Meghan

lilredfireball @ 2009-10-16T09:39:00

2009-10-16T16:54:57Z

I haven't posted on here for a long time.

So I made the appointment for Scotland's lab work. I can't remember if I posted about this or not, but the doc is now quite alarmed about his size. Up until now there's been the hope that he would catch up with other kids his age. But since he'll be 5 in december and he's still the size of the average two year old, things are starting to look not-so-good for the "he'll catch up" idea. So on the 22nd we have another checkup with Dr. Liu so that Tom can ask a bunch of questions, and then we take him over to the lab for a massive blood draw. They're going to check his thyroid to make sure he doesn't have hyper-thyroidism or something, and they're going to check him for some sort of syndrome that causes the body to not be able to absorb vitamin D. They're also going to run a nut allergy panel since Ireland is so allergic and they come from the exact same gene pool. If this round of testing doesn't show anything, I have a feeling Dr. Liu will be sending us to a specialist.

The lucky thing is that, while he's freakishly small, at least he's developing like a normal kid. His speech, his motor skills, all of that is good. He just can't seem to gain weight. Poor guy is having a hell of a time keeping himself warm now that the weather has turned too.

Other than that, all is well. As well as it can be when we're horribly stressed over the idea of something being wrong with our baby, I guess.

lilredfireball @ 2009-07-26T16:44:00

2009-07-26T23:48:58Z

Wore my new shirt today. I love it! Don't mind the fact that I was all sweaty and gross looking though. I know ya'll won't think less of me....;-)

Got four bookshelves at walmart as part of my master plan to remodel the family room. I still need to get some more stuff, but it's a start at least. And now I get to put together furniture....something I loooove (seriously). Hopefully by the time Tom's party rolls around I will have the whole room finished. I'm in serious need of some artwork though. I may have to make some myself.

I should probably gte the burgers ready to grill. Sigh.

I saw a shirt yesterday that I need to get. It said "I lack the motivation gene". That is SO me today.

lilredfireball @ 2009-07-25T20:51:00

2009-07-26T04:12:34Z

Well, we went to Brewfest this morning. Tom left the house early because he had to go to class first (Politics and Beer, yes I'm serious) and I met up with him at the MAX station. Unfortunately it was the wrong station. Sigh. Drove across to the other one and all was right again.

Got to the brewfest and it was hooooooot. It was 90° or so today, so I had on my SPF 80+ and I had my parasol, but it was still miserable hot in those tents. And lets just say that some of those people fotgot their deodorant today. I did have great food though (no beer because I'm allergic), the best freakin' cheeseburger and fries ever. After awhile we met up with the other kids from his class like we were supposed to, but the instructor was late. We got tired of waiting and left. Seriously, it was so hot even Tom was complaining. It was also really dirty. I mean, normally that's ok with me, except I was slathered in sunscreen, so everything stuck to me....dirt, dust, grass, my hair....ick.

So we left and decided to take advantage of being a childless couple for the day and go to a movie. We hopped on the train again (I cleaned my feet and legs with baby wipes. seriously, I could see the outline of my flip flops on my bare feet) and headed to Pioneer Place. Their AC rocked. The only thing playing at te right time was The Ugly Truth with Gerard Butler (has his face always been that fat?) and Katherine Heigl. Normally I hate chick flick and avoid them at all costs, but this one was actually pretty damn funny. Even Tom enjoyed himself. It got horrible reviews, but *I* liked it, so there.

After the movie we went to the Hello Kitty store inside the mall. I found the cutest purple plaid purse ever and it was on sale! Tom bought it for me, but not without grumbling every step of the way. I told him I'd be more than happy to take him across the way to the Coach store and show him what a "Real" purse costs. He declined.......but continued to grumble. Oh well. He sure doesn't complain when I carry his wallet and phone and keys (and beer mug today!) in my purse though. Men.

After that we took a serious walk to the train station again (I swear it seeemed like 100 blocks), hopped the train, hit the Gateway station to retrieve our cars and drove home. When we got here I took a much needed nap. I figured Tom would be fine playing with the kids while I did so, since he's been complaining on and on about how much he misses them (a feeling that I can neither grasp, nor share since I'm with them 24x7). However I was startled awake by a screaming, fit-throwing toddler and a screaming husband telling me to get up and handle him while he handled the quiet child. Now it was time for some grumbling of my own.

Now both the kids are down and here I sit with my "square headed boyfriend" while Tom watches TV in the other room. I might head in there soon and see what he's watching. I need to make more sweet tea too. I make it by the vat (ok, technically it's probably not a VAT, but it is a HUGE pot that I make spaghetti in) and it's gone at the end of every day. I needs me a bigger vat.

lilredfireball @ 2009-07-23T10:13:00

2009-07-23T17:32:26Z

Planning for Tom's party is going well enough. i've finally decided that it really isn't going to happen by itself if I just ignore it. So I talked to my dad yesterday and he'll be coming over tomorrow to help me move some furniture out of the family room. Something we've been planning to do anyway, but definitely for the party so there will be enough room for the guests.

I also finished Tom's shopping yesterday. I had already purchased an assload of beer brewing stuff, which is what he'd selected for his b-day. So yesterday I got online and bought him what *I* wanted to get him. And yes, after the $ we spent on the gifts plus what it'll take for the party, I TOTALLY plan on rubbing his nose in the fact that for mothers day he wanted to get me a $50 gift card and call it good. I'm not bitter or anything tho...;-)

So You Think You Can Dance ( I sure wish that had a shorter name) was great last night. It started out incredibly lame, but then they did a breast cancer themed dance that made me bawl...and all of the judges bawled...and the dancers and choreographer bawled.....and the audience.....it was just a bawl-fest. Normally I frown upon such open display of feelings, but I couldn't help myself. Speaking of which, I cried for the first time in my therapists office the session before last. One tear from each eye. Go me! Apparently that's progress, though it sure doesn't feel like it. That whole concept of "a good cry" still totally eludes me.

Speaking of which, I need to update my crazy meghan blog. Got tons of stuff to add, but I just haven't had the time.

