If I laugh, I will die

So, lately I've been nothing but a whiny little thing on here. Last week, Maysen was watched by my father/step mother in law at Danielle's house (my step sister in law). Danielle has 3 kids who always seem to be sick. Welcome to public school. Well, anyway, Maysen was over there Monday and Wednesday. Monday Jurny had a temp and a runny nose, but was assured it was just "cutting teeth". Which, is normal when you're cutting teeth. So, Thursday Maysen woke up with a slight fever and runny nose, and he started coughing through the day. It's weird because kids can be sick and still act fine. Which, he was a tad "cuddly" here and there, but the rest of the time he was OK. So, Friday I go to work ... nothing wrong. Then I start getting a sore throat. By Friday night it was getting worse .. Saturday I wake up and decide we'd better just hang out and rest. By Saturday night, my chest was heavy with congestion and starting to "burn". I laid down to go to sleep, and I had this deep tickle in my chest, sat up and had to cough and OH MY LORD. I felt like a sawed off shotgun had just ripped open my thoracic cavity and someone was pouring bleach on it and my open throat. OH MAN! Rubbed Vick's all over like crazy and fell asleep shivering from the menthol.

So, I get up this morning (after maybe 4hrs of sleep) and the acid-cough is every 3min and my ears are starting to hurt. So, I decided I'd better go into Urgent Care to make sure I don't have strep throat or something that will manifest into "no good". So, we get there, and the doc listens and I'm wheezing like I've smoked 4 packs of cigs an hour. So, I have to have 2 albuterol breathing treatments via nebulizer. Dizziness has now set in from all the bronchodilation and I'm starting to breathe better. So, he says that I have SARS ... no, just kidding. I have viral bronchitis. So, I'm on mondo cough medicine and an inhaler. Is it bad that I've already had HALF the bottle of cough syrup with codeine?

But ... why is it that Jurny, 3, blows around with a runny nose and slight fever like it's nothing, gone in 1 day. Then Maysen gets it ... yea, he may be a tad slower but by the next day he's A-OK ... that runny nose means NOTHING to him. Me? Hell, I'm down and out as though someone with the biggest and worse pneumonia came and slept all over me, drooling down my throat. Nope! Maybe one slobbery kiss from my runny nose boy and this is day 3 that I'm down and off my ASS! Why are kid's germs so potent ... and how are they "that" immune to their potency?

So, yea, if I even think of beginning to laugh, I get that "Pstfff--" *hard hold of breath* trying to throw my body into that reject "No, you're NOT GOINGTO LAUGH" mode because knowing if I do, my chest will explode into a coughing frenzy, my head will rocket off my neck and burst into a million pieces. So you sort of just have to "blow through it" like you're in birthing classes, which I never took. Ok. And meanwhile, I've taken enough codeine to make my mouth so dry I feel like I might eat my tongue and swallow it whole ... if I only had some moisture. Lips all curled up in my gums .. I look like granny who has dentures and they're all dried and crusted up ... and the lips are clear above the gum lines all you see is "SKELETOR" teeth/gums. Yea, great. That'll kick your Saturday night romance RIGHT off ...

Ok. I am going to bed, and praying like hell that I feel better in the morning so I can MAYBE actually make something out of the last day of this long weekend. I wanna see the DaVinci Code.

Same but Different?

I was so confused when I first moved to Oregon. Do you have Hardee's or Carl's Jr. around where you live ... and why the different name?

Fog

I'm in a total fog today. One of those "can't quite wake up" mornings. Thank goodness it's a holiday weekend. And I have a 4-day weekend because I have Tuesdays off.

Our weather has crapped the bed. It was 70s-80s and gorgeous! Blue sky, no clouds. Now it's been raining for a week and 50s-60s. Which is OK because my grass/garden/flowers were needing watered and our new transplanted grass was getting to look a tad sad. One revelation since moving to the Pacific NW is there are SNAILS and SLUGS here. They're both slimy worm things; one with a shell, one without. But they will eat EVERYTHING. I just put out my snail bait and they dissolve like cotton candy in your mouth (yuck .. that was a disgusting analogy).

Made an appointment with H&R Block to figure out how in the hell we're supposed to be doing our taxes once Nate starts work. Since he's on a 1yr contract, we'll be getting cut a check and we're responsible for the rest; paying taxes, SS, Medicare, etc. I don't want to even try and swing that blind because I can see the IRS knocking on my door next year saying I owe $$$ because I didn't know what in the hell I was doing. But I'll be a pro a quarterly taxes in a year.

