Idiot, Don’t Leave Your Kid Alone!

November 27, 2009 at 2:05 pm | In Miscellaneous Crap, The Crap that Men Do | Leave a Comment
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This post is dedicated (maybe directed is a better word) to the idiot who left his young child in a stroller outside a convenience store alone this morning.  Yes, I said alone.

In this day and age you don’t leave your kids alone for a second, let alone outside a store by themselves.  What’s wrong with you??

The child was in an umbrella stroller so he would have to be no more than 3.  For some reason, it was impossible inconvenient impossible for the idiot dedicated Father idiot to take the child inside.

Alex and I were walking with Lexy to school this morning because she was being honoured with an award (two in fact, yay Lexy!!).  As we got out of our car, I could hear this child calling to whomever was inside the store. I kept watching him as we walked very slowly towards the crosswalk (about 10 feet from us).  Eventually a man emerged from the convenience store and obviously the kid knew him so he was happy.  The two of them walked off in the opposite direction, oblivious to what had just happened.

Has this guy not been reading the papers lately about abduction?  Does he figure the area is perfectly safe?  Did he think that just because he’d only be a minute, this was acceptable.  Maybe he didn’t want his son to see him buy cigaretts or papers, I don’t know.  Hello?? Am I the only one outraged here?

We didn’t cross the street until the man (supposedly the child’s parent) returned.  I wanted to keep an eye on the child in case someone was up to no good.  I can’t run, but I can scream and I have a cell phone and big (albiet, sick) guy standing beside me.  If he was grabbed, maybe we could have prevented it.

All the time we stood watching the child, I half expected a teenager to come out of the store, not a full grown man.  At least a teenager could have the excuse of being a teenager and therefore not responsible for thinking.  But an adult?  What is wrong with you??

I’m glad it turned out ok, but heaven help him if it didn’t, then how would he feel?  Idiot.

I know there is a very slim chance of this guy actually reading this post, but I hope he does because then he’ll finally realize what he is.  An idiot.

Grrr..r.r.rr.

Ain’t Love a Kick in the Head?

November 23, 2009 at 9:56 pm | In CKD, Daddy-O, Family Ties, Kidney Disease, The Crap that Men Do | 2 Comments
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We cleared the final pre-transplant hurdle today.  During the Summer, Alex had a Thallium Isotope test to check out his heart and it came back with an indication that there was some damage.  The test “revealed” that part of his heart was not receiving oxygen.  This could have been a major setback.  However, the Doctors felt that the test was “inaccurate” due to a number of things:

a) They had to use Thallium instead of Molybdenum (thank you AECL!)
b) he had just come out of ICU
c) his body was going a little nutso trying to heal itself

His Cardiologist also said that if the test had been correct and that his heart was as damaged as it “appeared” to be, he would have had to have been treated for it already or would have been dead.  So, we had a strong indication that the test was incorrect.

He was sent to St. Mike’s today to undergo a Cardio Chemical Stress Test.  Basically this means that they fill him full of drugs to make his heart think he’s running on a treadmill when he’s really not.  They said there might be some complications.  Here’s how his day went:

  • We got there at 1:00.
  • His test was booked for 2:00.
  • They took him in close to 2:30.
  • Around 3:30 the Doctor came to tell me they couldn’t get the IV in.  (Lately Alex has had problems with his veins, the needles tend to go right through instead of into.  They are very fragile.  Four different Doctors jabbed him trying to find a vein.  They had to page the Phlebotomist and ten seconds after she appeared, she had the IV hooked up.)
  • They finally pumped him full of drugs, the first to get his heart rate up and the second to get it “excited”.
  • His blood pressure shot up to 240/170.  Normal is 120/80. 
  • He got a splitting headache, which he equated to the pain I had when I had the “stroke” (Eclampsia) after Lexy was born and the blood vessels in my brain ruptured.  If that’s the case, I’m so sorry honey that must really hurt.
  • He said as soon as the drugs went into his body and he could feel the rapid beat of his heart, it felt like someone was banging a drum with a sledgehapper inside his head to the same rhythm as his heart.
  • It took him twice as long as normal to recover from this test.
  • We finally left after 5:00 (this was only supposed to take an hour, it took four).  Thank goodness I had my iPod with me (I watched “Coraline“, played countless games of Gin and Euchre while listening to a lot of music!).
  • I thought he was going to pass out on the train platform.  At one point, his eyes rolled upward and his eyelids closed, he was pale, in excruciating pain and just wanted to be in bed.  I so wish he didn’t have to go through this.

