Find My IPhone

I lost my iPhone earlier this evening.  I used the iOS app Find my iPhone.  It found the section of the house down to a few feet, that is really fantastic. The app find my iPhone has one major flaw as far as I am concerned, it will not tell me if my iPhone is under a pile of yarn.  Really, I know that there are a lot of great software engineers out there.  Can’t one of you write a program that will find an iPhone under yarn or in the case of younger parents in the kids toys.  I am sure that they all know people who lose their phones in purses or briefcases too.

As you can tell it has been another long day at Casa Karobonik.  I am hoping that the leg/foot massager will work a miracle tonight.  I also pray that we have no headache inducing pressure changes tonight. I also pray that Eric has a peaceful and restful night. This is not happening so far. Here I sit in Eric’s room waiting to give the second half of The Tylenol.  Send Justin’s cashew and peanut butter cups in dark chocolate please.

Now to get in some knitting while I wait.

Night Terrors and More

I just spent one and a half hours with Eric and a night terror.  I am not sure what it was about or what triggered it.  But he is finally falling asleep.  Now for me to unwind and go back to sleep.

There are just a few comments from my day in no particular order.  

If your child’s school or day program say keep them home when they are sick, this does not mean send your kid with a box of tissues to hold onto and use throughout the day.  Sick is sick.  School or day program is not home.

If you are driving on a public through fair I expect you to keep your eyes on the road, not below the dash board looking for things in the consul such as your French fries.  If you can’t drive and eat, either drive or eat not both.

Silk is not an elastic fiber. Silk will not make your surri alpaca stretch or become stretchy.  Silk is a fiber that drapes well.

Just because you are old does not give you the right to walk in front of a whole line at the check out counter like to five people already in line don’t exist.  You might have been raised to think that the color of your skin or religion make you better than the rest of us. That is so last century and it was not true even then.

These opinions are my own.   Night night see you in the morning light.

Oh, Joy

One of the things that I don't enjoy about being a special needs mom is dealing with the insurance company. Yes, there are a lot of intelligent  people who work for the medical insurance company, but why do I seem to get all the dunderheads?

The annual denial letter for formula and supplies came today. Some of the more redundant things that I have had put in the notes at the top of Eric's chart include when the g-tube was placed 15 years ago and why it is necessary. So it annoys me to no end to be asked for "Documentation" that Eric has a feeding tube. Is this the sole source of his nutrition, they want to know why we have not gotten him off the feeding tube yet. What is his diagnosis that makes the feeding tube necessary He has had the same diagnosis since he was 3 1/2 they just don't change like magic. The name of the formula... duh the same one he has been on for the last 15 years. An evaluation of his nutritional needs, really!!!

To boot UnitedHealthcare will not pay for supplies until we provide this information again.  They have also decided to make us do this every 6 months, really!!! I can not think of a worse harassment of parents of sick children.

Sadly there are only a few relevant things in the letter, Eric's height and weight and a new prescription. The rest is just laziness on the part of the reviewer. After 15 years of this crap, I am beginning to think they do this to us because a certain number of families and doctors will just give up and pay for these medically necessary supplies out of pocket. Aren't the profits and bonuses high enough for the insurance companies yet?

A heads up to everyone. I will be dealing with this crap on Monday, so its not you it's United Healthcare.

True or False

Mothers just look forward to middle of the night breathing treatments.

Mothers just love doing load upon load of laundry..

Mothers like to sleep at night.

Mothers like play time too.  

Mothers like to play in the middle of the night. 

Mothers just love getting up to put the covers back on the cold child who just kicked them off. 

Most days Mothers would not trade in their jobs for any other.  

Car pooling is always fun. 

I am writing this while I wait to give Eric his next round of breathing treatments. 

Mothers need more hugs.  

Mothers can do more than one thing at a time.  

We love saying "just breath"

Is the stuffed Elmo qualified to fill in for mothers every once in a while?

I do not write the best blog posts at 1 am.  

I am ready to party. 

Games are always fun at medicine time. 

We would like our kids to levitate into the right spot with out lifting them. 

Is it really 1:20 am. 

Take the quiz and send me your answers.  May a good nights sleep be in your future. 

An Open Letter to The March of Dimes

Dear Non Profit Fundraiser for the March of Dimes,

You may think you have come up with a brilliant new way to do fundraising for your organization. By calling all the parents of sick children and young adults you can find; then asking the family members to send out fundraising letters for you. This is to save your organization the expense of postage. You also failed to mention that your donor list is drying up and that you do not want to pay for more names that may not pay off. After all who is going to say no to a parent of a sick kid raising funds to help other sick kids and fund research into birth defects and how to prevent them?

