Wednesday 21 March 2012

Painting behind shelves and big hair

So the living room is now 90% complete - just need to paint behind the shelves. I know that sounds crazy but really it's pretty sensible. This entails taking everything off said shelves. Mama knackered. Going to leave it to the Men, methinks.

Looking at my posts, I spend a lot of time being knackered. I guess it comes with not getting enough sleep. Either that or the sofa casts a sleepy spell on me as soon as my bum hits a cushion. Must try harder. Or not sit down1.

Been looking at hair cuts - my mop is getting rather bedraggled and sorry-looking. Even Plate's messed up do is more presentable than mine. I had considered curls - haven't had them since the '90s. I did look like I had a fright wig on. But maybe something like this:

BIG, with BIG curls! But with a white highlight, where I've gone noticeably grey.

Or short and shaggy. And a completely different colour. Blue perhaps.

FBB has vetoed the extremely short crop - the dyke look does not suit me apparently.

(Ok - I've just been distracted by a TV ad for a celeb gossip mag. Why do people read these things? I just don't get the appeal! It was quickly followed by a trailer for "Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists" - the book of which, I really enjoyed, but not as much as the story of how it came to be written and published, which I had actually read about in the paper!  Way back in 2005. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/jun/10/fiction.oliverburkeman?INTCMP=SRCH)

Right, I think that means it's bedtime.

1 I say sit, it's more like flop, curl up, lie down... resistance is futile.

Sunday 18 March 2012

A Whole Lot of Qi

Yesterday, I had my first tai chi lesson.

Master James Wong of Shining Tree
It was most odd, in that, being of Chinese extraction and having been brought up in Singapore, I was now learning it in England, from a British-born Chinese man who was taught by a Scotsman who in turn got his training from a tai chi master in Hong Kong1. I didn't find it as life-changing as my husband, but my chat with the teacher's partner, who is herself a practitioner, gave me a lot to think about. Also, I have real-life recommendations. Since my friend G started doing it, she has never seemed healthier, and by extension, happier. She's practically glowing2. It is the highlight of my husband's week and he looks forward to it like a kid looks forward to the best ride ever3. What's stopping me is the cost: the cost of Plate going to the childminder (extraordinaire) and the cost of the lessons themselves4. Is this something I should invest in? I could find the money I'm sure but would I get as much out of it as these two? Something to masticate on.

I am also achey breakey in various places today. Ouchy.

In other news, Granddad A had issued orders that we should get paint for the living room and the bedroom. After exploring the options - Dulux, Farrow & Ball, Fired Earth, Little Greene, Sandersen, Crown - we settled on:

Apricot Crush Apricot Crush for the living room;
Breton Blue  Breton Blue as a "feature wall" in the bedroom;
 and Quintessential Blue Quintessential Blue for the rest of the bedroom.

All by Dulux. We quailed at the prices for Farrow & Ball, Fired Earth et al, and had heard not so great things about Crown. I really, really wanted to use an eco-paint, but my bank account had other ideas5.

Not exactly neutral colours I know, but we got bored with the neutrals everywhere else6.

Tonight's spirit-is-willing-but-flesh-is-weak quest is to clear the living room so the painters can get going. So far an undercoat as gone on - everything is white and it's making my eyeballs ache just a little bit - so the apricot's next.

Have I mentioned that the camera is broken? The lens is jammed. No prizes for guessing how it got that way7.

Plateism of the day: she head-bangs, but side to side instead of up and down. And today this was combined with squats - which I think are attempts at jumping. She also discovered that by head-banging the side of her car seat, she can make it squeak (it's the Styrofoam inside the seat). Crazy baby.

1 I could go back and back and trace the lineage but that would be quite pointless. I did, however, check his credentials and he is a registered Tai Chi Union practitioner.
2 She is also pregnant but I think this is chi glow combined with those pesky hormones.
3 I was going to write Disneyland, but I like to think that there are kids out there who eschew the "magic" and choose something real.
4 I am discounting the cost of driving there since this is FBB's therapy and G's paying for his lessons in exchange for a lift. Seeing him all happy and enthused is worth every penny.
5 Dammit. I just found  Earthborn paints which are only a little bit more expensive. http://www.designerpaint.co.uk/brands/earthborn


6 Hope this does not turn into a foot shooting incident.
7 Yes, yes, we shouldn't let her play with it, blah, blah, blah. Same goes for climbing stairs, climbing on the furniture and standing on tables.

