At least, that’s what I’m assuming has kept me in bed for the last 4 days.  I started with a slight sore throat on Tuesday, and I took some Airborne to try to knock it out before it turned into something.  Wednesday I still had the sore throat and I had to lay down in the afternoon.  I thought the fatigue was a result of the morning’s session at Portrait Simple, but apparently not.  Ben went all the way to Newton to get me some Pho, which is so delicious and also good for cold/flu symptoms, but it didn’t work its magic this time.  That night I had an extremely sore throat, a slight fever, a bad headache and backache, and post nasal drip which kept me up all night.  I never have trouble sleeping but I swear I didn’t sleep for more than a few minutes at a stretch.   

Thank God we weren’t hosting Thanksgiving this year, so I just had to give Ben instructions on making rum cake and send everyone over to Lana and Larry’s for the afternoon.  I’m really disappointed that I missed it, but at the time I was just very relieved to have a few hours of quiet.  Throughout my illness, it seemed like every time I got comfortable or fell asleep, someone would burst in with an emergency like “ADLANI ATE THE LAST DONUT!” or “I CAN’T FIND THE HEAD OF MY LEGO POWER MINER!”  Lana sent home a giant platter of food for me but I could only get some tomato soup down.  I don’t remember ever having such a sore throat in my life.

Friday was supposed to begin my 3-day weekend of painting, but that didn’t happen.  I don’t even remember Friday, honestly.  By the end of the day I was able to take a shower and watch all of the episodes of the Amazing Race online, but that’s about all I could handle.  I think I ate some ice cream.   

Today I am much better – just a bit of a sore throat and headache.  Ben made me a smoothee for breakfast and I was able to do some Christmas shopping online.  I’m really bummed that I will miss a Girls’ Night Out tonight, but I’m not back to 100% and I don’t want to infect anyone.

I’ve got my fingers crossed that the kids don’t get it because IT SUCKS!  On the bright side, 4 days of not using my arm has really helped with my shoulder pain, and I think I lost a few pounds.  yay.     

I think I need to go back on bus duty so the bus driver doesn’t have a chance to chat with Ben.  It’s not that I hide things from Ben [all the time], but I think I have a better way of phrasing things so he doesn’t overreact.

Today’s bus report was actually about Aliya.  Shocking, but true.  The bus driver told Ben that there was some discussion about a belly button between Aliya and a very nice 5th grade boy, I’ll call him “Fabio.”  I’m not sure how the belly button conversation began, but Aliya said that Fabio had a big belly button and someone asked how she knew and she said that she had touched it.

First of all, belly buttons are technically not in the much-discussed *private area.*  Second, Aliya demonstrated how she had poked Fabio in the belly, with his shirt down and covering said belly button.  Third, Fabio is a REALLY NICE BOY.  He’s a 5th Grade Helper, for crying out loud.  The last time I saw him at his bus stop around the corner, he was wearing a flourescent orange bus patrol sash!

So the bus driver told Ben that she was going to have to tell Fabio’s parents about the incident.  Ben has now instructed Aliya that she’s not to sit with any boys, play with any boys at recess, look at any boys, and especially not to touch any boys’ belly buttons.  Am I crazy or is this ridiculous?!?  I mean, just because she gave Fabio a Pillsbury Dough Boy poke in the belly, does that mean that she’ll be forever on a quest for the most poke-able belly button, unable to resist the urge to poke?

Or maybe she’ll become obsessed with her own belly button, and incorporate it into body art, and then wear revealing clothing to show it off.  COME ON PEOPLE!  IT’S A BELLY BUTTON!  Since when did poking one become a reportable offense??  Is this going on her permanent record??

A couple of weeks ago when I had my teeth cleaned, my dentist’s insurance lady/business development manager mentioned that I had benefits left and suggested that I get started on one of the last two crowns I need (for now).  I made an appointment for mid-December so I had plenty of time to prepare myself for one of my least favorite tasks.  Last Friday the same insurance/business development lady called to say that since the insurance companies go by the “insertion date” (sounds more fun than it is, believe me), I should get the crown started sooner so it would be done by the end of the year.  She happened to have an opening today, giving me only 2 days to obsess about it.

I spent 2 1/2 hours in the dentist’s chair today with Dr. Arora and her helpers.  The crown is on my back left bottom molar, so it was really hard for her to get in there and not slice my cheek open with the drill.  At one point they had so many instruments in my mouth – two mirrors pulling my cheek out, two of those flat things to protect my flesh, Mr. Thirsty, both of Dr. A’s hands and half of her nose, the rubber thing you bite on to keep your mouth open, and a drill, I started to laugh.  I was really afraid that I was going to head off into hysteria, as I’ve been known to do.

