Burning a hole

Ry and I decided to take $50 apiece from our tax return and spend it on whatever we want.  I'm pretty sure his is going toward videogames.  I'm at a loss.  It's been so long since I've been able to spend money frivilously, I have no idea what to get.  I don't have time to read or play videogames, so those are out.  Maybe I'll just tuck it away for a rainy day. What would you buy?

Ahhh, a warm bath of words

Very little of my homework these days has anything to do with writing.  I do a lot of problem sets, memorization, and reading. My A&P prof offered us extra credit if we attended a lecture on biotechnology and reviewed the presentation.  The paper was only 2 pages, but it felt really good to write it.  I felt like I was putting on my fuzziest, warmest jammies and crawling into a toasty bed.  Ahhhh, words, I miss you.

Snippets

Snippets of conversation overheard this week on campus:

• "Dude, I could totally buy it with the money from my taxes!"
  
• "Did that make sense? I was asleep while I was texting you."
• "I told her I was failing to get her to study with me."
• "Ha ha."
• "Are you complaining that the projects are too easy?"
• "I mean, if you're going to be a ho, be a smart ho!"

One little monkey jumping on the bed

The Politics and Cost of Fertility

The woman who recently had octoplets has raised a number of interesting ethical questions about the infertility processes in this country.  Leaving aside the (ir)responsibility of mom and doctor in this particular case, I find infertility medicine extremely interesting.

Many people don't know that high-order multiples are more likely to come from fertility drugs than IVF (in-vitro fertilization).  This is because fertility drugs are harder to control and monitor than the implantation of embryos.  Most insurance companies will cover only fertility drugs (if they cover infertility treatments at all), not IVF.  IVF clocks in at around $12,000 a pop. This means that the folks who are least able to afford multiples are the ones more likely to have them. Multiples come with added costs in prematurity, birth defects, and long-term health care needs that taxpayers often pick up the tab for.  

I wonder if having a child should be a right.  If so, should insurance companies be required to cover IVF and other fertility treatments?  As a woman who has had a child, I understand how desperately people want to have children.  If I struggled with infertility, I don't know what procedures I would have been willing to undergo to have a child.

IVF itself raises a whole litany of prickly questions.  How many embryos should be created? Because of the expense associated with IVF, many parents chose to create quite a few and freeze them. 

How many embryos should be implanted? Current voluntary US guidelines recommend 1 and not more than 2 for women under the age of 30. Many European countries mandate the number of embryos implanted at any given time.  Of course, those counties usually cover the cost of the procedure as well. We don't mandate how many kids a family can have the old fashioned way, why should IVF be different?

What do you do with embryos that are "left over"?  There are many embryos currently on ice, in embryo limbo.  Some people choose to donate them to other couples, some thaw and destroy them, some keep them indefinitely or choose to try another implantation.

What do you think?

An artistic genius is born

We get a piece of art from T's school almost every day.  Here are a select few.  I love getting these, they make me happy.  I can't help but be put in mind of this every time I get one though.

This was the first day of school.  I love the use of shades.
This is "T's Snowy Day."  It leaves glitter everywhere it lives.
My first homemade valentine.
Today's artwork was a pizza.  Seriously, who comes up with this stuff?  I can't imagine thinking, "Hmm, today I think I'll help T make a pizza out of felt."

Baby Things

• Today when I was wiping his hands off, I said "Let me wipe your hands." T said "No." "Yes please," I said. "No Please," he responded.
  
• He picks the lima beans out of mixed vegetables ... because he loves them.
• We bought T a twin sized mattress today.  The mattress shopping experience wasn't quite as soul-sucking as I feared.  It's not unlike buying a used car, however.
• I hate Caillou with the white hot passion of a thousand buring suns.
• Everywhere we go, people comment on how big T is for his age.  This, combined with the fact that he's getting a bit aggresive lately as led me to refer to him as a bruiser on more than one occassion.
• Because of a couple of post-meal skype sessions with the grandparents, T now thinks that we get to talk to Mummu after every meal.
• When he doesn't want to take a nap, he covers his eyes, then uncovers them, looks up at me with a big grin, and says "Peek-boo!"
• As a parent, I like that I get to make up rules.  You have to take off your shoes before you can go see daddy downstairs.

Notes from our capital city

T and I accompanied Ry on his trip to DC this week. We're only here for a couple of days, but it was nice to get out of the house. Yesterday, T and I took in the Natural History Museum. His reaction to the elephant and other big animals was impressive. It's the first time he really noticed the exhibits. We had a great time, although the metro was all kind of screwed up. Apparently, one of the trains derailed early in the morning so two lines were using the same track. Luckily for us, we were able to take alternate lines to get back to the hotel by T's naptime.

