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Feb 4, 2010

And The Numbers Keep Going Down

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189.2 last week.

This week? 187.0. Another 2.2 lbs gone!

For those keeping track, that’s 6.3 pounds gone in less than a month. And it means I’m rockin’ the Loser Moms weight-loss challenge.

I was going to complain that working the night shift is my greatest challenge to losing weight, but I’m starting to think that it might be helping in some ways. When I was at home 24/7, I also had 24/7 access to my fridge and the contents within. It was so easy to grab a snack, and then another, and then finish my daughter’s snack…

Now, three nights a week I work for 12.5 hours, and during those hours I’m lucky to get a chance to sit down and eat one meal, and otherwise only grab a few snacks here and there. I pack my own lower-calorie snacks to avoid the expense and calories of the vending machines. The day I work, I sleep for part of the afternoon, meaning I often skip a meal so my midnight “lunch” isn’t my fourth meal of the day. When I’m done with work, I sleep most of the next day, thereby skipping breakfast and lunch. I try to keep track of how many meals I’m eating each day, but sometimes one gets missed. And if it’s a busy night at work? So much for that meal I planned on – I’m lucky if I can drink a cup of soup or shove a granola bar in my mouth.

So maybe night shift is helping my weight loss. It’s still killing any ability to workout regularly each week, but if it’s preventing me from overeating, I guess that’s not a horrible thing.

Here’s to not screwing it all up by overeating at Blissdom this weekend!

Filed Under: weigh-in · Tagged: ,


Jan 31, 2010

Make Sure You Walk Away With The Right Kid

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On Friday afternoon I found myself running late after a doctor appointment, rushing home to make sure I didn’t miss Cordy’s bus. She is dropped off at our door, and if we’re not there to get her off the bus, they will only wait so long before driving on to the next stop. In our school district, that means you then have to pick up your child from Children’s Services, which no one wants to do.

I got home right at the time she’s scheduled to get off the bus, which is actually never the time the bus arrives. It has never arrived at that time – it’s usually coming around the curve about five or ten minutes later. I left the front door open to wait for her bus. Five minutes pass. Then ten. At this point I’m starting to wonder if I was too late. But I know her bus driver well enough to know that she’d wait at least five minutes if she happened to get here on time. Where was that bus?

Another ten minutes passed, and just as I was beginning to panic and consider calling the school district to ask where I need to go to get Cordy, I hear the bus coming down the street. And then I see it slowly inching along, pausing at each address, and coming the wrong direction. Ah, it’s a substitute driver today. Now I know why she’s late.

I immediately started to walk out the door toward the bus. I noticed an aide on the bus moving around and doing something, all while Cordy sat in her seat and waved to me from her window. As I crossed in front of the bus to get to the bus door, a taller child in a blue coat suddenly met me around the corner, smiling. This bus carries a lot of children with varying special needs, and this boy didn’t seem to notice or care that this wasn’t his house and I wasn’t his mom.

I peeked up into the bus, looking at the smiling driver and aide. “Have a good afternoon!” the aide yelled to me.

“WAIT!” I yelled back before the door could be closed, “This isn’t my kid.“

The aide and driver looked at each other with an amused look. “What?” they laughed. I guess they thought I was making a joke.

“This isn’t my kid,” I said more insistently. “THAT is my daughter,” I growled, pointing to Cordy who was sitting right behind the driver. Cordy was still smiling, also probably thinking this was all a joke.

The aide immediately looked puzzled and yelled for the boy to get back on the bus, quizzing the boy, “Well, why’d you get off the bus if this wasn’t your stop?”

At this point the driver appeared to have a moment of intelligent thought with the revelation, “Oh, so that’s why she was saying ‘Mommy! Mommy!’ when you were walking to the bus.” Um, yeah, ya think? I suppose that would be why she was saying that. Is the school district that desperate for substitute bus drivers that they’ll hire anyone off the street?

Finally, the aide unbuckled Cordy and helped her down the stairs. I held Cordy in my arms as the aide and driver again tried to laugh about the mix-up. I glared at them and walked away, holding onto MY daughter.

