My son is a hippy . . .

. . . but hopefully not for long! He needs a haircut pretty bad. The plan is to shower, shave, and put on some warm-weather clothes (finally) and get out to the salon with my boy. We have a bit of money left over from Millie's gift check from last week, so we can finally swing the whole haircut thing . . . We've put it off to long, too, too long.

I made dinner last night. I've been trying to keep up with cooking when I can, since it's much more economical and often more nutritious and healthy. Last night was macaroni and cheese, a food-makeover recipe from the Weight Watchers website. Honestly, it didn't taste very good. One of those recipes that just didn't work out, I guess. I think we'll just toss the leftovers. Not like me, since I hate to throw out food when there are starving people in the world, but this was just . . . blekh! So, all my efforts in the kitchen were in vain, the steam burn on my arm, the spilled cheese on the stove, the cost of the groceries, the time . . . For nothing! Why do I bother? I don't know. I think I'm a pretty handy person in the kitchen. A lot of my recipes come out pretty good, and I can make some of my grandmother's Mexican food . . . But in this case, I blame it entirely on the recipe. Not my fault, I tell ya! I can only do so much to fix a recipe that's faulty! I'm not sure how it ever got on the website, to be honest with you. They must not have tried this one first.

Guess what my son is doing right now? No, guess, really! I'll give you a sec . . . Okay, give up? He is actually pretending to vacuum! Got the vacuum unit out and everything. He's telling me it'll be loud, and he just needs to get to the hall, then he'll be done. Then he checks the carpet setting and pushes it around some more. It looks kinda heavy for him to handle, but he's doing it. Not something I would think a 3-year-old would find interesting, but . . . He surprises me every day. Monday he wanted me to pretend his binoculars were a purse while we shopped for shoes. I tried to tell him boys and men didn't need purses, only ladies. But he wanted it to be a purse sooooo baddd! Whattayagonnado? He spends a lot of time with his mommy.

Well, that's it, I guess. I will probably post some lists and stuff next. CJ will know all this stuff, but just in case there is someone out there who wants to get to know me a bit, this'll be for you. Take care.

Blog ya later,
R

More surprises from E

Yesterday, my toddler son surprised me with an unusual request. I'm sure parents of toddlers know how unusual my son can be--that he sleeps until 9:00 am, that he eats broccoli, will have a bowlful of black olives at mealtime, and more . . . But yesterday afternoon, while I was on the phone with my sister, CJ, he actually asked me if he could take a bath!

Yep, asked me if he could bathe. That was easy! Wow! And all he did while he was in there was play with a simple rubber duck. Sat there in the tub and squeeze it for about 15 minutes. Doesn't get easier than that. I think I got pretty lucky in the son department . . .

Today, he caught me putting a shirt over my bra. I was struggling to pull it over my elbows, and he stopped right next to me, poked me on the side of my bra, and just said, "Fruit on dere." Hmm. Then I realized that the bra was Fruit of the Loom, so there was fruit there, but I would say that was the last thing I expected him to say while catching me putting on a shirt.

The best surprises are the unexpected I-love-yous and the unprompted hugs, but all the surprises make him such an adventure. Like the last time I made him a quesadilla, then, tasting it, he looked at me and said, "It's good," with an approving nod. And when he tells me how much he does not want to eat eggplant, but will try it anyway. At least one bite, then decide if he doesn't like it. Then he'll clean his plate. What a great boy.

I'm still stuffed up and sleepless. So that's all I will write for now. I will catch up later.

R

What's Wrong With Me?

I just can't seem to get anything done lately. I can't even get my s**t together enough to leave the house. I wouldn't say I'm procrastinating exactly, but something like it. I'm not consciously trying to get out of doing thing I need to do, but somehow they aren't getting done. Part of me is thinking of all the things I need to do, another part is trying to prioritize, and yet another is saying, "You don't need to do that right this minute!" So nothing gets done. Nothing. I didn't even take a shower until 4 o'clock this afternoon. And I didn't mop, didn't do any dishes, didn't do any laundry, didn't paint, didn't blog, didn't exercise . . . Didn't anything.

I think in some ways I feel preoccupied. All I can think about is that I have an undiagnosed health condition. If it isn't the cyst on my ovary causing the pain in my abdoment, what is it? What else is wrong with me? What symptoms have I overlooked? Are the symptoms I have related at all, or separate conditions? The hair loss I've been having was diagnosed as a symptom of stress, since my TSH was normal. But is it? Am I still stressed out enough after moving to a new city and getting my medications in order? Or is it now hair loss due to some other condition?

Sometimes it feels like my blood sugar has dropped suddenly and I feel weak and shaky, even dizzy. Yet, if I eat, the feeling is still there. I once had my blood pressure drop while I was getting a blood test done during pregnancy, and it feels sort of like that, but I don't have a way to verify that it's low blood pressure. I did feel faint Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Then it goes away. The pain in my abdomen, although subtle, is still there. It's obvious when I bend over sometimes, or after the exams I've had when someone was pressing all over my belly and pelvis. It doesn't get worse usually, just persists. So, is it something, or nothing? When is it okay to be concerned, and when do you just tell yourself you're being a hypochondriac and to relax.

I have to be concerned in some ways, mostly because it was my own persistence that got me a hypothyroidism diagnosis. I KNEW something had been wrong with me, but no doctors I saw would ever persue it. They would give me antibiotics or else tell me it's viral and there's nothing that can be done. I told one doctor that I felt like I had been sick an awfully long time and I was worried, and he just told me, "Yeah, sometimes it just hits you all at once." That's another reason it was so tough for me to leave my doctor in San Antonio, since he listened, had great intuition, and always followed through to a diagnosis. He was great. I hope my new doctor won't give up on me.

At the very least, test me until I'm sure there really isn't anything wrong.

Anyway, I am feeling a bit stressed. E has been cranky all afternoon, fussy, crying, and demanding. I guess I was due for it. He had been a real sweetiepie for days in a row this week. Just a picture perfect little boy. Gotta earn those mom wages, though.

Maybe relieving some stress will help with the weight loss I missed out on this week. I've been sticking to the plan and doing my best, but I still haven't been able to find time to exercise. Mostly I'm just imagining it will be like all the times past when E would intervene, literally tackle me to the floor, take my exercise equipment, cry until I was finished or turned of the DVD . . . It's hard to make myself ready to deal with that as well as the exercising itself. Whew . . . I'm stressed out just thinking about it.

Well, wrists and fingers getting tired. I should probably go. Maybe I'll have a warm beverage this evening and cozy up to my husband. Sounds nice.

Later, peeps. Come back again! :)
R