Thursday, February 28, 2008

It's 84 and Sunny in Cabo today!

And tomorrow, and the next day, and as far as the forecast out. I will be in Cabo as of Saturday and I'm so antsy to get there I can hardly stand it!!! Warm sun, sand, cabana boys w/ umbrella drinks for me & DaddySpeak. (Ok, he can have Cabana Girls bringing him his drinks, but only if there's an umbrella in them and if the girls are at least as old as me. ;-)

I can. not. wait! I will miss my girls so very, very much though. But SUN! And UMBRELLA DRINKS! more later....

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Starbucks Closed!!!

Did you know that Starbucks closed tonight for 3 hours????

Every single Starbucks in the Nation was closed.

WTF???? Just Wrong People.

Luckily, I was forward thinking and headed over to my local Barnes & Nobel café.
I’m nothing if not resourceful.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Fun Monday!

I’m Back!
The lovely Mariposa is hosting this week and has chosen a topic I’m interested in participating in.

(1) Please share to us how the NAME of your BLOG was made? I can't wait to
hear interesting funny stories!
(2) Please share to us (in words or photo, though a combination of both
will be a bonus!) your favorite/ most common dish!

1) I wish I had a funny story to share on this one. I knew I wanted to start a blog, but I also knew I didn’t want to use our family’s real names, so I wanted some kind of title that would lend itself toward a name. When I first started this blog my intent was two-fold: to give myself an outlet and to have a written record of myself for my girls. (I want them to have a better understanding of me as a person, of course I won’t let them read this till I’m old and dead, so maybe it’s really for my great grandkids.) After looking up many others (already used) I came up with Mommy Speak. It allowed me to use DaddySpeak, MommySpeak, ToddlerSpeak and BabySpeak or The House O’Speak which I liked. It gave an indication of the blog topic, so it was all good. Of course, toddler and baby aren’t anymore, but it’s still a name I’m happy with.

2) My favorite dish: ummm…Chocolate! Seriously my very favorite thing to eat/drink is my daily mocha from Starbucks. Seriously. Kinda pathetic, huh? I really like a lot of other foods, I list some of those below, but if you wantta make mama happy the fastest way is a: Vente, decaf, single-shot, whole-milk, w/whip mocha. Warms me up and makes me smile just thinking about it.
Other foods high on my list:
Greek
Sushi/sashimi
Swiss Fondue
Ethiopian Food
Mexican
Tapas
Ok, now I'm hungry! Go visit Maraposa for the rest of the Fun Monday participants.

Friday, February 22, 2008

At The Very Least She Could Do Spoken Word

So this afternoon I was playing with the girls in the playroom and they pulled out their musical instruments. I belted out “On Top of Spaghetti”. DD1 stopped what she was doing to listen & requested an encore. After that she says, “Want to hear my song?” Sure!

My poor meatball turned into a guy. He rolled out the window & wouldn’t come
back till the sun laid down.

The airplane dumped into the trash can & wouldn’t come back until the 4th of July.

He turned into the sun and wouldn’t come back until the clouds waited up.

But at the end of the day he turned back into a meatball.


Who knew she was so deep?

I’m signing her up to work coffee houses starting next weekend.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Driving in the car….

We are sitting in DaddySpeak’s new Nissan Altima Hybrid at a stop light and notice that the truck in front of us has cheesy cover on the hitch.

DaddySpeak: I’m gonna git me a hitch on this car just so I can get a cover on it.

MommySpeak: Why don’t you just get the car slamed w/neon lights lining the bottom?

DaddySpeak: Nope, I think a hitch w/a cover would trick this car out.

MommySpeak: Ohh! I know, get some truck nutz on it!

DaddySpeak: You think if they made those for motorcycles you’d only get one ball?

