Z's blood test

following up on the caterpillar torture we had to take Z in for some blood work. i made the appt online & didn't really think about should i call & warn ask them about what would be the best way to prepare the kid for them them for the kid.

luckily B was able to come along, bc honestly i was so worried about it, i actually woke up in the middle of the night concerned about how Z was going to react to having his blood drawn.

the phlebotomist [fyi my spell check says that's wrong & is recommending lobotomist...we'll save that one for another day] was a young small framed asian woman & when she realized who was getting their blood drawn she looked a little tense.

awesome...

she said one of us should sit & have Z sit on our lap so i went to wait in the car told B it was all him. i didn't think me puking on the kid while she tried to put a needle in his arm was a good idea....
B held his wrist with one hand & kept his elbow straight with the other while i did my best not to lose my s**t as Z screamed & cried & i told him to just look at me & not look at his arm.

in the car i had a bowl of strawberries waiting to calm Z's nerves & when he felt a little better he said the caterpillars were worse. i told him that was good bc he probably wouldn't have to have that done again but getting blood drawn is something done that has to be done every once in awhile.

i think next time we'll do tequila shots before we go...

go pee before reading

you went pee right?
you need to go before you look at this pic.
i'm serious, wet chonies are no fun.
[& a breeding group for nasty bacteria, not to mention plain ol stinky]

as part of Z's nightly routine i have him pull out his clothes for the next day; 1 less thing for him to do in the morning & also i get a chance to review the choices. yesterday morning he came out in pre-approved clothing but he was wearing rain boots.

back-up, i haven't talked about the rain boots, they are hand-me-downs from wonderful SIL who gives Z fantastical BAGS of clothing. although her son is a few months younger than Z, the hand-me-downs from what? 2 years ago? still fit Z...yeah there's a tad difference in the boys' sizes. so anyways, the boots, um sorry SIL, no offense, but i thought the boots were kinda ugly from day 1 & Z thought they were the cat's meow. he loves them & wants to wear them ALL the time! not to mention the fact that we're in SoCal & it's late march...

so i told the boy "no boots" & he to change his shoes & came back with some lace up things that were acceptable & i took his butt to school & didn't think anything more of it. [how's that for a run on sentence?]

this actually happened yesterday when we were on our way to the allergist & i was driving & trying to figure out where we were going & then B says something about "do you know what your son is wearing?". well yeah, i did the clothing inspection & i nixed the boots, so yes, i know exactly what he's wearing.

but the truth of the matter is i was missing something. something i didn't know i needed to review. B told Z to put his foot up on the center console thingie so i could see what i missed:



in case you're overwhelmed by how little the ankle is, look at the sock my boy is wearing.
yeah, he's wearing my black fuzzy house socks...
to school all day...
& now to the dr's office...
& we don't have time to go home to change so he either has to wear them or go sans socks [which option is MORE ghetto i ask?]

in his defense he said his feet were that cold & he was wearing them when he had the rain boots on.

surprisingly he didn't tell us to f-off when we were laughing our a**es off...

caterpillar torture

Z will be [deep breath] 8 in a few months & after 2 ER trips, 1 hospital admittance & too many episodes of the croup to even bother counting, his new primary dr said "yes, let's look into this".

possibly bc at our last ER visit, the breathing-nurse-dude [i can't remember the real name, but you get the idea...], yeah, him, well he said we should look into why Z is still getting the croup & suggested we take him to an ear-nose-throat-dr. when we asked primary about it, she said her 1st step would be an allergist, so that's where we went.

the primary referred use to dr-highfalutin-mo-fo downtown but it didn't work out, he was too busy for people suffering from the simple croup is my guess. [sidenote, did you know highfalutin is a real word? the internet says so right here.]

i don't know if you know, but usually when you go see an allergist, the first thing the want to do is test to see what you're allergic to [crazy right?]. they tried to be cute & call the little test scratcher thingies "caterpillars" & Z tried to be cool with it, but once gf nurse started scratching the boy was a screaming, twitching mess of tears.

it was SAD.

