bad news, just news

Jack went to school on Thurs like usual. When I got there to pick him up, he wasn't in the classroom. One of the classroom aides brought him back and told me his eye had been watering and kinda goopy. Someone (at the time I thought it was the nurse) looked at it and told the aide it looked like a sinus infection. Okay, I thought. Not a big deal. After school, we went to play at Braska's house and were there quite a while. On the way home Jack fell asleep. By the time I put him in bed, unloaded the van and put stuff away, and checked the message on the answering machine, it was later in the afternoon. The message basically said that Jack can't come back to school until he's been cleared of pinkeye from a dr, and I need to call the nurse 'cause she wasn't there when he was looked at. What?! That's not what I heard when we were AT school. Grrrr.

Couldn't get him in anywhere to have it looked at that day, it was watery all evening but didn't look red or seem to bother him. Next morning, it looked better. Again, a little watery and goopy after nap, but not too bad. Sat morning, holy cow! Both eyes were red, swollen, and very watery/goopy. Super yucky. So off to the dr we went and yep, pinkeye! I honestly don't think any of my kids ever had it. I worked for an eye dr for awhile, and saw it many times so it doesn't scare me, but blech. We got some lovely ointment to apply 3x per day and it doesn't seem to bother him a bit to put it in. He doesn't wiggle or fuss. Just looks at me like "what was that all about?". Sweetie.

That was the bad news. The just news? He now weighs 29 lbs. I would've sworn it would be more like 32 or 34 even. But he hasn't cracked 30 yet. Interesting.

Update

Boring, boring. We have not much to report. I have been watching the olympics which, if anyone knows me, you know I NEVER do that. My mom has always loved the olympics, winter & summer, but I was just not interested. I've learned the difference between luge and skeleton, got emotionally involved in men's figure skating (that rude Russian guy - what a baby!), and stayed up 'til midnight watching speed skating! Crazy!

Jack has become a little wild man lately - even worse than usual. He was trying to empty the cabinet of pots & pans tonight, then remove my make-up from it's drawer in the bathroom, and finally dumped a snack of cereal onto the carpet in the living room at which time Mommy decided it was time for bed! He wears me out! But that adorable little smile gets him out of trouble every time. I tell him all the time how very much I love him. :)

Time to finish watching women's figure skating! Will it be as exciting as snowboarding with Shaun White? No, but the outfits are cuter!

Another givaway!

This one benefits an adorable little boy from Reece's Rainbow, named Zhora. Go here to read all about it! Then again, maybe you shouldn't. I really want to win!!

cheat day!

According to RK, Sun is cheat day! Now that doesn't mean I'm allowed to go crazy (darn it). But, I did eat a Jackson-size serving of hash browns for breakfast with my eggs and oatmeal. And I found this - Bolthouse Farms, perfectly protein, Mocha Cappuccino. Holy cow, it was yummy! 19g of protein per bottle and it was delicious! Wish I had thought to take a pic, maybe tomorrow. I think that's going to be my Sunday treat!

The current media commotion

I'm sure most of you have heard about President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's use of the "r-word". Yes, I was deeply offended, just as I am if one of my friends or family members use it. Unlike a public figure, I can chew those other folks out, without batting an eye, and I've done so. Writing about why this is offensive proves to be harder than it should be for me. I've never been one to censor myself very well, but writing is different.

I happened upon a blog writer who has done an excellent job of saying what I would like to be able to say. She gave me permission to share her very touching post. Please go
here to read what she says. Any time I've confronted someone about using that word, they've said, "but I don't think of Jack like that!". But that term is used to mean derogatory things, and there's nothing about my son that is derogatory (well, there's that yelling thing but we're working on it!).

To end on a happy note, check out my goofball son in a random photo wearing Hulk Hands:

Random stuff....

Jack is finally over his cold, or virus. He's back to being silly, and noisy! I just realized this evening how his noisiness affects the whole house. We have to turn the TV up really loud. The older kids have trouble concentrating on their homework. It's difficult to have conversations sometimes. I'm hoping this is a stage that will get better when he's able to articulate words. If not, hmmm, I'll have to come up with plan b (how to make Jack less noisy!). I was trying to clean up a bit this afternoon, and I finally decided to put away the nebulizer. We only had to use it a few times this virus, but he let me know how much he did NOT like it. So what did he do while I was trying to put it away?

Suuuuuure, now he likes it! Crazy kid!

In other news, I got a new kitchen faucet!!! We bought it awhile back, but like most things, it took quite some time to get it installed. The old one was lower to the sink and the sprayer that was separate never did work. I rinsed pans for almost 18 years with that stupid thing just dripping instead of spraying! The new one has a pull-out sprayer and I LOVE IT!! Here's M giving a demo:


The overall house clean-out is going well. M is seriously kicking butt on her room! I'm really proud of her. She'll be 14 in Mar and we're hoping to re-do her room for her birthday. She's off to an excellent start on that.

Jack's toys are next. Time to sort and purge all the baby stuff, and get them organized in his room. I finally got most of them out of the living room but they keep sneaking back in. Hopefully that will be done soon.

My next big sort will be in the basement. I need one of those TV programs to come do it all at once but I don't think my mess is quite big enough and they scare me with all the stuff they make you get rid of! I like my stuff! But, lots of it needs to go and I'd like to make it look nice down there. The kids spend lots of time down there as it is, but I'd like to make it better for mom & dad too.

More progress updates later!