too much

so last week was just a little more than i could handle. i was down & out with strep, B was out of town so i had to take care of Z by myself & on sunday we drove down to LA for my uncle's funeral. i wasn't aware of the fires that were starting all over SoCal. there was a small fire at the 15/215 junction that turned the freeway into a parking lot, so we ended up missing the wake, but at least we would be there for the funeral the next morning.

i met my mom, aunt & cousin in LA & we got rooms at the same hotel. the next morning as we were getting dressed my mom's friend called to let her know my mom's area of RB was being evacuated. i felt overwhelmed, i can't imagine what my mom felt. a few minutes later my phone rang & it was my neighbor from our SM house, she said our area was safe but the winds had knocked a tree over in our yard. i don't know how but my mom really held it together, maybe she was in shock.

we drove to the church & i saw family members i hadn't seen in years. it was sad that my uncle's death is what it took to bring us together. my mom even talked to my nana, finally. my aunt & cousin wouldn't, still, family dynamics can be so dumb!

after the church there was a huge funeral procession from La Puente residential district up to the city of Azusa then on the freeway over to Glendale. It was very strange to be guided by the cops & the way they protected the procession. the funeral was on a steep hill & Z jumped & danced on someone's grave.

after the funeral we left LA. when i got on the 15 the winds were really strong, then i suddenly came to a stop & was in a parking lot again. i was too far north to pull over, there was no where to go. i found out the 15 was closed due to fires. my mom & i called each other checking in as she wasn't sure if she could go home or what she would find. B was also calling trying to find out what he could on the news & the net.

my mom made it home about 4:30, she said they took back roads into RB. i later found out she wasn't supposed to be there, the area was still evacuated. about the same time the 15 opened up & i was moving. by this time i had a bad migraine & my legs were cramping from the constant gas/clutch/break. thankfully Z slept almost the entire drive - my saving grace!

only when i got home did i realize how bad the fires were. i can't imagine how it must feel to lose everything.

my turn for strep

on Thursday morning it hurt to talk. after dropping Z off at school i went in to medical so they could take a sample of my throat culture (doesn't that sound nice?). the nurse was nice enough, but it took her several tries to get the sample & she had to use the big popsicle stick & made me gag. she said it would take a few days to grow the culture - ick, so they would get back to me next week.

within half an hour of getting home the nurse called & said the dr wanted to see me, so i was back on my way to medical. she gave me the once over & also attempted to look down my throat & gagged me. then she says "wow, your tongue really is swollen" - i guess that's why they called me back. she said she also saw pus (GROSS) at the back of my throat so she was going to put me on penicillin & give me motrin to reduce the swelling!

it's now Tuesday, i never received a phone call from the dr confirming the strep, but i still feel like hell...

update - turns out it wasn't strep, just a bad case of swollen tongue i guess

fun evening

in an effort to infuse our lives with a little fun, last night after picking up Z from his afternoon school we went to the library (yeah, i know we are living it up!). Z picked out 3 books on sharks/sea creatures, seems to really be into that stuff lately, wasn't even interested in dinosaurs this time. then to spice things up we picked up "mexdonalds" for dinner (that's how Z says it, i'm sure he's not insinuating there's a high proporation of hispanic workers there, but i still think it's damn funny).

when we get home we find Lady has had our grim reaper halloween decoration for a snack. there he lay on the floor, his robe ripped off, one arm missing & the other boney hand gone. i found the boney hand in many pieces on the floor, evidently L thoroughly enjoyed it thinking it was a real bone. great, now i'll have nightmares about the robeless, 1 armed no hand having grim reaper coming down the hallway looking for his shit!

creeping crud

for the past few nights i've noticed my throat was a little irriated, but last night i woke up several types & it hurt. this morning i've got a deep voice - remember when phoebe on friends had the deep sultry sick voice - yup got that.

thanks Z! maybe i should take a swig of his penicillin...

RIP Uncle Ralph

last friday my mom called & told me uncle ralph was in the hospital - kidney & liver failure & things didn't look good.

on saturday we drove down to LA & visited uncle in icu. although he was in rough shape, he held my hand & made exceptional efforts to talk to me. we also got to visit with nana whom we hadn't seen in 2 years. during the course of the week uncle ralph's health improved, he was put on a list for a liver transplant & they were talking about releasing him out of the hospital.

tonight his kidneys failed again. they made 2 attempts to help him but both had negative effects which ended up being too much for his body to handle. about an hour ago, he died.

