Oh, great bagless vacuum cleaner, how you challenge me!? You are my tornado of cleaning happiness. Every domestic goddess will profess to having a favored chore, one that they actual get glee from.
For me, it's vacuuming. The anti-thesis would be laundry, how I loath laundry.
Maybe it's the purr of the machine that I find so calming. Or the idea that in thirty minutes of my time I have cleaned almost 1800 square feet of living space. Think about this. You can spend thirty minutes scrubbing your shower grout and have very little to show for the effort. A broken nail, hands that smell like Clorox, and a toothbrush formed in the 'splech' formation after being smashed into crevices.
The canister must be filled with debris and dust, kitty furr and dust, dried bits of food and dust. Did I mention the dust here in California? A veritable dirt devil blows in my open windows about every three days. It's a catch twenty two living out here on the edge of the desert and mountains. Great weather equals shutters thrown open to the sun and breeze. Eh....Georgia had it's pollen too I guess.
Is it just me or is the vortex of yuck being suctioned up just mesmerizing? I vacillate between feeling victorious over the grime and disgusted that it fills my lungs. Granted, I'm not just picking up dust.
There is the occasional Barbie shoe or light bright that finds itself getting a vacuum swirly. I've long past the point of caring to extract these items. Just like a pretzel, so dies the Lego that stabbed me in the foot at midnight. The Lego was asking for it.
The kids know mommy is on a mission when I turn the machine one. The living room will be cleared like a tornado ripping through the prairie. Declarations of 'move it or mommy sucks it up'' are made as a warning before everything is wisked away to the Land of Fuzz and Dust.
I am ruthless, even Nora's Strawberry Shortcake swimsuit met it's demise when the brush snared a strap and shredded it. The suit had to die as a warning.
Nothing motivates kids to clean better than recalling the wreckage of toys.
If only I could find a way to intimidate dust.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Doctor......
I returned to the neurologist after two months.
Trent was with me for the return visit. I prayed better behavior would happen this time. Two months ago my kids terrorized exam room in a monkey-like madness sure to convince anyone of the usefullness of birth control.
The nurses were charmed by race car noises from the waiting room. Francesco and Lightening McQueen sped across every piece of furniture, crashing into fake plants and chair legs. The cars were tailed by a child full of giggles and animated noises.
When it was time to go back to the exam room McQueen found the power to fly invigorating until his cohort stumbled and found linoleum. With cat-like reflexes both owner and car gained their feet quickly. The nurse was once again amused, mommy was praying that was the last of the drama.
Have I mentioned how much I like doctors out here? Dr. Alahi walked in RIGHT on time at 10:30am!
He had received some of my blood work from the neuro in Georgia and had reviewed my MRI imaging from last summer. The concensus is no MS, most possible diagnosis is fibromyalgia with a hefty side of Hughes disease to round things out. Lupus is a vague, dimming worry at this point.
We discussed the potential of 'fibro-fog' and my definite need for 8+ hrs of sleep per night. Lack of rest only makes the fog worse. Dr. Alahi played some memory games with me to test a few things out. He would like to run another MRI to check for hyperintesity advancement or new spots. An EEG is needed to test electrical impulse strength throughout my brain. My understanding is that baselines are being set to track progression of the disease from every angle.
Meanwhile, in Trents' world he got to entertain the student doctor from UC Irvine. Fascinating him with his knowledge of colors, shapes, planes, trains and potty training. Oh yes, he went there! The mommy ears caught the cherub voice say, ''In the potty, I go BiiiiiiiiG pee pees. Is yuuuuck yuucky.'' It could be worse, he could have demonstrated for them, right?
Dr. Alahi stopped asking ME questions to verify what he had just heard. Yep, yep you heard him. I apologized and explained that we are newly potty trained and enamored with our bodily functions.
At that, we all declared it time to go before anymore excitement happened.
Trent was with me for the return visit. I prayed better behavior would happen this time. Two months ago my kids terrorized exam room in a monkey-like madness sure to convince anyone of the usefullness of birth control.
The nurses were charmed by race car noises from the waiting room. Francesco and Lightening McQueen sped across every piece of furniture, crashing into fake plants and chair legs. The cars were tailed by a child full of giggles and animated noises.
When it was time to go back to the exam room McQueen found the power to fly invigorating until his cohort stumbled and found linoleum. With cat-like reflexes both owner and car gained their feet quickly. The nurse was once again amused, mommy was praying that was the last of the drama.
Have I mentioned how much I like doctors out here? Dr. Alahi walked in RIGHT on time at 10:30am!
He had received some of my blood work from the neuro in Georgia and had reviewed my MRI imaging from last summer. The concensus is no MS, most possible diagnosis is fibromyalgia with a hefty side of Hughes disease to round things out. Lupus is a vague, dimming worry at this point.
We discussed the potential of 'fibro-fog' and my definite need for 8+ hrs of sleep per night. Lack of rest only makes the fog worse. Dr. Alahi played some memory games with me to test a few things out. He would like to run another MRI to check for hyperintesity advancement or new spots. An EEG is needed to test electrical impulse strength throughout my brain. My understanding is that baselines are being set to track progression of the disease from every angle.
Meanwhile, in Trents' world he got to entertain the student doctor from UC Irvine. Fascinating him with his knowledge of colors, shapes, planes, trains and potty training. Oh yes, he went there! The mommy ears caught the cherub voice say, ''In the potty, I go BiiiiiiiiG pee pees. Is yuuuuck yuucky.'' It could be worse, he could have demonstrated for them, right?
Dr. Alahi stopped asking ME questions to verify what he had just heard. Yep, yep you heard him. I apologized and explained that we are newly potty trained and enamored with our bodily functions.
At that, we all declared it time to go before anymore excitement happened.
Friday, April 12, 2013
I don't want....
We've entered another phase with Trent. He's starting to express things that make him mad, happy, or confusing us with contradictory statements.
He was asking me what my eyebrows and eyelashes were at bedtime. When I made him feel his own eyelashes he went nuts, '''EHHHHHHH! I don't want eyelashes!!! Take them off!''
The hubby was presented with this confusing statement at breakfast, ''I don't want that bagel, I didn't get it'' Interpretation, he didn't pick the bagel out himself and therefore, it is inferior and not worthy of being eaten.
Continue that into the epic ridiculousness of toddler logic, ''I don't want Nora to go out my door. No! NO Nora! No use my door!'' Trent melted down, like on the garage floor choking sobs because sister got out his car door. I can't even come up with something rational to calm him down. One of those moments when I just shook my head, walked away and let him get over his irrational argument.
There are times when the ''I don't wants'' are purely fueled by exhaustion. ''Mommy, I don't want to go night night, I want a nap.'' Ok. He can call it a nap, but it better last at least 10 hrs.
Time seems to confuse him. We will tell him, Trent '5 minutes then we go home.' We often get the response, ''I don't want to go yet. No not yet, two minutes ok?'' Once again, this toddler logic works to our advantage. We know one day he will be smart enough to know better.
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