Just life

I was supposed to go Saturday to see a friend of mine who is pregnant for her fourth baby (she had twins the first time who are a year older than J). We keep having to reschedule getting our kids together because someone is always sick. She called this morning to reschedule. She sounded horrid. She's really ill with a cold and a sore throat. She is homeschooling her children, and she hasn't been able to teach them this week, so to stay on schedule, she'll probably have to consider this week off to be their spring break. She plans to get their school year done just before she has the baby in May, so she doesn't have time to push things into the "summer" a week; it would be cutting it too close to her due date.

I love the idea of home schooling. I would love to control the curriculum my children study and how it is taught, but I don't have the ambition to do it, and I wouldn't do it if I weren't going to do it well. I really enjoy putting the kids on the bus in the morning, and I dread school breaks when they are home all day fighting one another.

Last night was my first Spanish II class at the Baptist church. I've never gone to private school, so it was a pleasant surprise when we opened with a Bible verse and at the end started learning the Lord's Prayer (Our Father) in Spanish. I think I'll fit in fine with what Spanish ability I already have. Only one person (as far as I could tell) had their previous Spanish I from the church. Everyone else learned is somewhere else such as a short class offered by the county or, like me, high school years ago. I still understand it well enough to understand the teacher, who is a retired high school Spanish teacher. We have homework that I'll need to get to before the next class next Wednesday. Our book even came with some CDs to speak along with, so I may do that when I clean the kitchen in the evenings instead of listening to talk radio. Since K doesn't nap anymore, I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to read the textbook, but I might take it to the gym and read it while K is in the child care area after I work out. I get 2 hours of child care per day, and I only spend 45 minutes working out. K usually doesn't want to leave anyway becuase she has such fun with the other kids and toys.

Pictures gone

I thought about it in the night (my conscience keeps me awake), and I concluded I posted the pictures of my neighbor's house and shed for the wrong reasons, and I shouldn't have done it. He does not deserve to have the shame of his home viewed by the world. Some of my reasons were along the lines of "see the train wreck," and that just isn't right. So, I have to censor myself. While I dislike censorship, I believe one should censor one's self when necessary.

I'll be killing the posts, if I can figure out how, and I think it is pretty easy to do.

We do have government agencies and charities who can help my neighbor to an extent. He got some food at the local food bank, and he has applied for food stamps. We have homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and government housing (The Projects), but they are downtown (about ten miles away). I asked my neighbor why he didn't go downtown where there are more services. He says he doesn't like people.

Two things my neighbor seems unwilling to do, and both are necessary if he is to ever have anything like a normal life. He refuses to stop drinking (only running out of money keeps him from drinking and smoking, but his friends bring him beer and cigarettes sometimes), and he refuses to work. I have never heard him indicate he is willing to work. He's pretty clear that he won't. Maybe he'd want to work if he stopped drinking, but at this time my neighbor prefers to move into a shed in the woods over giving up the beer and finding a job.

I keep hoping one of his sisters will take him in, but I can certainly understand why they wouldn't.

Sarah, you ask about my house. Are you asking for pictures of the inside? I'll try to get one now and again. Mostly my house isn't clean enough for me to want to take pictures most of the time. Now that K got her big-girl bed this morning, she won't nap, and I don't know when I can tidy the place up even a little. It's hard to type right now because she is pitching a fit instead of napping. I'm hoping she'll fall asleep on the floor somewhere and I can put her to bed. I have pictures a the flickr site of the outside of my house. I'll work on getting more up of the inside.

I don't know how land is measured in Australia, but I have almost an acre of land. Compared to what I grew up with, it is a huge yard. Four or five houses of the kind I grew up with could fit on this much land. Compared to what I dream of, it's a small yard. I'd love a lot of land. I'd like a lot of woods, some cleared land for gardening, a garage, a barn, a greenhouse, and a pond or a stream. I doubt I'll ever have all that, but you never know.

