No really, I’m on a blogcation…
October 7, 2008Yes, I’m truly taking a break. But, while taking a break, I determined I needed the blog to look different.
What can I say? I’m a female and I would redesign my house on a monthly basis, if I had the time, budget and energy.
If you would like, stop by sometime while I am away, and let me know what you think. I even incorporated the breast cancer awareness bit into the header for October. A bit behind, but, like I mentioned, I’ve been busy.
Okay, heading off line again. Honest…
Blogcation
October 4, 2008As I’m mentioned before, October equals craziness and family time in my household.
Things get busier in the world of ongoing work, church and family events, and the Hubby and I usually try to take some days off of work during this month, to just spend some family time during our favorite season - autumn.
That being said, the chaos of our household has been increasing since I returned from the conference at the end of this past week. Nothing to worry about - just lots to get done prior to winter, plans to get together with family, projects to finish for work, a neighborhood Halloween party appears to be in the plans, etc…
With everything going on, I feel it is time for my recent ramblings regarding a blogcation to come to fruition. I was only going to do it for a few days, then maybe a week, but now I’m thinking I’ll stretch it to two weeks.
How is this going to work for me? I honestly don’t know. I’ve only blogged for about a year and a half, and in recent history, I’ve been pretty regular with posts.
I’ve thought of putting up some very small posts, just to document some of Little Dude’s milestones, but I’m not certain if I want to make a clean break for two weeks or a reduced break for that amount of time.
All I know is I need a break. A bit of privacy. A moment of time where I don’t feel pressed to add to the blog, so it doesn’t feel like an additional “chore.” (Blogging just isn’t fun when it seems like “one more thing on the list” of my day.)
Will I still Twitter and play on Facebook? Again, I don’t know.
As for the blogs I visit, I may just swing past using my little PDA, which isn’t so cooperative about comments, so you might not see if I’ve been there much during those two weeks. But I don’t know. This is new to me, and I just feel I need to take a bit of a technology break to concentrate on everything going on here and on my family.
After two weeks? I fully intend to be back feeling refreshed, with many a story to share about family and how I spent my time away from the blog.
In the meantime, like I mentioned, I don’t know how this will work for me - if this means a break or just a slow-down.
Please don’t be angry that I’m being quiet. Sometimes we all need time to reflect and direct our energy to other priorities.
Thank you and have a great two weeks! (I’ll try to post a picture or two while I’m taking a break, just so everyone knows we are still alive and well!)
Certified!
October 2, 2008Or maybe I’m truly just certifiable? 
It has been a crazy week and right now I’m at a nice resort, missing my boys. All three of them (the Hubby, Little Dude and Supercat).
I’m at a state conference for work, and am currently in my upper loft bedroom, in a two-bedroom suite I’m sharing with one of my coworkers. The accommodations are pretty nice, with a bathroom on each level, so we only have to share the common areas (kitchen, living room, balcony, etc…). With the exception of wishing the family were with me, I sort-of wish we were up here for a couple of nights, since we’ve had fun and I’d love to spend more time just relaxing in this great room.
Our other office-mates are ensconced in their own mini-apartment, a floor down, but I’m liking the two story aspect of our room (their suite is all one level and a bit larger than our suite). It is an older resort, so the layout of this suite just has a lot of charm (plus I kind-of like being upstairs in my own little world, although my coworker does have a nice room downstairs).
I had a two-hour trek to get here this morning, after entrusting Little Dude into the hands of his school, and spent the day in classes once I arrived. Tonight we had our awards banquet, where several of us received our certifications (including me - yay!), and others received awards on some of the projects we submitted.
Awesome food, free-flowing beverages and great conversation with people in the same field of work. A good time is being had by all, it appears.
The Hubby took off work tomorrow, so he and Little Dude could spend some special “daddy and son” time while I’m away, but I’m looking forward to returning to the fold of my little family.
Time away at a nice resort is always wonderful. Time with my family is heaven.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Time to get squished
October 1, 2008Happy October Everyone! Do you know what October means? Time to go get the girls squished.
