The audacity of it all

I got an email from Kathy today. All this time and now she decides to come to me.

She didn't teach at Wednesday night church last night like she was supposed to. Pain in the ass, actually, because the director and I had to step in. I think it's such a sheepish thing to do; she says she was sick. I'm sure she caught something from Adrien.

Anyhow, this is the letter she sent:

Bryany,



First off, sorry if I went to Linda to ask her opinion about the vaccination issue. Monica told me to do that. I actually was going to talk to you first. Guess I shouldn’t listen to others on that and go with my gut. As for why, after you had told me, I did some research and talked to my doctor and a few other nurses. They were concerned about babies in our church that do not have all their shots yet, to be around an unvaccinated child. I am not that worried about Harrison, he’s had most of his shots already. And, obviously most worried for Adrien and hope nothing happens, as it probably won’t. If something were to happen and a baby in our church got really sick (which it could), I would feel horrible for not saying anything if that parent would have wanted to know that. It almost should be your responsibility to tell other parents of babies…and let them make their choice on it. But, there is no policy or anything on that in church, so really there is no solution. Since you told me and Monica, it was out there. After I found out how serious it could be, it worried me for the others that might want to know. That is it. Monica and I had talked about it and she persuaded me to go to Linda and see what she said. As far as my mom, she thought we all knew and she was curious why someone would not vaccinate. She did not know about the % of people choosing not to. So, my mom said to tell you she is sorry if you are upset. She in no way meant for that to happen. But, my mom is concerned as well for the babies not immunized.



I am just concerned for the safety of the newborns and babies in our church, in case something does happen. That is the bottom line.



I have nothing against you at all, that is your opinion and decision and I respect that. I just disagree on putting others at risk without them knowing, not on not giving the shots. Do you understand my thoughts? Sometimes we have to agree to disagree and that will be this time.



Take care,

Kathy

I'm still contemplating what exactly to write back to her. It has to be just right, ya know?

Bring on the pitch forks, biotch

No insightful blogging this week. No satirized mommyisms. No relating of the microcosm that has become stay at home mom life.

Just me, some ignorant people, a grim anniversary, some upper respiratory congestion and a good dose of hormones. That's what this installment will be about.

Adrien's been throwing some horrendous fits the last few days. I'm not sure what his deal is, but he has been a bit off his sleep schedule and I think that must be partly to blame. His tantrums make spending an entire day couped up at home with him like listening to a broken record playing the sound of nails screeching on a chalk board for ten hours at a time. As long as we're out doing something and he's occupied, he acts in a decent manner. Maybe he's just too bored at home? Not sure. It's driving me batty. He refuses diaper changes and today he wore his pajama shirt all day long (even out in public) because he threatened a fit if I were to try to change it. I didn't feel like fighting that battle. Not to mention the fact that when I refuse to let him dig around in my utensil drawer in the kitchen he thinks it's the end of the world. And it is, dontcha know. Getting him into his car seat to go somewhere should be an Olympic event. Some moms at a play date the other day tried to offer some helpful hints for that little predicament. They said he's old enough to be reasoned with. Right. Well, in an ideal world, yes. But you try explaining to a 22 month old that if they don't sit in their car seat to be buckled in there will be no play date. He doesn't care. Could care less. All he cares about is not being strapped in. Never mind the consequence. You reason with him if you think it's such a great idea.

But I digress.

Where was I? Oh yes, the ignorant people.

Over the period of time I've been involved with my church -- somewhere around a year and a half -- I've made some good friends and acquaintances and come to feel at home. Yesterday Andi told me that on his way home a friend of ours (Eric) from the church had called to warn him that people were talking about our family. He let us in on the situation and who was involved. He wanted us to be in the know. Apparently we're still the last ones to know.

One of the women I've come to know through my Sunday school class had become, what I thought of, as a good acquaintance over my stint with the church. When I had my miscarriage this past summer she'd emailed me with kind words and some extensive experience of her own. We both have sons the same age -- only a week or so apart. Although we've never become bosom buds, I always thought we had a friendly relationship. We had one of those relationships where you always mean to get together. I'd come to know her mother through the Presbyterian Women's group and was quite fond of both of them.

