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Prepare for the Flood January 16, 2006

Posted by spacemom in : Kids , 1 comment so far

Soleil asked to sleep in her panties tonight.

Oh man, I am not ready for night time training. Maybe this will be easy. Maybe she will understand that she needs to use the toilet at night.

I put one of the waterproof crib sheets on her bed. She was happy because then she could "pee if she had to" I told her then her bed would smell. Hmm, she didn’t like that answer. She just feel asleep.

I expect to be awoken at 4 am with a screaming child who doesn’t understand why she is wet. And so I am getting an extra sleeper ready with her nighttime diaper…

While daytime potty training was, um, un fun, I don’t think night time will be any better.
Sigh… Oh well, unless she is going to college in depends, she has to learn sometime.

Tagged! January 14, 2006

Posted by spacemom in : Weblogs , 3 comments

Thanks Johnny! I’ve been TAGGED! (cool!)

What were you doing 10 years ago?
I had just defended my MS and was doing student teaching. I was getting up at 4:30am to make it to the school I was assigned to, 50 miles away. I was living on Long Island at the time and Dr. Jay and I were debating about what job he should take when he finished his PhD (he was just Jay then)

What were you doing  1 year ago?
Enjoying San Diego. I was at the AAS and my in-laws were taking care of the girls at my house

 

Five snacks I enjoy

  1. Peanut butter and Doritos sandwiches
  2. Godiva…any kind
  3. Dunkin donuts Boston Kreme
  4. whoppers (the candy)
  5. watermelon rind (pickled)

 

Five songs to which I know all the lyrics

  1. Cheeseburger in Paradise (Jimmy Buffett)
  2. Neon Moon (Brooks and Dunn)
  3. Summer, Highland Falls (Billy Joel)
  4. ANY Laurie Berkner song (thanks Soleil!)
  5. Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen)

 

Five things I would do if I were a millionaire

  1. Buy a green dress (but not a real green dress, that’s cruel)
  2. Hire a chef so I could have great tasting, healthy meals every day!
  3. Learn how to bake artisan breads
  4. Rent a villa in Italy. Stay 6 months
  5. Take time off of work to learn oil painting techniques

Five bad habits

  1. Chewing my hair
  2. Worrying about what people think
  3. Checking my email
  4. Watching TLC when I KNOW the show is melodramatic
  5. Stepping in too soon with the kids instead of letting them be

Five things I like doing

  1. Long walks
  2. Painting
  3. enjoying hockey
  4. reading
  5. baking

Five things I would never wear, buy or get new again

  1. Any car from Ford
  2. Flared pants
  3. Thong undies in the wrong size (yikes!)
  4. Soy butter (instead of peanut butter, YUCK)
  5. Cheap chocolate

Five favorite toys

  1. MP3
  2. bread machine
  3. Kitchen aide mixer (don’t laugh)
  4. Dr. Jay’s camera (Canon Digital SLR)
  5. Play-doh

So
here’s the deal: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following
list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom
slot

a la carter
afrindiemum
An Elephant’s Gestation
So, it’s come down to this
The Further Adventures of SpaceMom

Then select five people to tag:

Mary-Mia
Stephanie (password)
Kristy
Joanna (password)
Stacey

Spacemom answers your PPD questions January 13, 2006

Posted by spacemom in : Depression , add a comment

I don’t mean this to be a bitter post. On one of my web boards, someone asked about PPD. That’s post partum depression to those of you not versed in this.
Two people said I would have more info about it. And you know what? I do. And it BITES that I have more info on this.

Q: So, how does PPD feel?

Like someone is ripping your soul out of your body through your left nostril. (If you use the right nostril, it just tickles)

Q:Why can’t you just get over it?

Well, when you can walk up to someone with diabetes or high blood pressure, and tell them to just get over it, I will just get over PPD. IT’S A DISEASE! It is a chemical imbalance of serotonin. Exactly why this happens is still not understood. You can’t just "get over" depression.

Q: Tom Cruise says that you should take more vitamins instead of drugs. What do you think?

