Hurricane preparations

So, we all know to put the yard decorations away, stock up on water, candles available,etc, but what about the other prep that no one tells us about?

Laundry - there is a chance power can be out for 2 weeks. Do you have enough clean clothes to make it through that time frame? No air conditioning + dirty clothes = stinky people who you will be in close contact with for awhile.
Dishes - run the dishwasher before the power goes out. Again, who wants to to be responsible for that full dishwasher of dishes that has been fermenting for a day or two.
Books- no TV, no power; how are you going to keep yourself entertained?
Pictures - the before pictures so that the insurance company believes you when you submit claims afterword.
Jewelry - time to put on all your jewels in case the roof blows off and you need to leave in a hurry. Better to be prepared and looking like a princess than leaving your precious jewels behind.
Alcohol - It's a perfect time to have a block party. Your food is defrosting anyway, so turn on the grill and lets make it a celebration. I suggest making hurricanes.

Another storm coming this way

Ah, the hurricane season is on us full force and we have yet another storm headed our way. Will it hit us? How hard? Will there be power? If it is out, how long? Will the shelves be empty for weeks like they were after Katrina and Rita?
We're prepared, as we have been since the beginning of the season. Now we just wait and see.

UPDATE: Looks like we are going to get hit with a category 3 or 4 storm, which means wind damage and power outages for our neck of the woods. We'll be doing our last minute preparation, so posting will probably be suspended for a bit. I'll update when I can.

Beach Day

We went to the beach on Labor Day. With the incoming hurricane, it was deserted. We went for the waves that the turbulent surf had created. It is great for body surfing.
As a precaution, the volleyball nets had all been removed from their posts. This picture just caught my eye.

Results

We got to the doctor's office today, 20 minutes early. As we waited our turn, I "admired" the decor - orange, green, purple, with furniture covered in triangles and swirls. I guess they choose the decor to distract the children. Shortly I hear "J's mom" . Assuming they need my insurance information, I arrive at the desk, digging through my purse for my insurance card. "We have you scheduled for September 19th at 11:20" What?!? "But I wrote down the time when I made the appointment on my schedule at work, my time off request, and my calendar at home..are you sure?" "Yes ma'am, I don't see any notes saying there was a reschedule...who did you speak with when you made the appointment?" We discuss a bit more, she goes to get the nurse who I spoke with at the time when I made the appointment. She comes out, remembers making the appointment but not changing the date to the 3rd. At this point, I can't take any more of the stress. We've waited months, I'm in knots and feeling desperate. We are so close to an answer and I'm being told we have to wait 2 more weeks...my shoulders drop, my eyes start to well-up with tears. As I reach for a tissue, the nurse tells me to wait, she'll see if we can some how or another to be fit in.
They were able to fit us in after about an hour, which is pretty good considering the wait for this place. The doctor was very through in her questioning of J's condition and our family history. She heard my concerns, took the time to research possible contraindications that J's medications could be having on his body, and just really listened.
J's numbers are not "high enough" to warrant medication at this point, and although we have to go a liver panel function test, the doctor thinks right now we have to continue the wait and see attitude with one change - fish oil. It may be the "miracle pill" we're looking for. In three months when we go back for more testing we'll see if it worked.
So for now, we're done. I have a sense of semi-relief, but also feel completely exhausted right now. I hadn't realized how stressed I was until after the appointment. Now I need a nap, to recuperate from it all. Then it's up again to schedule the next round of tests...and to take some fish oil pills (the odorless type, for those who are curious).

We see the doctor today

Today's the day. In 10 hours we get to finally see the specialist for J and hopefully get some answers. I honestly have no idea what they are going to do or if they can do anything at all. J is going to see a GI specialist and he's been ill for the last few days, which may or may not negate any tests they do. I should probably reschedule the appointment, but we've waited so long, I just need some answers. I'll update later once we get back from the doctor's office. I should sleep sometime today so I can be well rested and alert for his appointment.

Neither rain, nor wind, nor sleet, nor...