Talked to my brother yesterday. I got good derek instead of evil derek. You just never know which you're going to get. Anyhoo, he's talking about buying a big piece of property so we can all live on it. Um, no. Not that we haven't wanted to move to the country....Tom and I and my folks have been dreaming about it for several years....but not with my brother. That's a deal breaker for all involved. Talk about an emotionally draining guy. Either he's happy (kind of) or he's in a rage....there's no middle ground. I won't raise my kids near someone like that, sorry. I work really hard to keep our home a calm, quiet, and safe environment. The thought that he could be right over the hill and ready to pop in at any given moment just makes me want to take a valium. Or maybe the whole bottle....;-) However I would love to live on the same property as my folks. Plus, they're not exactly spring chickens, so we've already been planning for their care when they become even less spring chickeny. It'll be tougher with Tom's dad because he's on the other side of the country, but yes, he's in the plan too if and when he needs us. So far my dad is 53 and my mom is 58, so we're not exactly close to nursing home planning yet. But still. It's good to be prepared. And the fact that I just loooooove my folks and would live next door to them if I could.

OK, enough rambling.

lilredfireball @ 2009-07-20T11:53:00

2009-07-20T19:02:05Z

So, I've been trying to put together a surprise party for Tom since he'll be turning 40 in a couple weeks. Having a hell of a time since (hangs head in shame) I don't know who his friends are. Anyway, said party is coming up in a couple weeks and I was incredibly stressed, having never thrown an actual b-day party before. So yesterday while talking to my mom (she called to kick my ass into gear) I mentioned that I had a sneaking suspicion that Tom was onto me. She suggested that I just tell him then, and maybe he's got some people he'd like to invite.....

Good plan, right? Yeah. So I told him and today he emailed me an invite list that included roughly 39 people....plus spouses and kids. Oh, holy shit. I was thinking a FEW people and a BBQ. Gah! So, just running over the list, if I did get horribly unlucky and they all showed up, we're talking approximately 79 people. *runs for a valium*. Luckily it's short notice, most people won't come. Let's all cross our fingers and hope it stays to a manageable size. And I've got a couple sessions with my therapist before then, so I'm sure that will help.

lilredfireball @ 2009-07-19T17:55:00

2009-07-20T01:20:47Z

I haven't posted for a long time.

Went to a party on Friday night. FYI: Six margaritas is way too many. Especially combined with the 20 mg of valium that it took for me to just get comfortable around all those people. Yeah. From what I remember, I had a great time.

Did the grocery shopping today. The shopping was fine, but I ran over a huge raccoon on the way there. It was already dead, but waaaaaay gross. At first I thought it was a big dog, until I saw the markings on the half of his face that was left. No way to avoid it either. I hope I didn't bring him home on my tires.

The kids just finished playing in the sprinkler. Scotty was damn near hypothermic when he came inside. Now it's about 80 degrees in the house and he's wearing sweats and still shaking.

Naisa came home today. She had a rough go of it on her camping trip because one of the girls is a Be-yotch. But my sweet little Naisa, who normally doesn't take an ounce of shit off of anyone, held off on putting her in her place because she didn't want to spoil the weekend for the girl who invited her. I didn't know she had so much class in her! However the next time they meet will be a day of reckoning for the bitch girl.

Oh! So Naisa has been dying to take Opera lessons. Not just lessons, but specifically from a guy at the music store who has an AMAZING voice. However, the guy doesn't teach opera (evern though he has a doctorate in that AND the violin) because it's just too emotionally draining for him. However, I talked to him for awhile, and he knows and likes Naisa. So he agreed to do a trial lesson with her. Eep! He has turned down every other person who has asked him in the last two years, including other voice teachers that he works with. But he said yes to me!! Woohoo! So she goes in on Tuesday night.

Tom is talking to his sister on the phone right now. The poor girl is still having such a hard time with this pregnancy. This is actually the second time he's called today. The first time they were chatting away when she got really quiet. When he asked if she was still there she said "CALL ME BACK IN 20 MINUTES....I'M SICK!" and hung up. God that's a miserable feeling.

Tom and I watched Taken last night. It was really really good.

Jeezus. Scotty just came up and touched my arm. I think corpses have warmer hands than him.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-29T15:40:00

2009-06-29T22:49:58Z

I was reminded of something while I was putting on the new sarong that Naisa bought me in Hawaii. So, when I talked about her going shopping either on here or on facebook (I can never remember which), human_beans said "tell her barter, barter, barter". So Naisa goes to the international market over there and then calls me to tell me all about it....

Naisa: Yeah, so I'm looking at this silver ring and trying to decide if I want it. It's $25, which was obviously too much, but I really liked it. So I'm trying it on and looking at it, not saying anything, and the sales lady is hanging over me the whole time.....and all of a sudden she starts in "You like ring? You like ring, huh? Real silver, 25 dolla good deal, you know, you know fo' you I go 20 dolla, 20 dolla for you, you like?, No, you young, you don't have lot money, I go 19, 19 dolla, you like?" And I'm standing there thinking, "Man, I just talked her down $6 without even opening my mouth yet!"

She found that market to be an eye opening experience....;-) Kinda like my first experience in Tijuana, but without all the offers for free massages...;-)

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-29T12:24:00

2009-06-29T19:49:25Z

Naisa is now back from Hawaii. She took a red eye last night and I picked her up this morning. She said the flight was pretty painful with her sinus/ear infection, but she did manage to doze off during part of it. After I picked her up I got us all breakfast at McDonalds, then we got home, ate, she doled out gifts, showed me her pics, and off she went to bed. She got me a green sarong with a matching black clip with green flowers painted on it to hold it in place, a white a green flower clip for my hair, and chocolate covered caramel macadamia nut clusters. She also got Scotty a toy limo and a die cast toy airplane (which he dropped on his face a few minutes ago. Those things are pretty heavy. Now his eyebrows are all swollen), and Ireland got a Hello Kitty Hawaii shirt and a Hello Kitty keychain. Hunter got a scorpion necklace. And I won't say what she got for Tom and my folks in case they read this.

I just finished the new Dean Koontz book. I borrowed it from my dad and started it last night. It was really good. Now I'm left with nothing to read again tho.

I gotta get the laundry caught up today. I ran out of laundry soap and got a bit behind. So unless I want to towel off with a tablecloth again, I better get to it.

I think I'll make a loaf of bread today too.

Oh, I need to make an appt. with Dr. Liu. Can't forget. I still don't understand how our new prescription coverage is supposed to work with my "controlled substances" but I'll just have to go along with what they say and hope for the best. If I have to go without my pain meds though, there will be hell to pay.