I think Tom Cruise is a major ASSHOLE who doesn’t understand that this is a real disease. I hope his sweetie doesn’t come down with this. It sucks.

Q: Do you want to kill your children?
NO. PPD is not something that makes you kill your children. Post Partum Psychosis can. This is what Andrea Yeats has/had and she needed HELP. The biggest crime in that whole situation is that her husband failed to help her, and left her in a situation where she could do harm. PPP affects 1-2% of women after pregnancy.

Q:Your youngest is 18 months old, shouldn’t you be done with this?
Unfortunately, I may have to deal with this the rest of my life. Once you have a chemical change, your body may never go back to where it was. You reach a new "norm" and I may have to fight this forever, or until menopause, when my hormones get to play with me again!

Q: Do you tell people about this or are you afraid they will think you are crazy?
Oh, that’s a toughie. To be honest, some people I tell. I tell new moms who are afraid of their feelings. I tell the dads that need to really step up and support the moms. I tell those close to me. I am afraid that some people think I am nuts. When I was first diagnosed, I was afraid that if I told the doctors, they would take Soleil away from me. I was wrong. They will only remove the child if there is a clear danger. PPD is not a clear danger. But it must be treated.

Q: So what would you tell someone who thinks they have PPD?
First, it is not your fault. This is a physical and chemical change. It is not you.
Secondly, you need to talk to your OB. This is  important. They work with mental health providers who specialize in PPD. They can direct you to the right people with the right resources.  You do not have to suffer. You can be a good parent with PPD, you just need to get help.
Third, unless the person who is offering advice has personal experience with depression, nod and say "ok thanks" to any advice they offer. Only those who have gone through depression really get it. At least, that’s been my experience…

Any other questions?

(more…)

Guess what? I should be in science! January 12, 2006

Posted by spacemom in : Life...otherwise , 1 comment so far

Grabbed this from Karen. What a surprise. Chemistry and Engineering. I suppose they didn’t have astronomy as an option. I would have taken physics… Physics and Astronomy were my majors….

  You scored as Chemistry. You should be a Chemistry major! As if that isn’t clear enough, you are deeply passionate about Chemistry, and every single chemical reaction and concept fascinates you. Pursue that!

Engineering
100%

Chemistry
100%

Biology
92%

Mathematics
83%

Philosophy
75%

Art
75%

Sociology
67%

Psychology
58%

English
58%

Dance
50%

Journalism
50%

Linguistics
50%

Anthropology
25%

Theater
25%

What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3)
created with QuizFarm.com

(more…)

Spacemom has blog block January 12, 2006

Posted by spacemom in : Spacemom , add a comment

I am in a snarky mood.  And I have blog block. HELP!

Something happened at work today, that I cannot blog about, but let’s just say, I appreciate my boss Dan alot today!

We had the world’s SLOWEST waiter at lunch today… He FORGOT our salads. Hello? The whole POINT of the salad is that you have SOMETHING to do while you are waiting for your food. How the hell can you FORGET to serve people. I mean, your position is "server" is it not? It’s not that we were in a busy place either…

sigh…

Dr. Jay’s plane was delayed yesterday. And then he got the worst cabbie in the world. We live just far enough out of Boston that we are in the "Flat rate" zone for cabs. They charge a flat rate to come to our town, add on a $2 airport toll and $4.5 to get through the tunnels and viola! You are home. This guy tried to charge Dr. Jay about DOUBLE the fare. He even stopped to get gas and left the meter running. This was the point where Dr. Jay pointed out that it was a flat rate. The guy claimed it wasn’t, but once Dr. Jay called me and I could read back the rates…well…. The cabbie was an asshole. I hate people like this. He also tried to tell Dr. Jay that the flat rate didn’t apply when you use the Pike. Yeah, right…

Sigh… So I have blog block… Does anyone want to offer me something to write about? Anyone???

I love this man! January 11, 2006

Posted by spacemom in : Dr. Jay , 1 comment so far

I really love this man! I got an email yesterday where I got a blind carbon copy. The message was to our travel person that Dr. Jay wanted to change his flight from mid-day Thursday to Wednesday evening.

