Fibro Escapades

30-Something Wife, Mother, and Student shares her battles with Fibromyalgia and life in general.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Games Anyone?

Every year we go to a little thing called Origins . Ok, so it isn't really all that "little", in fact it is rather large. This year will be our second year attending as volunteers (netting us hotel space and badges for free which is a good thing cause we really couldn't afford it this year otherwise). And even though that means the bulk of our time will be spent working, we are looking forward to it. Hubby misses the days he ran Magic: The Gathering tournaments. He was good at it and enjoyed it. I did too. It was fun to just be around people having a good time and to feel in some way responsible for it. We are fortunate to have gotten to know some people sort of high up with the volunteers and that they like us to work for them, so we know in advance what we will be doing. I will be the assistant manager of the Board Game Library, where folks can check out various games to try out and hubby will be running a Poker Tournament. Both of these assignments are located in the Board Games area and if things are laid out like last year they will be right next to each other (crossing my fingers, cause I will miss hubby if I have to go all day without seeing him).

Even though money is extremely tight right now, I am looking forward to getting on the road Tuesday evening. It will be nice seeing everyone again, playing some new games, roaming the vendor hall (freebies are good and window shopping doesn't cost anything), getting overwhelmed by the massiveness of the whole thing, staying up WAY too late playing Are You A Werewolf?, and all the other fun stuff.

Ok, hubby is chewing my ear so for now, BYE!

Thursday, June 28, 2007

In desperate need of a blog

Ok, so I finally found something to drive me back to blogging. What is it, you might ask, that can break a 6 month hiatus? Simple. Head lice.

Now don't start scratching just because I made you think about creepy crawlies in your hair. That itch you feel is most likely all in your head. Er, I mean it is just your imagination. Or is it?

2 weeks ago I noticed the kiddo (all 7 and 3 quarters years old, she would tell you) was scratching her head. Not the scratch of puzzlement that is supposed to, what, stimulate the brain cells into solving some riddle? Also not the I've been rolling in the dirt and sweating all day and really need a dunk in the tub scratch... no, this was the even though my hair was just washed 2 hours ago and is still slightly damp, I must dig my finger nails into my scalp and see if I can reach bone scratch. This was accompanied by an extremely wicked case of the irritables which included snapping at anyone in a ten food radius of my sweet angelic kiddo.

So, of course, the first thing that popped into my head was that it was time for close scrutiny of the kiddo's head. While we have never had an out break of lice, we've had scares, and kiddo has a couple of aunts who run daycares. That, coupled with childhood memories of my mother getting me down and searching my hair if I so much as twitched a finger in the general direction of my scalp, provided me with enough information to know that I had to at least look.

So, I took a deep breath and captured the kiddo, begging her to hold still (ha!) so I could check her head for bugs. At first glance I thought she had sand in her hair. Then I realized what I was seeing were "nits" or the eggs of critters attached to the base of her hairs. Ew. I looked up pictures on the internet. Yes, they were not just nits, but hatched nits. Apparently they are whitish yellow when the little devils are still in them, but turn a brown when they are just empty shells. GROSS! There were LOTS of these hatched eggs, but it wasn't till I saw a live one crawling that I freaked. We had just been on a Brownie trip (I am a co-leader) barely a week ago AND she had spent the night with her aunt and her soon to be adopted cousin. I picked up the phone and called everyone to tell them to do head checks and then darted off to the store to buy a remedy.

Um, yeah, about the remedy. This is a pesticide you put in your hair. Not thrilled with that, but, like the idea much more than just letting the little buggers crawl free. So I bought a kit with shampoo, nit removal stuff, furniture spray, and a funky plastic comb. I decided the comb that came with the kit looked wimpy so I bought a separate one that had metal teeth. I also bought XXL ziplock bags to bag up all the stuffed animals, dolls and hats that couldn't be washed. Oh yeah and a new jug of laundry detergent, because in case you didn't know, everything that can be washed that has come in contact (or might even possibly have come in contact if you are paranoid like me) has to be washed in hot water and dried on high heat for at least 20 minutes. We were in for a LONG evening.

