kiddo

Breaking the bank

This week has been rough on my bank accounts, not to mention my sanity.

Part I:

On Tuesday afternoon, Kiddo sent me a text message saying that her stomach hurt.  Because I'm that kind of mom, I asked her if she had to poop.  No go.  She wasn't at home yet so I instructed her to take two Pepto and have a few sips of Sprite when she got home.  I was really leaning towards gas.

I asked her where it hurt and she said that it was in the middle over her bellybutton.  Anywhere else?  Nope.  Okay then, we'll play doctor when I get home.

She was napping when I got there.  She awoke a short time later and we chatted.  The pain wasn't there as long as she, well, didn't move.  Not normal.  She did manage, however, to make it downstairs for dinner. (The girl doesn't miss meals and she's stick skinny!  Ah, to be 15 again.)

I'd say about 15 minutes after we finished dinner, she saw it again.  This is very bad.  I did a little research on the internet to see what might be the cause.  Of course, appendicitis was tops on the list.  They say that one of the symtoms is when you make a quick press and release on the stomach area, it hurts more than if you press and hold it.  Unfortunately, this is what was going on with her.  I wasn't 100% on what to do at this point.

<sidebar: At this point, we were catching feeder bands from Ike, meaning it was windy as all get out and rainy.>

So, for lack of a better option, I called the hospital to ask what they thought.  I mean, hell, they're medical professionals!  I explained the situation and they suggested that I bring her in.  And then the power went out.  Seriously, the dog farts and our power goes out.  Well, there you go.  Even the powers that be said I should take her.

We brave the wind and rain and hop in the car where immediately my dashboard lights start to flicker.  Hooray, one more thing to deal with.

Upon arrival to the ER, it is IMPOSSIBLE to find a place to park.  Thank goodness she wasn't dying.  Finally found parking and got her in and registered.

We got called in but then bumped because a lady was hysterical and complaining that she couldn't breathe.  Now.  I'm no doctor, but it would seem to me that if you can scream and cry, then you can breathe, but whatever.  We waited.

The triage nurse asks me "You're related to her how?"  I love looking young.

Back to the lobby to wait for the intake lady.  Intake lady asks me "And you are her….?"  I still love looking young.

Transferred over to the blood lab.  The phlebotomist says "This is your sister?" Hahaha, awesome, but now mildly annoying.

Finally into a room where the doctor will see her.  The nurse, Adam, comes in and asks some questions including "How are you related to her?"

At this point, it's after 11pm and I'm tired and I'm tired of asking the same question.  My response: "Oh, I don't know her.  I picked her up off the street.  I have a soft spot for homeless kids."  Kiddo laughed immediately so I couldn't pull the wool over his eyes.  (she doesn't so much look like me, at least I don't think so)

Another Brian gem included Kiddo threatening to leave if they stuck her with another needle.  Me telling her she couldn't because I have the car keys.  Her responding oh yeah and saying that she didn't know where she was.  Brian, shocked, asks "you don't know where you are?!?!"  Kiddo explains that she only means that she wouldn't know how to get home from the hospital.

The doctor finally came back with the verdict.  No appendicitis, only gastritis.  Gave her some IV fluids and meds along with some Maalox and a prescription for Prilosec.  Kiddo got YET ANOTHER warning to not have any more energy drinks with the promise that if found out, she will live in her room under her bed until the next school year.

I suppose a $75 co-pay is much better than the bill I racked up (and am still paying) from the same hospital where I went before I had insurance.

My poorness continues in Part 2.

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Ike’s got nothing on me

There are things in this life that I love, things I like, things I tolerate, and things that, to steal a line from Peter Griffin, grind my gears.  The following grinds my gears:

Kiddo is in the big high school now.  Eight classes broken into blocks of four classes a day.  Remember when you were in high school?  Could you not go to all of your classes every day?  I digress.

She has Honors English.  Now, what they are trying to feed me is that if you have HE, you must take this class called Inquiry Skills. (Apparently this is because "the county" has been told that their graduates are lacking in writing skills.  This would have nothing to do with the fact that many, many children in the county are ESOL but that's neither here nor there.)

