Oh No! February Is Coming!

A while back, I wrote about why I hate Thursdays, and in that article, I mentioned that I also hate February. Here is why.

In February, 2005, I was in the throws of Post-Partum Depression. The Boy was born in January, and spent 10 days in the NICU with pneumonia. Brian and my Mom had to go take an Infant CPR class (I was already certified, so I didn’t need the class). This was right around Valentine’s Day. On his way home from the class, Brian had to pull over to barf. Thus started a nasty round of the stomach flu. The Girl got it later that day, and I got it several days later. Did I mention that I have an intense fear of vomit, that was only amplified by the depression? Yeah, there was that.

Jump to February 13, 2006. I picked the kids up from my mom’s, and The Girl has a huge black eye. Mom tells me she fell and hit her face on the wooden foot of the couch. Fine. The next day (note: Valentine’s Day…again) I again pick the kids up. I notice The Girl has a weird rash. I lift up her shirt, and it’s everywhere. I decide we need to go to the hospital RIGHT NOW. So we go. We are there for hours upon hours. The Girl was wearing an undershirt that had lace hearts on it. When one of the many doctors lifts her shirt to examine the rash, the rash has actually taken the form of the heart! He touches her skin, and it leaves more of the rash. This is not a rash, folks, it’s essentially a giant bruise! The formal name is petechiae, and it sucks. They try to tell me she has Leukemia, which of course is devastating. Turns out, it’s not Leukemia (WHEW!), but it is serious. She had a blood disorder called Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, or ITP. Basically, her platelet level was dangerously low, and she could have bled to death. They transfer us by ambulance to another hospital, where she is admitted. For several months, we have to take her to the Oncology Unit at Detroit Children’s Hospital to have her levels checked. She had to wear a bike helmet for a few weeks. Finally, it turned out to be the acute version of the disease, and we were out of the woods by her birthday in June, but those were the worst months of my life.

February, 2006 and 2007. I don’t remember specifics, but I know that the kids got sick a LOT in those months. Mostly colds and asthma issues. Oh yeah, and more stomach flu.  It was during these years that I decided that I would no longer participate in February.  We started calling it JanuMarch, and I wouldn’t leave the house for the entire month unless absolutely necessary.

February, 2008. Brian was working the auto show circuit, and wasn’t home for…wait for it….Valentine’s Day.  Are you sensing a theme here?  I am.  Anyway, My mom called me at work to tell me that The Boy was barfing.  A lot.  So, I spent Valentine’s Day at my mom’s house being barfed upon by my son.  And I still have that pesky fear of vomit, so I was all hopped up on Xanax as well.  I remember that I missed half of LOST because I had to change my clothes.  I was pissed.

However, I think that February 2008 was a turning point for me.  On February 29th (Leap Year, Yay!), I flew out to LA and got a job offer.  We moved out here a month later.  And, because January has been so full of illness (we have all had a nasty cold or flu bug that’s going around…and The Boy spent a night barfing), I’m convinced that February will be great!  I’m not going to let this month get the best of me this year!  I will participate!  I won’t hide!  And no one is allowed to get sick!

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SuperForest and The Millenium Seed Bank

At the risk of sounding like a huge dork, I am actually going to share how I came across this idea. I was checking Myspace last night, and because I am a huge Maroon 5 fan (hey Adam…:) ), they are on my friends list. They are actually in my top friends. That’s how big of a fan I am. And also, how big of a dork I am. I’m 31, I have a Myspace, and Maroon 5 is in my top friends. I know. Dorky, but I digress. Anyway, because they are on my friends list, I am notified when they write a new blog, so that’s how I came across this idea.

SuperForest is a website that is all about sharing ideas. Here is their description of themselves:

“SuperForest is a catalog of sustainable human achievements.

We believe that sharing ideas and inspiring one another is the most sustainable achievement of all.

We aim to help our fellow humans see the abundance all around them.”

They have asked bloggers to link to their site in order to spread the word about The Millenium Seed Bank. The Millenium Seed Bank is a very cool project in the UK. They are gathering and storing millions of seeds from millions of plant species as a sort of “insurance policy” against extinction of the various species.

Unfortunately, they are in financial trouble. SuperForest is trying to help in a variety of ways. Of course, they are accepting donations on their website. Their goal is to support just one seed. Just one. It comes to just under $3000 U.S. Dollars to support one seed. That’s not a lot to ask when you consider how many people could potentially see their site and donate just $1.00.

And that leads me to the second way that they are trying to help. SuperForest is asking bloggers to help spread the word. So, this is me. Spreading the word. And asking you to spread the word if you have a blog of your own. If you would like to help out with this project, please, just link to SuperForest in your blog. The more people who read about this project, the better.

And just in case you are as big of a fan as I am, you can visit the Maroon 5 website here. But, I warn you, I’ve got dibs on Adam.

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An Awesome Parenting Moment…No, Wait…The Opposite of That…

It started off as a pretty good morning. The Girl got out of bed with no problem, though she was pretty tired. The people upstairs kept her up pretty late, so I was trying to be patient with her (not my strong suit first thing in the morning). She ate and got herself ready with little instruction from me. I was able to get ready for work. It actually looked like we might make it to school in time for her to play with her friends for a few minutes before class started.

Then, in the matter of one quick moment, the whole morning got turned upside-down.  The Girl didn’t want to wear the socks I had gotten out for her last night.  I reminded her of the rule that whatever is agreed upon the night before is what she has to wear to school.  This resulted in a meltdown of epic proportions.  I finally agreed to let her pick out another pair of socks, which she was unable to do in the midst of the meltdown.  Brian threw all of her socks on the floor while I screamed at her to just pick some already.  Finally, I made her wear the original socks, but only because she was completely incapable of making a decision. In total, we ended up fighting for over 10 minutes about a stupid pair of socks. She did not make it to school in time to play with her friends…all because of socks. I was near tears all the way to work, and still am as I write this, because of a stupid pair of socks.

I think I’ll throw those socks away.

And to think, it’s not even Thursday yet……

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FINALLY!

After 3 very long weeks, The Girl has returned to school.  Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that a 3 week vacation is a bit much for Christmas break.  By New Years Day, I was ready for her to go back to school.  She and The Boy were getting on each other’s nerves like nobody’s business, and she started sleeping later and later every morning.  Getting her out of bed this morning was a nightmare…of course, the morning went downhill from there, but that was not her fault at all. 

Anyway, as hectic as it is, I’m glad to be back on a schedule.  This week will be rough because it’s the first week back, and next week will be rougher because my mom will be going back to Michigan.  All of that aside, though, my family just functions better with a set schedule. 

On a different note, in the last month I have read the Twilight Series.  I wasn’t going to read it, because it’s about vampires and it’s a love story, both of which are not my cup of tea.  Add to that the fact that it’s written for teenagers, and I was really turned off.  But, my dear friend recommended it, and I don’t think she’s ever been wrong about a book before, so I gave in.  I read the first book before Christmas, and was hooked.  Brian bought the entire series for me for Christmas, and I’ve finished all of them already.  They are truly addicting, and I can definitely see why there is such a huge following.  If you want a quick read that is uber-entertaining, I recommend reading the series.  If you want your book to be educational or philosophical, you should probably skip it……I will be trying to convince Brian to go see the movie with me though…  🙂

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