My mom made my favorite shirt smaller for me again. She took in the darts in the front and the ones in the back. She told me though, that if it needs to be taken in again, I'll probably just have to give it to her instead...;-) However, to soften the blow I suppose, she did give me a skirt of hers that I love that will be perfect for me in another ten pounds or so.

I suppose I should get to my housework. I don't want Tom to come home, see the quality of my work, and fire me on the spot. He doesn't just keep me around for my pretty face you know....;-)

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-26T11:30:00

2009-06-26T18:41:41Z

I had another blind-and-vomiting migraine last night. The third in two weeks. This sucks. I'll be speaking to Dr. Liu about it. I'll be paying attention to my eating habits on my migraine days too. After it started yesterday, I realized that I hadn't eaten much. Actually, I'd had a yogurt. I'm not trying to starve myself, mind you, I just forget. So I'm hoping to find a link there.

I put in an order with drjeff for some of Sandi's kick ass cupcakes. I can't wait!! I'll be sure to report back once I've tasted some yummy cupcake goodness.

I can't believe fourth of july is coming up already. I guess that's the one good thing about Jessica dying when she did. The fireworks always scared her out of her mind. They scare me out of my mind too.

Noooooo plans for the weekend. Just waiting for some cupcakes.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-24T11:03:00

2009-06-24T18:17:13Z

I had therapy yesterday. It was a good session. I haven't posted in crazymeghan for a long time, so I'll try to do that today.

While I was gone, my dad was over watching the kids. Scotty was jumping on the couch (yes, I let my kids jump on the furniture. I pick my battles and that's not one of them) and hit his knee into his nose. His first bloody nose ever, and I missed it. My dad got it all taken care of. But then last night Scotty wok up with blood pouring out of his nose. All over his pajamas, sheets, blankets, everywhere. He was terrified of course, so it took quite a while to clean him up and comfort him back to sleep-mode. I got back to bed 20 minutes before Tom's alarm went off. I finally managed to drip off to sleep while he was in the shower, only to be started awake by him banging around the bedroom,pissed off because he couldn't find any underwear. Yes, it's my job to keep his clothes folded and clean, but damn I didn't want to deal with it at 6am after being up half the night!

Finally he left and I got back to sleep, only to be awakened at 8am sharp by Scotty screaming outside my door. He'd gotten up, had to pee, and instead of using the bathroom right next to his bedroom, decided to go all the way downstairs. Needless to say, his bladder didn't have the patience for that journey. That was a big ol' puddle of pee too. He was horrified. I assured him that it happens to the best of us.

I need to get working on getting the bloodstains out of his jammies and his bedding. Thank god for peroxide. Best blood stain remover on the planet.

So other than blood stains, I think I just have my usual chores today. And getting Tom's clothes folded so we don't have another morning tantrum....;-)

This will be a broad post for family catch-up

2009-06-23T17:05:28Z

I finally woke up feeling well rested today. I know I go on and on about my sleep issues, but I'm happy to finally have stopped having the maggot nightmares. The death of the dog really threw me for a loop. I still have a hard time getting in the shower tho. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but after Tom carried her inside and realized that she had a wound infested with maggots *shudder* I think he realized that she wouldn't be coming home from the vet. So he lovingly carried her to the bathtub and used the shower hose to wash her so that "she could smell good and have some dignity". I'm sure it also helped him locate the wound and see the extent of it. But to this day I can still imagine maggots coming out of the drain when I shower. Yes. I realis=ze this is completely against the laws of physics, besides the fact that we're well beyond their lifecycle now. I just keep telling myself that maggots are not like salmon and cannot swim upstream. At any rate I'll be flushing some Drano down there anyways.

OK, enough bad stuff. I feel well rested and reasonably capable of tackling our insurance company today. We'll see how long that feeling lasts after I dial their number...;-) It's also Therapy Day, which always helps. I know Sue will help me through the prescription woes (if anything just to offer advice) since I've been off my anti-depressants for a scary amount of time. For those who don't know, I basically have a genetic condition that means I'll be on them for life. I become suicidal without them. I don't know why and it sucks, but there it is. So needless to say, I'm going to get these fucking meds if it kills me, because it might if I don't.

Lee, if you're reading this, cut out all the swearing when you read it to Grammy. I can't swear in front of her.....it makes me feel like a bolt of lightning will shoot down and smite me on the spot.

I wish that we could afford a summer day camp for the kids. I honestly don't know how Ireland can talk as much as she does. Seriously, it's 100 miles per hour and about bizarre things like the dark side of the moon. She's sooooooo like Tom...;-) Scotty for the most part just goes along with everything she says and does....which can be bad since she'll get him to do less-than-good things. Occasionally he'll stand up to her, but they're of the age where an argument consists of "uh huh! Huh uh! Uh huh! Huh uh!" Gah!

Scotty is eating well today. He's already had a banana and a pudding cup. We just might hold that 30 lbs yet! I think I'll measure him today too so I can check his growth on the pediatric chart.

***Ok, I just went and checked the growth calculator for him. At 40 inches tall, and 30.8 lbs, that puts him in the 2nd percentile for weight and 16th for height. Well, at least he's not shrinking, right?****

Ireland on the other hand is holding her own with the size issue. She's perfectly proportioned and right at the 50th percentile. The doc still charts out her growth and says she'll end up between 5 foot and 5'2"....perfect for both my family and Tom's. I think she misses school already. Good lord that kid is smart. You know, I prayed for just one sweet little retarded baby. A nice little baby who wouldn't be smarter than me and would just be happy. But I so far have four geniuses who need to be channeled correctly at all times. Not tht I'm complaining, mind you, but it's freakin exhausting to be the mom here! Naisa was actually *supposed* to have downs syndrome according to all the prenatal tests. Yeah. And then she flew through all the AP classes and started college at 16.

