Well, it has been about four months so I think I can officially say that I am now at my pre-pregnancy weight. Only took 12 years. And of course my pre-pregnancy weight is still 15 more than my wedding weight. Which, by the way, was which was 5 pounds over my "normal" weight at the time - who on earth GAINS weight before their wedding?! Aren't a brides' nerves supposed to make them lose a little bit of weight?? Anyway, there is no way I'll ever see that engagement weight again or even wedding weight. I am content where I am but still wish I were thinner. Wishing is not what it takes to get there, however.

I am working on taking a bit better care of myself too. Like taking a daily multi-vitamin. And allergy medication. It is inevitable every year around this time I start to feel like crap and my eyes water and my nose runs and I do not do anything about it (like take Claritin or that even that evil Zyrtec). And my ears get clogged and hurt and I sneeze like crazy and my head is stuffy and then I think "I should take some allergy medication" and I never do. Then I get a headache and go to bed after popping a couple of Excedrin. So, along with the multi-vitamin that I have been taking I have been taking Claritin (well, actually the Co$tco generic of it since it is sooooo much cheaper).

Also, I have started taking fish oil. This is a huge step for me because I tend to think that "supplements" are a bunch of hooey but I have read for years about how fish oil helps the brain and and heart and perhaps prevent cancer. Not sure I believe the cancer bit but I decided I should take it for the brain and heart benefits. I have tried to get Dex to take some too but the capsules are 1/2" long and he baulked at the thought of trying to swallow it. Now I am on the hunt for smaller capsules for him. At least I say I am on the hunt but always manage to forget while I am out. Hmmm....perhaps I need to up my intake?

I have a few other things floating around my head about what I will do to take better care of myself but I realize that with me, it is best to do small changes at a time because otherwise I get overwhelmed, imagine that I will fail and so I stop doing the all of the good things for me. So for now, these small changes are enough to make me feel like I can be successful at taking care of me. :)

MailOrder Pharmacy Bites

When I took the kids to the allergist a couple of weeks ago, the doctor faxed in the prescriptions for the epi pens to our mail-order prescription company. I hate that company (Med_co). They delayed Cars' epi pen because he moved from an epi pen jr to epi pen and they would not fill it until they confirmed his weight (he is nearly 60 pounds, the weight to switch). Anyway, I received this ominous voicemail from them that they were going to cancel the order until they could talk to the doctor. I called the allergist in a tizzy and they told me that the doctor has spoken to them three times and "has finally gotten the pharmacist to understand". The allergist's office hates them too.

Then I sent in the prescription for Dex's flovent and I received a call that they have delayed filling the prescription because it was not written for "the maximum supply allowed by your insurance company". So basically, because the doctor did not write it for a year's worth (so like 12 flovent disks), they won't fill it. The thing is, Dex does not need it every day and only when he has a cough that does not clear up. In the meantime, Med_co is calling the allergist to extend the prescription and will send us a year's worth at once and we will end up throwing it out when it expires.

This has happened often in the past with Albuterol for Jax when he was wheezy after a cold and only had to use an inhaler for a month. In the past when Zyrtec was Rx, they would send us literally LITRES of the stuff but my kids only needed to be on it during grass season.

And I am just waiting for my Rx for migraine meds to be denied because the prescription was written in February but I did not send it in until last week. They'll probably tell me that I don't need it.

I am not quite sure how Big Software Company thinks they are saving money by using this company to fill the prescriptions. Especially since Med_co appears to be making money hand over fist. Another thing, they stopped mailing the epi pens via FedEx in a cooler. Both Jax and Cars' arrived via regular mail. I guess that is helping them make more $$ too...

I cannot recall if I have written before about Dex and the lack of control he has over his emotions. I guess I should clarify because clearly he can control his emotions when he is very happy or very angry. But when he is sad or upset he is an emotional wreck! And he gets upset over some things that just.do.not.matter. Or, I guess they do matter to him but they should not.

A few months ago, at bed time, he started sobbing because the year before, I had a garage sale and sold the Hot Wheels T-Wrecks and he missed it. Never mind that for well over a year before I sold it - no, MORE than a year - it sat in a box in his closet. Visible but not set up. He told me he did not want it anymore and I had his permission to sell it at the garage sale. I gave him the $$ I got for it. But a year later, it became an issue.

When he does something wrong and he gets scolded, he gets weepy. When he thinks about having too much homework, he gets weepy. When he forgets to do something, then remembers or is reminded, he gets weepy. You get the idea.

