It's not been the most fortunate of weeks for us.
Sunday night as I was cutting up lettuce for dinner, I managed to get my hand under the knife and sliced right through my fingernail. (It doesn't hurt so much anymore except when I tap on anything -- like, say, my keyboard -- with the end of the fingernail. So I'm having to keep that nail trimmed really short.)
Yesterday afternoon, Penny developed an ear infection. (Or, more likely, it has been developing for a couple of days and finally peaked yesterday afternoon.) Matt took her to the Urgent Care center, where all the doctors and nurses who looked in her ear were amazed she was holding it together as well as she was, the poor kid.
While Matt and Penny were at the Urgent Care, I got dinner for Alex and me and made lunches for today and gave Alex his bath. I picked up Matt's lunchbox without fully closing the clips, and a soda fell out and landed on my toe, and while I was cursing and wondering if my toe was broken, it sprayed about two-thirds of its contents all over my kitchen. And I mean all. Over. So then I had to finish making dinner and packing lunches and take a sponge to every cabinet and countertop, not to mention the (hot) stove and the fridge. Then I got out the Swiffer to take care of the floor, and while I was digging out a new head for it, I managed to unbalance the large and heavy boxes of trash bags, which fell on my head pointy-bit first, naturally.
(Also? All while wearing 4" heels.)
Tried to do some writing last night. Knocked out a solid 1000 words on a new story, only to realize that my hook isn't strong enough and I'm going to have to toss it and start over.
The antibiotic the Urgent Care prescribed for Penny tastes disgusting, apparently, so I had to wade through her stalling and making an assortment of gaggy faces before I could get to my morning exercises this morning, which set me back a solid 20 minutes later than I usually get started. And then when I got the kids to school I had to explain to the teacher and kitchen staff about how she's not having breakfast with the other kids because she has to eat at home so she can have food along with the antibiotic, and so while I'm not technically late to work, the whole morning has felt very hurried and frantic.
So? Slightly grumpy right now, but clinging to some vague hope of turning it around at some point.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sum Up
Weird work situation, mostly good weekend, lots to do, so here's the summary:
I've been sucked into a proposal at work. I'd be stressing over it more except that it's only 30 pages long and we don't have a lot of time to burn on it anyway.
I'll stress a little more this week, though, since I've got two software deliveries in hand and two more on the horizon. The proposal has to be finished by Wednesday night, though, so there's a hard limit on how long I can wrestle with it.
The summer bash was awesome. The weather could've been a smidge cooler, and it would've been nice if all the kids from the other big group at the park hadn't decided to make free with our toys, but we did eventually get them all back, and only one was broken beyond repair (and that one was a water gun over 10 years old, so I have trouble blaming that solely on the kids' roughness). But I got to visit with people I don't get to see very often, and Penny got to make a new friend, and we all talked ourselves hoarse and ate tasty food (mmm, Matt's stuffed brownies...). I had a fantastic long chat with T Campbell about the vagaries of publishing, and we both enjoyed talking with JD about a book (or series, possibly) that he wants to write. I visited with Ashby and Karen and Jeff (and watched Jeff let the kids hack at him with nerf swords) and met a bunch of new people (and re-met some people I've only encountered once or twice before) and also hung out with friends that I see more often, like Elizabeth and Dave and KT and Kevin.
We got plenty of "grownup time", too, for a change, which was nice. The girls were obviously big enough to run around on their own, and once he arrived, Alex was confident enough to go over to the adjacent playgrounds without an accompanying parent for a good half an hour at a time -- it meant that Matt and I would look up every ten minutes or so to do a child count, but that's certainly less disruptive to conversation than having to stand on the playground watching the kids. Alex hauled us over to the playground a couple of times to push him on the swings, but other than that, he climbed and slid and jumped more or less on his own.
I took a mess of pictures, of course. I'm looking forward to seeing some others, too.
The only real low point for the weekend was that Penny didn't get a lot of sleep, so by Sunday she was downright surly. Combined with my back and feet hurting from all the standing I did Saturday, that dragged my mood down a bit, too. She slept in a little this morning, though, and her mood seems to have improved.
Oh, and the "barrier" infusion set went well enough, though the needle freaked her out a little. We took it off this morning (made it the full three days this time, at least!) and I didn't see any of the swelling and redness that had come with the first set, but she swears the itching was making her crazy yet again. I don't know what to do about it, I really don't. I don't want to drop that much money on something and just hope that she'll "get used to it" with time. Argh.
I've been sucked into a proposal at work. I'd be stressing over it more except that it's only 30 pages long and we don't have a lot of time to burn on it anyway.