Speaking of Naisa, I can't believe we have a high school graduate now!!! I feel bad that we didn't really celebrate because we're so broke from sending her to HI. And we can't really count HI as her graduation gift no matter how hard we worked for it, because she auditioned for that spot and she'll be singing her ass off the whole time she's there. She'll have some free time too, but she worked really hard to get that spot. I know she was going to try out for the solo (on the airplane no less) in one of the somgs. One girls pretty much owns it, but they needed to set up an understudy just in case. I haven't heard about whether or not she got it. She has been checking in once a day though to let me know she's ok. I know she'll be fine. She's an amazing kid and we taught her how to make good decisions....now we just have to let her make them. And I know she'll be......safe....if she meets a cute Hawaiian boy. There must be a lot of them over there. And she'll stand out like a crane among chickens with her vampire white skin, red hair, blue eyes, and standing 5'7". Knowing my Naisa, she's basking in her own glory as we speak....;-)

I have to pick up HUnter today. Good thing I have therapy first....;-) Don't get me wrong, I love my son, but raising a 14 year old genius-level IQ boy is NOT for the faint of heart. I am so thankful that I have tom here to channel him. Hunter may be smart, but he's not smarter than Tom. It's funny because Naisa, no matter how smart she was, or how tall she got, has always deferred to me as her Alpha. Always. But Hunter is now three inches taller (just shy of Naisa's height....or maybe past it in the week it's been since I've seen him) and twenty pounds heavier than he was just two months ago, and he KNOWS he's smarter than me. So I always have to be on my toes. Luckily I can still think circles around him in a common sense sort of way. He's also getting painfully handsome and has a girlfriend. Gah! Luckily she's a hardcore baptist, which was a huge problem for him in the beginning. He almost didn't go out with her because she's religious and he's such a hardcore atheist. But I talked to him a lot and let him know my feelings on it.....that to be an atheist you have to educate yourself on at least the major religions. You have to know what it is you don't believe in. Otherwise, you're not an atheist, just ignorant. So he seems to have gotten past it. She goes to church and youth group and he doesn't and it's ok with both of them.

So, let's see, I've covered all the kids. I just checked my weight and it looks like I'm inching towards a 75 lb loss now. I had to throw out two more pairs of jeans this weekend because they were huge. I now have ONE pair. Don't get me wrong, I love finally losing all of my extra weight, but it's tough when you don't have anything to wear! I do feel pretty sexy though, so it's a rather good trade.....;-)

OK, that's enough for now. I'm going to try and link this to my fb so that the relatives can access it. Tom just called to remind me of my chores for the day...;-)

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-22T15:52:00

2009-06-22T23:29:13Z

This is going to be one long bitch-fest, so feel free to skip if need be.....

I HATE OUR INSURANCE. Yes, I know I should feel lucky to have insurance at all, and I do. But we were told in the beginning that we could sign up for mail order meds to save money (and it's so convenient! *gag*) or if we chose, we could just continue to use our pharmacist and pay a bit more. Uh no. Turns out they don't cover our meds at all if we don't use mail order. I find this out when our refills start getting denied. So, Naisa needed her antidepressants, the insurance would refill them because I hadn't signed up for mail order 30 days in advance. She can't go without her meds. So, since we take the same kind, I gave her mine. Now of course they won't fill my meds. So I am without anti-depressants and things are getting dire here. So I get online today to try and sign up for the mail order, and it's IMPOSSIBLE to figure out. I can't do this to save my life. So I call and get a recording saying that I should leave a message and they'll call me back in 48 hours. Sigh. Plus in their little "privacy policy letter" that I have to agree to, they say that they'll release my medical info to pretty much anyone and everyone. Doctors, government, even for research! So, now I have to use this horrible company, that I can't figure out, AND I have no meds for at least 30 days. I called Target to get the cash price for at least my anti-depressants and it was......a lot. I'm just so frustrated and stressed that I could cry.

So last night Tom and I were, uh, celebrating Fathers Day after the kids went to bed. I had some wine that turned out to be a little stronger than I expected. So as we're laying there in the glowing aftermath of our celebration, I suddenly realize that I have to throw up. I jump up, in the dark, run towards the bathroom, trip on the laundry.......and catch myself with my broken arm. It's really swollen and hurts so bad I can hardly see straight now.....so I'm sure I re-broke it. But do you think I can afford to have xrays done again with our insurance coverage? No. I don't know what to do about it except just keep the half-cast on it as much as I can and grit my teeth a lot.

So with Naisa gone in HI, I don't have help around the house. So I wrapped up the broken arm really good, and then put an XL size rubber glove over it, and washed the dishes. While I was in there, the kids somehow managed to drive me insane in the kitchen/family room area AND completely destroy the living room. I came out here and the car box is dumped out (probably 150 matchebox cars), the toybox is dumped out, and Scotty dumped his large tupperware container full of beads all over the carpet. Plus we have NO FOOD in the house, so I'm just waiting for them to turn on me.

It's just a bad day. I need a nap. And a hug.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-20T22:50:00

2009-06-21T05:52:15Z

Ireland lost another tooth today. She was snoring so loud that I figured it was time for the tooth fairy to come. Mission accomplished. Dog is fed. Naisa is in final prep mode. The house is a freakin disaster, but it'll wait til tomorrow, right? I'm going to bed.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-20T21:10:00

2009-06-21T05:06:47Z

Fuuuuuuuck me, I'm exhausted. And no, I don't mean that literally. I'm not required to put out until tomorrow and damnit I'm not doing it one minute ahead of time.

My folks picked us up at 1:00 to go shopping. My, the folks and Naisa hit Target, Peets, Kohl's, and Walmart. They dropped us off at six and I turned right around and took the little kids back to walmart for the fathers day shopping. So after about 7 hours of shopping, I'm done in.

We did have a couple of good moments while we were out. At Target I found a Wonder Woman shirt that says "Yeah, I am pretty super" on it. I loved it and Naisa bought it for me! Plus, when I picked out the size that *I* thought I needed, she said "No no no, that's going to be hige. You need a smaller one" *grin* I know ya'll get tired of hearing about my now 70 lb weight loss, but it's just so cool to go from praying that I'll be able to fit into a 22 instead of a 24 because I'm having a "thin" day.....to being able to shop in the "normal sizes" AND having to go back and grab a smaller "normal" size. So anyway, I loved the shirt because I collect Wonder Woman stuff and it was perfect. My mom then chimed in and said she'd make me another pair of bracelets, which leads me to a story.....

