Friday, December 06, 2013

Staph Picks for the Holidays

Sometimes it’s so hard to find time to write a blog post that I feel like giving up on it. Especially when I know I’m pretty much talking to myself. Oh well.

I know Thanksgiving is an old memory by this point in time, but I’m going to write about it anyway. We spent our Thanksgiving with a few others families from our church. We contributed stuffing, a pistachio torte, and a green salad that contained candied nuts, cranberries, and bacon. I had a really good time, and despite my initial sadness that we weren’t doing our own thing (which I had originally anticipated), I felt I had adequately celebrated Thanksgiving. I felt differently a few hours later, when I had that Thanksgiving Day urge to eat a little bit more of everything, late at night. Having gone home, Melanie and I had leftovers only of what we had taken. So, yes, I could eat stuffing, and—spoiler alert!—I did. But it was not very satisfying when what I really wanted was more turkey, more mashed potatoes, etc. Dining on stuffing alone isn’t that exciting, even with really good stuffing. Melanie and I are now considering doing our own Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving 2. We skipped Thanksgiving altogether last year, so I guess we’re entitled to two of them this year. I seriously think we will.

A week prior to Thanksgiving, the boys went to the doctor for a check-up and flu shot. Creegan had some little dots around his mouth that had appeared a couple of nights earlier. The doctor said they were bug bites and not to worry. By Thanksgiving, these bug bites were looking kind of nasty, like big old red blotches on Creegan’s face. But Creegan had been picking at them quite a bit, which we assumed was making them ugly. So, we went to Thanksgiving without any concern. Several days later, we took Creegan back to the doctor because the red spots weren’t going away. We thought maybe Creegan just wasn’t leaving them sufficiently alone, but when the doctor saw them, she now decided they are likely to indicate a staph infection. She told us to keep Creegan away from everyone for a week while making him take antibiotics. Melanie and I—but especially Melanie—felt terrible, as we had had Creegan around other kids several times since these things appeared. However, nobody else has reported any problems, and despite the fact that staph infections are supposed to be highly contagious, neither Melanie nor I, nor Eddie nor Peter, have had any problems. Happily, those marks are now looking immensely better, although forcing medicine down Creegan’s throat twice a day is quite an exercise in patience.

Now for some of the other fun news from the past two weeks or so. On Saturday, November 23rd, Melanie took Eddie and Peter to see the play version of Beauty and the Beast. Their main babysitter was in the cast, so that made it extra fun for them. (Well, they probably didn’t care that much, but anyway.) On Tuesday the 26th, Melanie and I successfully went on our postponed date to see Catching Fire. AMC were very pleasant to work with in terms of trading my purchased tickets in for another date and time, even though it was after the fact. And the movie was great, too.

The day after Thanksgiving, we took the kids to Wild Adventures. (Yes, with Creegan looking like a mutant.) About halfway to Wild Adventures (which is a couple of hours away), we realized we didn’t have all of our season passes with us. I didn’t want to turn around and drive home to get them, but it gave us some anxiety. I assumed they would be able to look us up on their computer or something, and with your photo being attached to the pass (not to mention other forms of ID), they should easily be able to verify who we are. It worked out, and we got in without much hassle. They even printed brand new cards for all of us, which was unnecessary since we knew where they were at home. Regardless, we spent a few hours there. Creegan braved a family-friendly but not entirely kid-like roller coaster and cried. That was a bummer. I went on Wacky Wheels, a teacup-like ride, and felt slightly nauseated afterward. That happened to me last time, which is strange because I love Tilt-A-Whirl style rides. Maybe there’s something about spinning in smaller circle. Maybe the spinning is more concentrated and thus more bothersome to me. I don’t know. When I was little, my brother cruelly spun me incredibly quickly on a spinning thing at a McDonald’s playground, despite my vehement protests. I puked afterwards. Maybe I’m just conditioned now, and maybe rides like the Tilt-A-Whirl are just different enough not to agitate me. It’s kind of pathetic because Wacky Wheels I aimed at the younger crowd and is one of the most tame rides in the whole park. But it makes me sick.

On Saturday, November 30th, we put up our Christmas Tree. Creegan seems to be quite a fan. I’m not sure how much remembers having one in our home, although he knows what Christmas Trees are. Like any 3-year-old, he has a hard time leaving ornaments on the tree, and he isn’t happy if the tree lights aren’t plugged in all day long. It’s fun to have the tree up, and it’s extra special because the kids truly decorated the tree almost entirely themselves (which shows, in the most delightful way). Melanie even got us some egg nog to help the day feel extra Christmasy. ‘Twas a lot of fun. Here is some photographic evidence of such fun:





The final product.

With some other decorations.  Lovely, eh?

And that’s pretty much that. The end.

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