Month: March 2008

Don’t you just hate it when work gets in the way of the rest of your life?  I’m a corporate paralegal and though I have a limited client group compared to most (only 1 client) they’re a very busy, very large group.  I am responsible for 5 publicly traded companies and their approximately 450 privately held subsidiaries.  There are about 20 different real estate, corporate, litigation, environmental, intellectual property and tax attorneys who also work on this group and my job is to keep track of everything they are doing at all times.  Right now we are in the final week of preparing for a fairly large deal.  Just a smidge over $130 million will be changing hands.  Man, I wish I worked on commission.  ANYWAY, I will be back to posting  and commenting on all your sites consistently after the deal closes.

Happy Easter!

Monkey is clearly feeling better since yesterday.  It’s so nice to see his “spark” back!  Last night Duhdee and I were sharing a hug in the kitchen.  Monkey was in another room watching TV but his radar went off and he came running to break up the lovefest.  You see, in this house, only Monkey should be hugged.  It’s quite amusing to us to hear his little feet pounding on the floor as he comes running to find us.  We’re always snickering and waiting for him to come around the corner with his big, saucer eyes.  We’re so naughty, we shouldn’t torture him.

Anyway, Monkey came running to break up the hug, as usual, but this time instead of merely separating us by a few inches he decided I needed to be removed from the room entirely.  He must have suspected that we’d just go back to hugging once he left to return to his show.  So little man put his hands on my lower back and gently pushed me out of the kitchen and into the dining room.  Then he must have decided it was FUN to make Umma move so he pushed me around the dining room table and right back into the kitchen where Duhdee was still standing.  Hmmm…not acceptable…so he pushed me back into the dining room, around the table and then into the hallway.  He finally stopped when I was about a foot from our bed. 

The whole time we’d been giggling and I turned to look over my shoulder at him and asked “Now what?”  He stood back a bit and yelled “BOOM!” which is what Duhdee makes him say before he tosses Monkey onto the bed.   “Boom?” I asked.  

Monkey grinned at me and suddenly pushed me, face first, onto the bed!  “BOOM!”  he yelled again before dissolving into belly laughs.  I couldn’t help but laugh in return and so we both lay there on the bed, howling with laughter and Monkey was looking me right in the eye (!) as we did.  It was such a funny and sweet moment.

I know, I shouldn’t ecourage the whole “pushing” thing but it seems relatively harmless.  Right??? 

I checked my e-mail today and found an e-mail from YouTube Support thanking me for reporting a server error.  At first I thought it was spam but then I looked a bit closer and saw that someone HAD sent YouTube a report, from my YouTube account, stating “kk ll.”

First of all, there is only one YouTube user in this house and, secondly, there’s only one person in this house who types like that.  I can’t believe Monkey’s sent in his first support ticket and he’s not even 4.

We’re back to crappy sleep here but there is a reason.  Monkey and I are sick, oh the joy! 

We’ve managed to come down with some sort of virus that includes a racking cough, fever and a general feeling of yuckiness.  We’re both tired but we can’t sleep well because we’re so uncomfortable.  Work is so very busy right now that I can not stay home.  Even worse, I need to work late most nights.  Monkey has stayed home from school with Duhdee all week but it doesn’t seem to be helping.  His temp is below 100 but he is very whiny, very tired and not sleeping.  Poor Duhdee, it’s a wonder he hasn’t taken to drink!

I refuse to end this on another sour note, it runs contrary to my need to find the silver lining.  Hmmm…well isn’t this a pickle?  I can’t think of anything new or fun to share! 

I guess I’ll just settle for a sweet moment Monkey and I have begun sharing in our time of sickness.  Monkey has noticed that, although we are really strict about making him sleep in his own bed most of the time, we relax our standards when he’s not feeling well.  As if to further sweeten the deal, however, he has taken to pausing as he crawls over me to find an open spot in the bed just long enough to give me a nice cheek to cheek hug.  It takes me long enough to recover from my moment of “Awww” for him to plant himself securely between us and pull the covers up to his chin.  Only a monster could remove him from the bed at that point 😉

That’s all I’ve got.  I’m a sucker for a sick Monkey 🙂

I’ve hit a rough patch here. We had another appointment at the Fragile X clinic and they always throw me off no matter how nice the folks there are. Having to outline, in great detail, all the ways Monkey isn’t “normal” really gets to me. It makes all of the Fragile X stuff seem so much bigger than it is in our every day lives.

I always end up spending too many hours after the fact dwelling on all the questions the Dr. asked and my answers. I second guess my answers, did I overstate or understate the positives and negatives? THEN I start to second guess whether we’re doing all we should for him. Should we have him enrolled in more therapies, more activities? What therapies? Should we be doing more vitamins or supplements? What vitamins? What supplements? Have we totally screwed up by letting him watch TV? We never used to allow it.  Is that why he can no longer pay attention to an entire story?

Uh, well…I think you get the idea. All my insecurities and fears get really big and try to drown out the really good stuff, like the fact that Monkey spent a very pleasant evening with us and his paternal grandparents last night. He will normally not stay in the same room with them but he did so last night with a smile. I’m trying really hard to focus on that right now.

POSITION :
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities!

Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

• The rest of your life.
• Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5.
• Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
• Must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
• Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers.
• Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
• Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
• Must be willing to be indispensable one minute and an embarrassment the next.
• Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
• Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
• Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product.
• Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :
None. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required, unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this, you pay them!  Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more !

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

I want my Monkey back!  Is the incessant whining thing a delayed 3 or is it 4 knocking on the door?

Monkey has never been a whiny kid but for the last few weeks he’s been sitting down on the floor and whining a lot and over nothing.  The worst (or best, I can’t decide) part is that when he does the whining it is accompanied by the most serious puppy-dog eyes I’ve ever seen, lol.  I laughed outright the first couple of times because it was so stinking cute but now I stiffle it.  I don’t want to scar him (or encourage him :))

So is 4 the whiny age or is 3 finally catching up to us?