1-800-GIVE-LIFE

A number of years ago, a blood mobile visited our office building and I signed up to donate for my first time. I'm a wimp when it comes to needles or much of anything related to the medical field, so it was a big step.

Since then, I've tried to donate a number of times but was always deferred for a low hematocrit level. I've always had low iron but iron supplements had started giving me terrible migraines. I tried other dietary changes but was never up high enough to donate.

Until today.

I've been every day taking a multi-vitamin with iron and that with 3 meals of beans yesterday seemed to have done the trick. After getting an "Ok" on my minimum-but-legal level of hematocrit, the tech took my temperature. 99.8. Too high to donate! She took it again and it was lower. I was set to go.

I made it to the lounge chair and covered my face and twitched my feet, making the technician nervous. She wasn't the one getting her arm jabbed, so I don't know what she was talking about. After all of the prep work, she stuck the needle in and said, "Geeze! You squirted all over!" I thought she was joking but she wasn't. She had to change her lab coat and gloves and my shirt was stained.

That was just what I needed to feel comfortable.

Roundabout tagging

I've never been tagged for a meme. You know, one of those things where a blogger posts an answer to a question (often in list form) and then tags (as in, "You're it") some people to answer the same question on their own blogs.

You could say that because I read Betsy's blogs and she tagged "anyone else who tells me that they read this blog - you know who you are," I have now been tagged. Or, at least, I was back in January, when she wrote that and her answers to the meme.

It has taken me awhile and you all have been very patient (I'm sure you can't wait to read more self-indulgent posts) but here we go.

Five important details about myself that many of you may not know…or remember.

1) If money wasn't so available in my line of work, I'd rather be an administrative assistant. And I think I'd rock at that job.

2) I'd also rather be a librarian.

3) I would like to try being an environmental scientist, too. Half in the office (planning studies, writing reports, analyzing data) and half in the field (wading through streams, counting birds, searching for rare plant species.)

4) I LOVE to play sports.

5) I don't think any of the above answers are important to anyone but I find it intriguing that of all the things I could think of about myself, the first ones to come to mind are about having a job. Specifically, jobs that I don't have now and probably never will (which is ok by me.)

Creativity

Did you know there are lots of different ways to put toothpaste on your toothbrush? Two recent attempts at our house include putting the tube on the floor and then stomping on it. This results in copious amounts of toothpaste wasted - much too much to hide.

Another way is to put the tube on the front edge of the sink and then lean your belly on it to squeeze the toothpaste out. This works better than stomping on the tube, but still results in too much toothpaste to use on one set of teeth. If you have friends over to share, this method might work.

Growing up

I've asked Kevin whether he wants me to go on his preschool field trip to the zoo. One day he answered, "No." Then he said, "Yes." Then he said, "No." Then he said, "Yes." I pressured him the night before the permission slip was due and said that I needed his final answer. He said, "No." I was surprised. He said he didn't need me there. I'm cool with that but wanted him to know that other parents would be there so I explained that parents go on field trips to be chaperones to help keep all of the kids safe while the group is away from the school.

He said, "Ok, you can go to keep the kids safe but I don't have to listen to you - I only have to listen to my teachers."

Conversation

Dianne: Mine is 5% alcohol.
Amy: Mine is only 4.5%! But I've had two, so I'm up to 9%.
Dianne: Huh? That's not how math works. At least not when you're not drunk.
Amy: I'm not drunk! I can add four and a half to four and a half!

This is just the beginning

We once went to the movies and left Kevin with friends of ours (whose child is friends with Kevin.) We went to lunch a couple of times and to a musical and left Kevin with his grandparents. We went to a Bible study meeting once and left Kevin with a friend who was staying at our house for awhile and who Kevin has known as long as he's known us.

Never have we had a "real," teenage babysitter for more than an hour. And never have we not taken Kevin to a party with us.

Until tonight.

All I can say is... FREEEEEDOOOOOM!!

It's 5:45pm - do you know where your truck is?

While hurriedly getting ready for our night out for a friend's birthday, I noticed through the window that our truck was in the driveway across the street.

"Andy - why is our truck in the neighbors' driveway?"

"I don't know."

"Huh."

"Is it really?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's our black truck with all the stickers in the back window. And it's sitting in their driveway."

I went outside in my bare feet and backed the truck into our driveway. The neighbors weren't home and I didn't see anyone else out on the street, so we got away with it. Andy pointed to the flattened grass next to our driveway and said, "I think it went that way."

It's 7:31am - do you know where your kids are?

Kevin is not only still sleeping (a magnificent feat given that earlier sunrises have had him up before 6am for the past few weeks) but he's sleeping IN HIS OWN BED. He has been there all night.

Let's have a party! I sense Slurpees, pizza, mango and watermelon in the works for dinner tonight!

Since I got up, I've been in his room 8 times checking to see that he's still breathing. At one point he must've been having a dream because his arm twitched and I was afraid he was having a seizure so I stayed in there for an extra couple of minutes to make sure he was ok.

I know, but to spend the night in his room there must be something drastically wrong!

Maturity

For his birthday, Kevin received a hooded bear-design towel that Alyssa picked out. He asked to use it after his bath last night and then we had the following snippet of conversation:

Kevin: Why did Alyssa pick out this towel for me?
Dianne: Because she loves teddy bears and wanted you to have one like hers.
Kevin: Why does she love teddy bears?
Dianne: I don't know.
Kevin: I don't want her to like teddy bears. I don't like teddy bears.
Except for cute baby teddy bears. And Mama teddies and Papa teddies.
I don't like sister teddies.
Dianne: Ok.
Kevin: I'm not going to like teddy bears. I like....hmm.... (pause) What
is Alyssa scared of?

Perhaps we've moved on from the cutesy-type love to the more mature "I'll show her I like her by putting worms down her shirt" type.

A Neighborly Day

This morning I went to Rite Aid and in the parking lot I saw an acquaintance from church (one of few I know up in this area.) On my way out of the store, I saw the neighbor who lives across the street and I stopped to talk with her for a few minutes. This afternoon Kevin and I put flyers on mailboxes on our street for our upcoming "community" yard sale. I went the lazy route and didn't knock on doors this time, but I did meet 2 neighbors I'd never met before because they were outside working in their yards when I came by.