April 29, 2006
Tick Tock .... Saturday is for Cartoons
Waiting on Zoe to wake up. She's so funny. She gets up at the crack of crack and comes busting right into my room. She always looks so cute because she'd rather wear one of my t-shirts than her pajamas.
I passed out last night around 8:30. Zoe tucked me in, but this time, she lay right next to me on my arm and fell right asleep. It was so sweet and made me cry. She was so adorable and hyper all afternoon, and here she was. So still. Her breath on my neck. Her little hand in mine. Her hair was clean and smelled wonderful. She'd open her sleepy eyes and look at me and then close them. Like she had to check to see if I was still there. I don't know how long we slept like that, but Mom brought her back into her room. I'm telling you. It's the little things.
Zoe was funny yesterday. She had some weird song she was singing when she was eating dinner. Like Boom Lakka Ala Boom Boom or something. She loved mom's beef stroganoff and was all smiling when she was eating. Then she asked for some bread and butter. (our favorite is Orowheat's Oat Nut bread). I swear it tastes like cake it's so good.
So mom said that she should get the bread and butter and a knife. Mom reminded her to be careful with the butter dish because the bottom isn't connected. My poor girl was trying, carrying it with two hands, but ended up dumping the entire stick of butter right onto the carpet. I felt bad for her, but we didn't make a big deal. Mom just cleaned it up. Sometimes it really is an accident. I liked it that mom didn't get mad. Zoe's so sensitive lately.
After dinner I just kind of lost it. It was the weirdest feeling. I took all my meds and then was just like lethargic. We watched a bit of What Not to Wear and then I just had to immediately go to sleep. My nurse told me I need to really try to rest more. I think with all this rain today, it might be a movie day. I am also going to try to do some yoga with Zoe, aka Zoga. I have a DVD called "Yoga for the Rest of Us." It's supposed to be for people who can't bend like a pretzel.
[aside] I am still taking steroids for my graft vs. host in my stomach. They are causing some bad side effects, but they are slowing trying to get me off them. In the meantime I have the horrific moon-puffy face and swelling in my knees. Has anyone dealt with this before and is there anything I can take/do to make the swelling go away? I'm not sure if I can take any meds for it, but just was curious. The swelling in my face is uncomfortable and at times actually painful. And the swelling in my knees makes it difficult to walk.
It's pouring down rain right now. There are tornado watches around us. I love the rain. It is great sleeping weather.
BTW, when you are doing the debu_shuffle, your pedometer doesn't pick up the steps. I wondered why I walked my butt off yesterday and only had like 400 steps. I'll have to make an effort to move correctly so it gets counted.
I hope that you all were a little bit challenged this week to do some healthy stuff. I'm going to ask Sis #1 to help me set up the Debu_team for the President's challenge. It's not that hard to do, but for those of you who want to check in, it's just a little added incentive. I mean, hey, what kind of fitness challenge lets you get points for housework and gardening and stuff? It's important to move.
I can do this. Especially because I hear Zoe on her way to bust in here!!!! AYYYYYY CARUMBA!
Your assignment today is to finish up your food planning challenge (if you are participating). Hope you have a decent grocery store - bleh. Also, another assignment - just as Zoe dropped the butter, remind yourself that not everything is a big deal. You screw something up, it's not the end of the world. Most of the time, things *can* be repaired. And it's worth it to pick your battles. It's not worth it to your health to get upset over the little things. Try really hard today to keep your cool.
I love you internets. Especially my Shoshie and the girls. I wish Grace was here to play with Zoe. Zoe has a huge basket with all kinds of markers and crayons. All day inside raining is a great day to color.
My face hurts from smiling so much last night. It was 2am and I wasn't sleeping, but my face just hurt from smiling.
Posted by debutaunt at April 29, 2006 07:39 AM(((((Hugs)))) to Zoe for making you smile so much your face hurts.
I went grocery shopping this morning. Ugh. Feeding a family of 5 (3 boys) is no easy thing!
If the neighbors saw us carting the stuff in from the car, I'm sure they'll think the grocery store went out of business...
I'm all set though :)
Have awesome days!
Posted by: Gracie at April 29, 2006 10:35 AMHI Deb,
i've felt the same way about "accidents". They are THINGS and things can be replaced or repaired. There is no sense in blowing a gasket over a Thing, life is to short.
Enjoy your rainy day. N. Texas weather made the Boston Globe, "Storms batter North Texas with wind, hail". I hope you are safe and sound.
Enjoy your time with the Zoe, she is so cute.
Peace
Thanks Queen-have a wicked fun day with Zoe.
We love you also.
Shoshie
Posted by: Shoshie at April 29, 2006 12:01 PMI love you too Shoshie! And for the Queen: I don't wanna do the meal prep thing! LOL I've got my parents house inside my house right now and preparing anything is a pain in the ass soooooooo, I think I'll just commit (NOT be committed!) to going through more boxes and sorting, throwing out, giving away etc etc! There is only so much overwhelmed a person can handle darlin'. Hugs to you and the Zoester! MWAH!