I'll stress a little more this week, though, since I've got two software deliveries in hand and two more on the horizon. The proposal has to be finished by Wednesday night, though, so there's a hard limit on how long I can wrestle with it.
The summer bash was awesome. The weather could've been a smidge cooler, and it would've been nice if all the kids from the other big group at the park hadn't decided to make free with our toys, but we did eventually get them all back, and only one was broken beyond repair (and that one was a water gun over 10 years old, so I have trouble blaming that solely on the kids' roughness). But I got to visit with people I don't get to see very often, and Penny got to make a new friend, and we all talked ourselves hoarse and ate tasty food (mmm, Matt's stuffed brownies...). I had a fantastic long chat with T Campbell about the vagaries of publishing, and we both enjoyed talking with JD about a book (or series, possibly) that he wants to write. I visited with Ashby and Karen and Jeff (and watched Jeff let the kids hack at him with nerf swords) and met a bunch of new people (and re-met some people I've only encountered once or twice before) and also hung out with friends that I see more often, like Elizabeth and Dave and KT and Kevin.
We got plenty of "grownup time", too, for a change, which was nice. The girls were obviously big enough to run around on their own, and once he arrived, Alex was confident enough to go over to the adjacent playgrounds without an accompanying parent for a good half an hour at a time -- it meant that Matt and I would look up every ten minutes or so to do a child count, but that's certainly less disruptive to conversation than having to stand on the playground watching the kids. Alex hauled us over to the playground a couple of times to push him on the swings, but other than that, he climbed and slid and jumped more or less on his own.
I took a mess of pictures, of course. I'm looking forward to seeing some others, too.
The only real low point for the weekend was that Penny didn't get a lot of sleep, so by Sunday she was downright surly. Combined with my back and feet hurting from all the standing I did Saturday, that dragged my mood down a bit, too. She slept in a little this morning, though, and her mood seems to have improved.
Oh, and the "barrier" infusion set went well enough, though the needle freaked her out a little. We took it off this morning (made it the full three days this time, at least!) and I didn't see any of the swelling and redness that had come with the first set, but she swears the itching was making her crazy yet again. I don't know what to do about it, I really don't. I don't want to drop that much money on something and just hope that she'll "get used to it" with time. Argh.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
*Headdesk*
Too much to do. Not enough to do. It's incredibly stupid that both of those things describe my life right now. Uncertainty makes me batshit insane; I really do not enjoy operating on a "just see what happens" basis. Every now and then, under controlled circumstances, I can do it, but it's not the way I prefer to operate. I like to know what's going to happen, and what's on my to-do list, and what options are available to me.
Alas. The gods have other ideas for me right now.
I have no work to do, but as soon as I started thinking about taking a half-day today, my boss scheduled an afternoon meeting. At least it's a telecon meeting, so I might still take that half-day and just call in for it. Maybe, except there's a document that has to be written (no money to write it, of course) and I don't know who's supposed to be doing that writing.
I'm helping out with a proposal at work, and those are -- as I've complained before -- a hot mess of shit deadline on my neck hurry hurry hurry and can't do anything without others' input wait wait wait all stirred into one delicious soup of stress.
Possibility of folks coming up to hang out this evening, but no idea if we're feeding them or we're all going out or if they're not arriving until after dinner. Or even if they're coming at all.
We're letting a friend crash at our house this weekend. I'm glad to open our house to him, but he's not sure if he'll arrive Friday night, or Saturday morning, or not until Saturday after the summer bash picnic.
Add that to diabetes difficulties (Penny's sugars are fantastic when she gets up at 6:30, and then two hours later at breakfast, without having eaten anything, they're 100 points higher. WTF?) and Alex being a bit moody because he's adjusting to the switch (finally!) to the 3-year-old class at daycare, and I'm a little ball of grumpiness and stress.
Maybe that's why I can't manage to stick to my diet for more than half a day at a time.
Alas. The gods have other ideas for me right now.
I have no work to do, but as soon as I started thinking about taking a half-day today, my boss scheduled an afternoon meeting. At least it's a telecon meeting, so I might still take that half-day and just call in for it. Maybe, except there's a document that has to be written (no money to write it, of course) and I don't know who's supposed to be doing that writing.
I'm helping out with a proposal at work, and those are -- as I've complained before -- a hot mess of shit deadline on my neck hurry hurry hurry and can't do anything without others' input wait wait wait all stirred into one delicious soup of stress.
Possibility of folks coming up to hang out this evening, but no idea if we're feeding them or we're all going out or if they're not arriving until after dinner. Or even if they're coming at all.
We're letting a friend crash at our house this weekend. I'm glad to open our house to him, but he's not sure if he'll arrive Friday night, or Saturday morning, or not until Saturday after the summer bash picnic.