When I was five I would spin around for hours trying to turn into wonder woman. So for halloween I just HAD to be her. My mom made my costume, like all moms did back in those days. I can't remember what the bottoms were, but she made the top Bustiere thing out of tin foil.....complete with boobs. Even at five I was fascinated with boobs and could wait to get me some. The outfit also had the wonder woman bracelets made of tin foil that could deflect bullets. I was soooooo thrilled with it. Anyway, the first trick or treaters of the night rand the doorbell and I got so excited that I ran down the stairs, fell, and crushed my tin foil boobs. I was devastated. I'm sure she fixed it, I dont remember. But the bracelt thing was a direct reference and it brought back some funny memories.

So we got everything ready for Naisa's trip. She's all packed and ready to go. We weighed her bag to make sure we won't have to pay extra for it. She checked the dimmensions of her carry-on and it's perfect. We bought her travelers checks (well, my folks did), and prepaid credit cards. She also has three bottles of sunscreen, two small bottles for her purse, and two parasols. And a bottle of aloe spray just in case. She'll be fine. She'll be fine. She'll be fine. And if she ends up in jail or something, I know I can trust Ken to help her out. She'll be fascinated with Ken and Suzy because they're japanese and she LOVES japanese people. But hopefully she'll mind her manners and not embarrass me by asking crazy questions...;-) And she'll remember to take her shoes off in their house...;-)

We did her hair last night and she looks beautiful. Of course she always looks beautiful. I don't think I'm genetically capable of making an ugly child. Sorry to sound conceited, but I've proven it four times now....;-)

I miss my dog.

You know you're old when it's 10pm on a saturday night and you're seriously considering going to bed. But it's a big day tomorrow. I'll have to get up with the kids and make tom breakfast and then take it in to him and have him open the presents he bought for him. And then we have to have Naisa at the airport at 3 (she'll be ok, she'll be ok, she'll be ok). She did pick out a nice fathers day card for Tom. And the little kids picked out two polo shirst and a pair of shorts and a card.

Ireland lost another tooth today. I can't forget to have the toothfairy come tonight.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-19T19:25:00

2009-06-20T04:55:40Z

My finger hurts. I have a huge blister where the edge of my pinkie rubs the edge of my cast. I even tried padding the edge with washrags and such but it doesn't help. Fucking cast.

I went and watched Naisa's final choir concert before they take of for their Hawaii tour on sunday. We heard all the songs they'll be singing....14 of them. They won't sing them all at every venue, just the relative ones. They'll be performing at several catholic churches (lots o' gospel songs there), on the USS Missouri (lots o' navy songs AND Danny Boy which makes me cry everytime), and they're performing at a shopping mall of all places. Some old folks homes and such too. They've got two songs in Hawaiian that I hope go well. They've got some world famous hawaiian choir director person helping them with the wording at the last minute. As far as our end goes, I *think* we have everything in order. I'm doing her hair for her tonight. And I'll go buy all her toiletries tomorrow. My mom is buying the rest of the clothing she needs tomorrow, so I may just go along. I need to do the fathers day shopping anyway. Then she'll get packed and we'll make damn sure that her suitcase doesn't weigh over 50 lbs because I'm not paying even more money to fly that thing over. It's damn near a crime that they make you pay $25 to check one bag in the first place.

It poured all day today. Normally here we just get drizzle. But this was literally sheets of rain. And the INSIDE of my car sprung a leak. I had water running out of the dome light! Gah! The neighbor came over to borrow our ladder to throw up a tarp over some leaking shingles. Luckily all our shingles held...this time.

The stupid little dog keeps getting out of the yard. Well tonight I finally caught her in the act! I watched her trot towards the back gate from a window, ran out the front door, and caught her halfway through the gate looking like a deer in the headlights. I *think* I have the hole blocked. It was WAY easier to keep an 80 lb dog in the yard than a 7 lb dog. Little fuckers can find an escape route anywhere.

Looks like we're in for another storm. The clouds are rolling in, the trees are bent over, and the windchimes sound like they're possessed.

I'm really tired and it's only 9pm. I felt much better today, but I think I must have been getting over some flu or something with as tired as I still am.

My folks came to Naisa's performance today. My dad got his ears done again. I'm not sure what the term is for it. He's got them gauged and he went up to the next size. Oh! AND he got his acceptance letter for vocational rehab! Yay! This is a huge thing for him. Since he had that complete knee replacement, he can't go back to his old job. So he tested in and was accepted for voc. rahab where they'll pay for him to go to college and learn to do something else. Plus they know that he has ADD and such, so they'll help him find a new career that fits his needs. Yay Dad!

My grandpa is coming up next month from AZ. Remember when I talked about the big surgery he had to remove that tumor? They got the biopsy back and it was benign. Yay!

Wow, I've been working on this post for like two hours.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-19T10:42:00

2009-06-19T18:10:10Z

I finally feel better today. Two days ago I had migraine from hell. Then yesterday I just felt like shit. It was either the migraine hangover, or I was just plain sick. But I feel more normal (well, normal for ME) today. It helps too that the kids slept in until 8:30. I was up at 6:44 (yes Tom, I was awake when you came in that last time before you went to work....but I pretended to be asleep so you wouldn't start talking to me.). Even though I didn't sleep in, it was nice to be able to start my day by hanging out in bed with my book. That makes for a happier Meghan.

Wow my allergies are bad this year. Ireland, Hunter and Tom are all dying too. We've gone thru a 12 pack of mega-roll toilet paper in a week just blowing our noses. Yes we use tp instead of tissues because we're just classy that way. Half the time I use washrags because they're more gentle on my poor little nostrils. I'm delicate that way.

*****pause******

Had to kill a fly so Scotty would stop screeching about it. I don't know why he's so terrified of flies, he just is. Alas, I had to use the fly swatter to kill it because I haven't yet perfected the patented Obama super ninja fly-killing technique.

I have to do some shopping today if I can manage to get all our asses out of the house. Miracle of all miracles, I actually got a child support check. Perfect timing since Nai leaves for Hawaii on Sunday. I need to go out and get all of her toiletries and sunscreen and such. I bought her two parasols, and my mom has been buying her summer clothes for the trip....though I did buy me, er, her a really cute dress.

I miss my dog. The other stupid dog is not helping. She's being her usual self and now she's discovered some way to get out of the backyard. Sigh.

I have to call the insurance company about our prescriptions today. I'm not pleased about this.

For being in a good mood, I sure am doing a lot of bitching.

