Wonky Ear

Did I ever tell you about the time I got a wonky eye infection that wouldn't go away? If you're a Facebook friend of mine or someone I know in real life, chances are you already know. But if you don't, here's a brief synopsis.

Right before Thanksgiving (last week in November), I came down with a bit of an eye infection in my left eye. Puffy lid, red eye, just general eye discomfort. I was given drops by the eye doc and went on my merry way.

Two days later, I was hit by a pretty nasty head cold that took me out for a few days. In an attempt to deal with the symptoms of the head cold, I was taking things like Sudafed and Mucinex, not realizing they would not only dry out my sinus cavities, but also rob my eye of the moistness it needs to...well, be an eye. In other words: OW.

This went on for two weeks, this crazy eye infection. It was like pink eye on crack. And steroids. At one point, for some reason the eye doc couldn't explain to me, the top layer of my cornea decided to take a vacation. That's right, it just...left. Let me tell you, that was painful.

Finally after no less than five trips to the eye doc in two weeks (including a visit on Thanksgiving day), it cleared up. The cornea healed slowly but surely, and my vision is fine now. Hooray!

The only lingering thing I have from this debacle actually has nothing to do with my eye, but my ear! My right ear is still full of fluid to this day (two months later!) from the head cold that I had at the same time. It's really annoying. There's a near-constant ringing in my ear, and my hearing is sufficiently impaired in that ear -- enough so where I don't like using the phone with that ear and sometimes can't hear Caleb crying if I'm asleep laying on my good ear.

So I finally went to the doc today to get that checked out, and essentially he said there's not much they can do about it! He told me to wait a while (apparently two months isn't long enough!) and if it hasn't cleared up in another month, he'll refer me to an ENT doc, where they may discuss putting tubes in my ears.

Seriously. I am 30 years old and discussing the possibility of tubes. Whuuuat?! Isn't that what five year olds get?

It's been a wonky year, health-wise. I've had a couple of ear infections, quite a few colds, a weird (but benign) bone grown on my knuckle, and cracked-out eye infection, and now a Eustachian tube in my middle ear that just won't drain. Oh, and a diagnosis of psoriasis on my elbow!

Is this what turning 30 is all about?! Seriously, I just think it's a bit premature for my body to go all bonkers on me. Isn't 30 the new 20 anyway? Could someone tell my body that?!

I really should shut my mouth. Because in all honesty, I have really great health with a few annoying hiccups, and I'm super, super fortunate and blessed to have all the faculties that I do have. And I do realize that. It just felt like an odd collection of wonkiness that's been popping up this year.

So we'll see how this month goes! Maybe one day, my Eustacian tube will just decide to open up again! If not, then I guess I'll meet with an ENT at some point!

Club Sandwich of Love

I started a post about how I want two more hours in the day, but it was turning out to be way too depressing, so I canned it.

At work this week, two of the boss-type figures had a casual conversation about criticism, motivation and discipline. The idea was that you should praise people for their hard work before you criticize their screw-ups. One guy called in the crap sandwich (not in those words.) :) We all have to take a bite of the crap sandwich from time to time. You have the nice, appealing bread layers of praise sandwiching the crap layer criticism or discipline.


The more senior boss guy said he doesn't subscribe to the crap sandwich theory, but believes more in a club sandwich of love with a piece of crap lettuce. He also told us about the 95-5 rule he had learned from a former boss. Ninety-five percent of the time, most people are doing what they should be doing. But five percent of the time, they jack it up. But you can't go beating them up too bad because of their five percent. You gotta feed them the club sandwich of love (95% love) with that piece of crap lettuce (5% criticism.)


It was hilarious at the time, although I realize it's much less so in my telling. But it really stuck with me. I'm a club sandwich of love kinda person. I don't like getting beat up, because I genuinely try to do my best at things, whether it's work or whatever else. And for better or worse, I tend to take criticism a bit personally, no matter how hard I try not to. So I need a bit of love to soften the harsh sting of criticism.


Likewise, I don't like beating people up (not often, anyway). I'm more likely to send an email that's like "Wow, we're so awesome, aren't we? But you know what would make us more awesome? This..." I don't always excel in this area, but it's what I strive for and what I'm most inclined to do. Sometimes, however, my frustrating takes over, and I deliver the crap sandwich.


A pastor I know said you have to be a steel rod wrapped in velvet. You have to have that core of hard truth, but it's best to deliver it softly.


I hope I have a hard core of truth, or I hope to be that way some day, anyway. But I also strive to be...well, palatable. I don't like people that leave a bad taste in my mouth, and I don't want to be that way, either. I know I probably do sometimes. I know I can't please everyone. But I can't stop from trying to have a broad general appeal. It's just how I'm wired.


