Spread the word...

From the Special Olympics page:

It is time to “Spread the Word to End the Word,” and tomorrow, 31 March, events throughout the United States and around the world will make people stop and think about their hurtful and disparaging use of the word “retard.”

Most people don’t think of this word as hate speech, but that’s exactly what it feels like to millions of people with intellectual disabilities, their families and friends. Using "retard" as a term of derision is just as cruel and offensive as any other slur.

What It's All About
Spread the Word to End the Word will raise the consciousness of society about the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the R-word and encourage people to pledge to stop using it. America will be asked to declare their support for more respectful and inclusive language, specifically that referring to those with intellectual disabilities.

From 80 to Blizzard...

Oh boy...where in an all out blizzard people! Steve is in California, and I doubt he'll be getting in town tonight when he's scheduled. My class is canceled, so Max and I are in our snugglies and just keeping warm. Olive is hating it...I had to shove her out in the back yard to make her go before it's so deep i can't find here again! I'll try to update photos all day. Highways are closed everywhere around the state. There is a 3 foot drift up on my back door right now! We're in a blizzard warning until 6am Friday morning!

Got to love March in Colorado!!!

Here are a few pictures takes about an hour apart.

Here is our elephant man statue...


And an hour later....


And take 3...


Out the front door...


An hour later...


The back patio...


An hour later...


And take 3...a couple of hours later...


And my poor little Olive...

Spring...Is that you???

Today was a gorgeous day. I was lazing about in bed this morning...trying to shake off the awful nights' sleep hanging precariously off of Max's bed to keep him satisfied, when Steve came in and said, you have to get up...it's so nice out!

So we got up and around, packed the car as if we were heading to the beach, and found our land beach instead. Washington Park is our favorite spot in town for people watching, and picnics and just being outside.

Here are our pictures from the day. We spend almost 3 and 1/2 hours out...and we all got a little sun. I need to remember the tent next time for Max! I think he got a little pink today. Of course, he'll be tan like his Daddy in the morning. I, however, only freckle!

Here's Max soaking up the sun while we ate our picnic...


Here's Max doing what Max does when he's outside...

(He had himself quite a pile of dirt and dead grass at the end of it!)

And here I am doing what I do when I'm outside...

(And I don't want to hear anything about my super white skin!)

And here's Olive doing what she does...keeping an eye out for the bravest squirrels in all of Denver...


Self-Portrait...


On our walk around the park after eating, I stopped to see a weeping willow...crying on his pillow...maybe he's crying for me...


I kid..I kid. But every time I see a weeping willow I sing that song.

See...PROOF Spring is coming...


Good day! Now I need to go to sleep, because when I wake up, Miss Abigail will be here! Spring Break...more proof that Spring is here!

Filling you in...

I was talking to my sister Angie yesterday afternoon, telling her about the CNA class, and she said, "hey-you're a quarter of the way done!". I hadn't even thought of it that way...and next week I will be halfway done!

Last night was our first quiz. It was over the first 6 chapters in the guidebook, one quiz for each chapter. I was fretting over it as there was only so much studying I can get done with Max full-time...housework full-time...therapy appointments...trying to remember the steps to the skills. Before I left, Steve told me I had nothing to worry about. That I had probably studied more than anyone else in the class.

I got there and sure enough...cramming is an understatement! I finished a good 30 minutes before every one else. But I don't know what my score is. We'll find out tomorrow.

I have three chapters to finish by Monday, so I'll do one each day this weekend. Last week we learned the skills:
Handwashing
Denture Care
Bed-Pan Placement
Positioning on side
Feeding
Dressing with affected side
Range of Motion
Applying stocking
Donning PPE Gown and Gloves
Washing foot
and wait for it...

How to read a thermometer

Good grief. I've got some skills that I could teach parents doing this. Like how to change a diaper in the dark at 3:00am...or how to get out of the way of projectile vomit just in time...or how to get your child to sleep by sitting in his bed...and then how to sneak out of the bed without waking him up...How to carry a 40lb. 5 year old up and down stairs...how to talk like a robot at the drop of a hat...

Oh yes...I could teach them all a thing or two! But I'm not there to teach them...I'm there to be taught. So, I'll push through and get done and then see what in the world can be done to make this more appropriate for family members working for their kids and pediatric workers, looking to get into the job of treating kids.

On to other things now...pictures!

Here's one of Max and Daddy on their new toy...

(And no Olive hasn't grown, that was Dillon playing with us for a couple of days)

Speaking of Olive...

She's spending the night at the kennel tonight. They are giving her a new "do" since Old Man Winter took her hostage this year. Bless her hairy heart.

