Eat or Be Eaten

Two nights ago I ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut. I figured with it being a week night that my order would be delivered quickly. The estimated time was decent and said I should expect my order by 7:15pm. Since I live in the casita behind the house and didn't want the driver to bother the family, I requested that they call me before ringing the doorbell.

So at 7:10pm I went outside to the front and waited for my pizza. While I waited, I noticed a praying mantis on the screen. I've never seen one before. Jeff and Hana came outside and I showed it to them. The neighbor's cat came over and I petted it. Angie came outside. By that time the pizza delivery guy was ten minutes late.

Everyone went inside. It was getting dark. I could see lightning in the distance. My phone rang. It was the pizza guy. He said they were running longer than expected and he was on his way. My pizza was 25 minutes late when it arrived. I didn't take it out on the delivery guy because it wasn't his fault. I just took my pizza and had dinner in my casita.

Apparently while I was outside waiting for the pizza, the bugs were making food out of me. It's now Friday night and my feet and ankles are pink and itchy and painful from all of the bug bites.

I Need A Vacation After My Vacation

All week I had been wishing that I had taken a day off between my SLC trip and returning to work with Hana. I was tired everyday. I took short naps when Hana slept.

This new schedule with Hana is hard. She used to have a morning and afternoon nap so my ten hours days were broken up where she slept three to four hours. I had time to relax and eat breakfast in the morning and brush and floss my teeth and pick out an activity or art project before she woke up. Now she takes one nap and though it should be longer, she only sleeps two hours. Now I eat breakfast while she is awake, skip brushing my teeth, and don't have anything prepared for us to do in the morning.

I get the car about twice a week. Jeff or I will drive Angie to work and usually Jeff picks her up before returning home. It's hard keeping Hana entertained without a car in Phoenix heat and I am too tired to do anything. This week we went to Little Gym, Paradise Valley Mall, went swimming twice in her backyard, went on a bug safari, and did some art projects such as painting.

Hana was put on a wait list for two different daycares/preschools for the fall. Her number never came up so she won't be getting that social interaction a couple days a week as we had hoped. Little Gym class ended this week so Angie plans on enrolling Hana in a swim class. I will enjoy that much more.

Hana keeps surprising me. She asked me to change her diaper! She is also listening to the lyrics of songs I play in the car. One time we were driving to the grocery store while I played the Glee version of Forget You and it got to this part:

Now Baby Baby Baby Why Ya Wanna Wanna Hurt Me So Bad?
I Tried To Tell My Momma But She Told Me This Was One For Your Dad
Why?
Why?
Why baby?

During this part we were at a red light so I turned around, used my hand as a microphone and lip synced it to her. She smiled. The next morning I was telling her mom about it and I sang that part again and Hana suddenly became my back up singer. At the end of "Hurt me so bad" she sang, "So bad, so bad" in perfect rhythm!

She's also singing along to the theme songs to Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I also hold singing notes with her and try to match her pitch. This girl is quite musically talented! She can also count to twelve without skipping a number.

As to Thomas Trains, her collection keeps growing! She now has 23 train engines and five tenders (tenders are the coal carts attached to train engines). Her dad also bought her a giant track set which has completely taken over the play table in her toy room. Now we can't do art projects on there anymore.

Hana's favorite trains are Thomas, James, and Molly. She also favors Gordon and Henry. I usually have to let her take a couple of trains outside or in the car with us. She cries when I tell her that the trains have to stay in the car. She is so attached to her train friends!

Now it's finally the weekend and I can focus on resting. Hmm...something is in my room moving quickly across the floor. I think it's a baby gecko. At least it's not a spider or a centipede. If I can find a way to trap it, I will set it free outside.

The Moon Was A Yellow Banana

Last weekend I visited my friends in Salt Lake City. I arrived Friday afternoon and Alison graciously picked me up and we went to Bountiful to her mom's house where Alison works. The three of us went grocery shopping to Smiths Marketplace where I found cute outfits for the new baby my boss, Angie is expecting in December.

Before we left Mama Carol's house I got my picture taken with her. What a kind lady! Alison and I made a stop at her brother's health food store before going to her place in Taylorsville to pick up her husband, Daniel and go out to dinner. We ate at Johnny Carinos. I ordered my favorite dish: three cheese tortellini in alfredo sauce. It's the best pasta I have ever had! Since the salads were unlimited we each had more than one. I had my delicious caesar salad. I could eat caesar salad every day and never tire of it!