Posted by: Traci at April 29, 2006 12:17 PMHi Deb - I'm de-lurking because I have a suggestion about the swelling. Do whatever you can to eliminate as much salt as possible from your diet. This is hard, but it really should help. You'll have ti ready every single label on all the food you buy. Things like cottage cheese have quite a lot of salt - who knew? It's not hard to cook without salt because you can you other seasoning, but almost all prepared food has plenty of salt in it.
Also, drink as much water as you possibly can. Then drink some more. It sounds counter-intuitive, but one of the best ways to reduce swelling is hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
best of luck, me dear. i'm a big fan of yours and i think about you every day.
-elizabeth
Posted by: elizabeth at April 29, 2006 04:30 PMOh, how wonderful is it that your face hurts from smiling? (And not fake smiling like a beauty pageant contestant, but honest to goodness happy smiling.)
That's a great reminder to watch out for one's temper, especially around kids. It can be so damaging to them.
Posted by: karen at April 29, 2006 08:02 PMI've gotta try that bread!
Youngest just dropped a big glass bowl of pasta with red sauce on the kitchen floor...SMASH.
He started to get upset and said:
I'm so so sorry!
We all just hugged him.
Posted by: blackbird at April 29, 2006 08:21 PMhere in the house of the 3-year-old, we have a lot of 'oh, that's ok, we can wash it.' altho, that was NOT what i said the other day when i caught her markering the palms of her hands.
that was the opportunity for the 'accident' vs. 'on purpose' object lesson, lol.
hope you and zoe are still smiling ear to ear. xo
Posted by: kristin at April 29, 2006 08:46 PMYES! Pick your battles. That is the best advice I could ever give to any parent...or anybody else, for that matter. And the little one's are just trying so hard to please us and be like us and they are bound to make mistakes. It truly breaks their little hearts when they do!
And oh, boy! We got that storm blowing through San Antonio about 2:30 this morning! It was wicked, but so cool! Then it blew on through and left us with a gorgeous day! It's been Fiesta all week, and we ended up at the King William Art Festival...beautiful day!
You definitely need more rest...I know...easier said than done! lol! Would drinking more water help with the swelling...like, washing it out and getting things moving...or would it just make it worse? When I was pregnant and had horribly swollen ankles, someone told me to drink plain water with lemon in it...no sugar or anything else added. I know that is a COMPLETELY different situation, but I'm just wondering...
Rest up and feel better soon!
Posted by: Lauri at April 29, 2006 08:56 PMI think that others have said it best:
eliminate as much salt as possible
drink a ton and a half of water
get lots of rest (ok this one might not help with the swelling but its good for you.
Enjoy cartoons with Zoe - Sunday Mornings are good for breakfast in bed and lots of cartoons!
Posted by: Michelle at April 29, 2006 09:27 PMJust recently started reading you. Had to delurk...my 6 year old daughter and I love that bread, AND that t.v. show! How old is Zoe? What a beauty! Love the smell of my girls hair as well. Hope you get to feeling better soon. Wish I had read your post before she used a half a bottle of glue on thin paper this morning glueing beads and sequins and glitter to it...but mostly the table and chair she was sitting on....oh well...great reminder..you're a great Mom.
Posted by: Annie Hall at April 29, 2006 10:14 PMAWWW reading about your sweet Zoe falling asleep right next to you brought tears to my eyes. I am so glad that you are enjoying "the moments" (that's from some movie but my 41 year old brain can't remember which one . . :-)
Hugs to you and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
You can't bend like a pretzel? Huh.
I'm sorry about the swelling. Sucky. :(
Posted by: Kami at April 29, 2006 11:47 PMJust saying hi, my Queen. Spent the day with my own little princess, turning her room into a horse-lover's dream. Well, getting started anyway. It's nice to hear about you spending time with your little princess, too.
Posted by: eclectic at April 29, 2006 11:56 PMWith my wife on days, me on nights, her working this weekend, me working next Saturday while she's off, planning too far ahead just doesn't work.
Cooked my first stir fry on Friday before I went to work, it was her day off...
Tonight when she came home from work I had "country style ribs" baked with a barbecue rub ready in the oven, sauteed a couple of onions, and fixed a small batch of fries to go with them, then a 3 berry shortcake for dessert.
Tomorrow when she comes home I'll have my second stir fry done when she gets out of the shower, it will be a honey chicken recipe I found in a wok cookbook.
Then it's back to our seperate worlds again...
Glad you are getting stronger and enjoying your time with Zoe!
Thinking of you...
alan
Posted by: alan at April 30, 2006 12:56 AMYou probably don't remember, but my fiance's daughter has been going through the whole GVHD since Sept of 2003 and is finally weaned off the 'roids. Her face and knees "swole up" on her, too. While water and lower sodium is good for you, this is a different kind of swelling, a byproduct of the meds. We found that heating pads on her knees helped relieve the pressure of the swelling. Didn't make it go down much, but it made her feel better.
Hope it helps! And hurting from smiling isn't all that bad.
~Dana
Posted by: Dana at April 30, 2006 08:22 AM