It Doesn't Snow in Seattle

When I moved to Seattle 3 years ago, I was told that "it doesn't snow in Seattle." We had a snowstorm in December and schools were closed for a week. I was told that only happens once every hundred years or so. So far this winter I wrote about snow here, here, and here.



A hundred years goes by quick! My son's school is closed today for snow.

Now That's Old!

My 5 year old was holding a Pokemon card. He came up to me and said, "Mommy, this card was made in 2006."

I wasn't sure where this conversation was going. I nodded. "So?"

"This card is old," he said.

"No, it's not old. It was made in 2006."

"That is 3 YEARS?! That is so old!"

Good thing he doesn't know what year I was born!

Don't Blog This

You know it's funny when something happens and your husband turns to you and says, "Don't blog this."

Unfortunately that's all I can share.

Attacked

I was attacked 2 days ago. I think it was a bull. It could have been a cow. It charged at me out of nowhere. I caught off guard with no defense. All 3 frozen pounds came smashing onto my leg. I have a bruise. It hurts a lot.

Here's my bruise.

Here's my attacker.

Open the freezer door with caution.

Then and Now

Here is a picture of my 6 year old son. He was 2 was this picture was taken. He had just gotten the cast on his leg. That was a fun summer. And it made potty-training so much more exciting.



Here is a picture of my 6 year old today. He just got his cast on. He didn't want me to take his picture this time. I had to do it fast when he was eating lunch.

A lady at the Orthopedics office gave my son a whistle. That was really nice of her. I'm sure everyone in the building appreciates that as much as I do.

As you can see in the picture, my son picked out a soccer ball pattern for his cast. He had trouble deciding between the soccer balls and a blue cast. When we got in the car and I helped him get his seat belt on he said, "Mom, I think I'm going to get the blue cast next time."

I looked at him and said, "There will be no next time."

Broken Arm

I mentioned yesterday that my son broke his arm. Here's what happened.

My first grader was playing on the playground at school on Thursday. He was on the platform for the slide and fell backwards. He put his arms behind him to try and break his fall. It worked. He landed on his right arm and it broke.

He went to the nurse and was crying hysterically. She called and left a message on my cell phone asking me to come pick him up. She said that "it is probably nothing, but he hurt his elbow and won't stop crying. I think you should take a look at it." I called her back within 5 minutes and left a message saying that I was on my way to pick up my 5 year old at preschool and that I would be there as soon as I could. The school nurse called me back and this time we actually spoke. She told me that my son calmed down and said he was feeling better and he wanted to go back to class. So she let him go.

I thought that meant he was ok. That he might have been a little emotional earlier. Maybe the nurse was exaggerating how much my son was actually crying.

I met my son at the bus stop. When we got to the house, he went straight to the couch and wanted a blanket. This is very unusual for my son. I took his temperature. It was 99.0, just a little high. After an hour my son started saying that his arm hurt. I thought he was faking. He had been home for an hour and this was the first he said anything about his arm hurting. I decided to take a look. I tried to take off his shirt. He screamed. You know that kind of scream. The scream that has a certain pitch that lets moms know when something is really wrong.

I pushed up his sleeve and saw it very swollen. It didn't look right. I knew something was really wrong. I found a neighbor who would take my 5 year old. I called my husband and let him know that I was taking our son to the ER.

My 6 year old is very active. He didn't want to wait in the ER. He didn't want to lay on the bed. He started rolling around and trying to push the doctor's stool around the room. Every time his arm moved he cried. But he still kept moving. Frustrating!

We did read some books and then went for the x-ray. Yup, it's broken. Finally they gave him some pain medicine. He got all goofy and started making animal noises for me to guess which animal he was. It was cute. He was feeling better. He was bored and he wanted to go home. He didn't want to wait anymore. I have a feeling this is similar to what happened at the nurse's office at school. He was bored and tired of waiting for me so he asked to go back to class with his friends. I still can't believe the nurse let him!

We got home after 8pm that night. Then we had dinner and I still had to pick up the prescription of pain medicine that the ER doctor had prescribed. It was a late night to say the least.

Now my 6 year old has a splint and a sling. He hates it. He has an appointment on Tuesday morning to get the cast put on.

This isn't his first broken bone. He broke his leg when he was 2. I just hope this is the last.