I had a good time yesterday listening to Tom and Ireland discussing mitochondrial DNA. Having Tom as a dad is a daily science lesson and the kids love it. I think our kids were born to be smart, but it certainly helps having someone constantly challenge them intellectually. It's been helping a lot with Hunter too, since he needs to be......channeled correctly. He's a handful and a half what with his genius level IQ and no common sense. It's a tough combination....but Tom has it all under control. And Naisa is just brilliant because she just is. We come from a long line of brilliant women (I promise I'm smart, I just hide it really well), and let me assure you, Naisa's Biological Other was no brain surgeon. But enough bragging about my kids. I'm just trying to prepare ya'll because I'm sure they've got a plan in the works for taking over the world.

OK, Tom just called and reminded me about my to-do list today since I'm feeling better. Sigh.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-18T11:51:00

2009-06-18T19:06:13Z

Had the beast of all migraines yesterday. Now I have the post-migraine hangover. I went to bed with it at about 2pm yesterday after waking up an uber-cranky Naisa to watch the kids. Then when Tom came home he didn't realize I had a migraine. So he brought the kids in to wake me up in the usual manner....working them up into a state of screaming and shrieking, flinging the door open, and bellowing "Mom! It's time to get up!" It was like having ice picks driven through my skull. I actually had to scream his name three times for him to hear me, and when he finally did I screamed "I'm going to throw up!!!!!". As a fellow migraine sufferer he instantly realized the problem and ushered the kids out and came back in a split second with a puke bowl. Then he very quiety asked what else he could do after the heaving stopped. I asked for the ceiling fan to be turned on, and then I was dumb enough to be looking right at it when he flipped the switch. Neither one of us had realized that the light had been flipped on as well. More ice picks.

I have to voice a complaint about the packaging of my Imitrex. It comes packaged in these cardboard sheets where you have to get thru the card board and then thru the foil to get the thing out. It pretty much takes an engineer to accomplish this. So how am I supposed to do it when I can't see and I'm vomiting from the pain? What made them think that's a good idea?

Luckily I was well enough by 10:00 to watch Ultimate Fighter. Frankie Lester may not have won, but he's a god anyway.

Ireland ame home from her last day of school and is sick. She's in my bed right now. She did get a stellar report card though (as usual), but she's also upset because her best friend is moving away. Sigh.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-17T10:18:00

2009-06-17T17:56:37Z

Yes, I'm still alive.

I'll admit I've been having a really hard time with the death of the dog. But I picked up her remains on thursday and that seems to have helped. We'll bury them when I'm good and ready, but for now they're on the mantle (yes, I know that's cheesy). I've stopped having nightmares constantly. I got to the point where I was afraid to sleep because of them. I tell ya, I would have been sad with her death no matter what, but that was such a ......gruesome way to go. I haven't dreamed about maggots crawling on me and not being able to get away for three nights now. Whew.

OK enough of that. I took Naisa to the DMV yesterday to pick up her ID so that she can board the plane to Hawaii on sunday. We also stopped and paid the highschool for some $15 book fee from 3 nyears ago so that they'd give us her diploma. She's now officially a high school graduate. Yay! She doesn't want to celebrate until my grandpa is here next month though.

Scotty just pooped. When he got up from the potty he declared it to be "bigger than a roasted weenie!".

The broken wrist is healing well. I can't remember if I wrote about my cool half-cast. Anyway, it's not so cool now, but it seems to be working.

So last week I took on a HORRIBLE project. I decided I was going to clean the upstairs bathroom (the one that the kids use). I did the sink and the counters and such. The toilet was pretty hopeless because when we moved in it was complately stained. HUGE brown ring around the inside. Apparently the old owners never flushed or just had some crazy poop issues. Anyway, the whole time we've lived here it's been resistant to the toilet brush and bleach and any other cleaners. It just never looks clean and it's horrible. Well, this particular day, I decided I was not to be bested by the toilet. So I put an elbow length rubber glove on my left arm, and covered my cast with a garbage bag (I was looking sexy) and I literally chiseled the shit ring off that toilet. The shit of some other family with intestinal issues came off chip by chip. I used straight bleach, a putty knife, and a butter knife. Two hours later it was spotless.

Of course by then everyone has started coming home from their days at work and school. I told everyone the story and made them all look. They were amazed and congratulated me whole-heartedly. Except Ireland. She said "I. am. never. using. a. butter. knife. again." I assured her I threw the knife away, but I'm pretty sure she hasn't used one to this day.

Hunter came home and informed me that there was a huge food fight at school yesterday. Lucily he was not involved, though he did inadvertently catch a cheeseburger upside the head. He was quite offended. I told him life is just full of cheeseburgers upside the head.

True Blood was fantastic this week!

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-06T09:55:00

2009-06-06T16:58:30Z

We had to have Jess put down last night. She had a sore on her back that we didn't see through all of her hair.....and it got infested with maggots. It was incredibly traumatic for all involved. Tom laid down next to her and rubbed her ears and I laid in front of her and held her hands and told her what a good dog she'd been until the vet told us she was gone. RIP Jessica Rose.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-04T12:25:00

2009-06-04T19:33:45Z

My dad just came over and weed whacked my side-yard. Hopefully cutting down all the overgrowth will help my allergies in the long run.

I'm going to go see Dr. Liu in about 45 minutes. My makeup is done, my shirt is ironed, I just need to dry the front of my hair so I can pull it up. And shave my legs. I always feel like I need to look my best when I go to see the doc. I think it's because his office is a .....um.....low income office. A lot of welfare people and such. Don't get me wrong, *I* was on welfare for a good long time at one point in my life. And every single time I went to the welfare office, I looked my best and my children were clean and well behaved. Being poor does not give you a license to be filthy and forget to put shoes on your kids. There are a lot of people like that in the waiting room there. One time I went to see Dr. Liu and there was a trashy woman with three FILTHY kids who were climbing the walls while she screeched at them. When they finally called me back to the exam room I told the nurse "Wow, I feel like *I* need a valium now. That was like a lesson in white trash parenting 101". She looked stunned for a minute and then burst out laughing and said "You have no idea how many times I've wanted to say that". But really, I'd go anywhere to be able to see Dr. Liu, so it's worth it. Usually.

I'd sure feel a lot prettier if my nose would stop running constantly.

