Ongoings

#1  I've been hesitant to say this (don't want to jinx it) but Baby's energy issue is seemingly gone.  It went away in one fell swoop.  As if she woke up 100% better.  And let me tell you, I had actually forgotten how active, danger-prone, and talkative she is... the illness just slowly sucked that out of her.... and had we had a good normal energy day right next to her low energy end days I would have been freaking out even more than I was.  She hadn't had the energy to walk through the grocery store in months.  One night we were all driving home from somewhere and Baby was chattering away and singing (a different song then was on the radio) at top volume and a wave of relief washed over me and I knew she was better.  She hadn't been like that in so long, that I actually forgot she ever was.  The doctors just assume that she did have mono and she finally got over it.  As a special side treat, which appears to be unrelated, she has had hives for 12 straight days, which have no known cause, presumably brought on by that stomach virus she had two weeks ago (did you miss that?... really the health stuff with her has been non-stop)... so she is now on Zyrtec since her hands were swelling up and painful.  After everything else, I'll happily take the hives.


#2  Last night, to prove the point, Baby fell off of a brick retaining wall and scraped the flesh off of the back of her leg (one night before her dance recital dress rehearsal - wherein video & pictures can be taken).  Bloody, bloody, screaming mess.  Thankfully, it wasn't deep enough to need a trip to the ER (although, we've been so much this year that all our medical bills from now on are pretty much free) and we could bandage her up.  Inwardly (and maybe a bit outwardly) I fumed about what a nightmare trying to put that leg in tights was going to be today.  But, again, I am so happy that she's back to normal.  Even if normal means 2 hours of wound triage.  And, with Baby, it does.


#3  Still loving my Up by Jawbone bracelet.  I find sleeping with it a bit uncomfortable, which sometimes has woken me up... which kind of defeats the purpose... but I am extremely sensitive to things on me like that.  I love the food journalling, the graphs, the App, the activity tracker... I'm a fan!  It has been totally motivating me and keeping me moving (literally) in the right direction.  Yay!


#4  I cleaned out the fridge, and Kid cleaned her room.  That's about it on organization for week 1. Baby's big dance recital (remember last year and the hooker make-up?!) is tonight and tomorrow... so that is enough stress to manage for now (especially with the leg wound!), so we'll pick back up next week.


#5  The kids' summer studying has been going GREAT.  I think I failed to mention the biggest component of all of that... to get them established in the playroom.  Typically the girls will bring all of whatever they are doing and cram it into our living room (which is more of a sitting room style room right off the front door)... which makes me crazy and keeps our house looking like we are in the midst of a burglary at all times.  So, part of this whole plan was to have them do their school work in the actual giant playroom/family room at the back of the house (which no one ever uses).  It's worked, people!  Once they are in there, they just stay there.  All the toys, games, art supplies are there anyway... what a novel idea... to actually play in the well stocked playroom.


#6  Just discovered Longmire on Netflix and I'm kind of loving it.

School's Out For Summer!

Oh, people, the things that have happened to the interior of our home in the last two weeks... are... frightening.  The amount of stuff brought home from school, with no home... because... its home was AT SCHOOL... that is now piled on every conceivable surface is mind boggling.  It's paralyzing.  So much for easing into a relaxing summer break, this shit has to get taken care of ASAP or I'll lose my mind.  Hopefully by the end of the week it won't look like burglars just ransacked our house.  Right now it kind of looks like the hotel room at the end of The Hangover... I wouldn't be surprised at all to find a chicken roaming around.

Also, we may be the only parents in the history of the universe that had to lay down the law:  "You may not read all summer!"  Girlfriend has read 4 books since Friday.  Unfortunately, books are to Kid what handheld game devices are to other kids.  She cannot stop reading, she can't hear what you say, she becomes obsessed with finishing a chapter and is rude and dismissive to those around her while she does it.  So, she can read as much as she wants before 9:30 AM and after 6:30 PM.  In between she has to actually engage in life.

I have been desperately looking forward to the summer so I can finally carve out a consistent workout time (which I will be able to keep us this coming year, with Baby going full time).  To that end, I got an UP by Jawbone for my birthday (oh, yeah, I got older... so did Mr F... you didn't miss much), and I LOVE it.  People, this might be the greatest thing to happen to me in a long while.  I'm sure it's magical-ness will wear off eventually but I am mesmerized by it now.  It is totally motivating.  And as an chronic insomniac I'm super into the sleep tracker.  Oh, and being able to take pictures of your food's barcodes and have it import into a food diary?!  Magic!!

So combining many daily goals... working out, getting Kid to stop reading and engage with the family, and having the girls do a little school review every weekday... I have masterminded the ultimate solution:  Kid gets them dressed and ready and then runs a school for Baby every morning during my workout. She helps her practice her reading and math, and does a small math assignment herself.  Boom!  Done.  They are super pumped.  Kid gets to act out her older sibling need to boss, while Baby is just happy to play along if it means she's getting attention.  Their work gets done without me having to nag them, and once they are engaged with each other they usually keep playing non-stop until bedtime.

My other major goal for the summer is doing all of the organizing tasks I never have time for:  bathroom closet, pantry, refrigerator, craft closet, girl's rooms, paperwork, etc.  I also intend to get SERIOUS about batch cooking for next school year.  Trying to deal with the homework load, after our commute, while making dinner was just hell on Earth.  Especially if I had a migraine.  Which is, well, 30% of the fucking time.  So I might be getting a deep freezer for the garage.  But first we need to figure out if we'll even be living here next year... (seriously).