It wasn’t funny. It was dangerous, it was careless, and it shouldn’t happen. Were I not all the way to the bus, they could have let that boy off and drove away before I could object. And who would they have given my daughter to? Cordy likely would have reacted the same way the boy did – she trusts adults, and probably would have willingly stepped off the bus, even knowing it wasn’t the right stop.

The district will be getting a call from me on Monday, urging them to make sure their substitute drivers are more careful about making sure special needs kids get to the right home safely. Some kind of safety procedure needs to be in place so that each child is matched up to the right address. I don’t care if it’s a seating chart or names on the seats or some other plan – a simple list of addresses and names isn’t enough.

I was worried that I had missed her bus. But being given the wrong child really scared me. I want to know my daughter will get home safely each day, and I want to trust that her bus driver will take her to the right address and only let her leave when one of her parents is there to take her hand.

Here’s hoping her regular bus driver will be back this week.

Filed Under: Cordy, rant, school · Tagged:


Jan 27, 2010

Week 3 Weigh-In: How’s it Going?

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Well, I seem to have totally missed last week’s weigh-in. I mean, I weighed in, but didn’t get a chance to update here because I was spending the week caring for a very sick little Mira.

Last week, my weigh-in showed I was at 191 lbs. That was a loss of 2.6 lbs for the week. I’d like to credit my stellar eating and exercise habits, but I think a lot of that weight loss was due to being pinned down by a feverish, sleeping toddler, leaving me unable to get to the fridge.

So this week, I wasn’t sure what I’d see on the scale. I’ve been doing OK on eating, but thanks to my insane work schedule I do end up eating a lot of convenience foods, and often those foods are late-night runs to fast food. (Look for a new post soon on the perils of night shift on a diet.) And then there was yesterday, when I came home from a particularly awful night of work where I didn’t get a chance to eat, and found half of a Papa John’s pizza in the fridge. You should know that poor innocent pizza didn’t suffer as I devoured it quickly at 9am. Add in a bowl of misery ice cream last night (did I mention work has me a little stressed?), and I was sure I’d see a bad number on the scale this morning.

I nervously stepped on the scale this morning and held my breath as the numbers flashed up and down to settle on my true weight, then exhaled quickly just in case oxygen does carry some microscopic weight to it that we might not know of. The number finally stopped flashing.

Drum roll, please………

189.2  (!!)

Folks, I haven’t seen the 180’s since before I was pregnant with Cordy. That’s five and a half years.

I’m thrilled to be even further away from the 200 lb mark. When I crossed back under it last year, I vowed to never see my weight start with a 2 ever again, and the further I go away from that 2, the more confident I feel that I’ll keep that vow.

This also means I’m now less than 20 lbs away from my wedding dress weight. I always said I’d love for us to renew our vows someday in my old wedding dress. Should we ever decide to do that, I might just be able to zip that thing up again without splitting a seam.

So my grand total of weight loss thus far is 4.4 lbs in two weeks. It’s nothing spectacular, but slow and steady wins the race, right?

Filed Under: weigh-in ·


Jan 20, 2010

I’m Not A Rookie Mom, But Fevers Still Worry Me

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Give me a daughter facing the challenges of autism, and I rise to the challenge. Or give me a daughter with a speech delay, and I fearlessly jump in to start early intervention with complete confidence she’ll triumph.

But give me a kid with a hacking cough and a fever of 103.5 who looks this miserable:

…and I’m a puddle of worry.

I’m often impressed with how Cordy and Mira remain so healthy. Sure, they get colds about as often as any other kid, but they are most often minor colds and rarely slow them down. Fevers are always minor – just a little warm, no need for medication. And we’ve had plenty of stomach bugs, but other than the unpleasantness of cleaning up blow-out diapers, they weren’t too bad.

And then Mira’s cough began on Sunday. By yesterday it was a constant, fierce cough that forced her to catch her breath after a coughing fit, along with a fever. She spent last night coughing and crying in her sleep, and I was unable to do anything to make it easier for her.

