I’m pleased to report that our house is tonsillitis free.

It’s been a long day, but right now we’re making the most of down time.

I was up at 4:30 a.m. because the munchkin woke up having a royal fit about something, and decided just to stay up given we had to have my husband to the hospital at 6 a.m. He got home from work and we did a quick turn around and were out of the door. I loaded the car last night and I’m glad we did.

We got in and I was shown to a waiting area with the munchkin while they prepped hubbie and got him set up and then we were allowed to come back to see him until they took him down for surgery at 7:20 a.m.

Munchkin and I went “off-campus” to get breakfast and when I came back it turned out hubbie had come out of surgery around the time we had been getting our food, and was “doing well” unlike last time at the other hospital where they then lost him for almost an hour and found him again only to tell me he had not in fact had surgery when they’d previously left me a message saying that everything was fine, this time he actually was doing pretty well. They were getting his pain managed and then after another twenty minutes and two munchkin escapes we were allowed to go back and see him, and while he was still in some pain he was feeling wonderful because he knew the tonsils were gone.

We were able to come home around noon, after I explained to the nurse that hubbie works nights normally and is used to being asleep during the day and that’s why he was having a hard time staying awake, not entirely the anesthetic lingering.

So, we were home by 1:30 after we stopped and picked up his prescriptions for pain killers, which is a lot better than last time, given last time even though he didn’t even HAVE the operation we didn’t get out of the hospital until almost four.

There’s nothing quite like being woken up at 3:30 a.m. by, “Mummy!! Mummy!” I tell myself at least he wasn’t shrieking and at least I didn’t go in there to find out that he’d spread poop all over his crib or something like that, but still it was awfully early and I was not exactly awake or thrilled to be bounced on that early either.
So, we settled down on the couch or at least I tried to get him to, but he wanted to upend the house and tip water everywhere and yank off his fresh diaper and paint with it’s contents and things like that.

I think giving myself early morning acne treatments would have been more favorable, by far, BUT there was a light at the end of the tunnel of exhaustion, because my husband got home at six a.m. and looked after the munchkin so I could nap for a couple more hours. Yay!

I’m still a bit tired this morning, but that’s what caffeine is for!

My horoscope this morning is very pertinent:

Monday, Mar 24th, 2008 – You may be buzzing on all the energy you feel, but a deeper flow of emotions can catch you off guard, possibly even sending you into a temporary tailspin. Don’t worry; you’ll quickly recover as long as you acknowledge the progress you have made. Looking within doesn’t necessarily require looking back. Imagine your future rather than dreaming of your past.

I got it from this site, just in case anyone is curious. I’m not very good with astrology myself.

I think it’s pretty accurate for things that are going on right now. I’ve been looking into things from childhood and growing up with my therapist lately, but they’ve not yielded very much in the way of answers, mostly just speculation and that’s not always helpful because it can lead to assumptions which can be problematic.

While it is going to be necessary to look into the past to a point to enable some healing. I think for right now I should continue focusing on the present and the future rather than dwelling and wondering. My next therapy appointment is for three weeks, which gives me plenty of time to focus on the future and building things properly in the here and now.

To my husband,

We’ve been married three years now, although we’ve been together for just over five. Our first date was 1 February 2003, the day that Columbia exploded. We’ve weathered many things together in such a small space of time.

I’m grateful every day that we found each other despite both having decided we would never date again. Our warped senses of humor compliment each other very well, and while we could never afford to buy each other Technomarine watches I know that we’ll get through and get by because our love and our family is more important to us than material things.

You’ve made many sacrifices for us, worked so hard to provide for us even despite being sick pretty much constantly this past year because of your stupid tonsils, but you do these things because you’re a good man and a strong man and because you love us, me and our son. Seeing you with him is always something which melts my heart. My big strong man playing so cutely with a our little boy. I can tell he’s the light of your world just as he is mine, even if you don’t always say so.

I love you more and more each and every day. You are and always will be my hero.

Your wife <3

I’ve been quiet for a few days because things have been busy here. My husband was supposed to be having a consultation for surgery, to finally get rid of the tonsils he was supposed to have out just before New Years, except now his surgeon has left the area, and the new surgeon wants to postpone the surgery indefinitely until they do a bunch of tests that he had talked to his original surgeon about bypassing and just getting the tonsils out given the affect that having tonsillitis for over a year has had on his overall quality of life.

