By Julie

Today I got a call from Alex's school. He had an allergic reaction to freshly mowed grass and was waiting in the nurse's office. When I picked him up, his eyes were still puffy, poor thing. I asked how I would go about keeping a bottle of Children's Benadryl at school in case this happens again, and they gave me a form for his doctor to sign.

Alex inherited allergies from both of us. We react to similar things but to varying degrees. I'm much more allergic to grass than Kevin is, and he is much more allergic to cats than I am. The list goes on. This season has been particularly bad for me. I've been alternating between Sudafed and Benadryl, i.e. whenever the Sudafed starts making my nose bleed, I switch to Benadryl, and whenever the Benadryl makes me too sleepy, I switch back to Sudafed.

In related news, we've been trying to hire a gardener for a year now. The latest attempt occurred this past weekend. The fellow had left an ad on our doorstep, but when I called and asked him to come give us a quote, he didn't show. I guess business has been too good.

Labels: allergies, gardening, kids, meds

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By Julie

Yesterday I finally opened The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl and ended up inhaling it in one sitting. It was a fun read. The reason I was home wasn't so fun though. I woke up feeling awful, tried to drive to work, almost passed out on the way there, and barely got myself home before blacking out on the sofa. I didn't wake up until 2pm!!!

3 days of sleeplessness + horrid back pain + killer allergies + taking pills on an empty stomach + pregnancy in the 3rd trimester = wanting to barf and black out

I was already planning on taking tomorrow off, but I guess my body couldn't wait 2 days. Today I'm completely back to normal though, knock on wood.

Labels: allergies, books, meds, pregnancy

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By Julie

This is how my new year is going so far. Friday after work I staggered home and collapsed on the couch. I didn't move again until bedtime, when I took massive doses of Sudafed, Robitussin DM, and Tylenol, then zonked out. I don't remember eating anything for dinner.

Saturday morning I woke up and still had no appetite. I forced myself to eat a piece of toast with peanut butter then lay on the couch until it was time to collect ourselves and go over to my parents' house for Chinese New Year dinner.



We took the combination hot pot/grill that my parents had given us for Christmas over to their house so we could use the grill feature alongside their hot pot. Unfortunately I couldn't eat anything, but I did drink a bowl of soup.

This morning I had another piece of toast with peanut butter. After dropping off the kids at my parents' house, we headed downtown for a matinee showing of Tristan und Isolde, Wagner's 5-hour operatic masterpiece. The tickets were part of our Valentine's Day gift to each other. It was the first time either of us had seen an opera live, and we both loved it. The music was complex and demanding, and the set, designed by David Hockney, was gorgeous. Unfortunately we had to leave before the final act because I was still feeling ill.

Since Thursday I've been waking up every night around 2 or 3 am when the drugs wear off, at which time I have to take another dose of everything or not be able to fall back asleep. I doubt it will be different tonight. Sigh. I just hope this time my cold doesn't turn into a sinus infection and also that Alex, as the lone healthy member of the family, doesn't catch it.

Needless to say I didn't have a chance to go buy 年糕 (nian gao / new year cake) from 99 Ranch this weekend. But I swear I WILL go sometime this week before they stop selling it, even if I'm still sick, just because I am that obsessive dedicated to celebrating my Chinese heritage.

Labels: art, chinese, food, meds

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By Julie

This morning I gave the kids each a 红包 (red envelope) after instructing them to say 恭喜發财 (gong xi fa cai / wishing you prosperity) and 新年快樂 (xin nian kuai le / happy new year). At daycare Ana's teacher gave her a 红包 and me another one to pass on to Alex. For dessert tonight I got us a few goodies from the Chinese bakery.

All day today my throat hurt and I kept coughing up loogies. This is probably not the best way to welcome the new year, but it couldn't be helped. First Kevin got sick. Then Ana caught it. After a couple of nights of her crawling into our bed and disrupting my sleep, I came down with it as well. Sigh.

At least it happened right at the same time as my monthly baby checkup. Today I was able to confirm with my doctor that I could take all the good stuff: Sudafed, Robitussin DM, Tylenol, etc. But I also got a stern lecture for asking whether I could skip the 3-hour glucose tolerance test. (Because I tested negative the last two pregnancies!!!) Oh well. It's not my fault the paperwork they sent me via USPS 2 weeks ago never arrived though. I picked up a copy today and made the appointment for next week.

Hopefully this weekend my cold will get better and we'll have time to go to 99 Ranch for some 年糕 (nian gao / new year cake).

Labels: chinese, food, meds, pregnancy

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By Kevin

I just found this interesting blog post by Swedish archaeologist and blogger, Dr Martin Rundkvist who thinks that our "entire bipartisan system maps onto the conservative half of European politics." Specific mention is made of the fact that all of the US candidates are pro death-penalty, none are strict gun control advocates, and all make frequent mention of their religious views in public. All of which would apparently be extremist views in Sweden.