i'm sure everyone throughout the office was wondering wtf they were doing do that kid; honest, no holds barred screaming. gf nurse went as fast as she could & Z yelled & cried the entire time. when she finished she ran out of the room, probably to cry too [or have a shot of tequila], it was nerve racking!

when she returned to check on him, Z just scowled at her. she brought back-up, to assist in recording the reactions so they could go as fast as possible [or possibly to have a witness that she wasn't beating him].

then the dr came in & relayed the results; a normal allergy scale is 0 to 15 with 7-8 = allergic. then for some reason he said 30 would be "outrageous".
why?
bc Z got a 30 on several grasses
& a 20 on dust mites

then the nurse came back in with 2 vials of meds for Z to stop his reactions, he was getting welts on his back.

as for the croup, the dr wants a blood test saying it could be Z's missing an anti-gen & gave us the regular allergy run down [cover the mattress & pillowcases, get a hepa-filter air purifier for his room, only open Z's bedroom window after dark for fresh air then close before bedtime & claritin daily].

the weekend

saturday Z & I drove down to visit nana, she was waiting for us on the sofa. it took her a few minutes to get to the door to let us in, but she was happy to see us & very talkative. she said she was doing well by herself, that her caregiver accomplished a lot in new abbreviated schedule my uncles have set up.

she had a bowl with some leftover homemade chicken soup near & choices of water, cranberry or orange juice to drink. the caregiver is really doing her best to take care of nana. when i called her to ask if there was anything nana needed, she was over in 5 min & gave me a big ol list of things, then stayed to hang out with nana & Z while i went to the store.

when i came back nana said i bought too much, that i bought the whole store. i didn't know what to say other than if i didn't buy the stuff for her who would? after the last trip it's apparent my uncles feel they are doing their part & letting other things fall by the wayside [things like FOOD] so the rest of the family will chip in.

i called my uncle B a few weeks ago & told him about nana being out of food & he said her refrigerator was stocked when he visited. i informed him that was bc i had just spent over $200 getting stuff for her, that i understood they [the 2 eldest] were paying the brunt of the fees associated with nana however that didn't change the fact that the woman's cupboards where bare & they needed to sign her up for food stamps.

he wasn't too receptive & insisted she was doing fine until i told him every time i go down there i spend anywhere between $100 to $200, that she's eligible for food stamps but i can't sign her up for it bc i don't know her info. not to mention the fact that i'm not allowed to interfere..


after the nana visit, Z & I went to the park to hang out with some friends. it was somewhat planned but i had no idea the turn out was going to be what it was. it was great fun, except for that part where a couple kids fell & had to go to the hospital [thankfully Z was NOT part of that, we've had enough of the ER lately]. it's really nice to get together with high school friends & see all your kids having fun together. Z even found a fellow scrapper!

who's consistent? [report card time]

not me...

Z is though,
& in a good way even!

3 - the student consistently demonstrates mastery of grade level standards
he got 3's on every section of his 2nd trimester report card in math & language arts [which is the reading stuffs].

all the other parts he got S's (satisfactory) except for social studies & reading effort where he got a E's (excellent)!!!!

teacher's note:

Z has done great this trimester. he has shown tremendous growth both in language arts & math. Z came into my class reading at beginning 1st grade & now he's at grade level. in math, he has become quite the mathematician. he loves to participate in class & looks so much more optimistic about his academics. Despite the broken arm, he has been so positive.

yup, he's finally getting that school is not a place to go beat down other kids, it's a learning environment.

perhaps we should have clarified that sooner...

time warp

i don't know where the week went, it's friday already & i didn't post anything in an entire week & now i can hardly remember what i did.

over the weekend we, who am i kidding? B pulled out the bushes that i knew he wouldn't get a chance to work on so i trimmed them what? 2 or 3 weeks ago? don't get me wrong, i'm glad he helped, glad they're out, at least i think i am. after all was said & done i started thinking about the fact that we removed established landscape to have more gardening space....maybe living in the sticks rubbed off on us a tad...something to think about.