The good news is that the Cardiologist said that he is going to recommend that they proceed with the Transplant.  They just want to get his blood pressure stable first, as it’s still high but normal for him (150/90 range constantly).  The test today was our last hurdle.  His Dad has been cleared as a donor.  Alex is being cleared as we speak.

Maybe Christmas is really coming.

I have been reading a blog that I found when trying to find some more information on Kidney Transplants.  It is called My New (Transplanted) Kidney.  It is written by a man named Allan who lives in British Columbia.  He found out he had Polycystic Kidney Disease and was about a year away from Dialysis.  His Brother-in-law donated his kidney in a kidney swap and this in turn gave Allan a new kidney this past July.  It’s a pretty scary (as in learning the real truth) blog site, but it has been an eye opener.  The thing I really like about it is that he holds nothing (and I really do mean nothing) back.  He writes what is “numbers” are at each blood test.  He showed a picture of his incision site.  It is really informative and helpful.  It helps to see what we will and could be facing.  Thanks Al for your blog, please keep it up if you are able.  I wish you the best in your recovery.

Kudos to Al’s Brother-in-Law for his altruistic, selfless act.

Kudos to Alex’s Dad for the same reason.

Kudos to everyone who has (or will) donated an organ.  Organ donations save lives.  Please support the green ribbon campaign.  Please sign your donor card.

Well, It Worked…

November 22, 2009 at 9:24 am | In Caityisms, Family Ties, Miscellaneous Crap | Leave a Comment
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Both girls were playing upstairs yesterday, each in their own room – tragedy usually ensues when they play together in one room for some reason.  I went upstairs to get Cait so we could go out shopping.  Her light was on and her door was closed and I could hear her playing in her room.

I opened the door, “Hi, Mommy!”.  I said “Hi Cait”.

“Um Cait?  What’s this doing in here?” I said pointing to her Potty which is now in her room.

“I stand on it, turn on light Mommy!” she said happily.

Her Potty is normally kept in the downstairs Powder Room as we spend 97% of our awake time on the lower level of the house.

Somehow, without me hearing her, Caity dragged this Potty from the lower level, all the way up to her room.  She knew enough that it would give her the extra height she needed to reach the light switch.

Now if I can just get her to Pee in her Potty, that would be something!

Zhu Cost Me Too Much Kid!

November 21, 2009 at 1:39 pm | In All Things Doodle, Family Ties, Miscellaneous Crap | Leave a Comment
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Have you seen these yet?

awwww so cute!

That is “Pipsqueak” the Zhu Zhu Pet Hamster.  They are too cute.  Toys R Us apparently had them for sale online today but were online 1 second and “available” to put in the basket, but between the time of clicking to add to the basket and actually getting to the basket, it was “unavailable”.  They were on sale for $12.99 which is probably why they went so fast.

I however, bought not one, but two on eBay.  I won’t say how much because I am so embarrassed at the things I do for my kids and my credit card got a workout.  I will, however mention that they’re coming from the U.S.  I got Pipsqueak and Mr. Squiggles.