Thursday 15 March 2012

Some progress and the Biter

Since my last post, the Plate has had a see-saw fever which had her waking up every hour in the night and grizzling pretty much continuously during the day. It culminated in a lovely vomit all over me and the Big Bed in the wee  hours of Monday. We were worried enough to see a GP who checked everything but could find nothing that could be causing the fever. The advice was just keep on dosing her with the syrups.It finally succumbed to the tag-team of Calpol and Neurofen but alas, it leapt to me. Luckily I was bigger, stronger and more powerful, so I was merely mildly delirious for a few hours.

It seems the virus has been making the rounds - I had seen reports on the ubiquitous Facebook of other bubs being fevered and even the son of our childminder (extraordinaire) was not spared. So Plate got to spend three days straight with daddy.


... and I pop up here!
I go in here...
What with red splotch attacks, dribbly noses, feverish foreheads and general unwellness, Operation De-clutter is not picking up speed at all. But there has been some progress - the numbers wall has been beaten into submission by Granddad A's patient application of paint1 and more of the living room has been tucked away into bags for recycling / boxes for storing. The holes in the living room walls have been filled and test patches displayed for consultation2. Stuff has moved around, just not to where they should. Also, Plate has the unerring instinct of the curious to find ways into containers, just to throw out everything that's inside them. She has also decided that boxes and buckets are great places to sit in and laugh at us. 

There are still piles that need sorting but I am feeling rather enervated and can only curl up in my leather-covered corner, lackadaisically tapping keys3

There has been a curious development with Plate - since she got teeth, she has chomped on me occasionally while breastfeeding. But over the last couple of days, she's really gone to town - she would take my nipple between her teeth and pull! Yes, it bloody stings! And she thinks it's funny to make me yell! So today I closed up shop as soon as I saw the tell-tale signs that she was going to do the deed - and she threw a tantrum! Tough titty, girlie. No biting means no biting. I hope she gets the message soon.

Whichever deity is listening and deigns to grant a wish - please send me a shot of high quality get-up-and-go. tomorrow. Oh, and a million pounds to go with it would be sweet.

1 The ink just kept bleeding through! It has taken five coats of special stain-hiding paint so far. We can just see a hint of ink, so we think maybe six or seven will do the trick.
2. A pale pink has been chosen. Not my choice, but not my living room anymore. 
3. Yet somehow finding the energy to use multi-syllabic words.

Saturday 10 March 2012

Red Splotch the Return!

I am now covered in shifting red continents and islands. Sadly for me, I itch abominably. We are still mystified as to the source but apparently it could be anything: pollen, washing powder, air... It should pass in 48 hours. Fingers crossed.

While I try not to scratch myself to ribbons, a quick explanation for the blog silence - quite simply I've been so tired lately I've been falling asleep while putting Plate to bed. By the time I wake up, it's time for grown-up bedtime. This past week has just been chocker - with what I couldn't tell you. But every sliver of time seems to slip through my fingers1.

Anyway, the Men have been painting and our hallway ceiling is now white as opposed to tobacco coloured and the kitchen is complete, right down to the skirting boards. Next: the living room. But first we have to empty it, which is a much more complex undertaking that we anticipated. I had forgotten about all my notes and files from my law courses. Half of me winces as I put them in the recycling bin, and the other half is relishing the symbolic end of this phase of our lives. My "study" is also in the living room, so we have to work out where to store our current paper work while we get rid of everything else. We can now see FBB's records, a welcome sight that had been gradually covered up by junk over the years.

Today we went to Sainsbury's for our weekly shop and Plate was in fits of giggles every time the trolley went over the tactile tiles. She actually squealed in glee! Then she was unleashed in the store and was excitedly touching and picking up everything she could get her little hands on. She was toddling here, toddling there and loving it all.

