Juicy!

I was away on a business trip and had just returned last night.  It was the first time that I had left my husband alone with the baby for a few days.  He wasn’t exactly alone because my mom baby sat until my husband was off work (around 7 or 8 pm).  But I was still a worry wart. 

I was constantly worrying about the baby.  Did he feed the baby?  Did the baby get his daily servings of fruits/veggies or did my husband take the easy route and give him formula in a bottle? Did he give him the daily vitamin supplements?  Did he rub the rash cream on the baby’s rash?  And what about the clothes - did he change them every night?  Did he this, did he that…blah blah blah…how could I even concentrate on my training that my company paid so much for?  And should I be feeling this way?  It’s not that I don’t trust my husband.  It’s just that…well…it’s just that…I just want to make sure the baby is well taken care of, that’s all.

I couldn’t even sleep the first night because I missed the baby.  I didn’t miss my husband so much.  I missed the baby.  It’s no wonder they say that husbands get a tad jealous when there’s a baby in the house.

After being away for what seemed like an eternity (ok, 3 days only), I was really afraid that the baby wouldn’t remember my face anymore!  Before I had left, he would always want me to hold him.  Even when his father holds his arms out to carry him, the baby wouldn’t want to go to him.  He’d turn back and put his arms around me, not wanting to go to daddy. 

It would break my heart if turned his back on me not wanting me to hold him after 3 days of being away.

But when I returned last night, his eyes lit up and he laughed as he clapped his hands when he saw my face.

I was so delighted.

Hooray!  It’s time for another giveaway at Gagazine.com!  This time, they’re giving away a $50 Gift Card to Amazon.com.  And I want to win…

So here it goes.  We weren’t really creative with how we named our son.  My Both of us just wrote down five names that we both liked.  Then we both looked over our list and agreed on a name.  Actually, we couldn’t come to an agreement on a name until we had to complete the birth certificate form at the hospital.

Do you have a restaurant that you go to just because you are in love with the waiter or waitress? I’m sure everyone has a restaurant in mind. Then, what about the waiter that sucks ass? I know I’ve experienced a few bad waits. Today’s experience, however, pissed me off.

I love…no, loved CPK, California Pizza Kitchen. Love their pizzas. Love their salads. Loved their waiters/waitresses. Except today, this chick - she must be and POOR - made me not to ever want to order a Tomato and Basil pizza ever again.

After we finished our lunch, we asked for the check. Our bill came out to be $28.75. My colleague gave her a $50 bill. Our change: $16.25. I don’t know about you, but if you do the math, $28.75 plus $15.25 DOES NOT add up to $50.

At first, we gave her the benefit of the doubt and said she miscalculated. There is no way she would have / could have cheated us. But two things that she did erased our “benefit of the doubt.”

When we called her over to kindly tell her that we received an incorrect amount for our change, she (1) apologized immediately and said she felt embarrassed. Then she (2) reached into her apron pocket, pulled out her stack of bills - which was obviously her stack of tips for the day - and handed my colleague a $5 bill.

Now, if it really was an honest mistake, why didn’t she stop to think about what she did and verify with herself that it was in fact an error on her? Also, the more perplexing question, shouldn’t she be getting that $5 from the cash register instead of her tip apron??

I think she was trying to steal from CPK. I think she meant to shortchange us. I think she thinks we wouldn’t count our change. I think she’s a bitch for doing that.

And if you are her reading this, Hey, it’s ok. I forgive you.

The word Free Giveaway is popping up on the internet faster than zits pop up on a teenager’s face. It’s a great tool for business owners as it drives traffic to their site. It’s also wonderful for the readers as they get a chance to win something. Sites small and big are hosting giveaways.

For example, I ran into this site that is giving away a free quilt: Free Quilt As some of you may know, quilts can get expensive. Or this other site is giving away a gift card to Ann Taylor Maternity. ZRecs.com offers giveaways often.

Even Gagazine is starting to run their own Lullaby CD Giveaway. Most of these giveaways require only a comment on to their blog post to enter.