The washing of the kiddo's hair (as well as mine and my teenaged son's) went alright. Then it was combing time. I started on kiddo's head, armed with paper towels to wipe the comb on after each swipe and smaller ziplock bags to stuff the towels into for disposal. I was combing out bugs.... and they were moving still. ICK! I thought they would all be dead. Most seemed stunned at least. I combed her hair for over an hour and finally tucked her in to bed with clean sheets and blankets. Combing my hair didn't seem to net anything although by then my scalp felt like it was alive and crawling around on my skull.

We washed and sprayed.... and did all the stuff you are supposed to do. I declared us lice-free and felt vindicated.

Every time I saw kiddo scratch I would recheck her head. I didn't see anything. And then tonight (wait YESTERDAY, it is after 3 in the morning now) she came and asked me to recheck her head cause she was really itching. I searched, no signs of eggs that I could see. Just about to declare it her imagination I saw something move. Oh no. It was small but there was no doubt as to what it was. I tried to get it, but it was a fast bugger. I search some more and after 5 minutes spotted another movement, the same one again? a different one?? Oh god, I didn't want to do this again.

I was back on the internet. Looking at other options... home remedies that I recall scoffing at previously. There were many out there that suggested mayonaise or various oils to saturate the hair with and suffocate them. Others that recomended things like tea tree oil or exotic oils like neem both as a remedy and preventative to reinfestations. Some who swore that switching to a coconut shampoo and condition would both solve and prevent. After wading through various combinations of these themes, I went and bought two bottles of Suave coconut conditioner and a bottle of some Tea Tree Oil shampoo and some shower caps. I slathered the conditioner on and covered heads with shower caps. I figured enough conditioner should smother them just as well as the other stinkier and messier ideas. We watched two movies I had rented and feasted on malted milk balls and Shirley Temples. I told kiddo it was our bug killin' party. After several hours of suffocation we rinsed out the conditioner and washed thoroughly with the tea tree oil shampoo. And then back to the comb.

...

I'm horrified to say that I combed over 20 lice out of that child's head. However, all but one were stone cold dead. And the one that wasn't was twitching and not looking too healthy. So, thus far, this has worked much better than the store bought lice treatment. And while we have the long run to consider still (I plan to use the tea tree oil and follow it with coconut conditioner for a week or two at least), I think the ONLY useful thing I bought last time in the Lice section was the Rid comb with the metal teeth. (That reminds me, I have to gather up the brushes and soak them in boiling water again in the morning. A mother's work is never done.)

On the plus side, I combed nothing out of my hair again, even after re-watching one of our movies with the commentary on and combing the whole time while I waited for sheets and pillow cases to dry.

If I never see another louse, it will be too soon.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

My crazy idea....

Ok, so I was in WalMart and they made an announcement that they had PS3 60GB game systems in stock... just came in, limited number..blah blah blah... etc. I thought to myself...'Self, if you had the money to buy a few of those and sell them on eBay you could make some extra money for Christmas...' If you didn't know, they were in HIGH demand and people had been paying in excess of 1500 dollars for them on ebay (they retail for about 600).

Then of course I laughed at myself because... me? practically broke, disconnect notices etc... But do I let it go? no. I text message the husband expecting a healthy dose of reality from him... hmmmph, going to have to analyze THAT thought process a little more carefully. Hubby agrees to *investing* and after some fancy footwork that involves a credit card... and intentions to return items if they don't sell... we bought 3.

I just sold one on ebay for 675... which on the surface sounds like I made 75 dollars. woo hoo.... I can go Christmas shopping. But wait... listing fees, paypal fees and final value fees later... I think I lost 10 bucks. *sigh*

Damn, it seemed like a good idea at the time. But ebay has been flooded the past couple of days with pre-christmas shipments of PS3's and now it is almost impossible to break even... let alone make a profit. Whoa is me. I wonder if I should pull the listings (and eat the listing fees) and make the returns... or pray for a miracle that I can sell them for enough to make a profit?

Why can't Christmas just leave me alone? Bah Humbug.

Friday, December 08, 2006

That Crazy Aunt Purl.....

and her Crazy Readers!

Ok, instead of blogging here about my awful life, I have been polluting CAP's comments (sorry Laurie!) and now I must elaborate on why I am not hosting Christmas Eve... Well, I guess I don't HAVE to, but you see I've already writen a big long explanation tossing in quaint tidbits about my wacky family.... ENJOY!

