definitely outnumbering the bad. I've actually found myself gaining more energy lately -- due in no small part to the boys sleeping through the night on a fairly regular basis -- and am even finding time for things like reading the newspaper and BLOGGING, of course. My selfish goal for this week is to find time for a pedicure. Whether I get one or not is immaterial. The simple fact that I now CARE whether my toes look good or not speaks volumes about my overall feelings of well-being.
Thanks so much to all my friends for such non-stop loving support over these many, many months of challenges. You've made it possible for me to enjoy the journey so far and face what's ahead with more hope than fear. Love to you all.
And yes, I promise to post more pictures soon. They are ALL so beautiful, it's hard to believe they're real.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Germs to the left of me...
Amoebas to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with flu. You'll have to cut me some slack. I'm pretty dehydrated after around 8 hours of contemplating the inside of my toilet bowl. I knew I had a problem when between dry heaves I was wondering just what it would take to remove those hard water stains from around the water jets. Also, not to be disgusting, but how can there be so much green dye in purple Gatorade?
On this happy note, I'd like to ask for your input. For those of you with kids in daycare, mother's day out, etc. -- or for those of you who have worked with children in a similar setting -- or for those of you who just have a very strong opinion about protecting oneself from getting constantly sick with whatever bug is "going around", here's my dilemma. This is the second unpleasant GI virus that has swept through the Burrus home in a mere three week span and the third or fourth since the first of the year. We can trace the path of infection thusly...Jack (to be referred to from this point forward as Typhoid Mary) goes to school, has a great time, and at some point during a quiet evening at home barfs all over me or his dad. After that, Typhoid Mary generally recovers over the span of 24 hours, leaving him feeling fine just in time for his dad to come down with it. After Jason recovers, it's my turn. And finally the horror has ended. The fact that it results in my dropping a pound or two is viewed as a welcome side effect, but is generally insufficient to cover the misery that went before.
Here's my question: Since Typhoid Mary is ALWAYS the bearer of this sort of bad news, is it time to suggest some Clorox Wipes and Lysol spray to the powers that be at his school? Or is this just some sort of disgusting rite of passage that I can look forward to for the next 18 years? Please advise. Just click the comments button below and the entire world at large can benefit from your expertise. Thanks!!!
On this happy note, I'd like to ask for your input. For those of you with kids in daycare, mother's day out, etc. -- or for those of you who have worked with children in a similar setting -- or for those of you who just have a very strong opinion about protecting oneself from getting constantly sick with whatever bug is "going around", here's my dilemma. This is the second unpleasant GI virus that has swept through the Burrus home in a mere three week span and the third or fourth since the first of the year. We can trace the path of infection thusly...Jack (to be referred to from this point forward as Typhoid Mary) goes to school, has a great time, and at some point during a quiet evening at home barfs all over me or his dad. After that, Typhoid Mary generally recovers over the span of 24 hours, leaving him feeling fine just in time for his dad to come down with it. After Jason recovers, it's my turn. And finally the horror has ended. The fact that it results in my dropping a pound or two is viewed as a welcome side effect, but is generally insufficient to cover the misery that went before.
Here's my question: Since Typhoid Mary is ALWAYS the bearer of this sort of bad news, is it time to suggest some Clorox Wipes and Lysol spray to the powers that be at his school? Or is this just some sort of disgusting rite of passage that I can look forward to for the next 18 years? Please advise. Just click the comments button below and the entire world at large can benefit from your expertise. Thanks!!!
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Snip, Snap, Snarl!
Hello, world at large! Hope you enjoyed the latest picture of the trips. It's getting hard to believe how big they are. Technically, Tom's weight does not yet require that we move up into size 4 diapers, but the size of his belly is makes me think it won't be very long. Diapers, sleepers, formula, cereal. All this stuff adds up. And since our ins are exceeding our outs by a very unimpressive margin lately, I undertook that wonderful Sunday morning pastime we all love -- coupon clipping.
I've never been so flush that I didn't NEED to use coupons, just flush enough that I was too LAZY to remember to do so. If I clipped them, they wound up expiring before I remembered to use them. But, as the song says, "...it's a new dawn. It's a new day, and I'm feeling good." At least I was before I went to Wal-Mart.
I think what I failed to understand about coupon usage was the increased mental strain they require. Not only do you have to clip more than a dozen little bits of paper and corral them into some kind of transportable pile, you have to be sure they are actually somewhere on your person when you leave the house. Thanks to Tessa stopping me as I rushed out the door to take Jack to school this morning, I was able to u-turn and grab my planner before racing pell-mell to insure Jack made it to school in time for snack. With that accomplished, I headed off on my money saving mission.