MommySpeak: I am SO blogging this…

Ok, prior to posting this I did not know that biker ballz existed. Now I do. No, DS you still get the standard issue 2, but since there's no picture I'm not positive where they would go on a bike. They come in many colors too; flesh, brass and camo to name a few. Of course they do.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Icing on the Cake

Apparently my back wasn’t bothering me enough. My body thought I was getting off too easy, cause today…today I woke up with a rotten cold. The whole family has had these croup-y sounding coughs for more than a week, but I keep chanting; “It’s the tree pollens. It’s the tree pollens.” And it may well have been the trees, but this morning my sinuses were feeling neglected and got into the act. Now I have all this pressure on my eyes & nose. I'm blowing & spitting up lots of "yellow gunk" (your welcome, eating breakfast, huh?) And my ears are all itchy (on the inside)! Wah! Seriously, I was feeling better than this when I woke up and now I just want to crawl back into bed and go back to sleep. I'm seriously considering it.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Checking BACK In….

Yup, more back cracks. I know, I’m sorry. Honestly, it’s pretty much what’s going on here these days. I was down for the count Thursday and Friday. Saturday & Sunday I took it easy, sort of. Taking it easy meant I didn’t pack moving boxes up and down stairs I guess, cause on Monday I worked in the garden. I know, what was I thinking???? I was thinking that those bulb kits at Costco were a good price, (only $15) and that we had a weekend long break from the rain and it was nice to get outside. I was thinking it was a nice project for my MIL & the kids. That’s what I get for thinking. But DaddySpeak & I planted them w/the girls, so that's what I get for thinking. They weren't labor intensive or anything. They were even in raised beds, but it was enough bending and reaching to throw me off I guess. I spent the later part of yesterday & early today feeling like crap. I hope I didn’t undo any good the shot had done. I promise I will behave myself from now on; beside it’s raining again & we go to MEXICO in two weeks! GAWD, I can’t wait.
In the meantime, apparently Antique Mommy’s Sean is walking around in a coma. (No, I’m not making light of her situation, but if his count really was 2000, I’m pretty sure a coma would be the upside of things. I’m on the side of human error in the testing, but I’m also saying a little prayer for them too.) Amalah & Mrs. Mogul went & got knocked up again! (Yes, I’m totally broody and jealous. Sigh) And Juni’s a big sis! So there’s your something shinny. Go read and enjoy, I’m going to bed early to try and HEAL!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Yes, I'm a day late, but really by an hour, so sue me. Would you expect anything less? It's been a very rough week w/my back and all (excuse #37 for not posting), so let's cut me some slack & pretend like I got this up yesterday, ok? Great, now let's all move on to my riviting words.What did you get for V-day? Know what I got? I got an epidural shot! Woohooo! We are living it up at the Speak household. DaddySpeak’s b-day was yesterday, so that coupled w/my back issues (got to have a nerve test yesterday. Big Fun let me tell you.) meant we were very low key this year. Luckily, I had extra stocking stuffers from the $1 bin at Target, and heart balloons I got for the girls yesterday when picking b-day balloons for DS (from the girls) yesterday and matching “play cell phones” (also boutique target, but a bit more than $1) in house for just such a need. Today was shot as far as I was concerned. Once I got home from the shot, around 10, I went to bed & slept till 2. The vidcodin on an empty stomach might have had something to do with it. Ya think? I do feel bad cause I really didn’t do much for DS for his b-day or V-day. But