In search of a more international view of the political spectrum I found The Political Compass. Apparently this is quite a popular test (even has a Facebook app!) but it was my first time coming across it. Six short pages of questions map your views onto separate economic and social axis. The four corresponding quadrants are liberal-left (Ghandi), liberal-right (Milton Friedman), authoritarian-left (Robert Mugabe), and authoritarian-right (Margaret Thatcher). Having gone through the survey and accompanying information I would tend to agree with Dr Rundkvist's assertion about our presidential hopefuls. Other than Ron Paul, who I would throw in the liberal-right quadrant, all of our candidates would seem to reside in the authoritarian-right.

High-minded political theory discussion aside, however, the real reason I loved his blog entry was this quote:

The Republican presidential candidates are really, really scary people in my view. So all of us in the world at large who live under the shadow of US political hegemony are holding our breaths, hoping that Clinton or Obama will make it into office. They're pretty bad, but the alternative would be unspeakably dreadful.

Fabulous.

On a slight tangent, does anybody know if the people working tables in the cosmetics/vitamins section at Costco are on commission? The lady handing out Ocean Mist Saline coupons got into a fight with me tonight over whether I had a cold or not!

authoritarian-right: mumble mumble mumble OCEAN MIST! mumble mumble.
me: No thanks.
authoritarian-right: I saw your red nose. It's allergies!
me: Actually I have a cold.
authoritarian-right: It's NOT a cold! It's ALLERGIES!
me: Uh... believe me, it's a cold.
authoritarian-right: No, it's allergies. mumble mumble (fades into the background noise)

Labels: meds, politics, shopping

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By Julie

On top of my usual vitamins, I'm taking antibiotics for the sinus thing, acidophilus to offset the side effects of the antibiotic thing, and Tums and enzymes to deal with the indigestion resulting from the antibiotic thing colliding with the pregnancy thing. But I'm feeling positively grand compared to last week.

Not bothering to step on the scale has also kept my spirits up. I can already tell the baby weight is not going to come off easily this time. It's karmic, really. First time I got back to pre-baby weight in a week. (A week!!!) Second time it took 6 weeks. This time I'll be lucky to get my body back within the year.



I've been meaning to share more of Alex's artwork. He drew the one on the left recently. It really puts me in the spirit of the holidays. The one on the right he drew several months ago, back in 1st grade. Yes, that's the Statue of Liberty. Click to enlarge and read the fabulous story.



Over the weekend Kevin and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary by taking in some good old fashioned big band music, "The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands" at the Wilshire Theater in Beverly Hills. It was a fun show. Kevin and I both thought the Dean Martin impersonator was the most entertaining of the three. The theater was beautiful too. The only thing missing was a dance floor.



We also attended a birthday party. If it's possible I think Kevin had more fun than the kids!

To our dear friends D and J: we've got our fingers crossed for you!

Labels: kids, meds, music, pregnancy

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By Julie

You know that moment in a sci-fi/fantasy movie when the hero/ine grabs their head, crashes to their knees, and experiences a cgi-induced vision that implies they are either 1) psychic, 2) being controlled by unseen forces, or 3) more powerful than they could ever imagine? I had one of those visions on Thursday, except all it told me was that I was 4) suffering from a bad sinus infection. I immediately popped an extra-strength Tylenol, then picked up the phone and scheduled a doctor's appointment for early this morning.

I took Ana along to my appointment because I didn't have time to drop her off at daycare beforehand. In the middle of my appointment, while I was discussing with the PA which antibiotic would best take care of my little problem, Ana calmly informed me that she needed to go to the bathroom. If you know kids, you know that meant I had about 10 seconds to get her on a toilet or else suffer the consequences. As I picked Ana up and ran for the nearest bathroom, the PA called after me and said she would send a prescription for my antibiotic of choice to my pharmacy. I yelled thanks back over my shoulder.

These days Ana's favorite toy is a magnifying glass. She likes to use it to look up my nose. I'm just glad she doesn't use it to torture ants.

Tonight, while Kevin and I discussed our evil plans to take over the world, aka the finances, I told him that on Monday, as I got on the plane for my meeting in San Jose, I suddenly remembered that we still hadn't signed me up for life insurance.

Where's the form? I asked, you were supposed to help me get that done.

It's somewhere around here, he motioned vaguely. Then he told the kids to get ready for their bedtime story.

Months and months of forced conversations, changes in topic, and now missing forms. It was just as hard when we signed him up for life insurance. Neither of us wants to think about the possibility, but I'm not going to be able to avoid plane rides for the rest of my life.

