Lotsa Good News

Well, things are doing a bit better on a lot of fronts. Here are some updates:

Hubby went to the doctor for his latest blood test results. So to recap, his prolactin level was over 400 at the time of the first test. It should be less than 20. After a little over a month of treatment the level is now at... 1.6!!!! Completely normal and even the doctor was surprised at how well the medicine worked. The plan is to stay on it a while, then go off and continue testing. Usually, people need several rounds of treatment before the tumors will stay away for good.

My hair seems to have stopped falling out. On my own personal scale of hair-falling-out-ness, I would rate it at low or medium every day for the last week or so. Before that it was high. As a point of reference, post-partum it was apocalyptic. I am going to go ahead and assume it was from changing my birth control. Which, on a different note, I am happy about because my first period was so much better than with the Yas.min. Thank the Lord! Only had headaches two days the whole week.

As for my mystery rashes...things are better. I went to another dermatologist. Apparently, my face was addicted to the steroids. So I guess my face was just 'roid raging. She said your skin on your face quickly becomes accustomed to using the topical steroids and then freaks out when you stop and you just have to get through that bad part. So I was being bad and kind of using them on and off and that was making things BAD. I have to use very gentle cleanser and lotion and use a new prescription topical cream. I also have to make sure my skin doesn't hang out with high school or professional athletes after 9pm on dark street corners. No more 'roids! Anyway, the new treatment regimen seems to have helped a lot. I don't itch much at all anymore and my face and neck look much better. I have also started taking Zyr.tec every day but it seems I might be in the 12% that gets really drowsy from it so I may have to stop. I guess I won't know how much that has helped or not until I stop it.

I also have an interview coming up in Michigan. I have been told it's a lovely area but I have never given much thought to moving to Michigan. So I don't know how I feel about it. But we'll be travelling there soon so we'll see how we like it. For starters I just hope I like the job and company!

Oh, and I still have to tell you about how we are a pacifier-free household!!

Where Do I Start?

I have been meaning to blog for so long, I've just been stressed and tired.

Let's see what we have been up to.

• Hubby had the MRI and they found that his tumor is non-cancerous and is only 1 cm. His doctor expected 2-3 cm so he was pleased. Either it started out smaller than they thought, or more likely, the meds are already shrinking it. Either way, it is good news and no surgery is needed. He has more blood tests this weekend and will have at least one more MRI at some time.


• I had absolutely no activity on my job applications until today. I have a phone interview on Friday.


• We are putting our house on the market tomorrow. It makes me sad but it makes the most sense. Why wait until I have a new job and then we move and can't afford to make payments while we try to sell. This way we are trying to short sell while still making payments to try to salvage our credit as much as possible. I wish it didn't have to be this way but fair market value is not enough to pay off our loan. For us and practically half of the country. I've been looking for jobs here since January when I was laid off the first time; there aren't any for me so I don't know how we can stay. C'est la vie, I guess.


• I'm freaking out a bit about my health. Since mid-September I have been having recurring hives/rashes under my eyes, around my mouth, and on my neck. Nowhere else. I've had three rounds of oral steroids and one round of topical steroids and they keep recurring. I have not changed any of my household or personal products. Oh, and I forgot that my hair is also falling out. Not like at an alarming rate, but at a concerning and sustained rate. You might guess it is stress but this has been going on since before all the stressful events. This week I had a skin patch allergy test. It freaking sucked to have that crap taped to my back for 48 hours and not be able to shower. Today they removed it all and... NOTHING! Nothing was positive. I don't get it because I have had nickel allergy or at least nickel sensitivity all my life. What the heck?! I was so hoping it would give me some answers. So what now? Could I have lupus? Hashimoto's or hypothyroidism? If my hair was not falling out I probably wouldn't be so freaked out. Tonight I went out and bought new laundry detergent, hand soap, and shampoo and conditioner. I can't figure out what else it would be. In the past I have had terrible skin reactions to Tide and Pert shampoo so I know there is something out there that doesn't agree with me. It would really help if I knew what it was.

Ooh, next time I will have to tell you about "The End of the Pacifier and the Serious Repercussions Therein".

Seriously 2011?!

So I thought 2011 was looking up for us.

And then Crash Bam! Reality hits ya hard, bro.*

I lost my job again last Thursday. This time it was the whole staff except the execs.

In the meantime...

A month or so ago my husband had some blood work done and his hormone levels came back a little weird. Not crazy weird, but a little weird. So his doctor ordered a repeat of the test and an additional one and sent him to a urologist to talk about the results.

