Bug and I attended a Halloween party hosted by our neighbor's at this local place. The following is a conversation between myself, and well, Dark Damian - about the whole thing:

Me: so there's this skeeball thing
with an alien
who is TRASH TALKING
and Bug got PISSED
telling him that wasn't nice
to stop
pointing his finger
getting upset.
it was awesome.

Dark Damian: hahahahahahaha

Me: if EVER he is in trouble w/ one of us
he tells us "you no talk-a to me!"
he was telling that to the alien.

Dark Damian: damn mouthy alien
GET HIM, BUG

me:totally
saying, "go get someone to help you!" and "you missed!" and "nanny nany boo boo"
that last one sent him over the edge.
he actually crawled up on the machine ready to beat ass.

Dark Damian: hahahahaha
he is indeed your son


Yes, I believe that is most certainly true.

Labels: bug vicious, halloween 2007

I have forgotten what's important, that's what I've decided.

And I'm not entirely sure how I got from there to here, either. At some point, there was an exit I took in my head and heart and it landed me here, not there. And it isn't that I've become depressed or unhappy, if you will.

It's not that I'm opposed to detours. You happen upon unexpected things when you take the unanticipated route. I can say that this has happened to me - many times before in my life, and certainly now. I've encountered many things I hadn't planned on. When my dad died in '95, for instance, I was derailed from what I'd planned on and found myself in the company of friends I'd never known had it been for the bad. For instance, meeting my best friend, ElJefe.

This is a different kind of detour.

Best described, some of these moments equate to pulling into a little known diner and having the world's best apple pie you'd never known existed, had you not pulled into that lot and just gave the place a whirl. Other moments are more like getting stranded in a blizzard with a busted tire and no cell service.

I'm learning to appreciate both of those kinds of moments.

This time requires soul-searching. I'm challenging myself. I'm not sweeping away the questions this time; I want the answers. I'm finding myself picking up post cards a long the way and placing them in the boxes I keep in my heart. Tucking those moments away, keeping them safe. It's nice to have something to yourself now and then.

I'm sure I'll hit the main highway again and be better for having had said experiences. I'll talk about them someday with my girlfriends when we sit on the porch twenty years from now, sharing with each other the days that once challenged us most, the ones that made us stronger. We'll have our martini's and toast to the straight and narrow, to the detours and those danged bumps in the road, and knowing the latter was what shaped us more than the former.

Until then, I'm on that detour. I'm looking for a reason why I'm on this detour, and for the lessons I'm meant to learn.

There's a lesson in everything, I tell myself, even if it's one you have been taught before, but you have failed to learn.

Labels: detours, lessons, stronger

And before I go any further, here's the room I'm talking about:


(You can see all the lights that were affected. The chair with the blanket in it is the one I was sitting in, and the light switch panel is to the right of our fridge (black thing in the background). And this pic was taken a few years ago, so that slide is gone, for whatever it's worth!)


I was sitting in my chair, laptop in lap, watching the World Series. I heard the pitter patter of feet upstairs, so I yelled at my son to get back in bed. And within seconds, I heard the switch on the light downstairs in the kitchen go up. I assume this is my son, turning on the light.

I stand up, and as I turn the corner, ALL THE LIGHTS start flickering. Not a little, but honestly (and totally cliche) like you see in the horror flicks. Flickering, half buzzing, I expecting the bulbs to pop, actually.


And my son? No where near. All lights are 'dancing', if you will, and making crazy sounds. Completely not normal. We've never had ANY ISSUES with the lights in this area, ever.

I go over to the light panel, and the light panel switches are all staggered now, and the one in the middle is flipped up. So not kidding.


So, again, I yell. I yell at it to stop, I tell it that if it wants me to know who it is,this isn't the way to go about an introduction.


And it stopped.


I put the switches to off, and promptly ran my ass all the way upstairs to my son's room, crawled in bed with him (my husband was gone for a few hours). My son was petting my arm, telling me 'no mommy, no scary monsters here, nice ghost!' - and I laid there for a bit,freaking out.


Say what you will, but I lived in MANY houses in my life. I've NEVER seen lights to do what they do in this house. Our electricians say our wiring is just fine. No light bulbs burned out, it affected bulbs and halogen lights, track lighting, the works.







Explain THAT to me!

EDIT: And yes, we are a 'new build'. I'm tired of "but you can't have a ghost because it's a 'new build'. Like that fucking matters. I've read, talked to some folks, and they all say that the dead - if leaving under 'good' circumstances - will come back to a place that made them happy, or they had a 'good memory' there. Our house is built on an old Air Force Base, with barracks where our house sits now. There is something going on here, and it has nothing to do with 'new build' or not.

Labels: there be a ghost in my house

On Saturday afternoon, went went to my son's school's "Fall Festival". You show up with your child in Halloween get-up, you could ride a little train, pick out a pumpkin, judge in a chili competition (HDH kept saying, "yours is as good as theirs!"), and you could stand in line for FUCKING EVER to have your kid's face painted.