So, we’re both more than a little annoyed, frustrated, angry about this turn of events. We’re trying to get a referral to a different surgeon but that’s proving difficult also. Urgh. If it’s not one thing it’s another. I seriously hate what this is doing to him. It’s up and down, up and down, hope and dashed hope. He was looking forward to the end being in sight once more and then when he called me at the grocery store to find out where something was I could just tell that things had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

On top of that the munchkin had me up and down all night because he has a temperate of 101. He’s not lethargic, and is alternately pretty chipper and is still eating and drinking. I’m making sure to keep him well saturated so that he doesn’t get dehydrated, and right now he’s sleeping but I can’t I’m too awake, despite being completely exhausted for most of the day.

I hope we can get this surgery issue resolved soon, but it looks like another round of referrals will have to be done or we’ll just have to find some way to get these tests done quickly. The problem is with all the delays and the relapses hubbie’s been having because the surgery hasn’t been done he’s rapidly running out sick time.

I’m sure this isn’t news to most people, but every once in a while I sit back and realize exactly how much of a turmoil my life has been in since April 26 of 2006…well, before that really, from since we found out I was pregnant which was August 27 of 2005…but it’s just crazy.

If someone had come to me the first year in college and told me that I would be married, with a small son and working from home by now I would have probably asked them where they got their medication and if I could have some because that was just a ludicrous idea.

This morning was actually pretty easy in baby-land. We had a good morning of fun and he actually got it into his head that it’s nicer to stroke the cat than punch her so that was good, but then after we got back from the store where I was picking up a scratching post, and more toothpaste and diapers for his lordship he decided that he was going to switch modes and be demon child.

He got demanding about his lunch and refused to eat what he was given, then decided he wanted to wake his Dad up to complain about this and, of course, his Dad didn’t agree with him so then we had the mega-tantrum. He threw himself all around the house and was pulling at various doors and things screaming. He was asking for all kinds of other things to eat that he wasn’t going to get until he at least attempted to eat his sandwich, but he refused. In the end he passed out asleep mid-tantrum.

Apparently bologna and provolone cheese is only good when freshly sliced and handing to him by his devoted fans at the Deli Counter, but when it’s served in a sandwich by his boring old Mum it’s no good.

I miss those days so many months (maybe two) ago where he would eat anything that was put in front of him. The terrible two’s suck and he’s not even actually two yet.

The munchkin has croup

It’s actually not so bad as it sounds. He’s in pretty good spirits now. Yesterday he started with a runny nose, and then after his nap he was very agitated and upset and cried a lot and had a barking cough. I called the pediatrician and they recommended what dose I could give of over-the-counter medicine given I estimated his weight to be between 30-33lbs, and he did calm down after a little while and went back to sleep until about 7:30 p.m. then he was up for a while running around like crazy and went back to bed at almost 10 p.m.

I was up checking on him because he would cough a little bit in his sleep and was still pretty warm overnight, and I checked on him a couple of times then he woke up at around 6 a.m. and was agitated and freaking out again. I managed to get him somewhat settled but he didn’t really perk up until his Dad got home at around 7 a.m.

I took him to Urgent Care at his pediatrician rather than waiting until this afternoon as that was the only appointments they had, and they checked him out. By this point he was very chipper, flirting with the receptionist’s 3 year old daughter and trying to escape from the office. They checked him out. I found out I estimated his weight very well he’s 32 1/2 lbs. The doctor gave him a prescription for a low dose of steroid which is to be taken only at night. If he starts to have problems again during the day I can give him a small dose of expectorant like Mucinex and he should be right by Friday as croup generally only lasts a few days.

She said I was smart to give him a steamy bath yesterday that would have helped.

I’d had a moment of paranoia that it was whooping cough because his cough was like a seal bark, but she said that would have been a constant barking cough of such severity that he would probably have wound up vomiting. He’s also had a vaccination against whooping cough and not been around anyone with it; but it’s good to know.

My husband bought me a 1 hour massage for Valentine’s Day.

He gave it to me tonight, well, the certificate anyway, because he’s suggesting I go to it after my therapy appointment on Thursday and have a munchkin free day. I’m not sure if I will or not. He’ll be exhausted because he’s going to be up early tomorrow to get us a washer and dryer and then up early Thursday to look after the munchkin because my appointment is in the morning, so that’ll be two really long days for him. Plus I’d been going to suggest that after I got back from the appointment he went and watched “Rambo 4″, which I don’t want to see, as a thank you for staying up early and watching the munchkin while I go to therapy.