Pipsqueak is described as:  “She may be sweet and small, but this petite powerhouse isn’t afraid of anything.”  They have two modes, a “Loving Mode” where they squeak and chatter when you pet them and an “Explore Mode” where they ‘learn’ about their environment.  Each has its own personality and act like real hamsters.  I’m sure they’ll drive me and the cats crazy in no time…

This is how a hamster works

I know.  I know.  I can’t believe I fell for it either, but I think I’ll have a happy little kid at Christmas.  Now we just need the accessories for it … sheesh.

If you find any of these in the stores, grab them and sell them on eBay.  You’ll make a fortune.  Merry Christmas!

P.S. … don’t tell my Husband please!

How’s This For a Pick Me Up?

November 16, 2009 at 8:01 pm | In Caityisms | Leave a Comment
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Caity, quite possibly the cutest kid ever, just came into the Family Room singing, with her hands clasped together under her chin and rocking her head back and forth:

“Misser Sun, Sun, Misser Golden Sun, peas sine down on meeeeee.
Misser Sun, Misser Golden Sun, peas sine down on meeeeee.
Misser Sun, Misser Golden Sun, peas sine down on meeeeee.
Misser Sun, Sun, Misser Golden Sun, peas sine down on, pease sine down on, pease sine down on meeeeee.”

After the grump I was in today, I needed this.

There is a downside to this cuteness however, I seem to have misplaced her off switch.  She’s repeating this song over and over and over again….

I said “Caity, who taught you that song?”

Caity:  “Meeeee!”

Well that clears up everything.  Thanks kid. ;-)

Right now  she’s busy “getting” Daddy.  “I’m going to get you Buddy!” she shouts after Daddy as she chases him down the hallway.  He slows down enough to let her catch him sometimes.  “I’ve got you Daddy!  You’re Twapped!” She giggles.

They’re cute together.

Scrooge Lives Here

November 14, 2009 at 9:55 pm | In All Things Doodle, Caityisms, Family Ties | Leave a Comment
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*Update*

We raised some money, everyone attending will pay $10 per child to attend and the rest we’re hiding in the expense report system as “office supplies”.

At least the kids will see Santa this year :)

———————

My work cancelled our Kids’ Christmas party.  We had 23 kids signed up at a local bouncy castle place.  Santa was coming.  There was going to be pizza, pop and a small gift for each child.  The kids could have had their pictures taken with Santa.  It would have cost us a grand total of $600.  A $77 Billion company has to cancel a Kids party over $600 measly bucks.  That’s really sad.  Morale around the office is pretty bad right now, but this makes it worse.  They had cancelled our adult party and everyone was ok with that because no one wanted to go.  The boss wanted a sit down dinner dance.  There’s maybe 90 of us.  In previous years, we’ve always had a cocktail party where you could wander around to talk to different people, snarf down delicious appetizers and get snackered.  Sit down dinner dances, which are only good if you have numbers in the hundreds, went out in the 90’s – but then our boss still refers to us women as Secretaries, so go figure.  He’s stuck in a time warp.

I told Lexy yesterday that the party had been cancelled.   She immediately began to cry.  “No Santa??” she tearfully asked me.  I felt like Scrooge. 

IMG_1430

Ok Mr. Boss man.  You tell this little face she won’t get to see “Ho-Ho” this year.  The above picture was Caity at Hallowe’en by the way, dressed up as a Faerie, she was so cute hugging her Magic Wand.

The kids had a great time last year, except Caity was terrified of Santa.  “Noooooo Ho-Ho Momma!” she kept yelling at me, trying to crawl up my shoulder.  Lexy, however, being the more materialistic of the two, tried to become his best friend.

_DSC1882

Nooooo Ho-Ho Mommy

 Well I suppose there’s always next year.  They’ll still be little, right?

Makeover

November 11, 2009 at 3:00 pm | In Caityisms, Miscellaneous Crap, Product Testing | 2 Comments
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Do you notice anything different?  Do I look fabulous or what?  Slimmer you say? Why thank you!