This was a weird blog. Not at all the direction I intended to go, but stuff that's on my mind, regardless!


Speaking of broad appeal, look at this kid! I know I'm a tad bit biased, but I think he has the broadest appeal there is!

Winner!

Hooray! Congratulations to my husband who won NCO of the Quarter for the Wing he works in. Look how handsome he is in his blues! He had some pretty fierce competition, so I'm really proud of him! Plus, I love having a chance to scream really loudly. Ha!

And just for fun, here's me and the boo on our stairs when we got home this evening. Pardon my hair. It's been a rainy day, and my hair is a hot mess!

It's Friday! I'm pretty stoked about that. Especially since we have a really low-key weekend ahead of us. Lovely!

Doncha?

Doncha wish your salad was hot like mine?

Doncha wish your salad was fresh like mine?

Doncha?

It was a super tasty salad. Really yummy. Drew a lot of "Wow, that looks like a good salad!" comments.

By the way, I finished it up with a peice a promotion ceremony cake afterwards. You win some, you lose some!

Toddler Sleeping Habits

As I type this, it's 8:33 pm in England, and I can hear my 2 year old flicking his light off and on and just generally messing about in his room. He's been "in bed" for about a half an hour and stil isn't asleep.

I did the routine. Medicine (for ear infection), diaper change, jammies, brush teeth, books and bed. (No bath tonight. We're an every other night kinda family at this age.) I let him pick his three books, read to him, said our prayers and said goodnight. He fought and fussed and got out of bed once, but it hasn't been an all-out war.

But why is he still not asleep?! I checked all the boxes that usually work, did the song and dance, paid my dues...his part is just to fall asleep! How hard is that?! I spend most of my day wishing it was bed time already! Sheesh! I feel like I can't move onto the next thing (getting ready for tomorrow) until I know he's out. So be out, already!

I don't have a picture of him not sleeping, but here's one of him the other day. I generally put a body pillow on the floor in case he falls out of bed. The other night, I guess he did, because this is how I found him the next morning.

Ahhhh...he's out of bed again. Pardon me while I go attempt to get this kid to hit the sack. *Sigh*

My Boys

Like probably everyone else who has MLK day off today, I wish every weekend was a three day weekend!

An extra day in the weekend means I don't have to rush to finish the laundry, do the commissary shopping, and all the other tasks that wait for the weekend. An extra day means I can actually find time for a movie and read a bit of my book in between checking off items on the to do list. It means I can have brunch with friends on Sunday and not worry about the things I haven't gotten to yet. It means having another morning in which I have time to make something for breakfast, instead of just scarfing down cereal.

And for my boys, it means some quality time. And quality time means a nap on the couch. I came home from commissary shopping this afternoon to find them totally knocked out in the living room. I've unloaded the groceries, put them away, mopped our sticky kitchen floor and now posted a blog, and they are still catching Z's.

Love those dudes.

Redemption!

Once upon a time, I had small dreams of winning a chili cook-off at my husband's squadron. They were small dreams because up until that point, I'd never really made a pot of chili that didn't come out of a can. (I know. You're probably cringing at the thought eating that canned crap, but I tell you what, it makes for a good chili cheese dog!)

But as I was a volunteer spouse for my husband's squadron at the time, I thought I should participate and give this chili making business a shot. I Googled "Best Chili Ever" and came up with this recipe. Three hundred and six ratings gave it an average rating of 4.65! It had to be good! Forget the fact that it contained unusual ingredients such as beer and a cup of coffee, how could 306 people be wrong? Maybe those strange indgredients were what gave the chili its winning edge!

I cut peppers, I sauteed onions, I combined seasonings with professed hopes of making a moderately decent pot of chili. But in my head, I was secretly imagining the moment they announced my pot as the winning chili, when confetti would drop from the ceiling and somewhere, somehow Queen would start blasting out as I walked to take the coveted apron, with "We are the Champions" blaring in the background.

Sadly, my dreams were crushed. Instead of the coveted apron, I was given a can of Hormel chili and awarded the last place prize. Last place! It wasn't that bad! (I'm sporting the winning chili apron that the commander actually won.)

This year, I knew I had to redeem myself. Luckily, the original chili cook-off inspired me to start making real chili and ever since I've been working on a basic recipe with my own twists. It's nothing crazy original, but it's yummy, and gosh darn it, I like it! So the night before this year's cook-off, I made up a batch, tasting and modifying as I went. My husband brought it in the next morning and made a few contributions, as well.

And all the tweaking and tasting paid off! Because you are now looking at (or reading about!) the 2009 Husband's Squadron Chili Champ! (The apron, hat, spoons and towel were the prizes! Nice!)

