Pink Asparagus

Dear Parent,

Congratulations!! Your children have recurrent ear infections. What’s that you say? It’s only early November? Why yes it is, and because you’re such an early adopter you are rewarded with extra trips to the doctor!! Fortunately for you, all your doctors are in the same practice so your kids’ charts are centrally recorded. Phew.

Remember how stressed you were the last time your kids had tubes put in their ears? YOU GET TO EXPERIENCE THAT AGAIN!! Few people get to have that special experience more than once. You are indeed lucky. And while it is a very common procedure that many children undergo every year, don’t forget to read the fine print about the general anesthesia. As an added bonus to this year’s offering, your children can have their tubes put in at the same time!

In case you have forgotten there are some qualifying rules for general anesthesia: no food or drink 12 hours before surgery and children tend to be disoriented and well, unpleasant after they wake up. Yes, yes – we know it’s hard to tell your own flesh and blood NO FOOD for breakfast when they are STARVING. But that’s what it’s all about when you’re the lucky recipient of two kids with teeny tiny eustachian tubes.

To collect on this wonderful, not-once-in-a-lifetime experience please start calling your ENT, your kids’ primary care doctor and the insurance company. Don’t forget! They’re leaving for two weeks next week and you wouldn’t want to send them to grandma’s with raging ear infections.

Good luck!!

hat tip: Painted Maypole via Taking What Is Left

The ground is brown and our trees are bare; there’s no snow on the ground. Given that dull landscape I decided to look back six months ago and see what we were up to.

While I can’t say what we were up to, I can say that Audrey’s pants weren’t up to her belly button.

That would not awesome for all the non-dorks out there.

You know what’s not awesome? Ear infections. Ear infections in both kids. Ear infections in both kids for the second time in a month. Ear infections after 10 days of augmentin and 4 pairs of panties that just had to be tossed in the trash.

Not. Awesome.

Hi, Haiku Friday
Did you miss me? Oh, don’t cry.
It’s NaBloPoMo

I didn’t realize how tired I was, how stressed out, how on-edge. When I wasn’t listening to NPR I was surfing CNN or HuffPost or MOMocrats. But last night? Last night I went to bed when the kids did. And I slept a peaceful sleep. This morning, I gripped the steering wheel a little less and there were tunes instead of news coming out of my radio. That’s not to say I’m reverting back to my head in the sand ways, but it’s nice to be able to relax on my way to work instead of inventorying my house for my move to Canada.

This morning, this is what lifted my spirits.

If you need more music, Wreke’s theme for NaBloPoMo is Blatantly Bad 70s Music.

No ma’am, He’s a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.

“I wanted to see the next vice president of the United States,” said Josh Simmons, Gators for McCain chairman.

Simmons said he voted for Obama about two weeks ago.

“I’ve seen a different John McCain than the one I signed up to work for,” he said.

So, while we’re celebrating our victories (and in Colorado there is a lot of blue) remember that your neighbor’s, your friend’s, you mother’s candidate may not have won. And heed President-elect Obama’s words when he says

and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.  As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, “We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.”

I don’t often post more than once per day. And given it’s NaBloPoMo I shouldn’t be blowing my wad all at once. I was going to post this tomorrow, but I think it’s needed today.

I wonder if what I feel now is the feeling of being a part of history in the making.

Go. Vote.

I do not love John McCain. Elliot and I were at the county’s Obama campaign HQ and he was wearing his Obama t-shirt. He told one of the women there that it “has Rock-a-bama’s name on the back. And we don’t like John McCain.” Phew, good thing he cleared that up. Not that I’ve been fervent. I really haven’t. He just knows that we like Obama and we don’t like McCain.

I love me some 80s music. You know who else has great taste in music? John Cusack. I mean, look at High Fidelity. He and his screenwriting partners listened to over 20,000 songs to come up with the few songs used in the movie. Have you read the book? It’s good. I’ve enjoyed all of Nick Hornby‘s books that I’ve read. Maybe after today I’ll be able to read again.

Swoon.

Read more »

Welcome to a rant politics-free post. Sort of amazing given the day and all.

The weekend before last we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park and Elliot brought along my old camera. He took a lot of pictures in the car. If this is going to be a regular occurance, I’ll need to buy a memory card for that camera. When I got a new camera I took the memory card out. Now you can take 32 pictures. Or some number much too small for a buding artist. Fortunately, I was a good assistant and deleted the crap noise allowing him to continue shooting.

It’s hard to tell but there are deer in the 4th picture. Audrey kept calling them goats. And when we did see goats? She was asleep.

In other earth shattering news, the Switch Witch came to our house Saturday night leaving gifts in exchange for the kids’ candy. Elliot was impressed that she would know he likes Lego. Audrey got two Halloween clearance toys and a car I had in my closet that I bought as a potty present or some other what-not. My co-workers will be thrilled I am sure. Well, maybe not so much since we’ve already scavenged for the good stuff and now it’s a bowl of skittles. What am I saying? They’re code monkeys, they’ll eat anything. No offense if I’m talking about you. You!? I love your code, it’s elegant and succinct. It’s everyone else’s that’s unmaintainable. No, really.

I cannot get into One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Every time I think of it I think I am reading Hocus Pocus, which I am not. For the longest time they sat next to one another on the book shelf. And the versions I have are similarly colored and font type is similar. I think I read them both for the same class. Whatever. I am not getting into it.

So.

1. Do I stick it out? I am only about 50 pages in.
2. Do I put it back on the shelf and rent the movie, I mean I have read skimmed it before.
3. Do I set it aside and come back to it after I have hallucinogenic drugs available. Damnit, thinking of Hocus Pocus again.

Help me.

Denver hosts an annual book club of sorts, Thin Man is this year’s choice. Our local NPR station (is it NPR if it’s a local station?) has been broadcasting it as a radio drama. Maybe I want to read that? I read Maltese Falcon, so I’m not entirely unfamiliar with the genre.

I just remembered, I tried reading Sin in the Second City and put it down too. Gah. Can I not concentrate? I am blaming the election. I will get my brain back after the election. Unless McCain is elected. Then I won’t have time for leisure reading. I’ll be too busy packing my house to move to Canada.

Honestly? I feel like anything serious or thoughtful or meaningful will be lost on me currently. So, maybe David Sedaris like Pamela suggested in July?