Carli and the Great H1N1 Virus

Maybe we should write a book!
Last night at dinner, we weighed our options with the Tamiflu, and Steve, who also happens to be a Dr, convinced me to go ahead and give it to her, but to give it to her along with food that I would not mind cleaning up later. So I let her have ice cream (hey, she's sick) and gave her the medicine. She seemed to keep it down for about 30 minutes, then came and asked me to put her to bed. But it was only 7:30. I thought, maybe she is just tired from being sick, she didn't sleep all day. Well, 15 minutes after she was in bed, we heard her crying. Sure enough, the pediatrician was right, she threw it all up. And then threw up about 3 more times. We changed sheets, pajamas, sheets, pajamas until about 11:30, then she fell asleep. But she was unable to keep the Motrin down, so she woke up with a fever of 103, sore throat, and dizziness. Mark had to carry her from the bathroom to the couch this morning. I gave her Motrin at 8:15 and her fever has dropped to 101.4, which to her, is okay because she is happily playing and drinking right now. I am so glad the Motrin works for her, I have heard some kids keep the high fever despite the Motrin or Tylenol. Her lungs sound clear, too. So far, so good. It would have been nice if the Tamiflu had worked for her, but it didn't so we will just have to ride it out.

I find myself a little annoyed with the whole Tami flu experience. Nobody has ever told me that it would make you this sick, or that some people just can't take it. It has kind of been marketed as a quick fix, don't worry if you get it, you can take Tami flu and it cuts your symptoms and duration time in half, as long as you get it in that first 48 hours of symptoms. I work in a major hospital, were this flu has been on the forefront of all our meetings and discussions, and I did not know this. Is it a secret? Even the pharmacist didn't mention it!

Have a good day everyone-I will keep you up to date on Carli's recovery!

H1N1 formally known as Swine Flu as invaded our home!

So it is. I have been really careful about following all the CDC recommendations at work. I wear the mask that is so tight and uncomfortable it leaves marks on your face for an hour after you get home. Not to mention the goggles, the gown, the gloves. Oh well. Turns out Carli brought it home from school. She is really miserable, too. I have Tamiflu for her, and I gave her the first dose, but I have to tell you, it tastes like ass. I got her to take it tonight, but twice a day for 5 days...I don't know how I will con her into taking it again! She really has a mild case, 100 degree fever, runny nose, that typical H1N1 barking cough, but she really hardly ever gets sick, so she feels really bad.
In fact, she put herself to bed at 7:30 tonight.
Courtney and I are supposed to meet Brandi at Parents weekend at Washington and Lee friday night. We will have to see how Carli is tomorrow.
On a happier note, Courtney ran the cross country district meet today, and did really well. Her best time is 24 minutes and 47 seconds. But today she finished in 22 minutes and 44 seconds, two minutes off her personal record, or PR as they call it! They run a little over 3 miles in those meets-she did really well and we are very proud of her.
Have a great weekend!

Aaahhhhh....What a relaxing weekend. I was invited this weekend to a "girl's weekend" at my friend Jodie's vacation home at Smith Mountain Lake. Those of you who have read my blog, have surely seen the pics and heard the stories of our trips to the lake to visit the Fauld's. But this weekend was just for the girl's. The grown-up girls, of course. Jodie has done this before, and she tries to kind of "mix it up" with different friends at different times. Last year we had a different crowd and it was so much fun, but this year it was different. Jodie had invited two friends, one from Long Island and one from New York. From Richmond there was me, Caren, and our good friend Fiona. The overall mood was different right from the start. Right away, we all clicked. We talked so much about every topic. Spirituality, organized religion, books, music, art, gardening-so many topics-it was like a weekend talk show. We laughed and danced and covered concerns with our kids and gave each other advice-it was amazing. We arrived there as strangers, not really knowing what to expect, but we left as friends. Thanks Jodie, for a great weekend, and for being such a great friend.

Homecoming '09

Last night was Cosby High School's homecoming dance. They had the game friday night and it was a cold, rainy night. Alex was home for the weekend, (thank god!) so he took Courtney and friends to the game. He had enough about and hour into it and came home to wait for them to call him for a ride home! They were home about and hour later, way before the game was over. Saturday night was still cold and wet for the dance.
Mark was gone this weekend on a golf trip, so I was so glad Alex was here-he was a huge help. Caren came over at 4pm to stay with Carli and Ruby, and Alex and I took 18 kids out to dinner before the dance! Luckily, one of Courtney's friends mom, Sandy, stayed and had dinner with us and was a big help. I had to leave early to get to the school-I was a ticket taker-very important assignment that apparently was going to take an hour of training before the dance. So Alex and Sandy drove all the kids to someone else's house for pictures, and then on to the dance. After all that, Alex went home, stayed with Carli until I got home at 10:15, then went back out at 11:30, picked up Courtney and Rebecca, and brought them home for me. He was awesome!
The dance was a lot of fun, and I managed the ticket taking and ID checking without any difficulty. It was really fun to see all these kids that have grown up that I remember from elementary school. Some of them I didn't even recognize until I saw their names on the tickets! And some of them were showing me a drivers' license for ID, which is very bizarre.
So today, we just took it easy and did nothing all day. Alex woke up with a raging case of pink eye, which he has never had before and caused a moment of panic this morning when he woke up-but he is okay-he left at about 4 so he could get back to school before the clinic closed because they will give him eye drops there. I made him some white chili and a batch of brownies to take back with him, so he was happy.
So a good time was had by everyone this weekend. Mark will be home soon, and we are leaving the kids home and going out to dinner with friends. Have a great week!

