A little E. Coli for the holidays

After 6 years of being together, Bryan's record of having never puked has been broken.
The poor guy has food poisoning.
Last night we were out doing some grocery shopping and running general errands when hunger struck. We were 20 minutes from home and still had two stores to hit. Thus, we decided to join the droves and go to a drive through. Being in Gig Harbor, our options are somewhat limited, and from where we were, we could chose Dairy Queen, Taco Time, KFC or McDonalds. Now to many of you, Dairy Queen may sound like a hideous choice and to me it usually would as well. But the one here is locally owned and is so spotless and lovely, that it is usually out first choice. It's designed after a 50s diner and they only use fresh ingredients, including real cheddar cheese- something you don't usually find in a fast food establishment.
Anyway, I ordered a regular cheeseburger meal, and enjoyed it whole-heartedly. It was juicy and delicious, and I told Bryan so as I ate it. Bryan did not enjoy his food with me however, as he opted against Dairy Queen, a mistake he is now regretting. (and you all thought he got sick from Dairy Queen.)

While I was eating mine, he was pulling into the drive-though of Taco-Time.
We generally stray from Taco Time, as we always end up with serious tummy troubles after; we call it "Taco-Slime" I reminded him of this as he pulled in. "Remember what happened last time you after here? You had an upset stomach." He said, "It's okay, I think I'm going to get a black bean burrito instead of beef this time."
Alright, I think to myself, you're a big boy, do what you must.
We pulled up to the speaker, the nice lady wished him a happy holiday and asked for his order. He ordered a jumbo BEEF burrito with two extra hot sauces. BEEF! I looked at him. "BEEF?" I asked. "Yeah," he said. "I changed my mind."
Okie dokie.
Cut to three hours later and he's writhing in pain on the couch, saying
"honey, I don't feel so good.
An hour later, he's bowing down to the toilet. I got him some pepto, handed him the trusty pink hospital bucket that has served me so well over the years, gave him a cool wet rag, and told him I was sorry.
It's almost noon and he's still in bed, in the guest room. I'm not sure at what point in the night he decided to leave our room and go to the guest room. At 3am he was still in ours running from the bed to the toilet, but when I was up this morning, he was in the other room, which means now the guest bathroom will also have to be cleaned.

I'm really hoping this is just a 24 hours food poisoning, as I know how much it sucks to get it, I've had both the roast-beef induced variety, as well as the pregnancy-induced kind. They feel pretty much the same, and I can tell you with the utmost authority that it sucks completely, and you feel completely miserable. Poor guy.

Hopefully if the temptation rises again, he will remember to resist the Taco Time.

Bryan received this from a co-worker today

I thought it was funny and thought I would share it...

***To all my Democrat friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.

To all my Republican friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!***


I'd like you all to know that even though we are "bleeding-heart, liberal, commie Democrats," we do in fact wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Sad News

My Auntie Joy passed away this afternoon. Please keep the family in your prayers during this difficult time.

Honey is a miracle drug

The prescription-strength cough meds weren't touching my barking cough. Robitussin isn't doing anything.
I remembered that honey is supposed to help, so I ate a teaspoon of straight honey. It was pretty gross, but after about 10 minutes, the cough subsided.
I find this very interesting.

The Vet Visit

So I got Evie and myself all dressed and ready. I grabbed the leash and called Puck. Both dogs clamored toward the door. I told them both to sit, both sat. I then said, "Puck, come" Portia charged me. I yelled at her, and told her to sit. She sat, Puck cowered. I told him to come. Portia charged me, Puck sat there. I again yelled at her told her to sit and stay, told him to come, but this time, I stuck my foot out against her chest, to hold her back while Puck bounded out the door.
I put him in the back of the jeep, strapped Evie in the car seat and off we went.

When we arrived at the vet, I unstrapped Evie, but left her in the car seat. I ran to the back and put his leash on him, then took him to the side to get Evie. As I reached in to grab her, he thought I was motioning to him to climb in, so he did. While I was trying to grab her, he tried to jump over my back into the side of the Jeep. I body checked him and he bounced back out of the car; I told him to sit. Then I untangled the leash and proceeded to grab Evie.

We walked into the vet's office, and by walk, I mean I walked, Puck bounced, while I pulled on him with one hand, gripping the baby with the other. I then spontaneously grew a third hand and opened the door.

Puck bounded in and put his paws up on the counter. I pushed him off and checked us in, while he bounced excitedly around us. All the while, I continued to shift Evie from hip to hip, rotating her away from wherever he was, as he was so excited, he kept trying to get up in her face.