I've been the driving factor in keeping our Christmas Eve tradition alive in my family every since my aunt (who took it over from my grandmother when her health deteriorated) abandoned hosting the event after remarrying for the umpteenth time. I have never spent a Christmas Eve away from my immediate family (Mom, sister and brother I lived with at a bare minimum and usually lots of extended family too.) We always exchanged gifts that night, had ham and a big old batch of home-made mac and cheese. When I was a kid, there were 4 grand-children and our grandparents lavished gifts on us as did my at-one-time rich uncle (who wound up in a motorcycle gang and in prison eventually ( but that is a whole other story!) who liked to show off his money. Perhaps it wasn't really all as grand as I remember, Mom and my siblings and I spent most of the time I was growing up on some form of public aid or another and so perhaps it was the contrast of what we didn't have with the magic of Christmas that made it so great. But I suspect that it is more likely that our middle class relatives (and the use of the term middle class has never been so relative) felt a little sorry for us and went a wee bit over board on the Christmas scene. That and the severely branched family tree which landed us extra pairs of grandparents here and there and Christmas at home and at the absent parent's house, well we got high doses of sparkly lights, fattening foods, family gatherings and gifts. And there was always Great Aunt Natilie who lived several states away and managed to send me and my siblings on my dad's side cards with money every year for Christmas as well as birthdays, despite the fact that we never once sent the dear old gal a word of thanks. My dad tried to encourage us to, but didn't require us to. I wish he had. Aunt Natilie is now in a nursing home states away and, lets say, "not herself" .

These past few years our Christmas Eve gathering has been more intimate, I invite Mom and my step-dad, my sister and brother (again, the ones I grew up with, my dad's side siblings usually had their own family things and were never really part of the tradition.) I get the now 16 and 14 year olds from their dad. Sometimes I can co-ordinate Dad being there at the same time and he most likely will have my step-mom in tow (-blink-). My sister and her husband and my darling niece come, even though it is a two hour drive for them now days and my brother, the black sheep of the family in so many ways is there to remind us all why we are not a "close-knit" (Hi CAP readers!) group. Don't get me wrong, I love my baby brother, I truly do, but the boy has issues, most of which are tied to being ADHD, an alcoholic, and perhaps a bit on the autistic side (Asperger's). Mom, Sis and I, well, we just smile and shake our heads and secretly hope we are not next in line on his crisis-to-call list. No one complains about coming, everyone seems to enjoy it... but...

Mom's health isn't the greatest and financially she is in a similar boat to me. I know she would pull a last minute shopping trip for trinkets and get the kids gift cards, whether she could afford it or not. And my baby sis, bless her heart is busy with my little niece and her new job reporting for several local newspapers. Also, said niece's birthday is the 27th. My brother has mentioned over and over again how badly he wants me to meet his girlfriend. *Grimace* My sister and I can only imagine who would date are mess of a brother and then shiver. My oldest, 16, drew a line in the sand last year not too long after Christmas and while we are speaking again, she has been evolving her own social thing and probably won't be here, the 14 year old landed himself in juvenile detention shortly before Thanksgiving (yes, I do live a soap opera, thank you!) and I have no idea if he will be home for Christmas... My stepson and daughter still must be separated and so... for the first time since she was born, my daughter and I will not be spending Christmas Eve together either, she is going to her dad's... waking up there on Christmas morning. I am tagging along to my mother-in-laws (to sleep in that damn uncomfortable bed...ug!) and spend the evening with my husband, mother-in-law and step-son. It will be... different. I will try not to get depressed, or to let myself be hurt by things the MIL might say. (She is never intentionally cruel, but sometimes she doesn't understand my sensitive spots.)

So, it's a big unknown as to how I will do. But my daughter is making plans with her dad and step-mom and seems to be happy. I gave money for the Santa shop at at school and she has done her Christmas shopping. I have a few things hiding in the closet for her for Christmas and I am not worried as much as I was. I will indulge her with decorating for Christmas tonight. I will let her make ornaments for the tree and not cringe if they don't fit my "theme" or are not arranged to perfection. We've watched Santa's coming to Town and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and the BBC version of the Snow Queen already and we will catch more Christmas shows I'm sure. I love snuggling on the couch with her and she doesn't mind too much if old mom falls asleep during the show. And despite the girls at Brownies last night that were trying to dispell the magic of Santa, she still believes.