None

My neighbor has finally applied for food stamps. I gave him a large envelope in which to send in his application this morning. I don't know what requirements they have, and I don't know how you prove a lack of income. I would prove my income with my income tax form. My neighbor hasn't bothered to file in years. I don't think he's had any documentable income in years. Selling his empty beer cans for the aluminum doesn't count. I actually think there were some years he was supposed to file, but he didn't bother. I don't think he made enough to owe any money, though.

The other weird thing is that yesterday he borrowed a paint brush from Mr. K. He said it was to paint his shed because it may soon be his domicile. That stumps me because if his landlord is planning to sell the house, he certainly can't live in the shed (or the bamboo by the shed) when someone else owns the place. If the landlord is planning to find a new tenant, I suppose something might be worked out, but that's still strange. My "Little Appalachia" picture I entered at the Cafe Crowd as abstract was a shot of the back of my neighbor's shed. That heap of junk belongs mostly to his landlord. It's hard to believe he could find another tenant without picking the place up better, so I don't think that's it, either. Also, I don't think he could sell it the way it looks now.

The other strange thing is that my neighbor seldom lifts a finger to do any work, and he's certainly never painted inside his house. Why the heck would the shed need painting when the house never did, and how did my neighbor find the ambition to pick up a paint brush?

I'm sure clear answer to my questions is, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. Too bad I'm such a nosy snoop. I should know by now not to ask questions because I won't like the answers.

Computer unavailable

When I got Brilly's Webkinz, I got one for N, too. I was going to give it to him for his birthday in March, but J had been really yanking his chain with her account--sometimes sharing it and other times refusing or being very bossy about it. I felt sorry for him last weekend, and told him if he worked hard helping me with chores for the next week, I'd give it to him in a week (which was yesterday). He's not capable of doing most chores the way I want them done, so I didn't have that many things for him to do, but he did everything I asked of him without objection so I let him have his Webkinz yesterday. (The worst thing I think he did was wash my bathroom floor down with soapy water and a rag, but I didn't have him do it near the toilet. Mostly he dumped trash and sifted the cat's litter box.)

Yesterday morning we went to his Cub Scout pack's Pinewood Derby, and N's car he made with his dad was raced against the other boys in his den. His car didn't do so well, but they gave him a certificate for decorating it interestingly.

Before the Pinewood Derby, I gave him his Webkinz, and we set up the account. In the afternoon, after the Derby, he pretty much tied up the computer for the rest of the day. I let him get away with it since he never objected to the chores I assigned him during the past week. Today he'll be limited to only 45 minutes on the computer so I ought to be able to use it a bit more unless Mr. K wants it.

I've got a moment at the computer because I put K down for a nap, and Mr. K is picking up N and J from Sunday school, but they are due back any moment, and after he has his doughnut, I'm sure N will want his 45 minutes at Webkinz World.

Friday I took K out to a mattress store where they make the mattresses on site (and use foam made at the plant I used to work at). I bought her a twin mattress and box springs. I need to find the bed frame pieces up in our attic today because the mattress will arrive on Wednesday. I told them I wasn't in a hurry. She probably won't nap once she gets a big girl bed she can escape from. If I can't find the frame, I'll need to get the mattress store to include a cheap frame with the delivery.

They're back--I'm losing the computer for the moment.

Running around and getting nowhere fast

My errand running had to wait a bit this morning. Mr. K told me last night that he wanted to borrow my car to go to court since it handles better than our truck in bad weather, and there was a chance we'd get some mid-morning freezing rain.

Once again, he didn't get our tenant evicted. Apparently she showed up with some cash again for December's rent and assured him that the check for January's rent was in the mail as of last Thursday (yeah, right). Anyway, they agreed to settle without actually going to court. It took Mr. K months to find her as a tenant, and he doesn't have time to get that place back on the market right now and wait for a bunch of losers to take a look at it. She also has some story about it being hard to mail the rent (probably because she has to get a money order first), and could he come by next time and pick it up.