Afterwards we stopped at Shara's house to get a spare key and then back to their place for a movie. We watched Galaxy Quest. Alison didn't like it. It's cheesy but fun to watch. As Alison drove me to Shara's house late that night, I looked up at the cloudy night sky and it made me gasp. The moon looked like a yellow banana! I tried to take a picture with my phone but my resolution sucked. It was pretty, though.

The next morning I got up in time to see Shara off as she was leaving for a friend's birthday party. Debbie picked me up and we went out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I had french toast with bacon, hashbrown casserole, and a blueberry muffin. I played the peg game they keep at all their tables and eventually won. After breakfast we lingered around the store and I found a special coloring book for Hana.

About an hour after Debbie dropped me back at Shara's house, Nancy arrived. She drove me over to Alison's house and Daniel, Alison, Nancy and I carpooled to Kaysville to go to Boondocks. I had never been there before. It was a lot of fun! We started with miniature golf where I got a hole in one! The last hole there was this tiki dude and if you shot the ball into him correctly, fire shot up from his head. If you missed, you were squirted with water. On a hot day when I was feeling the sun burning my skin, I missed the shot and opened my mouth!

Nancy won that game. Then we ate lunch. Alison had a cooler with an ice pack so we brought our own food. Yea for saving money! Next was bowling. Nancy and I picked out nicknames for each bowler: Nancy was Laughing Eyes, I was Blondie, Alison was Alley Cat and Daniel was Tiger Man as a cross between Daniel Tiger and Dan The Man. I was a terrible bowler but I didn't care because bowling is fun. I think Daniel won that game.

Then came the arcades. Our unlimited fun cards each had $5 arcade money. Nancy and I played a dancing arcade game like one I've seen in a movie. It was fun but Nancy was definitely better at it than me. We all looked around for fun games to play. Alison found an alien game similar to the one we played at the arcade in West Jordan so we played it. We were both yelling out phrases such as " Die! Die Aliens, Die!" and "Get off our planet Alien scum!". We drew a little attention with that.

Nancy found a game called Crazy Eights. You pull the lever and a light moves in a rectangular motion past numbers from 10 to 80 as well as bonus. Nancy and I earned a lot of tickets on that machine! We put our tickets into the ticket machine before going to the prize table. When the guy scanned my card there were no tickets shown on my card when I had just earned 110 tickets! I was upset. Nancy insisted on speaking with a manager. At first the manager was all too bad, so sad but Nancy insisted so the manager took my card and added the tickets onto my card. If it hadn't been for Nancy, I wouldn't have gotten my tickets. We added a few more dollars to our cards, played Crazy Eights again, earned even more tickets, then went outside to have some more fun.

Next was Go Carts. I remember doing this when I was around ten years old. I had my sister Kelli next to me in the car and one of us was the gas pedal and the other used the brake pedal. Here I was on my own. I am a cautious driver by nature so I wasn't all about pedal to the metal like other drivers. I slowed down for turns and kept to the side so faster drivers could pass me. Still, it was great having my hair blowing in the wind and driving with my friends.

The final activity was Bumper Boats. We weren't in actual boats, more like inner tubes. There were about twenty boats all together in a large but shallow pool. Next to the motor there were two levers: one for turning and the other for squirting water. I managed to get all my friends wet and vice versa. This was my favorite activity!

We ended our trip by returning to the prize station and spending our tickets on little toys and candy.

That night was Shrek the Musical. Daniel chose not to go so it was girls night! We grabbed food at Chick Fil-A and ate it there. It was at the Murray Park Ampitheater so we had seats. The blankets we brought helped our bums to be more comfortable. During the show Nancy recognized the little Fiona actress from a youtube video and so after the show I took their picture. I got my picture taken with Donkey. It was a great show!

Sunday I spent with Shara. We talked and ate breakfast. Later we went to church with her friend, Aaron. It was Fast Sunday so during Sacrament Meeting lots of people got up to share their testimonies. I was listening intently to one young woman who talked about her friends and family members who no longer went to church and how sad it made her feel. I felt impressed to speak with her as someone who has been on the other side of the church bubble. After service was over I introduced myself and shared some advice. I didn't expect to but I teared up while talking. She thanked me and we hugged.