Let me start debunking your brilliant idea. First you say it is to save you postage. We are among the lucky few who are not figuring out how to pay Peter without robbing Paul. Most families I know with very sick kids live on a very tight budget. So just sending out 30 postcards at 34 cents a postcard is $10.20 that has to come from somewhere in a budget that does not allow for extras.  Also if your budget does not allow for fundraising postage costs, you really need to rework your budget or consider shutting down for lack of relevance. 

We will give you a month to send them out. It's only Tuesday and I have already had one 20 hour work day this week. You see unlike your job in which you are limited to 8 hours a day without overtime pay, parents can work with a sick child for up to 24 hours straight in one day. You have not stepped up to take care of my son so that I can sleep. So If I have a choice, I choose sleep over just a few hours of volunteer time. I am also quite sure that doing the mounds of laundry the average sick child makes, buying groceries or cleaning house would also come before your project. You might check with my other family members to see if they agree on this one. 

You have never offered my son any services or help to my family; yet you ask me to raise funds for you, to use my name as an endorsement of your non-profit. What's up with that? Do you think I owe your organization my time and money just because I have a sick kid? I am more inclined to raise money for groups that help my son. 

Once we have a diagnosis most families I know raise funds to find a cure for the disease that affects their child. What disease research are you currently funding? Does it include the variation of ML4 that my son has?

You really need to go back to the drawing board on this one. I like most parents are too tired for your guilt trip. You might want to go after the 98% who have healthy kids. I assume that they get sleep and have a bit more free time to fill out a bunch of silly postcards. 

If you currently are a donor to the March of Dimes and believe in their work by all means continue to do so. After all they helped fund a cure for Polio and have taken care of people who got Polio. They have also made other breakthroughs to help children. If you believe in their cause volunteer to send out some postcards to your friends. Do a fundraiser for them.  I just am over extended and did not like fundraising call I received this morning. I do not owe any non-profit my time or money. It is not my responsibility to keep The March of Dimes afloat. 

The Bear is Off Limits

Whatever you do don't blame the bear. Let me back track a little bit. At 3:30 this morning Eric was a little cranky. His favorite bear was wrapped snuggly in his blanket, while a very cold Eric was trying to cover himself with his pillows. So I talked to Eric's bear about stealing Eric's blankets in the middle of the night while I was getting Eric resettled in. This morning that included a change out and some physical therapy. By the way John repeated this exercise a little while after I finished, but he did not lecture the bear. So daddy was golden.

By the time I got Eric settled again 30 minutes latter, he was really mad about me talking to his beloved bear like that. He was still mad when I dropped him off at his day program.  He would not even let me give him a kiss goodbye. It took Maggie a little bit of persuasion to send a smile picture of himself to me.

So the lesson learned today was never ever blame the beloved stuffed animal. No matter if they steal the blankets in the middle of the night and leave your child cold, they are still off limits for a mommy lecture.

By 3:00 this afternoon he was no longer mad at me and let me drive him home.

Still Awake

I am having trouble unwinding tonight. Just as I was dosing off, Eric had an asthma episode. Between giving him his meds and watching him until his color get better took 30 minutes. That was 30 minutes ago. I know its going to be a long day and a very long week. I am debating trying to do some cleaning, start some laundry or knitting to unwind. I want to be asleep before tomorrow. There is nothing like a sick kid in the middle of the night to get this mommy going and unable to slow down.

It's Official

I can say with out a doubt that I hate post viral asthma.  I was already to go to bed when Eric flared up.   Meds were give. Eric was cuddled. 90 minutes later he is finally asleep. So to unwind I picked up dishes, washed a pan and started the dishwasher.  I also started a load of Eric's laundry.  

I was also pondering the idea of making the parents who send their young adults to day program when they are sick, to be required to do the night shifts with Eric so I can get some decent sleep.  I know it will never happen.. It's always just allergies, even with a fever and throwing up.  If I had a nickel from every parent who sent their kids to program sick, but saying it was an allergy, I would have some real money for Local charities.  

The house is turning off the lights so I guess it is bed time.  

Just the Ususal Stuff

Cleaning got stalled Sunday afternoon when Eric got sick. I would  like to say that his temperature is down, but we will most likely be going for a doctors visit tomorrow. I don't like his cough.

A lot of work got done on the Jaala Spiro’s Silk Moon Crescent Shawlette knit along. I am over half way through with it. Jaala did a very nice job on the design. I would also like to add that it is a pattern I would recommend knitting when you have been up all night with a sick child. This is also the type of pattern that you could take with you to the hospital or doctors visits. Here is a link to the pattern and it is well worth the price. silk-moon-crescent-shawlette . It has a few things that require a bit of skill but I would put it at an advance beginner or above. Because of the way the pattern is layed out, it would be perfect to use up bits and pieces in your scrap basket or small bits of hand spun yarn. Most of the techniques can be found on You Tube.  Can you tell that I like the pattern?