Lately, it has been especially weepy at baseball. If he strikes out, he gets weepy. If he misses a play, he gets weepy. If he gets thrown out at first (even if his hit is an RBI!), he gets weepy. It is ridiculous!

I know I sound like a mean mom and I am very empathic to him because I know it is hard for him to keep his emotions in check but my empathy only goes so far. I am at my wit's end! I had gotten to a point that if I say anything to him that he takes as the least bit critical, he weeps. So we cannot talk about his baseball games afterwards because me might remember that he struck out one of his times at bat. Or that he overthrew the ball. Never mind the great hits or great plays that he made.

On top of this, his tics are back with a vengence and he has multiple tics (head shaking, throat clearing and a cough - although the cough may also be a result of allergies, according to the allergist, and we are working on clearing that up right now).

So, we've decided that we need to do something about his lack of control over his emotions. I am going to call his pediatrician to talk about it and see if she thinks can help. I think I see counselling in Dex's future. He just needs to learn to control his emotions when he is upset. I know that part of this is anxiety and it kills me that he too is having anxiety issues like Jax had. But, with Jax, his not eating was really a huge issue that had to be dealt with right away. With Dex, I kept thinking he would outgrow it but he hasn't. He gets embarrassed a bit too but not enough to rein it in and keep his emotions in check. I hope things change soon.

Today I took Cars to the eye doctor for a check-up. He went two years ago when he was complaining about not being able to read an EXIT sign at the end of the hall. Anyway, he was totally cracking me (and the eye doctor) up! He was a Chatty Cathy and spent a lot of time making faces in the mirror in the office. He was making jokes but kept fretting about when he would get the eye drops. Anyway, his appointment went fine but she said there is a chance that he would need glasses in the future (she said that about Jax too) and she wants to monitor the cup in his optical disk (same with Dex and my eye doctor does the same for me).

Dex's baseball game was cancelled due to rain (the field was too wet to play on) so we now have two games that need to be made up. I haven't told the coach yet that Dex will miss a few games when we go on vacation.

I cannot believe that it is the 21st of April already. Time is speeding up and I am losing track of it! We have so many things going on in the next few weeks. It will be summer before I know it!

We had a nice quick visit with my mom. She headed back this afternoon. Marilyn is still stranded in Europe. She has a flight scheduled for the weekend but planes are not yet flying so who knows what will happen. This is crazy!

Here are a few photos from this past week:

Jax's 12th Birthday

Brotherly Love

Granny and her boys

Me and My Mom (she is not that much shorter than me, our driveway is slanted). Oh and yes, my hair is darker because I added low lights again last month.

Jax turned 12 years old two days ago. I cannot believe that it has been 12 years yet at the same time I can barely remember life without him. He is 5'1" and weighs 98 pounds. I know this because on his birthday I had made an appointment for he and his brothers to see the allergist because she was booked the rest of the month! Anyway, it was just an allergy check-in and update prescription appointment. Next year we'll consider giving him a skin test for peanuts to see how things look. Anyway, even the allergist got a little verklempt when she realized that she had been seeing him for over 10 years. Jax was a little uncomfortable seeing both his mom and his allergist with tears glistening in their eyes.

My mom is arriving this afternoon for what was to be a 5 day visit but it has been shortened to two. She was in Vancouver helping my brother watch his daughter while my SIL was away in Europe for work and was due to come home today. However, the volcano eruption in Iceland has halted flights in Europe so she cannot get home until possibly Sunday. So my mom is coming today until Sunday then will go back to Vancouver to help my brother out (he leaves for work before the nanny gets there). Hopefully my SIL will not have to stay in Europe too much longer. She is fortunate that it seems a friend of hers has an apartment where she can stay and if it is for an extended time, she can take the train to Switzerland and stay with her sister.

In the meantime, the kids will enjoy their quick visit with their Granny.

I have been such a lame blogger lately. I haven't updated my PEZSHESEZ blog in 2 or 3 weeks. I feel so meh about it too. Hopefully I will snap out of it soon. I will blame the unseasonably cold weather we've had. Brrr!!!

Art Gallery Night is tomorrow and I am excited about the work that both Dex and Cars' classes made. I will post some photos of the work. Another parent did the art in Jax's class so I don't know what it will be but I will post photos of that work too.