he didn’t go without, just not as much as I might have normally put into it. Between my back issues & his parents being here I just couldn’t get it anymore together than that. I’ll make it up to him & I said so, but I also think he really does know that I will. He ponyed up big time & bought this beautiful necklace a neighbor MADE!!! I may be able to get a photo on here soon, but I’m not promising a date with everything else that’s happening. I will post a photo at some point though cause it’s super awesome and I LURVE it. (Plus I think she's going to open a shop on Esty, so I will link to it for sure when she does.) I have a feeling it was uber expensive, but that’s ok; I love the piece, the person who made it and most especially the person who gave it.
About the shot:
Not exactly like your epidural that you (may have, like I did) got when in labor. I guess I forgot how much the shot HURT! OMG, did that thing hurt like a mofo! Seriously. I think the one that they give you during labor typically gives you so much relief that you don’t really think of it as hurting? Or maybe I blocked that one too, who knows at this point. I can’t be trusted on these topics I guess. If it makes me feel better I seem to be able to completely block the awful part out of my mind. Since this is my 4th go around with this type of shot you might think I’d have some memory of pain. Maybe I’m brain dead or something, cause I really don’t. I do remember from last go around that getting onto the OR table hurt as much as getting off, so that may have been part of it. Everything was already such a mess, the shot didn’t really add much. The other thing is that during that time my right leg was more or less numb and this go around it’s and on and off thing, so I’m thinking I may have been too numb to feel all of it then too. Not so much this time. The pain is this huge pressure, and it feels like the shot is in my hip bone by the time it’s done. I’m sure it’s not, in fact it’s between two vertebrae, wouldn’t you think my tailbone would feel it more or something? The pressure traveled down my leg to the back of my knee & seemed to stop there. Tonight it’s pretty much just my lower back. I'm very stiff now, and I wasn't before, just hurting, as of right now I'm worse. I'm working on the pretense that I'm going to wake up tomorrow (if I ever get my arce in bed) and feel miraculously better. We'll see. I’m pretty sure I did too much today, so I might have felt slightly better if I hadn’t been picking up toddlers, walking up and down stairs, walking the block to deliver valentines and giving DD1 a real mani & pedi (yes, I spoil that child) as the bending to get to her toes & fingers wasn't the best. But you should see her nails; they rock!
About the nerve test:The results of the nerve test were that I am not worse. I’m not better either. Doctor wasn’t thrilled with that, “after a year it should have more healing and therefore better response.” But on the upside, it isn’t worse, so it’s a start. I knew the nerve test hurt like heck last time, but I forgot about the best part: the second part of the test they stick needles (not as thick as an IV one, but much thicker than say an acupuncture one) in you (my leg & lower back) and move them around while running a low current of electricity into them. I’m. NOT. Kidding. It’s to see if the nerves in the muscles are damaged. They are deep enough to cause you to bleed too. So, not only do you get the pain, they up the ante by pressing on the needle and moving it around, while you bleed. This is one of those tests I think all med students should have to have so they know how it feels and be more empathetic about it. I don’t think my doctor was especially rough, but he does seem to be somewhat flip about it. Trust me, IT HURTS!
Must get to bed before I fall over, so looking forward to a pain and test free weekend. Hoping for the same for you and your family!