Tonight I got Daddy to put her to bed, which meant I could write this2.And watch Montalbano!

1. "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
2. She went down surprisingly quickly. Wish she would for me!

Sunday 4 March 2012

Daisies and a sneeze or three

I feel like crap. Seems like I have finally succumbed to the virus that the rest of the family had (or at least a variety of). But we carry on...

Yesterday was lovely - I seem to remember blue skies and cool breezes1. FBB had gone to tai chi - he had reached a state of zen as he calls it a few days previous2 and was feeling great, despite a stuffed nose. Plate and I had a lie-in and did a bit of half-hearted tidying up.

After daddy got home, we trouped off to Ely and got her some leather booties. We had tried some soft shoes on her, but she kept falling over in them. They're Daisy Roots (Handmade in Northampton!3) and she loved them. She toddled straight off in them - around the shop and out the front door! We let her toddle down the street until she started falling down every few feet. It was the furthest she'd ever walked and she was pleased as punch.  I think I might get another pair!

The rest of the day was spent food gathering and grazing. It was a really lovely, low stress day4. It finished with FBB going off to the pub, me playing with Plate till it was time for bed, and finally me curling up with Inspector Montalbano till it was my bedtime.

More stuff got stuffed into boxes but alas, that is as far as we got. They have yet to be lofted into the loft.

I am
             running         down
                                           do
                                               wn

                                                       d
                                                         o
                                                           w
                                                               n....


1. The memory is doubted because we had snow today! And it was rather grey and wet in between.
2. FBB has a serious mental condition which he has lived with for about 12 years. It's a terrible condition which is like a waking nightmare. The horrors he experiences every day is only held at bay by his incredible strength of character, his indomitable spirit. He describes the state of zen as moving into the eye of a hurricane and having it move with him wherever he went. It was a state of peace which he had never felt before. It's pretty close to awesome.
3. We did wonder briefly whether it's the same company who make transvestite footwear. That would be so cool! :-)
4. We did, however, bump into an old friend who told us the sad news that he'd split up from his wife. They had been together for about 20 years, so it was a bit of a shock for us.



Saturday 3 March 2012

Night at the A&E

Addenbrooke's Hospital A&E featured heavily today.

First, a colleague managed to fall over and break their arm/collarbone1 at work. Then another colleague got a call from his other half that his son may have broken their arm falling off a climbing frame. As are their wont, these things tend to come in threes... those of us with kids watched our phones a little nervously2 as they went off to the hospital.

But no calls. texts occurred and by the end of the day, I climbed gratefully into the backseat of our car... to an inconsolable Plate. She'd been crying pretty much non-stop for about an hour and FBB was close to tearing his hair out. Apparently, she'd been playing with Granddad A - standing on his shoes while he walked her around the house - and laughing like a drain when suddenly she just burst out crying. No one could figure out why. Poor bubs! I soothed her with some milk and noticed that she wasn't using her right arm much. And every time I touched it, she seemed to cry harder. Elementary. She'd hurt her arm. So we dashed home, I took her little fleece off as she was exceptionally warm and we gave her a shot of Neurofen. While we waited for it to take effect, we thought we better give the medical people a call.

These were the questions we were asked: Is the back of her neck warm? Yes. Is her arm warm? Yes. Is it pale or bruised looking? No. Is her hand swelled up? A little. Hmmm. Take her to A&E and  get her x-rayed. Yikes!

But by this time, she had stopped crying, was laughing and was using her arm like a baseball player - throwing things, waving it around, clapping! Obviously the Neurofen had taken care of the pain. The question was, would it come back after the painkiller wore off? We scratched our heads and debated whether or not to still go to A&E. We decided that dinner would help with the decision-making3. As we ruminated, FBB said 'I know what'll happen - if we decide not to go, she'll wake up tomorrow and find that her arm doesn't work.' We decided to go to A&E. 

As FBB was more than a little rattled, I suggested we give Granddad A a call. Thankfully, the old man volunteered to come with, because FBB had completely forgotten how to get to Addenbrooke's. He drove, we chewed our nails. Plate chattered away to herself delightedly in the back then fell asleep just as we got there.