The new test was for prolactin, a hormone produced by the pituitary gland (technically a part of the brain). A normal level of prolactin (for a man or non-lactating woman) is below 20 ng/mL. Hubby's was over 400. The urologist had never seen a level that high and sent him to an endocrinologist who said a level that high is certainly a tumor, called a prolactinoma. The good news is these tumors are almost never cancerous. The bad news is that if the tumor is too large they may have to do surgery to remove it. He is currently on a medication to shrink it and is awaiting an MRI appointment to assess the size of the tumor.

Why is it that job loss at my house has to go hand-in-hand with major medical episodes and threats of surgery?

*To understand this reference you really must watch this video and then this video (in that order). And really, you should watch them. This is a local newscast here in Phoenix.

Dilemma No More

Phew. My conscience is clear. And I didn't have to get involved.

Today I was running the scenario by some coworkers. One thought I was too far removed from the couple to get involved. One thought I should tell my friend, but only because he thought it would create drama which would be funny.

I was showing my coworkers the evidence on face.book and Post.Secret. Right after they left my office I clicked my friend's friend list to look up the cheated-upon-wife. (I know, I am a crazy fb stalker.) She was no longer in my friend's list.

Hmm, that seemed odd. She was just there yesterday. So I googled the cheater's name and went to his twit.ter. Oh! Suddenly his tweets are on lockdown and you can only see them if authorized! This was a clear indication to me that the proverbial sh#t done hit the fan.

So I texted my friend. Our convo:

Me: I wanted to ask if there was some major drama today in the world of [City] Roller Derby. I have a feeling it's a yes.

Friend: I've been at work all day... what's going on?!

Me: Do you ever look at Post.Secret?

Friend: Oh shit. Yes. We saw it yesterday.

Me: I don't even know those people and it took me two minutes to find out his name once I saw the green jacket.

Friend: Sad part is [he] didn't send that. Someone is trying to ruin him. He did f*%# up and make a mistake, has told his wife and they are trying to re-group. It is awful. All across the derby world and U.S.

Me: Did his wife know before it was online?

Friend: Yeah, it happened about 6 months ago. I don't know why someone would do that. Revenge I guess.


Hmm, can we think of someone who would be angry with a man that cheated on his wife? Perhaps a woman who was interested enough to do something stupid with him and then be pissed when he told his wife? My vote is on the co-cheater(s?).

Anyway, I feel really bad for the wife. How embarrassing. I don't feel bad for the dude for getting caught but I don't think it's right to air someone else's dirty laundry like that, complete with a picture. It has the possibility to hurt so many more people than just him.

It actually made me think that perhaps Post.Secret should have a policy against posting actual photographs. What if the sender doesn't have the right to the photograph? Obviously there's the potential to seriously violate other peoples' privacy. I guess in this day and age you can't expect to have privacy.

This is why I often say that I am oh so glad I went to college before the rise of digital cameras and face.book!

Post Secret and the Ethical Dilemma

Have you ever seen the tv program called something like "What.would.you.do?"? I was half watching it last night and they did a segment about people seeing their friend's significant other cheating. They set out to see whether the witness would tell their friend or not. I guess I would tell, but boy, that would be a sucky position to be in, no?

Later last night I decided to click over to Post.Secret. If I'm up late on Saturdays I sometimes check because the new ones are often posted already.

So, some background info... I have a friend who I haven't seen in many years. We used to be close, sort of had a falling out, but reconnected on face.book and have kept in touch. She is dating a girl who is big into roller derby. Their team (and friends and fans and such) often wear team gear including a pretty disctinct green track jacket. My friend is always wearing it in her face.book pics.

Ok, so back to Post.Secret. I looked at the first secret and freaked out. It shows a guy jumping on a bed in what looks like a hotel room. He has a black bar over his eyes (because you know that is all you have to do to completely conceal your identity. *Eye roll*). On the picture is written "This.is.the.night.I.started.cheating.on.my.wife.with.roller.derby.girls". (You could head on over to Post.Secret. It's the first picture)

He is wearing the very distinctive green track jacket.

It takes me about two seconds to look at my friend's face.book pictures to figure out exactly who he is and who his wife is. (His hair color is also somewhat distinctive.) They are both friends with my friend on face.book.

So there is the small possibility that this is someone else's secret. As in "here is a picture of my friend jumping on a bed and then I decided to cheat on my wife the same night". I'm thinking that's unlikely.

