altarflame (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
altarflame) wrote2008-03-22 01:10 am
altarflame) wrote2008-03-22 01:10 am
Entry tags:
Bad ear, bad day, good evening, bad ear
This ear infection can bite me, seriously.
It was so bad late last night, there was just no way I was going to sleep - it was HORRIBLE. I took Motrin, which is something I almost never do, and it didn't even touch it. Thinking back to various home remedies I know, I stuck a clove of garlic with the tip cut off in my ear, and it was INCREDIBLE - all the pain was gone 15 minutes later. I mean, gone. I felt like I had a sudden second wind and wanted to clean the house, even though I'd been exhausted, just because the pain I'd been in and the dizzy, stuffy-eared haze of 48 hours, were gone.
But then I woke up this morning with it at "moderate" again, and despite trying to keep it up with the garlic throughout the day, it's progressively getting worse again. Just when I was getting ready to do infomercials or something, for the garlic. I've got lemon juice running down the side of my face now, as per googling and desperation. I really, really don't want to go get antibiotics that didn't even work last time only to re-start the thrush cycle with Elise, Jake and I. *thrush shudder*
I had a horrible day, mostly due to the ear infection and the disgusting mess around here and being exhausted. Then, also, our lawyer returned my medical records to us and they came today, and it's the first time I've seen my records from the Brigham. Reading the "birth story" is pretty awful. Whether they're talking about my bowel slipping into the surgical field and having to be held back with a lap pad (that ended up staying inside of me) or pulling out my uterus and vaccuming it out and putting it back in, or Elise being nearly dead and not breathing when pulled out and rushed away covered in dark green meconium - it all just sucks. I didn't need to re-live it right now, I guess. She was there nursing, though, and it's nice to be able to snuggle and squeeze her and say, "We've been through a lot together" and have her nod at me like she gets it. She is so freaking great, I would say no baby has ever been this smiley or affectionate before, except that I had Jake, and he was too ♥
The evening was a lot better. Grant was being the Easter Bunny at the bank rather than working his normal 13 hour Friday, so he was off at 6. We went and met his mother (who is a realtor) at a house we've been interested in. I was ambivalent on the way there, comparing it mentally to another place I'm more interested in and thinking about the things about it we aren't crazy about (it has a chain link rather than board fence, tile rather than wood floors, it's on a corner lot with no sidewalks which is weird for kids outside as much as mine are - although it is a very quiet neighborhood without much traffic). But while we waited for his mom, it just seemed perfect. Leechy and mango trees, flowers galore planted out front, little secret pathway of stones through the landscaping, a lamp post a la Narnia in the front yard. The kids were enchanted with all of it and begging to "get this one" before we even went in. But then when we did get in, I don't know. The perfect-in-pictures kitchen was waaaaaaaaaay too tall for me in person (I couldn't reach at least half of the cabinet shelves without a stepstool, and would have to stand on tiptoes to get something from the microwave) and the floorplan really wasn't what we're looking for (only one shared living area, kids' rooms on the other end of the place from our room, nothing that seems like an office for me). And, both neighbors have 3+ annoying dogs (each!) that bark and yap NONSTOP when someone's in this backyard. Man I hate dogs barking like mad whenever there's a sign of life. Our neighborhood now is like that, you've got dogs barking at you the whole way around the block when you go for a walk. I have to go in the street because it scares the kids too much to be on the sidewalk right next to the fences, it's ridiculous. I don't see how that doesn't drive the owners completely nuts.
Anyway, they're asking too much and I don't think it's "our house", but it's still fun to look at houses and imagine. I realized almost everything we really liked about this one - flowers, trees, lanscaped pathway, lamp post - we could do to ANY house, and also that we might not be at a point of keeping up with really complex flower beds and keeping weeds out of mulch and things yet. This was intricate stuff, my grandparents used to have a similar yard and it took them many hours each week to maintain. I would hate to be a slave to my yard, or have it look like crap because we let it go.
We went from there to Spellbound Books' game night. It was pretty great, Ananda, Aaron and Isaac played with friends while Jake and Elise walked around and looked at the fish and talked to people. Grant got a package from ThinkGeek tonight and had some of the things there with him to show the kids - a magnet set that does neat things, a perpetual motion thing, that kind of stuff. Homeschooled nerds eat that kind of thing up ;) He was wearing a shirt dominated by a big Pi symbol made up of tiny numerals that are probably, like, the first thousand digits of Pi.
They had the books I ordered earlier in the week, too -
(for me)
-Trail of Crumbs, by Kim Sunee
-Here Kitty Kitty, by Jardine Libaire
-One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
-Crochet Inspiration, by Sasha Kagan
(and for the kids)
-The Tear Thief, by Carol Ann Duffy
-The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum, by Kate Bernheimer
both illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli, which is how I came upon them.