At A&E4, the first sign that greeted us said "Waiting times: 2.5 hours for doctor, 2 hours for nurse practitioner, GP: n/a". Sigh. We thought we might be in for a long haul, so we had packed the nappy bag with a flask of sweet tea and chocolate biscuits. Yay for us.

The children's waiting area was actually quite calming. It was blue and white, with little chairs, some toys, drawings by patients, TV showing a film and a huge blackboard that just about every child seemed to have discovered. It was very warm so Plate was stripped down to just leggings. And she carried on being her usual Explorer Dora self - investigating everything and picking up heavy objects and giving them to Granddad A. With one arm. Her injured arm. We reckon she was fixed. But we had already driven 45 minutes and had waited for an hour. We might as well get seen. First stop: triage nurse.

When we told her what had happened, she explained that they see this all the time. It's called a pulled elbow. Apparently young children have very soft ligaments holding their joints together, so it's quite easy to pop the radius (in your forearm) out of the elbow, just by lifting them by their arms. It usually happens when you wrench a child by the arm to stop them falling. In Plate's case, she'd lurched forward faster than Granddad A could catch her. It's very easy to manipulate the bone back into the joint - just by taking clothes off or on. It'll hurt a bit but once it's in, it's perfectly fine again. So we had unwittingly fixed her just by being sensible! Still, she should get checked over by the doc or nurse practitioner to make sure.

By the second showing of Shrek the Third - and three other patients later - we finally got seen. Fortunately, Plate's sunny temperament and smile had made waiting much more bearable. Bless! The nurse-practitioner blew bubbles at her, and watched her reach out for them, support herself against me and generally use her arm comfortably. She was pronounced unhurt and we were given a what to do if this happens again list (see above). However, should the above actions not have the desired effect, we were to take her to the nearest hospital with x-ray facilities5.

With lighter hearts and relieved shoulders, we headed home. Plate finally fell asleep in the car and we ghosted home to bed.

Well, not me. Now I'm going to bed.

1. I don't know which one it was exactly as the message that came from his wife was somewhat confusing.

2. Sorry G-Man, throwing the stuffed bunny off the desk did not work this time.

3. Instant noodles, boiled up with mushrooms, green beans and sliced Pepparami. Drained and tossed in Philadelphia. Mm-mm!

4. As you go through the swooshy doors, there are washbasins for visitors to wash their hands before entering A&E proper with a stentorian voice exhorting everyone to do so on a loop. Annoyingly, someone had managed to rip open the hand towel dispenser and the towels were slowly coating the area as they were being blown off with every swoosh of the doors. Tsk tsk. Of course, we fixed it. We're Holmeses!

5. Campaign for a full A&E in Ely anyone? It's ridiculous to have to drive so far!

Thursday 1 March 2012

Red Splotch Alert!

I learned a new word today: urticaria. And Plate had it all over her body, poor little bub!

Urticaria, or hives it turns out, is a kind of skin rash - on Plate it was like looking at a beige and pink map of an alien planet, with continents and islands! And they moved around her body1. Very disturbing. Luckily, she didn't seem bothered by it. No itching, thank goodness. Apparently, it is an allergic reaction to something - but we have no clue as to what. GP prescribed some antihistamines and she's out for the count tonight.

Meanwhile, Operation De-clutter grinds on: the stairs are now shoe-free, we just need to pack up the bits of car and few items. I've boxed up our "non-essential" shoes and FBB has boxed up the Megadrive, X-Box and all the games. Granddad A has turned our yellow kitchen into a lovely shade of buttermillk and the Wise Outlaw has chopped back our wild front yard a bit.

Gotta go - baby coughing and spluttering. Ayah! My poor bubs!


1. When FBB picked me up from work, I was presented with a bub with two huge insect bites on her cheeks, one on either side! By the time, we'd got home, the red splotches had receded... until I undressed her for bed, and they were spread out over her back and stomach. We were a little nonplussed but as she had no fever, wasn't scratching, we though we'd give it till the morning. Imagine our horror when we took off her sleepsuit! It had increased in redness, spread down her legs, across her armpits, and speckled up her neck. Time to see the GP methinks!