I hate Sunday nights. They mean it's almost Monday morning, time for the drive to work again. I'm getting a little tired of the traffic, although it could certainly be worse. I think it's time for a vacation. When I started this job, I was excited about all the vacation and Paid Time Off, but I don't seem to be taking advantage of it as I'd hoped. For one, I was terribly busy for several months. Although I feel as if I have come through to the other side, I imagine something will come up and change all of that.
So I decided to make meatballs and sauce and also, for the first time ever, New England Clam Chowder. I found a recipe in my crock pot book and gave it a try. It used bacon, which I thought was odd, but it actually tastes really good despite being very thin (it only used evaporated milk, not cream, and no flour). We are having a soup tasting sort of party at work on Wednesday for the winter birthdays, so I wanted to see if I could actually make my own contribution.
It's been a nice quiet weekend, although somehow I seem to have hurt my neck/back and am unable to stand or sit for too long without my back getting sore and tired. I'm just taking lots of advil and having a little wine here and there. The kitchen prep today didn't do much to help although taking the dogs around the block was good for it. The poor dogs have been housebound for so long with these awful temperatures.
Otherwise, I fear there is not much to report! B has just finished up his midterms and so far the results are mixed. Many of the most important subjects have yet to be posted, including physics, precalc and English. He's barely been home all weekend, but has been instructed to be home for dinner tonight by 7. If I spent the whole day hurting my back and cooking, the least he can do is come home! Also, last night he wanted to go out with some friends and since he's been put in charge of his own laundry and hasn't been doing it, he found himself with no clean shirts and had to borrow one from Kevin to wear under a flannel shirt that we bought him a few weeks ago at Costco!
As for M, she is just back from the second to last swim meet before the champs in Virginia at the end of February. Work and swimming together are more grueling than work and school, it seems, in terms of hours demanded. But she will have a week off from work before she goes off to champs (February break) and then will have miss the following week of work (or most of it). Bad timing, but she will at least be able to rest.
In other news, B did get the flu shot a week ago Thursday, so I hope it will be effective and keep him from the weeklong viral illness he's been prone to getting each February. I'm still waiting for all of this flu news to die down and it doesn't seem to want to go away. Although I still know almost noone who has truly had the flu, and his school has not experienced particularly high absenteeism, I still live in fear of it and pivot my shopping carts on their wheels at the sound of each hacking cough or sneeze while I'm out shopping. Kevin has traveled a few times and of course, takes the bus to work, incubating who knows what for an hour each way every day. But the good news is, tonight I can watch Downton Abbey.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
2013 before we knew it
Well, it's been months. Work has kept me ridiculously busy, I leave between 7:15 and 7:30 every morning and don't get home until 6 or 6:30, rarely take lunch and almost always feel like the things that are happening are always one step ahead of me. Yesterday I had a brief break in the insanity and was able to regroup and focus on some of the things I've been doing; then it began to pick back up again and I left feeling frazzled for the fifth day in a row.
Next week will be worse as I have a meeting Monday, for which I'll have to take and transcribe and post minutes AND watch a speaker that will keep me out until after 9. Tuesday (my BIRTHDAY for crying out loud) I am forced to remain at work for an extra hour for a phone call because nobody could make it work during regular business hours. Yesterday I calculated my hourly wage and it's becoming more paltry as I take on more harried tasks.
Then, on Wednesday, we have the dreaded semi-annual neurology appointment with B, and this is the one where we find out what the MRI showed back in August. We have called a few times and have only been told that we would have heard if there were a problem, so I'm going to assume that this is the case. Still a total stressor, especially as B is banking on this to be his bon voyage visit at this doctor's office, or at least the end of the six month follow-ups, and, hopefully MRIs unless as needed. Although he probably should have one at least every few years to check on his syrinx, curse its sausagey self.
So - the flu. Of course I can't write a blog post under the present events without addressing one of my usual paranoias - the flu. B has been very ill with flulike symptoms both of the last two years and I thought to myself that we'd get him the vaccine this year. He had it twice - once the year he was diagnosed with chiari and had the surgery (the healthiest winter of his life, virus-wise) and the following year, when he contracted bronchitis and developed subsequent serum sickness from the antibiotic. After that I became fearful of foreign substances and he never got the vaccine again. Also if he's had the flu two years in a row, surely he should be spared a third? Although he tested negative both times in the rapid test. But I don't believe it - only the flu could possibly have rendered him so useless for so long.