J's appointment with his specialist is almost upon us, at which we will hopefully get some answers to his medical problems. It's been on our minds constantly, mine and J's. We're both nervous about it, J because of the testing he is going to endure, me because of the possibilities of the results. I've got my work schedule rearranged and already informed the school J will leaving early.We've waited over a month for this day and nothing is going to stop us from going....

Hmm,what's that on the horizon? Wind, rain....oh a hurricane, due to land the day before his appointment. Argh. Even though the likelihood of it hitting us is low, the hospitals around here tend to cancel all non-emergency appointments for the day prior the storm, the day of the storm, and the day after. If we have to wait another month, I will truly be upset.

Quote of the day

Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.

-- Kurt Vonnegut

Bathroom ettiquette

Modern technology has greatly accelerated the decline in etiquette in society. Case in point: I was at the airport today and went into the ladies room. As I walked in, I overheard someone conversing, to whom I don't know, since it was a one-sided conversation. It was coming from one of the stalls...the stall that also had quite an odor coming from it. I freshened up, and the woman was still talking on her phone, while she was on the toilet.
I don't know what she was saying, since it was not English, but the tone of voice she was using was a conversational tone, not one of panic, anger, or sadness. What is so important to discuss that it can not wait until you are out of the bathroom? The person on the other side of that conversation had to be able to hear the flushing toilets, the hand dryer, and the other noises that go along with using bathroom stall. I wonder if she would invite that person into the bathroom with her in a face-to-face situation, since that is essentially what she was doing here.
So, am I old-fashioned in being affronted by this action? Is it appropriate to talk on the phone while using the toilet?

Gold in 2016

J has finally found a sport he enjoys, one that he has a desire to pursue: gymnastics. After his first class, he has been a wealth of information on the topic - the different forms, different equipment, how chalk benefits you when you're on the rings. It's quite exciting to see his excitement.
The gym he is attending is the same one 2 of our current Olympic team have attended, so I know he will get good instruction. We didn't search for that particular gym, it just happens to be the one closest to us.
He has a "competition" (in house testing of skills) tonight that he is looking forward to attending; he has already asked me "do you think I could go to the Olympics?". My answer? "To reach the Olympics you must be dedicated and persevere, you give up a lot to reach that goal, but you can work towards that goal. Anything is possible."

Quote of the Day

To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in, and scramble through as well as we can.

Sydney Smith (1771 - 1845)

Deadly water hazards

We were hit with hard news yesterday - our scout leader had his 17 month old son die in a tragic drowning accident. It seems they returned from a day at church, put the child to bed and the mom lay down for a quick nap herself. When she awoke later in the evening, she checked on her child who was missing from bed. It seems the little one wandered into the bathroom and turned on the water to the bath. It is a recessed tub, so once he got in he could not get out and subsequently drowned.
I can not fathom the guilt mom must be feeling, nor the absolute despair she must be experiencing. To lose your child in such a sudden way (any way for that matter) is heart rending. As a parent, you can't help but reflect on what you would do if this happened to your own family. How would your marriage suffer? Would the guilt tear the relationship apart? What about the siblings, will they blame themselves?
It's funny (in an odd way), I know of several families who lost young children to disease or accident. Each of these families are very religious, with their beliefs being that their God is a kind and loving god. How do they maintain their faith when it seems that God is against them, that he seems to be a cruel vengeful god?

Medical update

We finally got our appointment with the specialist - September 3.
The "triage nurse" at the specialist office didn't have our paperwork (faxing tends to cause misplaced paperwork) but agreed that we could not wait on it to come through before scheduling J's appointment; the high triglycerides are a serious concern in someone J's age. She also has us on the cancellation list, so that if someone can't make their appointment we can get a call to come in.
We probably will get a call in August since Hubby is gone the whole month and I'll be forced to deal with it on my own.