Right after Mr. K came back from court with some cash and a signed-over check in hand, the phone rang. It was my dentist's office with an immediate opening if I could come right away to get my teeth cleaned. I was scheduled to go on January 30, but this was fine with me. K hadn't fallen asleep yet, so we went.

On the way back, we stopped by the bank to deposit the money from that tenant. Then we stopped by the post office to send Brilly a Webkinz. K had her shoes and socks off, so I had to put them back on her before we went in. Afterwards, K took her socks off again in the car on the way home, and we live only one mile (although you have to drive 25 mph, which makes it seem longer than it is) from the post office. Her head was bobbing and her eyes were starting to roll around with sleepiness, so I stopped running errands so she could nap. I had hoped to get to the grocery store and a sewing store to get more bobbins, but she needed the nap. From the looks of the time now, if she wakes up soon, we'll only have time to go to the grocery store before we have to be home to wait for the school bus.

I'll probably try to finish running my errands tomorrow after I go to the gym, but the truth of the matter is that errands are like laundry. It doesn't matter how much time I spend on them, they are never caught up.

Back to school

The kids have been home for a four-day weekend. Between their being home, and their going out to play in what little bit of snow we have and then tracking in wet, muddy snow, my house is a wreck. I'm hoping to get things tidied up a bit when K naps tomorrow and the older ones are back at school.

We made it to the gym this morning so I won't be going tomorrow. That will leave me time to run errands tomorrow morning, and boy, have they been stacking up, along with all the housework.

My Season 5 of the Rockford Files arrived a couple days ago, and I've been enjoying an episode of that in the evenings. I think that was the greatest detective show ever made.

J wants me to read her a chapter in a book before she goes to bed, so I have to end here so she'll have time.

I've been sick

I've had the throw up/diarrhea bug yesterday (and I still had the diarrhea this morning). I wonder if I caught it at the doctor's office on Monday. I ended up with a horrid headache yesterday, probably from the dehydration. Mr. K went to the store in the evening and got me some Gatorade, which helped.

Anyway, that kept me off the computer most of yesterday. I'm feeling better now, but still not good enough to go to the gym today. Maybe I'll make it there tomorrow.

K and I went through her drawers this afternoon and removed clothing she has outgrown. I'll either be giving it to someone having a girl baby (if I can find someone) or taking it to the local charity thrift shop. Most of the stuff is probably a decade old because I got it from someone whose kid(s) wore it. It is a great feeling to finally be able to get rid of the outgrown baby clothing and not just store it in the attic because I know I won't need it anymore. I can't wait to get rid of the highchair, too.

Speaking of that, it is almost time to get a real bed for K. I already have the frame up in the attic. I just need to buy her a mattress and box springs. I also have the bedding for her now. My mom sent me some she got from her sister, and I went out and got new pink bedspreads and sheets for the girls.

Kate in hat and mittens

Kate in hat and mittens
Originally uploaded by greycharleigh

Kate insisted on wearing her hat and, sweater, and mittens around the house for a while this morning. She let me take her picture.

Another trip to the doctors

I called and spoke to a nurse this morning because last night I discovered J has been dumping her antibiotics into a trash bag she had stashed next to her bed, oblivious to the fact that she could grow amoxicillin-resistant bacteria in her ears, and that K could find her trash and eat them, poisoning her.

The nurse said the doctor wanted to see her in case the infection was still there. If it was, he would be injecting her with antibiotics.

It turned out she just had fluid built-up in her ear; it was not infected. Because of that, he was able to skip the injection in her butt. Mr. K was disappointed when he found out later. He had hoped a shot might convince J not to dump medicine again.

J's sinuses still looked pretty mucked up. The doctor gave me some samples of stuff to use for her cough, and he wrote me a brand-new prescription for Augmentin (a harsher antibiotic) in liquid form. So now, instead of being done with antibiotics in three days, she as another ten-day regimen. Plus, this one tastes horrid. (I guess she thought that of the chewables, but she says this is worse.)