Yes, my normally family-friendly blog is going to get a bit personal for a moment as I remind all you ladies to go get your mammograms. And for you gentlemen, you can’t escape either - now would be a good time to schedule a thorough check-up and screenings (and if you need me to go into details, you’ve been hiding under a rock).
This was a post I actually wrote last December, but I think it is a great reminder for today, the first day of October.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
My grandmother on my dad’s side of the family fought, and lost, her battle with breast cancer (briefly mentioned this here). I watched two friends experience a loss to cancer last year. And I know my fellow blogger, Tendrils (also an old friend of mine from college), has experienced over her share of loss to cancer within the recent past. Cancer has touched all of us in some way.
Due to my career, I had the opportunity to meet with three cancer survivors today, to chat about their experiences battling cancer. I was a bit concerned this morning, figuring it would be a bit of a depressing day talking to people who would be sharing their fears, and possibly their bitterness, over being diagnosed with this horrible disease. My day was anything but a downer.
The first person I met was a breast cancer survivor. She greeted me wearing a sweatshirt adorned with a sparkling pink ribbon, carrying her scrapbook of her cancer treatment experience (lots of pink - of course!), and had many pink ribbon items decorating her home. (I jokingly told her husband that I could tell how much he loved her - she had quite a bit of pink in that home, and you could tell he was just proud of her and didn’t mind any of the pink! And he was very much a guy’s guy.)
She mentioned that she doesn’t wear the pink ribbon to draw attention to herself, but to remind other women to get their mammograms. In fact, one of her acquaintances let her know that it was because of her pink ribbons (she always tries to wear one somewhere on her) that the acquaintance went in for a mammogram - and discovered cancer. She is partly responsible for that acquaintance being alive today.
I know we are past October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month), but after hearing her story, I just wanted to remind all women to do your self-exams and get your mammograms! For that matter - all men and women have screenings they should be doing. See the American Cancer Society for more information on what to look for - prevention and early detection are the best tools in the fight against cancer!
The second person I met is currently undergoing treatment - and will be under treatment for at least two more years. She has lost her hair, yet proudly displays her shaved head. She has an easy smile and just talked about how wonderful her life is and how fortunate she has been. It was so neat to talk to her. She has a long journey with treatment, many possible complications, yet she is living every day to the fullest and finding all of the good in life. She has made it her goal to help others with a cancer diagnosis, through counseling them, and advocating for them.
The third person voiced some of the negative, but spun it all into how it has taught him to look for the good in life and was more worried about his wife and her health problems - minor ones, compared to what he went through. He talked about how he plans to keep working and volunteering until he absolutely in unable to continue. He was funny, engaging and just full of energy - definitely how I hope to be when I’m in my mid to late 70s.
It was just inspirational to talk to these three survivors today. All of them were upbeat, positive and just had a great outlook on life. This was especially noticeable in the one person who was still actively battling her cancer!
I’ve met many people who have had no health scares, appear to live a charmed life, but are constantly negative. In fact, I’ve met many people who have had difficulties and can never see the bright side, too.
But here were three people - one of which was given a very grim prognosis - yet they don’t see it that way. They see the blessings they do have, and are eager to share that side of their story with everyone. All three give of themselves in various ways to the community surrounding them, from counseling others going through similar experience, to volunteering in hospice situations.
During this holiday season, I know many people are struggling with various obstacles life has dealt. Please try to remember your blessings, as well, though.
And, if you are in the position to be very blessed - please try to share and pass on your good fortune to those with less than you.
Take it from the three cancer survivors I talked to today - life is about being there for each other and cheering each other on. If you feel alone, please reach out and volunteer - we are all part of one big family as the human race.
Allergies, allergies, and more allergies…
September 30, 2008Am I the only one who has noticed what appears to be an increase of people with extreme allergies?
Little Dude has the dairy allergy (which many people still mistake for someone with just lactose intolerance - they don’t understand the full scope of an actual dairy protein allergy).
