Woo - she's awake.. and seems like she is doing ok ::knocking wood::

Oooh - Beach Blanket Bingo on AMC!

Holy cow - Olivia is still sleeping...

Gemini Compatibility Compatible - Aries, Leo, Libra, Aquarius Complex Feelings - Gemini, Sagittarius (Paul is a Gemini too) Strange Attractors - Virgo, Pisces Incompatible - Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn The Air element of Gemini brings communication, intellect and speed! This is one of the joy- of-life signs, one that reaches out, expands and expresses. Gemini is an inquisitive student with a quick grasp of subjects. Mutable motivation brings adaptability. This is wonderful because variety-loving Gemini needs change. A flexible personality ensures that Gemini can connect with others. Gemini's active energy can go too far, and then Gemini has a hard time finding the right direction. Members of this sign needs a countervailing force of stability. The desire to communicate quickly and rapidly benefits when tempered by receptivity. Then not only can the Twins speak, they can listen in return -- and complete the circuit! Balance comes from slowing down, listening, and learning the fine art of follow-through!

Gemini Horoscope Thu Jun. 13, 2002 Too much stress from overwork might have you feeling a little bit under the weather, dear Gemini. You'll need to take some time out and rest, and you aren't likely to be used to this. Therefore you could well be feeling restless and frustrated. The best thing to do at times like this is to distract yourself. If you've been considering doing some research, this is the time to go for it. At the very least, read something that engrosses you. Hmm - seems pretty much on the mark for me. I am reasearching my family tree. I am in a book club. And I work too darn hard around here! LOL!

Mmmm! Nothing like a birthday bagel and coffee. Yummy! Wow - my blog looks SO nice without the advertising! Thanks again Susan. She's DA bomb! Olivia is passed out on the couch. She has been sleeping for about 40 minutes. My poor baby. She still had a fever this morning so I dosed her up with Motrin and gave her Amoxicillan. That was a fight - she hates it. I get to torture her 3 times a day and make her take the anitbiotic. She actually takes all the other stuff with no problem. Well - I had better get moving. Mom is coming down bringing birthday stuff and steak. I need to clean my living room and kitchen. Hmmmfph. Some happy birthday!

Oh my God - I am 32. Yuck.

Why on earth is that banner flashing that today is my birthday? Is it June 13th already?

I must have caught a second wind.. I am feeling almost perky. Note I wrote almost ::grin:: Paul and I were discussing all the medications that have been prescribed for the girls. I think we will be holding a lot of them back until they each get over their respective cold/ear infection. I know I am pretty concerned as to how much medication they have. It's almost disturbing.. I would hate to give them stuff they *really* don't need.

So tired.... :::::yawning::::::: Must sleep soon...

OH my gosh! Thank you SO much to Susan! I now have an AD FREE blog! WOW! {{{{{Susan}}}}} You are truly a sweetheart. I am really and truly touched. I am really blessed to have made such wonderful friends while blogging in the past 6 months. :::sniffle::: I love you guys! : - )