Back from vacation

We just got back from visiting family in KY and I've decide I want to move there. There are hills, there's greenery, and their traffic is laughable. Of course, the other positive, there is family there. My dear sister-in-law and her hubby where kind enough to play tour guide to us while we were there, putting up with the chaos of us and my father-in-law and his wife too. They are used to just the two of them, so I am sure they were happy to have their peace and quiet back once we all left.
We weren't sure how the trip was going to go since we arrived near midnight, got the rental car, and got pulled over within minutes. Seems are driving triggered the suspicions of the local airport police. We were lost, so when she came to the car window asking if we needed some help I immediately spoke up and asked for directions. Hey, I wanted to get some sleep! Much to hubby's dismay, I also took a picture of him and her together, to start our vacation photo album off just right ...hehe.
Although we saw many sights, we were happy just hanging around the sister-in-law's house. J discovered fossils in her back yard and spent hours digging and cleaning them. I think the toughest part of the trip for him was deciding which ones to take back (the 500+lb slab had to stay).
On the last day of the trip, hubby lost his glasses -he was not happy! We had gone to a water park and he was putting stuff away in a locker when he heard them fall, but he could not find them. We all searched, high and low, for them but they were gone. I even had the attendant open the locker beneath ours to see if they had somehow or another fallen in there. It's as though there was a black hole in the back of the locker, sucking in all matter, never to be seen again.
Luckily, that was the only downside to the trip. We made it back safe and sound and I even had the forethought to schedule a few more days off from work so that I might have a "vacation from my vacation" so that I could rest up before heading back to work.

Mysterious Palm

See that plant? The palm-like growth? It mysteriously appeared in my front yard at the beginning of the summer. I have no idea what it is, or how big it will get. I'm thinking it may have originated from a seed sent from my mother-in-law to my son as a souvenir from her vacation to Jamaica. The child insists he did not plant it there, however I do recall him asking me at some point if I thought it could still grow.
It has already grown about three feet, as you can see if it is going to get large, its placement is not ideal - it would be blocking my front door. So, can someone help me identify it? You may not be able to tell from the pictures, but it also has sharp teeth-like thorny growths along the edges of the stalks of the "leaves".

Part II, J's results

As I mentioned, we did the second blood draw on Monday and waited for the results, which would be at the doctor's office by Tuesday.
10am, Tuesday morning. I called from work and left a message for the nurse to call me at my work number with the results. I reminded my fellow coworkers that I was expecting a call, they would ask for J's mom, so they would be asking for me under a different last name. No problem, they all understood how important it was for me to get this call. So I went about my business, waiting, working, waiting.
3:00 pm, Tuesday afternoon. I had yet to hear from them. I know from working in a clinic most test results are reported back to the patients immediately after lunch, before the office opens up again. It is a planned time for the office to catch up on paperwork, and this office is no exception. I called again, stressing that I wanted to hear back from the nurse, even if the results were not in, so I would not be worrying over them. I then left my home number for them to contact me and said they could even leave a message on the machine if need be. No phone call ever came.

8 am, Wednesday morning. I leave a message again telling them I really would like to hear from someone. No phone call.

2pm. Wednesday afternoon. I call again. I ask the answering service when does the nurse normally return phone calls. I am told "between patients". Since I've about lost my patience, I snarkly reply, "So, they've not had a break from seeing patients since yesterday morning?". The answering service lets me know that they will send another message.

2:30 pm. I finally get my call back. The nurse starts telling me that his numbers are a bit high, and that the doctor would like to have him retested in 6 months. I stop her, asking for the acutal numbers. She then suggest a fasting blood test. Argh! I tell her it is a fasting, and a retake. I then ask, "Did the Dr. actually review the lab work, since he is the one that ordered the retest because of those high numbers. Did he really take the time to look at the chart?" At this point she back peddles a little and says she will have the doctor look at them again and will call me tomorrow with his response. I honestly do not think that the doctor had looked at the test results, I think she was giving me a standard response. Why do I say this? Well....

1:30 pm, Thursday. The nurse calls me back and informs me that after reviewing his results, and the results from the last few tests plus his chart, the doctor is recommending we see a GI specialist. We have some concern about liver functions. They are doing the referral paperwork to day and will send it to the specialist today. I am to await a phone call from that office.

So we are waiting. I do know referrals can take some time to go through. So I'll wait until next Thursday before I start calling and harassing the doctor's office again. If need be, I may just sit in the waiting room, until the paperwork is done. This is my son's health, it is something I take seriously. I will not allow someone elses incompetence to jeopardize his well being.

