A few summers ago i was working night shift. I had numerous sleep issues, big suprise. You may have heard the joke that there are two seasons in my city: winter and construction. On this particular day i was awakened abruptly from my sleep at around 11am by a loud and offensive noise. You know that experience of being awakened immediatly and rudely by something very jarring? I bolted upright in bed, trying to figure out what this loud noise was. I said out loud to my bedroom, "It sounds like there is a man standing outside my window with a jackhammer."
I went to the living room to investigate. When i threw back the curtains, i came face to face with a man standing outside my window with a jackhammer! And he continued to stand there, everyday, that whole summer. I got no sleep at all for 3 months, i was miserable to be around, and i hated my life.
The Professor had a similar experience yesterday. He was in the BabyGirl's room at 7am and heard a strange noise. He said to her, "It sounds like there is a helicopter hovering outside the window." He pulled back the curtains to investigate, and sho' nuff! there was a helicopter outside the window.
This is why: a man stole a taxi in the suburbs and led the police on an hour-long chase into the city where he crashed the car a few blocks from our house!
You notice the picture in the news article? An aerial view like that would have to be taken from a helicopter.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Operative Report: Exploratory Craniotomy with Rattlectomy
History of Present Illness: The patient is a healthy young female known as "blanket head." During an episode of extreme separation anxiety exhibited by the BabyGirl, it was determined that a comfort item was needed to assist in the distress that ensued when the BabyGirl was left alone in her crib for naptime. An analysis was conducted of the BabyGirl's possessions, and Blanket Head was selected. Unfortunately, Blanket Head contained a rattling device inside her skull which proved incompatible with naptime. After a complete physical exam, Blanket Head was scheduled for an exploratory craniotomy. Medical clearance was obtained from Blanket Head's primary care physician. Blanket Head has no known drug allergies, takes no medications, and has no prior surgical history. No imaging studies were obtained prior to the procedure.
Procedure: The patient was prepped and draped in sterile fashion. No anesthesia was administered. A transverse suboccipital incision was made using a seam ripper. Exploration of the head cavity revealed the rattle, which was excised. The wound was subsequently closed with a sewing needle and pink thread.
Blood loss: None
IV fluids: None
Disposition: stable to recovery. The patient was observed overnight and discharged home to the BabyGirl in the morning.
Procedure: The patient was prepped and draped in sterile fashion. No anesthesia was administered. A transverse suboccipital incision was made using a seam ripper. Exploration of the head cavity revealed the rattle, which was excised. The wound was subsequently closed with a sewing needle and pink thread.
Blood loss: None
IV fluids: None
Disposition: stable to recovery. The patient was observed overnight and discharged home to the BabyGirl in the morning.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Five Things That Happened This Week
This entry is mostly just for my own personal use, to help me remember my life. It's not funny so you don't have to read it if you don't want to.
1. The Professor's family was here. It was MLK weekend so they came for a visit. On Sunday they were hanging out in Zion so the 3 of us drove up there after church. We ate, hung out, and watched the Bears game. On Monday i was at work but the Professor and the BabyGirl went back up to Zion again.
2. The Professor's classes started. Time for a new semester! His schedule is pretty grueling this time. He teaches on Tues\Thurs, but his classes are spread out across 2 separate campuses, so there is extra diving. He teaches a night class on Thursdays and doesn't get home until 10:30pm. He told me that he has a long story about this week, but i haven't heard it yet.
3. The BabyGirl and i went to a new playgroup. It was very fun! She loved crawling around and exploring new things. One drawback, though, is that she frequently had a paparazzi of preschool age kids around her. She would have preferred them to leave her alone so she could do her own thing. One 5-year old boy kept taking toys right out of her hand. I got so irritated. Dude, you are 5! What interest do you have in Sophie the Giraffe??? Stop taking it from her!
4. The BabyGirl entered a Difficult Phase. You know how it is with babies. There are a few weeks of stability where they are happy and delightful, and then you have a few weeks of growth and development that makes them cranky and irritable. We had been experiencing an extended phase of bliss. She was a perfect little angel, and everyone said so. Well, now it's time for another leap, and she's being really touchy. We'll love her through it, and i'm sure she'll be great again when it's over.
5. I had Esther Night with Laura and Audrey. Laura is so generous to always cook us a fabulous meal for our Friday Night Bible Study. The weather was bitterly cold, and we had a hearty appetite like mountain bears before hibernation. Laura made steak 'n greens by Paula Deen, and it was sooooo yummy. There were 3 kinds of greens. I forget what she told us, but something along the lines of kale, mustard greens, and chard? I believe strongly in the IDEA of greens, but i struggle sometimes with the reality of them. These were delicious. I ate myself silly. And then we had chocolate cake by Audrey. We also enjoyed wonderful conversation. We laughed, we cried, we bared our souls. Poor Tripp was banished to his bedroom for several hours. Thank you Tripp for sacrificing your Friday night for us!
