Talked to Halley tonight who has landed safely in our fair and FREEZING city. Hoping to get together tomorrow. Wish us luck--still nursing Jenna through this nasty bug. She's in that phase of not feeling as bad as she was but not feeling well enough to do anything, which to a kid equals boredom. A fate worse than sickness. For a mom too.
Netflix better hurry up with the next delivery. Had to make an emergency trip to Blockbusters to pick up Honey I Blew Up the Baby and Freaky Friday. Hey, whatever gets you through the night.
Everyone's sick down here. We had our first pediatric flu death reported last week. 30 percent of the students at Jenna's school were absent Monday. I didn't ask if things had improved or worsened by the end of the week. Thursday she didn't make it the whole day--I picked her up at the nurse's office sitting with a trash can in front of her ready to... well... you get the picture.
fa la la la la... la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaa.
December 20, 2003
December 19, 2003
Dr. Mom
Sorry. I haven't been writing much because I've been doctoring the little one.
Today's the last day of school for Jenna until after the new year. I hope she can go for a while because they have a little book exchange party.
Eeeks! Better begin a plan for fun once she's feeling better. Must include sun and swimming--just not sure where.
So what went on while I was away? I hear they caught Osama Bin Laden or something. Wow! Finally. The mastermind behind 9/11 can be brought to justice. What a moment for the U.S. and its leaders!
oh. come again? Sadam? They caught Sadam?
Yes. Well. That's nice.
Today's the last day of school for Jenna until after the new year. I hope she can go for a while because they have a little book exchange party.
Eeeks! Better begin a plan for fun once she's feeling better. Must include sun and swimming--just not sure where.
So what went on while I was away? I hear they caught Osama Bin Laden or something. Wow! Finally. The mastermind behind 9/11 can be brought to justice. What a moment for the U.S. and its leaders!
oh. come again? Sadam? They caught Sadam?
Yes. Well. That's nice.
December 17, 2003
MRSA--don't ask for it by name
Dr. Sessum says that THIS, in a memo released today on the CDC site, is what's REALLy going on with this year's flu that is killing too many young people. It's the resistant staph that's the dangerous piece of the puzzle, not the flu itself.
CDC Says:
Staphylococcus aureus, often referred to simply as "staph," are bacteria healthy people can carry on the skin or in the nose. Staph bacteria commonly cause skin infections. Most of these infections are minor, appearing as pimples and boils, and are treated without antibiotics.
In addition to skin infections, staph bacteria can cause infections in the blood, in the bones and in the lungs (pneumonia). Most serious staph bacteria infections are treated with an antibiotic related to penicillin. However, over the past 50 years, some staph bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, including the commonly used penicillin-related antibiotics. These resistant bacteria are called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , or MRSA.
Persons infected with influenza are sometimes at higher risk for developing secondary infections, such as pneumonia. During the current U.S. influenza season, several cases of community-acquired MRSA infections, including pneumonias, have occurred in association with influenza infection. This has not been reported previously. [[Bold emphasis mine.]]
Call it a result of the over prescription of antibiotics, call it bioterrorism, call it the End Times. Whatever you call it, watch your kids closely if they get the flu. Staph is nasty and works fast. The best place to be is with IV antibiotics in your arm. I've seen it in action with Jenna when antibiotic-resistant Staph sent her to the hospital after the now-famous cat bite incident.
Stay well ya'll.
Oh, and I'm on a kick now. No eating out til spring. Specially here in atlanta where no one in the kitchens wears gloves.
CDC Says:
Staphylococcus aureus, often referred to simply as "staph," are bacteria healthy people can carry on the skin or in the nose. Staph bacteria commonly cause skin infections. Most of these infections are minor, appearing as pimples and boils, and are treated without antibiotics.
In addition to skin infections, staph bacteria can cause infections in the blood, in the bones and in the lungs (pneumonia). Most serious staph bacteria infections are treated with an antibiotic related to penicillin. However, over the past 50 years, some staph bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, including the commonly used penicillin-related antibiotics. These resistant bacteria are called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus , or MRSA.
Persons infected with influenza are sometimes at higher risk for developing secondary infections, such as pneumonia. During the current U.S. influenza season, several cases of community-acquired MRSA infections, including pneumonias, have occurred in association with influenza infection. This has not been reported previously. [[Bold emphasis mine.]]