J 's doctor visit, part I

J went for his annual check-up last Friday, and several things have me thinking it is time for a new doctor's office for him.
Let me back track to the scheduling of the appointment. One thing I like to do is get the blood work which I know will be requested done before the appointment, so that we do not have to schedule a follow-up visit. When I called to make the appointment, I mentioned this along with the fact that it was J's 10 year old well child visit. The scheduler asked me when his birthday is (July 4) and then could not get it through her head that even though he was not technically 10 yet, we still needed to book the appointment. She kept saying things like "so this is for his 9 year old appointment". Even after I explained that my insurance covers it, she still said "well, I'm making a note that you are the one asking for this appointment." The same thing happened with the blood work...she would not believe me that he had to get it done before the appointment (even though his chart has the order in it).
I got the results of his blood work before our appointment, with the results being high and not what was expected. When I expressed concern, the nurse said we should try again with a fasting blood test...but that was what we just had done! When I pointed that out to her, she suggested my son must have drunk soda before the test. One, he is not allowed to drink soda except special occasions, and two, he understood perfectly well what "fasting" entailed and was not going to put himself through the torture of more needles for a snack.
At the doctor's office, I expressed my concern and the doctor says the same thing, that we should get a fasting test. Exasperated, I point out that it was a fasting test, that the numbers are off the wall and that family history has me concerned for my son's health.
To give the doctor credit, he stopped, took the time to really review this year's and last year's results and apologized and thanked me for making him slow down to review what was in front of him. He agreed that the results were screwy and that it might be a lab error, so he ordered the blood work to be done again. He finished his exam, left, and we waited for the nurse to return with a vaccination for J.
And we waited...and waited..the doctor came back in, asked if we had been seen, went back out, chewed out his nurse (I could hear him), came in again, apologized for the wait and had the nurse come in.
Now, J had had the blood drawn on his left arm and wanted to have the vaccination in his right arm since the other one had already been traumatized. When he asked the nurse if he could do this, she said no, it has to be in the let arm. What?!? Both J and I asked at the same time "why?"(it is intramuscular, the arm choice does not matter).
The nurse got flustered, couldn't really give an answer and had to go confirm with someone that it was indeed OK to have the vaccination in either arm. After getting the vaccination in the arm of his choice, we were off, to return Monday for more blood work.
The blood draw was fine, it was getting the results that cause some trouble... (to be continued)

Hubby's work

I've never mentioned what hubby does for his job, since it is a security-sensitive job. However, I will say that he works to help stop the scum of the world from causing harm to the innocents of the world. His name is Clark Kent and he often wears a red cape....
Seriously, his job does expose him to some of the seedier sides of our dear state. Usually I don't know what he is doing (security reasons) but I sometimes get to find out later. Our normal dinner conversations will go something like this.
Me: How was your day?
Hubby: Busy (and that is all I get)

I might get a the response of "It was really interesting...I wish I could tell you". Hubby also will ask things like "did you see the news today?" (the answer is always no, but then I know whatever he was doing has become public knowledge and I can at least read the news article on-line to get an inkling of what he has been involved in).
Today, I do know where he is headed. I also know that if he "succeeds" at his job today it will be a very sad day for him, because it involves children, very young children, and he won't be able to save them.
Hubby has always been a serious man, reserved and quiet. Since he started his superman job, he has become more withdrawn. His job does not allow him to discuss the details with me, his confidante. I often wonder what kind of pressure that has a person, and just how much can a human being absorb before it effects his soul in a negative manner. It has changed him already, to be more cynical of our society and to lose a bit of faith in humanity. I just hope it doesn't change him too much.
I do know that when he comes home today, he will look at his son and probably give him a hug.
J-man, being 9, won't appreciate it since he won't know what his dad will have witnessed today. I'll be hugging hubby - he'll need it.