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Back At It

Ah, the back metaphors are back (get it they're back). Lucky you Internet! The saga of the herniated disk continues…When we last left our heroine she had been progressing nicely. The week in Miami in October (sans kids) had done her wonders. In fact, until she got home from that trip and picked the (not so) little ones she was feeling no pain; and we aren’t talking about the Mai Tai’s folks.

Tank you verry much, I’ll be here all zee week!

Yeah, this week was a bad one for my poor little disk. I am almost at the point of naming the guy. Yes, the disk in my back. It seems to get as much press as my kids do, so it seems fitting. Maybe we should have a naming contest, what’d you think? Any suggestions?

I headed out to the orthopedic surgeon today. He had me bend and cough a lot, (but was never behind me & I’m a chick and was fully dressed so save it). I think he was impressed with my mobility, but that’s the thing about being a mom, you do what you have to, which is everything, until you can’t. Then you can’t move at all. At the time the bending didn’t seem like that big of a deal, but by the time I got home from the appointment I was sore & exhausted. Talk about being out of shape, huh? The biggest thing was that he tested my reflexes and guess what! Not so good. My right ankle seems to have lost it’s reflex. (It’s a sign of nerve damage.) I was tested a year ago because the reflex wasn’t so good then either. At that time, I had little to no feeling in my right leg (the disk was pressing on my sciatica nerve). The doctor thinks it’s worse. The only way they can know for sure it so redo the nerve test, so I’m having that done on Wednesday. Oh Joy! On Thursday I be having another epidural. It’s been about a year since my last epidural so that’s good.; means it’s more likely to be effective. I’m actually looking forward to the epidural. I got so much relief from them last time I could be the epidural poster child. Of course, I felt similarly after my first child’s birth and not quite so much after the second. So I’m tentatively looking forward to it. I am NOT looking forward to the nerve test. Last time I had one my leg was more or less numb, especially the part they were testing. Now, I have complete feeling in my leg. It hurt like HECK last time. No, really, it hurt like HELL. Seriously, not a fun test. I can hardly wait to see how much fun it is now that the nerve is working. If you’ve never had a nerve test, they send electrical impulses into your muscles to see how they respond. The slower they respond the more nerve damage you have. I would think it's like getting lots of mini taser guns shot into various parts of you for an extended period of time. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if it came up that they use this type of thing to torture terror suspects. I'm just saying...
I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if the nerve is DEAD! Mine is not, so I don’t imagine it’ll feel good.
The up side of all of this (well beside the fact that I’m getting an epidural which should make me feel better more or less immediately,) is that I got my pain pill prescription refilled! I take vicodin, and I get nervous when I get low. The press that these kinds of drugs get these days make the doctors hand them out sparingly and I’m always nervous when I start to get low. I’m fearful that I'm going to run out over a weekend & be a mess until I can get in on Monday. It’s never happened, it’s just an irrational fear I have.

Alright, I’m off to bed now. At least I can sleep in tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Gung hay fat choy!

Happy Lunar New Year!!! It's the year of the Rat folks. Go out and eat some long noodles (for long life) and maybe some egg rolls or lumpia (Pilipino egg rolls) mmmmm! just because they're so yummy.
This is one of those times I am so very glad I live here in Silicon Valley because people not only know about all these cool different cultures, but they actively celebrate them. I didn't know that not everyone celebrated Lunar New Year until I went to college and had my eyes opened to some less diverse areas of the world. I'm very excited because our weather is back to normal (sunny! warm!) and it's supposed to hold this weekend, so I believe we will be taking the girls to their first Lunar New Year Parade. Yeah! The closest one to us is in San Jose and it's Vietnamese, (the big one in SF is Chinese) but they're all celebrating the same thing and it's so fun! DD1's class is having their own parade on Friday and they're all supposed to dress for it, I can't wait!
DaddySpeak & I are both Monkeys and we're supposed to have a very good year. DD1 is a Goat (or Sheep depending on where you're looking it up) and she too is supposed to have a very good year. DD2 is a Dog and it's supposed to be a tough, but growing year for her, fitting considering she's turning two this year and has already started her stride in the terrible part.
Do you do anything to celebrate the Lunar New Year?

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Did You Vote? AKA-- Avoiding Fun Monday

Yeah, yeah, I know I’m supposed to write a “bucket list” for Fun Monday. Honestly, this is one of the hardest things I’ve tried to do, so I’m trying to distract you; “Look! Something Shiny!” This is effectively my “The dog ate my homework of the Fun Mondays.”
When I started thinking about it, I realized I’ve done quite a few things that would typically be on the list; I’ve traveled to 11 countries in Europe & 3 in Asia, I’ve gone paragliding (run off a mountain w/a parachute, it was actually in the Alps, so a BIG mountain,) I whitewater rafted a level 5 river (also in Switzerland, BTW), I’ve hiked & skied in the Alps, so the usual things you’ll find on peoples lists; ie--thrill seeking and travel to exotic places are more or less covered. I’d still like to go to Australia & Africa, but I those are things I will probably save until after our kids have grown and if I don't make it, that's ok. I don’t really care if I do something like jump out of an airplane, I’ve run off a cliff so I think it’s more or less all the same at some point. Plus I kind of feel that now that I have children I really need to rethink the thrill seeking thing if death is a possible option.
Things I know I want to accomplish in this lifetime; I wanted to find my soul mate & grow old with him. I’m doing that. I wanted to have children and be able to be here to watch them grow. I hope to be able to be around to have a strong and happy relationship with grandchildren at some point. But these things are all things that will take my lifetime to accomplish.
I know, a bucket list is supposed to be the things you want to accomplish before you die. But if I could have spent a lifetime making happy memories w/my husband and watching my children grow up happy, healthy and into well-adjusted, successful adults who are able to meet their soul mates and have happy families, then I will have accomplished my life goals.

