I have a weird pet peeve. When two cars are facing each other at a 4-way stop and one is going straight and the other is turning left, the one going straight has the right of way. This isn't just a random rule, it's actually more efficient for the flow of traffic. It drives me crazy when the left-turner cuts in front of the straight-away-er.
I know what you're thinking. What's so unusual about that? Lots of people hate bad driving. But the thing is, I get just as upset, if not more so, at the kind soul going straight who waves people in front of her. These sweet people are just trying to be nice, and all I can think is, "You just wasted 3 seconds of everyone's time! Just GO when you're supposed to!" And it's even worse when you have two kind souls waving at each other and holding up everyone behind them!
So I shared mine, what's yours?
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Random updates
Sweetie's finger--
We had Sweetie's follow up last Friday. There is no sign of infection! No need to worry about the bone! We are informally doing PT and massage every day. He wants to monitor her every so often, and maybe when she is older we'll need to work on the scar to regain her full movement. But she has most of the range of motion, just can't straighten it all the way, and it doesn't seem to hurt her. He thinks she doesn't use it because of habit, and there isn't anything wrong with it to keep her from using it. Thank you for all of the prayers on her behalf!
Papa Runner in India
Papa safely arrived in India. Other than a rough bedtime the other night, the girls are handling things okay. We'll all sleep better when he's home, though.
Team in Training
We officially start training in two weeks! I'm not much of a runner, but I am big on goals. I'm excited about doing this. We heard there may be a double jogging stroller available from a friend of a friend, so that's another answer to prayer. Still don't have our website quite ready, but I'll let you know when it's up.
We had Sweetie's follow up last Friday. There is no sign of infection! No need to worry about the bone! We are informally doing PT and massage every day. He wants to monitor her every so often, and maybe when she is older we'll need to work on the scar to regain her full movement. But she has most of the range of motion, just can't straighten it all the way, and it doesn't seem to hurt her. He thinks she doesn't use it because of habit, and there isn't anything wrong with it to keep her from using it. Thank you for all of the prayers on her behalf!
Papa Runner in India
Papa safely arrived in India. Other than a rough bedtime the other night, the girls are handling things okay. We'll all sleep better when he's home, though.
Team in Training
We officially start training in two weeks! I'm not much of a runner, but I am big on goals. I'm excited about doing this. We heard there may be a double jogging stroller available from a friend of a friend, so that's another answer to prayer. Still don't have our website quite ready, but I'll let you know when it's up.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Single Motherhood
Papa Runner left this morning for a 9 day trip to India. MUCH better than the 3 months last time, but still I'm not looking forward to a week by myself. The weekends have lots of plans, so they'll go fast, but the week will be long. Anyone up for a girl's night out, maybe Thursday? We could go out, or everyone could come to my place.
Even though Papa has a ticket to fly into Bloomington, I'm picking him up at O'Hare. Because I miss him that much? No, because the Bloomington flight is due to land just 1 hour before the Super Bowl and is very unreliable . If I pick him up, we can be sure to be home in time for the game. AND we're hosting his family this year, so there will already be people at our house waiting for us. Yay! :)
Even though Papa has a ticket to fly into Bloomington, I'm picking him up at O'Hare. Because I miss him that much? No, because the Bloomington flight is due to land just 1 hour before the Super Bowl and is very unreliable . If I pick him up, we can be sure to be home in time for the game. AND we're hosting his family this year, so there will already be people at our house waiting for us. Yay! :)
Friday, January 18, 2008
I HATE IT!!! HATEHATEHATEHATEHATE
I was doing some research into clothes shopping. I confirmed something I've long suspected. Do you know what the difference is between a size 16 Misses and a size 16 Women's? The Women's size has an extra 2 inches in the bust and hips. In other words, Women's sizes are ideal for curvy women.
I went to Victoria's Secret today and got professionally measured. I'm currently a DD cup. I think everyone would agree that DD = curvy. So Women's size styles would look great on me.
The problem? I'm only 5'2" and have a small bone structure. So even though I'm 15 pounds overweight (and believe me, it shows) I'm still only a size 10. Women's sizes don't start until at least 14, usually 16. So I need to gain 40 pounds or so to be able to fit into a flattering style! Either that or learn to make my own clothes. (Without a pattern, because they don't make size 10W patterns, either!)
There have to be stores that sell clothes for small but curvy women. I wonder where movie stars with crazy implants shop. Of course, they're movie stars so it's probably somewhere out of my price range. *grumble*
I went to Victoria's Secret today and got professionally measured. I'm currently a DD cup. I think everyone would agree that DD = curvy. So Women's size styles would look great on me.
The problem? I'm only 5'2" and have a small bone structure. So even though I'm 15 pounds overweight (and believe me, it shows) I'm still only a size 10. Women's sizes don't start until at least 14, usually 16. So I need to gain 40 pounds or so to be able to fit into a flattering style! Either that or learn to make my own clothes. (Without a pattern, because they don't make size 10W patterns, either!)