Now, here's the thing: There were two different face painters. The one woman was speedy and good. The other woman was slow and good. We ended up with "slow and good". Apparently, she thought she was painting the Sistine Chapel on each kid's face. But, even with her going sooooooooooo slow, we had to deal with The Dad in front of us in line.

We had been standing in line for an hour and half, and there were exactly six children in front of us. And The Dad. Suddenly, The Dad is chewing ass on the little boy in front of us. The little boy (rightfully) didn't think it was very fair that The Dad had been holding 'the space' for four to five other children. Essentially, those kids were off playing and he let them cut in; therefore, knocking us all back another thirty minutes.

And the little boy didn't understand, and I didn't blame him. If your kids are too busy playing to stand in line (especially THAT MANY - one I could understand), then there isn't any face painting to be had for them.

But whatever.

Ass.

My kid wanted a Spider and web, so here's the final project (once we got up there, two hours later and roughly ten years older):



How cute, right?

Yeah. He kept that on for exactly one hour and declared when we got home that it "wasn't cool" and wiped it off.

Apparently, the 'other attraction' yesterday was the Denver Nugget's head coach. His kid apparently goes to our school. He was trying to paint a face on the pumpkin with his daughter, and people kept bothering him. And not really the kids.

In fact, I wouldn't have known it was him except once a few years ago, he and his wife came to look at the house across from ours when it was for sale. And I happened to be out front when another person pointed out who he was. And again, yesterday, my husband looks up, sees him standing there, says, "Huh, that's the Nugget's coach. I thought he'd be taller. That's kind of disappointing" and went back to eating his chili.

Labels: weekend in review

Previously, I mentioned I have bronchitis. Last night, I felt the Bug's head and there most certainly was a temp. He told me, as wel, that his ear hurt.

URRRRGH! Ear infections!!

The Bug has had so many, I really don't know why I am surprised anymore. For the better part of two years, every time I turned around, he had an ear infection. And I was exhausted from dealing with them all. the. time. Within one year, we had 18. That's just not right (and that was 10 after getting tubes).

This morning, I scratch my appointment at the doctor's office and make one instead for him at the pediatrician's office. My son goes to said appointment in his Superman pajama top, motorcycle pajama bottoms, Teen Titan socks and Batman shoes, by the way.

After meeting with the (new, very cool) doctor, the doctor announces he can't see in my son's ears due to so much wax build-up. The doctor informed a nurse, and sent us into the minor procedure room to irrigate the wax out with water.

I take off the Superman top, lay him on the table. He gets to wear cool glasses, but this does not convince him at all. Instead, the nurse cranks on the water machine without really giving him any warning, and he flips out. Hell, I about flipped out. The Bug scrambled up and off the table and into my arms.

It's important to note, by the way, my son is three-and-a-half, but he looks as big as a five or six-year-old child. In fact, the doctor apologized to me later because "I am talking to him as if he is 6! I forget he is only 3".

The nurse called in for reinforcements, and soon enough, three of us were holding my son down while the nurse irrigated his left ear. Without much effort, out came a relatively small glob of ear wax.

They move onto the right ear, and this is where the trouble really begins. They can see the wax, but they are unable to jar it from the ear canal. Meanwhile, my son is screaming, crying, begging me to make them stop, saying the 'safe words' of "ALL DONE!", and I am still holding him down. We are both covered in water and my hair is now standing up from the first blast that didn't work.

About two minutes later (or, what seemed like an eternity), something comes out of this ear. But it doesn't just land on the table. It doesn't even end up in the little tray next to his ear. NOPE! It hits Mommy square in the face (and we can all be thankful my mouth was closed at the time).

It was a giant (and I mean, BIG) glob of gross, dirty brown ear wax, complete with ear tube. He had ear tubes placed back in January of '05, and this one never really dislodged. I'm sure he was SUPER COMFORTABLE all this time with that thing in the way.

Doctor revisits, looks in both ears, and announces that yes, my son does have a double ear infection. Goody. I bet those streaming jets of warm water felt GREAT on that infection. Ouch! But, totally worth it to get that stuff out of the way. I'm sure it was trapping all sorts of stuff back in there.

And now we are home. We've both had a nap. He's still talking about his battle wounds and telling me that he "got scared' and 'no more water in the ears, mommy'.

Couldn't agree more.

Labels: house of sickness and viral death

I have bronchitis.

After finally hauling myself to the doctor's office, I came away with antibiotics and cough syrup. So far, neither seem to be really helping. I've relegated myself to the guest room where I can hack and cough without waking everyone else up.

So, I'm going to run a few errands this morning and come back and crash in bed. I'm hoping whatever version of Death I've managed to catch is soon on its way out. It's really cramping my style. No one likes hanging out with a chick that sounds like a seventy-year-old BAR hag.

Really.

Just call me, make me laugh, you're in for a treat.

Labels: house of sickness and viral death

I added a new link to the my Blog Roll this evening.

I know some will agree wholeheartedly and some will not. It's a topic you either are for or against, no middle ground.