Labels: kids, meds, parenting, pregnancy, toys

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By Julie

I'm still sick, hence the grumpiness. I can't believe I'm still sick. Why the heck am I still sick???



Saturday I took Kevin to see Wicked. It was good. So good, in fact, that I felt compelled to buy my very first Broadway musical shirt, a green thermal with the words, "Green for Good" emblazoned across my ample pregnant chest. I felt slightly less grumpy.

We also celebrated Kevin's birthday with my family. My mom prepared a delicious hot pot, which didn't quite clear my sinuses. Over dinner, I grumped that my colds often turned into sinus infections, and my sis the doctor advised me to get a sinus cleansing kit. Apparently everybody else in the universe has already been told about this product by their doctors, because when we stopped at the drugstore on the way home, that section of the store was cleaned out.



Sunday Ana helped me baked birthday cookies for Kevin. Afterwards I collapsed on the couch from exhaustion, but I was slightly less grumpy.

Monday morning, after a bad night's sleep, I had to wake up at an ungodly hour to drive myself to the airport for a meeting in San Jose. During the flights there and back my ears hurt even more than usual from being sick. Also, it was REALLY COLD in San Jose. I had the foresight to wear a knit cap, gloves, and ski jacket, but my jeans didn't provide much protection. I was extra grumpy.



Tuesday I took the day off to recover from Monday, and I kept Ana home from daycare to cheer myself up. My grumpiness petered off into a mostly manageable lethargy.

Today I went back to work. I answered a bunch of emails, attended some meetings, and blew my nose a LOT. I'm grumpy again.

Now I'm going to go cleanse my sinuses. Have you ever cleansed your sinuses? It's not an attractive procedure. So unattractive, in fact, that I feel more sorry for the model in the instruction booklet that came with my sinus cleansing kit than I do for myself, because modeling the right way to cleanse one's sinuses is right up there with modeling support hose and nursing bras.

Labels: food, kids, meds, music, shopping

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By Julie

Around 11:50 p.m. last night I realized I still hadn't posted the entry for the day, but I was so tired I didn't want to get out of bed, and so breaks my Nablopomo blogging streak. Ah well, I'll be a good sport and try to finish out the month anyway.

Yesterday morning Kevin rented a jackhammer. It's his second time renting this piece of equipment; the first time was over a year ago. The rentals were necessitated by several hundred square feet of really hideous cream and brown tile installed by the previous owner of our house. They didn't use ordinary thinset like they should have. Instead they had used some crazy substance called wet set mortar, which is why the tiles refused to come off with ordinary hammering and chiseling.

The first jackhammer rental was made after a lot of web research and second guessing. Kevin brought the thing home, put on a pair of eye goggles (after I reminded him to), crossed his fingers, and turned the thing on. It worked brilliantly -- one by one the tiles broke into pieces -- but man it was hard work. By day's end, all the tile in the kitchen and dining room was gone, but Kevin's shoulders and back were KILLING him.

Part two of tile removal took place yesterday, thanks to a LOT of help from Kevin's brother. Now all the tile in the entry and hallway is gone. There's a few more demolition projects in our future, but this one was by far the most backbreaking. I'm really thankful that Brian was willing to help us out. I feel like this huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders.

Now that the bathroom construction, bedroom improvements, and noisy tile removal are over, we're able to bring Daisy back home. She'd been living with my parents since the latter part of summer. Man, I'd forgotten how much stuff it takes to care for a dog. We filled up the entire back of the van with her dog crate, the wheeled 30 gallon plastic bin containing her dry food, and four big shopping bags filled with chew toys, blankets, and other accessories.

The drive home was noisy. She wouldn't stop whining, but at least she didn't freak out like she usually does. The secret? Half a dose of Benadryl. Once we got home she seemed relaxed. She had caught fleas from the mangy cats that my parents' crazy neighbors won't stop harboring, but Kevin's found a good flea treatment and got most if not all out of her hair. In a few days I'll take her to the vet to bring her shots up to date.

Labels: home improvement, meds, nablopomo, pets

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By Julie

When I tried to get a flu shot at my local pharmacy last month, I got turned away after disclosing that I was pregnant. "You need to get the preservative-free version," the nurse said. It was tougher than I thought to track down someone offering the vaccine without thimerosal though. I finally heard about a flu shot clinic just for pregnant women, and I went down and got the shot yesterday. My arm has been sore ever since, but at least now I'm protected.

This was the best advice I could offer for a friend who feels taken for granted: do what you can to preserve your dignity, stop giving pieces of yourself away, and save them for people who matter. I take tons of my own medicine and it works for me, but I don't know if it will work for her. Every person is different.

Labels: meds, nablopomo, pregnancy

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