OK, I gotta run and get ready.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-03T19:46:00

2009-06-04T02:59:48Z

Ha! Tom just found the contract that Naisa had to sign for us when she was about 15:

I, Naisa ____, promise to do the following things...

*I will not harm or threaten to harm family members or myself.
*I will be respectful and courteous to family members
*I will not do drugs, drink alcohol, smoke, chew or snuff tobacco, or take prescription drugs that are not prescribed to myself.
*I will not pierce any part of my body, besides my ears, until I am 18
*I will not get a tattoo until I am 18
*I will pick up after myself
*I will always be truthful
*I will bathe daily
*I am responsible for my own laundry
*I will maintain a B average with no failing grades
*I will be a law abiding citizen
*I will study one hour each day on the weekend for my drivers license
*I will attend family holidays and be respectful and courteous
*I will stay on birth control and antidepressants unless directed otherwise by a doctor
*I will attend school every day unless Meghan Parrish or Tom Parrish say otherwise
*I will always make whomever I am having sex with use a condom
*I will be home by 9pm on weekdays and 11pm on weekends
*I will be honest about the driver of the car I am in
*I will do chores without whining or being nasty
*I will stay in the Portland/Vancouver area unless I have permission from my parents
*I will not arrange to meet someone on the internet
*I will speak kindly to my younger siblings
*I will not use profanity around my family
*I will be off the phone/computer by 9pm on weekdays and 10pm on weekends

Any misspellings will not affect my promise to follow these rules.

I had completely forgotten about this contract. But apparently it worked because we got her to 18 without any major problems. And she's an 18 year old who has been in college for two years. And a strong, confident woman. Now if only we can do that well with the other 3. *crosses fingers*

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-03T09:23:00

2009-06-03T17:11:21Z

Another day of heat, humidity, and allergies. Oy. I'm seeing Dr. Liu tomorrow to have my arm xrayed, but we'll definitely be talking about the allergies too. Everyone in the house has been miserable, except Naisa of course. How I managed to produce three kids with allergies and one without is beyond me.

On my way back from driving Naisa to school I was listening to that Jason Mraz and Colbie Cailat (I can't spell her name) song. You know, I really like the individual parts, but the part that they sing together is almost painfully 70's. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was written by The Captain and Tenille. I've also been listening to the new Pink CD that thunder_pants sent me and I love it!!!

Therapy was good yesterday. Not too emotionally draining. We talked about my valium and how it affects me vs. other people. Most people would be asleep after 10mg of it first thing in the morning. But because of my hyper-sensitivity disorder it does just the opposite for me. I basically don't have any "filters". I get overloaded with sensory stimulation constantly that I can't filter out. Hence my anxiety disorder. When the worlds is so overwhelming it tends to make one a little anxious. Anyway, I take my valium and it acts as a filter for me. It shuts out the overwhelming stuff and lets me go on about my normal day and function like a regular person. So I asked her to do some research and see if there is a non-addictive med that will serve the same function for me while she and I work on the long process of developing filters myself. Anyway, I thought it was interesting.

Naisa has finals next week I think....maybe the week after. I can't remember. I just know that she's wrapping up some of her projects. Her photography one in particular has been interesting. She's been exploring stereotypes. So, for instance, she did a shoot with her friend Mai from school. She took normal pics of Mai, and then did the female asian "me love you long time" stereotype. They weren't porn pics, but she was wearing a corset and they were....sexy. Naisa met one on one with her prof this week to discuss her progress in the project and he said "WOW, these are really good"...strictly from an artistic view...he's not just a perv. Naisa said "But I feel so diiiiirty!". Ha laughed and laughed and said "I think that means you did it right"....;-) He's been really happy with her progress and has several times picked her pics out of unlabeled piles and complimented them in front of the class. She's pleased with herself. I'm just glad she's found an artistic outlet that she really enjoys.

Tonight is So You Think You Can Dance, followed by Ultimate Fighter. Yay! I love wednesdays. *I just blew my nose for the 8th time since I started this post* The semifinal fights start tonight. I loves me some MMA.

Hunter was over last night. He was even taller than last time. Having a teenaged boy is so weird. Naisa did her growing slowly and steadily over the years so one day when she finally stopped at 5'7", it wasn't a surprise. She was 24" long when she was born, and she was always one of the tallest kids in class, so we knew she'd be tall (5'7" is TALL in my family) but she sort of creeped up to it. Boys though seem to grow in these massive spurts. He and Nai were standing together in the kitchen yesterday and I realized that he's just a hair shorter than her. It's kinda nice because now I have two kids who can get things off the top shelf for me. But still strange. And keeping a teenaged boy with a genius level IQ who is taller than me in line has been a serious test of my Alpha status. Luckily I've always got a few tricks up my sleeve, but he keeps me on my toes.

Scotland is incredibly weepy today. He's really been struggling with the eating issue. It seems natural to know when you're hungry and when you aren't.....but it doesn't come naturally to him. He's finally learning how to listen to his body, but most of the time he's complaining that his tummy hurts....and *I* know it's because he hasn't eaten anything. So I'm trying to teach him that when he gets that feeling, he needs to eat right away. I tried offering him food at regular intervals to get him on a schedule, but that didn't work because he just wouldn't eat it. But if he doesn't eat when his stomach starts to "hurt" then he ends up crying and headachey. Sigh. As a parent it's really hard to walk that fine line between food concious and food obsessive. I don't want to feed into the whole thing (no pun intended) by obssessing over food with him, but I also don't want him to starve because he doesn't have a natural instinct to eat like other kids. I wonder if it's because he was a preemie and was born with almost no sucking reflex, or if something is just wired differently in him. Anyway, the last time he was weighed he was 30.8 lbs. The time before when he finally hit the big 3-0, he was 30.2 lbs. So at least we're not losing ground. And Dr. Liu checks him regularly to make sure he's physically ok even with his tiny size. For those of you without kids, just to give you a comparison, Naisa and Hunter were both 32 lbs on their first birthdays. Scotty is four and a half. I dunno. It may be time for another trip to Dr. Liu for some suggestions and to have his bloodwork done again. He's smarter than all get out , so at least we know he's ahead of the curve developmentally.