Call it a result of the over prescription of antibiotics, call it bioterrorism, call it the End Times. Whatever you call it, watch your kids closely if they get the flu. Staph is nasty and works fast. The best place to be is with IV antibiotics in your arm. I've seen it in action with Jenna when antibiotic-resistant Staph sent her to the hospital after the now-famous cat bite incident.
Stay well ya'll.
Oh, and I'm on a kick now. No eating out til spring. Specially here in atlanta where no one in the kitchens wears gloves.
trying without antibiotics
let this be a lesson to you. Do not EVER not ever enjoy yourself. Do not go for a facial if you have a kid, because you will pay for it. That's where I've been the last couple of days. Paying for it with a sick kid. Ugh. ARGH!
Direct correlation: None
Bad Karma: 25%
Guilt for good time by self: 75%
Anyway, we're trying to get her through this illness without the usual viral-to-bacterial-to-strep=antibiotics treadmill we've been on, which means using any and every weapon against sinus congestion. I've been vapor bathing, I've been vapor cupping, I've been vapor patching, I've been nebulizing, triaminic-ing, and every other ing you can imagine outside of sucking the pleghm from her head with my mouth. Not that it hasn't occurred to me. It has. Geez. I'm losing my mind.
Anyway, she seems to be turning the corner with an RX today for some prescription sinus medicine that's actually working.
Please. All I want is one full night's sleep. Then I'll be ready for whateva.
And I'm sure whateva's right around the corner.
Direct correlation: None
Bad Karma: 25%
Guilt for good time by self: 75%
Anyway, we're trying to get her through this illness without the usual viral-to-bacterial-to-strep=antibiotics treadmill we've been on, which means using any and every weapon against sinus congestion. I've been vapor bathing, I've been vapor cupping, I've been vapor patching, I've been nebulizing, triaminic-ing, and every other ing you can imagine outside of sucking the pleghm from her head with my mouth. Not that it hasn't occurred to me. It has. Geez. I'm losing my mind.
Anyway, she seems to be turning the corner with an RX today for some prescription sinus medicine that's actually working.
Please. All I want is one full night's sleep. Then I'll be ready for whateva.
And I'm sure whateva's right around the corner.
December 14, 2003
Girl Stuff
Last night I had a babysitter come (what an invention!!!!) and I went to get a facial. No rude comments, please. I went to Ulta and got a classic mini. I knew nothing about these things except that my friend went last week and said afterward her skin felt as soft as her three-year-old son's.
I said, HEY! I like that. And they had a special. So I went.
What a treat. They spray your face with warm steam and put all kinds of lotions and potions on your face and neck, complete with what felt like cucumbers on my eyes--I couldn't tell because they were closed--and a hot towel wrap. Just like you see in the movies! The massage part was the best. I never realized how tired my face had started looking until afterward.
Anyhow, the classic mini is on special for $35 right now. And well worth it to have your face feel like a baby's butt.
I said, HEY! I like that. And they had a special. So I went.
What a treat. They spray your face with warm steam and put all kinds of lotions and potions on your face and neck, complete with what felt like cucumbers on my eyes--I couldn't tell because they were closed--and a hot towel wrap. Just like you see in the movies! The massage part was the best. I never realized how tired my face had started looking until afterward.
Anyhow, the classic mini is on special for $35 right now. And well worth it to have your face feel like a baby's butt.
December 11, 2003
Halushki!
I swear I thought my Czech grandmother made this recipe up until I searched it up on google just now and found proof that it's a Polish/Slovak standard.
We make it a little different. We cut a head or two of cabbage up into thin strips, then put a MESS (that's like almost a stick) of butter in a pan, and sautee the cabbage until it starts to brown and carmelize. This takes a while, and it's an art to get the gas just right so the cabbage gets soft before browning.
While the cabbage is cooking, we boil noodles (shells preferred, so the little soft pieces of cabbage can stick all inside of the shells). We skip the onion. We use lots of salt. When the noodles and cabbage are done, we mix them together and add more salt (and butter if needed, and when is it not?).
Calories: 339,004,005
Sodium: 449,440,000
Taste: Priceless
We make it a little different. We cut a head or two of cabbage up into thin strips, then put a MESS (that's like almost a stick) of butter in a pan, and sautee the cabbage until it starts to brown and carmelize. This takes a while, and it's an art to get the gas just right so the cabbage gets soft before browning.
While the cabbage is cooking, we boil noodles (shells preferred, so the little soft pieces of cabbage can stick all inside of the shells). We skip the onion. We use lots of salt. When the noodles and cabbage are done, we mix them together and add more salt (and butter if needed, and when is it not?).
