Ridiculous!

Those who know me know I have been going to school for a very long time.  Forever, in fact.  Yes, forever!  It never ends.  I’ve taken about a million classes.  Yes, a million!  And no, I am not prone to exaggeration.  Why do you ask?

I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (can I get a HALLELUJIAH?), and today I stopped by my advisor to make sure things were on track.  As she was scrolling through my millions (yes, millions!) of credits she noticed I had not officially applied to receive my associate’s degree even though I am qualified for it.  I suppose I was so focused on the bachelor’s that I never really thought about the associate’s, but I figured I should get that taken care of.  If nothing else, at least it will help me feel like I accomplished something. 

So, I just logged into the school website and went through the degree application process.  Everything was going swimmingly until I reached the last step:  paying $20 to apply for graduation.  Whaaaa…???  I assumed the THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS I spent in tuition over the years would cover the whole degree thing! 

How foolish of me! 

Aargh!!

Tags: frustration, graduation, school

Book review- A Thousand Splendid Suns

As I’ve mentioned before, my husband has recently gotten into reading.  I LOVE being able to talk books with him now!  Several months ago he had to read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini for one of his classes and he absolutely loved it, so I read it too.  The husband was right- it was a fantastic book.  Fascinating story, great writing, and a real eye-opener to a culture that I know very little about.  We were hooked.

But we’re not here to discuss The Kite Runner today.  I want to talk about Hosseini’s second book, A Thousand Splendid Suns.

I do a lot of reading, and there are a lot of books that I don’t feel are worthy of typing out a full review.  But people, I finished this book two weeks ago, and I am still thinking about it.  That is the sign of a great book.  (By the way, I am not reviewing this book for any sort of compensation.  I just liked it so much that I thought y’all might like a good book to read too!)

The story covers the lives of two women in Afghanistan over the span of about 30 years.  It starts out a little slow, but eventually picks up the pace.  The author does a fantastic job of developing his characters and allowing you to feel a connection to them.  Hosseini does an even better job though of immersing you in the Afghan culture.  I must admit that I know very little about Afghanistan or other countries in the Middle East.  Ever since reading these books by Hossieni, my husband and I have been utterly fascinated with the culture in that part of the world.  Hosseini gives you a glimpse into the culture that I don’t think would be possible to obtain another way other than physically visiting the country.

If you are looking for a light-hearted book, this is not the one.  Many of the scenes are positively heartbreaking as Hosseini unfold a story about war and a society that does not value women.  I was often horrified to realize that while the story itself is fiction, these events really are taking place with real people on the other side of the world.  I actually feel the author is doing a great service to Afghanistan by writing such compelling books about it and bringing attention to the people there.  The country is not full of terrorists as the media would portray.  There are good people there who are victims of warlords and extremist ideas and a repressive society.

I gotta say, this book really made me appreciate my own life and especially my husband.  I often stopped to reflect on how very fortunate I am to live in a country where I can dress how I want, marry who I want to, go to school, hold a job, vote, and basically do whatever  the heck I want!  (aaannd…cue patriotic music in the background!)

Hosseini is a beautiful writer, often able to convey a complex idea or feeling in just a short phrase.  To me, the writing itself is just as important if not more important than the story line.  I think that is often the difference between an okay book and a great book, not to name any names…*cough* TWILIGHT *cough*…So far the author has only written two books, but I am anxiously awaiting for his next one to come out.  I would read anything he writes.

While the book was often sad and disturbing, I did really enjoy the ending…but I’m not going to say why!  You’ll have to find out for yourself.

The book is for a more mature audience.  There are a little bit of swearing, some sexuality, and some graphic images of war.  However, if you are looking for a book that will change your perspective and stay with you long after you finish it, I highly recommend A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Tags: A Thousand Splendid Suns, book review

Back to life

Well, I’m happy to report that the family has finally returned to a a healthy status.  Brady had to go back to the doctor early in the week because he still couldn’t hear, and it turned out his ears were still infected, even after a full round of antibiotics.  He got another shot of meds, but it’s been almost a week and he has yet to hear clearly out of his right ear.  It’s crazy to me what he has gotten sick with lately- RSV and ear infections.  It’s like I have another infant in the house.

I swear Claire came out the other side of her illness even cuter than before.  She truly lights up the room with her happy personality.  She has developed quite the sense of humor and jabbers all day long.  I could just eat her up, she is so stinking adorable.  I’m sure she’s getting tired of having me kiss her chubby cheeks, but I definitely can’t get enough.