Sappy, yes. But truly the way I feel.

Look! Over there, something sparkly and shiny!

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Nominated for Mother of the Year!

Yeah, that’s for sure. I'm sure you'll agree after you read this:

My back’s bad today. One of the worst days I’ve had in a long time. Bad enough that I’m calling my doctor tomorrow. I think I need to either have another MRI or maybe another epidural. This has gotten ridiculous, it has now been over a year since I hurt it. I know a herniated disk has a long recovery time (they told me up to 9 months) and it is better than it was, (my siatica isn't as involved now,) but jeez a year is a long time.

Ok, I’m done complaining, but you get my point, it hurts. A LOT. So I’m much less patient about everything right now. I have a super short fuse and no tolerance for anything of any sort. The usual banter of questions that DD1 throws at me while in the car, I’m totally snapping at her over. I HATE it when I’m like that. It’s almost like I can see myself doing it, but am powerless to stop it from happening. Thus you have my mindset for the day. As I mentioned in my last post, DD2 has also been in rare form as of late; we are a treat to be around, let me tell you.
……………………………….


The girls both are in need of new shoes & my mom had offered to buy them. (She feels strongly that they need really good shoes while their feet are growing and will spend a minimum of $40 on their shoes to make sure they fit properly. Since my girls both wear shoes that cost more than double what mine cost, I‘m inclined to let her pay for them.) We’d been trying to coordinate a time when we were both available & found that we didn’t really care about the Super Bowl this year (I can TiVO the commercials) considering that the teams were both from the East Coast. We headed off to the good (pricey) kid's shoe store (not Payless Shoe Source) to get the girls some new tennis. All was well during this, except that the little bit of walking we did in the mall really made my back tweak out. Bad. DaddySpeak was at a neighbor’s house watching the game & I called him on our way home because I was in no condition to deal with the girls alone. Plus I was totally taking a major pain pill as soon as I got home. Before we’d left the mall DD1 had complained that her tummy hurt because she was hungry. I figured she was trying to make a play for Starbucks or McD’s (which she was totally not getting) and told her she could have some fruit when we got home. In the car she cleared her throat and it sounded a lot like she was getting sick. My mom questioned her about where she learned to clear her throat like that (probably at school) but she got all sensitive about it and wouldn’t answer. She did it one more time and then literally started crying that her throat hurt. Well no wonder dude, don’t clear it like that & it won’t hurt. My mom looked at me and said, “Do you think it really hurts her?” to which I replied, “No. I think she’s all bent about the throat clearing question and this is her face saving attempt at attention.” You might say I was a bit skeptical. In my defense, this type of episode is not uncommon for her. She can be a bit sensitive at times. Just as we pull into the driveway DS is walking up and she’s crying at this point. He gets her out of the car, but now she’s pulling the whole “I only want Mommy” thing which isn’t helping her case so much. (Remember, Mommy ain’t feeling so hot, so needy clingy , whiney kid is not what I’m in the mood for exactly.) We go in the house & get her calmed down. I check her throat, nothing. I get her settled in front of the playroom TV w/a “My Pretty Pony” movie and life is generally back to normal.

Let’s all bow our heads now in a moment of gratitude for “My Pretty Pony” and
their like.

So I finally get my pain pill and lay down on my “good” side on the couch in the family room so I can yell at DD2 and then hassle DS because he’s really only half watching her while he’s watching the game. Then, right as the Giant’s score their first touchdown , DD1 goes into the bathroom & starts retching. Because of the activity on the TV, I totally have to yell at DS (over the TV) that I think she’s getting sick, he can see her from where he’s sitting and runs into her, (he didn't even stop to pause the TiVO, so I do have to give him props for that part).



