May 21
I wish I had some really spectacular reason for waiting this long to write, but honestly, it has just been the minutiae of life that has bogged us down. That in and of itself has been a good thing - no crises at home, no major incidents. The girls are settling in, it seems, and we’re down to the regular sibling stuff. Sometimes I wonder if I over react, if I’m just unable to cope with sibling rivalry, but then I get a glimpse of what sibling rivalry actually looks like, and I know for sure that there is a difference. Rivalry might be annoying at times, but it’s something I can live with.
One thing that does irritate me a bit is the whole food issue. Every Sunday we sit down for our family meeting and try to plan for the week ahead. We talk about the events ahead, pull chores at random, and plan the menu for the week. Ailish has complained repeatedly that I make the same things over and over again, why do we have to have Italian every week, why does baked chicken keep showing up, etc etc? I find it so strange that after two years of institutional food, she is the one complaining about the food. You’d think she’d just be grateful for home cooking, but nope, no such luck. I tried to explain that I make those things because 1) I know people will eat them and 2) I know how to make them without having to find a recipe. For the most part, all of the recipes in my rotation are pretty fast to prepare as well. I would love to add new recipes to the mix. I subscribe to four different cooking magazines, and I diligently look through the recipes in Family Circle, Family Fun, and Real Simple, not to mention, if I’m bored and have internet access, I peruse all of the food sites I can for new ideas. However, I am held back by the fact that this is a house full of picky eaters. Between us, we knock out every single vegetable except for cauliflower, spinach and corn - carrots, mushrooms and onions are allowed by 3/4 of the house, so we use those sparingly. Brad hates pork, Kieran hates pot roast, and Ailish doesn’t like any meat that has a sweet sauce. Or as she said, “Sweet meat,” which for whatever reason, makes me giggle. And she hates Mexican food, which also knocks out so many easier foods. When you factor all that in, we are a tough crowd to serve. Italian works because I can do so much with it, but now that’s out too. At this point, you might ask why I bother to cater to such picky tastes? Because nothing makes me more irritated than spending time and money making dinner only to have the girls pick at it, add sour cream/soy sauce/tons of cheese/ketchup to it, which ruins it for anyone else eating it, and then push it aside with only one bite eaten. I’ve tried to make things that fit all of the expectations, but after another frustrating family meeting, I decided to take the week off. I bought easy stuff - hot dogs, sloppy joe sauce, yakisoba noodles, and, shudder, tuna helper. I knew I wouldn’t eat any of those things, but if it made the girls happy, and they ate it, then I could make myself something yummy on the side. For the past two weeks, we’ve been sticking to this. I was hoping after a week, Ailish would relent and ask for one of my old standards, but she’s still enjoying the junk. I’ve decided not to worry about it until after school gets out. Things are just too stressful between now and the last day of school, so until then, the meals in a box make my life easier.
We have had a few illnesses to contend with. Kieran had the 24 hour fever, which thankfully had no other symptoms. It’s always a little scary when a fever pops up - it’s kind of like an earthquake. You don’t know if that’s it, if it was just a little jolt, or if it’s the sign of something much bigger and scarier to come. With fevers, I don’t know if there’s nose/chest stuff or, dear God, stomach stuff coming, so those first few hours are a little scary. It makes me want to run to the nearest doorway and hold on tight. But, after that day of fever, she was fine the next. Whew! A week passed, and then Ailish got her own fever, which scared her even more than it did me. We reminded her that Kieran had a fever, and nothing else had happened, so it would probably be the same way for her. She did have some nose/cough stuff, and her fever lasted two days instead of one, but thankfully, there was nothing with the stomach.