RIP Uncle Ralph, you will be missed & fondly remembered.

strep?

2 weeks ago we took Z to the dr because he said his peepee hurt & he was running a fever. i assumed he had a uti, they ran test but said most likely he was just fighting some sort of viral infection. the fever went away after 2 days, then he had a cough & for the past couple of days has had a croupy cough.

yesterday evening the dr he went to calls the house & says she's been on vacation, but that she got his test results back & he testing positive for strep - wtf? 2 fricken weeks ago! nobody else had the sense to call? hello, he goes to public school! we went to the hospital last weekend & visited my uncle in icu!

B has him at the dr's office now to run another test & verify it's strep - or the dr's silver lining "that he's just a carrier" - ain't that great, do ya know how many people we've been in contact with over the past 2 weeks?

anyone want to come to my house to play? we're only slightly contagious...

9:15 update - yup, it's strep, poor little guy!

hurting head

so as it turns out yesterday i did have a migraine - it wasn't just my boss pissing me off & the report not co-operating with me....

at 4:50pm in addition to the hurting head, i was suddenly nauseous & i could smell thermal fax paper. i know most people can't smell thermal fax paper (or know what it is for that matter - before plain paper fax machines, the roll paper) but i can & it makes me feel icky. anyways, i knew i had to leave, things were going to get ugly & no sense sticking around here & having witnesses to the ugliness, whichever form it was going to take.

so i went home & rested on the uncomfortable sofa. when B came home i asked him to make me mashed potatos. comfort food for when you don't feel well - a bowl of mashed potatos with extra butter & a heaping portion of cheddar cheese.

holiday spirit

now that my mother is a grandmother, she has decided that holidays are really important & it is my responsibility as a parent to make sure my child is fully aware of them. in the middle of sept she called to find out what Z was going to be for Halloween. i thought i was on my toes because just asking him about what he wanted to be was in the back of my head - it was supposed to already have been decided! does she realize how quickly a 5 year old changes his mind? we could have 60 costumes by the end of October!

so Z & I go to walmart to pick up some more Halloween crap i mean decorations, & browse costumes. then i get the bright idea of making ghosts & buy some material for that. Z decided to pick up a Frankenstein mask. as of right now i think were sticking with that, but i have to make him some pants for the outfit.

on sunday evening i decide it's time to be creative & make our ghosts. so Z & i sit at the dining room table (where all craft projects take place & little eating happens), cut our material, then use shredded paper to form the head. i make sure Z is pleased with the head size before moving on while he cuts out eyes & a mouth from black construction paper. his mouth was about the size of my arm & he REFUSED to make it any smaller, absolutely positive it was the right size - no point in arguing that one.

so while he works on his ghost i decide to cut the skirt of mine to make it all whispy, then he decides he wants his the same yet won't do it himself. i try to explain that it's his ghost, that he can't mess it up, but he only makes a few cuts then asks me to finish the rest. i finish up my ghost, then his ghost & he comes by periodically to check on the status & he tells me "good job momma" & even gives me a thumbs up.

so i'm feeling particularily proud of myself (just for an ever so brief moment), yeah, i'm doing a good mommy thing, i'm kicking martha stewart's ass on the crafty thing, then he tells me "you didn't drop anything on the floor"

how to become a boss

how does one go about becoming a boss?

is there some sort of in-aptitude test?

is it just having the ability to recognize other's abilities so they can do the actual work?

with the exception of my boss at taylormade, all the rest have been clueless...(& i'm being gentle with that!)

taking Z to work

Z was sick on Thursday & Friday. On Thurs B was able to stay home with him, but had to work on Fri. Unfortunately there were things I had to do Fri morning at work too. Luckily Z wasn't feeling too bad, just a slight fever, so I decided he was up for the outing.

I packed up the laptop, put in a looney tunes dvd, brought along the leapad, a juice box & we were off. I set him up at my desk watching bugs bunny, juice box strawed & found a bag of cheerios in my desk for him to munch on & he was good to go.

My work took much longer than I expected (not to mention my boss giving me a bunch more that had to be completed that day) so after bugs, after a little leapad work, after a little online gaming Z was bored; it had been 3 hours so I couldn't blame him.

He decided to sit on my lap & watch me work & he said "wow, you really work hard Momma" & I said something about how I was sorry this wasn't as much fun as when he goes to work with Poppa & he replied "yeah, when I go to work with Poppa we just go around talk to everybody" - CLASSIC!