Mom, are you an innapropriate girl?

Apparently Jupiter (she of the "belly shirts are the best thing ever, and I don't get why Mom won't let me wear them") thought my shirt was too low while we were reading tonight. And it is evidently not okay for me to wear a tank top with built in shelf support in the privacy of my own home. Also evidently I was having a hot flash at the time, because ordinarily in January I am bundled up in multiple layers of clothing, hats and blankets.

Rates up there with the day I left one of Jupiter's sparkly gold headwraps on my desk at work and my boss glanced at it on the way by and thought it was a pair of thong underwear.

Yeah, Maria. That's for my 2nd job. It's called innapropriate girl. Don't worry, the thong I left on my desk is clean.

Nope. Not me. I am astoundingly boring.

Now I'm having a different kind of hot flash. It's called just finished shoveling my driveway in the light of the streetlamp after Jupiter went to sleep in the half hour window after the snow turns to freezing rain which means no more accumulation but before the 1/2 inch of ice accumulation makes the snow too heavy to move.

Jupiter didn't want to fall asleep last night and consequently was a mean bear most of the day. She was also up early this morning. She was in the orange zone at school and was only at school for four hours because of early dismissal. She argued with every. single. thing. I said. All day. Probably even when I wasn't there. So tonight, she got to go to bed early. Her cough is hanging tough. Now accompanied by a very runny nose. She doesn't notice when there are streams of mucus running down her face until someone reminds her. (Really, I do try. Haven't yet figured out how to get her to pay attention to that on a regular basis.) Now the skin under her nose is irritated and it makes her more grumpy.

Hopefully she sleeps. All night. And awakens in the morning magically cleansed of any cold germs.

Winter Storm Warning

Another Maine storm's coming. Whoohoo.

Jupiter better hope she's not going to school tomorrow, because she's not going to sleep now.

This time we get snow, followed by sleet and freezing rain. Can't wait to drive home in it tomorrow. Good things...less snow. Bad things...snow covered with a layer of ice and soaked through with rain is a bear to shovel.

Ah well.

The sun was shining right in my face when I drove home today. It was not twilight at 4pm.

And it was 14 degrees at 4pm. My furnace just came on again.

Go here. Read this.

Mama C puts it better than I can. And certainly in a more constructive way than my personal boycott of the title of governor in regards to the person who currently holds the title.

http://mamacandtheboys.com/2011/01/17/an-open-letter-to-my-governor-paul-lepage/

Medicine Battle

Well, now the melty strips don't work.

Here's the thing.

With a palate expander in place, a child is not capable of rubbing the roof of her mouth with her tongue. So if the melty strip is on the tongue, it's harder to disolve. If it happens to get stuck on the roof of her mouth, well.....let's just have an anxiety episode followed by a defiant refusal to swish water around to remove the melty strip. This is why I avoid giving her medicine at all costs.

I asked her if her ears hurt yesterday, which led to a discussion about if you go to the doctor for an ear infection, where do they give you the shot? I told her that normally, one does not get a shot for an ear infection. You get nice medicine that tastes like bubble gum and swallow it. I don't know where one gets an antibiotic injection for an ear infection.

I just threw away the ten melty strips left in the box. Which was completely stupid and didn't solve anything. But I had to do something. So there. Stupid melty strips.

I am coming down with the cold. Not sure if it's Jupiter's cold or the work cold, or a hybrid of both colds. Excellent. We went to the grocery store today in workout pants and pj's. And of course, saw someone from Jupiter's school. But she thought wearing pj's to the store was pretty cool.

We parked on the side of the building, so I let her push the cart by herself along the walkway in front of the store. She skipped along in her pj's pushing the cart, happy as a clam.

Can clams actually feel happiness? I am not sure. But Jupiter was happy as one, if they can.

Library Day

Today we went to the library.

I got books for myself that look really interesting. Which makes sense, of course. But normally, for that to happen, I go online, study the card catalogue and decide which books I want, and then place hold requests on them. Then the librarians go pull the books off the shelves and put them behind the circulation desk so I don't have to haul Jupiter all around the library while she demands to know when we will be leaving.