Happy Birthday to me. I turned 45 years old today. Last night, Spy and Ash took me to dinner at Purple Cafe and Wine Bar in Bellevue and the waitress carded me! Hee! Stephen said to me that it was nice that the restaurant hired handicapped people. And Jax told me that the waitress must not have been very smart. Nice. ;)

The kids are on spring break so we just hung out today, played a board game (Rumoli), we started working on a puzzle and we played Rock Band: The Beatles. Stephen baked me a cake and I received some very nice gifts from my family (including a pair of blue topaz earrings).

I cannot believe I am 45. It sounds so old and so close to 50! I feel 25 most days. Aging is so strange.

I met with Music Teacher yesterday morning. He showed me Jax's opera mask which was not nearly as bad as he made it seem. I told Music Teacher that Jax had asked him if he could colour it that way and Music Teacher replied "Be creative!" but then he told me that is not what he meant by "Be creative". He meant to draw little curlie-cues or triangles or circles within the mask. So why didn't he just say that?

And the schizophrenic comment? He explained that he really should have known better because he has a family member who is schizophrenic. I agreed again that the comment was really over the top.

Music Teacher said he will apologize to Jax in front of the whole class and initially, that is what I thought that I wanted. However, I started thinking that really I don't trust this guy and who knows exactly what he would say or how he would say it. I am sure he would qualify the apology so I told him that we'd prefer that he apologize privately to Jax.

I am just so thankful that next week is spring break then there are just 10 1/2 weeks of school (and one of those weeks we will be on vacation - more on that another time). After that time, Jax will not have to have anything else to do with this teacher. And this whole schizophrenic thing would not have been an issue if the peanut butter issue had not happened two years ago. At least, Music Teacher would not have made a huge deal about it.

Tomorrow is Friday and Jax comes home from camp. It has been a quiet week without him.

I met with the principal yesterday about the music teacher. She already knew what had happened because he had gone to see her and said "You will never believe what I just said...". She told him to call me immediately to tell me but he had seen me in the school so he found me and you know the rest.

Anyway, I told the principal that I just wanted him to stop saying stupid shit to Jax. Ok, I said inappropriate comments. And I want him to apologize to Jax in front of the whole class. She suggested that I speak to him so I am meeting with him on Thursday morning.

Jax is away this week at outdoor education camp so it is nice to give us this time to work things out because if he had to go to music before we had this all worked out I would be super mad.

And of course all of this emotion had made the rosacea on my face flare up. Ugh!

I taught Art today in Dex's class. The class is working on "Assemblage Art". I got the idea from DickBlick Art Materials. Today the kids assembled and glued their projects. Next week they will paint it with gesso.

While I was in Dex's class, Music Teacher came in and started looking at the kids' art work and he chatted for a minute with Dex's teacher then he came over to me and said that he needed to speak to me when I had a minute. I really did not want to talk to him after school so I said if it would just take a minute we could go into the pod outside of the classroom.

Now, before I go on, let me remind you that Music Teacher is the one who bullied Jax when Jax was in 4th grade. And the letter Jax wrote to him as well as my .

In the pod, Music Teacher starts by telling me about some masks they are making in music class (Opera masks) and how Jax made his 1/2 evil and 1/2 good and Music Teacher did not think that was the right way to make it and he told Jax that it made him look schizophrenic. Then Music Teacher said that Jax got really quiet and he thought he might be tearing up and he realized that calling Jax schizophrenic was probably not the best choice of words. He said he apologized and was going to look up Opera Masks to see if sometimes they are indeed painted that way... All of this was just gushing out of him. Then he said that because of their history, he thinks that Jax is a little sensitive about the things he says and he just wanted to be sure that we know he really did not think that Jax was schizophrenic and if he finds out about the masks he will be sure to tell the whole class blah blah blah.

I just kept looking at him wondering how he knew I was in Dex's class and once he said the thing about the history, I realized that he was just trying to cover his ass. I thanked him for telling me and said I would talk to Jax.

After school, when I asked Jax about it, he said that he was upset that he might have to redo all of the hard work he had done on his mask. I think the schizophrenic comment went right over his head but the fact that Music Teacher made a big deal about it in front of the class did not.

And I am still wondering how Music Teacher knew I was in Dex's class. He had not tried calling me at home or on my cell phone. I had signed into the school in the office before going to Dex's class but I don't imagine Music Teacher would have just looked through the log in the event that I might be there. I did see the principal when I was in the office so maybe he did go to her and she told him I was in the school somewhere. Curious...

And here's the 4th Grader's Art Work so far...remember, it will all be white-washed with gesso...



I'll post more after they are white-washed!