About a month and a half or two ago I'd seen this woman at the mall while I was waiting for a play date to start. We chatted and our kids played. I assume at some point something must have come up medically speaking and in the midst of conversation I mentioned that I don't vaccinate Adrien. I don't, okay. It's a personal choice our family has made -- well advised by a pediatrician who does not endorse immunizations -- and that's that. But nevertheless, she must have mentioned the flu vaccine or something or other and anyway, I said to her what I said: that we don't do vaccines. I never thought twice about it. After all, we'd shared personal stories of miscarriage and loss. I thought for sure if she had a problem with anything I'd said that day she would have came to me. Apparently I thought wrong.

So anyway, Andi had come home from work yesterday and told me that our friend Eric had called him to let us in on the gab going around. Apparently Kathy -- the woman I thought was my friend -- had a problem with my non-vaccinated child. Instead of coming to me with any questions or concerns, she's done the complete opposite. I'll give a quick synopsis of the situation, as observed by my friend, Monica.

The day at the mall when I'd told Kathy what I'd told her, she acted completely normal and since then has. Over the course of time that's passed, she's apparently stewed on the situation. Monica, who used to clean Kathy's house (yes, as a "cleaning lady"), informed me of Kathy's overboard germaphobia...which apparently sparked her hysteria. At some point in time, Kathy took her five year old son to the doctor because he had the flu and asked him what the effects of her sons being exposed to my non vaccinated son were. One of two things occured when her doctor answered her questions...Either A) her doctor is misinformed and undereducated on immunizations, or B) her doctor said one thing and she heard what she wanted to. Either way, Kathy thinks her doctor is quoted as saying that my non vaccinated child could negatively effect her vaccinated children, i.e. Adrien could get her children sick. Not only did her doctor say that, but went as far as to say that I was putting the life of my unborn child at risk. You know, because I'm a wonderful parent and all.

Upon hearing this misinformation, Kathy was livid. At some point along the way, Kathy naturally must have talked to her mother about my rabid child. At Kathy's oldest son's birthday party (who knows when it was or how long ago it was), her mother took it upon herself to announce to the attendants (I wasn't one) of my child's non vaccinated state. An announcement -- made to all the guests. So anyway, continuing to stew on the situation and my apparent lack of parenting skills, Kathy asks Monica for advice -- also informing her of Adrien's non-vaccinated status. Monica advises Kathy not to call me directly (for fear that Kathy would be entirely too rude or brash) and that she should, instead, put in a call to our Pastor for some council [of the spiritual sort]. Instead of calling for council, Kathy calls the Pastor, but to tell him of my wrong doing. She wants the hounds called out on me.

Meanwhile, the church position on the matter is that they do not turn members away and that it is acceptable for Adrien not to be vaccinated (as it IS legal), but that they would eventually bring it up in a Session meeting. In the mean time, Monica called the church to let them know that she'd checked with her pediatrician and my non vaccinated son poses no threat to the vaccinated children (hence their vaccines!). Apparently this wasn't what Kathy wanted; not immediate enough. So she tells Monica that she's going to tell all of the other parents. And I suppose she did. Shortly after is when Eric called Andi to let him know we were being talked about. Kathy had called Eric's wife to let her and one of our other mutual friends know. There's no telling who all she's told or what misinformation, exactly, she's giving to them. She's pulled her son from the nursery; he's not allowed to be around Adrien. I have an infected child.

I'm waiting for the hoards to show up at my front porch step with torches and pitch forks.