I should clarify. She loves the library. As long as it's the part of the library SHE is interested in.

This system of requesting books, while convenient, generally means I have nothing new to read for several weeks. Then three or four or five books come in all at one time and I have to decide which book to read first.

Sometimes being tired is my own fault, because I stay up too late reading instead of listening to my body (which I say to Jupiter how many times a day????) and going to sleep when I know I'm tired. Like last night, I stayed up late having a conversation with Elmo during which I maintained I will not call the head of the State of Maine by his proper title of Governor. Then I stayed up late reading the book I had already started. Then Jupiter had her 11:30 coughing spell and I went to lay down with her. Where I fell asleep.

So anyway, today we went to the branch library instead of the main branch. The catalog indicated Ramona and her Mother was on the shelf at the branch library. (I can't find my copy.) Right off I saw two interesting books. Jupiter picked up two chapter books and some kids graphic novel about somebody called Baby Mouse. I found the Ramona book. We chose a couple of easy reader books for Jupiter to read on her own.

Then we went to check out, and sitting on the circulation desk on display was another book that looked good (involved cooking). So I grabbed that one too. One of my goals for this year is to check out of the library with fewer than 22 books. Seriously, we've done that. Repeatedly. I'd love to know the patrons with the highest ciculation records. I bet I'm on that list.

But now I have to finish the book I've already started before I can read my three excellent library books. Guess I'll be up late again finishing that book.

BTW, I am posting late tonight because I had to start a batch of yogurt in the yogurt maker. Once the milk goes in the yogurt maker, it just sits there for 8 hours. Heating up a 1/2 gallon of milk to 180 degrees at a low heat, however, is not a quick process. Finally managed to make yogurt the consistency of greek yogurt this week. Mixed it with fresh strawberries and homemade museli and a little sugar. And spent this week at work waiting in anticipation for the 10:30 stretch break so I could eat yogurt. But the last time I started a batch of yogurt in the evening, I put it in too early, so I had to get up at 4am to turn OFF the yogurt maker. Not a problem tomorrow.

Jupiter would like it known that she read the entire kids graphic novel all to herself in one day. She is wicked proud, as we say here in Maine. Though, come to think of it, I don't think I've heard Jupiter use "wicked" in that context. As much as she does enjoy purposely throwing in an exaggerated Maine accent every now and again just for the look I give her.

PhotoPost Friday

Candy

My child is addicted to candy.

As it turns out, while I was outside shoveling yesterday, she located the bag of leftover Halloween/Christmas candy that I had been meaning to take to work. She ate some candy, then hid the bag under her bed.

While we were doing bedtime reading, she indicated that her doll had fallen off the side of the bed. She leaned over the side of the bed to get the doll.

She also got two snack size Kit Kats. Wiggled around. Hid under the covers.

and ate two snack size Kit Kats. While I was right next to her. Without my knowledge.

Until I smelled the candy on her breath.

Just prior to the KitKats, she has finished a delmonte purple freeze pop because I tortured her with a purple cough melty strip, hoping she would sleep through the night without waking up coughing. I was hoping the grape freeze pop would make the purple melty strip flavor more tolerable.

This was after the little dish of ice cream I let her have after supper because she didn't have any during the day.


This morning, I found out that yesterday, Jupiter served herself a bowl of whip cream and chocolate syrup while Mimi was out shoveling. (Jupiter doesn't normally get to stay in by herself, but her cough is irritated by cold air.). Mimi didn't know about the chocolate syrup until late last night when she went to do the dishes. I told her to check the chocolate syrup bottle to see if there is any left in the bottle.

Last night, Jupiter couldn't fall asleep. I can't imagine it had anything to do with the 800 grams of sugar she ate yesterday. The cough wasn't helping either. I finally got her to sit with me in the rocking chair wrapped in a blanket until the cough settled down a little. Then she finally fell asleep, although it was after 9pm.

Today she didn't have desserts (with the exception of the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies I put in her lunch because of the oatmeal. And the flaxseed I put in with them.). And she didn't ask for desserts either.

The team at work is enjoying the Halloween/Christmas candy.