1. The Professor's family was here. It was MLK weekend so they came for a visit. On Sunday they were hanging out in Zion so the 3 of us drove up there after church. We ate, hung out, and watched the Bears game. On Monday i was at work but the Professor and the BabyGirl went back up to Zion again.
2. The Professor's classes started. Time for a new semester! His schedule is pretty grueling this time. He teaches on Tues\Thurs, but his classes are spread out across 2 separate campuses, so there is extra diving. He teaches a night class on Thursdays and doesn't get home until 10:30pm. He told me that he has a long story about this week, but i haven't heard it yet.
3. The BabyGirl and i went to a new playgroup. It was very fun! She loved crawling around and exploring new things. One drawback, though, is that she frequently had a paparazzi of preschool age kids around her. She would have preferred them to leave her alone so she could do her own thing. One 5-year old boy kept taking toys right out of her hand. I got so irritated. Dude, you are 5! What interest do you have in Sophie the Giraffe??? Stop taking it from her!
4. The BabyGirl entered a Difficult Phase. You know how it is with babies. There are a few weeks of stability where they are happy and delightful, and then you have a few weeks of growth and development that makes them cranky and irritable. We had been experiencing an extended phase of bliss. She was a perfect little angel, and everyone said so. Well, now it's time for another leap, and she's being really touchy. We'll love her through it, and i'm sure she'll be great again when it's over.
5. I had Esther Night with Laura and Audrey. Laura is so generous to always cook us a fabulous meal for our Friday Night Bible Study. The weather was bitterly cold, and we had a hearty appetite like mountain bears before hibernation. Laura made steak 'n greens by Paula Deen, and it was sooooo yummy. There were 3 kinds of greens. I forget what she told us, but something along the lines of kale, mustard greens, and chard? I believe strongly in the IDEA of greens, but i struggle sometimes with the reality of them. These were delicious. I ate myself silly. And then we had chocolate cake by Audrey. We also enjoyed wonderful conversation. We laughed, we cried, we bared our souls. Poor Tripp was banished to his bedroom for several hours. Thank you Tripp for sacrificing your Friday night for us!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
What It Means to Be a Woman
I've been a woman for a while now, but i can't say that i fully understand it.
There are a lot of things that go into being a woman. For example, the BabyGirl and I made a pilgrimage out to BabysRUs (no small feat i assure you) to buy her some clothes. She has outgrown her current clothes so we went shopping for the next size up. They had a HUGE clearance section, and i had a coupon for an additional 40% off. Well, wouldn't you know, in that great big clearance section i found hardly anything in her size. I spent forever combing thru the chaos and disarray typical of clearance racks, receiving very little reward for my labor. I said to her, "BabyGirl, even as a baby you already find yourself in the plight of all womankind: they never have your size on clearance." It's a position she will find herself in many a time over the next 70 years.
But isn't it crazy to think that one day my little Honey Lamb will be a woman? My BabyGirl, who during our shopping trip spent every moment trying to climb out of the buggy?
It's the thought of her eventual womanhood that has caused me to start paying attention to what it means to be a woman. Another example: at church one time we had a big group prayer for a family who was going thru some momentous life challenges. I was so moved to tears by how much affection i have for this family. Afterwards, my friend - the woman of the family - was crying too. Her 8 year old daughter said, "Mom why are you crying?" And she said that she was crying because she was happy. It was like telling the 8 year old that the Tooth Fairy is real. "What?? That doesn't make ANY sense, Mom." We both said to her, "Just wait. One day you will be a woman and you will cry for all sorts of ridiculous reasons."
I've been going through a Bible study on the book of Esther. Esther was an orphan, raised by her bachelor uncle. So ironic that one of THE MOST feminine characters in the whole Bible was raised by a man. The teacher of the Bible study went into detail about this concept of Esther with no mother. She shared a personal experience of going to the funeral of a woman in her 30's who left behind 3 little stair-step girls. Those 3 little girls sat on the front row of their mother's funeral with facial expressions of shock, confusion, and grief. Having lost their mother, they would have to face womanhood alone.
I bawled my eyes out at that story. It touched me so much because I myself am part of a set of 3 stair-step girls. Well, we aren't stair-steps anymore =]. It also touched me because i thought of my own BabyGirl, and how deeply tragic it is for a girl to lose her mother. I hope and pray with all my soul that God will allow me the privilege of raising her to womanhood.