Tonight, we ordered two pizzas online from Dominos.com to pick up on the way home from church. I ordered online for them to be picked up at 6:15pm. When I arrived, they told me the pizzas were not ready and that "the system" said they were to be ready at 7:15". I showed them my confirmation that I ordered them for 6:15 and the girl behind the counter said "Well, that's not OUR fault that the online system gave us the wrong time". Blink. Blink. Blink. So I said "It is not MY fault either". Blink. Blink. Blink. She then told me it would take 20 minutes to make the pizzas for me. I said "Great, please deliver them to my house in 20 minutes!". She told me she could not do that unless I paid for delivery "because of insurance purposes". I looked at her and said "Are you the manager?" and she said with a heavy sigh (and an eye roll) "No".

The manager came over and apologized and said he'd make the pizzas right away (the girl told me she would put the in the queue which is why they would take 20 minutes instead of the approximate 8 minutes that it actually takes to make and bake them). He also refunded my money (reversed the charges to my credit card). Meanwhile, the girl is blinking away and rolling her eyes at me. I didn't dare leave the store less she spit on my pizza.

Next week we are going back to Papa John's.

I am now an American Citizen. Time to register to vote!

I went back to the eye doctor today and she tweaked my prescription and will remake my glasses (I am assuming on her dime). It is just the right eye. She lowered the astygmatism number back to what my current one is. She had me try on these horrible glasses with my prescription (and the changes) and walk around her office. I was so embarrassed. One lady laughed and said to the doctor "I am glad you like ME!" Anyway, I should finally get the non-barf-and non-headache inducing glasses within a week.

I also had a dentist appointment today. Once again they told me that I need replace my silver fillings with porcelain onlay$. $eriou$ly?! *After* insurance (which pays 50%), it would be $487.50 out of my pocket. I think I can live with my silver fillings. And I have 4 that they want to replace. I am sorry but I just do not have $2000 laying around to make my molars look prettier. Besides, I am saving up to buy me some Shania teeth.

TGIF! I am glad I made it through the week. Only two stress-induced migraines and one near anxiety attack. Life is good, no?

Last night we had to rush to drive to Redmond right after Cars' baseball practice to GET OUR NEW CAR! Yes, after 9 months of looking and nearly 4 months after we ordered it, we got our new car. It is BIG. And the colour is so pretty. It was well worth the wait!

Well, I did it. I went to my U.S. Citizenship interview and I passed.. I get to be an American! I will be sworn in next week. They would have done it today at 2pm but Stephen had a meeting at work (and it was about 8:45am when they told us) so we picked a day for next week.

The questions in the guide that they give you to study from are pretty simple but some are a bit tricky. I was given probably the six easiest questions of the 100 questions. I was asked the following questions:

What is the supreme law of the land?
What is an amendment?
What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
Who did the United States fight in World War II?
What is the capitol of our state?
Who signs bills into laws?

And the English portion of the test was super easy, of course. I had to write a sentence that the immigration officer spoke:

"The White House is in Washington D.C."

I imagine they make it very easy for non-native English speakers.

The immigration officer reviewed my application form to make sure that nothing had changed from the time I applied (November). My anxiety over the documentation for speeding tickets that I received 17 and 20 years ago was ridiculous because in the end, it was a non-issue.

Twice during my interview, Stephen's immigration officer interrupted to ask about when the best date for our swearing in would be. The first time I thought "well, this is premature" since I had not received the "pass" yet.

So next week I become an American. Then I need to figure out how to register to vote. Can't wait!

I took my new glasses back to the eye doctor today because I cannot wear them. I get sick (have almost thrown up) and they are migraine-inducing. I forced myself to wear them for longer than 5 minutes today (I wore them for 15) and now I have a wicked migraine.

The doctor's office checked them out and said they were made to spec to now I have to go for an eye re-check to see if my prescription is right. My astigmatism changed and I believe that is the part of the new glasses that is making me sick. So I am going back next week.

And while I was in there, another woman was complaining of the same thing. I wonder if it is the doctor? Hmmm...

If I make it through this week with less than one stress-induced migraine it will be a miracle!

We were supposed to get our car tomorrow but Stephen decided he wanted to wait another day or two because Toyota does not have any current deals listed on our model and the ones that are listed expire today so he thinks there will be new ones listed tomorrow (and it would be nice if our model were listed). Anyway, so we are holding off getting submitting the paperwork for the loan until tomorrow and then it takes about a day.

We also have our interviews/citizenship test on Thursday which is stressing me out.

Oh and I am about to fall off the roof so my hormones are raging.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...

