Good Intentions

Hi again. I feel like every time I promise to post more frequently, I end up posting even less. For some reason, I just cannot get it together to post anything in the evenings and I am definitely NOT a late night writer (for that matter, I'm not so sure I am a morning or afternoon writer either). I know that by the end of the day I am crispy fried--even on weekends. So again, I apologize. My intentions are good, but my energy is not. There really have been lots of great kid stories and I have been too tired to write about them.

For example, I should have mentioned a few months back about the birthday party we threw for Liam's baby, "Ralston". Complete with his hand-made invitations, party games (his own inventions) and birthday cupcakes (courtesy of Mommy). Or I really should have documented the school fundraiser he came up with to help the kids in Japan after the earthquake. (His school raised nearly $800 just by bring in in spare change!). I should also mention the roller coaster he is planning on building in the backyard of our new house, complete with blueprints ("hey Dad-can I borrow a 20 foot ladder??") and contracts he made his workers (i.e. Me and Grandma) sign.  

Or I could have told the tale of Beanie's increasing creative storytelling, his sudden ability to talk in his "Grown up" voice which is 5 octaves lower then his real voice "Hey daddy, did you drink my smoodie??!!". Or I could recall his frequent silent escapes outside into the rain to pick dandelions and stare at bugs  or his sudden preoccupation/fascination with the size of his "wiener". Oy.

But I just have not taken the time to write them down--at least not on digital paper. I compose the posts in my head all of the time, usually when I am running. I just fail to get it OUT of my head. 

I would love to think this will improve, but the reality is we are moving into our new house in one month and in the next few weeks I need to pack, clean, get utilities set up, and get the boys registered in new schools . I am not too optimistic that I will post often but again, I will try.

Gut Update

Because I know you all have been riveted to your seats, wringing your hands in anticipation for more news about my digestive tract I thought I would let you all know I am on day TWO of being able to eat! The nausea and pain in the stomach has mostly subsided although the pain in my side still comes and goes. I am still not 100% but I am not nearly as miserable as I have been. There are still the post-food stomach aches, but now they are more annoying then painful.

I'll take what I can get.

Sand Eating Tigers

All children are imaginative, and mine are no exception. Liam can spend quite literally hours and days creating stories in his head and can spontaneously craft intricate games with rules only he seems to understand. He can come up with detailed projects for himself such as writing a non-fiction book about the life of Lewis & Clarke, creating a penny-carnival (complete with games, signs, and invitations) and making a book about leafs he has collected. Most recently, he has created a map of the United States and has colored it in according to average snowfall. (Yes. He really has done all of those things).

Lately, Beanie has started to emerge as quite the imaginative little bee. Left to his own devices, he will play for a long time all by himself acting out stories with his "babies" (a puppy he named "Trophy", "Scruffy" the dog, Tiger Baby, Puppy Baby and his doll, "Baby Bear"--all names given by him). He will hug and squeeze them and profess his love "I yuv my babies!!! I YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUV Yooooooouuu soooooooooo much!!". He will feed them, burp them and put them bed and when they are naughty and knock over his blocks, he will discipline them accordingly.

But...sometimes bad things happen to his babies. Last week for instance, a giant red spider climbed into his bed and gave Baby Bear a shot in his hand and he cried. Luckily, Sawyer was there to step on it and squirt it with a water bottle. Then last night, a monster came out from under his bed, painted himself yellow (yea-yow) and began to dance around and scare everybody before scampering off into his brother's room. Luckily, brother sleeps like a hibernating bear and he didn't notice.

Then there are the scary tigers who eat sand, fruit bars and anybody who lives in a dessert, the trains that go on a track and eat cereal, his abusive preschool Spanish teacher who "hits him in the face", and the cookies and cell phones that mysteriously end up in his hands and/or mouth because "daddy told me to play with these."

I can only imagine what life will be like ten plus years from now. One child will be hard-wiring the car while the other creates the cover story. Excellent.

Access Denied

The past week has been a bit rough. I have been under the weather for the past 9+ days with abdominal issues. After a week of not eating and having pain, I finally broke down and went to Urgent Care. I put it off for as long as I could because I did not want to jeopardize my health insurance application. It turns out it didn't matter anyway (more on that in a minute).

The ER/urgent care doc suspected it could possibly be my gallbladder (even though I didn't fit the typical mold) or my appendix or maybe even a case of pancreatitis. I told her I was a "self-pay" and to only test me if it was absolutely necessary (i.e. if she suspected it was something lethal). She poked and pushed and took some bloodwork and all the labs came back ok. She gave me some anti-nausea meds and Prilosec and said if I wasn't better in two weeks to go see my doctor to run more tests (such as an ultrasound). Today is Monday evening and I was able to eat a bit more, but still feel hideous afterwards. The Prilosec can take up to 4 days to work its magic, so I am hoping tomorrow (day 4) I will awake and feel miraculously better. One can hope. I am quite tired of being scared to put food in my gut.

So today when I came home I had a big thick letter from the insurance company waiting for me. I ripped it open and discovered Ken, Liam and Sawyer (with a special rider) were granted health insurance but I was once again denied. I am giving up hope that I will ever find independent coverage. I am tired and beat down from the entire process and now if (heaven forbid) I were to have an ulcer or worse...I will never get any. As I have said before...I cannot say enough foul and obscene things about the Health Insurance industry. There are not enough profane words in my vocabulary.