When the BabyGirl was about 7 months old, she and i were sitting on the couch with a magazine nearby. On the back cover of the magazine was this ad. The ad makes me angry for reasons we don't have time to go into. I am offended by it, and i don't want it on my magazine. For some reason this picture really captured the BabyGirl's attention. I don't know if it's the stark black\white contrast, or what. She was staring at it. I took the magazine away and stated emphatically, "Don't look at this, BabyGirl. That's not what it means to be a woman."
Being a woman obviously encompasses more than shopping and crying at goofy things. And it's a lot more than immodest clothes and fancy perfume. I certainly haven't mastered it yet, but hopefully i know enough to be able to pass it on to the BabyGirl.
There are a lot of things that go into being a woman. For example, the BabyGirl and I made a pilgrimage out to BabysRUs (no small feat i assure you) to buy her some clothes. She has outgrown her current clothes so we went shopping for the next size up. They had a HUGE clearance section, and i had a coupon for an additional 40% off. Well, wouldn't you know, in that great big clearance section i found hardly anything in her size. I spent forever combing thru the chaos and disarray typical of clearance racks, receiving very little reward for my labor. I said to her, "BabyGirl, even as a baby you already find yourself in the plight of all womankind: they never have your size on clearance." It's a position she will find herself in many a time over the next 70 years.
But isn't it crazy to think that one day my little Honey Lamb will be a woman? My BabyGirl, who during our shopping trip spent every moment trying to climb out of the buggy?
It's the thought of her eventual womanhood that has caused me to start paying attention to what it means to be a woman. Another example: at church one time we had a big group prayer for a family who was going thru some momentous life challenges. I was so moved to tears by how much affection i have for this family. Afterwards, my friend - the woman of the family - was crying too. Her 8 year old daughter said, "Mom why are you crying?" And she said that she was crying because she was happy. It was like telling the 8 year old that the Tooth Fairy is real. "What?? That doesn't make ANY sense, Mom." We both said to her, "Just wait. One day you will be a woman and you will cry for all sorts of ridiculous reasons."
I've been going through a Bible study on the book of Esther. Esther was an orphan, raised by her bachelor uncle. So ironic that one of THE MOST feminine characters in the whole Bible was raised by a man. The teacher of the Bible study went into detail about this concept of Esther with no mother. She shared a personal experience of going to the funeral of a woman in her 30's who left behind 3 little stair-step girls. Those 3 little girls sat on the front row of their mother's funeral with facial expressions of shock, confusion, and grief. Having lost their mother, they would have to face womanhood alone.
I bawled my eyes out at that story. It touched me so much because I myself am part of a set of 3 stair-step girls. Well, we aren't stair-steps anymore =]. It also touched me because i thought of my own BabyGirl, and how deeply tragic it is for a girl to lose her mother. I hope and pray with all my soul that God will allow me the privilege of raising her to womanhood.
Being a woman obviously encompasses more than shopping and crying at goofy things. And it's a lot more than immodest clothes and fancy perfume. I certainly haven't mastered it yet, but hopefully i know enough to be able to pass it on to the BabyGirl.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Gift of Delicious
My sister Kitty gave me the most awesome Christmas gift. She gave me the gift of delicious.
I LOVE chai lattes. If and when i go to Starbucks, i always get a chai latte. My sister works at a great coffeeshop called Gusta Java, where the chai lattes are life-changing. For example, Starbucks uses liquid chai concentrate, whereas Gusta Java uses real-live tea leaves. The difference is quite distinctive. I'll pretty much never be able to go to Starbucks again.
I LOVE chai lattes. If and when i go to Starbucks, i always get a chai latte. My sister works at a great coffeeshop called Gusta Java, where the chai lattes are life-changing. For example, Starbucks uses liquid chai concentrate, whereas Gusta Java uses real-live tea leaves. The difference is quite distinctive. I'll pretty much never be able to go to Starbucks again.
The trouble with this life-changing chai latte is that Gusta Java is located in Tennessee. Drat! I can't exactly go there regularly. So she gave me the tea leaves for Christmas!
Now i can make it myself! Oh my gosh it's so good. I just want to make a whole bathtub full of it. It smells so wonderful. I can hardly bring myself to throw the used tea away afterwards because it's such a precious commodity. If you like chai tea too, then i have good news for you: you can buy it on amazon! Here is the link. Also, you can feel good about yourself because it's certified organic, fair trade, kosher, free range, farm raised, BPA free (okay maybe a few of those are an exaggeration).
I hope you enjoy it as much as i do!