And that is all I need for Christmas.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Fox's "The Rich List" Should Take Advice From Santa

Fox has a new game show that debuted last night called The Rich List. Sort of a mix of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Name That Tune where teams bid on how many items they can name in a given category. Categories, or lists, from the first night included 'Top 50 Broadway Shows', 'Movies with Tom Cruise', 'Animated Disney Movies', and 'Books and Short Stories by Stephen King'. Now that last list touched a sore spot with me. I'm a Stephen King fan. I have a bookcase of nothing but King books and I could have totally rocked that question. However, the bid only went up to 9 and the team that got stuck with backing up their bid flopped miserably by naming "Rose Red" which was a screenplay by King, but not a book (although one could argue that a screenplay is still a story... don't worry, no need to reach that far for an arguement, keep reading). Eemonn, the uninspiring host of The Rich List, replied by telling them the name of the book was "Rose Madder". *Sigh* Yes, there was a book called Rose Madder, but it was totally unrelated to the television mini series Rose Red not even a character or plot line in common. Two different stories. This just points out that the list really wasn't so rich. Gee, it is almost like saying that a movie made by Pixar and distributed by Disney is a Disney movie... whoops! they did that too. Eemonn, your production crew needs a lesson from the man in the big red suit... make your list... and check it twice!

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Yeah, I know...

So, it's been a while. Apparently I am better at reading other people's blogs that posting on my own. CAP posted this meme (I think that is what they call them online these days) on her site and tagged all of us unsuspecting readers, so here I am performing CPR on my blog so I can answer the questions.

Four Jobs I've Had:

~Columbia House Customer Service Rep
~Special Deputy County Clerk
~Ebay Seller
~Department Head of Arts and Crafts

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:

~Forrest Gump (because it is like a time capsule)
~Dirty Dancing (what girl didn't want to be Baby?)
~The Wizard of Oz
~Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the original)

Four Places I Have Lived:

~The Projects
~University Family Housing
~A Trailer
~A House I Owned with my ex

Four Television Shows I Love to Watch:

~Survivor
~CSI (the original, I'm a Grissom Junkie)
~ER
~The Amazing Race

Four Places I've Been on Vacation:

~Tortola, British Virgin Islands
~Disney World
~Origins (a gaming convention), Columbus, Ohio
~Georgia (Spring Break, in a Chevette, over Mont Eagle with just 50 bucks in our pocket)

Four of My Favorite Dishes:

~Pepperoni Pizza with Pineapple
~Meatloaf (just hate to fix it)
~Sweet Potatos with marshmallows
~A really good Filet Mignon

Four Websites I Visit Daily:

~crazyauntpurl.com (aka CAP)
~pogo.com
~Vampires (http://quiz.ravenblack.net/blood.pl?biter=RishaMoon) (yes I am a nerd)
~liljas-library.com

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:

~On a beach in Tortola
~Getting a pedicure and a foot massage
~Going to a concert or a play with my husband
~Shopping for new clothes

Four Bloggers I am Tagging:

~Anyone who reads this and has a blog. It may take years, but eventually there WILL be four of you!

Friday, September 22, 2006

Wednesday I turned 34, today my baby turned 7

Today is Kiddo's 7th birthday. I can't believe she is is 7. Where did all the time go??? She looked so grown up this morning wearing a black top and a black and white checked skirt, even though we were running late I had to take some time to tell her about the day she was born. Of course, she just rolled her eyes at her crazy mother. I am so in love with her. She is the center of my universe. It's hard to admit that it is the first time I have ever felt so overwhelmed with a mother's love. I love my other two children as well, but I didn't get to have them living with me as they grew up. I missed this special bond I have with Kiddo.

Ok... I'm done being sappy, guess I better take my meds or I will be weepy in class. I'm leaving my last class early so I can take cupcakes to Kiddo's 1st grade class. I need to stop by the apartment before then because I hid her present there and I want to find my cupcake tote (will we be done moving by the end of the month???), so I don't have to take them in the Wal-mart packaging... yes, I cheated... trust me, everyone is better off this way!!

Actually, I have SO MUCH I need to do... I may just play hookey today and skip my two classes. Yeah, that sounds good. *grin*