Our Virtual Dental Practice

Has anyone heard of a child losing 4 teeth in 3 weeks? How about 2 teeth in one day? Neither had I until Monday. That was the morning Michael comes out of the bathroom with one of his molars in his hand and a big grin on his face. "I wonder if the Tooth Fairy leaves more money for a molar", he asked. I did not respond but as far as THIS Tooth Fairy is concerned....NO! Later that evening I was cooking dinner and we were all watching Jeopardy. Michael jumped off the couch and yelled, "Oh my gosh, I just lost another tooth". I thought he was playing a joke but around the bar he runs with another molar in his hand....and the grin!
So, Wednesday morning, Michael comes downstairs sorely disappointed. Apparently Mike forgot to put money under the pillow. Luckily, Mike was quick on his feet and explained to him the Fairy must have not made the switch because he left his bedside light on instead of just a nightlight. Furthermore, the Fairy is scared of light instead of the dark so that must have been it. Fortunately, Michael is a tad bit into the gullible stage and bought it hook, line and sinker. The next night he slept with all his lights off....low and behold....he got money!! Job well done!

Friday Fill Ins and Updates

I am happy to report that my Little Guy is feeling better. I took him to the doctor yesterday afternoon and by the time we were finished, he looked like death on a stick. Even the people at the office were commenting on how "pitiful that baby looks". It was very disheartening. Needless to say I slept in his room again (an a children's foam, fold out couch!) and was worried sick. A few cries during the night later, BETTER! Literally in the blink of an eye, actually is was kind of weird how quick he recovered. Thanks for all the prayers and messages on my Facebook page from everyone. It was greatly appreciated.

Now, IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. It seems like time is flying by and my kids are growing up way too fast.

2. Put the seat down when you're done, please?

3. If I thought you would answer I'd call!

4. Being breathless is what I think of most when I think of you.

5. To me, Valentine's Day means nothing, it is such a made up Hallmark holiday!
6. God, family, and friends give me strength.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hopefully having an uneventful evening, tomorrow my plans include visiting my mom in Hermitage and a birthday party in Murfreesboro and Sunday, I want to go shopping at Kohls with my 30% off coupon!

All The Laws

Wow, I cannot believe it has been almost a week since I last had an entry. This week has been such a whirlwind, I cannot even begin to describe it so one could get a true grasp or understand the concept......but I will attempt, of course!
We have all heard of different laws.....Newton gave us the laws of motion (3 actually), Einstein gave us the Theory of Relativity (could be construed as a "law") and of course there is ol' Murphy's Law which if you are not familiar with the first two aforementioned, you definitely know about that one.

Because I am so damn special (j/k), I am setting the groundwork, a virtual storyboard, for my own personal hypothesis for the Law of Contagiousness. My home has been a virtual incubator, Petri dish even for sickness over the past week. However, I find it odd how certain illnesses skip members of the family but it is a different family member depending on the ailment. For example, a couple of months ago the most wonderful gastrointestinal virus ravaged the house. Diarrhea and vomiting were the items du jour. Everyone was affected except yours truly. I think it was because I can be such a pain in the ass that even intestinal bugs shake with fear.
This past week is has been a respiratory issue. Michael was the first lucky contestant on Friday. He had a low grade fever, cough, complaining of a headache, and a sore throat. A 25 dollar co-pay later we discover it was not strep but some obscure virus!! Treat the symptoms and it will go away in a few days we were told!! CHECK!
OK, OK, OK, my turn...my turn....(said rapidly)....Tuesday I was feeling weird, no specific symptoms, just weird. On Wednesday morning, much to my family's glee, I had a 'screaming case' (pardon the play on words) of laryngitis. This glee was further transferred to my coworkers and patients as they were able to get a small hiatus from my ramblings.
Because I love my family so much, I wanted to ensure that as many members as possible were exposed to the respiratory thing. Mike proved immune, as usual. He rarely gets this type of virus. I think it is because he does not talk a lot therefore he breaths through his nose more which filters out all the yuckies. Last night, Marshall was my final victim. At midnight, I woke up and noticed he was breathing very heavy, panting even. An ear probe later, I discover he had a 104.5 temperature. Whoops, I did not mean to give him that much of the virus....my bad.
All kidding aside, I was worried about the little guy. I slept in his room the rest of the night on a make shift bed made from decorative pillows from my bed. COMFY......NOT. I sleep with my kids when they are sick because the run such crazy high temps (105 is not uncommon) even when it is not that big of an illness. It can be quite daunting as a parent. I spend most of the night rotating wet wash clothes over their foreheads and the back of their necks in an attempt to keep them cool. Needless to say I am exhausted today and worried about Marshall. My voice is back much to everyone's dismay I am sure. Pray for my little guy!