All too soon my trip was over and Aaron and Shara took me to the airport. My flight left on time. I ended up sitting next to a friendly 12 year old girl named Grace who was flying for the first time. She was going to visit her sick Aunt and play with her cute dogs for a few days. I gave her advice such as chewing gum to help her ears pop and to avoid using the bathroom. We talked about Hana as well as her family. She did very well for her first flight.

What Was The Dentist Doing In Panama?

Answer: Looking for the Root Canal!

This morning I faced my second dentist. I arrived early and realized I had forgotten my chap stick at home. I knew I would regret that later.

I remembered to tell the dental assistant and the dentist (I should learn his name) about needing extra Lidocaine. He injected my mouth several times and then I was left alone to allow the medicine to take effect. Have you ever felt your chin when it's numbed? I giggled outloud. It felt like someone had attached a theatrical add on mold over my own chin. The numbness traveled on my left side all the way up to my ear. The right side didn't go as far because I would only have one filling on that side.

I remember pleading with God throughout the ordeal that I not feel any pain and that it would be over quickly. Well, at least He listened to the first part. The Lidocaine worked. I felt pressure but no pain. I could smell the smoke from the drill, I could taste the numbing jell still in my mouth and I was uncomfortable but no pain.

Once the drilling started I found myself breathing through my mouth instead of my nose. I focused on inhaling through my nose but I couldn't exhale that way. At times I felt like I couldn't exhale as much as I was inhaling. My breathing wasn't normal. I closed my eyes as much as possible.

I want to photoshop a fun background to this picture as use it as a Halloween card.

You know that light dentists use that shines over your face while they are working? Well I saw that there were initials or some brand name on the face of it: TPC. I focused on those letters and made a game out of it. Here are some phrases I thought of:

Ten Per Cent

Teal Peach Charcoal

The Perfect Child

Again the dentist told me several times to relax my tongue. I replied that I could hardly feel it let alone control it. As he was finishing up he told me he got my tongue while doing a filling. I told him it was fine. That's what pain killers are for! 

Polishing, flossing and it was finally over! Overall it wasn't as bad as last time. My mouth was still horribly numb and I was embarrassed for anyone to see it though I looked at myself in the car mirror and realized that no one could probably tell. It wasn't even 11am as I was driving home but I had skipped breakfast so I stopped and got food on the way home. 

Eating was not possible yet. I was slowly and carefully able to drink my smoothie. I could control my top lip but not the bottom one. It took two more hours for the numbness to go away and even then it hurt to chew. I had bought alcohol to help with the pain but I soon realized that the sores on my tongue didn't care for alcohol. I ate ice cream and took pain killers instead.

I don't have to see the dentist again until January!

I Think She Ate Poop!

This week I transitioned Hana to one nap a day rather than two. The first day she cried and fussed and then only slept two hours but after than she got better and learned to sleep three hours from 11am-2pm. I have to adjust when I eat as well and plan our art projects and outings around this new schedule.

It was Friday afternoon and I was in my casita listening for Hana on her video monitor. I heard her and saw on the monitor that she was awake. I didn't rush in because I wanted her to be fully awake by the time I went in. I grabbed the monitor and my cell phone and went into the house. I plugged the monitor back in to the kitchen and entered Hana's room. Immediately I could smell poop.

I picked her up and placed her down on the changing table. As I began to change her diaper, Hana said, "I like dirt." I was surprised to hear her say that but I figured she didn't know what she was talking about. (Hana is the type of girl who sees dirt everywhere.) I thought the amount of poop in her diaper was small considering the smell but I ignored it. Hana grabbed the diaper tab and tried to pull it toward her. I pulled it away and said "No".

As I wiped her bottom Hana held up her finger and said "dirt". I grabbed a fresh wipe and went to wipe her finger. That's when I saw her entire left hand was covered in a dry dark green substance. The same color as the poop in her diaper. What??? I wiped and and sanitized her hands. I checked her mouth and her bed. All I saw on her bed was one tiny brown speck which could have been anything.

I was still in shock as we went into the play room. I asked Hana, "Where did you touch dirt? Was the dirt in your diaper?" Hana didn't answer me. I think she was confused. I took her into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. I had my laptop in the house so I looked up the possible dangers of babies eating poop. I was surprised to read how many parents have had a similar experience. The overall consensus seemed to be that since it was the child's own poop that the child would be fine.