Luray, 2009

So once again, this weekend, as we have done for the last 7 years, we packed up the kids and headed to the mountains of Virginia. We have gone here for years, with different friends, by ourselves, with the Daisy scout troop, in pop-up campers, fifth wheel campers and cabins. It is a really nice campgrounds and very pretty. We have, for the last 5 or 6 years, had a cabin that we reserve every year, or we have friends that rent it every year for the same weekend in October. The whole month of October is Halloween at Jellystone park. Everyone decorates their campsite and then there is trick or treating in the evening. After all that and dinner, we make a big fire and sit outside until late into the night. Courtney has brought her best friend Lee with us for four years, and our friends the Faulds and the Swartz family come, also. Sometimes my sister is there, or my cousin, it just depends on everyones schedule, but we have been based at this one campsite for the last 7 years. It is so much fun. We have had chili cook-offs, years of haunted house and trick or treating fun, not to mention wonderful gourmet meals and wine pairings! This year they added a big bouncy thing, kind of like a trammpoline that sits on the ground that Carli just loved. We are also close to the playground, which makes her very happy.Courtney and Lee are old enough to wander the campground and check things out on their own-and Allison, this year, was old enough at 5 to make the trek across the field to our cabin all by herself! Check out the pics-they are so cute!

Hello again-

I have been updating the blog only once a week, with the kids back in school and us back to our regular work schedules, there really isn't that much to talk about!
Next weekend we have our annual camping trip to Luray in the Shenandoah mountains, that's always fun and I am sure there will be plenty of pictures to post and stories to tell when we get back!
Courtney has adjusted well to high school, she is having fun and enjoying being on the cross country team. Last Saturday they ran in Williamsburgh at William and Mary, this week they went to Leesburg, Va. She did really well at both meets, and ran varsity this last weekend. She is a superstar!
Carli has also adjusted well, she doesn't seem to mind the new school or the longer bus ride. We are very happy with her new school and teachers. Last week she did discover the clinic, though. Mark was out of town and I was really busy at work. Mark called and said Carli was in the clinic and I might need to go pick her up. I was in a procedure, had two more scheduled and was already running 20 minutes behind. He called Caren and asked her if she could go pick her up, and of course, she dropped everything and went to get her. Well, long story short, Carli was very happy to see that if you go to the clinic and lie down for awhile, your very favorite Caren comes to pick you up and take you home! Well, of course, Carli was fine and was not even the littlest bit sick. So on Monday, the teacher calls me again and says Carli is not feeling well. I said "No way, she thinks Caren is coming to rescue her-send her back to class!" and that was it. She hasn't gone back to the clinic yet. She is so sneaky, that Carli!
Last night Mark and I went to dinner with our friends, Greg and Christine, then we went to see Jerry Seinfeld. I tried to take an illegal picture for you guys, but it didn't turn out. But I did get a lovely shot of the sushi we ate before we went!! Enjoy!

Just what I have been waiting for...

You may be wondering why I have a big travel cup on the blog. I have, for years, been in search of the perfect travel cup. Perfect, to me, means it can go in the dishwasher. I have looked everywhere for a nice dishwasher safe cup for taking to work in the morning. Caren heard about this cup at work the other day and ran right out to get us both one! It is called a Contigo. She got it at Costco-two in a pack for $20! What a deal! Keeps your coffee hot for hours, doesn't leak,dishwasher safe-I heart it!
As for my near-death experience the other day with the blood pressure issues, as soon as I stopped taking the birth control pills, the issue resolved itself. It took no time to get it out of my system. I got all my labs in the mail and everything was perfect. So, I am back to thinking I am 20 instead of 41. I must admit, I did enjoy the diuretic that I took for two days-it helped me shed a delightful 4 pounds! Tomorrow I am getting back outside for a good long run and I can't wait!
Courtney had a cross country meet in Williamsburg today at William and Mary. I didn't go because Mark is in Pennsylvania moving his mother into assisted living. She had to leave at 5am, so we were up at 4:45. They all ride the team bus anyway, but I still would have like to have gone. Getting up at 4:30 and getting dressed and driving to Williamsburg would not have been a good time for Miss Carli. She spent the day entertaining herself with her movies, swing set, painting and playing with Ruby. Courtney ran well, and then they all went to lunch and got home at about 4pm.
It's just a quiet weekend with the girls-last night Caren and Steve came over and we made dinner, Courtney went to the football game. Tonight the girls and I watched a movie...and of course, tomorrow night will be Christian Dinner night-Hooray!!