One of my neighbors has a son with a peanut allergy. Not to mention my coworker with the same issue.
The list goes on of people I know with allergies, sensitivities, etc…
I’ve heard many theories on the rise of these allergies, and I know I have a few as well, which I won’t get into, but knowing how difficult it can be to manage one allergy, I can’t imagine having to deal with several.
Enter a new Web site in the works - spewdfree.com.
This mom has a child with allergies to soy, peanuts, eggs, wheat and dairy - thus the name. She is assembling allergy-friendly recipes, tells how they deal with day-to-day incidents, and tracks accident allergy contamination/recalls in various allergy-free foods (in the US and in Canada).
Check out her entire site, especially if you have someone with an extreme allergy in your life!
We didn’t purchase the sleep accessory
September 29, 2008When Little Dude entered our lives, we noticed one thing in particular. The child never sleeps.
Sure, sure, we chalked it up to the pain of the dairy allergy once that was diagnosed, and we know, like many children, he has a bit of a reflux issue.
But, for almost a year, we were lulled into a false sense of hope. Little Dude slept.
And slept some more.
He took beautiful naps and made it happily through the night.
Until now.
He is no longer sleeping. Seriously - he is up major amounts of time each night, and he wants to get out and play each time. He is sleeping extremely lightly, and even the fan in his room hasn’t been doing the trick. Any small noise fails to escape him.
Naps? HA! He is down to less than an hour for naps - this from the child that was doing one nap of three hours, almost every day.
We’re tired. He’s tired. The circles under his eyes make me want to cry.
He seems fine otherwise.
Is it too late to order the “sleep option?” Apparently, we should have asked for it at birth?
Additional note: Little Dude’s friend, E, has Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, as do several of the kids of my other bloggy friends. It appears to be making another pass, so be aware! (And thankfully, we had Hand, Foot and Mouth back in July, so Little Dude could not have given it to E. Now I just hope it is the same strain of the virus, so we don’t end up with it hitting us again! Eek.)
Ten fingers, ten toes
September 27, 2008Have I mentioned Little Dude, my darling 20-month-old toddler, can now count to ten, and is beginning to fill in numbers if you keep going to 20?
I’m so proud.
And the ABCs? Yeah, he’s doing a pretty good job of telling you which letter comes next when you do the alphabet with him. As for his name, not that he can recognize the letters perfectly on paper, but he can spell his name, verbally, for you. And I’m still working on finger spelling with him, as well as some other basic signs from American Sign Language (more because I enjoy signing and think he will, too, when he is older).
And no, although I totally remember this Sesame Street segment from when I was a kid (yes, back in the dark ages), I haven’t used it to teach Little dude his numbers. I’m afraid it will give him nightmares, as I’m pretty certain I was troubled with the creepiness of this one.
Kind-of spooky, eh?
The latest trick I do with Little Dude is the counting of his fingers and toes. Each day, as I get him dressed, we count his fingers, and then his toes. Each night, during or right after his bath, we count them again - to make certain nothing changed while he and I were parted for the day.
Just our little moment - and he loves it. We frequently count my fingers, too, as well as my toes. And today, we included the Hubby in the finger counting.
Little Dude is quite pleased that we all have ten of everything.
Side note:I’m hoping to take a bit of a ”blogcation” in the near future, and am scaling back at the moment, due to other priorities. Please understand and know that October is always a busy month for us. I may not comment as frequently on other blogs, either, as I truly have not been near the computer as much. Just know I’m trying to read posts on the fly, and my PDA doesn’t always cooperate to let me leave comments - especially for bloggers using Blogger, for some reason.
Gangster with attitude
September 26, 2008How early should I begin talking to Little Dude (Oops, pardon me… He asked that I change his moniker to Little D or L-Dude.) about the dangers of gangs, cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, etc?
Or am I already too late?