Poor baby got totally sick; barfed her little guts out.


Yup, Mrs. Sympathetic that’s me.

Just nominate me for Mother of the Year, I’m sure I deserve it.



My poor kid is feeling sick and I’m totally dis’ing her cause I think she just wants attention. And she got sick two more times after that. I'm a piece of work, am I not? I’m still not sure if she’s really sick or if she just ate something that didn’t agree with her. Hopefully it was the later & she’s done with it by now.



Just so you know, I know when I’m a total a**hole, even to my 4YO, and I told her I was sorry she didn’t feel good and I was sorry I snapped at her in the car. She came and laid on me on the couch for the next hour (in-between getting sick). I know she enjoyed the attention. She's currently sleeping w/a large tupperware bowl next to her now, cause I care. Nothing says I care about you like plastic bed assesories (hmmm, wonder what that will do to all those Google searches?) and holding your hair back while barfing. Daddy held the hair back, so I got her the bowl. What a team we are, no?

And I did let her have a pedalite popsicle on the couch tonight. She just about fell over when I suggested that she could lay on the couch & eat it instead of at the kitchen table.



That right there should ensure my winning “Mother of the Year.”

Advanced For Her Age



She ain't giving up that bink w/out a fight either!


DD2 is hit a new level this week. She’s become a complete TWO YEAR OLD. Why yes, she does have several months before her official birthday, so she must be advanced for her age.
OMG has she stepped it up. Her fuse is so short! She can’t stand it if you tell her “no”, she will immediately throw herself on the floor kicking and screaming. Doesn’t matter what it’s about, we are merciless and her life, it is tragic. Yes, at 21 months, her life it is already a tragedy, because her mean, mean mother will not let her have a cookie 10 minutes before dinner. I still haven’t hit this status with DD1. You know what they say about each kid being different? Like night and day folks. The biggest milestone she’s passed this week is that she will now promptly do exactly what you told her not to do. People w/no kids would call it "asserting her independence." Tonight it was about climbing on the leather cubes/tables. We have these in lieu of a coffee table, so the kids won't crack their heads open on them. No one told me we needed to get all the neighbors to get rid of their driveways too. New hobby of hers; climbing on everything she can & standing up! She likes to be TALL! She wants a matching scar above her other eye. Mommy is not impressed. So tonight, I catch her pulling herself up onto one of the cubes and I tell her to get down. This isn’t news to her, we’ve had this conversation before, almost daily this week in fact. She responds by STANDING UP! Because she’s independent and smart! I change my tone and tell her to “get on her tush” and get down. She ignores me. I walk (quickly, because I’m not in the mood for another trip to the emergency room) and pick her up and give her a time out. (Time out for her consists of being straped in her high chair and moved to the next room. I set a timer so they hear the beep when the time out is done, she gets a one minute time out, because she is one. However, by the end of this little episode, I decided she had more than graduated to 90 seconds; being advanced and all.) After the timeout she gets down, walks over to her sister and (insert any one of many negative behaviors here) bites, scratches, hits, pulls hair… her. She immediately gets another time out. After this timeout I make her apologize to her sister, which she does. She then she walks back over to the cube. She watches me watch her do this. She reaches to pull herself up (watching me) I tell her she’s going to get another timeout. She responds with a grunt/screech-like sound of displeasure. Lovely child. She continues to pull herself up I count “One!” She pulls herself some more, now on her stomach on the cube, still smiling at me. “Two!” and I start to walk over, she pushes herself off, smiling. I tell her, “You do it again & you’ll get another time out.” (God, I sound like my mother.) She sort of grunts her understanding, then she puts her hand on the other side of the cube, watching me the whole time and smiling. You can see the wheels turning in her head, “Hmmm, is this pushing your buttons yet mama?” You know all those things you wish for your child when they’re growing inside of you? To be smart, independent, a leader, creative, funny…Not so much what you’re looking for in your toddler. I’m just saying.