Calories: 339,004,005
Sodium: 449,440,000
Taste: Priceless
From the land of scratching backs...
No surprise here. Bush&Cheney will make it all sound okay, and even if they don't, it won't matter because Bush fanatics, like Limbaugh fanatics, could have proof positive shoved up inside their noses, all the way to their sinuses, and they wouldn't buy it. The if-then-else programming is so deeply ingrained that their brains switch to autopilot when threatened with the truth.
see why i stay out of this political crap? it makes my head explode.
see why i stay out of this political crap? it makes my head explode.
Alternative Medicine
If they run out of the batch of flu vaccine they're buying and importing from Europe, I think I'll take this version of the flu shot instead. I'm not sure it keeps you well, but I don't think you much care about having the flu either.
Holy PR, Batman
Check this site out for a slew of good PR links. Must spend some time digging into these.
I SO wish I had stock in Zicam.
Zicam works. And I think it's essential backup with killer viruses sweeping across the nation. I wish I had stock in this stuff. How do I get some? I'm a stock idiot. I have no idea.
Zicam works. I've said that since I first used it.
Get some.
Zicam works. I've said that since I first used it.
Get some.
I dunno. It's not the David I thought.
Was reading Dr. David's JOHO a few minutes ago, which I always search up via google by typing in "JOHO," because I always type joho.com (wrongly) and so google is how I get to david.
Anyway, I mistakenly (I guess) clicked on google images for JOHO.
I don't know. There are a bunch of men depicted in images entitled joho.gif, and yet, none of them look like the david weinberger I saw at Publix a month or so ago. Unless he looks very different in swim trunks.
Hmmm. I'm ready for a blog version of What's My Line to find out who the real Sir JOHO is.
Anyway, I mistakenly (I guess) clicked on google images for JOHO.
I don't know. There are a bunch of men depicted in images entitled joho.gif, and yet, none of them look like the david weinberger I saw at Publix a month or so ago. Unless he looks very different in swim trunks.
Hmmm. I'm ready for a blog version of What's My Line to find out who the real Sir JOHO is.
Slippers and Parkas
For the first time since we moved to the south, I got bedroom slippers this winter. I've never been a slipper wearer or a robe wearer, and I don't know if it's that I'm older now or just plain Southern, but I can't take this cold. Today I found myself nostalgic for a parka, you know the kind with a hood and the fuzzy fake fur around your face? Yes. Mmmmmm. Warm.
The heating bill's gonna be crazy next month. 75 degrees and counting.
The heating bill's gonna be crazy next month. 75 degrees and counting.
Remember how they owed me money?
Well, they still due [sic]. Two invoices past 60 days, three past 30. Things are getting tight. Again.
Ho Ho Ho,
might as well
become a
Ho.
Ho Ho Ho,
might as well
become a
Ho.
empty houses are creepy in the winter
Three empty houses on our street. Two forclosures, one unassed. And I hear the economy's getting better.
Yah, okay.
Yah, okay.
School Germinitis
PTA meeting tonight, which meant 200 or so parents and at least as many kids running crazy through the school, and what is that, 2,000 kid fingers touching, rubbing, grabing, flushing? Oh geez. Time to go disinfect mother and daughter. I already have a headache.
What do you want me to tell him?
So, I'm meeting with this really neat potential client tomorrow who wants to know more about blogging, maybe jump into it. What do you want me to tell him--i.e. what's your one piece of advice to heads of business looking to blog?
I say:
1) Don't do it like this guy.
2) Don't blog from your business card title--blog from your gut and interests and conversation will follow.
3) Be prepared to get pissed off at the medium about every 7-10 days.
4) Take care with your blogroll.
5) Visit here often for cool shit you can use.
Those are the top five things off the top of my head. And you?
I say:
1) Don't do it like this guy.
2) Don't blog from your business card title--blog from your gut and interests and conversation will follow.
3) Be prepared to get pissed off at the medium about every 7-10 days.
4) Take care with your blogroll.
5) Visit here often for cool shit you can use.
Those are the top five things off the top of my head. And you?
who dat girl?
Halley, Is that you behind Dean? Hey, I know you were up there rubbing elbows, but I didn't expect to see your black teddy make the national news.
;-)
December 10, 2003
luxurious interuptus
This evening Jenna had a baby sitter at our house for the first time ever. Yes, that's right. I had the evening to go to therapy and not worry about where she'd be or if my sister would be feeling up to watching her (she just had surgery, so her recovery will take some time) or if my friend who swaps watching the kids with me was over the flu yet.