Actually, there were two awards. We had three judges from other squadrons come in, and my friend Tina won the Judge's Choice award. And Team Kaz won the People's Choice award! Thanks to all the people! Woo!

It was sweet redemption. Or spicy redemption, I guess, 'cause after trying all seven chilis, my mouth was on fire!

The Z's

So you probably wouldn't know it by the content of this blog, but I actually have three kids. There's that Caleb kid I talk about all the time, and then there's my other two adopted children. I'm that cliche bad mom that stops taking pictures of the older two right about the time the baby comes around. Fortunately, I have quite a stash of pics of them already.

I forgot to blog yesterday and wish my dogs a happy birthday. They turned 7 yesterday. Seven years of Zeus and Zoey! They are goofballs, but I love my pups.

Zeus is a trouble-maker. He's clever and mischevious and loves food (much like his momma.) He'll do anything for food and will eat anything remotely edible. Don't ask. It gets pretty gross. In his seven years, some of the more appetizing things he's eaten have included a bag of Skittles, half a dozen chocolate doughtnuts and my birth control pill (I guess he forgot he was fixed!) He may be naughty, but he's also very loyal. The last time my husband deployed, he spent many nights whining and waiting for him by the front door.

Zeus is also an attention hog. He must be greeted by everyone who comes through the door, and his preferred method of greeting is to jump and lick. Annoying I know. He can't not be petted. If your foot is elevated at all, he will rub his neck along your foot in lieu of the pets he feels he shold be getting. He is notorious for squeezing into the non-existant spot between your back and the couch.

Zoey is the alpha dog in the house and a bit of a diva. She's smaller, not as strong, and, well, to put it nicely...not as clever. But she's still the boss. She puts Zeus in his place any time he thinks of asserting himself. She's also the sweeter dog. This is why visitors like her more. She's much more mellow than Zeus. She's great at cuddling. Where as Zeus has to "nest" himself in to a spot and can spend ages getting comfortable, Zoey is comfortable as soon as she's near someone warm. And while sweet Zoey would never initiates trouble, she is happy to be Zeus' accomplice if he needs help finishing off a half dozen chocolate doughnuts.

Zoey likes to have her ears rubbed. She's also a little...hairless. Well, only in certain areas. She had some sort of viral infection when we lived in Georgia that pretty much stripped her of the hair on her back. Luckily, her skin is the same color, so it's not super obvious until you get close. As a result, she LOVES wearing her Packers hoodie when it's cold, where as Zeus hates his hoodie.

Zoey is also only moderately house-broken. It's really more of a case that Zeus IS housebroken, and by default she goes out often with him. If she doesn't go out with him, she's terrible about letting us know she needs to go and is prone to accidents.

Seven years of Zeus and Zoey. It would have been hard to imagine when we first picked them up at sweet, roly poly puppies. They've lived in a few different states and survived an international relocation. Caleb loves them to death, even if he does torment them a bit. They are good sports, though, and are very patient with his crazy toddler ways.

Happy birthday, pupppies!

Fever

Caleb's running a bit of a fever again. You can tell in his rosy cheeks. He was fine this morning and must have been fine at school, because they didn't call at all. But this evening, he felt a bit warm, and as the evening wore on, his cheeks got redder.

He's had a bit of Motrin. Here's hoping he'll be better after a good night's sleep!

Push Ups and Convertables

It's been snowing off and on all weekend. Nothing serious. Just a bit of a dusting here and there. Since Caleb had a fever on Friday, I haven't wanted to take him out in it just yet. But he enjoyed watching from my office window.

Saturday, I went out with a few girls from the squadron. One of them is getting ready to go down range for a bit, so we went to Harriets Tea Room to hang out and have some girl time. Nothing like girl time over tea and scones!

Then we hung out with some other friends from the squadron that night. For some reason, shortly after (or was it before?) dinner, my husband and his friend Jason began doing push-ups in the kitchen. Maybe they were trying to make up for the calories consumed by eating a fan-freakin-tastic Pioneer Woman burger. To be honest, I feel like I need to do a few laps around the world to make up for eating those things! Yum!

Jason's daughter then demonstrated her amazing push up capabilites! Seriously, for a six year old, she does some really good push-ups!

And lastly, here's Caleb playing with the pink Barbie convertable. Tommy will probably groan when he sees this, but I think it's precious like a monkey. He doesn't care what color the car is or who is in the driver's seat, he just wants to push the car around! He's all about transportation.

Nothing terribly exciting happened today, other than a haircut for Caleb that didn't go as well as I would have hoped and a crazy expensive trip to the commissary. So there ya have it!