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October 22, 2004

The Folks At The Emergency Room Are Really Nice, By The Way.

Is it some sort of a record to visit the ER twice in two weeks for the same kid? I am fortunate that each time it is for something different so it doesn’t look like child abuse, hahahahahaha. This time it wasn’t really even an emergency but the clinic couldn’t give us a same day appointment and he had a bladder infection that could not wait. It turned out to be a very good thing because as I made the decision to abuse the ER’s services, Jake started throwing up which means that he was a step away from IV antibiotics. Jake is the sort of kid that can be sicker than snot and look happy as a clam and be riding a bike. BUT, being the kid of a nurse is a very unfortunate thing at times. You have to bleed an awful lot to impress me. Which is why I ignored the fact that he was crying with pain while peeing on Sunday. We worked hard all day flushing him out with water and I thought the problem was solved. But then he woke me up on Wednesday night to tell me his back really hurt. I knew that he must have a kidney infection. I was right. But this time being right does not make me feel good – it means that I should have taken him in sooner. Oh well, now he is doing great and hopefully we have met our (or at least his) ER quota for this duty station. He has been to the ER four times in the last 22 months with a broken arm, a bee sting from hell, a head injury and a kidney infection. I think that about does it. I am ordering a brass plate with his name on it to affix to the gurney in the ER just in case though.

As we were leaving the hospital, I was stopped in the hallway and asked if I remembered that I was teaching the new OB class that was scheduled for right then. Everyone else that could possibly teach it was out of the country. The clinic nurse would not let me off the hook even though I told her I needed to take Jake home. Ugh. Yet another example of my work coming before my family. So I stashed Jake in an exam room with his barf bucket (that he was really impressed the hospital *let* him keep) and taught the hour-long class.

And just in case you might think my day was complete at that point, my sister called to tell me at midnight my time that my mother was in a very bad car accident and did not know if she was okay. I am very glad to report that my mom is okay and her car may not even be totaled but it WAS a very bad accident in the middle of a thunderstorm and pouring down rain. She swerved to avoid hitting a girl who is the one that was at fault but the girl tried to out-anticipate my mom and ran right into her, knocking my mom airborne and into a ditch. The girl is okay also but her car is definitely totaled.

Now for a complete change of topic, I have to go to a four-day class in Naples next week. I will leave on Sunday night and get back on Thursday night. Eleonore, our nanny, will stay with the boys.

Anyway, ciao a tutti (goodbye to all), for now.

Posted by DebC at 02:16 PM | Comments (5)

October 10, 2004

AHHHHHHH!!!

I went to my once-a-month knitting meeting yesterday. We always meet downtown in the big city next to us (Catania) which is very convenient for all of us. When the meeting was over, I was going to give my friend and her daughter a ride home (they live a few blocks away) but we discovered that my car alarm had been going off for so long that it was not even very loud anymore.

You guessed it, the battery was dead. But not so dead that the car alarm would stop. I discovered that I couldn't even turn the alarm off (you have to turn the ignition on to stop the alarm). The parking lot attendant and his groupies gathered around and pushed the key button ninety billion times because obviously I didn't know what I was talking about, being a girl and all. I waved my arms around and showed the jumper cables to them and Wendy translated for me. They conferred with each other on how to use the cables while I got very nervous. Sure enough, they hooked the cables up backwards and big sparks and smoke came out of my battery. They then motioned for me to start the car, which of course, did not. And likely will not ever again. So then, I did more international hand signals for getting a tow truck. Nope, can't. Chiuso (closed). Of course, it is still reposo (Italian rest period from about noon to 4pm). I knew that the tow truck guys would still be open though because I have had my car towed two other times (this makes me a subject matter expert, you know). So base security arranged for a tow truck to come and get us. The tow truck was there in about half an hour and took us back to the base and parked it at my favorite fix it shop across the street. I rented a car and finished my day's errands. Monday just happens to be a holiday for the Americans, which is very good luck. I needed a new battery anyway and hopefully that is all that it will need.

Posted by DebC at 10:13 AM

October 08, 2004

It is a good thing

That they say a woman’s prerogative is to change her mind! I decided to trade the Prague trip in on a trip to Vienna, Austria in the middle of January. Prague sounds like a great trip but I have always wanted to go to Austria. It is the same amount of time and itinerary. It will be 3 days at a four star hotel in Vienna, the Hotel Kaiserpark-Schönbrunn. They will do a tour for us on the first day but we are on our own for the other two days.

There are so many options! We can do a “Sound Of Music” tour or leave the city and explore some of the villages nearby. We went to Bavaria right around the same time of the year last year and just loved it. There should be a ton of snow around, so that will be an added bonus for the boys. Seth will be with us this time, so unfortunately, skiing in Innsbruck is probably out but we will try for tobogganing or something. Then there is also all the tourist crap that must be purchased. Cities within 2-5 hours from Vienna: Budapest (really, really want to go here!), Prague, Munich, Dresden and Salzburg (this is where the Sound of Music tour is anyway). In researching this trip, I realized that I really want to backpack Europe. This is high on my list of things to do when the boys go off to college, hahahahahahahaha.


In other news:

Eli was selected for chorus, which I think is a great way for him to be involved in extracurricular activities without making me give up every Saturday (like with baseball!).

Jake discovered two days ago that it is a good idea to know the location of the nearest tree BEFORE he attempts a somersault off a concrete block. This makes our third trip to the ER with Jake alone for injuries sustained doing wild and crazy things. This one got us a demonstration of our hospital’s CAT scan machine and the diagnosis of mild concussion. He did it during lunch recess at school but I didn’t find out until the school nurse called me two hours later because Jake had been crying for two hours straight. ARGH @*&$^&##&^$!!! He couldn’t remember parts of the afternoon, had a severe headache and was nauseous. Fortunately, kids have hard heads as we learned two years ago with Eli’s concussion.

Seth is now completely potty trained with occasional accidents. I am happy to report that I will never ever diaper another one of my own children. Yeehaw, every stage of childhood that I pass through with Seth, I get to say the same thing. I am so ready to have children who are independent (and yes I know that I will miss my babies, I already do).

Posted by DebC at 03:10 PM | Comments (4)