Oh God - let me try to recap all the events of last night. WARNING: This will be a very long post. Ya know, I thought it was weird that Miss O fell asleep on me yesterday. I had put her down to sleep in her bed after holding her for about 20 minutes. I was a little worried she would wake up when I put her down - but she gave me a sweet smile, rolled over and went right back to sleep. I had to wake her up at 3pm so we could get Moira at the bus stop. I noticed Olivia was a bit flushed but I attributed that to her sleeping on her face while napping. By 430pm, she was laying, belly down on the couch, resting her. Took her temperature at 515pm - 102.8. Crap. I dosed her up with Motrin. We eat dinner. Olivia ate an amazingly good dinner (I should haven known better). I really needed to go food shopping and I had planned on taking Moira with me. There was a project handed out for school, involving the local supermarkets and the alphabet. Whoever completes it gets a prize from the supermarket and the school. Paul decided to take the girls and do that while I food shopped. Oy. An hour later, they have found most of the letters (hidden throughout the supermarket) and I am ready to leave. I help them find a couple more letters and we are done. They go to the courtesy desk for Moira's prize. I am in line, checking out. $226.00 later and I am on my merry way home. I get in the door and Paul had gotten the kids ready for bed. We get the car unloaded and groceries put away. Olivia wanted me to hold her - was very fussy. Paul tucked Moira in bed while I was holding Olivia. As I am on the couch with her, she instantly falls asleep (passes out) on me. I take her temp again. 103.8. I called the doctor. Obviously not in the office at 930pm. After speaking to the nurse answering service, it was decided to go to the ER. While I am talking to the nurse, Paul is holding Olivia. She was complaining that her tummy hurt and she was going to "splurp". I get off the phone and start packing the diaper bag. Then it happens. BARF. Olivia barfed all over Paul. She freaks out and is crying and barfing some more. He zooms into the bathroom with her and starts getting her cleaned up. I go in and try to help. Barf is the ONE thing that really "gets" to me. SO - I am gagging and trying to clean. Olivia starts barfing some more and Paul just kinda threw me out of the bathroom (thankfully). Fast forward 30 minutes. Olivia is cleaned up and so is Paul. The bathroom is still oogy but Paul said he would take care of it. I drove with Olivia to the ER. The hospital is about 6 minutes from my house. We get there at 1035pm. It was packed. ::sigh:: Olivia was pretty zonked out - all sweaty and very sleepy. We weren't seen by the triage nurse until 1115pm. He takes some info and wants to take her temperature. Rectally. Oof. Olivia is not usually that cooperative about rectal thermometers. Never has been. The bonus was that she was so out of it, she didn't realize what happened until it happened to her. 103.3 More Mortin. We wait for a few more minutes and then we are called into the ER. 1130pm. We are shown into a little curtained room. And we wait. And wait. AND wait. To the ER's credit, they were really busy. There is no chair in the room so I am sitting on the gurney/bed, holding Olivia, who is sleeping like a log. Poor baby - so tired. When one barfs up dinner, one tends to get sore and tired. While waiting, there are several people around me, in mysteriously curtained off areas. One woman is moaning "Ai yi yi.. I need something for the PAIN" about every 2-3 minutes. There is an old person ( I think a woman) who was calling out "Help", "God Almighty" and "Get me down" approximately every 6-10 seconds for 90 minutes. She would get moan, get progressively louder and then moan some more. Poor old bitch. I felt bad for her. I felt worse for the people sitting next to her. I was about 2-3 "rooms" over. Apparently, she was in restraints because she kept trying to get out of bed and would fall to the floor. She was also trying to take her diaper off. God - I hope I don't get like that when I am old. I hope Paul just puts a pillow over my face at that point. A nurse comes in and wants to take Olivia's temperature again. Rectally. As I undo her diaper, Olivia figures out what's going on (she's no dummy) and starts to scream. Luckily, the nurse is FAST and we get it. 101.5 - and that's AFTER the Motrin the triage nurse gave her. The ER doc finally comes in. Nice guy. He apologized for the delay in seeing us. He checks Olivia's nose, ears, mouth, chest, etc. Her ears are a bit red, according to him. We discussed her medical history. Olivia has Vesicoureteral Reflux. (Urine normally flows in one direction -- down from the kidneys, through tubes called ureters, to the bladder. Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is the abnormal flow of urine from the bladder back into the ureters). It pretty much resolved itself with the help of antibiotics - took about a year. (She has been hospitalized 2 times due to high fevers, dehydration and UTI's). The doc thought is would be best if we tested for a UTI. We needed a urine sample. The nurse came back in and "bagged" Olivia. Imagine a plastic bag with adhesive. You can guess where it was placed. You can imagine how thrilled Olivia was to have this done. Luckily, the nurse brought in stickers and a cup of Jello. Olivia was now her new buddy. What can I say? My kid is easy to con! I had brought a couple books, sippy cup, bottled water and a deck of cards in the diaper bag. Olivia was fussing about the bag. I told her she could take it off after she peed in it. She drank alot of water while we played with the cards. She finally peed about 30 minutes later. I take the bag off and give it to the nurse. Enough in the bag to bring to the lab for tests. We finally got the results at 250am. Negative. No UTI. Thank God. We get a script for amoxicillan and we are outta there! Home by 3am. She's in bed by 320am. Paul tucked her in and sang "You are my Sunshine" to her. ::smile:: He comes out and we discuss the events of the night/morning. Moira had gotten up when Olivia barfed and she didn't get back to bed until 1130pm. She has this cough that isn't quitting. It's a nasty cough. I kept her home today. She is still coughing. Poor damn kid. Olivia is a bit perkier this morning. I didn't get to bed until 345am. Moira woke me up at 730am, wanting to go to school. Nope. She's not too upset about it. Olivia woke up at 930am. Guess who will be napping today? Hopefully, ALL of us. Paul went to work this morning but is hopefully taking a half day. I am beat. I don't think I will be going to school tonight. Not on 4 hours of sleep. No effing way...