We it is time to go top off Eric and hope that he sleeps tonight. I don't think I am up to another day of no sleep.

The Crud's

The crud's have found their way to our house yet again. Eric has had 3 miserable days and I hope the secondary passes us by this time. He has shared with me so not much is getting done.

Yesterday was Teri's final day of classes at Law School. I was so busy it does not seem like 3 years have gone by. Now she just has to get through her finals and the Bar. I am just so proud of her and all that she has done.

We I am getting very tired and Eric will not go to sleep if he here me clacking at the key board. So it time to say good night

The Weekend

Needless to say my weekend did not go as planned. Friday Eric was home sick. I thought he was feeling better Saturday sowe went fo a much needed haircut for Eric and picked up a drive new drive belt for my wheel. We you guessed right, Eric woke up with a fever and a runny nose. I did not make it to the 4th avenue street fair as planned. Instead I did most of tommrows laundry and cleaning. I managed to get a little spinning and knitting done too. I don't think that luck is running on my side so I will tackle paperwork and chores while I am home with Eric tommrow. Well it's not quite 10 and I am hoping for a quiet night because I am exhausted. Good night all.

Trying to get on Track

The new dryer finally arrived today. All I can say is thank goodness. Right now I have the 4th load of the day in the dryer and I hope to have a 5th load in there before bed time. With 6 loads done all together, the first one of the day was a line dry load. The answer to the question is no this will not in any way shape or form mean that I am caught up on laundry. The reason being is that I took a 4 day vacation from laundry. The guys were getting tired of lined dried clothes. Even with the use of Downy, the jeans were like wooden boards. The clothes off the line reminded me of my clothes during the 1960's when we put the clothes on the line to dry. Every thing was stiff.

On the knitting front, I made more progress on my socks and purple shawl. No spinning took place today. Although I have bribed someone with hand spun yarn so she needs to come over and pick the fluff she wants me to spin for her.  I will have to spin it up very soon. By the way spinners, hand spun yarn makes a very good bribe for a knitter.

Eric is still home and I am really hoping to get him out the door sometime this week. I am so far behind on every thing. I will play more catch up tomorrow. As for the plans for today, they went out the window at about 2 am, when I finally got to bed this morning. Considering that I was running on 4 hours of sleep I feel that a lot of work got done today. I have yet to figure out why I can accomplish so much on so little sleep.

I think it is time to say good night because I am falling asleep while typing this post.

No More Wishful Thinking

After a long weekend with a few days off coursity of John, I feel recharged. A little shopping, a new haircut, a little fresh air can do a girl wonders. I even thought it might be possible to send Eric to school tomorrow earlier in the day. Tonight is a different story all together. a little fever and sore throat means another day home and another call to the doctor.

Eric's Smart Vest compressor died this morning. Talk about wonderful customer service. I called this morning, yes Sunday morning and a new unit will ship tomorrow. The on call person was nice and polite even when I cut into her weekend with family. I did not write down her name, but to the management she does need to be told what a wonderful job she did. Electromed is a wonderful company to work with.

Well it getting late and I am hoping for some sleep tonight. Please enjoy your families.

Things are Looking Up

I have kicked the cold and spent the morning doing some much needed house work and laundry. Until I get the new dryer next week I am limited to 2 loads a day. As I have a limited amount of hanging space.

Eric still has no energy but at least he did not nap all day so I have some hope of sleep tonight. He is at the point of recovery that every time I do something for him he makes nice mommy. I always like to get my nice Mommy's.

On the knitting front I blindly dipped my hand into a a pile of UFOs and landed up with a green scarf. I almost finished it tonight. As I was knitting the scarf I thought of all the "extra" knitting needles I will have when I finish all these projects but also all the little knitting and project bags that I will have. Not to mention all the finished projects, some with missing yarn labels so I don't know what the yarn is but I am going to finish them anyway. Some of the fancier pieces with out yarn labels will go in to a gift pile. I also decided since I did not finish all my UFOs in February I will work into to March to finish them.  Also no spinning got done today.

I am 24 rows into a new pattern design. I am writing the pattern as I am knitting it so I hope it does go smoother when it is time to type it up. Considering that I started it on Saturday I think it is going at a good pace.

Well it is getting late and its time to call it a night.

Under the Weather

Eric's cold has morphed and he is home from school for another week. He was kind enough to share his cold with me and maybe John, only time will tell.  So if you are expecting me any where this week all I can say is sorry, but you know where I will be all week. With luck Eric will be out the door on Monday.

On a different note I wish everyone who is celebrating a Happy Purim and for those in the middle of Lent I hope it is easy for you this year.

Tired and Cranky

Today was not one of the most stellar days in Eric's recovery. He still has day and night confused and I am not quite sure how to reset his internal clock. Most of us rely on sunlight to reset our clocks with a mechanism in the retina. Eric's retinas are far to damaged for this to be an option. I will humbly accept any suggestion that are put forth.

