Playin' Catch Up

As usual, I'm behind on my blogging. Where are we on that lobby to add more hours to the day? Who do I see about that? Well, if it's a government office, it'll probably be a long wait, which leads me into the first item of the post...

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Whoop! Whoop! For Whooping Cough!

Yes, our kids have a case of pertussis. Panda had a cough during the week of the fair, but nothing else. No cough medicines where helping to loosen it up or suppress it for sleep, so after the competition (BTW - she finished with 4 blue ribbons and 3 red. Not too shabby!), she went to the doctor. Neither Prudence or I were able to take her, so Oma did. The doctor called it a "100-Day Cough" and told them to go to the local hospital for testing. Once there, she took the test and they were told the samples would be sent to the state lab and it would take 10 days to get the results back. No other instructions. No medications. No nothin' else. When they arrived home and found out how much they DIDN'T know , Prudence called the doctor to ask more questions. We found out it was actually Pertussis (extremely contagious and particularly dangerous for infants and toddlers) and started calling families that Panda had spent any time with. Fortunately it was only 4 families, and all the kids were 7+. But unfortunately it wasn't until late last week that we were able to get medications to treat it. By then, The Boy and Em came down with a cough and had to go in for the test. We'll wait another 10 days for their official diagnosis, but luckily the doctor we saw at Convenient Care saw our need and prescribed a round of antibiotics for all of us. The kids, while doing much better, will still have their coughs for another 80+ days and be contagious until Wednesday, but since Prudence, Oma, and I have shown no effects from the disease, we've been released to the general public.

But if the government really wanted to control this infectious disease, I'd think they'd want to have a quicker turn-around time than 10 days (we've read your contagious for about 14 days, so by the time you get into the doctor, get the results back, its too late to do anything) and have a method to get those possibly infected medication ASAP. Am I off base on this?

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Prudence Update

She's probably 60-75% to normal. She's sleeping on her side for portions of the night, but the results of her surgery are still waking her up. They said it would be 6-8 weeks before she'd be completely healed and it's been 3, so she's pretty much on target or ahead of the curve! Yea!

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Has Anyone Out There Lost Any Weight?

If you have, stop looking for it. I know where it is :( With all the fantastic meals from Oma and friends from church, I've put on 5-7lbs depending on the time of day I weigh in. The past few days have been beautiful here in central Illinois, and I've been trying to take advantage of them with bike rides with the kids. But tonight's stop at the local ice cream establishment may sideline my progress. I just hope I don't have to grow much beyond 9ft to meet my ideal body mass index...

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One Less Mama in the House...

Oma left today after 3+ weeks. She was a HUGE help to Prudence and I! The kids had a great visit with her! And I she made all of my favorite "Oma" meals (thus the reason for my recent weight finds)!

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But Before She Left...

...Prudence and I were able to squeeze in 2 movie nights with free babysitting! Last weekend we saw Superman Returns. I had high hopes for this movie, but it fell on its face. To start with, the explanation (or lack thereof) of why Superman had been gone for 5 years in space (Did he eat/breath in space?) left a lot to be desired. Then it seemed that Brandon Routh was playing Christopher Reeve playing Superman. Too many layers to look genuine. I tired of all the long looks between Lois and Superman and Richard (the significant other since Supes was gone). And if I saw Jason (Lois' 5 year old son - special emphasis on "5 year") looking like pathetic Frodo Baggins with an inhaler, I think I'd have stabbed HIM with a Kryptonite stake! This went on for 2 1/2 hours! Only the special effects redeemed the time. Superman flying was cool, and so was his heat vision. But why did he have to go to the edge of space with everything? Uuuuggghhhh! This was not the Superman I grew up reading...

But our movie season was redeemed somewhat by World Trade Center. I really didn't want to see this movie when it was first announced because the subject matter was still to fresh and raw, and I was unsure how Oliver Stone would approach this world changing event. And much like watching Titanic, we knew how it would end. But after I read Sue's review (she's now vaulted past Roger Ebert and Richard Roper as trusted voices - thanks, Sue!), it occurred to me that we needed to see it more than Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (there's always DVD). Stone did a great job storytelling. He parked his politics at the door and told the story straight from the hearts of the 2 men rescued from the rubble. He pulled at the heart strings, but not with the images of that day that we're all so familiar with. The attacks on the buildings, and their subsequent destruction, were only referenced by what the men would have seen or heard that day. No big special effects. Just rumor, sound, and vibration. But it was just as effective. And much more real. The scenes of the men in the rubble and the reflections on their lives at what they thought might be the end caused me and others to think about what's truly important. And the themes of men and women pulling together in the face of incredible adversity will ring true for ages to come. Now I can't wait until Panda can see it. She was only 7 when it happened and couldn't put everything in perspective. But next year at 13, this movie will help.

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Lastly

My mowing jobs have picked up. The regular rains we've had keep me mowing my 3 regular lawns every 5-6 days. This week I've picked up the across the street. They're celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary on a cruise to Alaska - how cool is that (55th AND Alaska) - and won't be back for 2 weeks. In addition, its my turn again for our church's lawn. And again, the person who mowed before me mowed early last week meaning that the grass is long now and will be long again by Sunday, so it'll need 2 mowings this week. Its a good thing I have a 6GB MP3 player...

And I HAVE to write a post for Wednesday. If I don't, I'll have to wait a whole year!. G, I know I promised the first story from The Butterfly House would be "The Label Maker", but it can't be helped. This story is that important! Well, maybe it's just important in my head. I'll let you be the judge when you read it. But if you can guess what it might involve, I'll send you a free MP3 that relates to the story. If only I could send you the ACTUAL MP3, but I'm getting ahead of myself...

Have a great Tuesday everyone! See you back here on Wednesday!

Thank you, thank you vera much.