Stomach virus! ACK!

For the first time in his whole life, Elvis has a stomach virus. I guess, in retrospect, it's a miracle that we haven't had one before. He's thrown up before. He had a full year of hellish reflux as a baby. He projectile vomited many, many times a day during that year. This, however, is his first time to actually be sick with vomiting. And let me tell you - it wasn't pretty.

The first instance occurred on his Aunt Beth's bed. No one actually saw it happen, but I can only imagine it resembled a volcanic eruption, only with chocolate milk instead of molten rock. This event necessitated another bath and some heavy-duty laundry. There was lots of conversation about whether he was sick or had just gagged himself, chewing on his fingers (cutting six-year molars, but that's another story). Alli witnessed the second eruption while I was stripping Beth's bed. There was no finger-chewing involved so we decided he was actually sick.

I vividly remember each subsequent eruption - 11:30 pm, midnight, 1:10 AM, and 2:05 AM. The logistics of throwing up seemed impossible for him. He can't sit up alone. It was the middle of the night so we were, obviously, in bed. He was in my bed. I'd do my best to get him into a sitting position, as I can only imagine that throwing up while lying on your back as to be extra-gross, along with making him quite likely to aspirate the nastiness. However, it pretty much takes both hands to hold him in a sitting position. That leaves no hand to attempt to corral the offensive substance spewing from him.

Thankfully, the vomiting stopped. (Guess he's run out of ammo.) However, there was still no sleep for us. He wanted to be held. He was hot. He was cold. He was lonely if I dared close my eyes. We did doze some but never more than 30 minutes at a shot. My left arm and the right side of my neck are sore from holding him all night.

We did, at least, make it through the night. He's had a little tea this morning and, since that stayed down, he's had a cup of yogurt. (Sounds gross, I know. But that's his comfort food. Praying it stays down because I really don't want to be showered with regurgitated Trix yogurt. That stuff smells foul going down.) I've got to get his seizure meds in him and they have to stay in him. Last night's dose did not. If today's dose meets a similar fate, he's guaranteed to have a seizure and I just don't think I can deal with that today on no sleep.

Updates on us

First - 22 more days until Twilight is released on DVD. I'm looking forward to that. It's a bright spot in my life.

Beth - Quit her job and started a new one. She's now a server at a Cracker Barrel. Everyone's dream job, right? Never in a million years or for a million dollars would I want that job. This is her first week. We'll see how it goes. She'll make more money that she was getting as a hostess at the other place. However, they will also work her every minute they can. That could jeopardize her graduation. She's not much for studying anyway. Given the choice between making money and studying - she'll work a lot - LOL! I just have to keep reminding myself she's 18 and knows it all. It's hard, though.

Alli and BW are having a girl. I still don't know the due date. I guess I'm lucky(?) to know the gender.

My mom fell and broke her ankle. She's more than a bit bummed. She never wants to sit still. Now, she's got 8 weeks of sitting and healing ahead of her. It's going to be a looooong 8 weeks.

Unless something dramatic happens overnight and I miss work tomorrow, I will have worked a five-day week for the first time since mid-December. And you know what? I really prefer 4-day weeks!

Wordless Wednesday

7 years and 5 days

I got a call from Cori last week. It was the first time I'd heard from her in about a month. I actually got a few calls from her, as the battery on my cell is dying and I couldn't actually talk to her on it until I got home and put it on the charger.

We chatted a few minutes about life in general. Her adoption is coming up. (I didn't ask specifics. She just mentioned that it was approaching.) I asked if her family was still planning to move out of state after the adoption and she said yes. I asked about her bio sisters. I asked about her siblings in her current home. On and on, I just made general conversation because she wasn't saying much of anything.

After a bit more of inane conversation, she blurted out, "7 years and 5 days." I didn't have to ask what that meant because I knew. She'd first come to my home 7 years and 5 days earlier.

Man, what a 7 years and 5 days it has been with us! She has been placed here (and removed from here) 3 times. She's been in 3 other adoptive placements not counting here or her current one. I've lost count of the number in-patient hospital stays she's had. I have 6 entries for her in the contact section of my cell phone. Each is listed with her first name followed by the city of that placement as her last name. I just can't bring myself to delete any of them.

All I can do for her is pray - that this home sticks, that she's happy there, that they meet her needs. What a rough life she's had for someone so young. Sadly, I worry how much harder it will be as she becomes an adult.

Good luck, Cori. I love you!

What a day!

A first in my teaching career - One of my students (remember I teach kindergarten) was suspended today. I've never had this happen. This little guy is a significant behavior problem. His home life is erratic, at best. He's said to me on more than one occasion, "I like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday the best because I get to come to school. I have to stay home on Saturday and Sunday. I want to come to school every day."

Sadly, he crossed a big line several times today and the result is a 3-day suspension. With the weekend thrown in, he'll be home for 5 days. He cried. I cried.

Do I think the others in the class deserve to come to school without being injured by another child? Absolutely. Do I think the suspension will stop the behaviors? I doubt it. Another tough situation where there are no black and white answers.

Hang in there, little guy. I'll see you Wednesday...and I'll miss you every day until then.

LOL! What would you think is wrong?

Yesterday, I seemed to have a million errands to run on the way home. At the last stop, I got this message from Alli (who was at home and supposed to be starting the broccoli to go with the ribs I had cooked in the crock pot).

4:37 "I made a really big boo boo :-(" I didn't hear my phone and didn't get this message until she sent the next message.

4:46 "Do you want me to tell you what I did before you get home?"

I replied "Sure!"