What a great concept! I’m going Giveaway crazy.

Kids love ‘em! Teachers adore ‘em! Parents can’t live without ‘em! Even the dentist offers a lollipop at the end of a teeth cleaning session!

Ahhh, the wonders of junk food. How it keeps a young kid smiling. It works like magic. And it’s healthy, right? It’s what teachers and parents think.

Teachers use them as rewards in the classroom. Get an answer right, they get a bubble gum. Kids learn how to count with M&M’s or get familiar with the colors of the rainbow by grabbing a handful of Skittles.

Parents use them to show their love. The entire class gets cupcakes on the poor kid’s birthday. At least they are learning how to share, right? Oh, and let’s not forget the bunny marshmallows on Easter, the green colored shamrock-shaped cookies for St. Patrick’s Day, the foil wrapped eyeball looking chocolates and and assorted flavored dum dums for Halloween, and all those holiday munchies during Thanksgiving and Christmas! I don’t think the parents know that it is too late to avoid a cavity when they make “bring little Jake to the dentist” their 10th resolution for New Year’s.

As a matter of fact, I don’t think they know that junk food is linked to asthma. Nor are they aware it increases the risk of getting diabetes and heart disease later in life. I wonder if they know that one out of every three kids are at risk of being overweight? It’s no wonder schools are banning vending machines and soda pops. Did I forget to mention that, according to Forbes, the U.S. of America is the 9th fattest nation in the world?

But, heck! Who wants brussel sprouts over twinkies anyway? For the parent who thinks your kid deserves an apple as a snack, you are not alone. And if you’re reading this and still think junk food is healthy for your kids, here’s your doctor’s prescription: Coca-Cola. Perhaps you should follow the schools and ban junk food in your home. After all, kids learn by example.

Last night, a group of us (9 adults total) went to the Boiling Crab for dinner.  Everyone ordered a beer except for me.  After a few “sissy” remarks, I decided to succumb to the peer pressure and ordered myself a Bud Light.  I normally don’t drink beer.  But last night, I did.

After drinking half the bottle, I looked around the room.  My eyes followed this 1 or 2 year old little girl walking around.  It was cute because, like all children her age, it looked like she was walking as if she had two left feet, a little goofy footed.

Being a parent myself, I smiled and grabbed my half full beer bottle.  Suddenly, while everyone at the table was laughing a joke one of the guys told, I started to think about my childhood days.  My junior high days in particular.  

There were a lot of wannabe gangs back then.  I remember specifically this group of girls that thoug ht highly of themselves and wore lots of makeup and had nice clothes.  Where they got their clothes from, beats the heck out of me (I did find out how they got their clothes two years later, however).  I lost a few friends to them. 

I recall one of the girls who was my good friend in the 7th grade who decided to be a member of this girly “gang.”  She kept telling me to join so we can both be pretty and popular.  After many attempts to get me to join, she decided that I wasn’t cool enough to be her friend.

Fitting in wasn’t my concern.  My self esteem was high enough to make new friends.  Besides, seeing the change in her and watching her get into fist fights was enough to turn my back on her friendship.  I certainly did not want to go home with a broken nose.  And I definitely did not want a bamboo whipping from my mom (I’ll explain the bamboo whipping some other time). 

So be it.  I became friends with the “nerdier” kind.  But I think my life turned out OK.  Last I heard, that girl was pregnant at age 16 and the father of that baby was in juvi.   I’m not saying that all “junior high gangsters” turned out that way.  I just wonder how my life would have turned out if I had followed that path. 

There was a lot of peer pressure back then.  It seems as if Junior High is the most fragile stage in a teen’s life.  The peer pressure may not be a big deal at first.  As a matter of fact, you may think it is harmless - like that bottle of beer I ordered last night.  But sometimes, all it takes is a little bit of pressure to make big changes in your child.  That small decision that my friend in Junior High changed her life indefinitely.  And really hope that the cute goofy footed little girl at the Boiling Crab isn’t going to be like my Junior High friend.