I haven't posted about this yet because I haven't want to jinx things but I am getting pretty excited so here goes...

I am going for my US Citizenship interview very soon! Wow, it has been a long time coming. We've lived in the States since '93 but under various visas and a green card. And five years ago today my green card was issued so I am officially eligible to be interviewed for American Citizenship.

I get so nervous when I think about the interview and I don't know why. I guess because this is something that I really want and I am worried that I might get denied. For no other reason other than that it is something that I can worry about, if you know what I mean.

I have been studying for the Civics test that I need to take (I am certain I will pass the English part!). There are a couple of questions where I seem to have a complete mental block. There is a pool of 100 questions and the Immigration Officer will ask me 10 of them and I have to pass 6. And while some of the questions are tripping me up, others seem "duh" to me - like how do people NOT know that (What is the name of the current President of the United States? and How many stars are on the flag?). I am sure I will not get any of the easy ones!

Watching the Olympics this past week and half has made me realize too that this will be the last time I watch as a Canadian. That is a little emotional for me. I mean I will have dual citizenship but once I am an American, I will cheer for my "home" country which is the U.S. of A. Canada, of course, will always be in my heart though.

And if I become, or maybe I need to be more positive and say, when I become an American Citizen, I am looking forward to being able to vote in an election. As the daughter of a politician, it has just KILLED me that I have not voted in an election since I left Canada. Unlike the USA, a Canadian citizen cannot vote in a federal election if they are abroad (unless they maintain a primary residence in Canada or something like that). I like that American Citizens can vote no matter where they live. That, to me, is a great right.

America has been very good to us and I hope, should I pass the interview, to be a proud American. I love my American children, my American friends and my American home.

Our new vehicle was to be available today, however, we have asked to wait until after March 1st to see if Toyota has any new incentives. After watching and listening to the Congressional hearings about Toyota, I am not so thrilled with getting a new one. I still love the vehicle and am happy that it is in the colour that we want and with the options that we want but I have several concerns.

First, while I assume that the car will be safe, given that they accelerator pedal part will be fixed before we get it, I still wonder if the sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) is not caused by some electronic problem. It seems that it has not been totally ruled out. And really, the number of problems of SUA, based on the actual number of cars with those parts, is small (but a potentially deadly problem). Also, the top Toyota brass said that most recalled cars will have a brake override system installed in it by the end of 2010 and they are retro-fitting some current cars. Ours will not have the override when it is delivered but it was the second or third model listed (Tacoma was first) in those to be retro-fitted. So how soon we will get it?

Second, we do keep our cars for a long time (my minivan = 8.5 years, Stephen's lemon = 10 years, my Toyota Corolla = 8 years) but I wonder what the resale value will be on the new one when the time comes. Or what if we move to say, Canada, where gas is about twice the price that it is here (do I really want to take a SUV with me there?) will I be able to unload the SUV at a fair price?

And finally, it is this...who in their right mind would buy a Toyota right now?!? I keep thinking that we might be better off with a GM or even (I cannot believe I am saying this) a Ford. I am not the least bit excited about the idea of this new car. Getting the car has been a hassle from the beginning. One road block after another. We did not give up on it because, quite frankly, we both really like the car (ok, I say car but know I mean SUV). We were excited to find a broker who helped us get it in the colour that we wanted after the dealers all said they could not get us a blue one. And we were happy too that she was able to get it in the configuration that we wanted (no middle row captain chairs, please). The car has tons of cool features, it feels good to drive, it is comfortable and it will suit our family well. But...it is a Toyota.

To me, Toyota means (or meant) quality. I had my Corolla for 8 years and besides regular oil changes, a set of new tires and a new exhaust system (we did live in Toronto and Minneapolis so lots of snow and salt = RUST on the exhaust), I only ever had one problem with the car (oil pressure gauge). That is fantastic, IMO. My first car, a 1984 Hyundai Pony that I purchased in 1988 was a rust bucket piece of crap that literally fell apart. I got $150 for it when I traded it in for my brand new sparkly marine blue mica 1990 Toyota Corolla SR5 coupe. Anyway, after that horrible experience where I $pent so much money on repair$, I swore I would never, ever, ever buy a Hyundai because to me it equals JUNK. I guess in the years since, Hyundai's quality has vastly improved (much like Honda did after their initial introduction to the North American market - they have one of the highest re-sale values these days) but my first experience has clouded my image of them). Are people going to start thinking that about Toyotas?!

Anyway, we get the car in about a week. I guess I have a week to get keyed up about it. Toy-o-ta!