Catching Up: Health

Haven't posted much in a few days, so I guess it's time to catch up.

But I can't remember much.

I'll break this up into separate posts by topic, I guess.

Health

I'm still sick. I finished the antibiotics a few days ago, and the bronchitis seems to be gone, but I suspect that the sinus infection is still lingering. And I'm in a hell of a lot of pain.

Four or five days ago I stubbed my left foot, badly, on the vaccuum cleaner. The pain was excruciating. I've hurt that foot before, a number of times; one time it took more than a year for the pain to completely disappear.

Unfortunately this time the pain didn't go away. It got worse, and although I really didn't want to, I finally went to the doctor. When they looked it over I was surprised to see that my little toe had turned black. They sent me for x-rays, and to my amazement it turned out that there was no break; the doctor seemed surprised, too, and said that it must be "a hell of a bruise". She offered me prescription painkillers and a post-op orthopedic shoe, but after discussion we agreed that I'd be okay on an extra-high dose of OTC ibuprofen for the next ten days or so.

Last night after the party (which I'll write about in another entry), I almost literally collapsed. That's very rare indeed, for me; unlike most people I know, I never get low blood sugar or become really tired. But last night my entire body ached incredibly, and I was suddenly so tired that it felt as if a mountain had fallen on me. I went to bed before 8 PM. Got kicked out of the bed by Sebastian, and I was too tired and sore to take him to his own bed; instead I dragged myself to his bed, and spent the night there, waking frequently.

This morning my back and legs were unbearably sore - so much so that I gave in and for the first time took an extra-high dose of ibuprofen. It helped a bit, but I'm still sore and terribly uncomfortable. The truth is, I feel as if I've got the flu coming on; as if my "pain" sensitivity dial has been turned up to eleven (from a norm of perhaps two) and nailed there.

Time for more ibuprofen, I guess.

Catching Up: Health

Haven't posted much in a few days, so I guess it's time to catch up.

But I can't remember much.

I'll break this up into separate posts by topic, I guess.

Health

I'm still sick. I finished the antibiotics a few days ago, and the bronchitis seems to be gone, but I suspect that the sinus infection is still lingering. And I'm in a hell of a lot of pain.

Four or five days ago I stubbed my left foot, badly, on the vaccuum cleaner. The pain was excruciating. I've hurt that foot before, a number of times; one time it took more than a year for the pain to completely disappear.

Unfortunately this time the pain didn't go away. It got worse, and although I really didn't want to, I finally went to the doctor. When they looked it over I was surprised to see that my little toe had turned black. They sent me for x-rays, and to my amazement it turned out that there was no break; the doctor seemed surprised, too, and said that it must be "a hell of a bruise". She offered me prescription painkillers and a post-op orthopedic shoe, but after discussion we agreed that I'd be okay on an extra-high dose of OTC ibuprofen for the next ten days or so.

Last night after the party (which I'll write about in another entry), I almost literally collapsed. That's very rare indeed, for me; unlike most people I know, I never get low blood sugar or become really tired. But last night my entire body ached incredibly, and I was suddenly so tired that it felt as if a mountain had fallen on me. I went to bed before 8 PM. Got kicked out of the bed by Sebastian, and I was too tired and sore to take him to his own bed; instead I dragged myself to his bed, and spent the night there, waking frequently.

This morning my back and legs were unbearably sore - so much so that I gave in and for the first time took an extra-high dose of ibuprofen. It helped a bit, but I'm still sore and terribly uncomfortable. The truth is, I feel as if I've got the flu coming on; as if my "pain" sensitivity dial has been turned up to eleven (from a norm of perhaps two) and nailed there.

Time for more ibuprofen, I guess.

Catching Up: Visits

Saturday

On Saturday we'd planned for Teri's father to be visiting us for the day, a sort of combined birthday and Christmas visit (Teri's birthday was last week). But he and his wife and their granddaughter all got sick a few days before, so we finally agreed to drive out and meet them for lunch halfway. We borrowed Teri's brother's big SUV for the trip because her brother had a big package he wanted us to deliver to their father.

The SUV had a DVD player, which is something that Sebastian has often begged for and that I have resolutely opposed. He watches far too much television as it is, and I see no reason to hasten his metamorphosis into a couch potato. But I have to admit that for this trip it was awfully convenient.

All in all we spent about 8 - 9 hours round trip, plus perhaps an hour and a half for lunch. We ended up at a Cracker Barrel in New York; oddly enough it was one we'd eaten at before. I've even written about it here, since there was a guy who made incredible balloon animals at the table next to us that time.

He wasn't there this time, although the little person who worked there was, which was how I was sure that we were at the same place.

When we got back to Teri's brother's house that night to drop off the SUV and pick up our car, his girlfriend (it sounds weird to say that, since they live together and are raising two kids) asked if Sebastian would like to sleep over. He went wild with delight at the prospect, and so, unexpectedly, Sebastian had his first sleepover at a non-grandparents. Hmm. It feels as if I should stick an apostrophe somewhere in "grandparents" - maybe at the end - but screw it, I'm too tired and sore.