I was so excited after group to have the luxury of taking an hour just for me. Not rushing home. I was going to go to a store or two, maybe stop at the mall, something. But the worried mother in me wouldn't let it happen. I called home and continued to get the message that someone was on the phone.
So of course, I'm thinking, "WHY is this baby sitter on the phone--she should be watching my kid!" And I call every five minutes all the way home, forgetting about shopping, nagging at myself about the many failures of human beings, only to walk in the front door and find them sitting blissfully playing with stickers in the living room when I got home.
Apparently, Jenna called my cellphone with the cordless phone, which ran out of batteries while she was dialing, which made the "on the phone" message come on since the receiver was never really hung up.
All of this is to say, I raced home for no reason.
I'll chalk this up as a practice run I guess.
Maybe next time... Maybe next time...
I was so excited after group to have the luxury of taking an hour just for me. Not rushing home. I was going to go to a store or two, maybe stop at the mall, something. But the worried mother in me wouldn't let it happen. I called home and continued to get the message that someone was on the phone.
So of course, I'm thinking, "WHY is this baby sitter on the phone--she should be watching my kid!" And I call every five minutes all the way home, forgetting about shopping, nagging at myself about the many failures of human beings, only to walk in the front door and find them sitting blissfully playing with stickers in the living room when I got home.
Apparently, Jenna called my cellphone with the cordless phone, which ran out of batteries while she was dialing, which made the "on the phone" message come on since the receiver was never really hung up.
All of this is to say, I raced home for no reason.
I'll chalk this up as a practice run I guess.
Maybe next time... Maybe next time...
Sue Whitey
Were Principal McCracker and the local police wrong?
You bet they were. I imagine this conversation taking place between the Principal and the chief of police the week before the raid:
"Hi. McCracker here. You ready?"
"Yep, we're ready to teach those kind a lesson. If they think they're bringing drugs, rap and jungle love into our schools, we've got a biiig surprise for them. Hey, you got those first floor utility closets cleaned out? I want to hide a few men in there--jump out, pull our guns, and scare the pants off their black asses."
"Yes Chief, the school's ready. Now, all the busses from the ghetto get here at 6:45. So get here early. The good kids don't get here until after 7. Now, I don't want a hair harmed on a single blonde head in this place--you understand that, right?"
"Of course! We all know what the dope dealers look like. As long as it's light enough out, we'll be able to see them--A HA HA HA HA--get it McCracker?"
"Good one. Heh. Yah, well, if you pull your guns, you'll be able to see the whites of their eyes get REAL big! HA! Bring some of your drug sniffing dogs with you--okay? I mean, I know you won't find any drugs, but you know how they h-a-t-e dogs, eh? HA HA HA!"
"You got it. Okay. We'll be kicking some young black ass. It'll be a proud day. A proud day."
If a cop pulled a gun on my kid at school because of some lamebrained principal's inability to run the place, you better believe I'd sue. Sue, sue, sue. Either that or kick some serious behind. I'd show that McCracker black. Yah.... Black and blue.
You bet they were. I imagine this conversation taking place between the Principal and the chief of police the week before the raid:
"Hi. McCracker here. You ready?"
"Yep, we're ready to teach those kind a lesson. If they think they're bringing drugs, rap and jungle love into our schools, we've got a biiig surprise for them. Hey, you got those first floor utility closets cleaned out? I want to hide a few men in there--jump out, pull our guns, and scare the pants off their black asses."
"Yes Chief, the school's ready. Now, all the busses from the ghetto get here at 6:45. So get here early. The good kids don't get here until after 7. Now, I don't want a hair harmed on a single blonde head in this place--you understand that, right?"
"Of course! We all know what the dope dealers look like. As long as it's light enough out, we'll be able to see them--A HA HA HA HA--get it McCracker?"
"Good one. Heh. Yah, well, if you pull your guns, you'll be able to see the whites of their eyes get REAL big! HA! Bring some of your drug sniffing dogs with you--okay? I mean, I know you won't find any drugs, but you know how they h-a-t-e dogs, eh? HA HA HA!"
"You got it. Okay. We'll be kicking some young black ass. It'll be a proud day. A proud day."
If a cop pulled a gun on my kid at school because of some lamebrained principal's inability to run the place, you better believe I'd sue. Sue, sue, sue. Either that or kick some serious behind. I'd show that McCracker black. Yah.... Black and blue.
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