So what do you do? For a minute I considered writing to my friend and casually asking if she looks at post.secret. Or specifically directing her to look at the first secret. But then I wondered what kind of position I would be putting her in. I don't know how close she is with these people. Would she feel compelled to tell the woman? Would she not know her well enough to feel like it is her place? Would it become a moral dilemma for her?

But if I don't say anything to anyone I keep thinking about this poor woman who is being cheated on. Her relationship is really none of my business. But what if her health is at risk? Is it really so much of a jump to assume a man who is reckless enough to cheat and then tell the whole internet is reckless enough to do this unprotected? And he used the word girls, indicating this is going on with more than one person. Ew.

But then, if it took me less than a minute to figure this out and I don't personally know anyone involved with this roller derby team except my friend... how long before someone else figures it out and tells her?

So, I ask you, what would you do?!

Universe FTW

I was doing better with blogging more often, right?

But here is what has transpired in the last few weeks:

• 1.5-year-old car stalls three times in a row and then won't restart. Towed to dealership. After four days they could not duplicate the problem and could find nothing wrong.


• Hubby's grandma dies.


• C was teething molars while hubby was out of town for funeral. Walked around forlorn and crying all day and refused to eat or drink. Drank 2 oz of liquid total one day. Terrible constipation follows for a week of screaming and needing help while going #2.


• While hubby is still away, car from bullet #1 repeats its performance and has to be towed from restaurant where I was trying to get dinner for me, C, and my mom. Mom and C have to come rescue me.


• Dealership magically finds out the problem and actually fixes car this time.


• Somewhere in there C was officially kicked out of daycare. We got a letter and everything!


• Last Monday hubby calls me begging me to come home from work early because he is sick. He is puking all over. As soon as I get C to bed I start puking all over. I proceed to pass out twice while puking. Hubby hears the thud and finds me slumped over the first time, covered in my own vomit (sorry). We call my mom in the middle of the night to deal with C the next day. She talks hubby out of carting me to the ER, thank God.


• We all survive, the end.

So, we've just been out of sorts. I'm still trying to figure out the daycare thing so I'll update about that soon.

Here's to brighter days ahead!

Daycare Disaster with a Capital 'D'!

Do you know any 1-year-olds that have been kicked out of daycare after one day?

Ooh, ooh, I do! It's my kid.

Yes, you read that right. We were kicked out after one day. She has "graciously" allowed us to return for a half day (really a quarter of a day) on Friday because hubby has a doctor appointment.

So what was the great offense? She cried. Like, really hard. All day. She was inconsolable unless she was being held.

I texted her at about noon yesterday:

Me: If you have a quick moment could you let me know how C is doing? If not, I understand.

Daycare: Shes been having a rough day she was fine for about an hour then wants to be held and crying whenever I have to put her down. Has she been left for a long period with a stranger before like this?

Me: I'm sorry to hear that. I was afraid it would be a rough transition. She has only been with strangers at the church nursery twice for about 1.5 hrs.

Daycare: She is having a hard time and that makes sense that shes been left for that long before because she was fine for the first hour.

Me: I'm sorry! This can't be easy for you either.

Daycare: it comes with the job, on your paperwork it says this is for socialization? She may need a more gradual transition, she is sitting down eating now and calm, got a late lunch because she didnt want to eat with the other kids just be held, now that they are down for a nap she seems to be interested in eating, we'll see how it goes when they are back up

Me: What kind of transition would you suggest? (Not knowing if she means an easier transition to her house, like half days or something...)

Daycare: more periods like church regularly, increase to playdates where she is left for 1 to 2 hours increase to adding a weekly social experience at a library or barnes and noble story time or a little gym class or if you go to a gym and it has a daycare while u work out for an hour or more, a kids yoga class if your interested in that, maybe a swim class for socialization, then once she is used to strangers and a lot of other kids, eating with them and being put down by a nap by a stranger try a full day of care then add days as you need and she tolerates, she just seems scared and doesnt seem to know what to make of the schedule, plus if shes not been with someone this long the fear of being left is there, being with family and u is comfortable and a known quantity, sharing a stranger with other strange kids can be overwhelming


I called hubby to tell him what she texted and to tell him to find out what she means. Does she want this to be more gradual? Is she essentially saying she just thinks this is too overwhelming and she doesn't want her in her daycare anymore? I was so confused so I told hubby to get all the details.

When he picked up C the lady essentially told him that C "is not ready" and "it's not a good fit" (because she is too structured, I guess). He asked if we should try for another week or two and she said no. Unless it goes way better on Friday then that will be the end of it.