It was quite a pang for us to drive home without our little guy. We both missed him terribly, and perhaps that's why I stayed up until 2 AM playing Arcanum.

And maybe that's part of the reason that I'm in so much pain today.

Sunday

On Sunday we had a birthday party for Teri. There were about 15 people coming over, including three kids for Sebastian to play with. The weather was unseasonably warm, which was good because I was barbecuing.

I'll go easy on the details. I made 18 burgers and 8 hot dogs; they turned out really well (note to self: 85-87% lean ground beef seems to be the best for barbecuing). The cake, from Wright's dairy, was delicious as always. Sebastian loved playing with the other kids. I think everyone had a good time.

At my father's suggestion I put A Christmas Story on, and was impressed all over again at what a great and funny movie it is - so much better than that phony "classic" Polar Express.

Once everyone left I was honestly surprised to collapse onto the couch, so weak and sore that I could hardly get up. But I already wrote about that in the previous post.

HEY! Goddamn LJ!

Congratulations, LJ, the new posting page has broken the spellcheck feature of the Google Toolbar - and believe me, I miss it already. For one thing, it was a HELL of a lot more convenient to use than the built-in LJ check. And it had a customizable dictionary, with a lot of words I'd added over the last year or so.

In fact, I actually took my last post, opened up a comment box on an entry in my journal, and pasted it there in order to spell-check it. And then I copied the results, closed the comment window without posting, and pasted the comments back into the posting page.

Sigh.

Has anyone else had this problem?

HEY! Goddamn LJ!

Congratulations, LJ, the new posting page has broken the spellcheck feature of the Google Toolbar - and believe me, I miss it already. For one thing, it was a HELL of a lot more convenient to use than the built-in LJ check. And it had a customizable dictionary, with a lot of words I'd added over the last year or so.

In fact, I actually took my last post, opened up a comment box on an entry in my journal, and pasted it there in order to spell-check it. And then I copied the results, closed the comment window without posting, and pasted the comments back into the posting page.

Sigh.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Catching Up: Visits

Saturday

On Saturday we'd planned for Teri's father to be visiting us for the day, a sort of combined birthday and Christmas visit (Teri's birthday was last week). But he and his wife and their granddaughter all got sick a few days before, so we finally agreed to drive out and meet them for lunch halfway. We borrowed Teri's brother's big SUV for the trip because her brother had a big package he wanted us to deliver to their father.

The SUV had a DVD player, which is something that Sebastian has often begged for and that I have resolutely opposed. He watches far too much television as it is, and I see no reason to hasten his metamorphosis into a couch potato. But I have to admit that for this trip it was awfully convenient.

All in all we spent about 8 - 9 hours round trip, plus perhaps an hour and a half for lunch. We ended up at a Cracker Barrel in New York; oddly enough it was one we'd eaten at before. I've even written about it here, since there was a guy who made incredible balloon animals at the table next to us that time.

He wasn't there this time, although the little person who worked there was, which was how I was sure that we were at the same place.

When we got back to Teri's brother's house that night to drop off the SUV and pick up our car, his girlfriend (it sounds weird to say that, since they live together and are raising two kids) asked if Sebastian would like to sleep over. He went wild with delight at the prospect, and so, unexpectedly, Sebastian had his first sleepover at a non-grandparents. Hmm. It feels as if I should stick an apostrophe somewhere in "grandparents" - maybe at the end - but screw it, I'm too tired and sore.

It was quite a pang for us to drive home without our little guy. We both missed him terribly, and perhaps that's why I stayed up until 2 AM playing Arcanum.

And maybe that's part of the reason that I'm in so much pain today.

Sunday

On Sunday we had a birthday party for Teri. There were about 15 people coming over, including three kids for Sebastian to play with. The weather was unseasonably warm, which was good because I was barbecuing.

I'll go easy on the details. I made 18 burgers and 8 hot dogs; they turned out really well (note to self: 85-87% lean ground beef seems to be the best for barbecuing). The cake, from Wright's dairy, was delicious as always. Sebastian loved playing with the other kids. I think everyone had a good time.

At my father's suggestion I put A Christmas Story on, and was impressed all over again at what a great and funny movie it is - so much better than that phony "classic" Polar Express.

Once everyone left I was honestly surprised to collapse onto the couch, so weak and sore that I could hardly get up. But I already wrote about that in the previous post.

Mitt the Shitt

I've always said that Massachusetts part-time soon-to-be-ex (but not soon enough) Governor Mitt Romney was a whore who'd do anything to anyone for a shot at the Presidency - including pimping out his own mother.

Just in case anyone thought I was overstating the case, Mitt thoughtfully provided some proof, which the Boston Globe was thoughtful enough to unearth in "Romney's journey to the right" (registration required):

At a campaign appearance at Brandeis University in June 2002, Romney strongly endorsed stem cell research. At that event and in several instances since, he declined to offer an opinion on embryo cloning, which many scientists believe holds the most promise for curing disease. His aides said he needed to study it more.

But on Feb. 10, 2005, three months after his meeting with Melton, Romney came out strongly against the cloning technique, saying in a New York Times story that the method breached an "ethical boundary." He vowed to press for legislation to criminalize the work.