Friday Fill-lns

1. Please don't tell me things you just think I want to hear, mean what you say.

2. Can you jump right out of bed and go out in public in the morning?

3. The color black makes me want to feel sexy!

4. I have a craving for hash browns, crispy bacon, and biscuits with gravy.

5. If my life had a pause button, I'd pause it at my happiest times with the people I am happiest with.

6. Eyes are the windows to the soul....I truly have witnessed this.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to the Valentine's dinner at church, tomorrow my plans include hopefully taking the boat out for a while...its going to be in the 60's....whooo hooo and Sunday, I want to..I have to..get some things done around the house, enough procrastination already!

Nothing Specific

Nothing real exciting to report. This week has been uneventful which I think is a good thing. Michael has been to school one day this week which is getting old. I was looking back through the calender and I am happy to announce he has not completed a full week of school since Christmas break. Although he is thrilled, his grades have suffered. His strongest subjects are spelling, science, math, English, Social Studies. These are listed in order of strength. He did make Honor Roll last nine weeks but the C's and one D he brought home from his weekly work (technically 2 weeks of work since they have not completed a full week) warranted abstaining from the Wii for one week. I don't know what else to do. Since this is the age of blame...who can I blame....OH, I choose to blame Mother Nature for my son's declining grades! Not really, I am being silly.

On a positive note, this week has flown by. I cannot believe tomorrow is Friday. We have been so busy at work (I have actually had to earn my money this week!) plus I have been working extra at a nursing home that time is at warp speed. If this was a sci-fi movie you would see those little white lines all around me denoting how fast I am moving! Hopefully I won't have to work extra for long. It wears on you over time.

Goofing Off

I must admit that I am extremely fortunate to have the job I do. Although there are times when it is extremely taxing....mostly mental....when a patient is extremely hard of hearing or has an intimate affair with dementia, we mostly get to cut up and have a good time with them. We get to play games like bowling, bean bag toss, horseshoes, etc. and throw foam Frisbees at each other. There have been times the Frisbee would be thrown so hard (employee to employee, not at the patient!!) it would knock that person's glasses off. I personally could hit Clete (the other Physical Therapist) just right in the ear with one and it would pop some how! This is usually how my days go. See why I am lucky! This is coupled with the fact of the other therapists I work with are all goof offs. They take their jobs seriously but keep it light, if you know what I mean.

Every year anyone in clinical areas of the hospital has to be fitted for a special mask that protects them from tuberculosis. Employee Health puts this crazy hood on you and sprays sweetener in the hood. Once with the mask off so you can taste it and once with the mask on. The gist of it is you are not supposed to be able to taste the sweetener with the mask on. If you can, it would not protect you against those nasty little bugs. Although this picture was taken around Christmas time, I forgot all about it until yesterday when I was rummaging through my phone pictures. Hopefully, everyone will get a good laugh out of it. This is Clete and I getting FIT tested with our hoods on. This will give you a glimpse of my work environment.

Too Hot For Jeans/Snowing Like Crazy

I am so sorry my blogging consistency has been lagging, to say the least. Life has been crazy and there have been a few upheavals in my home. All which have been out of my control. I am hoping everything will return to normal soon. Please, let it be soon.

Could one have asked for a more beautiful day yesterday. The cherry on the sundae would have been the wind taking a hike. I don't want to complain but it was rather windy! The boys went out to play on the swing set and ride bikes/scooters. It was 10 minutes later when Mike and Michael both came inside to put on shorts. "It's warm when you stand in the sun." Warm enough for shorts?? Not this girl. We went to a big open parking lot by the YMCA and threw the Aerobie for about an hour. What a workout! Why I wore slip on shoes instead of tennis shoes, I have no idea. Definite poor planning on my part. I could not run as fast as I wanted because my shoes felt like they were going to come off. Needless to say I missed quite a few throws. Later in the evening I made Three Cheese Tortellini with porcini mushrooms which was yummy if I do say so myself. After dinner we watched the rest of the Super Bowl. I wasn't that interested since the Titans were not playing but Michael wanted to watch so we did. I was secretly rooting for the underdogs but the Steelers prevailed. Oh well!

This beautiful day was followed by some crazy snow. The weather in this state kills me. I took some pics this morning of all the snow. I can't believe the school are only running two hours late. The roads are clear but we have a boatload of snow on the ground. Who makes these decisions, I don't know. I can think of many, many days of clear roads and the schools were closed. I guess inconsistency prevails and 'keep them guessing' would be the school board's mantra. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures. One is from the front door looking toward the entrance to the neighborhood and one is out the back door. Be sure to click on the pictures so you can see them up close. The snow on the limbs of the trees is just beautiful.