No one that I've talked to so far has cared that Adrien isn't vaccinated [I have not talked to Kathy]. This entire situation upsets me more than anything. Yes, it angers me. That's natural. But even more than anger, I feel sadness. My feelings are hurt -- both for myself and for Adrien. I'm hurt that someone I thought of as friend and a fellow Christian felt compelled to try and raise the masses against me, as if I'm some evil person...or worse, as if my son is some sort of untouchable. The way she went about the entire thing has such malice about it. Nowhere did she seek answers from me. Nowhere did anyone seek answers from me. This entire issue has been brewing long enough to be considered as Session material -- and I was never even notified. Int he meantime, someone pulled their child from the nursery so that they wouldn't be in the presence of my son. My dirty son.

As much as this hurts me, it hurts me for Adrien. I've never seen such ignorance spread so quickly. And without remorse. I'm at a loss of action. I know not what to do. A friend told me that the Bible teaches us to go to our offender with our problem...that I should let her know how hurtful she's being. But Monica advised me that it won't work with Kathy. And even so, I wouldn't even know how to begin to talk to her. Right now I'm angry, and conversation with her would not be wise. For the first time, I do not feel comfortable in my Church home. That is deeply unsettling.

[I could go into how Kathy wondered aloud to Monica if Adrien was the reason her son has gotten RSV so many times, or countless other illnesses. Rather, it is the opposite. Adrien caught RSV from her son when he was 8 months old. He now has asthma because of it. The stomach bug we had not too long ago came from her family. Adrien's caught countless other things from them...I know because we get it a week or so after they do -- magically. Yet I would still allow my son to be in the nursery with hers.]

All of this, and it's only Wednesday night. This Friday marks my due date from my last little angel. It's been a tough week, and I've now been dealing with this too. I've been crying quite a bit the last few days. It feels very lonely -- this grim day that is approaching. I still haven't come to terms with the loss or how to deal with it. How do you manage? I mean...you don't. You just go on, I suppose.

I've also had a horrid nagging cough for the last week or so. The weather is bringing deep wind gusts in, and it's stirring up all sorts of pollen and mold. The temperatures see-saw; it was 80 Sunday, but it froze overnight last night. I've got this upper respiratory mess going on and a giant dose of hormones and raging indigestion and heartburn to boot. Plus, I'm still dealing with the other stomach issues I'd mentioned in my last post.

It's just a lot to deal with right now. A lot.

You're pushin' it, boy

Alrighty. I'm not full of bloggy goodness, but here we go.

And my new tube of chapstick is broken. Damn it.

After a week of feeling sharp, unbearable pain in my stomach (and vomiting the 12 hour old contents of my stomach up Thursday Afternoon), I went into the doctor on Friday morning. I had no idea what was going on. Still don't. But apparently nothing is wrong. Which is good.

The doctor did an ultrasound, which I half way expected, but my big ultrasound wasn't supposed to be until this Wednesday. You know, the big one. The one where you find out the gender and all that jazz. I had a sitter set up for Adrien and Andi was going to be joining me. You know how worked up you get to find out whether it's a boy or girl. Especially when you really want one over the other. I had envisioned this Wednesday going just so. And of course, it was going to be a girl...even though in the back of my mind I just knew it was a boy. I mean, it was going to be a boy. After all, Adrien was, in my head, a girl too. I've always wanted a little girl. So I'd told myself it was a boy -- but that doesn't mean I was prepared. There was that little part that had just known it was a girl. Andi had been referring to the baby as "she"...wishful thinking. Haphazardly, right after he'd measured my cervix, my doctor says Looks like a little boy...a split second before he moved over and said And this is the back of the brain...

The doctor delivered the news with such ease. And then just as easily moved on as if it were no big deal. I guess to him it's not. He does this how many times a day? But there I was, in for random excruciating pain getting an ultrasound and he delivers the words I'd known I was going to hear all along but hadn't prepared myself much for. Looks like a little boy. Moving on. I wanted to ask how sure he was. I wanted a double take. But Adrien was strapped into his stroller screaming and I was still worried something drastic was causing my pain. I didn't have time to react. I don't even think I uttered an okay when he told me. I just let the information pass into one ear, through my brain, and out the other. I cried a lot on Friday. Not that I don't want my baby. I do -- more than anything...but I had my heart set on a girl.