I hadn’t been happy with my Banner Header whatchamacallitthingy at the top of my blog.  I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like, I just couldn’t get there.  With my Desktop Publishing background, I think you can appreciate how frustrating that was for me.  It’s in my head, just not in cyberspace.  I can do just about anything in InDesign, but Illustrator, forget it.  I love working with InDesign by the way.  I’m learning new stuff every day.

I follow a couple of blogs daily.  The first one (Durham Region Baby) introduced me to the second one (My Tornado Alley).  Carly had her headermathingy redesigned and I thought it looked fabulous.  Her BiFFy Jen O. designed it for her and I always admired it.  A little while ago Jen O. redesigned her own headermathingy and I commented on it being a keeper and asked if she could help me with mine.

Well what’dyouknowaboutthat?  Two rounds of comments later and we have this:

banner 2 copy

Isn’t it beautiful?

Aren’t those the most nomable toes you’ve ever seen?  Believe me, there have been many a time that I’ve nibbled on those cute little tootsies - poor Caity.  She was 9 weeks old in that picture.  She was in the middle of a fit, hence the splayed toeses.

Now back to my rave.  Jen is very talented (and hillarious to boot – read her blog) and is thinking about creating banners etc. as a side business.  I certainly recommend her if anyone is interested in having something created for their website – or just a logo in general (i.e., for Letterhead, Business Cards) – you know, between the two of us Jen, we’d make a killing.  We should talk ;-)

Drop Jen a line if you’re interested.  You can reach Jen at mytornadoalley@gmail.com

Fabulous job, Jen.  Thanks again :)

Please Always Remember and Don’t Ever Forget

November 10, 2009 at 10:21 pm | In All Things Doodle, Miscellaneous Crap | Leave a Comment
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At exactly 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, I will have tears in my eyes.  Tomorrow is Remembrance Day.  Every time I see a ceremony on TV with the WWII (and a few of the WWI) Veterans, I get very sad.  Just looking at them, crying, remembering what they went through – it must have been horrible.   I haven’t lived through a war (sorry, but that silliness that GW started doesn’t count), and I hope I never do.  My Parents lived through WWII, my Mother was in Hitler’s Germany at the time, fearful to be in public because she didn’t have the Aryan look.  My Mom won’t talk about the War, it was too painful for her.  My Dad was asked to join the Danish underground and spent time in an Italian POW camp.  It was a completely different world back then, different than what we have to take for granted today.   Too many people lost their lives, fighting for freedom or simply fighting to survive.  The minute of silence we observe each year is the least they deserve.

I remember the year before Caity was born, Lexy and I were at the Superstore at 11:00 on November 11th, 2006.  They made an announcement about observing a minute’s silence to honour the memories of those fallen in the wars.  Lexy was in the shopping cart and she chatted away like she always does.  “Shhh”, I told her.  “Why Mommy?”.  “Because it’s important, just be quiet for a minute.”  I could tell she didn’t understand and she looked around and saw a few other people stopped, heads bowed.  “What’s the matter, Mommy?”  “Shhh, Lex.”  I said again.

A young woman and her child whizzed passed us, oblivious to our stance.

“But Mommy, they’re moving.” Lexy told me loudly.  “Yes, Lex” I whispered “they’re being disrespectful” I told her.  She nodded as if she understood.  The minute was over and I tried to explain to Lexy why we had to hold still and be quiet.  I told her how it was good to remember people who fought very hard to keep our country safe and to help make others free.  She didn’t quite understand and got easily distracted by the free cookie that Superstore used to offer the kids.

Now that Lexy is in school, her school is holding a Remembrance Day Assembly tomorrow.  Now that she’s older, she’s sure to have questions.  She will try to interpret what she hears into something that makes sense to a six-year-old.  How do you explain War to a young child who lives in a peaceful society?

I want her to respect the fallen soldiers. They paid the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives so that others may be free.  I want her to stop for a minute of silence and think about what she has and how she should be thankful for that.  I know it’s a lot and I don’t expect it at this young age, but I hope as she ages, she will understand.