The lady rushed us in to the little room and I let him roam around while I sat on the little bench that was built into the wall. The vet knocked on the door a few minutes later, and walked in. Puck barked at her, then whimpered and proceeded to try to climb into my lap, where Evie was sitting. Evie laughed, Puck cried and I rolled my eyes. The vet was cautious, and although she tried to get him to come, he continued to try to climb up behind me, or into my lap anytime she approached him. So Puck had to be examined in the back with the help of two techs. The exam room I was sitting in shared a wall with the back area, so I heard the trouble they had to go through just to take his temperature. It sounded like they were trying to hog tie an elephant, rather than examine a 60lb dog. There was banging, scuffling, howling, whining, and a lot of laughter. When she brought him back in, and he climbed back up on the bench, and leaned against me.

Anyway, all this to find out that he's fine. He's not sick, no bacteria, he's not showing any signs of having eaten anything bad. The assumption is that he's suffering from some major anxiety since his "man" is away. It seems all of Bryan's treating him like a baby has turned him into an anxiety-ridden spaz.

You have got to be freaking kidding me.

He's not sleeping in my room tonight, that's all I've got to say.

4:45am, Wednesday

Dog? You betcha. Just started puking in front of the dresser 5 minutes ago. I'm now sitting on the couch waiting for him to finish outside so I can go back to bed, hoping the baby doesn't wake up.
Bryan soooooo owes me.


***UPDATE***
5:25 am: Evie is awake and crying. I had hoped she'd go back to sleep, but that dream has since died. I'm now waiting on her bottle to warm. The washing machine is already running as the bathroom floor mats seem to have fallen victim to Puck in the night.
It's gonna be one of those days, I fear.

10:00am: We're going to the Vet. It has been a looong morning.

PS: My cough has now progressed to a bark; I sound like a harbor seal. You know you wish you could come visit our how right now, don't you?

Day two...the dog continues to punish me

Bryan is still in Los Angeles on his horrid last minute, week-before Christmas business trip. His wonderful dog woke me again this morning at 5am. This time he at least had the courtesy to nose me frantically and whimper, so that I again had to run groggily down the stairs, turn off the alarm and let him out before he had an accident. He didn't need to yak, this time he needed to do something a little south of the border. I am thankful he went outdoors.
He seemed fine the rest of the day. Ate his breakfast without delay, and ran around outside very happily.
After her midday nap, Evie and I left to do some final Christmas shopping and to pick up the girls after school. After a rather uneventful evening with the kids, I put Evie to bed at 7:30 and went into my room to change into my jammies for a night of brainless TV watching. I turned on my light to find a pool of dog yak waiting for me; it had obviously been there for a while, but was not there this morning when I went in my room to get my shoes. It was right in the middle of the floor, in front of my dresser.

My room now smells of carpet cleaner fumes, and I've currently got a tent city of paper towels over the wet stained areas, so to remind myself not to step on them. I've already stepped in the solution and soaked my socks a few times. It is taking more than a few rounds of Resolve to get the nasty dog puke stain out of my white bedroom carpet...(whoever put white carpet in this house obviously did not anticipate any humans or animals of any kind every taking residence in this house.)
Although it's quite chilly outside, I've got the window wide open and the fan blowing to help with the carpet cleaner smell.

For a dog who has never had an accident in the house, (since he was a puppy) this most recent turn of events is most annoying.
Especially when it is obvious that he didn't even try to come downstairs to go out, he just did it in my room, in front of my dresser.
I can't decide if he is really sick, or if he is just eating something in the yard, and then puking (every time, in the same spot) to somehow punish me for bringing the baby into the house and sending his man away.
If he is still sick tomorrow, I will call the vet. Although I am telling you, it's not like he's laying around as though he feels bad. He seems fine, until 5am when all of a sudden, he has an emergency situation.
I would like to point out that it was exactly two years ago, (a week before Christmas) that Bryan brought this dog home from California, and then left again to go back, leaving him in my care. The dog came complete with dysentery and giardia and was deathly ill the entire time Bryan was gone. Come to think of it, I had whooping cough then....
Interesting...