I Am Emily X

Taken from her site:

"These are no ordinary 40 days. These 40 days are ones in which anti-choice picketers have descended upon Planned Parenthood health centers across the country in an attempt to restrict women's access to health care services. And Emily X is showing just what 90 years of experience and unbelievable commitment looks like when it comes to the frontlines of delivering reproductive health care to women who need it."

I support Planned Parenthood.

I support a woman's right to choose, in whatever choice she makes.

Labels: i am emily x, planned parenthood, right to choose

What’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?
I remember freaking out after seeing Halloween. I hated the Chucky movies. But there was one movie called (I think) Night of the Living Dead - my brother picked it out from our local movie store/gas station. I remember something about zombies and little 'tails' that would form on the back of necks, and that's how you'd know if someone was infected or not.

What was your favorite Halloween costume as a child?
I am particularly fond of the year I went as the Statue of Liberty. I remember it being my idea, and I even won some silly little contest that year. I used my flashlight for the torch, too.

Given enough money what would be your fantasy Halloween costume?
Invisible Mom.

When was the last time you went trick-or-treating?
Last year. My son was finally old enough to really go, so we hit up a few houses, took some pictures, and came home because it was freezing balls out there.

What is your favorite Halloween candy?
Not a big candy person.

Tell us about a scary nightmare you once had?
Any dream involving not being able to find my son. I had one such dream early Monday morning.

What is your supernatural fear ?
Not really sure I have one ...

What is your ‘creepy-crawly’ fear?
I am most certainly not a fan of snakes.

Tell us about a time when you saw a ghost, or heard something go bump in the night ?
Oh, every time the lights in the shower come on, complete with switch going up, or the bathtub jets turning on at all hours of day and night, or the time my music box kicked on after having not bee played for like, oh, years ...

Would you stay overnight in a real haunted house?
I wouldn't say THIS house is haunted, but something is going on around here. But yeah, I probably would stay in a haunted house. Why not!

Are you a traditionalist or a creative carver of your Jack-O’Lantern?
Probably a traditionlist, but only because I lack any sort of creativity in drawing. I'm big on the stick figures, you know.

How much do you decorate your house at Halloween?
I didn't decorate much before having a little one, and now we put a few pumpkins here and there, and some stickers on the windows.

What do you want on your tombstone?
I want to be a smartass here and talk about whatever might be good on a pizza ...

Labels: vholes hates the word meme

my dad, 4th grade
Originally uploaded by hotdoctorwife

I didn't get to a Love Thursday last week. But, it was my dad's birthday this weekend. I had to stop myself, subract, and figure out how old he'd be now ... 62! I can't imagine him a day older than 49.

I miss him. I believe he'd be the port in the storm for me. And I wish more than anything he were here.

"Promise me you won't forget me, because if I ever thought you would, I'd never leave."

~ A. A. Milne

Labels: changing the hair

Eh.

Let's see:

The Illness That My Child Brought Home From School has made its way from Bug, to Mommy, and I think it just now hitting Daddy. He was complaining of not feeling that well last night. Yeah, it sucks and mightily so.

One of my best friends was diagnosed with breast cancer last week, and it's very much freaked me out. That diagnosis is on the heels of another friend having trouble, and all signs lead to the same disease my mother-in-law died from many years ago. So, I'm scared and bummed.

In stupid news, I noticed a cut on my hand last week. Just a small paper cut type thing, and totally insignificant. Last Saturday, it had morphed into this gray bubble taking over most of my finger and knuckle. I did a little surgery on myself and drained that bad boy (yummy). But it WOULD NOT go away. So, I spent yesterday at the doctor's office determining if the infection had spread to my joint or not. My husband says I need to see the hand specialist. I say the antibiotics I got yesterday will help. You know, cause I have an MD behind my name and all.

I also had an EMG test done on Monday to check for carpal tunnel. I've been having this awful burning feeling in my fingers, mostly towards the end of the day. Almost always in first three fingers on each hand. All classic signs of carpal. Do I have it? No. And the guy said, "You have signs of carpal, but you don't have carpal". Um, gee. Thanks. HUH? But the test itself? It didn't hurt as bad as I'd imagined. Probably hurts worse for those with the actual syndrome, not just "signs". Meh.

Oh, and there have been a rash of break-in attempts in our neighborhood the last few weeks. The Idiots are throwing in rocks to break the window, but when the alarm goes off, they run away. While my husband was out of town this past weekend, I had my alarm set during the day. I'm not taking any chances, right? My kid and I are standing in the kitchen, debating what to do for lunch, and the alarm goes off. The company calls to ask if things are alright because they registered a 'glass break in the basement'. OH HELL NO!! Before, I had post-parturm rage fueling the encounter with the last burglar. What did I have this time? A panic attack. I had a three-year-old who was crying and me who felt like it, too. Turns out, false alarm. I have NO IDEA what caused it to go off, but all windows were fine.

It's been a strange week. And it's only ... Wednesday.

Labels: blah blah blah