I think we might even be able to get Eric back to school at least part days in the next few weeks. Then I might just spend a day or two doing just what I want. Like knitting, spinning and hanging out with friends.

I can say that I am feeling a little worn out by this all. I feel that I am losing patients with people and expect them not to screw up. Like not having trained people on back up or people telling me it takes 1 1/4 hours to drive across town and expect me to buy that. Yes I know its winter but this is Tucson for goodness sake.

I did manage to work on the infamous sock today and realized that I am one stitch short in the gusset; however I have decided that I can make the sock look symmetrical and with one stitch missing I will just skip one decrease to make it even for the foot. At this point one stitch is not worth taking out 2 days of knitting. I am not looking for perfection, I am just looking to finish the sock. 

The highlight of my day was a short chat with Teri. I am happy to report that things are going well on the Teri front. I am really so very lucky to have a wonderful daughter like Teri in my life.

Well the house seems very quiet so I am hoping that everyone including you know who is asleep, so I can get some sleep. Good night all.

The Infamous Sock

I am currently working on the second sock of the pair of socks I started when Teri and I went to look at law schools. I am half way through the gusset of the second sock. My friend Lisa and John feel that Teri will get her law degree before I finish this pair of socks. Did I mention that it is a 3 year law school program and Teri is due to graduate this spring? I have frogged the second sock 2 or 3 times already and I hope that this time is the charm.

Ever the optimist I feel I will finish it before Teri graduates and have pick out one of Belinda Too's patterns for my second pair of socks.  The pattern is called Summer Sporty Ankle Sock. Here is the Raverly link to this wonderful sock.  If you would like to see more of Belinda's work check out this link Blendy Knits . In Lisa's humble opinion Teri will make partner before I finish the second pair of socks. I feel I will have them done before Teri gets her California Bar results. Only time will tell of course and I do have to finish the first pair of socks before I can start these. I have to use the same knitting needles on both pair of socks.

Well I had a very long night with Eric last night and I am hoping that he will go to sleep so as I really need a good nights sleep. He is still not back up to speed but we will see if we can get in to school any days in March.

Hump Day

Eric is still out of sync and having trouble remembering that he is home from the hospital. Last night he dozed off and would wake up in terror or be in the middle of a night terror when I got to him. I finally had him settled down at 3:30 this morning. I took the cowardly approach to this morning and let John and his aide handle him. I decided to sleep in until 7:30.

Since Eric has day and night confused I am trying to sleep when he does. Which has lead to a pretty strange schedule today. We had naps scattered through out the day.

I did manage to get to the grocery store today. I was trying to be a little on the practicle side by picking up some heat and serve dinners. I am not one to pick up ready made dinners from the freezer section on a regular basis. John and I prefer homemade from scratch or semi home made when ever possible. We had a Bertolli chicken minestrone soup tonight. It was easy to cook and had a pretty good taste and texture, but not quite home made. But just the right amount of soup for 2 people.

I have to admit that with Eric being in the hospital twice this month for a total of 12 days I am pretty much worn out. So far this month he has been in the hospital more than out. I am hoping to change that track. I am finding a very little time to knit and have not done any spinning since we have been home. I am still finding cleaning very therapeutic. Roomba and Scooba have been working out daily. The recycle bin is 1/3 of the way full. I am very behind on laundry, but wont be able to do any until the machines get fixed or if we start to run out of things by going to the laundromat.

I have not had any time to prepare for the Tucson Wool Festival on March 10, so even if I do not have a booth I will stop by to say goodbye to Kathy.

I am deffently tired and need some sleep so I will take the time to say good night all.

We May Be on the Right Path

There might be an end insight. We are trying some new meds for Eric. We are still waiting for Eric to hold food down. I am beginning to get tired and flary. Dry mouth and eyes are the rule of the day. I am thinking about redoing my spring sechdule. It will all be dependent on Eric's recovery and my stamina.

I am getting a lot of knitting and spinning done in the down time. I knit when Eric is awake and spin when he sleeps. I would like a more comfortable chair to sleep in.

I personally think the hospital food was designed to increase their patient load in the near future. Where is Mrs. Obama when we need her?

Well Eric is asleep and it is time for some shut eye.

We are Holding

We are back in a holding pattern. Eric is hooked up to an IV. Don't expect to see me for the rest of the week. I have plenty of spinning and knitting with me. The only harrzards I see until we get home is the hospital cafeteria. Moldy bread today and enough greasy food to insure a long term patient load. Lunch was a half pound of carrot and celery sticks,1 tablespoon of peanut butter and crackers. I don't think I have seen hospital food this dismal since 1989, I kid you not.

Well Eric needs my attention. So good night.