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Flash has had bloody diarrhea the last four days. I bet you wish you could go back in time and choose not to read that last sentence. We took her to the vet this evening and it turns out she has colitis. Kudos to my friend Elizabeth for having hit that nail square on the head. So she gets antibiotics that are also anti-inflammatory and rice with beef/chicken until everything's back to normal.

But lets go back in time to the vet visit. All of us went to the vet with Flash. Henry thinks going to the doggie doctor is flippin' sweet because he loves watching Flash go through all the same stuff he has to go through when he goes to the doctor. He especially hates having his temperature taken, and the last two time we've been to the vet, Henry has settled into a chair in the exam room and asked me when Flash is going to get her temperature taken. Then he watches with glee fascination at the whole process. This evening after the thermometer was removed from Flash's rear, Henry said "Doctor take Flash's temperature two times." He looked disappointed when I told him her temperature only needed to be taken once.

The diagnosis for colitis required the use of a rubber glove and a smidge of Vaseline, and I'll leave the rest to your imagination. Flash was not happy about the procedure and shuffled around the room and protested with a few sad whines. Do you know what my sadistic kid did? He laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd seen in years. After the veterinarian left I told Henry that not only was he a doctor for doggies, but also for kitty cats, rats, bunnies, and, in a pinch, he could probably even be a Henry doctor, and that when he comes back in maybe he could take Henry's temperature. That sobered him up right quick, but it did not stop him from asking a few minutes later if Flash's temperature could be taken three times. No sympathy in this kid. On the way home I told Flash she could come with us to Henry's third-year checkup so she could watch him get his shots.

Posted by Jenn at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Dave put a new post up on his Cool Science page about one of his madcap beach adventures which almost got him into big trouble, not only with nature, but also with me.

Posted by Jenn at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We got back into town yesterday afternoon. After doing a lot of extensive unpacking, both last night and today, I have come to the somewhat inescapable conclusion that I left my swimsuit in a cute little beach-house somewhere on the Outer Banks. I say "somewhat inescapable" because I still haven't unpacked Henry's box of toys, which is an unlikely location for a reasonable adult to shove a probably still damp swimsuit, however, you never know what you'll be driven to do in the throes of packing up your belongings at the end of a very relaxing week. I'm not too bummed out about leaving the suit behind because it was a little too big on me and so one of the bra cups had a tendency to ride on up and out which is not a great characteristic for an article of clothing to have. On the other hand, it did just occur to me that after a week spent eating food that was either: 1. BBQ'ed; 2. steamed and served with half a stick of melted butter; 3. fried into oblivion; or 4. not a vegetable, it would probably now fit me beautifully. Alas.

At least I have a box of chocolate fudge with walnuts in it to cheer me up.

Posted by Jenn at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sorry to have left both all of you hanging after that last post. My little melt-down couldn't have happened at a better time: the next day we got up to head to Dave's parents' house, and the day after that we carried on down the road to the beach, which is where we've been kicking around for the last few days. This is also where we'll be happily kicking around for a few more days. On Sunday night there was a tornado watch. The storm was vicious and scary and we did, at one point, end up in the basement for about half an hour. My theory is that the storm helped to concentrate a lot of our stress into one moment so that when it was over, we were all completely relaxed and therefore able to really enjoy the rest of the week.

Henry has been enjoying being here, except for that one traumatizing moment when the ocean came up on the beach and tried to eat him. He ran shrieking towards me and then would not let go of my hand until we came home. That was Monday morning. By Monday afternoon it was cold and rainy, and yesterday was just plain cold so we didn't get a chance to walk on the beach again until this morning. Henry was extremely reluctant to go out on the sand again, but we finally just picked him up and carried him out. He wasn't at all thrilled, but eventually we were able to put him on the ground, and soon after that he was off on his own in search of shells to put in his little yellow bucket. Perhaps by the end of the week he'll be up for dabbling his toes in the water.

Posted by Jenn at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last week on Thursday Henry woke up with a runny nose. On Sunday I felt a little under the weather. Henry developed his usual cough but we started using his asthma medication straightaway and after a couple of nights full of good sleep we were both on the mend.

Until Wednesday night. I didn't sleep very well for whatever reason, and was exhausted all day yesterday. Sometime in the early afternoon Henry developed a dry cough which got progressively worse. He had a hard time falling asleep for his nap, then an even worse time last night. He was consistently coughing every 30-60 seconds. At 2AM we were all still tossing and turning. I came downstairs and caught a few z's on the couch, but needless to say we all woke up today feeling pretty lousy. I'm practically walking into walls over here, delirious from both a lack of sleep and from a cold that won't go away. Dave's been burning the candle at both ends trying to get grading done so he's not feeling that great either, and Henry just won't stop coughing. We took him to the pediatrician this morning. I was fully expecting to leave with a prescription for steroids which is what usually happens when he has a persistent cough like this, but when the doctor listened to his chest he said Henry's lungs sound clear and his ears look great (I was worried about another ear infection) and that we shouldn't bother with his albuterol anymore for this cold because it's not going to help. This was all very good news except it turns out our kid is probably coughing because of a tickle or irritation in his upper respiratory system, the prescription for which is honey during the day and a mild sedative at night, the sedative's purpose being mainly to help him relax enough to get some sleep since the cough is keeping him up. So is there an end in sight? Who knows.

