Buttercup's B-Day

She got her Saturday birthday. This actually worked out really well for us because TD has to work later tomorrow and wouldn't have gotten to be part of the party. Moe either because TD is her ride home from work.

I let her open a present on Friday night, which was a new outfit. She was very excited about the capris, she seems to really love those even though she has tons of shorts. Then after breakfast on Saturday she got a mini kids camcorder that I got on way off clearance at Target's after Christmas sales.

The school's carnival was that afternoon and we promised to take her over there. She was a little too focused on finding a friend and had a bit of a meltdown. TD and I have to work with her on not being so obsessed about her friends. I shudder to think of what a boyfriend in her teenage years could do to her. Fiona had a fabulous time. There was even a Spongebob kiddie roller coaster we insisted they ride, since she wanted a SB birthday.

We let her open a present every few hours. Got to keep the hype up. Moe and Fiona got her a tamagotchi (I know the spell checker will go wild with that one). She has been wanting one for some time, I am not sure why. She had one before that died and I think she thought it meant it would no longer work and promptly lost it. She was really devastated when we told her about the reset button.

I found this really cool leap frog product, again at Target for a great price. It lets you make your own flash cards and study as well as listen to music. She was really excited about it, even after she figured out it was a learning tool.
I made another ice cream cake, this one got homemade fudge and crunchy cookies in it as well. I was going to decorate it as SpongeBob, but after taking care of Moe and being really busy this week, I just gave up. It still tasted pretty good.
So now Buttercup is double digits, as she likes to remind us. Thank heavens I don't have to plan another raging party for a while. April is already starting to look pretty busy.

Parties

Buttercup's birthday is next week. She was talking about wanting a party. She was also talking about a Sponge bob birthday, which I am totally cool with. I told TD that we should go to Kemah because they have a Sponge Bob 4D ride there. Plus, a little family hanging out time, it's all good. Well, TD has been working like a mad man and the thought of having to drive somewhere and then walk around, without a sofa and HDTV, makes him want to hide under the bed. So, he asked Buttercup if she wanted a birthday party with some friends, maybe this weekend. The thought of which has made me crazy because I have to find out when friends are available and then plan and execute the party. He says it won't be that bad... sure it won't be, because I will be doing it.
I sat down with Buttercup and talked to her yesterday. I told her my concerns about throwing a shoddy party, when I can promise her a party next year where her friends can all attend and get more than 3 days notice. She was cool with that, she just wanted her birthday to be on Saturday, instead of next Monday. Apparently Sundays and Mondays are not good days for parties. I get that. So, I told her we would party, in and around the house, this Saturday. The school carnival is across the street on that day and she could head over and see her friends.
It's funny how kids can get their own ideas. I had no idea there were bad days for birthdays. I would've loved to have a birthday during the school year.
So, this Saturday, we are going to literally party all day. There will probably be movies and pizza in front of the TV, to make TD happy. There will also be out with friends to make Buttercup extra happy. I just want to see who is going to be the party planner for my birthday, I believe I procured my own cake last year and shared the day with TD...Father's day, it wouldn't take too much.

The Vagaries of Life

First, let me say, Fiona seems to be weathering her shots well. Her cheeks are flushed, but she is not running a temperature.

But as I watch the coverage of the death of Natasha Richardson, I am incredibly sad. Here is this beautiful, vibrant woman and all of a sudden she's gone. The erratic actions of life dumbfound me sometimes. It's something like this that brings me back to Fiona's diagnosis. Our family had to shift it's priorities. Things like school and work were no longer the driving foci of our life. If we wanted to take off and go on vacation as a family during the school year, I no longer cared about the consequences. Any time we got to spend together as family, making memories and loving each other, was golden, blissful time.

Even now, I see her little fluffy head and it plucks a heartstring that wasn't there before. It just struck me, now, that maybe her curls are there as a reminder. If her hair had come back exactly the same, I could gloss over that time. I could pretend that something like that never happened to our family. But now, every time, I see her hair, it reminds me to hold her and her sister a little closer, hug my husband more, be happy in our family. Let things, like this random accident, remind you that life is fleeting. Our lives are fleeting and we don't always get the last chance to say good bye. Hug your babies, kiss your husbands and be thankful for the things you do have.

Let's Poke Fiona, or A Day in Our Life

Poor Fiona. I had forgotten to make an appointment with our primary care pediatrician for this week to bring her up to date on her vaccinations. So, she overheard me trying to get her in during Spring Break. Her primary care doc works out of a 70's office building that is kind of skeezy, but she's an awesome doctor, plus she's across the street from our subdivision, and that's why we haven't gotten a new doctor. Anyway, Maddy gets priority appointments and we were able to squeeze her in today. We made the appointment on Monday and she has been having nightmares these last two nights about someone breaking in and shooting her in the leg. It doesn't take Sigmund Freud to figure that one out.
I put her numbing cream on her legs and we took her in this morning. After looking over her old records they determined that she needed 5. Luckily, they could put two in one and she was going to get four shots, which was what I had expected. They have added Hepatitis A since we were last in. Unfortunately, she will need a booster in 6 months and we will have to come back in. I didn't tell her that. We will be there for a flu shot anyway, so she can get it then.
During her physical her doctor wanted to know if she had ever had a TB test. I know what that entails and I told her I was pretty sure she didn't need one. She hasn't ever been out of the country and she doesn't hang out in the hospital much and we don't have someone from another country working for us. All of the while I was thinking, uh, uh, no matter what you say, we are not poking her another time today. She was prepared for four shots and that is all she's getting.
The nurse came in with her tray and said that she normally gives the shots in the arms. I don't know about other kids, but my girls have some pretty weeny arms, I wouldn't want four shots in my arms. But since we had the cream on already, she went to work on the legs. Fiona put her sweater over her face and just started crying.
That poor kid. I don't know if it would make me feel better if she put up a fight. On the one hand, it makes everything easier that she cooperates and understands. On the other, it makes me sad that at the ripe old age of 7, she's given up on being a little kid at the doctor's office. She didn't scream, struggle or yell, she just quietly sobbed to herself. It literally breaks my heart. I always tell her that she can't start because then she makes me cry too.
I forked over the $2 a shot and we headed down to Dad's office. I figured we could all go out to lunch together and have a happier day of it. Then a bunch of her friends showed up and she had a great time. They even put on their swimsuits and braved our cold pool. Right now, I can hear her screeching down the street, laughing and playing with more friends. I hope that she sleeps better tonight. I know I am glad I don't have to dread the rest of the week.

