Musings
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
A curse has befallen my house.
I'm thinking of burning some sage, having a priest over to perform an exorcism, and/or buying an amulet from a medicine woman.
The Mad Scientist got sick on Friday. The tummy variety. The tummy variety that causes a child to not be able to reach the bathroom on time, then have to sit on the toilet with a bucket in their lap and ultimately end up sleeping on a mat on the floor, said mat covered by a Hefty bag to catch any accidents.
My hopes that it was a "24-hour bug" were dashed by Sunday, when she was alternately reading a book, seeming relatively perky, and lying around like a limp dishrag.
By yesterday morning, when the vomiting/diarrhea returned, I was contemplating the word that strikes fear into the heart of parents everywhere.....ROTAVIRUS.
That's right about the time that I noticed my throat felt as if I'd swallowed a woolen sock. I hadn't eaten any woolen socks, had I? I immediately began power drinking Emergen-C packs in a feeble attempt to flush out whatever germs had invaded my system. Moms don't get to be sick.
This morning, Day 5 of Hell, The Mad Scientist was no better, and I was much worse. The woolen sock had migrated from my throat to my chest, and I was alternately hacking up a lung and trying unsuccessfully to breathe through a tiny unclogged part of one nostril.
The Mad Scientist's father was enlisted to take her to the doctor, who delivered the happy news that she does, indeed, have rotavirus. She also gave us even happier news....if she's not more hydrated by tomorrow, they will hospitalize her to administer IV fluids. One would think the threat of this would be enough to convince The Mad Scientist to drink, but one must not know my daughter and the amount of stubborn resistance of which she is capable.
So, to recap, I feel like something scraped off the bottom of a sewage worker's shoe, and have spent the entire afternoon trying to convince (um, force) TMS to drink something and eat a saltine. From her reaction, you'd think I suggested administering the food and beverage through her nose. (Which isn't out of the realm of possibility if it keeps her out of the hospital.)
These are the times which try parents' souls. This is the fun stuff that the books don't tell you about.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Carcasses! That's the word for the day.
The Mad Scientist started her 2nd semester of Biology yesterday.
We walked into the lab, and every available surface was *covered* in CARCASSES and SKULLS!
TMS's eyes got really big, and then she went COOOOLLLLL! and ran over to the tables. There was a study group going on for Vertebrate Natural History. We picked the right day to go!
So, TMS had a blast identifying all the animals and looking at the skulls and bones. They had everything from wild boars to moles to bats to field rats. Oh, and an armadillo!
After the animals, the students worked with her on genetics on the board. They're learning Punnett Squares, and dominant/recessive genes, and gene isolation.
It was a great day, and TMS is thrilled to be back to "school".
Friday, February 02, 2007
One more thing....
Um, what in the wide world of sports is George W. Bush SMOKING???? And, do you think he'd share some with me?
BREAKING NEWS
Updated: 1 hour, 31 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration will ask for another $100 billion for military and diplomatic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year and seek $145 billion for 2008, a senior administration official said Friday.
Seriously. What?????
Freezing Friday!
I woke up to overcast skies, a toasty temp of 32 degrees (lower with the wind chill), and the threat of sleet/freezing precip. We didn't get that, thankfully. But, it was ten kinds of cold this morning as I walked from the faculty lot to my building. (We Texans don't really own things like scarves.)
I can't tell you how happy I am it's Friday. It's been a helluva week. This semester, I eat lunch at my desk three days out of five. Twice because I have class, and once because The Mad Scientist is starting her second semester of Biology, and I have to take her down there and supervise her. Pretty much all my time these days is spent going to class, reading, or homeschooling. I have such a wild life! Rock on!
The Mad Scientist sat down with her Biology text last night and made a list of all the topics she wants to cover this semester. Highlights: gene isolation, gene mutations, osmosis, mitosis, and dominant/recessive traits. She's hatched a plan to "create her own new breed of dog", and she can't wait to talk to the grad students about it today. She's hoping they'll be able to give her some insight on how to breed for certain traits like low shedding.
I bought her a cool hot pink backpack with our college name on it, so she'll be as styling as the rest of the kids on campus. She looks pretty funny wearing it, filled with these massive science tomes, because at 7 years old, and the height of 4'1", the thing threatens to pull her right over backwards.
I have to buy three academic travel guides for my trip to Italy in May. We'll be assigned reading out of them each month. They're supposed to be pretty cool books...more academic information about the art and architecture, and less "the gelato near the Trevi Fountain is good."
That's about all I have today. I haven't been getting nearly enough sleep (damn reading!) so I've been dragging all week.