Locker room etiquette

Jman had a field trip at daycare today, so I had just enough time to go to the local YMCA to work out before I had to pick him up. As I was coming from work, I had to get changed completely once I was there. I walked into the woman's locker room, started to get changed, and noticed that there were several children in there as well. There were 3 girls and 2 boys...boys that appeared to be older than the "5 or younger" age limit which is allowed in the woman's locker room.
So, I asked them how old they were and one of the girl's told me that the boy's were 5 and 10 years old, and that their mother was getting changed (on the "wet" side of the locker room). I mentioned that they should let their mother know that they were too old for this locker room, but that there was a family locker room they could use.
I was waiting, and waiting for the mother to come out, since I was not going to get undressed in front of a prepubescent boy. The mother finally came out (she was not finished changing), and I started to mention to her that there is a family changing room right next to this one, since the boys were too old to be in here. She interrupts me to tell me she speaks English..OK...I again say there is the family dressing room next door...she interrupts again to tell me she can read English. Great, if only she could understand it and follow the rules. As I try to continue to talk to her, and ask her to have her son go at least go into the closed off area so he is not staring at everyone.. she goes off on me. She tells me I can change in the toilet stalls...no I don't think so. I mention again the family dressing room. She has the audacity to say that she does not want get undressed in from of him, and that is the way the room is set up . What? So it is OK for me to get undressed in front of him? I finally have had enough and go to get one of the staff.
At the same time, I run into another friend of mine. So, the staff member gets ahead of me a bit as I'm explaining to my friend that she may not wish to get changed into her swimwear just yet since the dressing room has some older boys in there.
I walk in and hear the staff member explaining the rules to this woman. The woman starts saying how she does not want to leave them alone while she gets changed, but obviously "she", meaning me, "who doesn't have children wouldn't understand". I replied, I do have a child, and he's a boy too. The staff member, who was quicker to the point, mentioned that the YMCA offers daycare (free) for this purpose. The woman makes a snide comment that she'll be sure to keep the boys out when "that woman" is in here. The staff member responded with, "well, it is all the time...they are not allowed in here at all".
It's funny, I probably would not have involved the staff if the woman had just acknowledged that I had a right to feel uncomfortable with her 10 year old boy in the locker room. If she had said something like"I didn't realize anyone else was in here..." or "I didn't know there was a family room" or "let me gather our stuff, we're all done here". Instead, she wanted to insist that she didn't have to follow the rules and she thought that if she confronted me I would back down. I don't think so. The rules (which, by the way, are printed in big letters on a placard in the locker room) are there for a reason.

Grocery shopping

As everyone knows, grocery shopping is more expensive now than it has been in decades. Used to be that we could buy a weeks worth of groceries and it would cost $70; now, it costs $140. Every penny counts and I strive to make my money last. Every once and awhile I do manage to find some bargains, yesterday's shopping trip being one of them. My bill originally came to $134.00. After all my coupons - $80.90! Woohoo! I had some super coupons worth $5 and $7 off, plus some awesome deals.
As an example, my grocery store does "convenience packaging" for dinners which will contain all the ingredients to make a well balance meal, ie. a raw pork roast, fresh carrots, potatoes, celery, and onions. This package can easily feed a family of 4. I don't normally buy them since they're over priced; however, yesterday was a different story. I found a package that had been marked down to just $2.99 (it's freshness date was today) and I had a coupon for $2 off any meat purchase. Our meal last night cost us a grand total of $.99! Try finding that on the McDonald's value menu!
My family laughs at me when I cut coupons, but hubby admitted last night, there is a reason why I do the grocery shopping.

In a rut

It's that time of year, the time where I feel a need for change. In the past, this would have meant us moving (hubby's job had us on the go all the time). We're not moving, but I still feel like something different. Since we've been in this house almost 5 years, it is time for an update. Seems like we are here to stay, so we might as well some of our personality to the house. So, for the first time ever, I've got a list, a "honey do" list.
change the three bathrooms light fixtures and mirror
repaint bedroom
add crown molding throughout the house
add beadboard to bedroom walls
redecorate J's room with his input
build patio off back of house
replace kitchen counters with marble kitchen countertops
make raised garden beds

OK, the list is not going to get done this summer (our economic stimulus check is not that big), but we have one. It reminds me of the list folks always had taped to the closet door in our back hallway, taped there so Dad would always see it on his way out the door. As kids we would joke that if the list ever got finished, my folks would have to move. 30 odd years later, the list is still there at their house,they are not going anywhere; I'm hoping the same happens here.