Monday, January 23, 2017

Thanks Google!

I love seeing what Google celebrates with their logo illustration. 

Today they are celebrating Ed Robert’s 78th birthday - he is one of the first advocates for disability rights. Google then provided a link for further education on this subject - great for everyone to learn! Acceptance, inclusion and civil rights. 

It’s fascinating to read the hard work and advocacy that has been happening for decades.


Ed Roberts, the Disability Rights Movement and the ADA

It’s lengthy, but worth your time when you have it!

DeVos Delayed:

The vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as Sec of Education was DELAYED to Jan. 31.

Billionaire Betsy DeVos is up for confirmation as U.S. Education Secretary, and almost every educator I know has strongly expressed that she is NOT qualified to ensure quality childrens' education in this country.

Please consider CALLING [more effective than writing/petitions] one of the following Republican Senators (key in the confirmation vote) to express your opinion on the appointment. At least 3 of these need to be convinced in order to block DeVos' nomination. Don't email. Don't tweet. Don't complain on Facebook. Call them!

Then, PLEASE SHARE WIDELY:
If you live in one of the states represented below [On the Hearing Committee], PLEASE call YOUR Senator, If you don't, pick one and call him/her:

Rob Portman (OH - not on the committee) 1 800 205 6446
Rand Paul (KY) 202 224 4343
Susan Collins (ME) 207 622 8414 / 202 224 2523
Lamar Alexander (TN) 615 736 5129 / 202 224 4944
Lisa Murkowski (AK) 907 586 7277 / 202 224 6665
Johnny Isakson (GA) 770 661 0999 / 202 224 3643
Orrin Hatch (UT) 801 524 4380 / 202 224 5251
Richard Burr (NC) 336 631 5125 / 202 224 3154
Michael Enzi (WY) 202 224 3424
Dr. Bill Cassidy (LA) 202 224 5824
Pat Roberts (KS) 202 224 4774
Tim Scott (SC) 202 224 6121

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Nervous

I try to stay away from political policies on here. But after having Hannah and seeing the tapped cabinet members who are about to take their offices, I’ve been getting nervous and voicing my concerns with my state reps. 

I don’t think this is a Democrat/Republican issue, but if you have a child in public school, I hope you’re paying attention to Betsy DeVos. 

Personally, I’m pretty frightened at her utter lack of experience with public schools. Her hearing was embarrassing to watch. Maybe she’ll prove me wrong [?!]. But as a mother with a special needs child, I am NOT comfortable with her lack of understanding of IDEA as a federal civil rights law. Or that she thinks each state can decide whether to support it - ?!

If you even have a heart, I hope you agree my daughter and all kids with disabilities deserve an appropriate education. Believe it or not, they CAN contribute to our working society. 

This is why I can’t sleep at night and what goes through my head on my stress-releasing runs. I shouldn’t have to be worried about getting my armor ready to battle for Hannah’s educational rights.


If you agree with me, please call Rob Portman’s office and let them know you do not approve of her. It’s very easy - I just did it last week [and will continue to]: “Hello this is _______. I’m a concerned citizen who thinks Betsy DeVos is unfit and unqualified to run this nation’s public education.” 1 800 205 6446
Sherrod Brown: 513 684 1021

Betsy DeVos Hearing

9 Educators on Why They Don't Support DeVos

Thursday, January 12, 2017

So Much For a Boring 2017

Tuesday evening I was in the middle of making dinner when it hit me: nausea. Whoa. I literally turned off the gas range and nearly walked to the bathroom to get sick. 

It passed. I finished making dinner and managed down two sweet potato corn cakes. 

I had to put Nora to bed and I started getting bone-cold. I was throwing layers on and she wasn’t going down easy. Tim already had Hannah down and I mustered the strength to half-assed pack lunches and try and prep the crock pot for the next day. 

The aches were creeping in. 

This whole time there’s a wind storm happening outside.

I went to bed at 8:15 freezing under a tank, shirt, sweatshirt and two blankets. Aches and nausea. I tossed and turned and could not fall asleep. 

Around 9:30 the wind picked up fiercely. To the point there was a brief moment I thought there was a tornado - and then: CRACK! SLAM! 

Holy Sh*t. 

I jumped out of bed and met Tim outside Nora’s bedroom - she was asleep and wall intact. I was pretty out of it but knew at least some large branches fell. Tim went outside with a flashlight - indeed, a tree fell against the house. Wow. 

I laid in bed until at least 12:30 when I could literally feel my temperature rise back up and enough to fall asleep with some sweat. 

I could not make it to work the next morning - still lethargic and slight nausea. Girls went to the sitter and I climbed into bed. 

