The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 28, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY November 28, 2011

Outside my window… chilly and cloudy in San Jose, dark when I got back home to Galt.

I am thinking… that this cold has worn out its welcome.

I am thankful… for Daniel getting prompt treatment and getting out of the hospital.

In the kitchen… need to do some grocery shopping.

I am wearing… light blue shirt, penguin pj bottoms, blue snuggie.

I am creating… nothing. I had to resign myself to not finishing NaNo this year because of Daniel being in the hospital. I could theoretically finish but 5000 words in two days with my schedule is a recipe for sleep deprivation and not worth me getting sicker.

I am going… to UCD tomorrow hopefully to take Daniel for a follow-up appointment and hopefully discuss ways for him to NOT have this happen as we go into flu and cold season.

I am wondering… when I’ll catch up on sleep.

I am reading… Shirt of Flame by Heather King — just finished on the drive home from San Jose actually. (Jon was driving, not me.)

I am hoping… I can get into UCD for said appointment. I have to call at 8 to get a same-day appointment.

I am looking forward to… quiet days this week.

I am hearing… the heater and podcasts on my iTunes. (Currently, it’s an old episode of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me!)

Around the house… unpacking to do.

I am pondering… why my head is hurting so much.

One of my favorite things… Coca Cola. It’s one of the worst thing for me but it’s my comfort food (beverage?).

A few plans for the rest of the week… UCD appointment with Daniel, OT on Thursday and possibly a massage on Friday.

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Discharged

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Daniel was discharged from the hospital today. He’s still not completely 100% but he’s doing well enough that breathing treatments every 4 hours and steroids aren’t needed. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for him.

7 Quick Takes — Thanksgiving In the Midst of the PICU

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7 Quick Takes

So I’m sitting on my fold-out bed in the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) with Daniel. (He got my cold. Chest colds and him don’t mix well. He spiked a 102F fever and started having problems breathing. I think the rest of the story is self-explanatory.) In an effort to ward off the pity party that I’m so incredibly tempted to throw for myself, here are seven things I’m thankful for right now. Oh yeah… updates on his condition and what’s going on can be found here.

— 1 —

Daniel having Medi-Cal through SSI. It’s paying for what our insurance doesn’t. Given that our last PICU trip involved a 19 day hospital stay, this could add up pretty quickly.

— 2 —

My mom. She drove us to the hospital (we’re down with my parents) and stayed with us until they brought Daniel upstairs. This entailed reciting loads of poetry and nursery rhymes and helping to hold the little bear down while they did unpleasant things to him. Words can’t express my gratitude.

— 3 —

My evil twin. He brought Jon down with a container of Mushroom Risotto for me. Last time we had a PICU stay, he stayed with Jon and I through the worst night and hosted my parents on the weekends so they could be with Daniel and I.

— 4 —

Jon. He read to Daniel and came upstairs with us and prayed with him. He also brought me clean underwear and pajamas as well as part of my prescriptions. I’m loving the clean underwear, the jammies, and the Klonopin.

— 5 —

The speed of the ER peeps once the words “respiratory distress” were uttered. We were only down in the ER for 3.5 hours. (Normal is 4+.) We had a doctor checking him within 10 minutes. That’s impressive.

— 6 —

People praying. I put out the word to my people and there should be prayers ascending. Please also add yours in. We can’t get enough prayer right now.

— 7 —

Being ahead on NaNo. It’s meaning that I might actually make it to 50K before 11/30 this year.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: November 21, 2011

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY November 21, 2011

Outside my window… foggy this morning but now sunny and a bit chilly.

I am thinking… about plots for NaNoWriMo.

I am thankful… that Daniel hasn’t gotten into my flour supply.

In the kitchen… instant stuff because we’re going to be gone for part of this week.

I am wearing… black Arabic shirt and my blue penguin pajama bottoms.

I am creating… my NaNo piece and prayer shawls.

I am going… to San Jose on Thursday. I actually just spent the weekend there — it was a rough week last week.

I am wondering… why Edda is so scabby.

I am reading… Shirt of Flame by Heather King. I think I can finish it on the drive to San Jose on Thursday and hopefully the library will have books in for me before then.

I am hoping… Daniel takes his full nap today.

I am looking forward to… seeing my evil twin and my sister-in-law. (We don’t see each other that much even though we only live 40 minutes apart.)

I am hearing… Qubo on TV. I’m hoping that the CW stops being static-y. I will be grumping if I miss “Hart of Dixie” tonight.

Around the house… Jon deep-cleaned.

I am pondering… if this is a cold or allergies. I’m currently a walking advertisement for Dayquil.

One of my favorite things… my parent’s cat Homer’s tummy.

A few plans for the rest of the week… women’s Bible study tonight, IFSP for the Regional Center tomorrow, speech therapy on Wednesday, going and socializing before the Thanksgiving service on Wednesday night (it conflicts with Daniel’s bathtime and he is a bear of a set schedule — thus we’re missing the service), and Thanksgiving weekend with family.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

7 Quick Takes — TV Edition

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7 Quick Takes

There has been some good TV this week and as I’ve done enough updating on my so-called life already, I figured I’d give y’all my thoughts on what I’ve watched.

