It Is Done

The tonsils are out. Lana woke up a bit earlier than was expected from the anesthsia, so she woke in the recovery room before Husband and I were back there. She freaked out and they had to give her three doses of morphine and I had to climb on the gurney with her to help her calm down.

She has been taking liquids and popsicles, and this evening ate a little mac'n'cheese and some ramen noodles and two bites of banana. I suspect it's going to be a long couple of days. But I'm hopeful that once she is healed she will be able to breathe and swallow much more easily.

I'm going to catch some sleep while I can.

LM

And what did he mean by this?

The cake and ice cream have been eaten. The gifts have been unwrapped. The in-laws have come and gone.

Lana is asleep and Gabe is trying to fall asleep. (I swear that child has been fighting sleep since day 1.)

I thought all was well in my house.

And then I walked into my bedroom. And I was hit with the distinct smell of...

Well, there's no delicate way to say this.

The distinct smell of POO.

We had shut the cats away in our bedroom for a few hours because Husband's uncle is allergic.

They were only in there for two hours.

TWO.

But it seems one of them had to poo. That I can understand. I don't like it, but...when you've got to go, you've got to go.

So, I called Husband to come help me search the bedroom for the poo I assumed the cat would have hidden somewhere.

But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I don't think this poo was just a poo.

This poo was a message. And the message was pretty clearly one of extreme unhappiness.

Because it ON MY PILLOW.

Little rat b*stard.

I might have to sanitize the entire room...

LM

It all started nine years ago...*

Yesterday ,was Gabriel's birthday. I cannot believe he is nine years old.



It was snowing quite a bit yesterday, just as it was on that morning nine years ago, when we first saw his little face. He wanted to open his presents at 10:00 AM exactly, which is the time he was born. I thought that was kind of adorable.



(Lana asked me what time SHE was born and it made me sad to have to tell her I didn't know.)



We had a party for 8 of his buddies at a Lazer Tag place, and last night my parents invited everybody over for dinner, for a Happy Birthday Gabe, A~, and J~ (two of his cousins who also have had birthdays in the past couple of weeks, and a Bon Voyage for my aunt and uncle, who are returning to Africa next Saturday. (My uncle is a missionary doctor).

It was loud and chaotic (it always is loud and chaotic at my parent's house when we descend on the house we grew up in, and last night only four of the six of us siblings were there.) (My other two brothers live several hours away, so we don't see them as much.) (Incidentally, my mother has a piece of advice for those of you raising large families. She says that there will come a time, fairly soon into your children's adulthood, when you realize it is not physically possible to fit all of your children and their families around a single table. Don't feel bad or guilty about the fact that having your entire family over for dinner means that you have to spread dinner over three rooms and several tables.) (My mom is top notch when it comes to making something delicious to feed 35 people. She more trouble finding recipes for 2, now that she and my step-dad are on their own. I think that's kind of funny.)

Well, I am having all of my in-laws over in a few hours for lunch, for Gabe's birthday, so I need to get busy on the cake.


LM




*Paula Cole, I Believe In Love

I wonder, where are you tonight? Are you painting the town while I just sit around?*

I've been MIA, forgive me. I did write a post yesterday, but evidently Blogger ate it.



A plague seems to have set upon my house. Husband and Lana have both been running fevers for many, many days. There was one night when I only 4 hours of sleep and...that next day was a very bad day.


I don't think I have mentioned here that Lana is scheduled to have her tonsils and adenoids removed next Friday. I'm worried that they will not be able to take them out next week because they are so inflamed from her current illness. (Her tonsils are enormous. Huge. Like golfballs in the back of her throat. They are affecting her swallowing and her breathing and her speech. And I suspect that they are making her current feverishness worse.)



Between being very busy at work and sick kid and sick husband, I don't have a lot of energy to write. But I'm still breathing, still here. Hopefully I'll have something interesting to say, quite soon.



LM



*Aretha Franklin, I Wonder

Quote of the Day from Lana

Lana says: "I hate penguins. Penguins are stupid. I like monkeys much more better."

That's all. That's all I've got today.

LM

In Which the Gloves Come Off and I Say Some Things I Might Regret Later

I am in a bad mood right now. This morning, I had to read through some reports regarding one of my cases that involved one party doing something so heinous to another party that I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I read it.

So, I preface this by saying...I'm not in a good mood. I am horrified by the freakishly cruel things that people do to people they are supposed to love. I try not to let it make me jaded, so it tends to make me angry.

And right now, my anger, rather than being directed at the party who deserves it (because I have to maintain professional distance) - my anger has found another outlet....and here it goes.

I am reading this article right now, and I want to wring Nadya Suleman's (aka The Octuplet Mom) neck.

First, she says she's never been on welfare....BUUUUUUUUUUUUUT she gets food stamps. ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND the hospital has billed Medi-Cal for the expenses of the birth and the care of the 8 babies? Huh??? HUH???? WTF????