Then at 10:15am Ailo went crazy barking because a tree guy arrived to assess the damage. I also saw my phone that my sitter had been texting that she was ill. I politely stood listening to the tree guy and told him I had to run and get the girls while he got paperwork ready. 

Mustered myself together, got girls from my even sicker sitter, came back and signed paperwork. Then my neighbor started hollering at me. Whom I had yet to meet - whoops. Very sweet retired couple whose red pickup was destroyed by a tree felled completely on the cab of the truck! Wow. 

By the time lunch rolled around I was feeling better. At 2pm a contractor showed up to assess structural damage - thankfully Hannah was still napping. 

The day ended typical which was good. 

As awful as the situation was for a brief moment, I’m extremely thankful that 1. No one was harmed (Nora’s bedroom is just above all of this) and 2. The tree didn’t come through the house. It was inches from shattering that patio door and we escaped with a dent in the frame. 

Thank God for home insurance. 

Also - trees on your property are great and painful at the same time. 







That damn gnome from college is STILL THERE.




The Great Basement Cleanout

With over a week off, winter approaching, and... mice, Tim & I decided to do an overhaul on the basement. It’s unfinished which is good and bad. I do regret not finding a home with a finished basement. However, the storage is helpful. Maybe too helpful in that too many items were being “saved.”

We bought a ton of plastic bins because unfortunately I learned the hard way that mice can get into cardboard boxes. Yikes.

We did a great job setting items aside for a spring garage sale. A good amount for donations. And Tim did a great job of chucking a LOT of unnecessary items he’s been holding onto for no reason. Honestly, who goes back and looks at their high school or college artwork? Not me. PURGE!! 

I have about two boxes of mementos from school days - mostly just photos. 

Before Pinterest there were binders of images!

Early 2000s - the best time for music.

Senior braces = no teeth smile

TOUGH. Tim said this is just my “everyday” face - haha!

Me and Mama! 1981 before Stephanie was born.

So much awesome. Fanny pack. Boat shoes. Perms.

CAT SWEATER VEST.

Tough Learner’s Permit. Christine, your hair is BROWN, not sandy.


The Clinger

I think now that Hannah is a confident walker, she can now close in on us at all times and beg to be held. It’s cute and frustrating at the same time. 

Every morning I’m trying to pack up lunches and bags for the car and the whining and crying to be held is incessant! 

See? T21 doesn’t change toddler behaviors! Haha!

No you cannot. That door is forever closed.

Every. Day.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Christmas 2016

My office was closed between Christmas and New Year’s which was a nice treat. Although Tim still had to work Tues - Thu; booooo.

On the 23rd Alison took the kids to Krohn Conservatory - it was great to see Nora in clothes and not pajamas for the week off preschool!








Christmas Eve with my family was very quiet and laid back. Nora opened a few presents. 





Christmas Day was nice and fairly chill at home and the Krons. 

Christmas morning playtime

Monday the 26th... sucked. The plan was for me to go to Little Clinic at 8:30am to get my five-day sore throat diagnosed (presumably strep) then take my car to Subaru to get a few minor items taken care of. 


Well everyone and their Mom came out of their homes the day after Christmas sick. Every drop-in clinic in the area was a two-hour wait. Ain’t nobody got time for that! I could buck up and deal a little longer. That’s what Moms do, right?

Then I received the call from Subaru - what I thought were dash lights that needed resetting from a replaced battery turned out to be legit car issues. Firestone improperly installed my headlights and over-filled my brake fluid. The latter may or may not have contributed to needing the entire ABS Hydraulic Unit needing replaced. I literally cursed at the Subaru rep. 

So we had to pack up the family to go to Subaru so I could pick up a loaner Outback. 

I didn’t feel good. My day was completely thrown off and now we would owe Subaru a sh*t ton of money that wasn’t planned. I cried for a bit. 

Tuesday the 27th... sucked. I woke up okay then felt off. Out of it? Tired? I can’t even explain. But I had an appetite. I think I had a fever. Thank God for Netflix the Babysitter. I attempted a nap but Nora wouldn’t let that happen.

Hot mess everywhere.


Wednesday the 28th... was better. Thankfully my parents came down around 11am and I went to the Little Clinic with a book and waited 1hr to get in. My seven-day sore throat was not strep - what?! And I had the beginning of pinkeye - what?! So I got my eyedrops and headed home. I also learned - after 37 years - that you can take ibuprofen for a sore throat?! Life changing. 

Thursday the 29th - on my way up.