There have to be stores that sell clothes for small but curvy women. I wonder where movie stars with crazy implants shop. Of course, they're movie stars so it's probably somewhere out of my price range. *grumble*
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
13.1 Here We Come!
Papa Runner and I signed up for Team In Training last night. We're going to run a half marathon in San Diego on June 1! We'll be raising money (minimum $4000 each) for research for Leukemia and other blood cancers. We'll have a website where you can make online donations if you feel so moved, and as soon as it's up and running I'll post a link. Anyone else from the area who wants to join us, just let me know!
ETA:
I’ve been thinking up fundraiser events and wondered if any of you, or someone you know, would be interested in any of these:
Girls’ Night Out--Cover fee of, say, $20, I provide drinks/dessert
Baby Wearing Clinic--$10 class on why and how to wear your baby, with handmade slings, wraps, and mei tais available for sale
Karaoke Party
Cubs Game Viewing Party
If you would be interested in attending any of these, or if you have any other ideas, leave me a comment.
ETA:
I’ve been thinking up fundraiser events and wondered if any of you, or someone you know, would be interested in any of these:
Girls’ Night Out--Cover fee of, say, $20, I provide drinks/dessert
Baby Wearing Clinic--$10 class on why and how to wear your baby, with handmade slings, wraps, and mei tais available for sale
Karaoke Party
Cubs Game Viewing Party
If you would be interested in attending any of these, or if you have any other ideas, leave me a comment.
Monday, January 14, 2008
My Blog's Name
We were with some friends last night, and they asked about the name of my blog. "The Cover and Title Page" comes from my favorite passage of my favorite book series, the Chronicles of Narnia. In the last two pages of the last book, the Narnian world has ended and the characters have gone to Aslan's Country (Heaven.) This passage never fails to move me to tears:
...but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
So my blog is about my earthly life, the cover and title page, and I look forward to beginning the real adventure some day in Heaven.
(Quotation from The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis)
...but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
So my blog is about my earthly life, the cover and title page, and I look forward to beginning the real adventure some day in Heaven.
(Quotation from The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Disney Princesses
Smartie is very into Disney Princesses right now. The only video she's actually seen is Cinderella, the least violent/scary one, at grandma's house. She has princess CDs, books, dresses, dolls, and just goes on and on about her imaginary princess friends. I even caught her putting one of the dresses on Sweetie and calling her Aurora. In fact, she insisted that everyone else call her Aurora, too, and Smartie only answers to Cinderella half the time.
I'm not sure how happy I am about this. Yes, all girls want to be princesses, it's a very normal stage. But Disney's version of LOVE is not one I want my girls growing up thinking is the ideal. Think about it--Cinderella never had an actual conversation with her Prince, they just danced. He didn't even know her name, and yet they get married and live Happily Ever Aftertm. Same with Aurora and Phillip. Snow White's Prince shows up one day, finds her dead/sleeping, and just starts macking on her, how creepy!!! Belle's the only one who gets to know her Prince's character before committing her heart (yay Belle!) Am I making too big a deal out of this? Is it harmless fun? And are there any Princess stories (not Disney) that have a more healthy picture of love? Maybe I should just write my own....
I'm not sure how happy I am about this. Yes, all girls want to be princesses, it's a very normal stage. But Disney's version of LOVE is not one I want my girls growing up thinking is the ideal. Think about it--Cinderella never had an actual conversation with her Prince, they just danced. He didn't even know her name, and yet they get married and live Happily Ever Aftertm. Same with Aurora and Phillip. Snow White's Prince shows up one day, finds her dead/sleeping, and just starts macking on her, how creepy!!! Belle's the only one who gets to know her Prince's character before committing her heart (yay Belle!) Am I making too big a deal out of this? Is it harmless fun? And are there any Princess stories (not Disney) that have a more healthy picture of love? Maybe I should just write my own....
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
It's nice they can entertain each other
My girls had so much fun today. Sweetie is 13 months and really close to walking, and she's finally able to play with Smartie in a way they both enjoy. They spent nearly an hour playing "picnic," with a quilt on the floor and all the play food in the house. They fed each other and their dolls, and I got a nice nap in! I like this new game a whole lot better than their other favorite--"Throw toys an inch from Sweetie's head and laugh."
Saturday, January 5, 2008
And Now for Something Completely Different...
We had a consultation with a second doctor yesterday. Dr. A couldn't fit us in, so we saw his hand specialist partner, Dr. Mahoney. Dr. M's opinion is completely different from Dr. D's.
He showed us the MRI, and pointed out a very small white spot which is causing the concern. It's definitely fluid of some kind, but it may not be an infection. It could just be left over from the earlier infection. Dr. M's opinion is that, if it were a bacterial infection that's been festering since September, it should look a whole lot worse than it does. He took his own set of X-rays, and would like see her again in 3 weeks to see if there is any change that would show an active infection.
