Facebook ate my blog

July 30, 2011


I’ve missed this space, really I have. But, Facebook is just so damned easy and accessible that I’ve found myself posting there instead of saving them to craft a “real” post for my blog.


Oh, sure I’ve tried to knock out something fast, as evidenced by my pathetic last post, but I guess my summer brain just isn’t in the mood to string more than a few words together. But to get a sense for what we’ve been doing, here are some of my Facebook status updates from the past month. Hopefully I’ll get my writing mojo back in August.


Photobucket




Another perfect day to spend at the pond with friends and family. I asked John, “Have we ever brought anyone here that has had a bad time? I’m not sure that is possible.”

Just got the call: Negative for milk allergy! 10 1/2 years later and she can finally have an ice cream cone!


Just spent an hour on the phone with an old friend. So great to know that the girl I adored at the age of 9 is still a great friend 34 years later.


Sleepover at Oma’s tonight! Can’t wait to wake up next to the pond.


You know, swimming is not the same as bathing. Guess I should actually take a shower after this weekend. #dirtygirl


Last day with our Fresh Air Child (she leaves tomorrow morning). Will miss her, and will relish a day of doing N-O-T-H-I-N-G too. #exhausted


Spent the day at Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggcha​ubunagungamaugg with my dear friend Michele . And, yes, that is really the name of the lake. Anyone know it’s “nickname”?


If my kids ever go through an “ugly duckling” phase, I’ll show them photos of Neville Longbottom (aka Matthew Lewis) before and after the HP series. . .holy hotness!


Our Pet Sitting is open for business. Currently have our neighbor’s bunny and our friends’ dog. Maybe something with feathers or scales next?


Oh, rats. Just got my letter from the schools requesting our annual reports. Was hoping they’d forgotten.


12 hours of going straight with my little pack of three hooligans. Beach, friends, lake, concert and ice cream. Why can’t it be summer every day?


Vacuuming. It is hot as hell but someone has to do it. Good thing I have a Roomba so it doesn’t have to be me!


Nature walk on the beach with a guide. Great way to start the morning and now we have a pail full of cool-looking shells.


Thanks to grandparents who come to the Cape to babysit so the grown ups can go out for sushi!


Enjoying yet another Frenchie Lick Lick. I’m not sure why my sister calls it that but it’s lemonade with Three Olives Grape Vodka. Mmmmmmm. . . I hope it takes off b/c I’d love to hear people ordering a Frenchie Lick Lick at the bar.


I should be packing. In denial that we leave today.


Home again, home again, jiggity jig. Time to do the laundry.


Flew through two books on vacation and almost wished I had a Nook/Kindle or had loaded books to my iPad. BUT, would you bring them to the beach or poolside? Seems like an expensive toy next to water and/or sand.


You know that saying: “There but for the grace of God go I?” That is the thought that immediately springs into my head whenever I hear of someone planning a trip to Disney World.


What is new with you?

Email, RSS Follow
Filed Under: Fairly Odd Me 1 Comment

Waiting is the hardest part

July 1, 2011


My oldest has been allergic to milk her entire life. We’ve known this ever since her first bottle of formula at eight weeks of age, when what came out of her bottom should have been classified it as a hazmat site.


Then, at about a year, she tried yogurt. A few minutes later, as we were strapping her into her car seat in our brand-new vehicle, she spewed it all over the seat in front of her.


Good times.

We had her tested every few years and once when she was about four, we were told that she had outgrown her allergy to casein, a protein in milk (cow and goat). So we started to feed her foods with milk in them, but interestingly, she would not drink milk, eat cheese, or even ice cream.

That lasted a year and then she had a full-blown allergic reaction—hives from head to toe, getting worse over three days before they slowly started to subside.

Another test showed her allergy was “back” though it never really went away. I think that she avoided so much dairy during the year because she it made her feel “funny” (her mouth starts to itch), not due to taste.

We last tested three years ago and the test was immediately positive. But now that she is over ten, we’ve read statistics that say only about a fraction of kids who start with a food allergy, keep it past double digits. The most common allergies to keep are peanut, while milk is frequently outgrown as the immune system ages.

Her scratch test on Wednesday was negative. Now we wait for the results of a blood test.

I’m trying not to get too excited, to already envision a summer of cheesy pizza and cold ice cream and butter on corn. I know we have plenty of great substitutes that we’ve all come to enjoy over the years and that a milk allergy today is not a terrible affliction.

But, it’s still a little bit exciting to think that a trip to a restaurant may no longer require a lengthy chat with the wait staff. That we can stop at the ice cream stand near the beach without worrying they won’t have sorbet. That I will no longer have to send her to every birthday party with her own homemade cupcake.

But mostly, I’m hoping to send my increasingly-independent Belly off into the world without her worrying that she will choose something incorrectly and become sick.

I’m not refilling the prescription for that Epi-Pen just yet.
Email, RSS Follow
Filed Under: Fairly Odd Kids, Fairly Odd Me, Health n Food Talk 5 Comments

Hitting the road

June 26, 2011


When I was a wee thing, I was one of the least athletic kids in our neighborhood which was filled with soccer stars, hockey players and kids who could do a cartwheel or throw a ball far.

I? Could read really fast.

But, along with reading, I could pedal a bicycle and, on our bikes, we were all equal. From Toughskins to short-shorts, banana seats to 3-speeds, a pack of kids would fly around our quiet “figure 8” neighborhood for seemingly hours, until the street lights went on and we had to go home.

When I became a gawky teenager without a boyfriend, I would hop on my blue ten-speed and venture far beyond my neighborhood, making a big “O” though town. I didn’t feel so gawky on my bike.

I picked up again after college, riding on weekends and on summer nights, through the streets of Providence, from the north side all the way over to the East Side where I’d ride next to fast-moving cars who would just barely move over to pass me. It was then that I rode the MS150, a tough two-day race which, at that time, took me from Rhode Island to Connecticut, up through Massachusetts, to Vermont and then a skip over to New Hampshire. I did it totally alone, expect for the hundreds of other riders, but I’d long since grown comfortable by myself on a bike, just swooshing along.

Over the next twenty years, I’d ride here and there but when I decided to jump into mountain biking, I almost lost my enjoyment for two wheels entirely. All of a sudden, I was biking with other people, people who were so much better and less fearful than me. All of a sudden, I was uncertain of my abilities and anxious at the top of any incline. I became that scared, nervous, unathletic me all over again.

I tried to like mountain biking but didn’t. And then I had babies, three of them in rapid succession, and biking, mountain or road was not on the agenda.

So, I’m feeling a bit nostalgic tonight after getting my butt on my bike twice in the past few nights. I love how quickly everything zips by. I love the feeling of wind on my face and arms. And I love that I feel strong and quick and capable on my bike.

Just don’t ask me to pop a wheelie.


Email, RSS Follow
Filed Under: Fairly Odd Me 3 Comments
« Previous Page
Next Page »