An update on the Scott sick house

After a rough weekend, Evie's fever finally broke, and she seems to be feeling better. I'm still coughing up a lung, and I sound like I've been smoking for 80 years, but other than that, we're starting to feel better.
I'd like to say however that there is nothing more magical than waking up to the sound of a dog puking all over the room. Two mornings in a now, we've awoken to the dog puking. Of course Bryan is in Los Angeles now, so I had the pleasure at 5:30 this morning to drag the puking dog down the stairs and push him out the back door. I then grabbed the bottle of carpet cleaner and went back upstairs to scrub my bedroom floor...at 5:30am.
I'm currently washing the floor mat that usually sits in front of the sliding door. Bryan wants me to take him to the vet, but the dog is currently bounding around the back yard, barking at the squirrels, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he either ate something bad, or he has a tummy bug, and I'm going to hold off on trying to deal with the 70 pound puker and the 15 pound baby at the same time. At least this morning. We'll see how it goes.

A house full of sickness

To add serious insult to injury, I've been fighting bronchitis for a little over a week now and am on day-three of antibiotics. Evie is now running a fever of 100 degrees. We're giving her Tylenol and watching her closely. Bryan is supposed to leave for LA tomorrow night, and I'm a little apprehensive about the entire situation. I'm just hoping she isn't developing bronchitis as well, since that is dangerous for the little ones.

Evie meets Santa

Some Sad News

My Auntie Joy, (my Grandma Janet's sister, Nancy's mom, owner of the cabin) had a stroke earlier in the week which has now been declared fatal by the doctors. They are now taking steps to keep her comfortable in the hospital.
Please keep my grandma, Nancy, My uncle Everett (Joy's husband) and the rest of the family in your thoughts and prayers as we go through this difficult time.

What happens when you refuse to snooze

You get C-R-A-N-K-Y.

Wow, we really aren't all about stuff, I swear...

I just posted about losing my iPod, and scanned over the last few posts and realized that if someone were to read my blog for the first time, and didn't know me at all, they'd think I was one heck of a stereotypical materialistic housewife, concerned with how much stuff to attain for the best price.
Those of you who know me, know this isn't who I am at all, (I would hope,) but as it's the holiday season, and winter, it seems I've been in need of a winter coat for Evie, something to wear to a company Christmas party, and of course some holiday decor.

I assure you, I don't spend my days sipping lattes and spending my husband's hard-earned money. In fact, I can't tell you when the last time was that I even had a latte for that matter. And when I do spend money, it's usually at Costco on diapers, toilet paper, and a roasted chicken.

Please don't tell me "doth protest too much."

Gone missing...

I am sad to say my iPod has gone missing. I had it in Spokane, I remember showing it to Carolyn in her living room. Then I remember picking it up, and sliding it into the little pocket in which it usually resides in my purse/diaper bag. It hasn't been seen since. Bryan and I have both gone through the Jeep, diaper bag, all my jeans and jacket pockets. It is in none of those places. We also made a call to Carolyn, and they have gone through their house as well, just to make sure; it has not been seen.
Of course, Bryan was immediate to point out "I always tell you to buckle the straps on your bag so nothing falls out...this is why."
Ummm...yes, dear-heart, thank you for that object lesson. Ahem.

Anyway, I am sad, as my iPod was my music source, and I had it all customized to my preferences. Not to mention I saved and saved, and bought the thing for my birthday two years ago, and let's not discuss the price.
I'm not one to lose things, everything has it's place, and I am usually very anal about putting things in their place. As I said, I remember sliding the iPod in it's little pocket. It must have slid out. Ugh.
And of course this is all made worse by the fact that yes, Bryan and I are in constant battle over the fact that I never buckle the buckles on my bag, I just fling the flap over the top. Now, here I am, Ipod-less, him annoyed at me and self-righteous all at once.
Why do they have to make those things so darn small, skinny and slippery anyway?

Happy Birthday Skylend!

As you can see, it's my nephew Skylend's 2nd birthday. I can't believe how fast the time has gone.

Why her middle name is Virginia...

She's obviously not yet been poisoned by her mother, who has a much different reaction when facing the mirror in the dressing room.

Evie's new coat

This is what we found; it was the smallest one we could find, but at least it was on sale at Old Navy for $20. It's huge, and makes her arms stick out like the kid in "A Christmas Story." She hates it, and grunts and cries in disgust when we put her in it, but at least she stays warm and dry during transport.

Decking the halls for under $30

Fake Evergreen Garland= $3.58/9 ft. x2
Fake Evergreen Wreath= $2.99
Wooden jingle bell garland= $4.00
Rusty Ornaments $.60 x 5
Glass Ornaments= Had in a box, wasn't using due to dogs and baby.
Wire Ribbon= $3.49/spool
"E" pin for Evie's stocking $1.98
Stockings= We've had these for 3 years (even Evie's) but they were $5 when I bought them
Clothespins= Had in the laundry room
Thumbtacks= Had in the office

Finally feeling the holiday spirit= Priceless

(I can't take credit for this...Melissa used to work at Michael's and knew how to do crafty things, like tie ribbon bows and use ribbon to affix ornaments.)