A Busy Week

On Monday I started painting my son's room. It has taken a lot of my time. On Thursday my son fell on the playground at school. He broke his arm. It has taken a lot of my time.

Hopefully next week will be better and I can blog again. Or maybe I'll have to wait 4-6 weeks when the cast comes off. Or maybe when my son turns 18? I hate to think that I might have to wait till after college graduation for things to get easier... Do things ever really get easier?

I really need one good thing to happen. Just one little thing... Here's hoping the ortho doctor I have to take my son to see on Tuesday is a cutie!

The Birthday Party

On Sunday I took my 5 year old to one of his classmate's birthday parties. I don't know most of the other parents so I really don't enjoy these birthday. But my 5 year was excited, so we went.

The birthday girl cried and didn't want to participate. I felt bad for her and for her parents.

I sat down and eavesdropped on the conversation of 2 moms sitting next to me. One mom asked the other why she choose the Japanese preschool for her daughter since neither her nor her husband are Japanese. She said that she likes the respect the Japanese teach. The idea that you take your shoes off when entering the school. The bowing to the teachers and things like that. She went on to say how respectful her daughter is. That she teaches respect and obedience at home. That is part of her own upbringing and culture. She went on about how well behaved her daughter is etc...

I was tempted to ask her to take her own feet off the table. And then to let her know that her daughter was ignoring the gym instructors and wouldn't finish her turn on the jumpy thing as she was asked to.

But I didn't.

I can't wait for the next birthday party.

Home Depot

On Saturday I went to Home Depot and bought 3 gallons of paint. One was the for the ceiling. The other two were for the walls (I'm re-painting my 6 year old's bedroom this week). Which of the following do you think happened?

A. I had so much fun buying paint at Home Depot that I wanted to return. So I didn't buy all 3 gallons at once. I decided to buy one gallon for the ceiling and one for the walls so that I could stop in the middle of my painting and go buy another gallon of paint.

B. The guy working in the paint department wanted to make sure that I came back, so he sabotaged one gallon of the paint I bought so that I would have to return for more paint.

C. Train A was going 70 miles per hour headed west. It was stopped in the mountains for avalanche control. The tank holding (my) paint froze. Paint doesn't freeze well. Actually paint doesn't melt very well. Home Depot sold the once frozen paint to me on Saturday night. The guy working in the paint department thought my paint looked a little lumpy and warned me that a tank of paint had frozen and I should check my paint when I got home. When I opened the can of paint it looked normal. When I poured the paint I learned that once frozen paint lumps sink in a can of paint. When you pour this kind of paint into a tray, it looks like pancake batter (I wish I had taken a picture!). Lumpy paint is not good for your walls.

D. When you return lumpy paint back to Home Depot, they don't compensate you for your quality control efforts. They don't care that you had to drag your 5 year old out to the store while your paint brushes are still covered with paint and probably all dried up now. Home Depot doesn't care that you spent all afternoon picking globs of paint off the walls and cursing Home Depot every time. Home Depot doesn't care that you might be late in picking up your 6 year old at the bus stop.

I would like to believe the answer is "B." But I would be wrong. The correct answers are "C" and "D."

I can't wait to continue my painting saga tomorrow.

Lighting Sets The Mood

In my bedroom, there is a small light on my husband's side of the bed. 1 week ago the light burnt out. It takes a round 25 watt bulb. These are not sold in regular grocery stores (I looked!). I didn't have time to run out to Home Depot or Lowe's. I stopped by Fred Meyer yesterday (that's an over sized grocery store in the northwest) and found a 25 watt bulb there. But it wasn't the same round shape as the one that had burnt out. I decided to buy it anyway and hope it would fit.

I took the light bulb home and brought it up to my bedroom. I went to open the package and noticed that the package said "microwave light." So that's why the light had a yellowish tint. Oh well, guess I'll have to return it next time I go to the store.

That night I came upstairs and the small light next to the bed was working. My husband saw the light bulb and put it in the light. So now our bedroom glows like the inside of a microwave. How romantic! I suddenly have a craving for popcorn.

Love and Marriage

Last night my 5 year old came up to me and gave me a kiss. Then he said, "I'm going to marry you, mommy." How sweet!

My 6 year old butted in, "You can't marry mommy!"

"Why not?" the 5 year old asked.

"Because mommy is married to daddy. But if daddy goes to jail, then you can marry mommy."

Another proud parent moment.