Meanwhile, I'm on edge because I've been listening to Henry cough nonstop for 24 hours now. There's no where to escape from it in our house because our place is so small. I end up sitting around waiting for him to start coughing again, and when he does, I get irritated, and then I feel incredibly guilty that I'm irritated because good grief, I'm his mom! That combined with the lack of sleep resulted in a quiet bout of crying on my part when Henry spilled the entire contents of his cup of milk all over the dining room table and floor this afternoon at lunch. I cried all the way to the bathroom to get a towel, I cried while mopping it all up, and then I was okay. It passed just as quickly as it came.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that tonight is better.

Posted by Jenn at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

In a few weeks I'm going to be taking belly dancing twice a week. I'll be carrying on with the six-week sessions offered through our local recreation department, but I'll be adding a private lesson once a week with the same teacher and another student. No one has been more surprised than me by how much I've enjoyed taking the classes. Last August I convinced Megan and Phoebe to take them with me because the idea of belly dancing was so far out that there was no way I could do it alone, plus it's always fun getting out of the house to hang with the ladies. I thought it would be a one-time thing, but I just haven't been able to stop going. About a week ago I went back to that first youtube video I posted back when we signed up for that first session and watched it again. I was surprised that I could name some of the steps she was doing, and could even do them myself. Not as gracefully or self-assured, but I could definitely do them. So hopefully with private lessons my instructor (who's amazing, because if she wasn't so encouraging and fun, I probably *would* have pooped out after the first session) will be able to better whip me into shape.

Last week she told us the name of the song we'll be using for our choreography. There's a dancer on youtube who also uses it. Here it is if you're interested:

Posted by Jenn at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This evening Flash and I ventured into the cemetery for our daily walk, just as dusk was deepening. While I was channeling my inner Buffy, just in case, I caught a glimpse of the latest in grave decorations: solar powered crosses and Angels. Saying I "caught a glimpse" is putting it mildly; "nearly jumped out of my skin" definitely belongs in there somehwere. There's a general heightened awareness of all senses when you're in a cemetery at night, no matter how firmly your feet are planted outside of believing in the realm of ghosts and goblins, so seeing a soft glow amongst the gravestones doesn't increase one's sense of ease. Once I ventured close enough to figure out what exactly it was that was glowing in the distance, I thought it was a pretty interesting take on outdoor solar lighting, and although I can't speak for the intentions of the people who put them out there, they suit cemeteries perfectly.

Posted by Jenn at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Dave's in major grading mode. He's grading labs and exams and more labs and since we're going on vacation next week he's trying hard to get it all done by Friday. This means I've had to try to not lean on him as much as I usually do, like no running out of the house the second he comes home because if I have to watch another one of these video's on youtube my brain will instantaneously liquify. Besides, it's my personal opinion that since Dave created that particular monster, he can deal with it.

This weekend I made a conscientious effort to give Dave lots of time to get some grading done with no distractions. Saturday I took Henry over to Megan's house and we had some lunch and played in Leo's new sandbox (which also has a water table because Megan always has to be better than me). She has this really nice flower garden alongside her house in the backyard and since the kids were contained by a nice tall fence I was able to sit down and weed while they were playing which maybe doesn't sound like a good time but really actually was. I've been dying to go out and weed our flower beds but by the time Henry's down for a nap, it's time for me to be down for a nap so it doesn't ever get done. Also, since we don't have a fence around our front yard and since Henry sometimes gets it into his head that it's hilarious to run over and teeter on the edge of the sidewalk, presumably because it's funny when his mommy nearly passes out from terror, I haven't been able to do any serious weeding. Did I mention Henry also likes to rip the tops off of our tulips? Because they're just so pretty they must be destroyes?

Anyway, later in the day Dave decided to take Henry to Sears to see about getting a new battery for our weed whacker. Riding high from the morning of weeding at Megan's house, I hauled out the wheelbarrow and declared war on some dandelions and a couple of huge masses of little maples (maplettes?) that were making a go for tree-dom. I raked, pulled, heaved, shoveled, and mulched for two hours. It was glorious. For two hours I reveled in the dirt and the bugs and the sense of accomplishment which increased with every weed pulled. The thing about living in a college town (and near the high school to boot) is you're constantly thinking back to what you were like when you were younger and experiencing all of the things all of the kids around you are going through. Sometimes I laugh at how disappointed the me of 16 years ago would have been to find out that 16 years in the future I'd be happily grubbing around in the dirt and lecturing my kid about not pulling out the pretty tulips BECAUSE I PLANTED THEM AND THEY'RE MINE SO JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE. I MEAN REALLY, NOW!

I guess those things just sort of sneak up on you.

Posted by Jenn at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I can empty the dehumidifier while wearing finger cymbals.

I just keep getting cooler and cooler, man.

Posted by Jenn at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)