G and I took the 3 younger ones a few doors down to Casita Tejas and had some freaking DELICIOUS mexican food - queso fundido con chorizo and their homemade salsa and chips and enchiladas rojas. Yummy authentic refried beans and rice. I ate way too much, especially seeings how I was wearing mysausage casing "diastasis correcting shapewear" at the time. Grant stepped out for a moment to see if he'd forgotten his wallet in the van, which I'm only realizing as I type this was probably a ruse, as he came back in with two separate half dozens of roses - yellow and red for me, and pink for Annie. She got hers when we got her and Aaron's quesadillas to go and delivered it all back to Game Night.
And, when we got home, Grant Sr wass here for the first time in a week (he had another trip RIGHT AFTER the last 2 week one), and so G was able to surprise him - his birthday is Sunday and G took his Explorer and got his cd player fixed along with a usb reader installed, and a subscription to satellite radio :) He liked it.
This ear infection is seriously the pits. I've done two loads of dishes and five loads of laundry today, and changed diapers and read books and nursed babies, and I did some light sweeping and spot-mopping and had a single bout of spot-vaccuming. But that is about it. There was no school, no dinner cooking, no going outside to play or crafting - even though I have a huge list of crafts I'm working on or want to start. We didn't even make it to the bank to see Daddy in a bunny costume. I just want to snap at everyone. I feel like my brain is being squeezed on that side. It's hard to chew, and I can't lean my face on my hand at all over there, and I keep getting these deep sudden pains from things like giving someone a hug wrong. I am determined to seize the damned day tomorrow, even if I'm in agony.
-write card to Jess
-write back to Sara
-package up Annie and Aaron's latest penpal letters for sending
-and the ant order form, nearly a year later
-and the proof of evaluation of Annie's, that's also months later though apparently unmissed
-write a card to Bob
-fill in Nancy's card
-mail all that
-make a good grocery list for a couple of days
-walk to the store with the kids
-make significant headway on Laura's tote bag
-call Andy about seeing that house
-force my sewing machine to work
-clean my room significantly, particularly shelving and vaccuming
-clear my desk
-put away a lot of laundry
-do cursive, more fact families, and some reading comprehension with Annie
-do phonics and money with Aaron, and have him read to me
-go over star chart stuff with them
-DON'T FORGET LAST OF EASTER STUFF
******green eggs and ham breakfast supplies
******white eggs
******nylons
******onions
******stuff from Bayleaf Peddler, if at all possible
******way to package?
-have a plan for where and when we're going to church on Easter
-have dinner ready really close to when G gets home so we can
-get the kids to bed with enough time left to watch Lost
It was so bad late last night, there was just no way I was going to sleep - it was HORRIBLE. I took Motrin, which is something I almost never do, and it didn't even touch it. Thinking back to various home remedies I know, I stuck a clove of garlic with the tip cut off in my ear, and it was INCREDIBLE - all the pain was gone 15 minutes later. I mean, gone. I felt like I had a sudden second wind and wanted to clean the house, even though I'd been exhausted, just because the pain I'd been in and the dizzy, stuffy-eared haze of 48 hours, were gone.
But then I woke up this morning with it at "moderate" again, and despite trying to keep it up with the garlic throughout the day, it's progressively getting worse again. Just when I was getting ready to do infomercials or something, for the garlic. I've got lemon juice running down the side of my face now, as per googling and desperation. I really, really don't want to go get antibiotics that didn't even work last time only to re-start the thrush cycle with Elise, Jake and I. *thrush shudder*
I had a horrible day, mostly due to the ear infection and the disgusting mess around here and being exhausted. Then, also, our lawyer returned my medical records to us and they came today, and it's the first time I've seen my records from the Brigham. Reading the "birth story" is pretty awful. Whether they're talking about my bowel slipping into the surgical field and having to be held back with a lap pad (that ended up staying inside of me) or pulling out my uterus and vaccuming it out and putting it back in, or Elise being nearly dead and not breathing when pulled out and rushed away covered in dark green meconium - it all just sucks. I didn't need to re-live it right now, I guess. She was there nursing, though, and it's nice to be able to snuggle and squeeze her and say, "We've been through a lot together" and have her nod at me like she gets it. She is so freaking great, I would say no baby has ever been this smiley or affectionate before, except that I had Jake, and he was too ♥
The evening was a lot better. Grant was being the Easter Bunny at the bank rather than working his normal 13 hour Friday, so he was off at 6. We went and met his mother (who is a realtor) at a house we've been interested in. I was ambivalent on the way there, comparing it mentally to another place I'm more interested in and thinking about the things about it we aren't crazy about (it has a chain link rather than board fence, tile rather than wood floors, it's on a corner lot with no sidewalks which is weird for kids outside as much as mine are - although it is a very quiet neighborhood without much traffic). But while we waited for his mom, it just seemed perfect. Leechy and mango trees, flowers galore planted out front, little secret pathway of stones through the landscaping, a lamp post a la Narnia in the front yard. The kids were enchanted with all of it and begging to "get this one" before we even went in. But then when we did get in, I don't know. The perfect-in-pictures kitchen was waaaaaaaaaay too tall for me in person (I couldn't reach at least half of the cabinet shelves without a stepstool, and would have to stand on tiptoes to get something from the microwave) and the floorplan really wasn't what we're looking for (only one shared living area, kids' rooms on the other end of the place from our room, nothing that seems like an office for me). And, both neighbors have 3+ annoying dogs (each!) that bark and yap NONSTOP when someone's in this backyard. Man I hate dogs barking like mad whenever there's a sign of life. Our neighborhood now is like that, you've got dogs barking at you the whole way around the block when you go for a walk. I have to go in the street because it scares the kids too much to be on the sidewalk right next to the fences, it's ridiculous. I don't see how that doesn't drive the owners completely nuts.