I'm rambling, really. Slow day, fog, not much else to say. Other than the keyless remote to my van went out. Yea, try figuring out how to replace the battery in that hummer. It's like trying to pry apart the legs of .... well never mind. I'm not doing too hot on the analogies today.

Merry Weekend!

New Hairdo!

Before:

After:

Here is another "Before & After". Maysen got his very first haircut on Sunday. His Auntie Marsha did it and did a wonderful job! Maysen did fine after we stopped trying to put rubber bands in his hair trying to tie off his curls in the back. He didn't like that and freaked out. After we stopped, he did great. It's amazing to me how much Maysen can change in only 3 minutes. He went from a big baby to such my little big boy.

So, a secure files containing personal info of 26 million US veterans were stolen from the Dept of Veterans Affairs computer analyst's house nearly THREE WEEKS ago and only made public yesterday. Now we can look foward to worrying if Nathan's identity was stolen. I highly doubt it will, but you never know. Apparently the analyst didn't have the authority to take that info home, but did, house was broken into, and files stolen. Go figure.

Nathan's cell phone screen broke while we were in Florida in August. It's been usable, just that there's a huge constant purple blob in the screen and you can't what you're dialing or who's calling. He's continued to use it since then, but tonight we're retiring it and getting a new one. Now when you go to dial out, all you hear is this horrible ROEEEEEEER-D when you dial. Yeah. Since he's more rough with the phone than I am, he'll use my "old" phone and I get the new one. Think I'll go with the newer sleek phone.

I'm enjoying Richard Dreyfuss go absolutely nuts with Bill Murray in "What About Bob". "Doooccctttoooorr ..... LEEEEEEEE-OOOOOO .... MAAAAAAAARVIN!!!"

After

The painting was finished yesterday. Perfect weather for painting; sunny, no wind and about 86F. You can't tell very well with this picture, but my front door is red. It's behind the screen door. But, I love how it turned out. So nice sitting outside on the front porch and be able to watch Maysen push his toy lawn mower around in the quiet street. And I promised an "after" picture of the deck, too. Before it was rather overstained, scratched, and dingy. Now it's a brilliant cherry cedar color and looks fresh.

I got a call from my Nate's brother that my sister in law is having her baby today. She went from the Dr's office to the hospital to have her water broke. If the baby comes before 5pm we'll go to Albany (where they are, about 50mi from here). Otherwise we won't be able to go tonight, as I have to work tomorrow and Maysen won't be able to stay up that late. If we don't go tonight, then we'll have to wait until Sunday; we're having company this weekend and we'll go Sunday afternoon.

I'm going to go out and sit in the sun and try and finish In Cold Blood. I'm trying to get my albino-white legs some color!

UPDATE: I have a new niece as of this evening! Welcome to the world, Miranda Cory Mae Scovil | 8:37pm | 7lb 3oz, 19". Little sister to Jonas Roger, 3.

Before

This is our house right now. Our front porch and back deck got newly stained on Tuesday. On Monday we're having our house repainted. The main color will be a green/grey with trim being white. And my front door will be red.

Nathan got an "unofficial" job offer on Wednesday from Weyerhaeuser. As many people know, there are alot of technicalities with larger companies. They have to have the offer letter printed through Human Resources, etc but he was basically offered the job on Wednesday. He's one of the first string software developers developing a new software to speed along development and manufacturing of homes through Weyerhaeuser. He got offered a 1yr contract, no benefits. It's great in a few ways. There are Pros and Cons:

Pros:
a) The $$$ is really good, almost double what I make
as an RN (with raise to be discussed at 60 days)
b) *Great* experience for a software developer right out of school
c) Awesome opportunity for advancement in a great company
d) Great chance of the contract being extended/turning into permanent position
e) If it becomes a permanent position, high likelyhood that Nathan will quickly turn into a Lead or Senior programmer, as
he is one of the first developers working on this project

Cons:
a) 100% stability only 1yr right now
b) No benefits offered while on contract

I guess I was just hoping to drop my job as soon as Nathan graduated and obtained a job. I guess I may have to be patient a tad bit longer. Mainly for the benefits. We could get coverage through the VA, but I'm not convinced at the quality of the VA medical benefits. Oh well, it's a great opportunity for Nathan. Plus, Dr D may be taking an extra day off during the week to train interns from OHSU. I've already cut Tuesday out of my week, so if he takes a M,W, or F I'll only need to work 2 days/week and still keep my benefits. I will let you know when we get the official letter. Should be Monday. Happy Mother's Day to those who are mommies!

Bye-bye Hummer H1.