There was a lot more that was said and before I go into that or our reactions to it I would LOVE to hear feedback/reactions from anyone reading this, especially if you have worked at a daycare or have a child in daycare.

Tune in next time for more tales from our failed daycare attempt...

Tomorrow

"How is my baby?"

That is what I have texted to my mom at least once every day that I have worked since C was born.

I've been dreading tomorrow for awhile. Tomorrow is C's first day at daycare. (Cue crying)

Obviously, I am not anti-daycare. Sending C to daycare is somewhat of a "choice", although my mom is exhausted from watching a toddler all day every day (as she says, 'This is why God doesn't give babies to women over 55!').

So even though we have wonderful full time care, it is partly to give my mom some rest time during the week and partly for C's benefit. I think it is time for her to start socializing with other kids, learning to listen to other adults (or any adults, I'm not sure what she does with me constitutes "listening"), get some daily structure and learning time, etc, etc.

But I can't help but be worried. Oh, and this is why I have been pushing the sippy cup agenda! No such luck though, she still refuses milk from anything but a bottle for the most part. So will her caregiver feed her milk from a bottle while C sits on her lap? (I kind of doubt it.) Will she read her 500 half-eaten books each day? (I kind of hope her books are not half-eaten like ours.) Will she love her like my mom does? (Obviously not.) Will she be willing to "assist" C with bowel movements like we sometimes have to? (Sorry for the visual.) How many times is it appropriate to text the caregiver to check in? (Probably zero.)

So even though I know it is time, I will always worry about her. I know it is my job to do that but when I left her with my mom I never had to worry. This is a big step for me. Oh yeah, and for C too.

Books are Yummy

Mmmmmm... books are delicious.

Exhibit One: This little beauty was the result of two seconds of taking my eyes off of her this evening.

Exhibit Two: This is her favorite book. To read and to eat.

Exhibit Three: The Piece de Resistance - the most NOMable book she has.I could go on.

Of all the things I thought I would be saying a lot during toddlerhood, "We don't eat books!" was not chief among them.

Her appetite for books has even led to secrecy. (I think this is what defines a true book-eating disorder.) She can be found hunched behind the kitchen island eating books. She can be found pretty much anywhere, looking over her shoulder, book perched precariously close to her open mouth, ready to eat the book.

Don't get me wrong, I love the newfound interest in books. I couldn't even get her to pay attention to a book for months. She also reads them with enjoyment now but I can't be sure if reading or eating is the more enjoyable book-related activity.

I think it will all be okay. Hopefully one day she will cease eating books. If not, tune in to one of those TLC type shows about "My Weird Eating Obsession" in a decade or two and there she will be. Still eating her books.

And drinking her milk out of bottles.

Anger Clarification

I know, I know, it's like I'm blogging constantly. Weird, right? And I'm actually suddenly busy at work so it's not just out of boredom. It's just that I really want to talk to write at you guys right now. Also, according to SiteMeter, I have far more people reading than the 3.4 I estimated. Coolio.

Anyway, after reading the comments on my last post it occurred to me that when I was talking about "management" maybe my dear readers thought I meant the managers of my company. Actually, my company leases space in a commercial building so "management" refers to the property management company.

Right now I can no longer remember why I felt it important to inform you of that. Except that I guess it could be to point out that, at the current time, I have nothing to be mad at my company's management about.

Oh! Except! Except that this exchange recently occurred between the CFO and one of my coworkers about our water cooler.

CFO: So, do you guys use this water for anything besides drinking?

Coworker (confusedly): Uh, we make coffee with it...

(Which we then drink, duh.) (I wanted to interject that we use it to measure evaporation rates in the parking lot. We are scientists after all.)

CFO: Oh, because it costs us $150 a month. We might have to stop the service.

Cue outraged bitch fest after CFO leaves. WHAT?! People, we live in the desert! The actual humidity a few weeks ago was 2%. Do you know what happens when you don't drink water in the desert?! Of course you do; you're not stupid.

That's a little hard to swallow coming from someone who makes approximately 4 times as much as any of us. Apparently that salary is justified because he makes important budgetary decisions like "cancel drinking water service" that save the company $1800 a year. As compared to our $15 million spending per year, give or take.

Also, have you ever tried to drink Phoenix tap water? I don't recommend it.

Sheesh, I forgot about the water cooler thing. I haven't been riled up about that in a good three or four days. (My husband thought I was overreacting.)