Next week will be full too...
Our Abbey gets here Monday for Spring Break. Tuesday we get a visit from Steve's best man...and it's our 9 year anniversary!

Happy Weekend to you all!

Nighty night...

Tonight was CPR night...I don't know how that actually prepares you for the real deal...but either way, I guess I'll be CPR certified.

We also did our handwashing skills, and cleaning the old funky dentures, and putting on protective gowns(on ourselves) and stockings...those super elastic stockings.

There are so many steps...and so many chapters to read. It was feeling a little overwhelmed when we got home, so a little 24 catch-up is doing the trick.

I'll start out tomorrow morning reading more chapters and doing more workbook...and hopefully start retaining some of this info!!

That's better...

Tonight I started my new CNA class. Despite under-estimating how much time it would take to get there, and showing up late, everything went really well.

We started out filling out a lot of forms for the class. Forms stating that we wouldn't violate privacy laws, and wouldn't steal from the old people. And the application for the test.

Then the teacher split us up into 3 groups, with 3 different nurses to teach us our first three skills for the test. We learned how to clean dentures, how to do range of motion exercises on the resident/patient, and how to wash our hands.

Just to give you an idea on the steps, that have to be followed, here are the steps to washing your hands.

First you knock on the door to enter. You address the resident/patient, and say, "Hello Mr. ---, my name is Deana, and I am your nurse assistant today." "I'm going to wash my hands.".

Next, you walk to the sink and turn on the water to a comfortable warm temperature.

Next, you wet your hands starting at the wrists, letting the water run down your hands into the sink.

Next, you get your soap and lather the soap all over your hands and wrists for 15 seconds, counting out loud, "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5..."all the way to 15. After you wash your hands up to 15, you rub your fingernails on the opposite hand into the suds four times back and forth.

Next, you rinse your hands, starting at the wrists, letting the water run down your hands into the sink.

Next, you get one towel and dry your hands one at a time in four motions. A pat on the wrist, hand, fingers, then palm. Switch to the other hand, then throw the towel away.

Finally, take another towel and turn the water off.

This washing of hands isn't a very "green" operation! Same with cleaning the dentures...the water ran forever!!

That is one of the 24 skills, with just as many steps to remember. We have to say it all out loud, for memory purposes during the test, but also, so the instructor knows we know what to do. Redundant if you ask me, but I'll do what I'm told.

Now it's time for bed. I'll try to update now and then, but I gotta tell you this is going to tire me out! Thankfully, the class is only Monday through Thursday! And Max doesn't care if I had a full day or not...he still wants to carry on until midnight or later!

Thinking on today...

Today I've got India on my mind...maybe that's why I haven't done a lot around the house. My head is in the clouds. Thinking, and reading, and remembering India.

Here are a few things I've run across today.

Sacred Cows blog on their maid in India. I came upon this blog after reading the book Salaam East End. I would still say this is one of my favorite books. An amazing read. Here Anu is writing about their maid in Delhi, what her day to day life is like. I especially enjoyed the part about the refrigerator...and how they use it. Quite resourceful! Sacred Cows

Steve came home this afternoon and said, "Your author was on the radio.". My author being Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. She was on Talk Of The Nation today on NPR talking about her article in the LA Times on Slumdog Millionaire and the buzz around it. You can listen to it here 'Poverty Porn': Education Or Exploitation?

From that link, I went to Amazon to see if Chitra had any new books coming out, since I already have all of her other ones and have read them all. And sure enough, Shadowland, her third book in the Brotherhood of the Conch Series is coming out at the end of this month. Hooray!!!

Then I found her on Facebook and became a fan. And then I thought, okay enough already, get off the computer! But not before I could pass these links along. So there you go, friends...all for you...my spoils from a very unproductive day!

Life at 1:30am...

Before Max, I worked in a tall office building downtown. I worked with a lovely lady named Bea. Bea would often tell me how she had been up until 2:00am the night before folding laundry. Being the young know it all I was, I would ask her why not just do it in between dinner, or before bed. There had to be plenty of time in her day to fit in a couple loads of laundry.

I have thought of Bea and her laundry dilemma many times in the past 5 years. How foolish I was. You see, I had no idea. How could I before having a child...and not just any child...my child.