On the other medical front, I met with my new primary this week. She seemed nice enough, and in the (very) limited time I had to meet with her, because she was running behind, she did seem to get a sense of my situation. At least enough of a sense to say, “Wow, you’ve made my job really difficult.” I was happy that she admitted it - rarely will doctors actually say I have them stumped, they just tell me it’s in my head. She said she is thinking this is gastrointestinal related, so we’re going to try a few meds and see if those help at all. If they don’t, then I have to get a referral to a GI specialist and go through the dreaded colonoscopy. If that doesn’t yield anything, she told me I may just have a chronic pain spot, and I’m going to have to learn how to deal with it from a pain management perspective. This is not what I wanted to hear, but I suppose the reality isn’t a surprise. I still don’t understand how the labs can show that there is an issue there, but the rest of the tests don’t. Seriously, Mystery Diagnosis, where can I sign up? Oh wait, they have to have a diagnosis figured out first...hmmm.
Tuesday, I had to tackle the issue of getting a dress for my brother’s wedding this weekend. I know, why did I wait until the last possible second? I hate dress shopping! Plus, I had planned to do it on Monday, but that was Ailish’s sick day. First, Kieran and I went to the mall, but after four stores, I found nothing. By that point, we had run out of time before picking Ailish up from school, so we went and grabbed her, then headed to Marshalls and Stein Mart. Nope, nothing. I was getting very discouraged. Sandy offered to go with me to the mall in Northridge after Kieran’s swim was over. Ailish and I dropped Kieran off at swim and then ran to Ross while she practiced. Nothing. Ugh. So after Kieran’s practice, we picked Sandy up and headed down into the Valley. The Macy’s there had a comparatively *huge* selection of plus sized dresses. I get so frustrated with our Macy’s, it seems like the plus sized department just gets smaller and smaller, and believe me, I don’t see our town demographics getting smaller and smaller! After trying on several possibilities, I had it narrowed down to 4. Two were $89, one was $139 (absolutely gorgeous, but it felt heavy too, and my brother’s wedding is in Vegas), and one super cute dress was $51, down from $119. Yes! I had a $20 off $50 coupon, so with tax and everything, it worked out to $35. Usually, when I’m shopping under pressure, that’s when I am forced to spend way more money than I like to, but this time, it all worked out perfectly. Sandy says she’s my good luck charm - I have to agree!
Yesterday, the stars aligned and we were finally able to go to Disneyland. The original plan was to go on Kieran’s birthday, but that just didn’t work out, and every open day we had since then has been filled by a crisis of one form or another, so I told the girls don’t even think about it until the morning we wake up to go. Of course, the night before, they couldn’t do that - as soon as Daddy gave them the all clear, they were busy packing and planning. Yesterday morning, I woke up to go to the bathroom at 6:30, and as I crawled back into bed, Kieran appeared, fully dressed, backpack on, with her hands on her hips. “Finally! I’ve been waiting for you people to get up!” So we did, we crawled out and got ready as quickly as we could. I wasn’t feeling my best, and didn’t know if I was up for a day of crowds. I knew the scooter would help, but still, compared to everyone else, I was feeling very Scrooge McDuck-like. Traffic wasn’t too bad, and we got down to the park pretty quickly. We got our annual passes, got the scooter, and got the line pass for Ailish, and we were on our way. Oh wait - quick stop at the big store on Main Street to get a hat for me. I knew if I wasn’t covered up, no amount of sunscreen would save me. I got the perfect one - emblazoned with “Grumpy,” of course! Our first stop was the Nemo submarine, which we’d never been on. It was cute, but wow, I’m glad I didn’t have to wait hours to see it. We spent the next few hours in Disneyland, tackling all of the big coasters. I realized just how painful Matterhorn is to ride these days, and Brad and I both agreed we might be too creaky for Splash Mountain too! We decided to head over to California Adventure, since they close earlier than D-Land. Our first stop was California Screamin’, which I’ve decided is my all time favorite coaster. Really smooth, but great turns and speed. Love that ride! We also got to ride the new Midway one, featuring all of the Toy Story characters. We really liked it, but as we came out into the Toy Story gift shop, one thing made me cry. A whole section devoted to Jessie, the yodeling cowgirl. Jessie was Brenna’s girl for a good three years of her childhood. She did everything with Jessie, made her a separate bed, took her everywhere, loved her to bits. I think it was in the back of all of our minds a little bit yesterday, that Brenna wasn’t with us, and seeing Jessie just brought it all up front. They had a t-shirt there and Brad and I both had the same thought - we had to get it for B. How I miss those days when a hug from Jessie would make things all better. It’s funny to me that Kieran has no memory of Toy Story or Toy Story II. For her, it would be like a whole new movie, but it was such a huge part of our lives for a long time. Now, ironically, I’m not sure where Jessie is. I know we kept her, I’m just not exactly sure where :) Eventually, we went back to Disneyland, then had dinner at Downtown Disney, and went back to D-Land for a few more rides before the park shut down. It was an exhausting day, but I have to admit I did end up having a good time, and I’m glad we were finally able to pull it off before the big drought of summer - I refuse to go near a theme park during the summer!
