leahmichelle

text

Desperately Seeking.

Currently desperately seeking more patience. I seem to exhaust mine every 5 minutes; and no - not at the kiddo, but at the grad student who can’t explain what, exactly the previous office told him when they directed him to our office so that I can try to sort out what exactly it is that he needs; at the employee who’s been working the front desk for MONTHS now but comes to me to ask where he finds a document for a student (a document LOCATED AT THE FRONT DESK); and at the idiotic insurance company that refuses to give me a combined quote for my son and I online, and which when I finally give in and choose to “chat with their live agent”, the “quote” they email me is actually just a link to the WEBSITE I CHATTED THEM FROM; and when I ask (again) for a specific quote, they direct me to a phone line. What a colossal Waste.Of.Time. Oh, and then when I called them on my break? They hung up on me.

Sigh.

Did I mention I need more patience, and STAT?

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

On an up-note I managed to do a fancy braid with my semi-long hair this morning instead of having to wash it. Anytime I pull off a new “up do” it makes me ecstatic (having short hair for decades and finally making it to the point the hair is long enough to DO stuff with will make you giddy with happiness, I’m tellin’ ya!)

Oh. And a mountain lion was found roaming Santa Monica. Which I find funny. There’s a lot of reeeeeally busy roads that little lion had to cross in order to make it to beach-area Santa Monica. Guess where they finally cornered him? In an office park. The mental image of a lost mountain lion being cornered in an office park in Santa Monica is so ludicrous I just can’t help but crack up. If I’d been walking around SM and saw it, I’m sure I wouldn’t run, instead I’d look around to try to find where the movie cameras were. That’s just how ridiculous it is. Or perhaps that’s just the how removed “nature” is from living in L.A. Which actually is quite sad. Ahh, land of cement and movie cameras.

I ramble. Sorry. I will leave now and return to trying to keep my patience in stock.

text

D’s best friend.

Yesterday D was throwing a fit and we couldn’t figure out why. Finally he grabbed A’s hand and started pulling him towards our front door. A opened the front door and D kept pulling him - out the door, down the steps, and over to Bez’s ball. Apparently he really wanted us to go outside and throw the ball for Bezzer. First time he’s every dragged either of us anywhere, and, the first time he’s asked for us to do something for Bez. So cute.

text

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

I know that the best gift is videos of the little guy, so here’s a few treats from the week. Love you & miss you & can’t wait to FaceTime this afternoon! (And thank you, for everything!!!)

text

Prayers, Good Thoughts, Etc, Requested.

There is a woman, pregnant with twins, whose water broke at 18.5 weeks, and she had to go to the hospital. By some miracle, both of the twins are currently healthy and fine, regardless of her water breaking, and she and her husband have made the choice to have her keep to bed (at the hospital) and try to let the twins have a chance at making it, unless her health is threatened, the babies die, or she goes into labor. The hospital’s Doctors are continually harassing her for her choice, telling her her choice is dumb, that her babies won’t make it, and asking her if she realizes she is taking up an expensive hospital bed due to her irrationality.

I personally agree with her decision. Those babies are alive and healthy at the moment. She is healthy. Why would you rush to losing those little lives unless nature takes that course, or there is a real imminent threat to her health? She has spent almost 5 months protecting and growing her babies. She has the right to fight for their lives, and in doing so, she deserves to have sound medical advice and support from the medical staff. However, she is constantly being told her decision is wrong by her medical staff. You can read her story, from her perspective, here:
http://www.hormonal-imbalances.com/2012/04/the-power-of-faith-and-social-media/

And if you feel so inclined, you can support her via her facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/HeartsForDiana

There is also a phone number to call the hospital to complain:
University Medical Center of El Paso (Children & Women):
915 298 5444

(As a postscript, stories like these make me ever more thankful for the wonderful medical care that our family has experienced over the past two years. Exceptional nurses and doctors who, on multiple occasions, supported our family and guided us through some of the roughest moments I’ve ever experienced. I can’t thank them, and anyone else who works in the medical field and puts their patients first, enough. Seriously - those of you who fall into this category are SAINTS. Absolute, real-life SAINTS.)

text

My Mantra

I took a big step this week and dropped the pre-bed night nursing. I know, I know - you’re asking, “Geez, how many times can this woman talk about nursing!”, but it’s been really important to me and I have to say I had a little (okay, more than little) cry the other night when I realized that a very important chapter of Drake and my babyhood adventure together will come to an end when the final nursing (morning) is dropped. The night time was D’s favorite, and I have to say, he handled it like a champ. Thank goodness he still wanted to snuggle. If I lost my snuggle time with him I would curl up, cry and disappear from the world. I know many women who are BFing until 2 (WHO recommendation), and I have to say that there is a significant part of me that feels guilty for not making it to the 2 mark. But, I made it 5 months past my original goal, and I know that this is the right decision in order to emotionally support my child, my husband and myself, so this is the decision I’ve made. Perhaps if I were home full time I would have shot for the 2 year mark, but I’m happy and grateful that I’ve had the last 15 months.

IN other news, it’s been a year since I initially requested to change to part-time at my place of employment. Which means, I’ve submitted a request for an extension of the part-time status for another year. The Dean came to speak to me about it today, and I have to say, I’m not confident that it will get extended. Not that he doesn’t feel for my situation and want to support it, but I believe that my request has sparked other requests in the office, and now he has to decide what amount of staffing they need, and what precedent he wants to set. Sooooooo. I can’t go back full time, that is a definite. There are other things out there, hanging in the air, all possible paths for our future, and I know it’s going to take a few months to see how each of them pan out. So, my mantra for the next few months, “Patience, Patience, Patience. Enjoy the MOMENT, enjoy NOW.”

Wish me luck.

text

Two Entertaining Moments From My Week.

Lately the little guy’s favorite word is, “Up!”. And when he says it, he means it. Thus, my right arm is getting quite buff from hoisting him up while completing all sorts of other tasks with my left arm. This is how I managed to spill half a bag of rice all over the counter and kitchen floor yesterday. Here’s what I learned from the experience: #1: Always make sure the zipper top of the rice is CLOSED. #2: Wear long pants and shoes when trying to vacuum loose rice up. The vacuum likes to project half the grains of rice across the floor while vacuuming up the other half. I was pelted with sharp little grains of rice while simultaneously trying to clean up the mess and entertain the dog and child. Once the floor was clean and my ankles recovered, I did a little song and dance, feeding the child a snack and trying to get dinner put together. Proudly, I managed to complete both tasks without any major catastrophes or meltdowns. However, 45 minutes after I put dinner in the oven I realized that it helps if you turn the oven ON.

That was yesterday.

Here’s today:

My office is across from the conference room. This morning the Dean disappeared into the conference room with three very handsome men in Navy uniforms (I have always been a sucker for the Navy uniform). About an hour later he came out and asked me to join them, as they wanted some information about scholarships. I thanked the stars that I managed to actually put together a cute outfit and look somewhat professional this morning (as opposed to my normal jeans & ponytail uniform). About 30 minutes after I left the meeting I went into the restroom where I looked down to discover a giant chunk of oatmeal cookie (this morning’s breakfast) chilling in the cowl neck of my shirt. Awesome. SOOOOO together.