There are too many people in this world who are disrespectful to their elders when they should be cherished.  Do they not realize how much we can learn from them?  I heard a story somewhere on the internet that went something like this:  A teenager is talking to a senior citizen and he’s boasting about how good life is now that we have all the electronics, the gadgets to make life easier etc.  He couldn’t understand how they got along without all this new technology back in their day.  The senior citizen simply says to the mouthy teenager – when I was younger, we were the ones who invented these gadgets, what have you done lately?

Or something like that.  I think you get the point.

You Want Some Coffee With That?

November 6, 2009 at 9:24 pm | In Caityisms, Family Ties | 2 Comments
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Caity has very fine hair.  Any time she lies down for a nap/bed time/cuddle on the couch/whatever, her hair sticks out in one big matted mess at the back of her head.  Every. Single. Time. 

Without fail.

It looks like she’s never seen a hair brush in her life.

She’s now almost three, which is something I both love and hate at the same time.  She is my baby and my last baby, yet she’s quickly becoming a big girl (potty training notwithstanding).

She’s usually the most easy-going person I’ve ever met.  The house could be burning down and Cait would simply shrug her shoulders.  Must be the Aquarian in her.

One thing I absolutely love about her is when she gets into a groove, she never gets out.  For example, the other morning I was brushing the rat’s nest formerly known as her hair, or trying to anyway.  She had something sticky in her hair, presumably from daycare (or last night’s dinner). 

Caity:  “Owwww Mummy!”

Me:  “Sorry Caity, but you’re the one who got the knots in your hair.”

Tugging, trying to untangle, getting stuck on something in her hair….

Me:  “Cait.”  I stop brushing and look at her.  “What did you get in your hair?”

Caity:  “Donuts.”

She says that straight-faced.  Every. Single. Morning.

No matter how many days in a row, I ask her what she got in her hair, she says the same thing … “Donuts”.

Doesn’t matter that she hasn’t had a donut in ages.  Somehow, magically, donuts keep winding up in her tangled, matted hair.

I’m sure tomorrow morning, when I attempt to detangle her hair again, if I ask her what’s in her hair, she’ll simply say “Donuts”.

You’re cute kid.  You make me laugh.  Thank you.

Perhaps There Aren’t Any Mind Controlling Drugs in That Shot…

November 4, 2009 at 4:50 pm | In Toeses and Noses | 3 Comments
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The girls and I got vaccinated this afternoon.  We went to my Doctor’s office at 1:00 and we were out by 1:05.  Much more civilized that having to wait in line at the clinic.  We were very fortunate  and thankful that our Doctor was providing this service.

So far, to dispel more rumours:

a) My head hasn’t fallen off.
b) I’m not walking/talking backwards.
c) I did not feel the needle (I actually felt the cotton swab of alcohol more than I felt the shot).
d) I did not feel the fluid entering my system.  There was no pain.  The vaccine was not thicker than normal.
e) I did not get dizzy.

I’m also fairly confident that the Government did not put any mind controlling drugs into the shot.

For those of you who haven’t heard about our situation either personally or through this blog, the reason we chose to get the shot for our family is simple.  My Husband has a compromised immune system.  He is in the high-risk catetgory.  He could die if he caught the H1N1 Flu.  I’m in a position to prevent transmission of this virus to him, as are my children. 

It has nothing to do with the mass hysteria that is currently encompassing the world.  It is a simple matter of choice.  I choose to keep my family safe.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.  I don’t think it makes me a bad parent.  I think what would make me a bad parent is if I didn’t take the health and welfare of my children seriously.  I have it within my power to protect those who are closest to me.  It is my right. 

One thing we have in this wonderful country is the freedom to choose.  My choice was to vaccinate.  I respect others’ decisions to not vaccinate.  It’s your choice. 

I am reminded of a line in one of my very favourite movies:  Choose wisely.

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