I cried leaving the office. Not only had I found out in a less than grandiose fashion that I was not getting the gender I'd so hoped for, but I didn't have an answer to my pain dilemma. Or why I'd thrown up. The only answer I'd gotten was "I'm sorry, but you'll have to talk it easier..." That's all.

So I did. Andi let me stay off my feet for most of the weekend and my pain has subsided. I think I've come to learn -- through my own research and talking to a friend -- that I'm experiencing round ligament pain. But why the heck am I throwing up? It only happens occasionally and this is not pregnancy vomit. I'm long over the nausea of morning sickness. Instead, my food seems to not be digesting half the time. Andi and a friend arranged for sitters Saturday so they could surprise me and our friend's wife with a double date. It was nice. We went to Pappadeaux, and I'd been feeling a little green all day anyway. My stomach was feeling stuffed beyond capacity long before I even took a bite of food. I passed over the free bread and butter offered before the meal -- which I just never do. I only ate a few pieces of the calamari that was ordered as an appetizer. I'd been craving soft shell crab for what seems like an eternity and this place actually serves it. So I'd ordered up two of them...with asparagus. I ate the majority of one crab and a bite of the asparagus. The asparagus was entirely too crispy and had zero flavor. It was all stalk, no taste. I took the other crab home, and on the way we stopped at a Jamba Juice where I had a mango smoothie.

At 2am early Sunday morning I woke up with the worse case of heart burn and indigestion I think I've ever had. I knew what was coming, and it went straight into the toilet. My $20 meal was expelled from my body and flushed away into the sewage. Do you know how upset that makes me? I'd wanted that stinking crab for so stinkin' long and then I didn't even get to digest it!

Today my food seems to be going down better. Not too much heart burn, and so far my stomach doesn't feel like it's at complete capacity. The upper part of my stomach feels like it's packed full and could explode at any second. Has anyone ever heard of a baby pinching off the esophagus or stomach causing food not to digest? That's the only explanation I can come up with.

My doctor said, quote: "I see no cause for the pain you're feeling. Come back in a week and a half and we'll make sure everything's still going okay."

Alright.

Bad food; worse parenting

I've been doing some more blog slacking. [All apologies, inserted here]

Anyway, today I went to a pot luck. I think this was my first play date in with the group in a few weeks. Although my little hiatus was brought on by illness, I can't say that I didn't enjoy it. I love going to play dates (most of the time), but a mom can only do so many.

So anywho, today was pot luck day. We all know how the past ones have went. Going to these things is always like a game of culinary Russian roulette. I'm not even sure I'd call the experience "culinary" most of the time. These ladies are stay at home moms, and that does not always have anything to do with their domestic prowess in the kitchen. Today's, however, wasn't that bad. The food, for the most part, was palatable. Not everything was amazing, but it was edible -- which is more than I can say of the last pot luck I attended. I took some Apple Chicken Bites, which we all ended up affectionately referring to as Chicken Balls. They were actually very good. I'd never made the recipe before, but was pleasantly surprised. I mean, you can't go wrong with a fried meatball type thing, right? [Well, actually...] I also took a towering plate of PB&Js because I wasn't sure how much kid friendly fare would be showing up.

The worst dish award, I have to say, goes to the attempt at green bean casserole. It was mushy and the only distinguishing aspect between the green beans and the other ingredients was the color. The french fried onions on top were equally as soggy...and to top it off, the lady brought it in a crock pot. Come to think of it, the last dish she brought to a pot luck was in the very same crock pot. The contents of the pot last time were equally as horrific...but possibly worse. Last time she attempted some sort of creamed spinach and cheese crap. Gross. And I'm using crap affectionately. I really think this lady should just stick to picking something ready made up from somewhere. I mean, you choose your battles...and her cooking skills are not winning.