Romney's opposition stunned scientists, lawmakers, and observers because of his past statements endorsing, at least in general terms, embryonic stem cell research. Six months earlier, his wife, Ann, had expressed hope publicly that stem cells would hold a cure for her disease, multiple sclerosis.

Emphasis added, obviously.

His wife has multiple sclerosis. She's bright enough to see that stem cells may offer a treatment for her illness. But her husband will happily sell her hopes down the river to kiss ass a little more firmly on the religious-right hillbillies who make up the base of the Republican Party.

Mitt Romney's a liar. He lied to the people of Massachusetts when he ran for Senator, and again when he ran for Governor. And believe me, he's lying again now. If the time should come that it looks like he'd get a few more votes for doing it, Romney would happily throw fetuses into a blender himself - as long as he was filmed on his good side while doing it. Gotta give the suckers voters a good view of his craggy profile and oh-so-perfect wavy hair, after all!

Mitt the Shitt

I've always said that Massachusetts part-time soon-to-be-ex (but not soon enough) Governor Mitt Romney was a whore who'd do anything to anyone for a shot at the Presidency - including pimping out his own mother.

Just in case anyone thought I was overstating the case, Mitt thoughtfully provided some proof, which the Boston Globe was thoughtful enough to unearth in "Romney's journey to the right" (registration required):

At a campaign appearance at Brandeis University in June 2002, Romney strongly endorsed stem cell research. At that event and in several instances since, he declined to offer an opinion on embryo cloning, which many scientists believe holds the most promise for curing disease. His aides said he needed to study it more.

But on Feb. 10, 2005, three months after his meeting with Melton, Romney came out strongly against the cloning technique, saying in a New York Times story that the method breached an "ethical boundary." He vowed to press for legislation to criminalize the work.

Romney's opposition stunned scientists, lawmakers, and observers because of his past statements endorsing, at least in general terms, embryonic stem cell research. Six months earlier, his wife, Ann, had expressed hope publicly that stem cells would hold a cure for her disease, multiple sclerosis.

Emphasis added, obviously.

His wife has multiple sclerosis. She's bright enough to see that stem cells may offer a treatment for her illness. But her husband will happily sell her hopes down the river to kiss ass a little more firmly on the religious-right hillbillies who make up the base of the Republican Party.

Mitt Romney's a liar. He lied to the people of Massachusetts when he ran for Senator, and again when he ran for Governor. And believe me, he's lying again now. If the time should come that it looks like he'd get a few more votes for doing it, Romney would happily throw fetuses into a blender himself - as long as he was filmed on his good side while doing it. Gotta give the suckers voters a good view of his craggy profile and oh-so-perfect wavy hair, after all!

Promise

I haven't replied to comments here lately, nor have I been commenting on my flist. Sorry about that; I'll catch up soon, I promise.

Promise

I haven't replied to comments here lately, nor have I been commenting on my flist. Sorry about that; I'll catch up soon, I promise.

TOOTH!

Sebastian just lost his first tooth about twenty minutes ago. No pain, no trouble. Half an hour earlier Teri noticed that you could actually see the top of the new tooth underneath the baby one; I tried to take some pictures, but our &@^#ing Fuji camera absolutely refused to focus on it (even on macro setting).

There was some blood, but Sebastian took it all really well. The tooth fairy will be visiting tonight!

TOOTH!

Sebastian just lost his first tooth about twenty minutes ago. No pain, no trouble. Half an hour earlier Teri noticed that you could actually see the top of the new tooth underneath the baby one; I tried to take some pictures, but our &@^#ing Fuji camera absolutely refused to focus on it (even on macro setting).

There was some blood, but Sebastian took it all really well. The tooth fairy will be visiting tonight!

Magic

Well, I just played the Tooth Fairy for the first time in my life.

It was really cool.

I was going to run out tonight and get some silver polish - yes, I know it will lessen the value of the coins, but it's far more important that they look shiny to Sebastian - but I did some quick research first and found that I could get good results with baking soda and an old toothbrush. So I tried that, and it worked really nicely.

I've saved his tooth somewhere where he'll never find it. Tonight we did talk about it; Teri and I had told him before that we were sure we'd get his lost teeth back eventually. He asked me when we'd get them back, and I told him I didn't know. It might be that we'd get each tooth when the next one fell out, or we might get back the whole set after he lost the last one. Then I told him that traditionally parents get to keep the teeth after they're returned by the Tooth Fairy. :D

Magic

Well, I just played the Tooth Fairy for the first time in my life.

It was really cool.

I was going to run out tonight and get some silver polish - yes, I know it will lessen the value of the coins, but it's far more important that they look shiny to Sebastian - but I did some quick research first and found that I could get good results with baking soda and an old toothbrush. So I tried that, and it worked really nicely.

I've saved his tooth somewhere where he'll never find it. Tonight we did talk about it; Teri and I had told him before that we were sure we'd get his lost teeth back eventually. He asked me when we'd get them back, and I told him I didn't know. It might be that we'd get each tooth when the next one fell out, or we might get back the whole set after he lost the last one. Then I told him that traditionally parents get to keep the teeth after they're returned by the Tooth Fairy. :D