Add that to diabetes difficulties (Penny's sugars are fantastic when she gets up at 6:30, and then two hours later at breakfast, without having eaten anything, they're 100 points higher. WTF?) and Alex being a bit moody because he's adjusting to the switch (finally!) to the 3-year-old class at daycare, and I'm a little ball of grumpiness and stress.
Maybe that's why I can't manage to stick to my diet for more than half a day at a time.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Eight Weeks
This weekend is the summer bash. I'm looking forward to hanging out with friends. Especially those friends I don't get to see very often.
Next weekend leads into the Fourth of July. (The 4th being actually on Monday, but it makes for a long weekend, huzzah!)
Then there's a weekend with no plans. (Yet.)
The weekend after that is my sister-in-law's birthday.
Then there are two weekends with no plans. (Yet.)
Then we'll be celebrating Braz and Adin's new house! (Also, that is the state's Tax Free School Supplies weekend, so I expect we'll be doing some school shopping that weekend.)
And the Friday after that, we'll have Penny's birthday, and the morning after that, she and I will get up ridiculously early and get on a plane to fly to Cancun.
Why yes, I am counting down.
Next weekend leads into the Fourth of July. (The 4th being actually on Monday, but it makes for a long weekend, huzzah!)
Then there's a weekend with no plans. (Yet.)
The weekend after that is my sister-in-law's birthday.
Then there are two weekends with no plans. (Yet.)
Then we'll be celebrating Braz and Adin's new house! (Also, that is the state's Tax Free School Supplies weekend, so I expect we'll be doing some school shopping that weekend.)
And the Friday after that, we'll have Penny's birthday, and the morning after that, she and I will get up ridiculously early and get on a plane to fly to Cancun.
Why yes, I am counting down.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Hello Fadda
I hope everyone had a great Father's Day and appropriately honored the ol' Y-chromosomal parent!
We had a nice one -- got Matt up with breakfast in bed, and gave him his gifts (hand-drawn cards from Penny and Alex, and a couple of fun books from me).
Hung around doing the usual chores in the morning (though as a Father's Day treat, I took both kids with me to the grocery store so Matt could enjoy a half-hour or so of quiet) and then after Alex's nap, we went down to my parents' for hot dogs and hamburgers and corn on the cob and watermelon, yum! We all ate way too much and stayed way too late chatting, but it was a lovely evening.
This week will be busy -- Alex and I both have checkups with the ear doctor on Wednesday morning, and Penny's back to CHKD on Friday to try the alternate insulin set method that hopefully won't trigger an allergic reaction. Matt and I made plans to meet John and Sam for lunch on Thursday, in part so we can finally buy a painting from John that we'd asked for last year, and in part so the four of us can actually have a conversation free of kid-based interruptions. (Sam has lost 80 pounds since her gastric bypass in March, and she looks fantastic!)
And then this weekend is the annual Summer Bash. (Current forecast - hot with isolated thunderstorms; keep your fingers crossed for us!) Looking at the sort of sparse work schedule for this week, I may be taking a day or two off to meet up with people and hang out, depending on when everyone is arriving and stuff. We'll see how it works out.
We had a nice one -- got Matt up with breakfast in bed, and gave him his gifts (hand-drawn cards from Penny and Alex, and a couple of fun books from me).
Hung around doing the usual chores in the morning (though as a Father's Day treat, I took both kids with me to the grocery store so Matt could enjoy a half-hour or so of quiet) and then after Alex's nap, we went down to my parents' for hot dogs and hamburgers and corn on the cob and watermelon, yum! We all ate way too much and stayed way too late chatting, but it was a lovely evening.
This week will be busy -- Alex and I both have checkups with the ear doctor on Wednesday morning, and Penny's back to CHKD on Friday to try the alternate insulin set method that hopefully won't trigger an allergic reaction. Matt and I made plans to meet John and Sam for lunch on Thursday, in part so we can finally buy a painting from John that we'd asked for last year, and in part so the four of us can actually have a conversation free of kid-based interruptions. (Sam has lost 80 pounds since her gastric bypass in March, and she looks fantastic!)
And then this weekend is the annual Summer Bash. (Current forecast - hot with isolated thunderstorms; keep your fingers crossed for us!) Looking at the sort of sparse work schedule for this week, I may be taking a day or two off to meet up with people and hang out, depending on when everyone is arriving and stuff. We'll see how it works out.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Tired
Didn't sleep too well last night. Not really sure why, just had lots of vivid, unrestful dreams. Nothing bad, just action-packed, from what little I can still remember.