Even more than the bad green bean casserole rubbed me the wrong way was how I noticed one of the moms acting. It's not like this is out of the ordinary behavior for her. I've noticed it before -- at every single play date she attends...I just don't think I've ever blogged about it before. She has a little girl who is under a year old and a little boy that's four-ish. He is a holy terror. Constantly. My first encounter with him was a few months back when she first joined the group. We were at a playground and he pestered me the entire time to pay attention to him. I should have known something was up then. Since that first play date, I've noticed how he acts out toward other children and toward his mom. Today she couldn't even get him to put his own shoes on to leave. And he refused to stand up to walk out the door. At play dates he generally runs a muck and she seems oblivious. Here's why:

She's so busy doting on her daughter, that she rarely even takes the time to check and see what he's doing. Today I watched as she sat at the kitchen table baby talking and feeding her daughter while her son sat across the room eating. She had her back turned to him the entire time. She plays with her daughter and shows her what I think is almost entirely too much attention while her son is climbing the walls to get even a little bit of attention. It's obvious to me that the reason he acts that way is because he is starving for some affection...even the negative type. To add insult to injury, she's pregnant. So just imagine how horrible his behavior will become after the new little sweetie is born. I hope she gets a wake up call pretty soon and starts showing all of her children equal amounts of affection.

I know her son is from a previous relationship, and judging by her age, most likely a high school aged one. I can only hope that her neglect of him is not stemming from some sort of resentment issue...although I'm sure it is. I just don't understand how a mother -- or any parent -- could show such clear cut favoritism toward one or more of her children. I had to keep shoving my foot in my mouth today. I wanted to scream at her to pay attention to her son too. I guess I'll just keep my thoughts to myself.

Nerve Gratin' Time, y'all

My Mom came up to visit Monday evening and she stayed until Wednesday afternoon. She brought a friend with her.

At first, I'd been excited to meet her friend. After all, she is down visiting from Maine and had been my grandmother's best friend before she passed away. Over the past few years, she and my Mom have become friends. Anyway, what you expect is not always what you get.

One of the first things this lady did after arriving was pick up a rash of spilled cereal from one of Adrien's snack cups. I was completely aware of the cereal being on the carpet -- I just didn't see any sense in picking it up at that point because it would just get spilled again. The entire visit went on like this -- her picking up after me. The end result was me not loading the dishwasher the entire visit just so I could get on her nerves. The first night of the visit I ate a bowl of ice cream. I'd noticed her behavior and decided to purposefully leave my dirty ice cream bowl out on the bar that night. She moved it to the sink the next morning. Like I knew she would. At dinner that night she even proceeded to tell Adrien (while I had my back turned getting a plate of food) that he wasn't allowed to throw his food on the ground. How does she know I don't let him do that. Maybe I like him to. I wanted him to throw the food all over her. By the way, the food that fell on the floor didn't get swept up until the next morning...just to bother her.

The next morning she asked if she could do a load of laundry. I let her, but had to switch something of my own from the washer to the dryer. She took a shower while it was in the wash. In the meantime, I'd heard the dryer buzz and removed my clothing. A little while later she asked if I'd gotten my things out of the dryer and when I said yes, she replied, "So I can expect my stuff in the dryer?" Um. No. You can't expect that. I insisted she let me do the honor though. Later on, she decided to give me some advice on putting Adrien to bed. I was waiting for Adrien to fall asleep in the living room while watching a movie, and she decided to ask why I didn't just "put him down with a good book". Um, great. That would be amazing...if it were realistic. All throughout the day I had to listen to comparisons of Adrien to her grandson who is apparently 6 months older than Adrien, but a regular Baby Einstein. She insists he does his "counting," and when I countered that Adrien is learning to count to three, she corrected me in assuring me that by "counting" she meant he was starting addition and subtraction. She was sending him math books in the mail, dontcha know.

Wednesday was full of extraordinary annoyances as well. While my Mom was dismantling her air mattress in the living room, Adrien thought he'd help. He took some sort of plastic hose gadget and decided it was a good idea to try to "plug" it into the wall. My Mom's friend scolded him for it, and I assured her that it was completely fine because we had outlet covers. Boy was I wrong. It was not fine at all. She informed me it still wasn't a good idea. Thanks for the advice.