I suppose we’ll talk about it tomorrow after he gets back from his own doctor’s appointment. Maybe he can go tomorrow after his appointment.

My Mum sent me an email the other day about the New Year meme that I wrote an entry on the other day. So, now I can expand a bit more on the tradition I was speaking about. It is a British tradition, but it’s primarily rooted in our Scottish heritage.

Mum wrote:

Just catching up on email and read your blog from earlier in the week about New Year’s Traditions. The one you were speaking about is actually Scottish. Hogmanay (as it is known in Scotland is a big deal), don’t think I spelled that right. So that is why we made a big deal of New Year for Grandad. The tradition is that a dark male (doesn’t have to be tall), calls at your house just after midnight carrying a piece of coal (he’s called a First Footer), he is bring in the New Year and the piece of coal is be ensure the household has enough fuel to keep them warm for the year, probably also to bring luck to the household. I think the First Footer would also be carrying something called “Black Bun”, or the family had baked a “Black Bun”.

So, being the child of the digital age that I am I decided to do a bit more digging around, according to Wikipedia.org:

There are many customs, both national and local, associated with Hogmanay. The most widespread national custom is the practice of ‘first-footing’ which starts immediately after midnight. This involves being the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbour and often involves the giving of symbolic gifts such as salt (less common today), coal, shortbread, whisky, and black bun (a rich fruit cake) intended to bring different kinds of luck to the householder. Food and drink (as the gifts) are then given to the guests. This may go on throughout the early hours of the morning and well into the next day (although modern days see people visiting houses until 3 January). The first-foot is supposed to set the luck for the rest of the year, so it is important that a suitable person does the job. A tall, handsome, and dark-haired man bearing a gift is strongly preferred. According to popular folklore, a man with dark hair was welcomed because he was assumed to be a fellow Scotsman; a blond or red-haired stranger was assumed to be an unwelcome Norseman.

I find that last part interesting because I’ve always associated red hair with my Scottish heritage, not that you would be able to tell right now being blue and pink. Perhaps I can do some more research if we actually get to go back to the UK for a visit. I’ll need to invest in more than just some Swiss Army luggage before that happens though. My passport is still in my maiden name, the munchkin doesn’t even HAVE a passport yet, and we have to get finalized with the immigration department before anything can be done anyway. We’re still waiting to hear when our interview is, and it’s coming up on nine months since we filled out all our applications and turned in our photos and fingerprints. Really with the way the USCIS is, that’s not so bad.

I’m triply glad now that we wound up having to get internet from the cable company because the phone was supposed to be activated at 10 a.m. I was up at the butt crack of dawn this morning getting ready to hare down two cities over to return toilet seats to Home Depot, pick some more stuff up at the apartment, busting ass so that I would be back here for 9:30 a.m. so that I wouldn’t miss the phone company guy, but it’s now almost eleven and I haven’t even heard from them let alone seen them on the property.

I wound up having to call them. The woman got pretty snippy with me because she couldn’t hear what I was saying in answer to all the confirmation questions until I snapped back, “Well, I’m SORRY. I’m having to use my cell phone because your people haven’t turned my phone on yet!” Then she became nicer all of a sudden. Although still pretty unhelpful.

She told me that they do show that we’re in queue to get turned on. Gee, thanks. I have it written that my appointment was almost an hour ago. I knew that. Can you at least tell me WHEN this ten a.m. is in Embarq-land? Because here in Florida it was 53 minutes ago. “Well, they’re running behind.” “Okay, how behind? one hour? two hours? eight hours?” “I can’t tell you that. It will be done before the end of business today.”

Oh, well, that’s great. I’m supposed to just sit around at home all day on Christmas Eve when we have relatives coming in from all over and are supposed to be at my FILs house? I can’t do that! My SIL is only here until 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Then the small pinprick of light appears at the end of the tunnel. Because we’re NOT getting internet we don’t have to be here to have the phone turned on, because all they have to do is mess with things outside on the junction box. They don’t need access to the house itself. So, once we’re done with our celebratory brunch we can mosey on out of here and there’s no problem.

I just hope they actually do get things turned on today like they said, because I’m hoping to have Mum come over here in the morning so she can call our relatives in England for Christmas as all she has right now is a cell phone and that would be a hideous phone bill for her.