This morning she slept in, something she rarely does. And then she refused breakfast, something she never does. She didn’t want to play or watch TV – she only wanted to rest her flushed little face against me. Her temp was 103.5.

So I took her to the pediatrician, where I was given few answers: It’s probably not strep. It’s most likely viral, either a throat infection or the flu. No antibiotics for now. Nothing to do at this point but give her ibuprofen round-the-clock on schedule, keep her hydrated, and wait it out.

Wait it out. Sounds so simple, and yet…

Today she didn’t fight her nap for once, and she didn’t pick fights with her sister. She spent a lot of time on me instead of playing with her trains. She’s not herself, and I don’t like that.

Many parents have kids that run fevers like this all the time, and are probably so used to it they would laugh at my hand-wringing and worry. I’ve advised several parents on how much ibuprofen to give and signs/symptoms to watch for, however it’s always different when it’s your kid. This is mostly new to me, and feeling the nape of my smallest child’s neck on fire, even with ibuprofen and Tylenol in her, leaves me feeling helpless.

I’m hoping she’ll wake up tomorrow a little less warm, a little more energetic, and a little closer to putting this behind us. If not, I’ll be right here to provide ibuprofen, refill juice cups, and provide a comfortable lap to cuddle on. I’m thankful to have a job with sick time so I can be home with her when she needs me the most. Because it’s not my nursing skills that are being used here –  it’s being her mommy that magically helps her feel better.

**********

Also, I’m proud to announce I’m one of several talented writer for the new Ohio Moms Blog! (Part of the amazing SV Moms Group.) Stop by for a visit, and be sure to check out my first post there, where I am once again performing amazing feats of hand-wringing.

Filed Under: being a mom, love, Mira · Tagged:


Jan 14, 2010

Delurk and Help Haiti, Too

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It seems to sneak up on me every year, but today is yet again the Official Delurker Day, the once-a-year plea for those of you who quietly read to write one little comment of support. (Or even if you do comment, please say hi also!)

It’s hard to believe I’ve been blogging now since 2005, and it’s even harder to know that I don’t get to do it as often as I used to. There was a time when I really cared about my stats and would religiously follow them each day, looking to see which posts got the most attention and trying to guide my writing towards more like those. Since starting my crazy job working the night shift, I’ve had way less time, and significantly less brain power, to devote to blogging. As a side effect, I’ve also lost my obsession with my stats. I know less people come by here now, and that’s OK. (Even if Mom 101 named me one of her Top 50 Mommybloggers that didn’t make the Babble top 50 mommybloggers list and are probably more fun anyway. Also? There’s some awesome blog reading in that list.)

So while I may not write as often now, I still come back because I want to interact. I love it when others read and enjoy what I write, and I love finding new people who share my interests. I feel bad that I don’t get to interact with my readers as much as I used to.

(And let’s not talk about the backlog in my Bloglines. If I comment now on a post you wrote two months ago, take it as a compliment that I really wanted to comment, even though it took me that long to read it.)

However, just because I’m not writing or interacting as often doesn’t mean I have less appreciation for my readers. I’d probably still be here writing even if I was just talking to myself, but thank you for coming back and taking an interest in my life. I truly do appreciate it, and I value the friendships that have developed from this little corner of the internet. Thank you all for keeping me sane.

(And for putting up with the extraordinary number of parentheses in this post. Apparently half of my thoughts are really asides or after-thoughts.)

So if you have a moment in your busy schedules today (or whenever you read this), drop a quick comment in and say hi.

And one more thing – if you’re even more moved to do so, delurk in the world community and make a difference to the people of Haiti after that devastating earthquake. Donate to the Red Cross – even $1 helps – or if you can’t, use your blog or Twitter or Facebook to get the word out to others, asking them to help. The people of Haiti have already undergone a tremendous amount of poverty and hardship before the earthquake, and they need our assistance more than ever now.

Edited to add: I’ve now added a button on my sidebar that lets you donate to the Red Cross for the Haiti relief effort. All donations go directly to the Red Cross.

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