4:47 "Ok. Plz don't be mad at me :-("

At this point, I can't imagine what in the world could have happened that she thinks would upset me so much.

You want to know what it was? She'd turned on the wrong stove eye. The one she turned on was the one my crock pot was sitting on. The results? See for yourself:

Poor crock pot!

That darn cat

It's not quite 7:30 AM on my day off and I'm awake. I didn't want to be awake. However, Beth's cat had other ideas. Beth spent the night with a friend, making her cat lonely. To lessen her loneliness, the cat joined me for the night. This means the following people/creatures were in my room for the night: Me, Elvis, my elderly flatulent dog, and Beth's annoying playful kitten. I realize that's only 4 beings but it was at least one, if not two, too many.

Elvis, the dog, and I peacefully live together most nights with no real problems (well, other than the dog's gas issues, but a strategically placed can of Clean Linen air freshener helps with that). We all know how to live together and leave the others alone. Kitty hasn't gotten that message yet. Several times during the night I awoke feeling like I had trouble breathing. Gee, I don't know why I couldn't breathe...Maybe because there was a cat ON MY FACE?? I pushed her off each time and did it a little more roughly each time. She didn't seem to get the message that I didn't like breathing through cat fur because she kept coming back. Honestly, the last time she was on top of me, I think I threw her (literally) out into the hall. That last, desperate act seemed to have given her the message that she could not sleep on my head.

I finally snuggled back in to sleep (I thought) for a looong time. That dream ended when the cat started trying to look out my window. The window covered with a shade. The window with a really narrow ledge that she can't perch on for long without falling (loudly) to the floor - bouncing off the corner of Elvis' toddler bed on the way. After hearing her scratch at the shade and then lose her balance and fall several times, I realized I was up for the day. The only thing that could make that worse was if Elvis was up for the day before 7:00. I got her down a few times but she kept trying to get back in the window. I looked for things to throw at her. Something that would sting or at least startle her, hoping she'd avoid the window to avoid being startled. I tried socks, a glove, and a lollipop Elvis brought home from his Valentine party. I did manage to hit the cat with all those items. Instead of being scared of them, she seemed to think I was tossing her things to play with. She'd hop down and investigate each item before returning to her quest to look out my window. I finally found something to accomplish my task...a box of Nerds. Turns out a small box of Nerds, carefully aimed at the backside of Beth's cat, thrown with enough force to relieve my stress from dealing with that darn cat through the wee morning hours, will indeed cause the cat to abandon her attempts to perch in my window.

You know what else that small box of Nerds, carefully aimed at the backside of Beth's cat, thrown with enough force to relieve my stress from dealing with that darn cat through the wee morning hours will do? You guessed it. It will wake Elvis. That darn cat!

I know it's a bit early

But I've dressed my blog for spring. I still want a few more snow days before winter totally leaves us but I'm getting ready for spring time.

I've had a blissful day of doing NOTHING and I've loved every minute of it. Alli, Boy Wonder, and Elvis are visiting BW's father and stepmother. They'd rather I'd have kept Elvis but I didn't offer. I needed some time off. And they, honestly, need some time on. Beth worked the lunch shift and now she's out being a high school senior on a long weekend. Spider-Pig's birthday is tomorrow so I doubt I'll see her much then either.

I have done a minimal amount of housework today. I'd moved the couch in the den Friday night so Alli and I could sit on it and face the TV while watching a movie. Before moving it back today, I vacuumed under it and dusted the wall behind it before moving it back. I was amazed at the amount of odd items I found under there. Most notable was a collection of bottle tops belonging to the cat. She loves to play with small plastic top. I'd wondered where they all went. I found them! Anyway, it's nice to have things a little neater around here. No one but me will notice but it still feels like an accomplishment.

And the best part of today?? I don't have to work tomorrow! Hooray!

Hi. Remember me?

I used to blog here. I don't know why I stopped. God knows I have plenty to blog about. I've blogged in my head a lot. Too bad you can't read my mind. Then I could just skip this step.

I'm here. I'm alive. All is well....well, as well as it can be in my life. Alli's still pregnant. Boy Wonder is employed. Beth is in school and employed. Aside from a seizure late last night, Elvis has been relatively healthy.

I just survived one of the longest work weeks of the school year. Thursday we had parent/teacher conferences after school until 7:00. Friday was our Valentine party...on Friday the 13th. We have a long weekend with the Monday holiday and that makes me very happy.

I haven't worked a five-day week since December and I kind of like that. We've either been out of school for weather or I've taken a sick day every week since the start of the new year. And, they haven't been fake sick days, either. First my aunt died. Then the girls' grandmother died. Elvis had to go to the eye specialist in the big city. Elvis had to go get casted for new leg braces. The list goes on and on. It's always something.

I'm going to blog more regularly. Really, I am.

Fun with the nephew

Interesting exchange with the little guy today. He had a box and he wanted to put Elvis into the box and mail him to Australia. Alli vetoed that idea and suggested he mail himself to Australia. He pondered that a minute before deciding that a) he wouldn't fit in the box, and b) he'd rather be mailed to Japan.

He thinks for a minute and runs down the hall towards the bathroom. I could hear him talking to himself but couldn't understand what he was saying. He then comes out of the restroom looking like this:
On his forehead? Why that's his mailing label, of course. It's even written in his version of Japanese writing. And on his hand? Well, that's his bar code for scanning while being shipped. If you look closely you can see he's drawn lines and written numbers under them. What a boy! His mother is always saying he'll use his skills to support her in her old age. I think he just might.