So now it’s back to the daily grind of juggling schedules and racing from one place to the next as we try to go to class and work and fulfill our duties at home.  It is exhausting, but I do feel good knowing we are being productive and filling our time with good things.  Some days I don’t even realize there are people leading lives that allow for leisure time, until I hear someone mention they went shoe shopping or they went out to pick up a new necklace.  Shoe shopping?? I can’t even remember what it is like to browse through a store, looking for something to buy.  Occasionally I will try to squeeze in a few minutes of online shopping, but being able to actually wander around a store, touching and trying on merchandise, sounds like an absolute dream to me.  I’m sure someday we will reach that point again.  For now, it’s best if I just pretend a life like that doesn’t exist and that everyone spends their time either trapped in a classroom or trapped in a cubicle or running somewhere in between.  My alternate reality is quite the sanity-saver.

Tags: busy, daydreaming, family life

A rather sad little post. You’ve been warned…

I attempted to sit down on Tuesday and write a post, but I was literally too sleep deprived to even put two coherent words together.

I tried again on Thursday, but I suppose I was still too exhausted and burned out that I could hardly keep myself from banging my head on the keyboard and then falling asleep.

I guess what I’m saying is, it’s been a rough week.

Since the broccoli barf incident, things went steadily downhill until we reached the point where Claire was vomiting 10+ times a day from coughing so hard, lethargic, burning hot, and just the saddest little girl you’ve ever seen.  I thought my heart couldn’t break any more, until another puking episode required yet another bath.  As I set her down next to the bath to take off her onsie and diaper, her little legs were visibly shaking from being so weak and tears ran down her chubby cheeks.  I tried valiantly to fight back the tears myself, but my heart just couldn’t take it anymore.  Truly, there is nothing worse than seeing your child in pain or discomfort and not being able to do a single thing about it. 

On Sunday we went to the Urgent Care to see if we could get Claire back on the road to recovery, where they took chest x-rays and gave her injections of antibiotics and all sorts of other torturous things, only to discover a couple days later from her regular pediatrician that she was MISDIAGNOSED (AARGH!)  and I now have a several hundred dollar medical bill coming my way and my little girl did not get any better.   

So in the midst of all the not sleeping and barf cleaning and soothing and fretting and whatnot, Brady’s body decides the sinus/cough thing he had been fighting for a while just wasn’t enough.  On Tuesday night he suddenly started experiencing extreme pain in one of his ears, to the point where he was almost in tears.  After a few agonizing hours he felt a pop, some relief, and fluid began draining out.  I sent him to the doctor the next day and sure enough, he had an ear infection.  Later that night, the other ear did the same thing.  You should see his pillow after having fluid draining from both ears all night.  In fact, I could probably post a picture…what?  No?  That’s gross?  Well, that’s no fun.  So anyway, the man can’t hear much but is on the mend at least.

Add to the mix some stressful changes at work, and then summer semester starting for both of us yesterday!

WHEEEE!!!

How’s your week been?  Better, I hope!

Tags: sad mommy, sick child, sick husband, tough week

A healthy dose of birth control

Good news!  I figured out a way to get Claire to let me brush her teeth.  Apparently if I sing “Popcorn Popping” like a clown on crack she happily opens her mouth and lets me brush away.

In other news, she also came down with a nasty cough a couple nights ago.  The husband has actually been sick for weeks and finally went to the doctor to find out he had RSV, of all things, so there is a good chance that is what she has too.  At 10:00 PM we could hear the dreaded deep, strong, barky cough coming from her room.  It woke her up and caused her to cough so hard that she threw up all over the floor.  Poor girl.

Last night we went in to check on her around midnight and were punched in the face by the smell of vomit as soon as we walked in the room.  It seemed extremely odd, since we never heard anything aside from a little coughing, so there’s no way she actually threw up, right?  Upon closer inspection, we discovered vomit on her sheets.  We rolled her over and lo and behold, there was barf covering her pj’s, blanket, and hair.  It must have been a rather pleasant and peaceful experience for her this time around, because nary a peep did she make.  We woke her up, stripped her and the bed, and discovered chunks of broccoli barf dried in her hair…and on her cheek…and down her neck…and onto her back… and on her hands.

This is the kind of stuff they need to teach to crazy teenagers in sex ed classes.  Are you ready to clean up chunks of broccoli barf at midnight instead of partying with your friends?  ARE YOU? If that doesn’t scare them straight, I don’t know what will.

In the tub she went, the poor little thing bleary eyed and bewildered, wondering why she was woken up from a peaceful sleep and thrown into the water.

I sure do love being a mom and my little girl.  But if there was one thing I could eliminate from motherhood, it just might be cleaning up vomit.

What do you other parents think?  What would be the one gross/onerous task you would eliminate from daily life with kids?

Tags: barf, late nights, sick