House of Plague

K and I have fine tummies since Friday afternoon, which is good. I have a cold now that makes my head feel like exploding. I've got a deep cough and a lot of sneezing with it. I was planning to skip church tomorrow, and now that's for sure. When I got home from the supermarket tonight, we found N had a fever of 100.7 °F. He also has a bad cold. I'm slightly worried he's picked up mono from J. She hasn't had a fever, but when I had mono years ago, I sure did.

J seems a lot better. She's had no ear pain since we saw the doctor. She sleeps a bit more than before still.

We just don't seem to be well all at once anymore. We're just passing germs around.

K and I and the stomache bug

K started throwing up last night when Mr. K was holding her. She had cried a little in bed, so he got her up and held her. Fortunately, he got her over the Pergo (laminate flooring) before she messed up the recliner. We had to change her pajamas a few times. She was old enough to understand what the intention of the barf basin was. I threw up a couple times last night and a couple times this morning so I think it was a bug.

After each round of throwing up, we'd put K back to bed. She'd sleep for about 30 to 45 minutes, we'd hear her cry, and I'd come running with the barf basin. Mostly I was able to get it to her before she threw up on her pajamas. She never wrecked her bedding (amazing). The last time she threw up was a quarter to 1 a.m. She woke me from a sound sleep to come running with the barf dish. She'd had a lot of chicken at dinner, and I think she lost the last of it at that time. I washed a lot of pajamas this morning.

Sick picture

This picture was taken the summer of 2004. It is of my foot. It is the sort of thing that scares me with J itching so much. I think I had athlete's foot that made me itch my foot. I also had a fever at the time (turns out it was Lyme's Disease). Anyway, one evening I itched my foot a whole lot. I had been to the doctor's (the horrid urgent care type) the day before because of days of fever, throwing up, and aching. He said stomach virus, and refused to run the Lyme disease test. When I woke up the next morning (a Sunday), there was a huge bruise on my foot, my eyelid was swollen, and I had a bruise on my forehead.

I called the urgent care doctor on Monday because my foot was really hurting, and he had me go to the emergency room because he wanted some blood tests done for some of my major organs because of the bruising, and he didn't have the ability to run those tests. The ER ran those tests (I was fine) and a Lyme disease test and a rocky mountain spotted fever test. They also put me on an antibiotic for Lyme disease just to be sure. The Lyme disease test came back two days later (Wed) "presumptive positive."

Meanwhile, the bruise was spreading and crawling up my ankle to my leg, and my foot hurt so much it was hard to bear weight. I went back to the urgent care doctor Wednesday night to have him look at my foot, and I told him about the Lyme disease test. He x-rayed my foot, told me it was fine, and said to come back if my symptoms changed.

I thought there was a reasonable chance that I might die because none of this seemed right. I had my annual ob/gyn appointment the next day (Thursday), and I thought that might be my last hope. My ob/gyn is brilliant. I left my sock off, which I don't usually do at her appointments, and she immediately asked me if anyone had brought up cellulitis. I said no one had--not the urgent care doctor and not the ER doctor. She said it was obvious I had cellulitis from both the appearance and the fact that the bruising was hot to the touch. I needed antibiotics for it. I told her I was on some for the Lyme disease. She said those weren't the right kind. I needed Keflex. I asked her what would happen if I did nothing since the night before my urgent care doctor x-rayed it and said it was fine. She said I'd be in the hospital in intensive care pretty soon. I asked her if she'd treat it since my urgent care doctor seemed so incompetent. She made me assure her he had seen it the night before and thought nothing was wrong. She then prescribed the Keflex for me, marked the area that was red in ink so I could see if it shrunk or grew, and gave me a couple recommendations for primary care physicians so I could switch out of the urgent care facility in the future.

My foot cleared up beautifully. The fever and barfing were stopping from the other antibiotics. I saw my new doctor. At that point the cellulitis had cleared up and the skin all peeled off, which she said was normal after cellulitis.