So I'm feeling groggy and nonfunctional this morning. It'll be the perfect day for tackling mindless paperwork and then hitting the gym, and then coming back to the office for more mindless paperwork. Envy me my glamorous life!
After dinner last night, we put Alex in the wagon and walked over to Penny's school and let the kids run around on the playground for half an hour. I even hauled my camera along and took pictures of some flowers and the kids and stuff along the way, which was nice -- I haven't taken any pictures with the good camera for over a month, I think. I don't know if this is going to be a regular thing or what -- Matt was a bit dismayed at the amount of time Penny was spending dorking around on the computer during her long afternoon Tuesday, but once she starts daycare/camp next week, she won't even be getting home until almost 5:30, so that will put a big dent in her screen time.
Today is Penny's last day of school -- when I get home this evening, she'll officially be a third grader. The daycare gave me a form to fill out for her medical records, and naturally it has to be signed by her doctor as well, so I need to get on with that and fax it over to the doctor so they can send it back. She's been particularly surly the last few days, and this morning she told me she's been waking up at 5:30, so it's possible that's got something to do with her mood. Once school is out, Matt and I are going to let her stay up later to read at night, but I told her this morning that if she's continuing to be grouchy and surly all the time, we're going to put an end to that. So she has been warned. For whatever good that will do us.
Alex is doing really well with his potty training, and is getting fairly reliable about telling us when he needs to go. We hid his little potty Tuesday night and he coped with its disappearance pretty well (he'd been sitting on the regular toilet about half the time anyway, so we figured we'd nudge that along). The next step will be to get him a bed so he can get up and go on his own initiative at night and we can start trying to transition him out of night-time diapers as well. (I'll take "Things Parents Don't Miss When Their Babies Grow Up" for $400, Alex...)
So I'm feeling groggy and nonfunctional this morning. It'll be the perfect day for tackling mindless paperwork and then hitting the gym, and then coming back to the office for more mindless paperwork. Envy me my glamorous life!
***
After dinner last night, we put Alex in the wagon and walked over to Penny's school and let the kids run around on the playground for half an hour. I even hauled my camera along and took pictures of some flowers and the kids and stuff along the way, which was nice -- I haven't taken any pictures with the good camera for over a month, I think. I don't know if this is going to be a regular thing or what -- Matt was a bit dismayed at the amount of time Penny was spending dorking around on the computer during her long afternoon Tuesday, but once she starts daycare/camp next week, she won't even be getting home until almost 5:30, so that will put a big dent in her screen time.
Today is Penny's last day of school -- when I get home this evening, she'll officially be a third grader. The daycare gave me a form to fill out for her medical records, and naturally it has to be signed by her doctor as well, so I need to get on with that and fax it over to the doctor so they can send it back. She's been particularly surly the last few days, and this morning she told me she's been waking up at 5:30, so it's possible that's got something to do with her mood. Once school is out, Matt and I are going to let her stay up later to read at night, but I told her this morning that if she's continuing to be grouchy and surly all the time, we're going to put an end to that. So she has been warned. For whatever good that will do us.
Alex is doing really well with his potty training, and is getting fairly reliable about telling us when he needs to go. We hid his little potty Tuesday night and he coped with its disappearance pretty well (he'd been sitting on the regular toilet about half the time anyway, so we figured we'd nudge that along). The next step will be to get him a bed so he can get up and go on his own initiative at night and we can start trying to transition him out of night-time diapers as well. (I'll take "Things Parents Don't Miss When Their Babies Grow Up" for $400, Alex...)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Ending
It's almost the end of the school year for Penny. Today is her second-to-last day as a second grader; by 1:00 tomorrow she will officially be a third grader.
She's spending the afternoon with me; I'll be picking her up from school and bringing her back to the office. Matt will pick her up tomorrow. And then Friday, when she has no school at all, I'll have her with me in the morning, and Matt will take her in the afternoon.
I hope her mood is improved this afternoon; she was the Sultana of Surly this morning.
Slightly scattered this morning. Not in a particularly bad or down mood (aside from being eye-rolly about Penny's attitude) but my brain is refusing to fire on all cylinders. Or even half of them. Should make for an interesting day.
She's spending the afternoon with me; I'll be picking her up from school and bringing her back to the office. Matt will pick her up tomorrow. And then Friday, when she has no school at all, I'll have her with me in the morning, and Matt will take her in the afternoon.
I hope her mood is improved this afternoon; she was the Sultana of Surly this morning.
Slightly scattered this morning. Not in a particularly bad or down mood (aside from being eye-rolly about Penny's attitude) but my brain is refusing to fire on all cylinders. Or even half of them. Should make for an interesting day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)