Sucking on Meat All Day

I've felt like crap the last 5 days. I get this headache and then my blood sugar skyrockets. I went to my 31 week OB appointment two days ago and my blood pressure was elevated, but nothing to really worry about. I had a 3D ultrasound and actually got to see our little baby boy's face! It was incredible.

So now I am working my last Thursday night at the library before the baby is born. I have our Christmas party tomorrow night to attend - just the 10 librarians in my department - then I work all day Saturday. Then I am done working til after the baby arrives.

I've been running around like crazy - carting Ricky to and from pre-school, errands, and various doctor appointments for me and him. Not to mention the loads of housework that never seems to get done. It's kind of hard to get the rest the doctor wants me to get.

Today I took Ricky to the allergist for the second part of his testing. He shrieked when they put 18 samples of animals and the environment onto his skin. He squirmed in pain so much it drew blood. I felt so sorry for him. It actually made me almost cry to see my baby in so much pain and I felt like a jerk restraining him. So now we know he's allergic to peanuts and any type of nut, mild allergy to milk, bad allergy to dogs, cats, and dust mites. Also mold, pollen, ragweed, etc.

So we have to get rid of his curtains and his stuffed animals - with the exception of one or two favorites which I have to throw in the washing machine in hot water every week! I have a feeling his Pajama Snoopy is going to look pretty pathetic in just a matter of time! We also have to buy special pillow and mattress covers for his bed. Poor kid - needs to live in a bubble. He will need to take Zyrtec every single day.

The other day I baked Nestle tollhouse cookies for his class because I was going to be room mom for the day. I baked them with the chocolate chips and added flour, sugar, butter and the usual stuff and popped them in the oven. I gave Ricky one to taste-test and he immediately told me his tongue and throat were burning and dropped the cookie. I checked the bag of chocolate chips and sure enough, it said, "processed on the same equipment as peanuts." UGH. I gave the poor kid benadryl right away. This means we have to read everything we give him in the house. We have to tell his school, his friends, our family - and anyone who may give him anything to eat. This is kind of scary.

So anyway, I am sitting at work and starving for a snack but everything I want to reach for is a sweet or a carbohydrate. So what do I get to snack on? A hunk of meat or a vegetable?? Yuuuuuuuuccccccckkkkkkk.....

Did You Ever Keep a Journal? CRINGE Edited By Sarah Brown

I kept a diary since the first grade up until I was about 24 years old. I was drawn to this book on the left because it has little excerpts from various individual's journals and it's so entertaining to see all the teenage angst that took place during the 80s.

We're in between houses right now but I think it would be funny if I posted an entry here and there from my journals. My parents separated when I was 12 and finally divorced 4 years later so I buried myself in writing to deal with everything around me. I hated my high school and only had a few friends. I dressed in all black all the time because that's how I felt comfortable - not to mention went along with my musical tastes. I always wonder if I should shred my journals because if something ever happened to me, I would die if my sons ever read them. My journals recalled the tales of all my "firsts" and things I did that I'm not too proud of.

Anyway, if you are in your late 20s or 30s and want a good laugh, pick up this book. It's a quick read and is just for fun.

Newsflash: I am an Ass Facker

So tonight I'm sitting at the AV desk (dvds, cds, audiobook section) at the library, minding my own business and chatting with my co-worker. This blonde-haired 6 year old boy comes up to my desk and hands me a note folded in half. He is smiling and is kind of cute.

I open the note. It says all in capital letters:

"YOU ASS FACKER"

My first instinct was to laugh and I did, very hard. But then I thought, this kid just handed the librarian a mean note. I thought that if Ricky had done this, I would want to know about it. I approached his mother and gave her the note and told her that he had given it to me. She made him apologize but didn't seem angry at all. It was an "oh my" kind of thing. That's just great. No wonder why he gets away with doing things like this. His older brothers thought it was hilarious too.

Do I look like an ass facker????

The Halloween Scrooge

I know Halloween to totally over but I was really annoyed over the weekend when I heard a story about a Michigan woman who denied trick-or-treaters their treats if they were Obama supporters. I mean, I understand how passionate people can be when it comes to religion and politics, but I have to say this lady needs to loosen up a bit. Halloween is for all children (and adults too) - no matter who they think the next president should be.

Batman and Kit Kats

This Halloween was a strange one. This was the first year in several that we didn't have our adult halloween party. It was a tough decision to make - but given my weird health issues, we didn't want to host a party and then I crack ribs from coughing! The other weird thing is that we would usually take Ricky to my mom's and my aunt's to trick or treat - but they are all in New York City seeing a cancer specialist for my aunt's cancer. Things with that actually went very well - so that is a relief for now.

I was room mom at Ricky's preschool for their halloween party. I dressed up as a fat, pregnant cat. I could have borrowed my sister's nun costume, but showing up as a pregnant nun to a Catholic school would probably have been frowned upon - even though I would have enjoyed it.

Even though I just had to bring the drink for their snack, I decided to bake my usual sugar cookies. For the past few years, I've baked sugar cookies for Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. It's pretty labor intensive but I really enjoy it. But this time, being pregnant, tired, and having a 3 year old who wants to "help" made my once relaxing and enjoying activity a really stressful one. It's my own fault - I didn't have to do it but I know that if I weren't pregnant I'd be doing it so by golly, it had to be done. I didn't have the energy to frost eyes on the bats and ghosts but I really didn't care in the end. It was a miracle I even baked in the first place.

Ricky was Batman as you can see. And miraculously, he kept the mask on at school the whole time and kept it on while trick-or-treating the whole time. Given that he wouldn't keep the teddy bear hat with ears on his head when he was 2, this is a huge improvement! The weather was perfect.

Mark came home early for work and the three of us were able to trick-or-treat up and down our street for a few hours. Ricky got better and better at approaching strangers, saying thankyous and looked like a regular kid running from house to house by the end of it. Since he has a nut allergy, I had to separate about 45% of his loot because the candies contained peanuts or "may contain" nuts. I feel bad for the kid - those Reese's peanut butter cups are the best!! He's missing out on those!! The poor kid also woke up with swollen itchy eyes - I guess walking around for a few hours woke up more of his allergies. A lot of people own dogs and I'm sure he was exposed to the dander in little bits when they opened their doors.

The one thing that I can't understand is where the heck are all the kids???? I stopped buying oodles of candy and this year I only bought 2 HUGE bags - worried I would run out. Well we left a bowl outside with a note saying "take 5" and it wasn't empty when we came home. Then our doorbell rang just 3 times after that. It was a friday night too - not a school night. We live 2 blocks away from a school in Chicago for god's sake.

Overheard tidbits from Ricky:

(A woman dropped 4 kit kats in Ricky's bag -his favorite)

"Thank you!! Dr. Verges said that I can eat LOTS and LOTS of kit kats!!!!"

um no she didn't

(A woman answered the door with a VERY large dog. She says Ricky must be afraid of him)

"No, I am not afraid of your dog. I am ALLERGIC to your dog!!"

(A woman drops candy in Ricky's bag and mentions that it has nuts or peanuts in it.)

"Well I can't have any candy with nuts!! I'm allergic to nuts!!"

crap. forgot to tell him to just say thank you and leave and not mention the nut thing to people.