He will take a 7:35 flight and be on the ground at 9:10. The girls and I are going out to dinner and then to a friend’s house and after play time and jammies, we are going to pick up daddy!

I may actually sleep tonight!

I love this man!

He claims it is because the meeting is rather large and disorganized. I believe it is because he misses the girls. Oh well, doesn’t matter. I will have a full bed tonight and perchance, some sleep… Good news at the end of a very busy day.

Beautiful Day January 10, 2006

Posted by spacemom in : Life...otherwise , add a comment

Last week, I was really in a bad place. Damn depression.

But this morning, the sun is out, the temps are supposed to get in the 40s, Leah didn’t scream at daycare when I dropped her off, I sort of got a shower and life feels good.

I lost 3 lbs last week on the diet I started, I have my last PT appointment today, which ironically, means I can exercise my foot more as I have to take time out to get to the PT.

Sure last night sucked for sleep, but I think all in all, I am doing quite well…
It feels good to write that things are going well for once.

I’m not a single mom, but I play one during AAS January 8, 2006

Posted by spacemom in : Seeing the World Through Astronomy , 2 comments

Ah yes, Dr. Jay left this afternoon to travel to the American Astronomical Society meeting. I get to be single mom until Thursday evening. I got both girls to bed before 8:30! That has to be a record. Now, how much sleep will we all get?

Life, pockmarked… January 7, 2006

Posted by spacemom in : Nance , 1 comment so far

It is 8:00pm east coast. And Leah is asleep. Sylvie is close. My G-d, they may actually sleep. This was the first week in the new daycare. Sylvie was great, but Leah has some adjustment issues. Dr. Jay and I also have some adjustment issues.

First, it is 10 minutes further than we had been driving. That means, 40 minutes longer trip total (to daycare, to work, from work, to home). Whew. We were looking at a map today and I think we found two shorter ways. Did you ever hear that joke where the New Englander looks at the tourists and says "Can’t get therah from herah"? That is so true in New England. Each town is it’s own territory. Don’t even TRY to cross into the next town. We have 3 roads that connect our town with the next one. 3. That’s it. And then we wonder why traffic sucks in the Boston area.

Second, lunch. Our old daycare provided hot lunches for the girls. That was great once we realized that Sylvie was allergic to fish sticks and would vomit for 3 hours after eating them. We put those on the restricted list and never worried again! Now we need to pack a lunch for both girls. yikes! We have a nice food list made up and now it is a word document. We have proteins, veggie/fruits and crunchy categories. The goal is to have 1 of each at least. It is stressing me, probably because I am compartmentalizing the stress.

Third, girls adjusting. Wow, this has been tough. Sylvie’s brain is going a mile a minute. She wouldn’t go to bed last night because she was afraid of another meteor hitting the Earth, you know, like the one that killed off the dinosaurs. Sigh. We are trying to explain that people are watching for them, blah blah blah.. But understandably, she is afraid. Since we returned from Hawai’i, her brain has been in idle mode. However, the new daycare has put her into overdrive. She is asking so much. Today she made a logical leap that was worthy of a 6-7 year old. Scary. Leah is also gearing her brain up at the new place. This is good, BUT they WON’T SLOW DOWN. They have been up until 9-10 each night… Then we crash.

I am taking a short break before I patch the living room wall. Jo asked me about it the other day. I got the paper down on the snow day. I got two sections cleaned before Christmas/Hanukkah. And then nothing until today. I got the last section cleaned today and now I need to patch. But only until 8:45. I have football and hockey to watch!

BTW- I have decided to drop the password protection on my 35th birthday..You’ll have to wait a bit..Thanks for you thoughts

I Miss You, Corey G. Moe January 6, 2006

Posted by spacemom in : Nance , add a comment

6 years is a long time. I really miss you, Corey. I know, Becky and others probably miss you more, but I really do miss chatting with you.

I hope you are able to see E & S. They are such big kids now! And S looks so much like you!

I am still glad I got to talk to you before the accident. Too bad you never made it to Georgia. You were looking forward to it.

May you continue to look after Becky. Someone needs to.

Miss you….

Nance