I texted her mom to let her know. She replied that Hana was being a toddler.

Did she really eat poop? I know there wasn't anything she ate at lunch that could have stained her hand and besides I wiped her hands after lunch. What else could it have been?

That's not all. Soon after Hana said, "I like dirt." Yikes! If I ever see her eating poop I will vomit!

Update 9/19/2014 I am now convinced that Hana did not eat poop. She has never attempted it since then. I even show her the poop in her diapers to spark her scientific curiosity but she just says ew smiling and that's it.

Hell Hath No Fury...

...like a visit to the dentist!

I went in Saturday morning at 9am for my top fillings. Despite getting the earliest appointment, there were already other patients there and the office was quite busy. I was often left alone in the dental chair.

The dentist gave me a numbing agent called Lidocaine then left me alone for about fifteen minutes to take effect. I could feel it in my lips and it traveled up to the lower part of my nose. He came back and asked me if I had any concerns. I said pain. He said the Lidocaine would keep me from feeling anything but pressure. Turns out he was wrong. turns out my gums required more than the dosage he gave me because when he started drilling me I could feel it! I called out. He injected me again and continued.

He placed something in the side of my mouth to keep my jaw open. I hated it. My jaw hurt and at times I didn't think I could make it without pulling it out. Eventually he took it out and I got to relax my jaw for a few seconds before he placed it in the other side of my mouth.

I was hearing the drill, seeing smoke, tasting something gross in my mouth, and unable to relax. Saliva was being suctioned out or dripping down my face. I had to remind myself to breathe. I tried to close my eyes and imagine myself on a beach. My feet in the ocean water, walking along the shoreline.

He said he was done and I thought it was over as I breathed a sigh of relief. Then he said he would return to place the fillings. Noooo!!!!

A different assistant came in and put metal things in my mouth. She said she was prepping my teeth for the dentist. I felt pressure but no pain. After she left I grabbed my purse with my foot and lifted it to my reach. I pulled out my phone and took two pictures. Here they are:

These may make good Halloween pictures, huh?

The dentist returned at the fillings were placed. I think the Lidocaine was wearing off because I felt pain on one of the teeth he filled. I told him. It felt like an exposed nerve but I don't know for sure. He told me to relax my tongue but I couldn't feel it, let alone control it. The assistant kept suctioning my mouth and twice I had to pull it out because it felt like she was choking me. She wanted me to close my lips around the tool but I couldn't because they were numbed so much. I felt drool drip from my mouth to down the side of my neck. Please be done! Please be done!

I was ready to jump out of my skin when he finally said he was all done. I thanked him even though I hated him for hurting me. I paid to be tortured and I thanked him for it! Well, he was nice overall.

I scheduled my next appointment for two weeks later. At least it will be less teeth next time. On the drive home my mouth began to hurt. Later I ate lunch, took pain killers, and took a nap. 

I am NOT looking forward to my next visit!

Trains, Coffee, Books, & Church

Hana isn't your typical girly girl. At age one she was given v tech cars and now she has Thomas Trains. She even watches episodes of Thomas. Hana is obsessed with her trains! She puts them together (they have a magnet on each end), pushes them along, and then separates them. She makes train sounds. She knows most of their names. Friday morning I couldn't get her to go outside unless I allowed her to take a couple of trains with us. It's fun to see her taking an interest in trains.

I bought her Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You Hear? book and she loves it. I got it because it was the first book my sister, Katie read/memorized. She also has a Spot the dog book where Spot's mom is looking around the house for Spot. I make the animal sounds for each animal she finds. She's learning hippo and alligator.

So I've gone a week without drinking coffee and limiting my juice and sugar intake. I was really tired. I'm drinking flavored water and plain water. I bought a Pure water filter for my casita. I also ordered some water supplement drops recommended by my friend, Alison. I look forward to seeing how they help improve my health.

I've been feeling the urge to read scriptures and go to the LDS church. I wanted to go today but I couldn't get a car. I haven't read anything yet but I plan on doing so.

I mentioned before that I met a nice guy at church in SLC back in June. What I didn't mention was how significant it was for me. Honesty I haven't been attracted to anyone in years. I've missed obsessing whether the guy I like likes me too. It makes me feel like a member of the human race again. I'm looking forward to visiting in August. I get lonely here.