I think I could get very used to living in a big city and going everywhere via underground. It's really quite convenient, cheap, and would mean more walking for me. It's a bit of a pain to take the stroller, but I'm guessing I'd end up with a smaller, lighter stroller I could carry onboard (and down escalators) rather than having to find the elevators at every stop. Too bad it's outrageously expensive to live anywhere with a metro (that, and we don't have jobs in those places either .... details).

Preview of the cuteness to come

We got his tux for Tantie's wedding yesterday.

Bye Bye Dude

The other day, I left Ry and T at home to make a run for some medicine or another.  As I was leaving, I said "Bye Bye Dudes!"  Tucker said "Bye Bye Mommy!"  I asked him if he could say "Bye Bye Dude."  Indeed, he could.

Yesterday, Ry was home with T, since he didn't have school and I did.  We got a package from Fed Ex.  As the Fed Ex guy was leaving, T chirped "Bye Bye Dude!" 

The Week in Numbers

3 - Number of work days missed (2 full and 2 half)

2 - Number of classes missed (of 7)

1 - Number of preschool days missed

8 - Number of hours in which I puked at least twice

8 - Number of times crib sheets and blankets changed

0.5 - Number of hours spent cleaning my house

4 - Number of bottles of medicine purchased

Happy Over-Commercialized Day

Ew

Allowable "natural contaminents".

TMI?

During my delirious waking moments during the GI Epidemic of 2009, I found I kept having the strangest dreams (daydreams, fantasies, delusions?).  Somewhat ironically, we are studying the digestive system in my A&P class right now.  During the 20 minutes between episodes, I would dream that I was traveling through my GI tract.  I watched the smooth muscle cells get all irritated from the stupid virus and start going into hyper-spastic mode.  I watched my cardiac sphincter open up to allow, well, to allow my dinner to reverse its course.  I also kept thinking about the 3-6 hours food spends in the stomach and the 3-10 hours it spends in the small intestines and wondering when it was going to be over.  Because seriously, I couldn't have gotten more empty, folks.  I wonder if these kinds of crazy delusions are going to get worse as I learn more about the human body and pathologies of the human body.  It was a bizarre night.

Another one bites the dust

Today, Ry was hard down.  T was too, for that matter.  He spent 99% of the morning in my arms until he fell asleep at 10:30.  His usual naptime is around 1:30 pm.  He slept for 3 and a half hours and woke up in a dramatically different mood.  He even ate some dinner!   My poor hubby, however, is passed out on the couch after a day of being passed out on  the couch.  I'm just glad that we weren't all sick at the same time.

Really, Arby's?

Stuff and Thank Yous and Apologies

1. Paying "a lot of money" to take a class does not mean that the professor should spoon feed you.  Don't understand something? Look it up.

2. My apologies to all of you who had to put up with me during my first undergraduate degree.  I had no idea what stress or a crazy life was.

3. It's really satisfying to go to a class you had to miss because your baby was sick to discover that the professor was sick with the same crap and missed class too.  Bonus: no missed quiz!

4. Just because it's the perfect storm doesn't mean it doesn't screw things up.

5. My apologies to anyone I ever called "kid" during my brief tenure as a university lecturer.  I had no idea how condescending it sounded coming from someone barely older than me.

6. Thank you parents. You sacrificed time at work and play to make sure I grew up to be an individual who could think for myself.

7. Bravo to all you working parents who also attend school. I don't know how you do it.

8. While Ry keeps it from imploding, my house starts to look like a disaster area when I've been sick.

9. Thanks Ry, for taking care of me and our son while I was sick.  And for the whole non-implosion thing.

10. I sincerely hope I don't have another week like this one soon.

x 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ....

T has passed the baton of sickness to me.  Around 7 last night I started feeling all oogy.  Sure enough, by 8:30 or so, I was in the bathroom every 30 minutes until 5 am this morning.  I'm really glad T didn't have this as bad as I did, I can only imagine how confused and sad he would've been.  I'm also really glad that Ry got T ready for school this morning and that T was well enough to go, because I'm in no shape to run around after him all day.  I'm heading back to sleep and hoping to feel well enough for my 1:30 class.

Hurling x3

Little man had a awful, horrible, no-good, very-bad day today.  He woke up coughing and spent a good portion of the morning sniffling around.  We put him down for his nap and he woke up, coughing again 30 minutes later.  I went up to rub his back and he vomited (3 big splashes).  Ry came up and cleaned up chunks while T and I got changed and went to my bed where we rested until the crib was cleansed.  He got settled back to sleep for about 45 minutes when he puked again.  Then we just got up.  We came downstairs, had a little water and a few soda crackers.  He stood up, and once again decorated the area.  Poor little guy.  It's been 5 hours since he last tossed his cookies and 2 since he went to bed.  Here's hoping he gets a good night's sleep and feels better on the morrow.

My Best Friend's Girl Review

Very crude. Extremely funny.