To Spokane in Back in 24 hours or less

We went to Spokane this weekend to celebrate Christmas with Sara and Joey and Steph's Dad. We were also there to commemorate Skylend's 2nd birthday, which is actually on the 12th.
We left Friday morning at 8:30, drove directly to Spokane, with a quick stop in Ritzville for a Zips burger, some gas, and a diaper change. I then crawled in the back with Evie and gave her a bottle while we continued down the road (which is oh, so convenient!)

Upon arrival in Spokane, we went to Gina's house to have a quick visit. She was my elementary school music teacher, and also a life-long close friend of my mom's. Last week, she was hanging Christmas lights and fell of the ladder, shattering the bones below her knee, which resulted in serious surgery and wires, screws and plates. Very painful, indeed. So we drove to her house so she could finally meet Evie, and we could visit her.

Then, we drove to Meadowridge elementary school, (5 minutes from Gina's house, and where she works) my mom's school, so we could show Evie to the staff who had been so faithful in helping and visiting in my mom's last year. We spent about an hour hanging out after school, mostly visiting in the preschool with the ladies with whom my mom worked.

After Meadowridge, we drove up to Sara and Joey's for dinner and Christmas extravaganza. We stayed until around 8:30 pm, and then headed over to Jason and Carolyn Stuart's for the night. Jason & Carolyn have been family friends since the last 1970s, so they've known me my whole life. Also, Carolyn was my piano teacher.
We were up until 2am talking and sharing. Saturday morning we had a wonderful breakfast and sat around and talked until past noon.

Then, we left and headed out to the Valley to visit another family friend from my entire life, Kathy Jones. She has a beautiful home that was built in the 1800s. They have been restoring and remodeling it, and I hadn't seen it in years, so she gave us a tour and then we visited for about an hour. Sadly I forgot my camera in the car and didn't realize this until we had already hit the road back to the harbor.

It was nice to see everyone, but it was fast and by the time we hit the pass, Evie had just about enough of the trip and her car seat. I had to ride the rest of the way in the back seat and try to convince her to stay calm. The horribly-synthesized baby-Einstein CD is what saved us, so the remainder of the trip was spent listening to awful baby muzac, which she loved.

Sunday, after sleeping in as long as Evie would allow, and then just taking her to our bed and letting her squirm around while we continued to lay there, we got up at 11:30. Our friends Chris and Melissa came over, and Melissa and I left Evie with the boys while we went to find me an outfit for Bryan's work Christmas party. They boys spent the day watching movies, drinking beer and playing with Evie. Melissa spent the day talking me out of a nervous breakdown, and after 4 hours in the mall 3 weeks before Christmas, we left, defeated, not a single purchase in hand. Then, we went to Michael's so I could spend a few dollars to deck my halls, as I was feeling they were still not festive enough. I'm happy to report that my house is now much more festive and I feel better, even though I still haven't got a thing to wear to this blooming party next week.

Finally! Out of the Car Seat!

Visiting Spokane friends

Evie with Gina (Grandma Ginny's very good friend, recovering from leg surgery)

Evie with the Preschool Ladies (Where Grandma Ginny used to work)


Evie with Jason and Carolyn Stuart (Who have known mommy since before she was born)

Christmas in Spokane

Ther aren't enough curse words...

I finally got a hold of technical support yesterday after spending the majority of Evie's afternoon nap on hold. I went through the whole entire process with the man. He talked me through all the possible problems, had me change more settings, and then he had me start completely over. I did everything he told me to do. I put probably 5 or 6 hours into this new DVD, then my computer spent another 10 or 12 hours encoding and recording, etc, etc, etc,. The DVD just finished "burning." The computer spit it out. I put it in the DVD player, and there's nothing on it.
I just don't even know what to say anymore, but I'm done for a while.

Getting Evie up from a nap

Time to lower the pack n' play...

Something from my mom...

These belonged to my mom. I'm not a big fan of "Cherished Teddies" (or really any little collectibles) as a general rule. For Christmas however, they must be on prominent display, as they make me smile and think of my mom and her HUGE collection all over her house. She knew the "name" of every single one name, and when and from where she had procured them. When she passed, everyone in the family took a few for their homes. I have these Christmas guys, and one little teacher bear.

Will someone plug me in?

I was purchased last year without authorization, and although Stephanie is philosophically opposed to me, I remain in the front yard. If I must be here, will someone at least plug me in?