Kiddo showed me some of the homework that she has gotten in this class.  Sentence structure.  Compound sentences.  Basic 5th grade stuff.  Yes, I know that those are not sentences.  This is 9th grade, people!  If you do not know these things yet, then maybe you should not be placed in HE?!?!

As a concerned parent, I called the school to speak with Kiddo's counselor.  Here's what grinds my gears.

HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT!  When speaking with a parent whose taxes pay your salary, one should not immediately adapt an attitude.  One should not speak over the parent and do their best not to let a parent get a word in edgewise.  One should not flat out disrespect me because you do not know me, you have no knowledge of my life, you do not know my child, and I will smack a bitch. 

Part of me wanted to reach through the phone and throttle this man, but I refrained because some people will not listen no matter what you are saying.  Said conselor is one of those people.  After I vented to innocent co-workers, I proceeded to call the school and asked to speak to the person in charge.  Of course, she was not in but oh did she get a message.  That message also went to the assistant principal.  To steal a line from South Park:

DON'T. FUCK. WITH. MIAMI. SHYNER.

I am not even joking when I say that if I do not get a phone call tomorrow, there will be hell to pay.  They may think that they can speak to me in that manner, but they are about to get schooled in their own school.  If I have to go into that school, they will wish that hurricane Ike had hit them rather than hurricane Black Girl.

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thngs n tsdy – jly 8, 2008

>.<  stuff

  • Up until last night, a serious lack of good sleep
  • I miss my Kiddo although I know she's in good hands and is having a blast
  • Dude.  Work.  Seriously.  I'm smarter than this.
  • Almost finished with Duma Key already

:-D  stuff

  • 4th of July weekend was totally fun
  • A mere four days remain until vacation for real
  • Two melatonin let me sleep through one hell of a storm
  • I'll be an iPhone whore in a couple days
  • The second bathroom will function within the next month!
  • Hooray book club
  • BruddaShyner may go check out Kiddo at camp
  • The end of accounting is in sight
  • OMG, last night's hamburgers were freaking delicious
  • EDAMAME!
  • It's 2 for Tuesday.  Hoo HA!

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It’s the first Monday of summer!

And sure, Mondays suck in general, but it's summer!  Nothing like a bulleted list to chat about all the stuff that's fit to print.

  • Sunday morning, bright and early, Kiddo and I drove up to Fort Lauderdale International because it's time to go to camp!  Let me say that I am highly jealous of her getting to go to camp.  I want to go and hang out and get to do all kinds of cool stuff for a month!  Ah, to be a kid again.
  • After checking and re-checking and asking and re-asking, do you have everything with affirmative responses, we got to the airport and are at the gate when Kiddo says…I forgot my pillow.  Silly Kiddo.  But, she says, I remembered Tauram, so I'll sleep on him.  Who is this Tauram (pronounced tar-ram) you may ask? Tauram is a stuffed ram that I gave her approximately 6 years ago on a Club Med trip.  That thing is beat to death and she still takes it with her.  🙂
  • We were sitting at terminal waiting for her to board when she sees another girl that is wearing the same wristband that she has.  I tell her that maybe she should go say hello and maybe she's going to camp too.  She spouts off with some stuff about being shy.  She and I are quite similar in that way.  We're kind of quiet and reserved unless you know us, then all bets are off.  We were all kinds of stupid in the airport upon her departure although the other passengers found it amusing.  Stupid in the "ARRGH, I'm gonna miss you so much", overly melodramatic way.
  • Several hours later, I got a call from an unknown number, but not knowing if it might be Kiddo, I picked it up, and lo and behold, it was her.  She told me about her flight (uneventful) and that the girl in the airport was going to camp and that she's really cool and it was her phone that she was using.  So, she made a friend before she even got to camp.
  • A little while later, another call from another number.  Again I pick up and there she is again.  She's met another person from our area who is going to camp.  So she's rocked out two friends before she even makes it to camp.  If you're interested, the camp site is here.  She lucked out and got in a bunk that's close to all of the main activities that she's interested in, but kinda far from the cafeteria.
  • I ate like an absolute pig yesterday, proabably putting a negative dent in my weight loss goal.  Oh well, back to the routine this week.  I need to work out also but I'm sooooo lazy.
  • Today's horoscope says:

Communications with family members and others should be clear, honest, and loving. Though your physical passions may be surging beneath the surface today, MiamiShyner, they're still very much present, and you're likely to be feeling particularly romantic. You might want to read racy novels or go to a romantic movie. This is definitely the night to be alone with that special person in your life. Make sure you look your best, and have fun.

