A new nurse practitioner joined our pediatrician's office last year and we were very excited when we learned she used to work for the spina bifida clinic out of a Providence hospital. Before we found out Anna's urologist wouldn't be returning to the office, we had discussed with her a future move to Children's in Boston for urology only. They have a spina bifida clinic there and while I'm sure the other urologists where we are now are fantastic, it makes sense for us to find one who works with other SB kids.
Anna's taking a different antibiotic this time around and there is a shortage of the liquid form of this medication so she has to take the pill form. She will also be returning to a daily dose of preventive antibiotic which I hate to do but feel like we really don't have a choice right now. It's like a lose/lose situation. Aside from the pharmacy sending me on a wild goose chase before they would release the pills to me, it really hasn't been a big deal. (And yes, they had a prescription and had spoken to the pedi regarding the pill issue.) I taught Anna how to swallow pills several years ago and after she heard that if she couldn't take these pills, she would need to get an IV, she chugged it down. The bacteria causing this infection is resistant to other antibiotics and this is the only one that can zap it. It's all working out okay because she hated the taste of the other antibiotic she was on and now she doesn't have to deal with that.
(How to swallow a pill: Put it on your tongue. Take a big drink of water and swallow the water. The pill will go down too. Don't think about swallowing the pill. You are drinking water which is something you do every day.)
In typical New England fashion, we jumped right from winter to summer. Well, summer for a couple of days anyway. Boston broke a record for the most days of precipitation (21 in total) in a month for April. That was more days of rain than any other month on record. You guys know I can't stand feeling cold. At the beginning of April school vacation week, we had a very warm weekend so we turned the heat off. Then the temperature dropped and I was turning the heat on during the day to warm the house up and then we just left it on all the time. (It's set to change temps at certain times of the day.) Last Tuesday, the daytime high was 48 degrees. I mean, come on. We finally had nice warm days last weekend and on Monday night, we had to turn the AC on to cool down the house. Less than a week between needing heat and needing AC. And I don't turn the AC on until it's miserable in the house.
I ran 4 miles (and walked over a mile+) on Monday and it was so nice to get outside and actually have it be warm. I haven't done anything else this week because I've reached treadmill/basement burnout and I just want to be outside. I hate being cold though and I've just been grumpy this week. It was 59 degrees and overcast at 11:00 this morning and that was really my last chance to get outside to run. I couldn't do it. 59 degrees. Please. This is getting ridiculous.
I mentioned awhile ago how I had switched over to all natural deodorant. I went through two containers in four and a half months and because I hadn't bought a new one before that last one ran out, I pulled my aluminum-filled deo/ antiperspirant from the closet and swiped that on. OMG. That's what it took for me to realize that the all natural stuff wasn't really working. When I first started using it, my expectations were super low so I was pleasantly surprised at what it did do. But in the middle of the winter, I found myself reapplying 3 to 4 times a day. I'm not a super stinky person but I feel like I do sweat. And I know it's supposed to be deodorant and not an antiperspirant. I also tried the 0% aluminum stuff from Dove and that didn't work for me either. Quite honestly, there has been no definitive scientific link between aluminum and dementia/Alzheimer's and I jumped on the all natural trend. So I'm back to rubbing aluminum on my skin while chugging diet soda.
One of my big goals after leaving work was to clean out and organize all the closets and cabinets in the house, excluding the girls' closets, which are cleaned out as we go along. I like to think I'm good at organizing - all of my files at work were well organized - but at home, it's not something I want to take the time to do. I'd taken care of pretty much everything (except the basement - I'm a hoarder) and I'd been avoiding my bureau drawers and my side of our walk-in bedroom closet.
I took care of a couple of my bureau drawers over the winter and finally last week, dove in and finished the bureau and closet. I purged so much stuff (8-9 bags) and while my bureau drawers definitely are no longer stuffed, the closet just looks neat. I had expected it to look somewhat empty, but no, it just looks neat and organized. I just had so much crammed in there that even after a massive clean-out, it's still a pretty full closet. For my "work" clothes, I tried everything on and only kept what fit, looked good, was comfortable and wasn't worn out. Can the trend of low rise pants never ever return? No wonder I stripped those clothes off as soon as I walked in the door. With my c-section scar and messed up skin, those pants are so freaking uncomfortable. Even if they fit, they went bye-bye.
Hangers from when all was said and done. Some had clothes, some were empties taking up space. Our dry cleaner took all the metal ones.
A couple of weeks ago, Rich brought Allie to a Red Sox game.
Back in the fall, he brought Emily.
Anna wasn't interested but now that her two sisters have gone she says she probably wants to go. Mainly for the food. Haha. I remember my dad and papaw bringing me and my brothers to see the Red Sox play Detroit when my grandparents were visiting from Michigan. I was a few years younger than the girls are now. They had fun and it's a great memory to have!
As a family, we started talking about summer plans and travels. I mentioned I was feeling caged in and then one of the girls brought up Maine and we just went from there. It's been 9 months since I've left the state of Massachusetts and I'm itching to get out of this routine. Three and a half weeks of school left!
2 comments:
I worked at the best summer camp ever for teenagers in Maine. Maine Teen Camp, it truly is a magical place and because it is only for kids ages 12-17 the activities are amazing. It has been 12 years since I worked there and have visited friends all over the world from camp and some have visited me in South Africa. Went back for a visit in 2016 and fell in love with Maine all over again. White Mountain National park is one of my favourite places, Portland, North Conway even though not in Maine that whole area around Brownfield Maine. Best ice cream ever at route 160 ice cream
Low rise pants is a trend I wish would have stayed. As someone with wide hips an fat thighs but a very slender waist the only pants that actually stay up are low rise. Everything else turns itself into low rise and ends up looking baggy because all my weight is lower than where the pants want are supposed to be. What I wish is that instead of the trend going one way or the other that both could be produced in equal quantities because clearly your body needs one shape and mine needs another.
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