Anyway, they're asking too much and I don't think it's "our house", but it's still fun to look at houses and imagine. I realized almost everything we really liked about this one - flowers, trees, lanscaped pathway, lamp post - we could do to ANY house, and also that we might not be at a point of keeping up with really complex flower beds and keeping weeds out of mulch and things yet. This was intricate stuff, my grandparents used to have a similar yard and it took them many hours each week to maintain. I would hate to be a slave to my yard, or have it look like crap because we let it go.
We went from there to Spellbound Books' game night. It was pretty great, Ananda, Aaron and Isaac played with friends while Jake and Elise walked around and looked at the fish and talked to people. Grant got a package from ThinkGeek tonight and had some of the things there with him to show the kids - a magnet set that does neat things, a perpetual motion thing, that kind of stuff. Homeschooled nerds eat that kind of thing up ;) He was wearing a shirt dominated by a big Pi symbol made up of tiny numerals that are probably, like, the first thousand digits of Pi.
They had the books I ordered earlier in the week, too -
(for me)
-Trail of Crumbs, by Kim Sunee
-Here Kitty Kitty, by Jardine Libaire
-One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
-Crochet Inspiration, by Sasha Kagan
(and for the kids)
-The Tear Thief, by Carol Ann Duffy
-The Girl in the Castle Inside the Museum, by Kate Bernheimer
both illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli, which is how I came upon them.
G and I took the 3 younger ones a few doors down to Casita Tejas and had some freaking DELICIOUS mexican food - queso fundido con chorizo and their homemade salsa and chips and enchiladas rojas. Yummy authentic refried beans and rice. I ate way too much, especially seeings how I was wearing my
And, when we got home, Grant Sr wass here for the first time in a week (he had another trip RIGHT AFTER the last 2 week one), and so G was able to surprise him - his birthday is Sunday and G took his Explorer and got his cd player fixed along with a usb reader installed, and a subscription to satellite radio :) He liked it.
This ear infection is seriously the pits. I've done two loads of dishes and five loads of laundry today, and changed diapers and read books and nursed babies, and I did some light sweeping and spot-mopping and had a single bout of spot-vaccuming. But that is about it. There was no school, no dinner cooking, no going outside to play or crafting - even though I have a huge list of crafts I'm working on or want to start. We didn't even make it to the bank to see Daddy in a bunny costume. I just want to snap at everyone. I feel like my brain is being squeezed on that side. It's hard to chew, and I can't lean my face on my hand at all over there, and I keep getting these deep sudden pains from things like giving someone a hug wrong. I am determined to seize the damned day tomorrow, even if I'm in agony.
-write card to Jess
-write back to Sara
-package up Annie and Aaron's latest penpal letters for sending
-and the ant order form, nearly a year later
-and the proof of evaluation of Annie's, that's also months later though apparently unmissed
-write a card to Bob
-fill in Nancy's card
-mail all that
-make a good grocery list for a couple of days
-walk to the store with the kids
-make significant headway on Laura's tote bag
-call Andy about seeing that house
-force my sewing machine to work
-clean my room significantly, particularly shelving and vaccuming
-clear my desk
-put away a lot of laundry
-do cursive, more fact families, and some reading comprehension with Annie
-do phonics and money with Aaron, and have him read to me
-go over star chart stuff with them
-DON'T FORGET LAST OF EASTER STUFF
******green eggs and ham breakfast supplies
******white eggs
******nylons
******onions
******stuff from Bayleaf Peddler, if at all possible
******way to package?
-have a plan for where and when we're going to church on Easter
-have dinner ready really close to when G gets home so we can
-get the kids to bed with enough time left to watch Lost