Dr. M really hesitates to operate. He says it would be a whole lot of trauma inflicted on a very small area and he'd like to avoid that if he can. Obviously, if it does turn out to be an infection we'll have to go ahead with the surgery. But if it's just fluid, he recommends massage and physical therapy. She's a little young to learn exercises, so he said we should just encourage her to use it as much as possible. Later on, if the scar is still very prominent and limiting movement, we can think about having it removed when she's a bit older and bigger.
So we're waiting again. I'm glad we didn't jump straight into the surgery and got this other opinion. I just hope we're doing the right thing.
He showed us the MRI, and pointed out a very small white spot which is causing the concern. It's definitely fluid of some kind, but it may not be an infection. It could just be left over from the earlier infection. Dr. M's opinion is that, if it were a bacterial infection that's been festering since September, it should look a whole lot worse than it does. He took his own set of X-rays, and would like see her again in 3 weeks to see if there is any change that would show an active infection.
Dr. M really hesitates to operate. He says it would be a whole lot of trauma inflicted on a very small area and he'd like to avoid that if he can. Obviously, if it does turn out to be an infection we'll have to go ahead with the surgery. But if it's just fluid, he recommends massage and physical therapy. She's a little young to learn exercises, so he said we should just encourage her to use it as much as possible. Later on, if the scar is still very prominent and limiting movement, we can think about having it removed when she's a bit older and bigger.
So we're waiting again. I'm glad we didn't jump straight into the surgery and got this other opinion. I just hope we're doing the right thing.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Consultation
I wasn't planning to update until we got the call from the new surgeon, but since it's not likely to come today I'll go ahead and let you know how our appointment went yesterday.
We met with Dr. Dodgin, our current surgeon, and he explained that the infection is just a small spot. He found an infectious disease specialist, Dr. Gray (in Peoria) who will treat her, but he wants a culture first to make sure he customizes the antibiotics as much as possible. So the surgery must come first.
Dr. D said he's willing to do the surgery at St. Joe's, or he'll refer us to Dr. Akeson (also in Peoria) who, while not formally trained in pediatric surgery, handles most of the pediatric cases in the area and has lots of experience. The advantage of Dr. D is that we'd be in town for the surgery and all follow up care, but he doesn't have a lot of experience working on children. With Dr. A we'd have to go to Peoria, but he has more experience and we'd have both doctors in one place conferring in person. Of course, it all depends on if Dr. A can get us in. I've heard he's very busy.
Dr. D did a great job of explaining the surgery. (If you're squeamish, you should skip to the next paragraph.) Basically, they'll clean out the scar tissue in the skin/muscle, then split the bone open and clean out everything that's inside. As long as the shell is there, a baby will regrow the interior with no problem. They'll insert a pin for about 3 weeks to make sure it heals straight. It may be stiff for awhile, but with as young as she is, she should eventually regain full movement. They'll definitely keep her overnight, possibly two if Dr. G wants to do a round of IV antibiotics.
Dr. D said the situation is not an emergency, but it is urgent. He'd like to see it done in the next two weeks. We're hoping we can get in to see Dr. A by the end of the week or early next week, then have the surgery by the end of next week. Then she'll be on antibiotics likely for several months. I'm so ready to have this done and behind us. Let's hope Dr. A can get us in!
We met with Dr. Dodgin, our current surgeon, and he explained that the infection is just a small spot. He found an infectious disease specialist, Dr. Gray (in Peoria) who will treat her, but he wants a culture first to make sure he customizes the antibiotics as much as possible. So the surgery must come first.
Dr. D said he's willing to do the surgery at St. Joe's, or he'll refer us to Dr. Akeson (also in Peoria) who, while not formally trained in pediatric surgery, handles most of the pediatric cases in the area and has lots of experience. The advantage of Dr. D is that we'd be in town for the surgery and all follow up care, but he doesn't have a lot of experience working on children. With Dr. A we'd have to go to Peoria, but he has more experience and we'd have both doctors in one place conferring in person. Of course, it all depends on if Dr. A can get us in. I've heard he's very busy.
Dr. D did a great job of explaining the surgery. (If you're squeamish, you should skip to the next paragraph.) Basically, they'll clean out the scar tissue in the skin/muscle, then split the bone open and clean out everything that's inside. As long as the shell is there, a baby will regrow the interior with no problem. They'll insert a pin for about 3 weeks to make sure it heals straight. It may be stiff for awhile, but with as young as she is, she should eventually regain full movement. They'll definitely keep her overnight, possibly two if Dr. G wants to do a round of IV antibiotics.
Dr. D said the situation is not an emergency, but it is urgent. He'd like to see it done in the next two weeks. We're hoping we can get in to see Dr. A by the end of the week or early next week, then have the surgery by the end of next week. Then she'll be on antibiotics likely for several months. I'm so ready to have this done and behind us. Let's hope Dr. A can get us in!
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