After weighing the pros and cons, I called the pediatrician only to be told they had run out. They called me yesterday and offered him a few options (which I can't make, because of the above events of this upcoming week) and he now has an appointment for Thursday at 9:30. I will have to go in late to work and he will have to leave school and go back. The good news is that I have time to think it over. If only I could be sure he wasn't going to get sick again! Then I could spare him the chemicals and possible adverse effects of who-knows-what is in that shot for a 60% effectiveness. And is it going to help or make it worse, if he gets it as the season begins to wind down?
Otherwise, M is settling in with her new job, although she has just been overwhelmed with work and practice. She has to be at the pool at 6 and at the car to meet the girls she drives at 6:50, to work at 7:30 and then back to the pool in the afternoons. For the first three weeks, she has mandatory restraint training at work which conflicts with the evening practices. And all of this as the flu rages through Boston (she was too sick to get the shot when they offered them, with her own mini-flu in October/November) and the team is trying to wrap up their season. We are headed to watch her swim in PA today.
Finally, in other news, the college search is on for B. He's been accepted to only one school so far, and has to hear from nine. I'm reasonably sure that they are all waiting to see his midterm grades and won't send decisions until March or so. But one had promised a decision by January 15, so maybe that will happen next week. Something else to add to the list. And Kevin continues his recovery from the shoulder surgery that ruled his thoughts for the better part of the fall. He's in PT twice a week and scares the animals by raising and lowering an umbrella as he lies in bed every night and every morning. Onward and upward!
Next week will be worse as I have a meeting Monday, for which I'll have to take and transcribe and post minutes AND watch a speaker that will keep me out until after 9. Tuesday (my BIRTHDAY for crying out loud) I am forced to remain at work for an extra hour for a phone call because nobody could make it work during regular business hours. Yesterday I calculated my hourly wage and it's becoming more paltry as I take on more harried tasks.
Then, on Wednesday, we have the dreaded semi-annual neurology appointment with B, and this is the one where we find out what the MRI showed back in August. We have called a few times and have only been told that we would have heard if there were a problem, so I'm going to assume that this is the case. Still a total stressor, especially as B is banking on this to be his bon voyage visit at this doctor's office, or at least the end of the six month follow-ups, and, hopefully MRIs unless as needed. Although he probably should have one at least every few years to check on his syrinx, curse its sausagey self.
So - the flu. Of course I can't write a blog post under the present events without addressing one of my usual paranoias - the flu. B has been very ill with flulike symptoms both of the last two years and I thought to myself that we'd get him the vaccine this year. He had it twice - once the year he was diagnosed with chiari and had the surgery (the healthiest winter of his life, virus-wise) and the following year, when he contracted bronchitis and developed subsequent serum sickness from the antibiotic. After that I became fearful of foreign substances and he never got the vaccine again. Also if he's had the flu two years in a row, surely he should be spared a third? Although he tested negative both times in the rapid test. But I don't believe it - only the flu could possibly have rendered him so useless for so long.
After weighing the pros and cons, I called the pediatrician only to be told they had run out. They called me yesterday and offered him a few options (which I can't make, because of the above events of this upcoming week) and he now has an appointment for Thursday at 9:30. I will have to go in late to work and he will have to leave school and go back. The good news is that I have time to think it over. If only I could be sure he wasn't going to get sick again! Then I could spare him the chemicals and possible adverse effects of who-knows-what is in that shot for a 60% effectiveness. And is it going to help or make it worse, if he gets it as the season begins to wind down?
Otherwise, M is settling in with her new job, although she has just been overwhelmed with work and practice. She has to be at the pool at 6 and at the car to meet the girls she drives at 6:50, to work at 7:30 and then back to the pool in the afternoons. For the first three weeks, she has mandatory restraint training at work which conflicts with the evening practices. And all of this as the flu rages through Boston (she was too sick to get the shot when they offered them, with her own mini-flu
Finally, in other news, the college search is on for B. He's been accepted to only one school so far, and has to hear from nine. I'm reasonably sure that they are all waiting to see his midterm grades and won't send decisions until March or so. But one had promised a decision by January 15, so maybe that will happen next week. Something else to add to the list. And Kevin continues his recovery from the shoulder surgery that ruled his thoughts for the better part of the fall. He's in PT twice a week and scares the animals by raising and lowering an umbrella as he lies in bed every night and every morning. Onward and upward!
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