I hope you enjoy it as much as i do!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Plays Well With Others
The BabyGirl had a great time in church nursery this Sunday. It was so cute! Our church nursery is not usually the type of place that a baby girl could have a good time in. Those of you in suburban environments have a very different nursery experience than we get here in A Very Small Church In the Big City Where Hardly Anyone Is A Christian. For numerous reasons that i don't have time to go into, our nursery is terrifying.
Additionally, the age range in our nursery is extensive. It goes from birth through 5 years, all packed in one little room. Fortunately there aren't rats or cockroaches in our current building, so that's a big step up from where we used to be. Oh and the fire alarm didn't work there either. The BabyGirl cannot be left unattended in the nursery, because she would be completely demolished and bulldozed by the bigger kids. So either The Professor or I have to stay in there with her.
This Sunday, being January 2, there was a very light crowd at church. A lot of people were still out of town, and i think some were sick. There were only a couple of kids in the nursery, and the more rambunctious individuals weren't there. It gave The BabyGirl the chance to play. She got to crawl all around, which she usually can't do without being stepped on by the rambuctious kids. One of the girls who was there is 4 years old and LOVES babies. Loves loves loves them. She has told me on many occasions how good she is at taking care of babies. She knows how to feed them and hold them and rock them and play with them. She would absolutely babysit for us if we asked her. She loves The BabyGirl, and every week she asks us if she can feed her and hold her and rock her and play with her.
For security purposes we'll call this little girl Sarah. As far as i know, there aren't any predators following my blog, but better safe than sorry. It just so happened to be time to feed The BabyGirl, and Sarah was all over it. "I'll feed her! Can i feed her? I'm really really good at feeding babies." I fed The BabyGirl her bottle, and then i let Sarah do the rice cereal. She did a great job! Sure enough, she is really good at feeding babies!
After eating, i put The BabyGirl on the floor to play. Sarah picked out toys for her. Sarah's little brother, who is 2, played with The BabyGirl also. There was also a little girl about 18 months, so the 4 of them all played together. I had so much fun watching them. The BabyGirl was the only one who couldn't walk, so Sarah decided that all of them would crawl like the BabyGirl. Sarah's brother had big clunky shoes on, so she made him take them off. He must have thought, "Well if i can't wear shoes then nobody can wear shoes" cause he took The BabyGirl's shoes off.
The BabyGirl appeared to have a great time. She was smiling her great big smile, and looked really happy. She doesn't have any siblings yet, so she doesn't get to play with other kids much. She sees her friend David a lot, but he's younger than her. The BabyGirl's two great joys in life are being with people and physical activity, so she had both those needs met.
Additionally, the age range in our nursery is extensive. It goes from birth through 5 years, all packed in one little room. Fortunately there aren't rats or cockroaches in our current building, so that's a big step up from where we used to be. Oh and the fire alarm didn't work there either. The BabyGirl cannot be left unattended in the nursery, because she would be completely demolished and bulldozed by the bigger kids. So either The Professor or I have to stay in there with her.
This Sunday, being January 2, there was a very light crowd at church. A lot of people were still out of town, and i think some were sick. There were only a couple of kids in the nursery, and the more rambunctious individuals weren't there. It gave The BabyGirl the chance to play. She got to crawl all around, which she usually can't do without being stepped on by the rambuctious kids. One of the girls who was there is 4 years old and LOVES babies. Loves loves loves them. She has told me on many occasions how good she is at taking care of babies. She knows how to feed them and hold them and rock them and play with them. She would absolutely babysit for us if we asked her. She loves The BabyGirl, and every week she asks us if she can feed her and hold her and rock her and play with her.
For security purposes we'll call this little girl Sarah. As far as i know, there aren't any predators following my blog, but better safe than sorry. It just so happened to be time to feed The BabyGirl, and Sarah was all over it. "I'll feed her! Can i feed her? I'm really really good at feeding babies." I fed The BabyGirl her bottle, and then i let Sarah do the rice cereal. She did a great job! Sure enough, she is really good at feeding babies!
After eating, i put The BabyGirl on the floor to play. Sarah picked out toys for her. Sarah's little brother, who is 2, played with The BabyGirl also. There was also a little girl about 18 months, so the 4 of them all played together. I had so much fun watching them. The BabyGirl was the only one who couldn't walk, so Sarah decided that all of them would crawl like the BabyGirl. Sarah's brother had big clunky shoes on, so she made him take them off. He must have thought, "Well if i can't wear shoes then nobody can wear shoes" cause he took The BabyGirl's shoes off.
The BabyGirl appeared to have a great time. She was smiling her great big smile, and looked really happy. She doesn't have any siblings yet, so she doesn't get to play with other kids much. She sees her friend David a lot, but he's younger than her. The BabyGirl's two great joys in life are being with people and physical activity, so she had both those needs met.
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