I have had a nice last few days off. I only work tomorrow and Friday this week, which is nice. We have been doing more home work, as you can see at the right. This afternoon we are having our front porch and back deck restained. The deal was, is that we would have it ready to go before staining, so that is what we have been doing. I actually ran a FLOOR SANDER (you can see it there). I felt a bit man-like by running it, but hey, had to get it done. Today will be staining and at the end of the week the painters will start the painting of the exterior. We're doing a grey/green with white trim. And I'm having my front door painted red. Will post the final product pictures when it's all done, which should be late next week.

Nate's interview with Weyerhaeuser on last Friday went great! (see post below). The job he would be doing sounds really cool, but apparently is slightly *hush hush* at this point due to being in mid-developement. But, I think he'll like it alot. The interview Friday lasted 1.5hrs and yesterday they called wanting to meet with him again tomorrow at 1pm. I'm almost positive they'll be offering him a job. The only thing we are hesitant on is that most larger companies have now merged to offering 1yr contract with prospect of permanent employment thereafter. That's fine except that I don't like the fact that they have no obligation to you after 1yr and could be jobless thereafter. Then sometimes they don't offer benefits. The goal is me being able to quit my job and be home with Maysen full time ... but if there's no benefits, and potentially no job after 1yr, I don't know how comfortable I am with that. So, Nathan will vocalize his concerns to them tomorrow, if they offer him a job.

One thing I'm excited for is we have made reservations for a weekend getaway June 15th to the Redwoods in a cozy riverside bungalow. We're going to stay in the bungalow by the river ... outside shower with open top, which I can't wait for. My fondest memories of growing up with summers at Cedar Bluff Lake were the open roofed showers. After a long day of sand, wind, and water it would all wash away while I stared up at the open sky of stars standing in the warm water. Jenn and Matt are going to get a crash course in parenting by baby/house sitting for us that weekend. Know what's funny? Neither one have ever changed a poopy diaper!! We'll leave the garden hose hooked up for you in the back, Matt. Just hose it off.

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow with Nate's "meeting" with Weyerhaeuser.

Mase and his Popo:

Update on Nathan's license suspension. I think when I last posted about this, we were applying for a hardship permit. I had contacted the Eugene DMV, explained Nate's situation and that I didn't want to spend $125 for this permit (in total) if it was hopeless. What I was told by "Beverly" was "...Oh, they'd have to have a pretty good reason to deny your application..." So, away went my $125 and about a week later, we got our answer. Denied. Why, you might ask? Well, with his suspension, childcare and work are simply not allowed. That's it! So I faxed a letter to the DMV in hopes to get my $125 back (I doubt it works). If I had known, or was advised, that this sort of thing wasn't allowed with this suspension, I wouldn't have wasted my money. They send you a 4 page application, and no where does it state what is and what isn't allowed. Then they sit behind their little desk with these books of stipulations to certain suspensions. BS! So, we'll see. Nathan was advised the only way around the suspension was to write a letter to the Creswell judge (who happens to only be available one day per month, because this "judge" is actually just a volunteer ... welcome to Smalltownville) in hopes that he'll overturn the SEATBELT violation (which was his 4th violation is 24mo, hence his license being taken away). So, he did ... and after waiting a week, we were notified that since Nathan had paid the ticket, he had automatically pled guilty, and they couldn't overturn the conviction. So, here we are. Day 1 of no license. Thankfully, Eugene mass transportation bus runs out to Creswell, and Nathan is able to ride it to work/school. And luckily we have a great family support system who is willing to help with picking up/dropping off Maysen. Thank God it's only 30 days.

On a lighter note, Nathan graduates in 5 weeks with his Computer Software Developement degree. And after putting his resume on monster.com, he has managed to score two phone interviews. One was for Weyerhaeuser, which he had yesterday and went *REALLY WELL* and is having a face-to-face interview with them Friday. And the other is a technical phone interview with Microsoft tomorrow. The downfall to Microsoft (although it would be a *wonderful* experience for Nate) is that it's in Bellevue, WA. We would have to give up a lot to move up there. Nate talked to them today to confirm the phone interview for tomorrow and actually told them he'd have to make $X for us to move up there (which we thought it would be so much they'd shoot us down) and he was told that it would be considered and evaluated after his interview. So, we'll see. I'm personally rooting for the local Weyerhaeuser job (it's 6mi from our house).

Tomorrow is my Friday because Dr D is taking Friday and Monday off. And because my normal days off include Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun that means I will have Thur-Tues off. And nothing really to do. I should go on a trip. Hawaii sounds nice ...