May 23
Greetings from Las Vegas! Ailish and I are here for my brother’s wedding. We got on the road around 4:30 yesterday morning, a little later than I had intended, but we had to finish Ailish’s science fair project the night before, and by the time we got done with that, I was way behind on my packing and preparing. Still, we got ahead of the crowd, and that was the most important part for me. We got to Vegas around 9:30, and went straight to the site of my brother’s wedding. We had planned to help set things up, but we had to run to Wal-Mart to get a few more supplies for the big day. My sister Pam had a huge party last night for our family and his bride’s family. It was quite a barbecue she and my cousin Scott put together! Poor Ailish, after waking up at 4:00, even though she got to doze during the drive, she was exhausted by 7:00 and fell asleep on the chaise lounge outside. It was such a nice night - we are in the perfect time in Vegas where the temperature still cools down at night. During the summer, it is still in the 80’s and 90’s hours after the sun goes down, but during the late Spring, it cools down to the 70’s, so nice. We even had a beautiful lightning show, which is something I never get to see!
I’ve spent this morning watching Kieran’s meet on a live web feed. I’m so bummed I can’t be there, but it’s cool to be able to watch things as they happen. So far, she’s only had one race (out of two) today, and she added a few seconds, which isn’t good, but at least she wasn’t too upset about it. Hopefully her next race, starting in just a few minutes, will be a good one. She has four races tomorrow, so that will be a busy day for her and Brad. As soon as this second race is over, Ailish and I will head out to pick up a cigar for the wedding, in honor of my dad, (my sister got white roses in honor of my mom) and then we’ll go to my sister’s house to get ready. I’m taking the pictures for this event - I shy away from wedding photography because the pressure and the intense emotions of the day is a lot to take on, but I’m hoping I can do my best for my brother and sister-in-law. It will be a very busy day, that’s for sure!
We’ll be back on the road early Monday morning, and then we have quite a week ahead! Thursday, I’ll take the girls up to Ventura to stay with Grammapoppa, because early Friday morning, Brad and I will be flying up to Seattle for a long weekend. This will be our first vacation for just the two of us since we became parents! I’m really looking forward to our getaway - it seems like it’s been such a long time since we did anything that wasn’t directly related to kids. Let’s just hope we find some portion of conversation that doesn’t revolve around them!
Hopefully, I’ll be able to update sooner next time, and I’ll have some great pics of Seattle to share!
Glad everything's fine-- you KNOW how we worry when we don't hear! (Gosh, whose mother is THAT?) Hope you enjoy the wedding and that you and Brad have a great time reconnecting in Seattle.
P.S. I don't buy the "chronic pain spot." That sounds like, "Go away, kid, yer bothering me." Phantom pain, maybe, but I think she needs to rule out EVERYTHING else first. Hrrumph. I used to feel defensive when I had chronic fatigue back before it became all official and earned capital letters. They threw meds, mostly antibiotics, at me for years.
Posted by: Lisa M | May 23, 2009 at 02:37 PM