monday was the day i went to the car wash 3 times to get 1 truck washed (once) which set the precedence for the day as everything took much longer than it was supposed to! by the time all the necessary things were done, i had a moment to eat & sit for 10 min, then it was time to get Z from school. there's always tomorrow right?

tuesday am i got a call from cousin C that they were in town for a dr visit. they ran a CT scan on him & he is doing so well he doesn't need to return for 10 weeks, that's the longest timeframe they've gotten in 3 years - YAH!!!! i can't even imagine how hard life must be for C.

wednesday i walked out to take Z to school & found my car had a flat tire, too flat to drive on so i took the clean truck.

thursday is lost except for the fact that B noticed another nail in my tire...seriously.

friday i went shopping. with a girl. oh & i failed at that whole noeatingmeatonfridayduringlent deal bc we went to ruby's for lunch & you can not go to ruby's & not eat a cheeseburger...THAT would sacrilege!

then i went & got my stinkin tire fixed, however they accidentily "fixed" the wrong tire, so it took a bit longer than it should have....but that one tire that got fixed on weds, yeah, it's superfixed now.

a simple bath

you know since it was first put i was counting the days until it came off. when i'd sit next to Z i'd try to turn the other way when i breathed in, hoping i wouldn't catch a whiff de arm. only when curiosity was killing me would i take a little sniff, but nothing, nothing, nothing.

i didn't smell anything.
[can you hear angels singing?]

& you know what, even when they took it off nada!
[maybe my sniffer is broken]

i'd been waiting ALL these weeks to get it off & ohmygoshcaniplease wash it but he didn't feel well & i was cooking & baking up a storm & by the time i was done with everything & had a chance to eat & sit for 5 flipping minutes to even think about washing the arm i was covered in puke.

priorities suck.

the next day he still had the fever & he spent the ENTIRE day in the same spot on the sofa [sans cushions that were still drying]. so not only did the little guy have arm that was begging to be washed but i had only wiped the previous night's puke off him. [cps isn't reading this right?]

it wasn't until thursday, no puke, no fever, all kinds of 7yo attitude that he was finally put in the tub. to soak. with clorox, ajax & listerine. for hours. [ok, maybe not that long....]

his arm is still very stiff & he can barely move it, so i washed his hair for him; but it was nice to be able to let him sit in there for a bit & not worry about the arm getting wet. the arm is thinner [expected], hair is darker [not expected], didn't smell at all & is peeling a lot [reminds me of that old 70s movie about the guy that turned into a snake].

finally, a semblance of normal!

B's birthday, the cast & puke....

it would probably be easier to divide this into separate posts...it would be easier for it to occurred on separate days, but that's not how it happened.

for B's birthday Z & I got him a bouquet of flowers & some shirts for school. [i don't know why but the man likes to wear dress shirts to school, but he does & he's lacking, so that's what he got.] he's really burnt out from his classes & wanted to just take an easy day so that's what we did.

then in the afternoon we picked up Z from school [which really was chaos, i got there before school ended, didn't even get into the parking lot, the bell rang so B went & got Z from class & came back to the car where i was still in the same spot!]. beings i was driving it was a few minutes before i asked Z how his day was, when i did i could tell something was wrong & he was on the verge of tears. B told me to leave it alone & when we got to the dr's office he told me the class was really loud & it was bothering Z.

at the dr's office they took off the cast & took xrays; he didn't want to keep his cast & he didn't even care when they told him he didn't need another one [although we were very pleased]. Z was getting sick & had a bit of a fever.

when we got home Z was hungry & off the list of options i gave him, he chose to eat some squash & drank some blue gatorade [you know where this is going right?]. he laid on the sofa & watched the fish tank while i cooked spanish rice & assembled the green chicken enchiladas for B's birthday dinner.

then B came out & they watched some of star wars #4 [or is it #1? stupid prequels...]. after i finished all the dinner stuffs i worked on the flourless chocolate expresso cake [fyi, you don't need flour but you do need chocolate....i had to make up the difference with chips bc i was shy 1 square!]. B & I had dinner, but Z was still not feeling up to it, but he did ask me to come lay down next to him.