OK, enough babble from me.

lilredfireball @ 2009-06-01T10:18:00

2009-06-01T17:50:59Z

Good lord my allergies are bad. Really, how much snot can one face produce? Gah.

Yesterday was a good day. But it was one of those days where it seemed like I was really busy, but I don't FEEL like I got hardly anything done. The kids played in the sprinkler for the first part of the day...before it got too hot. Ireland got a bit of a sunburn on her cheeks, but that was the only casualty. Surprisingly Scotty didn't burn at all. Tom must have lubed him up good with the spf 50+. He's got my pale skin, and super blond, baby fine hair.....so his scalp will burn right through it. Not that it ever has, because we are diligent, but still. Careful, careful, careful. For awhile they were stretching their arms up to the sky and yelling "photosynthesis!".

Then we packed them up and went grocery shopping. It was our regular 2 cart trip. We bought another Betta while we were there. He's blue and his fins are red. And we bought the two-sided tank so we can keep both betta's separated but they'll still do their flaring when they catch sight of eachother. We also bought a new bookshelf. Of course I was too proud to allow Tom to put it together, since that is my domain. But man am I paying for that today. My arm is KILLING me. But the shelf looks nice. I also got the kids bathed....kind of a pain in the ass (and arm) because they're too old to bathe together now. And Tom did A TON of yard work yesterday. He's got quite the tan going now...even a sandal tan on his feet! Of course I'll be the one taking care of him when he gets skin cancer....but oh well.

Speaking of my arm, I have an appt. with Dr. Liu on Thursday. Did I talk about this already? I know he'll want to run some xrays, which is fine. But I am NOT paying for an MRI. With all the work he does in Guam, and Thailand and everywhere else, I know he can diagnose without fancy machines. So I'm sure he'll treat it as a partial tear if no fracture shows up. It's not a full tear because I still have function in the side of my hand.....which is part of the problem. I CAN use it, it's just really painful. So I end up using it several times a day with no brace and it's not getting better. I'm *thinking* about asking him to cast it just to save me from myself.

I talked to my brother for nearly half an hour yesterday. Luckily it was Good Derek and not Evil Derek. You never really know which one you're going to get. Apparently my mom washed her cell phone and lost all of her business info and work info.....with no backup. She ran over to Verizon right away, but they weren't able to recover it. She's pretty upset. So the folks stopped by to borrow back her old phone that she gave to me (I'm now using my brothers old phone anyway) so that they could restore service to that one.

I think I'm going to die if I sneeze one more time.

Oh, I got a new electric razor yesterday. My poor legs needed it badly. It's battery powered instead of chargable, but since there were all of TWO to choose from, I'll have to make due. And it was cheap. And really, how often do I shave my legs anyway? At most twice a week. If I shave more than that, I start getting some serious skin issues. I'm really looking forward to trying it out though.

OK, that's it for now.

lilredfireball @ 2009-05-28T09:02:00

2009-05-28T16:26:18Z

Ultimate Fighter was terrific last night. They needed an alternate to step in, and the guy who wanted to fight the most was the guy who'd gotten his teeth knocked out in his particularly brutal fight just a few days before. Seriously, he got punched in the mouth, they took out his mouth guard and all of his teeth were stuck in it.....*shudder*. So anyway he goes in there up against the UK's "best fighter", with his jacked up face and no teeth, and he won! It was exciting. The more I watch that show though, the less I like Bisping. Man, that guy can whine and cry with the best of them. I used to like him so much after he was a competitor on the show....now as a coach I just find him so irritating. Anyway, it was suuuuuuch a good show.

Scotland was really cuddly this morning. As he gets older, his cuddle times have become far less frequent, so I'm starting to cherish every minute that I get. We curled up on the couch together and shared a blanket this morning. But after about an hour he was off and running. Now he's busy burying cars in his sandbox.

Oops, we have to load up and go get Naisa. We can't go anywhere without all of Scotland's gear....even if we're not getting out of the car.

lilredfireball @ 2009-05-27T12:00:00

2009-05-27T19:21:59Z

My arm hurts like a sumbitch.

Scotland just pulled my eyes open by my eyelashes. Kind of an odd feeling, I must say.

Therapy was really good yesterday. We're finally getting to some good stuff. I'll write more in the crazymeghan.

So when Tom and I went to the coast a couple weeks ago, I was THRILLED to find a keychain with my name spelled out in sparkly letters. It's hard to find my name at all, but especially with the correct spelling. Much to my dismay, I broke it yesterday. So now it just says ME. Sigh. I guess that still works.

Tom bought a new-to-him car yesterday. It's a 95 Nissan Maxima and it's surprisingly nice...probably since it had only been owned by one person. He got it from Volunteers Of America, so we feel pretty comfortable with the purchase. I tell ya, after driving my minivan for like 6 years, the new nissan is a damn fine time to drive. It gets up and goes while the van....well.....doesn't.

Speaking of cars, I can honestly say that if i were going to buy a new mustang, it definitely would no be a cheeto colored one. What the hell is up with that color?

Apparently Hunter sent Tom the schematics for a Tesla Coil that he wants to make together. Hopefully Tom won't blow himself across the garage this time.

TrueBlood is starting again on June 14th. I can't wait!!! I just wish they'd fix the gap in Sookie's teeth.....it drives me insane. I mean, maybe my crooked bottom tooth drives people insane and I've got no room to talk, but still.

Naisa went and hung out with her friend Mai last week. She's STILL talking about it. See, it was Naisa's first foray into a Vietnamese home. Apparently they have a very cool rice dispenser. And they have rice ready to eat at all times. Naisa asked if it was sticky rice and Mai said "Is there another kind of rice??" Then they went so far as to feed her and she was hooked. I'm surprised she didn't just move in with them at that point.

To Ken: Before I forget to tell you, Naisa has asked for your email address so she can contact you before her trip....you know in case she has any questions and such. Turns out she's going to have A LOT of free time there and none of her friends are going. So don't be surprised if you hear from her. She's starting to worry about standing out because of her whiter than white skin (my response was "yes, yes you will"). She's afraid she'll have an experience like I had at Disneyland with the herd of japanese tourists. She says if anyone comes up and tries to stroke her arm, she'll kick them in the crotch....;-) Anyway, I'm passing your email addy on to her.

Let's see, what else is there? It's nice having Scotty fully potty trained. No more diapers, no more pull-ups. Yay!