— 1 —

Judge Judy. Nothing new with this one — I’ve just gotten addicted to watching her. I saw an interview with her a few months ago and her philosophy is that if you’ve graduated from high school and are working and trying to live your life decently, she’s chill with that. Her problem comes when people make choices that aren’t wise and that hurt other people. I love her sternness, her wit, and the fact that she doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She’s also a good source of ideas for my NaNo piece.

— 2 —

Hart of Dixie. This isn’t in the class of CSI or NCIS but it’s been a new addiction for me. I don’t think I ever watched anything with Rachel Bilson before and I happened to see ads for this randomly while channel-surfing and watching NUMB3RS. I love the contrast of the Zoe Hart and Lemon Breeland characters.

— 3 —

NCIS. Serious goosebumps when they were off-loading Quincy’s body and the Marines were saluting. (I may be a flaming liberal but I am patriotic and I do believe that we need to treat our fallen heroes with dignity.) It was a lovely two-part episode. Other highlights were the flashbacks with Gibbs and Matteson when they were at basic training and seeing what Di Nozzo’s greatest fear was.

— 4 —

NCIS:LA. It was a tough episode to watch because of the brutality and I genuinely felt sorry for Jada in the end. It also made me wonder if Ruben, one of my seminary classmates from Sudan, was still alive. He was getting his MTS in Old Testament at Trinity and I used to word process his papers for him (all 30 pages). He went back to Sudan to be an Anglican bishop for the Diocese of Renk in what I think would now be South Sudan. At the time, he had a wife (Grace) who was my age (21 at the time) and a 2 year old son.

— 5 —

CSI. Powerful writing for the episode last night (Wednesday), especially when the killer turned out to be Detective Vega — one of the good guys for 8 seasons. Seeing Nick tell Russell (the Ted Danson character who I like) to stop working on the murderer that Vega was trying to drown and instead focus on Vega was very well done and I continue to like the character of Morgan Brody.

— 6 —

The Big Bang Theory. OMG… “Relationship Agreement” between Amy and Sheldon tonight!!!!!! I also loved the Warlords of Ka’a expansion pack that was “Wild West and Witches”. Best line: “Like shooting nerds in a barrel.” My college friends were the guys on the show (math/compsci/engineering geeks who did role-playing games) so this show is endlessly amusing.

— 7 —

NUMB3RS. What can I say? I like crime dramas. It’s not my favorite one but it keeps my attention.

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

You Know You’re The Mom of A Developmentally Delayed Kid…

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Daniel had a pediatrics appointment today. After it was over, I seriously felt like I should be putting together a “You Know You’re A _____ If” list. So without further adieu…

You know you’re the mother of a developmentally delayed kid when…

[+] You rejoice because your kid is at the 25th percentile for height/weight/head circumference because they can finally plot the points on their growth chart.
[+] You can succinctly describe your horrendous pregnancy and birth experience in under 10 words but most of them have three or more syllables.
[+] The sight of your kid walking at 2.5 years old makes their pediatrician clap with joy because, dude, this is HUGE.
[+] You aren’t fazed by your kid’s abysmal MRI results because you got the report six months ago and your child’s physical therapist from Easter Seals talked you off the (figurative) ledge at that point.
[+] Your child’s pediatrician tells you that your child’s brain has many abnormalities (see “MRI results above”) and will never be like the brains of other kids their age. Your response: “We’ll see” while thinking to yourself that your child has a habit of defying predictions like these.
[+] Those abysmal MRI results get you a consult to every specialist you ask to see.
[+] Your child has more specialists in their lives than most hospitals have on staff. (Josh’s mother Susan is my former IV area director.)

Now for the ones that don’t apply to the peds appointment today!

[+] You know that you will cry when your child turns three and (in California) you lose your Easter Seals therapists. (Under the Lanterman Act in California, your child becomes the problem of their local school district once they turn three.)
[+] All your child’s developmental milestones are VERY BIG DEALS!!!!!!!
[+] You have stories from the NICU, PICU, and Peds wards of the hospital.
[+] You’ve had to explain to people why your kid is not waving at them, why your kid does not need a children’s menu, or why your kid isn’t doing ____ when other kids their age can do it.
[+] You finally just learned how to (joyfully) suppress the urge to say “Bite me!” to the person who asks the third question on that last item. (OK… again this is probably just me.)
[+] It makes you happy when people acknowledge your child/have a normal conversation with them instead of talking over them.
[+] You read the blogs of other mothers who have kids with developmental delays/Down’s Syndrome/autism spectrum disorders and can identify with their posts.

Potato Soup

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I made potato soup today. The most labor-intensive part was dicing the potatoes. I also overestimated the number I would need so I have a couple extra big russet ones. Oh well. The recipe I used is here.

The changes I made:

-low sodium chicken broth
-5 cups of 2% milk instead of the half-and-half
-margarine instead of butter

It still tasted great even with these changes and I yielded probably 15 cups of soup instead of 12 because of the added milk. I kept a little bit for the refrigerator and froze 11 cups in quart-sized freezer bags. (They were out of pint-sized ones.)