Perhaps the most difficult coupons to use are the ones that specify what size or quantity of a particular item you must buy in order to get the rebate. I made little notes on my list to help me along -- 2 cans of Spaghetti Os, 2 cans of Chicken and Stars -- but then it got tricky. The coupon specified THREE boxes of Puffs, but they were only packaged in FOURS. Was that an automatic disqualification? Would they agree to simply ignore the fact that I was inadvertently purchasing a fourth box and give me my 50 cents anyhow? I had to stop and think about that one. Then the Pampers -- a quick check assured me that even though the box didn't have JUMBO printed on it anywhere and the coupon DID specify a jumbo box, the count indicated that it did indeed qualify for $1 off. I had to shove the threes a little to make the box of fives fit beside it on the bottom of the buggy. I still had to get bottled water (no coupon) and Diet Pepsi in bottles (a few cents cheaper at the Pig, but whatever...I haven't had caffeine in two days) and I'll need space for those as well. Then back to my coupons. They don't have Jason's deodorant, so I'll have to put that one in a safe place for later. There were plenty of the razors I wanted to try, but apparently I mislaid that particular coupon. Phooey! They had the type of air freshener I wanted but not the scent (apple cinnamon/holly berry makes me want to hurl) so I decide to buy the starter unit with the yucky scent and then get refills in the scent that I like. Somehow this seems to defeat the purpose of the coupon, and I hesitate once again before putting it in the buggy. Two bottles of Tide, Charmin, Bounty, Febreze spray (lets me forget I have a dog for about a minute and a half), and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and I've exhausted my coupons. I've also developed a monster headache from having to double check each item to make sure it qualifies. At last, I head for the registers.
After you exceed a certain merchandise weight, your average shopping cart becomes a lot less maneuverable. I bump and scrape my way to the front, displacing several endcaps on the way, and begin to strategically unload my cart. I warn the cashier that I have a lot of coupons and ask if she wants me to save them until the end, then begin stacking merchandise on the conveyor. All the heavy stuff first, careful to make sure I completely empty the lower tray...Where the !@#$ are the number threes!!! Apparently, I've been losing passengers right and left during my rambling tour of the store, but it's too late now. Jason can make another run later. I finish off-loading and get ready to pay wondering how bad the damage will be. I'm busy watching the total, when the cashier reminds me about my coupons. Holy crap!! After all this, I almost walk out without using them!! She patiently helps me sort through them, and I stumble toward the exit with my towering buggy.
Once out in the sunlight, I check my receipt. I've saved $7.50. Well whoopty-doo. Thank goodness one of my coupons was for Exedrin. I haven't had to do so much adding and subtracting since high school, and I'm not sure I can take the mental strain of this penny pinching stuff. I think they should make coupons for the ABC store. Now that would come in handy.
I've never been so flush that I didn't NEED to use coupons, just flush enough that I was too LAZY to remember to do so. If I clipped them, they wound up expiring before I remembered to use them. But, as the song says, "...it's a new dawn. It's a new day, and I'm feeling good." At least I was before I went to Wal-Mart.
I think what I failed to understand about coupon usage was the increased mental strain they require. Not only do you have to clip more than a dozen little bits of paper and corral them into some kind of transportable pile, you have to be sure they are actually somewhere on your person when you leave the house. Thanks to Tessa stopping me as I rushed out the door to take Jack to school this morning, I was able to u-turn and grab my planner before racing pell-mell to insure Jack made it to school in time for snack. With that accomplished, I headed off on my money saving mission.
Perhaps the most difficult coupons to use are the ones that specify what size or quantity of a particular item you must buy in order to get the rebate. I made little notes on my list to help me along -- 2 cans of Spaghetti Os, 2 cans of Chicken and Stars -- but then it got tricky. The coupon specified THREE boxes of Puffs, but they were only packaged in FOURS. Was that an automatic disqualification? Would they agree to simply ignore the fact that I was inadvertently purchasing a fourth box and give me my 50 cents anyhow? I had to stop and think about that one. Then the Pampers -- a quick check assured me that even though the box didn't have JUMBO printed on it anywhere and the coupon DID specify a jumbo box, the count indicated that it did indeed qualify for $1 off. I had to shove the threes a little to make the box of fives fit beside it on the bottom of the buggy. I still had to get bottled water (no coupon) and Diet Pepsi in bottles (a few cents cheaper at the Pig, but whatever...I haven't had caffeine in two days) and I'll need space for those as well. Then back to my coupons. They don't have Jason's deodorant, so I'll have to put that one in a safe place for later. There were plenty of the razors I wanted to try, but apparently I mislaid that particular coupon. Phooey! They had the type of air freshener I wanted but not the scent (apple cinnamon/holly berry makes me want to hurl) so I decide to buy the starter unit with the yucky scent and then get refills in the scent that I like. Somehow this seems to defeat the purpose of the coupon, and I hesitate once again before putting it in the buggy. Two bottles of Tide, Charmin, Bounty, Febreze spray (lets me forget I have a dog for about a minute and a half), and a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and I've exhausted my coupons. I've also developed a monster headache from having to double check each item to make sure it qualifies. At last, I head for the registers.
After you exceed a certain merchandise weight, your average shopping cart becomes a lot less maneuverable. I bump and scrape my way to the front, displacing several endcaps on the way, and begin to strategically unload my cart. I warn the cashier that I have a lot of coupons and ask if she wants me to save them until the end, then begin stacking merchandise on the conveyor. All the heavy stuff first, careful to make sure I completely empty the lower tray...Where the !@#$ are the number threes!!! Apparently, I've been losing passengers right and left during my rambling tour of the store, but it's too late now. Jason can make another run later. I finish off-loading and get ready to pay wondering how bad the damage will be. I'm busy watching the total, when the cashier reminds me about my coupons. Holy crap!! After all this, I almost walk out without using them!! She patiently helps me sort through them, and I stumble toward the exit with my towering buggy.
Once out in the sunlight, I check my receipt. I've saved $7.50. Well whoopty-doo. Thank goodness one of my coupons was for Exedrin. I haven't had to do so much adding and subtracting since high school, and I'm not sure I can take the mental strain of this penny pinching stuff. I think they should make coupons for the ABC store. Now that would come in handy.
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