Elmo is rumored to be in with the wrong crowd these days (just search YouTube for Elmo - it is rather disturbing, when you get beyond the actual Sesame Street footage). Maybe it is time for me to limit the time Little D/L-Dude spends with Elmo…
Edited: Came back to correct my to/too/two mistake. Good grief. Yes, I have an educational background in English. Don’t let the misspellings fool you.
Making it right
September 23, 2008Customer service is seriously lacking these days, in almost any industry.
Recently, I’ve experienced the lack of care from the airline industry, which I wrote about here, here and had to include their credit card offer here (Midwest Express is currently staffed with boneheads, to put it lightly). Then we had the telemarketers who call after hours, and finally, the infamous glasses experience, to top it all off.
The glasses experience did get resolved, although I still harbor some negative thoughts from that experience, so imagine how horrified I was when Little Dude managed to break the frames to my glasses.
The good side: I have a one-year warranty on the frames.
The bad side: I was off to deal with Shopko Optical again.
Originally I went to back to the same Shopko Optical from where I had first purchased my glasses. The customer service was lacking, to put it lightly, and they insisted the frames weren’t broken, the one screw was just stripped.
They inserted a new screw. A much larger new screw, which didn’t fit in the hinge of the frames. In fact it offered a nice new sharp edge to the frames, which I felt so comfortable putting near my eyes (or just having on my glasses, where I know it could scratch Little Dude when he gave me a hug).
I didn’t know what to say. This is what they thought would make it all right? I just left the store, shaking my head.
Finally, when the Hubby mentioned Shopko Optical had put the wrong prescription into his glasses (they used his two-year-old prescription, not the current one, which he found out about when he kept getting headaches on the days he would wear his glasses), I followed him with my glasses to another Shopko Optical location.
We were met by a single employee, obviously on duty alone and overwhelmed, but she still apologized, and spent a lot of time fixing things. And she apologized some more. She called my previous Shopko Optical location and got all of the information needed to order brand-new, replacement frames. She mentioned that my old frames were obviously broken and couldn’t believe the other store had let me leave with that “fix.”
She went over the Hubby’s prescription several times with him, and was dismayed at how we had been treated and everything that had occurred.
I left feeling hopeful. And she didn’t even have to offer me any freebies or a discount. This was true customer service. She invested of herself in our issues, and made certain we were satisfied with where things were left before we exited the store.
I’m happy to say I have the new frames and that the exchange went well. The Hubby still needs to pick-up his fixed prescription, but I’m hopeful all will be well. And I’m happy to have something nice to say for a change.
Love You Forever
September 22, 2008
Just over a month ago, my mom brought over a book for Little Dude. This is nothing new - Little Dude’s library has grown extensively since birth, through me, my mom, the Hubby’s mom and the Hubby’s sister.
This book intrigued me, as the title was “Love You Forever.” I love the sappy little “love” books for kids, and was suckered in by the cute cover of the baby about to flush the watch down the toilet.
Little Dude, as usual, was enjoying a new book and we were commenting on the cat in most of the pictures. I was loving the repeating lines throughout the book, which state, “I’ll love you forever, I’ll like for always, as long as I’m living my baby you’ll be.”
Very sweet.
And the mom sings it repeatedly, as the boy grows into adulthood, driving her slightly crazy in the process.
But then it happens. The tables turn, and the boy cradles his elderly mom, repeating the words, but inserting “mommy,” instead of “baby.”
And Little Dude had no idea why I was sobbing my eyes out as I read to him.
That being said, this is a beautiful read, and if you check out the author’s Web site, RobertMunsch.com, you can learn how this story came about - which actually makes me cry a bit harder, but I’m finally able to make it through the book with just a few tears.
I’m so enamored with this book and the funny, yet touching tale, I’m actually thinking of ordering a few of these for all the baby showers heading my direction. With a box of tissues. Make that two boxes. Or a few nice embroidered handkerchiefs?
Seriously, though, I do recommend this book. You just may want to read it to yourself once or twice before sobbing in front of reading it to the kids.
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