As crowns go, this was a bad one.  The tooth had such a large filling that it ended up below my gumline by the time she cut off the remaining tooth and the filling.  At one point, Helper-Adam told me to “open,” and then said, “Oh boy!  Give me Mr. Thirsty!”  Considering that I have fainted at the sight of blood before, that kind of reaction makes me a little uncomfortable.

I survived, although it was one of the most uncomfortable dental experiences I’ve had.  My jaw is really sore so hopefully Dr. Gensler can prod it back into shape when I go tomorrow for my spinal tune-up.
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Before I begin, let me state for the record that I have Aliya’s permission to publish the following, since I don’t think any moms of the boys on the list read this blog.  If you have kids that go to our school, Aliya requests that you not draw their attention to this entry.

So, last week at an evening event for school, I noticed that Aliya was hanging out with a certain boy with the initials JCO.  After the event she mentioned that he looks a lot like a boy she has had a crush on since she was 4 years old and they were on the same YMCA soccer team – J.A.  She was going on about J.C.O. so I asked if she liked him now, instead of J.A.  She thought for a moment and then proclaimed, “He’s ON my list!”

“The List” is entitled, “boy’s I have a crush on,” and includes 13 names.  #12 has an added notation that he’s in 5th grade!  Apparently the Drama Club is the place to meet *older boys*.  Some of the names have Xs next to them but they’re in pencil so they can be removed and rewritten as needed.

Tonight Aliya brought me a note that she wrote to J.A. (J.C.O. currently has an X), and she asked for my advice.  The note says, “Dear J**** I now I have always acted like I heat you but the trooth is I have a big crush on you.  And I keep hearing from diferent peaple that you told them you have a crush on me.  So pleas dont get mad and crumple the paper just tell me if you realy do like me.”

Awwwww…

My advice was a) she should rewrite the note so it’s not so messy, and b) I wouldn’t reveal my crush upfront.  When she was agonizing about whether to give him the note or not, and how she was going to catch him alone as he came out of the boys’ bathroom, I said, “Why don’t I just write him a note?”  I meant it as an incentive for her to stop dilly-dallying and either do it or don’t.

Well, she thought it was a pretty good idea!  She said to make sure I include her full name since there are other Aliyas at other schools, and that I should say “from Lori G / Aliya’s mother,” not “Love, Lori” (my trademark signature since junior high).

I don’t think she has made the final decision on what her plan is going to be, but I’m glad she hasn’t reached the age of parental disdain because then I wouldn’t have this picture for posterity.  I just love how she decorated the envelope with math problems!

Just a few random moments from the last 24 hours…

I was trying to get Adlani to admit to something that allegedly happened in the boys’ bathroom so during my interrogation I told him that I would be reviewing the security camera footage from the bathroom.  He sang like a canary.  Aliya was listening in, and during breakfast she kept asking questions about the security camera.  I asked her, “Is there something you want to tell me?”  She said, “Well, one time I flushed the toilet and water came out of a pipe.”

Yesterday, our VP of Commercial Sales (my boss’ boss’ boss) left a comment on my work blog.  It said, “Lori….great site…..it is clear to me that you spend a significant amount of time and effort keeping this site up to date and relevant for a broad audience. Keep up the great work!!!!!!”

Last night I watched a Youtube video on how to light the pilot light on our gas fireplace, and I was able to light it on the first try (a few weeks ago I gave up after trying to get it lit for 10 minutes).

A few minutes before we were due to leave the house this morning, I walked into the dining room just in time to see Adlani spinning his glass of milk and then the entire glass dumped down the front of him and all over the floor.

When I walked into Norah’s preschool today I heard her teacher say, “Uh-oh!  Somebody lost something!”  There was a big turd on the floor outside the bathroom.

When I was talking to two friends who are also school administrators about Adlani’s latest issue at school (exposing himself to a friend in the bathroom), one of the administrators said, “Oh yeah…my son did that on the bus.”  On the bus??  I feel better!

Norah has been having a hard time following the rules at school so this morning I gave her a stern talking-to when I dropped her off.  After school I asked her how the day went and of course she said that she followed all the rules and didn’t get into any trouble.  I said that I was going to call her teacher and asked if there was anything she wanted to tell me first, and she said, “I did NOT poke Gordon in the eye, and I did NOT push Nicolas.”

Aliya got off the bus this afternoon (Friday at 3:45) and said that something was dangling off her braces.  We rushed to the dentist’s office and they patched her up even though they were closing for the weekend.  Dr. B ROCKS!

This cracked me up:  http://dontjudgemyhair.com/2009/08/03/bad-hair-two-tone-combover/, especially the comment.

Ben just took the kids to the Y for free swim, and I’m going to take a 1-hour nap so I can enjoy my alone-time later. I am starting the weekend with a clean house, a clean car, and all of the laundry done.  Maybe I’ll actually be able to get past the bare-minimum cleaning and maintenance to some of the bigger items on my to-do list this weekend.
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