My child, who likes to wait until I am nearly asleep, after folding 2-3 loads of my own laundry that finally gets done once he's in bed, this is when he wakes and decides to vomit, or pee, or poop all over his bedding. In fact, last night it was vomit, which got thrown to the side to wash later, and tonight it was pee. Not one time, nor two, but three times did the child pee on himself, his bedding and me, while I was trying to put one of the ridiculous pull-up diapers on him. He was quite satisfied with his water-works show and giggled with excitement at his new found game. I on the other hand was anything but happy. I cleaned him up THREE times and finally got him dressed and picked him up to move him and he was stone cold OUT! And since both of his sheets were dirtied, I moved him and all of his 40 pounds of sound sleep onto my bed.

So now he is in our bed, fast asleep on his Daddy's pillow, while I, at 1:30am started another load of laundry. Clean myself off, and write a little blog, about the life of a mommy at 1:30am...doing laundry.

On to real life...

Well, my birthday is over, and of course I am sad. I do love my birthday, and it never fails that I get terribly sad when it's over. Must be a middle child thing, and loving getting all the attention!

It was a really nice weekend though. Wednesday, before my birthday, we went out to eat at Tamayo, in LoDo (that's Lower Downtown Denver). It was A-MA-ZING!!! Like, the BEST Mexican food I have ever had in my life. I was a little unsure going into it, because I had eaten there once before when I worked downtown, but I really didn't like what I got. But Steve and I both really loved what we got, and will make it a regular "fancy" date night place!

On my birthday, I woke up and had a little slice of this...


Oh yes people...that is Coconut Flan from none other than Paul Patisserie. My FAVORITE eatery in all of London. Of course, it's not originally from London, but that's the only place I've had it, so it's my favorite place in London. Anyway, back to the flan. Before you go into convulsions, it doesn't have the consistency at all of flan, but of a mix between coconut pie and cheesecake. It taste like heaven in your mouth, and my husband got an entire one overnighted to me from the only Paul Patisserie in the states, Miami, FL. Go figure! So that's what I ate for breakfast on my birthday!

Then my mom was dropped off by my brother in law, and I got to hug on Addie for a few minutes. And we visited, and went to lunch at Jason's deli, then came home and got Max settled while Steve and I went to the mall for some shopping. I don't think I got much, just some candles. And my free birthday gift at Sephora...lipgloss.

Then we came home and got ready for dinner. It was a weekend of eating! This time, it was Table6. And it was exquisite. We've only been there one other time, but both times, I couldn't help but to wish I lived there. Right there in that restaurant. It looks like an old house, like an open loft type house, with this great little kitchen, and maybe 15 tables. I like to plan out where I would put my furniture in places like that. I'm pretty certain it would work out. We kept saying all the people we know who we would love to have dinner with there.

After dinner, we headed back to the house SO full and got a surprise video call from Abbey, and Dan and Ang showed up with pie and ice cream...also a surprise! During that time, mom gave me a few gifts. A couple were ice cream scoopers from my favorite dairy in Oklahoma. It's cheesy, I know, but they are really good scoopers, and in the moves last year, I lost mine! And then, the gift of all gifts this year.



My Grandma's Button jar!!!!!!! I couldn't really believe my eyes when I opened the box. I was really shocked! I immediately went to the table and emptied them out and Ang and I went straight to work sorting them out by color. Dan said our nerd factor went way up because of it, but I don't even care! They might as well be jewels in a treasure box. I LOVE them! And it was fun to remember them all, and find new ones. It was such a special gift!

Friday, Steve headed out of town to Florida, and mom and I hung out until dinner at my friends' The Clark's. We had delicious PF Chang's. And this birthday cake that was scrummy...red velvet ice cream cake. Yowza!! Then Terry had come up with some really cute number games for us to play. It only took me a few times to figure out that they all were ending up with the answer of "30". :)

Saturday we had lunch with Ang and Dan, and then the rest of the day just hung around the house. Ang and I went to the store to get mom a few things to sew Max some onesies with.

Here's what she cranked out in like 5 minutes...it took me about 3 hours to try one.


Here it is on:

And here is Max on a Queen sized bed...ENORMOUS!


Here's the one I made...not too shabby...


They are going to work out well I think. At least now he doesn't get a major wedgie from his onesies! I still have more I can make, but might have to get some more t-shirts first.

Saturday night I got as sick as a dog. I guess all the eating rich foods caught up with me. I was up a lot of the night, but fine the next morning. And thankfully, Max slept like a baby through it all.

Sunday mom went home, and I collapsed into a heap. Just kidding. But it was a good birthday weekend...and I was tired! Life is back on now. And after having a full day today, I have an even more full day tomorrow. We're having doggy company for a few days this week...won't Olive be happy! Me too...I like having that big bad dog bark to scare people with!!

For those of you who made it this far, I commend you for your faithfulness to my rambling blog! Thank you for all the birthday wishes.