Anyway, this horrid experience has made me scared about excessive itching, so I really want J to not itch. It goes far beyond the appearance of her skin. This was a dangerous infection that could have killed me if left untreated. If it hadn't been for my ob/gyn appointment, I was thinking of calling my kids' pediatrician (another brilliant doctor) and begging him to see me if I paid cash (my insurance would never cover it), or to give me the name of someone really good who would see me quickly for cash since I was scared I'd die before the stupid urgent care doctor bothered to figure out what sort of referral I needed.

The lesson here is never make an urgent care facility your "primary care physician" when you have HMO insurance, which requires a referral to see a different doctor (except for ob/gyn stuff). They just aren't that great.

I called the urgent care facility and left a message for the doctor, telling him what the proper diagnosis was. I never heard back. I saw in the paper about a year later he was promoted to be in charge of a different urgent care facility in the same chain. I thought that was good. I'm hoping the higher position means he won't be seeing patients anymore. In any event, he's now on the other side of the county, where I won't run into him.

None

I got more lotion on J. Her tummy actually seemed to be almost normal, so I made a point of telling her it was starting to feel like the rest of us, in hopes she'd be more willing to let me get the lotion all over her legs. She did. I really ought to remember/make her have it put on every day for at least a week so I can be sure it really works or conclude it makes no difference. Right now I think it's helping, but we have had a couple days in the 70s, though, so it could just be from the warmer weather.

I'm still feeling really cranky and tired, and my cough is getting worse. I think I have some of what J has. My ears are still fine, though.

I've been having fun with the daily pictures at the CafeCrowd. So far I haven't run out of things to take pictures of. One of these days, I'll get a picture of my cat. The cat named Jewel sure is pretty. I love cats. Back in Michigan, I used to pet any cat I'd find outside that would let me. Here I can't, and I'm teaching the kids not to touch any cats they see. Unfortunately, I think N is now afraid of strange cats because I was too emphatic about it. We've got a pretty big rabies problem in the area. I only touch cats if I know the owners get them rabies shots.

I'm tired and making no sense. I gotta get some sleep.

Stubborn J

J gave me a hard time again with her new lotion. I'm thinking of giving up, but telling her not to complain to me when it itches. I'm sick of fighting with her. I know I should continue since it is best for her, but I'm just getting so tired of fighting her.

Brilly, do you know, is eczema like psoriasis? From your psoriasis descriptions, it sounds like it is something you'd give anything a try just to see if it helps. I can't figure out why J doesn't want lotions. She says this lotion is, "too wet." I hope it's just her age.

Tired

I'll be going to bed a bit early tonight. I'm feeling pretty tired, and my nose has started running again. I think I'm coming down with yet another cold.

J's doing better. I haven't heard a peep out of her about having sore ears since she started the antibiotics. I need to schedule a follow-up appointment in a couple weeks with the doctor, though, to assure her ears are okay.

She hates the lotion for her eczema. Maybe because it is cold going on her skin. Maybe it's because she was in a foul mood after her shower.

Her new lotion is generic for something called "Hylira lotion." It's called Sodium Hyaluronate 0.1% Lotion. I spent $10 on it. My insurance picked up the other $110. I'm astounded at how much prescriptions cost. Her antibiotics cost me another $10, and the insurance picked up $30. That didn't surprise me the way the lotion did.

It's pretty neat lotion. I hope she ends up liking it. It's almost like putting on a water gel. It isn't the least bit greasy, and J says it doesn't burn the way the body lotions I had been trying to get her to use did. We'll have to keep putting this on her regularly and see if the dry, scaly skin clears up and becomes soft like the rest of our skin. J doesn't feel human to the touch. :( Her skin is more reptilian. At this time, she's fortunate that her skin doesn't look unusual at a quick glance. It's still more of a texture issue, but if she keeps scratching it opened, she'll risk it getting infected, and it will look like something is wrong with her skin. I think she's still to young to care, but she's a girl, so it will matter one day. It will matter now if anyone comments on it. I've seen her when she's upset by things of this nature. She'll go off by herself with her blanket, her eyes will fill up with unshed tears, she'll suck her thumb, and she'll snap at anyone who wants to ask her what is wrong because she doesn't want to talk about it and knows we can't fix it.