The last straw was snack time Wednesday morning. I was trying to figure out what Adrien wanted to eat and had the fridge open, allowing him full range of the contents. I asked him what he wanted going down the list "Carrots? Grapes? Cheese?" No, no, no...he didn't want any of that. He wanted some animal crackers -- or "tookies" as he says. Totally fine. He'd had a healthy breakfast. I guess grandmother of the year noticed my choice in snack and decided to let me in on a little secret: "It's nuthing for Abraham (her grandson) to eat vegetables for breakfast. He just doesn't know any beddah." Well woopty-fucking-do, lady. I'm so glad Abraham doesn't know any beddah. But the fact that Adrien knows and likes all of his food groups gives me greater hope for his nutritional future than a kid who knows nothing about the existence of tookies. Besides, all kids should have tookies. And who wants vegetables for breakfast anyway? Broccoli for breakfast and subtraction for snack time? I'm sure that kid is barrels of fun just like his grandma.

To top all of these annoying behaviors off, I had to listen to her gruff and grating New England accent the entire time. Sorry to all the yankee readers, but nothing grinds my nerves worse. I'm sure you guys would say the same of my drawl. I had to listen to words like cah (car) the entire time. Damnit woman, enunciate! There's an R at the end of that word, not an H! On top of it, she smokes like a chimney, drinks her wine with ice and has the personality of a rock.

My biggest peeve with her though had to be the fact that she found it necessary to pickup my house after me. Don't be so presumptuous, bitch. I'm glad she's gone. She can take her lack of manners and annoying accent back to Maine and stay there.

Holy Flaming Grass, Batman!

Alrighty, I've been MIA and I apologize for that. I've got a horrible sinus infection and my antibiotics just don't seem to be working fast enough. My head feels like it's going to explode...but it's getting better by the day. I think.

This past Saturday we had a little get together at our house to watch a Nascar race. I know, very redneck of me. But hey -- I live in Texas. What'd you expect? So I cooked up some awesome hot wings, the hottest jalapeno poppers you've ever had and some really great stuffed mushrooms.

I was standing in the living room a few hours before the party was to start and happened to glance out into our back yard. I saw a strange shadow pattern happening on our back fence, so I went to our back window to check it out. I saw some smoke coming from our neighbor's back yard. Oh, wow -- I thought they were barbecuing. About that time I see some fire creep under our fence and spread to our back yard. I could not believe my eyes! I yelled at Andi that the back yard was on fire.

He rushed out to get the water hose, but it of course was in the garage since it's winter and no body waters their lawn in winter. As he rushed to try to get the water hose he yelled at me to call 911. I got our phone and dialed those three numbers -- 9-1-1. My call was not met with a dispatcher asking for me to state my emergency...rather it was met with a recording saying "This service is not available in your area..." Or something or other. What?!? NOT AVAILABLE!? I live in one of the biggest metroplexes in the country. It most certainly is available. But we've had that problem before, we've just never reported it to the phone company. We've always forgotten I guess. So then I started searching for my cell phone...which was MIA. It was in my purse/diaper bag which I couldn't find. I later found out that Andi had put it in Adrien's bedroom -- for some strange reason. So then I was off to find Andi's phone. Okay, so Andi's phone is brand new. He has one of those new fangled iPhone thingies. You know, with all the bells and whistles. Needless to say, by the time I figured out how to work the damn iThing and got a dispather on the line, Andi had the fire out.

Somewhere in the midst of all the rushing around to find a phone that would connect me with an emergency official, I had started to rush over to the neighbor's house to inform them of their flaming back yard. I never made it all the way to their door. As I made my way over to their house, I saw through the spaces in their fence that they were in their back yard apparently trying to out the fire...and nowhere in there did they send someone to warn us of the danger. Thanks. A lot. What if we hadn't been home, or what if I hadn't glanced at the back yard when I did? Our grass is so dry from being dead due to the winter, that it took all of about two minutes (probably less) for this to happen:



Part of our fence is burned, although you can't really make it out in the picture. Andi took some pictures of our neighbor's yard through a few holes in our fence. Their yard is entire burned -- right up to their house.