Olivia is asleep right now, sitting in my lap. I was reading some blogs and she wanted to sit with me. I guess she got nice and comfy and zonked right out! Let me tell ya, being a Mom is great - especially these kinds of perks.

I never got a chance to update last night. I had Bonkos and didn't get home until 1030pm! Wheee! We ran a bit late because we also had a small baby shower for one of the women. She is due next month and will be having a little boy :::awwwwww::: We all got up on time today but Moira was having her birthday party in class today. Yes - her birthday is in July. Her teacher thought it would be nice if all the kids (who have summer birthdays) were able to celebrate their birthdays too. So - today was Moira's UNBIRTHDAY party ::grin:: We stopped at Pathmark this morning to pick up cupcakes to bring in to school. Nothing like last minute planning. Oh - and I have to share with you guys that I have an AWESOME long distance company. I pay .03 a minute! My long distance bill has dropped from an average of $55.00 to $19.00! YEAH baby!

Ding dong the Don is dead Which old Don? The Dapper Don Ding dong the Teflon Don is deaaaaaad.

Shelley recommended a new blog for me to read - Jamie aka Ravenstone Tower Chronicles. Go on - check him out! ***UPDATE*** Hrm - it seems I have been duped! Jaime is not a 13 year old boy. He is a grown woman named Sunny, who invented the entire story. HEy - what can I say - she writes beautifully! Hope she keeps the story going.

I wonder what Paul is getting me for my birthday? He always asks me and I keep telling him to look at my Amazon wish list. PLUS - they wrap and deliver! Geez - how hard can that be??

Anyone else having problems with Blogger? Grr! I can't update my template - it's not holding ANY of my changes. CRAP.

Good morning. We woke up late again. I guess this is becoming a Monday morning tradition around here! Not the kids fault. Paul and I were up late, doing things around the house. Get your collective minds out of the gutter - we were replacing the front porch light and the crappy ceiling fan in the living room. Now we have a nice QUIET Hunter fan. I LOVE IT! I had a great chat with Shelley and Scott the other night. Man - I wish they lived closer. They are too much fun! I am waiting for the building inspector to stop by to inspect the pool. Of course, I will probably be stuck here all day waiting for him. Jerk. If I am lucky, he will get here in the next hour. I need to go food shopping and I also have to stop at the pharmacy to pick up MORE medication. Thank God for insurance and prescription plans! Some good news - my Dad went back to work today! YAY Dad. He was going crazy being at home. Hopefully, I will be bale to get together with him sometime soon. I have been doing pretty good on the family tree although I don't know many dates and names. But, I have done well with working what I have! I need to corner my Step-Mom and my Mom and get more info from them too!

GORGEOUS day today! WOW! I love days like this - cool and sunny. Ahh! Perfect for the kids. They had SO much fun today. Allison, one of Moira's friends came over today, around 11am. They played inside and outside. Just kept going in and out.. in and out. It was cute, especially watching Olivia trying to keep up with them. To Moira's credit, she put up with a lot from Olivia today! Around 3pm, ANOTHER buddy, Nick, stopped by to play. Allison left at 345pm and Nick left at 430pm. It's good when Moira has a friend (or 2) over. It keeps her out of MY hair. For some very ODD reason, she seems to think that Paul and I are supposed to play with her all day. Sure - right. I did some crafts with the girls earlier - we made bracelets and necklaces with the zillions of beads that I own. Hmm - time to restock. We used a lot of beads! We just finished dinner. The kids are pooped. They are playing blocks on the living room floor right now and I just popped in Fantasia (the first one). Hey - classical music is good for the brain. Paul is working in our room - finishing the painting. I know.. it took a long time but we have SO many projects going on at the same time. Poor guy - he is SO over-extended. I will be heading to Home Depot later. I have to get a new porch light. Yay! I have hated the one we have for a loooong time. Plus, I need to get play sand for the sand box. Gosh - I hate that thing :::grumble::: but the kids adore playing in it. How can I say no? I am such a push-over.