  • I've spoken to just about everyone in the family in the last two days and maybe that physical passion will go nutty since we have the house to ourselves.  Ha, I'm a bad girl.
  • There are only 19 days left until vacation.  Excitement!  And you can count on regular updates, as if you care, lol, because I will blog from my brand spanking new iPhone.  Yeah, I'm a sucker.  No, the reality is that Kiddo broke her phone and needs a new one but she's just not very responsible so I'm going to give her my phone which is fairly new (remember the DHL nightmare?) so if she breaks this one too, I won't be terribly upset.  Besides, does a 14 year old really need an iPhone?  I think not.
  • Almost forgot, concert coming on August 20, it's the Stone Temple Pilots.  We'll be going along with Mr. and Mrs. T.  The fun never ends!

Well, then, I think that's enough for now.  I have to get moving on this day.  I still have to post in other places, check twitter, plurk and a million other time wasters.  Happy summer! Happy Monday!

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Mount up Monday v5.12.08

Welcome back to the reality known as Monday.  Bad for some, worse for others, but for me, I just take them as they come.

So, let's just get the bad news out of the way first.  Last MUM, I set three goals for myself.  Let's see how I did.

  1. Finish homework by Friday – She shoots, she SCORES!  I actually had it all done.  I plan to do the same this week.
  2. Stretch for an hour daily – That slapshot missed WAY wide.  Not only did I not stretch for an hour daily, I didn't stretch at all.  Bad Shyner.  That just means I'll be in super pain tomorrow after class tonight.
  3. Read 20 pages of PHP tutorial – I just got shutout.  Yeah, I didn't do any of the reading.  I am such a mess, but I will do better this week.

So, if I didn't do any of that, then what DID I do last week?  Let's see.  Weekdays are spent at work and then basically collapsing after work from the mental trauma (NOT!).  Really, I'm just lazy and when I get home I don't want to do much.  Saturday I spent basically the entire day fixing up the living room.  Let's just say that before, it was pretty yuck, and seeing as how it's the first thing you see when you walk in our front door, I got tired of wanting to jump off a bridge if I saw it one more time like that.  It was cluttered and full of junk and dark and, well, yuck.  I wanted to get some slipcovers for the couches but after a wild goose chase at Macys, then Target, then Bed, Bath and Beyond, I gave up on them.  I did, however, end up with a decent bookshelf (that Kiddo helped me put together) and a couple of nice plants. 

I should have taken a before picture so you could see what was really done, but I didn't.  If my brother stops by, he'll let you know how much it's changed.

 

Living Room1Living Room2Living Room3Living Room4

Yeah, that wall is pink.  I still have to paint, but let me tell you, it's a million times better than it was.  My Stephen King collection finally has a home, as do all of my computer books.  Which is awesome in and of itself because it cleared off space on the bookshelf in my office/the gym for some of my other books.  Both Lovey's aunt and our former roommate were awestruck by the transformation and I am quite happy with it.  That was an all day job.

Saturday night was date night and I even managed to stay awake after all day cleaning.  Lovey and I stepped out for a frozen cocktail since it was just under 8000 degrees.  We walked around but there were way too many people out for me so we called it a little early and went home to sit on the balcony.  Good times.

Sunday we met Lovey's mom, step-dad, sister and aunt for lunch in a fantabulous Mexican restaurant.  Super good stuff.  We returned to la casa de doce trienta with full bellies where I cleaned some more and then played some online poker.

The weekend would not have been complete, however, without some sports.  That's right.  Penguins 2, Flyers 0.  Pens in 5 is the way I'm calling it.  Let's go PENS!

Before I ramble on too much further, let me set this week's goals.

  • Finish the friggin homework before Friday
  • Read 20 pages of the PHP tutorial
  • Clean the office/gym
  • Create a schedule

With that, I'm out!  REGULATORS, Mount Up!

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