After Andi the insta-fireman put out the inferno, he climbed up on the fence to see what was transpiring in the neighbor's yard. He tried to pry some info out of them...which wasn't very successful. Apparently one of the people next door was trying to put some sort of fire from their grill (?) out by throwing whatever was on fire into their grass. Genius thing to do. Their water hose wouldn't work -- apparently -- so the fire spread quite quickly because they were trying to douse the flames via a bucket of water filled from inside the house. But oh my goodness. Our house could have caught on fire...the whole neighborhood could have! I mean, on the other side of our neighbor's house is an empty lot full of tons of dead grass and weeds. Behind our house is a HUMONGOUS empty lot (a few acres wide) full of nothing but dead grass and weeds. With the wind being what it has been lately and the dryness, it's amazing to me that it wasn't any worse than what it was.

So about 911. I've gotten that recording in the past. Once when we first moved in, when we were reporting a burglary in progress next door (at our non pyro neighbor's house) and once not too long ago when Adrien's leg was caught in his crib. For whatever stupid reason, I'd never called the phone company to report it. So needless to say, I called them promptly after this little incident. It took me forever to find an actual phone number call on ATT's website. Nearly all of their "contact" pages give you an e-form to fill out. I didn't want a stinkin' e-form! I wanted a human to talk to. When I finally did get a hold of someone, they informed me that 911 service was out of their control, but she'd put me in touch with repair. Repair told me they didn't understand why that would be happening, but she'd have a programmer contact me. This was the extent of that contact: 10:24 pm Saturday night our phone rings. Caller ID says "ATT" and gives a local number. I answer the phone (albeit slightly peeved that it was so late) only to hear "Sorry, I've got the wrong number. [Click]" The next morning when I was on my way out the door to church (literally - I was getting into my car when I heard our phone ring). Someone from ATT tech support was calling to get some info about our unfortunate situation. This is about how the convo went:

Hi, ma'am this is so-and-so from ATT technical support.

Hi.

Our technician says he contacted you yesterday...

Um, I got a call at 10:30 last night from "ATT," but when I answered the guy said he had the wrong number.

Okay. Well, we're trying to see if your problem has been fixed.

How long is this call going to take? I'm on my way to church.

As long as it takes. Could you please try to dial 911 to see if it works?

No. I am not going to dial 911 -- I have no emergency. Don't you have some way of knowing whether it's fixed or not?

Thank you, ma'am. We'll just try to resolve this on our end. [Said rather snippily]

Oh my goodness. Did this lady NOT know that calling 911 without an emergency is a HUGE legal offense? Ya, just let me dial 911 for no good reason. What am I supposed to say to to the dispatcher? Um...no emergency. Just wanted to make sure this was working! Right. Then I got an automated call yesterday saying that my technical "issue" had been "resolved."

I guess we'll have to wait until our next life threatening emergency to find out.

Bloggy Award

So, I love this blog (and the super cool lady that writes it).

Anyway, she's doing this Leap of Faith posting thing, and I thought her post for today deserved madd props. So I made her a bloggy award. I think she deserves this award because not only does her blog kick butt, but her post made ME want to kick some butt.



Everyone should read her post! So go read it now!

Double Trouble -- Squared

The goop appeared on Saturday. Green goo at the corner of his eye. Nothing horrible, just a persistent appearance of a green glob. Remember what the doctor said a few weeks ago about the appearance of some fluid in one of his ears? I chocked it up to a bi-product of an ear infection. Adrien's eye was mostly fine as long as he was awake. It's just when he wakes up in the morning -- or from a nap -- that the goop is really prevalent. Monday it took over both eyes. Surely it couldn't be pink eye. Surely. There was no pink in his eye. After all, I remember clearly having pink eye and my entire eye was red and inflamed. His just weren't.