Friday the 30th - Tim had a minor outpatient procedure so we were at UC hospital from 8am - 1pm. It’s abnormal how comfortable I am in hospitals after three years of family procedures. I’m not ashamed to admit I enjoyed all the quiet reading time I had. 

Tim only had “twilight” anesthesia which was good, he didn’t feel so awful and out of it later. However, after having some cysts removed from the back of his arms, he couldn’t pick up Hannah until just this week. Tired Mama.

New Year’s Eve was a quick visit with friends and home by 8:30pm for Hannah’s sake. I haven’t seen midnight since Nora was born. And that’s fine by me!





New Year’s Day was the best I’d felt in a week and a half! No more sore throat! Play date with some good friends. 

I was so happy we had Monday the 2nd off - one more day to chill before back to the grind. 

The one lifestyle change I’d like to make this year is more strength - physically. Squats, jumps, etc. I think it’ll help my running and maybe chasing after a toddler : )

Friday, January 6, 2017

Ears to You, Kid

So yesterday we had our ENT follow-up based on Hannah’s hearing test

Dr. Willging found she still has fluid in her ears, however, it’s not infected and it doesn’t seem to bother her. 

Sooooo Dr. Willging said he’s going to wait another 6-8 months. If, at that point [three total months], the fluid has not exited, he will insert tubes to drain because this lingering fluid can - and is - affecting Hannah’s hearing. She can hear, but it’s muffled. 

Boooooooo! I truly expect it to still be there in 6-8 weeks based on our track record. I was really hoping for zero medical procedures in 2017. 

I mean, aren’t there some home remedies for this? Warm sea salt in a sock? I just feel like this is another excuse to shove tubes in a kids’ ear : ( 

So we’ll take any prayers, positivity, and voodoo to get this fluid out. 



Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Vain Hannah

I mean, can you blame her for enjoying herself in the mirror?




Adulting: New Fridge

We have owned two homes. Both homes had “old” fridges. Side-by-side doors. Water & ice dispensers that were always broken and we never fixed because you can survive without those things.

House/Fridge #1 - with adorable Baby Nora and her “cool babies” on!


We think our current fridge could have been early 90s Frigidaire - ? At the time, I’m sure it was great. It’s done its job for a family of four.

Well, said fridge started literally losing its cool the first week of December. We vacuumed behind it - because you know, you’re supposed to regularly do that - yikes. This thing had never been cleaned behind.


Oh hell no.


Gave it 24 hours - still too warm. So, instead of repairing we decided to just get ourselves a new fridge. I’m a firm believer in repairing instead of landfill, but sometimes you just need to upgrade (and hope once the old one is hauled, it’s broken down for further use!).

Well, thank heavens we’d been bestowed with a beer fridge for the basement just a week or two prior. We did not lose any food, but it was a pain hauling it into the basement.

Tim and I had a knee-jerk reaction to find a new fridge that weekend. Girls at Nana’s... we hit Best Buy and Lowe’s with our awful, awful dimensions.

Yep. Terrible design.


Our fridge is tucked into a very specific nook built around this old fridge. Sigh. Essentially over an inch shorter than standard fridges nowadays. Thanks, jerks.

We were finding we had one option and it was basically what we already had. Meh.

So we paused and took a step back.
Had a friend bring UP the beer fridge temporarily while we solved this puzzle.
Looked around the kitchen for a hot second because it was poorly designed in our opinion.

- Do we relocate the fridge where the double ovens are?
- We don’t need double ovens
- Then if we pitch the ovens, we need a new range!
- But the flipping gas range is built into the horrid tile counter
- Then we’d need a new counter!!

The double-but-only-use-one oven.

The gas range built INTO the awful tile counter.


Thankfully the very handy friend who has been hauling this beer fridge around said “Guys, I can just cut UP into that pointless shelf hindering your fridge height.”

:: hands to heaven ::

SO after one long, loud, dusty night, Tim and his buddy got the shelf height to accompany a standard fridge. *I won’t go into the drywall dust that covered my kitchen. Serenity now.


Beer fridge + adjusted shelf

After another Saturday with girls at Nana’s, Tim and I hit Best Buy, Sears Outlet, Sears, Lowe’s and then back to Sears to ultimately land on a Kenmore. It’s a reputable brand and it was half off - which because of the deal, we will now have a fridge with that crazy “easy access door” within a door. Bonkers.


So it finally arrived Friday Dec. 23rd around 5:30pm - convenient. But it went in - JUST. We’re very happy and so is Nora with her easy-access door. 




And ultimately down the road the plan is to replace the range and tile with a range/oven combo and solid surface counter. The double oven space eventually will become a much-wanted pantry.

Yay homeownership!