Technical Difficulties

So, to reiterate my I hate comcast post, we haven't had internet or phone all week. The two primary ways people try to contact me ( I hardly ever give out the cell phone #, I am not a big fan of it either) and neither one of them work. I have had to put aside 3 hours every day this week to have a worker come out and say he can't fix it, but someone else will be by real soon to fix it. Ugh. Allegedly it has been fixed today. I say allegedly because every Sunday for the past week we have lost both phone and Internet. We'll see how it goes.
Then Princess Fiona woke up yesterday moaning about how tired she was. I let her stay home. She did look pretty tired and I have been missing our old days where she and I would hang out and watch Star Wars movies. So we did just that yesterday. She never did nap, but I think a day of just hanging out did her some good.
So, that's why I haven't been posting lately. Of course, I managed to find some free Internet for a few minutes yesterday, feeling like I had been missing everything, and all of the blogs I clicked on hadn't changed since I looked at them last. So, maybe I hadn't been missing anything.
Now I am just trying to convince myself to change into my workout clothes and head to the Y. It's really cold and raining outside, I am feeling particularly Portland-ish today. Brrr....

The Economy

I was looking economic stuff up on the Internet yesterday and I came across an interesting article. Can't remember where I found it, anyway, the author said that we weren't in an official depression yet, but we were in a financial panic. How true is that? Our banks are FDIC insured now, so we don't have to worry about running down and withdrawing our savings and shoving it under the mattress. I have contemplated that. We bank with a bank that has had rumblings lately. I would take a picture, in case we had a house fire, but that wouldn't guarantee our home owner's insurance would still be around to cover it, AIG anyone? But instead, I feel the urge to shove any possible dollar I can into that savings account. It's not like I am worried about TD's job. He is rock solid stable, even getting his master's degree online with a tuition reimbursement program through work. We are getting a raise as well, which is rather shocking. Not that TD would earn one, but that they are still giving them out, in this time of job loss, wage reduction and forced non paid vacations.
But it's feelings like these that are encouraging the panic. People should be out spending their money to support the economy, but who wants to spend money on non essentials when you don't know if you will be able to buy groceries next week. Thank heavens that gas prices are as low as they are. I can't imagine dealing with this and $4 a gallon gas prices.
I also see that the Euro is at one of it's lowest points against the dollar, hello trip across the pond. Which we could do...but I worry that we would 'waste' money that we might want to have later, in order to eat. Eat! Good grief. I suppose that we should all get used to these feelings hanging around, at least, for the next year. We will have to wait and see if the stimulus package is enough to restore our faith in our economy. And I am putting half of TD's raise, every month, into that savings account. Who knows, if the economy recovers, like it's supposed to, I might still get my trip across the pond.

I HATE Comcast

Seriously. We have had so much interaction with them lately. When we first moved in, we had such bad service from their lines that they comped us a month and a half of everything. For a big company like that, that's saying something. Then things were mostly okay, except for the fact that it took a long time to get back after Ike. The neighbors were watching their satellite TV off of their generator. Boy were we jealous. Lately, the phone and the Internet have been going out. Who knows, this post might get cut off. It doesn't seem to work in the afternoon or evening. Ugh. Last week I spent over 5 hours with technicians coming in and out of the house trying to fix things. It must not have worked because we were without Internet and phone for several days since then.
On a good note, I have been reading novels like crazy, must be all of that time without Internet and phone service. I think it might have been a big list of good books that all came at the same time.
Moe has gone off for a visit to Oregon. She hasn't seen the new baby or Dad since he had his surgery. It will be interesting to see how life is without her for a week. And whether or not she has missed home.
The girls have found themselves in big trouble through an avalanche of lying and swiping food. You know, nothing really bad, but the sheer amount and annoyance from having to deal with it has landed them in HOT water. Fiona managed to miss the hazing a 4 and 5 year old needs to stop the back talk and be more obedient. Now that she's not a sad little bald girl any more, we have to start treating her like a normal little kid. What's that like? I say this as we have a trip to the hospital on Friday. Sigh.... Anyway, the girls are finding themselves with more chores and extra Mom homework that has to be finished to earn a friend's birthday party on Saturday. We'll see how it goes. I don't know that I could give up three and a half hours of free child care Saturday and the knowledge that TD has offered Whataburger and movie night in our house!!