The people of California have to pay for this lunacy??????????????

Now, when my niece was born, all by herself, a singleton birth, eleven weeks early, she had to spend a very long time in the hospital, and we were very worried that she wouldn't make it (she just turned 14 years old, happily) - it was very, very expensive, her neonatal intensive care. I'm not sure HOW expensive, but it was EXPENSIVE and it was paid for by my sister's health coverage that she had through her husband's employment. So I have some personal knowledge of how much it costs to keep a preemie alive, and how much work it is to keep a preemie alive, and how much, as a family, you do not THINK ABOUT how much it costs to keep a preemie alive, because, in that time, your mind is trying very hard not to think about the fact that without all this machinery and doctors and nurses and techs, this baby, this dearly loved and wanted and hoped for baby, this baby who fits in the PALM OF YOUR HAND, will die.

My point is, I'm not a monster. I don't begrudge these babies the cost of keeping them alive. So, please don't think that's what I'm saying. Let me make that very clear. I do not begrudge these babies a thing. They are here now, and breathing and children of God. I hope they live long, healthy lives. And that they don't carry on the insanity of their mother.

What I begrudge is that their mother did this to them on purpose. She DID IT ON PURPOSE. Even knowing the risks of having SIX (allegedly) embryos implanted, she DID IT ANYWAY. And now the people of California will pay boatloads of money to keep these eight babies alive, when, if she had had them implanted one or two at a time, WOULD NOT BE NECESSARY. (Okay, sure, based on this woman's track record, probably Medi-Cal would be paying for each of those births, but probably not to the tune of 1.5 million.)

What I begrudge is that she insists she isn't getting welfare. What does she think food stamps are?? I KNOW that times are hard, and I know that there are a lot of people in this country who are hungry who need food stamps, who depend on them for their continued health and well-being, because it is hard to feed four people (or five or six) on minimum wage. And I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that a woman who had $100,000 (A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS) to have fertility treatments somehow DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO FEED THE CHILDREN SHE ALREADY HAS. I have to believe that there are families in California who are more deserving of that $490/month in assistance, which this woman doesn't even recognize as ASSISTANCE.

I begrudge the fact that she would actually say that "God will provide in his own way" (article here) when asked how she will feed these babies. Because it sure wasn't God who got her pregnant with EIGHT babies, and it sure feels like the people of California will be supplying much of their food.

And then we have this article, which suggests that I am angry with this woman because I am JEALOUS. Which, just...wow. That makes me think my head might actually explode.

I am not jealous of a woman with ten children under the age of 2. I think that having ten children under the age of 2 will be a special kind of hell compromised of horrifying sleep deprivation and a never-ending tidal wave of unavoidable bodily fluids.

So, no, I am not jealous. I am angry that anyone would look at this bumblef**k of arrogance, stupidity, greed, and hubris and call it a miracle. It's not a miracle - it's a travesty.

LM

You Look FABULOUS

Apparently, my blog is fabulous.

No, for real. I know this because Bunny's Mom said so, and that girl? She knows her fabulousness. She is, like, the essence of fabulous. So, thank you, Kelley, for making me feel fabulous today!

Now here are the rules for this award:

1. Pass it on to 5 fabulous blogs, and include the one that gave it to you (and link them).

2. List 5 of your fabulous addictions…..

There are lots of blogs that I think are fabulous, but I'm limited to five, so, here are some of my favorites:

1. MAM at Groucho's Family - I have met her in real life, and she listens to me blather on regularly in emails both short and long, and I can assure you that she is, in fact, fabulous

2. Laura at Our Valentine's Day Treat - Laura makes me laugh, and think, and laugh some more. But, if you are reading the post she wrote today, do not have coffee in your mouth. Or soda. You have been warned.

3. Kelly at Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds - Kelly takes fabulous photos of her fabulous kids, she is, absolutely fabulous.

4. Christina at Mrs. Broccoli Guy - Christina was one of the first people I 'met' on-line, and we waited for Zeeb and Lana together, and I don't think I would have survived that wait without her.

5. Elaine at Looking For George - Elaine is another blogger I have met in real life, and her blog is funny, and often thought provoking, and, well, fabulous!

My five fabulous addictions:

1. Music - I love to listen to music, all kinds of music, and I hate to be far away from my Zune

2. Books - I am a bookworm, I love to read

3. Things that are RED - you know that Sears commercial, where the woman gets really excited about the red washing machine? Yeah...that's me. I love red. If an item is made in red, I want it. In red.

4. Purses - especially...red purses. (See above)

5. Veronica Mars (if it is possible to be addicted to a show that went off the air in 2007). I have all three seasons of the DVDs, and I watch them pretty regularly. It's my go-to DVD choice when I am feeling down/stressed/freaked, etc.

LM