A glimpse at the Scott-family Christmas tree

The computer saga continues

I've been on hold with technical support twice today. Once this morning for a good 20 minutes, but the baby woke up while I was on hold, so I had to go get her and feed her and change her, etc. so I hung up on them. This afternoon, once I got her down, and the bottle washed and other stuff I needed to do done but couldn't while I was tending to her needs, I dialed Apple again. I've been holding now for almost 30 minutes. (I should have dialed as soo as I put her down, then carried the phone around while doing other stuff...ahem.)
Another 15 minutes and Evie will most likely be awake, and I'll have to hang up again. 'Cause talking to technical support man while holding/entertaining a wiggly baby does not a happy person make.

PROFANITY!!!!

I've invested at least 15 hours in the last week transferring video from tapes to DVDs, using my very expensive, specially built for video production, MAC Power Book. The program has been giving me trouble and after fighting with the $#*&%$ computer for several hours, I finally shut down to try again.
At 2:30 I clicked "burn DVD" I just canceled the process, since it was still thinking and it has now been 4 hours.
I screamed a few words, threatened to throw the computer out the window, only to discover that the 4 DVDs I've already made actually don't work. At all. Nothing. You put them in the DVD player, and nothing happens. You put them in the computer, and a little window pops up that says "you've inserted a blank DVD, what would you like to do?"
OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH. I'm so mad, I could spit.
Not only am I just irritated that the process is taking so freaking long and not working like it should, but the tapes I'm transferring are those of my mom in her last year before she died. I've avoided them for two years, but decided that for Christmas this year, I'd finally transfer them for my siblings. It is very emotional for me to go through each tape, and now that I've done it, I have to start all over again. I'd just send them in, but the photo place and kinkos wants $20/hour tape, and I have like 6 or 7 tapes I need transferred.
Anyway, I thought technology was supposed to help, not hinder.

What, no coats?!?

As you may have seen on the news, we are having a major storm. Well, I just call it a regular storm, since we've had the same size storm, with the same-size damage every year we've lived here. Regardless of these facts, the the local news stations insist on interrupting my regularly scheduled programming about every 10 minutes to tell me that it is still raining and the wind is still blowing at hurricane-speeds outside, and another street is under water, and another mudslide has happened.
Let me be clear, it is truly horrible for those people who have lost their homes in the storm and or mudslides, and I feel very, very bad for them.
But it is the Pacific Northwest, and we do live in a a rain forest, so I'm not sure why we always act surprised when it rains and urban areas begin to flood. This is also how I feel about people in Florida who don't expect the hurricanes, but I digress.
So, anyway, we bought a cute little coat for Evie at the Nordstrom anniversary sale this summer. We bought it big, anticipating she'd need it in the winter months. It's pink, fuzzy, very warm, and we got if to $15. What we didn't anticipate, (and how this slipped our minds, I will never know) is the fact that the warm fuzzyness is not conducive to Pacific Northwest rainstorms. So when we departed to the grocery store this weekend, I had her bundled in her regular clothes, with a little beanie hat and hoodie, and then the pink fuzzy coat over the top of it. From our porch to the jeep in the driveway, she was soaked. The fuzzy coat has absorbed the rain like a little pink sponge.
I have subsequently been on the hunt for a coat for her, which apparently does not exist. We don't have an infant-carrier car seat, we just have a regular car seat, where we physically put her in and out of the car. She seems to enjoy it, and it works out great for us. Apparently however, most folks just put their babies in the infant carriers, and then cover it with the little plastic rain shields made accordingly.
But what about the babies who don't sit in those things? Do they not need water protection? I even searched at REI, thinking, surely they'd have something incredibly overpriced that would work. Nope. Nothing for kids younger than 12 months; this has been true for every baby clothes store I've found. Apparently babies 12 months and younger don't go outside in the rain. I would usually just use a blanket, but we live in the Pacific Northwest, it's going to be raining for quite while now, I don't want to have soaking, soggy blankets every time I need to go to the store or the doctor's. And so, the great coat hunt continues. I fear I may have to go to the fabric store and fashion one for her...but that sounds like just way too much work, and something that would require a lot of profanity.

So far, so good

In case you've been seeing footage of storm-watch 2007, just wanted to let you know that we're okay.
Other than our main road being flooded, requiring a 20 minute-detour, we've been mostly unaffected by the storm. Hopefully this will remain the case, and we don't repeat last year's events, when we lost power for over a week.

Look who's 5 months old!

Snow!!!

Happy December! It's SNOWING here! We took Evie outside so she could see her first snow, she seemed rather perplexed by the whole thing.