None

Mr. K got my heater back tonight. Our neighbor's landlord/friend has hired someone to repair the furnace, so he doesn't need it anymore. I needed it Friday, but didn't know the neighbor's heat was fixed or I would have gone over and got it back. My 8-foot sliding glass door has had a lot of problems. The 4-foot piece that slides needed to be replaced (under warranty), and it had to be ordered about two months ago from the factory. The piece arrived and was installed Friday, but it was very cold outside. I closed off the room, but the rest of the house still got quite cold while the guy was removing the old door and installing the new one.

Mr. K is getting a new hobby--flintknapping. He's bought a bunch of equipment and is watching a DVD for at least the third time right now. Flintknapping is what you do when you bust up rocks to make Indian arrowheads. Mr. K says it will take years to get good enough to make an arrowhead. I asked him what we'll do with the arrowheads. He doesn't seem to know. I think we'll have to buy shadow boxes and display them. I've noticed many of our decorative rocks around the yard are now busted. I think he's testing out all the rocks, and he's been experimenting on broken glass, too.

K got me up in the night again last night. I think her cold bothers her at night. It makes me tired and cranky all day, though, and now I'm trying to come up with something special happening in 2008, and I can't come up with anything. It's just not a year of firsts. Nick is having his first communion in April, but I'm not Catholic so I'm not particularly interested in it. The classes Mr. K has to attend are making him grumpy.

I think I should get some sleep. It's 10 p.m.

Cold

I was cold (and complaining about it) this evening. Mr. K has now built me a fire in the wood-burning stove. I see our overnight low is going to be about 21 °F, and the high tomorrow 36 °F. It was windy and snowing this morning, but the snow just blew around in the air. I didn't see any accumulate anywhere. I think it must have melted off as it landed.

Mr. K has gone over to our neighbor's. He called a few minutes ago and said his heat is out again, and would we lend him our electric heaters again. Heaters?, I said. We only have the one we lent him before to spare. N uses the other one to heat his bedroom. He said that was too bad because his landlord/friend is staying there tonight and sleeps upstairs.

It looks like they'll both have to sleep on the same level or one is going to be cold. I have thought about buying a second oil-filled electric heater, but haven't bothered since I've personally never needed the first. We did use it for a little bit in N's room when his heater broke but I'd turn it off once the room heated up because that heater gets very hot to the touch, and I didn't think it would be safe to have on all night in N's room. His own heater doesn't heat up on the outside, and is supposed to be fine to run while you sleep.

Maybe his landlord will make a run to Target tonight to get another heater. I know I would if it were me.

None

N and J are back in school. I've just put K down for a nap, so I have a moment at the computer. Then I need to clean the house a bit.

I've put in the mailbox an application to take a $40, 8-week, 1.25 hour, once-a-week Spanish class at a local Baptist church. I just got the application in the mail Monday, so I hope I am able to get into the class. I've signed up for Spanish 2 without taking Spanish 1, but I studied Spanish for five years at the high school level so I think I'd be bored in the Spanish 1 class. I am hoping to be able to speak Spanish a lot better than I do now.

I'm thinking of signing K up for some two-year old classes at one of our county parks with a nature center. I won't be able to sign her up for any that happen before April 10, though, because she won't be two until then. For her, each class is $3. Mr. K though I was crazy to put a toddler in a nature class until her heard the price. I think he still thinks I'm crazy, but we can afford that. I might also sign N and J up for a night hike at the nature center. That costs $4 per person. One has to be six, and J just turned six.

I'm thinking of using some Christmas money we received to order two bushes (two needed for pollination) of a bush called a Honeyberry that I see in a plant catalog. It's originally from Siberia. It looks like I should plant it in part shade here. It is supposed to make a sweet, edible fruit that is ready even before strawberries. It's a type of honeysuckle. All of our other fruit trees need full sun, so I'm sure we can squeeze this in somewhere.