Unmitigated disaster

You would think that by now I would have learned my lesson.  But, no, when T woke up at 6:30 this morning and proceeded to whine, cry and generally be in a foul mood, I didn't learn.  When I didn't feel so hot myself, I didn't learn.  Instead, I thought, we'll just go for a little while.  All of T's friends soon learned what a bad mood he was in when he took their toys, pushed them, and cried when I took him away.  He almost feel asleep on the way home and then cried at Ry for 10 minutes before we decided it was time for an early nap.  T doesn't think so.  Guess who will win the nap war?

The Stupid, It Burns

T's school was delayed again this morning.  Ry had a meeting he really didn't want to miss.  Lucky for me, I have a good friend I can call at 6:45 in the morning and beg to watch my child for a couple hours.  I didn't want to miss my Chemistry class since my prof has an attendance policy and I thought there was a quiz today.

I got to class, and waited for Dr. Science to come.  When he arrived, the students whined enough that he put the quiz off until Monday.  Then he asked if we had any questions on the homework.  Several hands shot up.  Keep in mind that Dr. Science has given at least one lecture on the following topics: scientific notation, significant figures, and the metric system.  To drive home the point that the prefixes on the metric system mean the same thing, regardless of the unit he asked "What is the relationship between a snark and a millisnark?"  Ok, back to the questions.

Big Dumb Guy: Can you review using significant figures with addition?

Dr. Science: Sure. Let's do this problem.  What is 21 - 3.5 - 4?

Big Dumb Guy: Can you do the problem in the book?

Dr. Science: Sure, but the principle is the same.

Big Dumb Guy: But I had a question about the problem in the book.

Dr. Science: Ok, let's do the problem in the book.

And so it went.  We mercifully got through this example when another hand went up.

Little Dumb Girl: Can you do any of the problems from 1 - 11? I didn't understand them.

Dr. Science:  Ok, so these are about converting between units.  Do you remember when we converted between millimeters and meters?

Little Dumb Girl: Yeah, but what is a g and an ng?

Dr. Science: Sigh. Did you read the chapter?

Little Dumb Girl: Blank Stare

Dr. Science:  A g is a gram.  An ng is a nanogram.  A nanogram is equal to 10(-9) grams.

Little Dumb Girl:  That wasn't one of the ones you talked about in class.

Dr. Science: I know, but it was in the chapter.  See, here's where it's your responsibility to look up the things you don't understand.  He works through the problem. Any other questions?

Same Dumb Girl: What's a ms?

Dr. Science: What does the m abbreviation stand for?

Same Dumb Girl: Blank Stare

Dr. Science: Sigh.

And it went on like this for an hour.  We didn't get to new material until there were 15 minutes left in class.  I feel like I'm stupider for having sat through that class. I don't mind when people don't understand things, really I don't.  What I mind is when people are willfully stupid.  And I could have been at home with my little boy.

Be careful what you wish for

The first few weeks T was in school, he would kiss me goodbye, and hop off to play with whatever shiny object caught his attention first.  It would seem he didn't notice if I was there or not.  I remember thinking "it would be nice if he missed me just a little bit."  The past 3 times I've dropped him off, he started crying and clung to me.  Today I spent 20 minutes in the classroom to try and get him comfy, and then he only allowed me to leave because his teacher came and picked him up.  This is so much worse.

Meanwhile, in math class

Ms. Quadratic: Ok group, please take out the in-class exercise packet I handed out the first day of class. A hand goes up at the back of the room. Yes?

Doe Eyes: I don't have the handout.

Ms. Quadratic: Really?  I've been giving them out each of the last 3 classes.

Doe Eyes: I haven't been here.

Ms. Quadratic: What's your name?

Doe Eyes: Doe

Ms. Quadratic: Looking at her roster. Oh, I almost dropped you from the course yesterday.  You've missed quite a lot, please see me after class so we can work on getting you caught up.

Doe Eyes: I was in the hospital, I have a note from my doctor.

Ms. Quadratic: Ok, well it wouldv'e been good for you to contact me .... but Ok. See me after class.

Doe Eyes: Dramatic eye roll. Yeah, OK.

Class proceeds.  As class is ending ....

Ms. Quadratic: Ok, that's it for today. Don't forget your online homework is due next week. Glances down at her papers as students begin shuffling out the door.  Ok, Ms. Eyes?  Looks around the room. Doe?  Looks again. I'll be a son of a ....  And alas, Doe is gone.

Irony, thy name is Michael Phelps

Michael Phelps caught using a water bong.

... The Olympic swimmer is one of 12 Olympic athletes that have pledged to "My Victory," an initiative launched last year by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to keep competitive sports clean of cheating and drug use.

Discovering the joys of cookie dough

I don't know how it took so long, but yesterday, T helped me make cookies.  He was very enthusiastic about the beater-licking part.

Long Face, Scrunchy Face

A story in pictures.