he had a bit of a fever so i was wiping his forehead with a damp washcloth when he coughed. he wasn't feeling well so his movements were very slow & he was afraid of hurting the castless arm that before i could get very far or do anything blue liquid with orange squash chunks went flying everywhere.

it amazes me how it doesn't seem like that much when it goes in, but what came out was a LOT; all over Z's jammies, all over my leg & a sofa cushion was completely covered & then he made it to the toilet where he spewed some more. a lot more.

i undressed him, wiped him down as best i could & got my pants off while B dealt with the sofa. we threw everything in the tub where i rinsed the big parts off then we put it all in the washing machine & hoped for the best with the sofa cushion covers.

oh & in the middle of all it i had to make sure i didn't burn the cake too.

then finally when it seemed like Z was done i told him i was going to go put some pants on & he said "yeah" but it was more than just a regular yeah, it was more like "yes woman would you please put some pants on!".

i had Z stay in the bathroom; i sat there with him, read for a bit, eventually he fell asleep. i felt a little bad about him sleeping on the bathroom floor, but then i thought about how often i've slept on the bathroom floor [& i'm not even counting the times that included alcohol!] & figured there could be worse floors...

i know it wasn't the birthday B was expecting, much less hoping for, but you know when you mention the great dinner & chocolate cake, some puking & a woman running around with no pants on; it actually sounds like a great birthday!!!
who needs to know about the details?

no ka-pow

i don't get boys, think they just have this thing where they HAVE to hit something, preferably a person, out of nowhere....but thankfully this time it wasn't Z!

in order to escape the afterschoolparkinglotcraziness i told Z to go to his after school place & i'd just pick him up from there a few minutes later. i got there probably 15 min after school ended, so the craziness was averted & then Z tells me some kid whacked him on the head.

what?
who?
when?
why?
did you start something?
were you arguing about something?

all no, Z said the kid hit him on the head bc he had homework...which doesn't smell quite right, but i asked Z what he did about it & he said he told one of the adults & didn't hit back!

can you say woohoo?
yeah, finally, that's what you're supposed to do kid!

i made it!

I MADE IT!!!
you didn't think i would did you?
yup, four weeks & i did it!

remember?
oh, me making it through the four weeks wasn't the big deal was it? it was really about Z & yeah he made it too.

whatever....

he did quite well, didn't break any other body parts or teeth or anything. tomorrow we go in to have it removed & xrayed, if we're lucky he won't need another one.

the boy has told me he wants his cast off so i can wash his arm for him...i think he may be reading my mind.

[in case you're wondering i do not smell anything about the arm, so clorox dips & listerine soaked cottonballs in the nose were not necessary - YAH! bc i was scared!]

that's not nice

i was putting Z to sleep & he was playing, joking & laughing then he said
Z - "i love you more than Poppa"
me - "that's not nice"
Z - "then i love Poppa more than you"
me - "that's not nice either!!!!"

updated [sorry but i had to, it was so stinkin cute]:
when i went to bed last night i found Z had left a flower on my nightstand; he can be quite the lil charmer!

work stuff

[yeah, i know i'm unemployed & i'm writing about work...whatever]

i still talk with a few people from my old job, the woman they hired to replace me...well, 6 months later girlfriend still doesn't know word or excel.
my old officemate got tired of helping her over & over & i finally let have it & made her cry. which had to be quite a role reversal for officemate, as she was the emotional one & not that she needed help, but she was used to lots of free time [ie, not being the output lead].

even better, i found out old boss from previous job had to hire another person to run the office; not as in a 2nd replacement as in 2 people to the job. i bet he still thinks he overpaid me...

so i had a dream, before i found out about the 2nd replacement, that 1st replacement quit & i had to go back to work for old boss. i don't remember the details...i just remember being there & telling old boss that i didn't want to be there, that's why i quit before, that i was miserable there.
his response was "well she left & you know the job so i don't have to train anyone new so you have to stay".

GEEZ, i was HAPPY when i woke up!