After a few nights of getting little sleep (actually, I got plenty of sleep -- my husband suffered through and slept on the living room floor with Adrien), I called the doctor. I was just so sure it was an ear infection. And now with both eyes extruding green nastiness, I was sure it was two ear infections.

The doctor confirmed the ear infections. Double whammy. Don't ask me why he insists on getting so many of those darn things. [Although I will say this is his first ear infection in about 6 months, so that's a record that's Guinness worthy for him] One look at the eyes and she knew what that was all about too: Pink eye. Apparently there was a little pink in his eye. Apparently the strain going around isn't horribly bad. Lucky for him I guess.

But really, what'd the poor kid do to get two ear infections and a double case of pink eye? It really, really stinks to be him right now.

Chocolate milk pusher

So I got my Jeep. Super, super excited. I got the black one. I have never had anything so nice in my entire life. I love it!

Haven't had a whole lot going on this week. Yesterday I took Adrien to a local Sonic to play on the equipment for a while. That was fun -- until it started sprinkling briefly. It was pretty windy, so we left after about an hour or so. Since the weather was so iffy, I ran through McDonald's to grab some lunch on the way home. Yes, we played at Sonic but ate from McDonald's. Sonic has the outdoor play area and the weather yesterday was so nice! It is today as well. It's overcast and warm. Although it's a tad too humid for my liking, I am enjoying the warmer weather. I haven't had to run the air in the house for the past two days. I love warmer weather when I get to save on the electricity. Right now I have the windows open. It's so nice!

So anyway, I'm waiting in the enormous drive through line at McDonald's and when it was finally my turn I pulled up to the window. I ordered my food and then ordered Adrien's. I was going to get him the cheeseburger happy meal with water. Easy enough, right? You'd think so, but no. As I proceed to order "The kids meal with a cheeseburger and water to drink..." I'm stopped mid sentence and asked "bottle water?" I say "No, just a cup of water." [I have to explain that Adrien likes the cups with straws. Also, who trusts a 21 month old to run around with an open bottled of water?] Anyway, onward with my story. So I simply request a cup of water. My teeny tiny request was met with a barrage of argument with the lady saying "The kid's meal comes with a drink. Why don't you just order apple juice or chocolate milk? It's the same price." I tried to explain that I was aware of that, but would still like to have the water -- in a cup. She met me with more argument. Broken down, beaten, and really stinkin' hungry, I ordered a chocolate milk. I just didn't have the fight in me. This lady was determined that I wasn't going to get my dang cup of water! I realize that I was paying for a "drink" and not getting it. I made peace with that long ago.

Is a cup full of water that hard? It's not like I wanted a dollar knocked off my bill or anything. I realize that McDonald's isn't the healthy choice for lunch, but when I tried to make a healthier decision with water to drink, I was argued with!

I mean, really. Water. In a cup.

That new car smell

My Mom is coming to town tonight. That should be fun. It'll be nice to see her again and Adrien hasn't seen her in a while. She's bringing her friend with her...who is coming to buy my car. Yes, we're selling my car! I'm very excited. You know what that means...I'll be getting a new one! At least that's the plan anyway! So tomorrow we're off to the dealership. I think we're going to be coming home with this one. Maybe not though...if I find something else I like more. I would like some more space...but I don't want horrible gas mileage. I was happy with the Jeep though. The first car we test drove was a Dodge Caliber. Although I really liked it, it was too small. The back seat had to be in a reclining position with the front passenger seat all the way forward just to fit the infant carrier into the back seat. Not to mention the fact that Adrien's feet were well within reach of the seat in front of him, making for a great game of kick the momma. The Jeep, on the other hand, had adequate room for everyone. I think I just need to buy a bus for all the room I'd like to have.

So anyway, I'll post soon to let you know what happens! Let's pray for a financing approval. Not sure why but I just picture this scene where we aren't able to buy a car for some unforeseen reason and then I'm stuck car-less and at home all day every day.