This past Saturday, I threw a birthday party for my cousin’s only daughter.   I was debating whether we should celebrate her 10th year in this crazy world at Chucky Cheese’s or at Color Me Mine.  Either she can be at a place “where a kid can be a kid” or at a place where her artistic side can be challenged.

We decided on Chucky Cheese’s.  My husband thought he could be a kid. 

It’s been so many years since I’ve been there.  It’s changed.  They now have a lady at the entrance checking you in.  Every child gets a sticker.  The point of doing that, I have no clue. 

I forgot how expensive arcades can get.  For a large pizza, four sodas, and 160 tokens, it costed $40.  I suppose that’s not too bad if every token is worth a quarter each.  For a party of 10, 160 tokens was clearly not enough.  So we ordered 2 more pizza packages, plus another 80 tokens for $95.  560 tokens.  That’s an aweful lot of tokens.  But it lasted us all day.  I think of all the kids that were there, my husband had the most fun.

I wish I would have known this, but did you know that Chucky Cheese’s has a special Tokens for Grades program?  If every one of the kids that attended this party brought their report cards, they could have gotten free tokens for every good grade they earned!  Sure would have saved me the trouble of purchasing extra tokens for everyone!  But heck, there’s always next time.

So next time you decide to bring your kids to Chucky Cheese’s, ask them about their Tokens for Grades promotion.

This is a story told my colleague today.  It is reprinted here with her permission.

“So do you want to try anal sex?” asked my hubby.

“Hell no.  That’s gross, you sick bastard.”

Disguisting and perverted.  He has never asked before, but for some odd reason, he wanted to try anal sex this past weekend. 

One hour later, he asks again.  “How about now?”

“No.”

I was starting to get annoyed.  “Let’s have anal sex.”  “No.” 

I swear, I said “No” a dozen times that weekend.  He was starting to piss me off halfway through the day.  I don’t know if he asked me a dozen times because he really wanted to try it, or if he was starting to find it entertaining that I was getting more and more upset everytime he asked.  Perhaps it could be both.  But I wouldn’t know becuase I didn’t talk to him the entire weekend.

“C’mon.  Let’s have anal sex now.”

“NO!”  I was furious now.  Call me crazy, but I called my mom and told her what happened.  I know, I know.  Who in the world is crazy enough to tell her mom that her husband wants to have anal sex, right? 

I’m glad I did though because after I took her advice, my poor perverted husband stopped asking me.

“The next time he asks you Honey, just tell him that you think he might be questioning his homosexuality because anal sex is usually associated with homosexuals.”

Now mind you - my mother is 80 years old.  Can you believe that came out of an 80 year woman’s mouth?  This woman sure has got some experience in her life!

Oh!  And my  husband didn’t get any this weekend.  Go figure.

Thanks for the nice lunch break E!  Definately got my mind off the stress at work!

My husband and I decided to hold a get together this past Saturday night.  Everyone seemed to have had good time.  Lots of people, lots of laughter, lots of wine, lots of food, and lots of chips.  No, not tortilla chips.  I’m talking about poker chips. 

It was our first poker night since I gave birth to our little man - Juicy Fruit.  We held a few of them in our pre-baby days.  So it seems like a long time since we had a party of any kind.  But I think it went rather well.  Everyone really did seem to have had a lot of fun.   Well, everyone except Juicy Fruit. 

Every time the group jumps up and screams because the river card gave someone a nice flush, Juicy Fruit would jump himself.  But he didn’t laugh like everyone else.  Rather, he cried.  The unfamiliar faces and the sudden burst of noise scares him.  I would have to carry him into his nursery to calm him down.

By 9 pm, he was tired.  I tried to put him to sleep in his crib, but he simply would not fall asleep.  Usually, he’s ok if left alone in his crib if he has his pacifier in his mouth.  But Saturday night, he wouldn’t even let me leave the room.  He was scared.  Can he really be a scaredy cat at 7 months?

I had to hold him in my arms and rock him to bed that night.  He would suddenly wake up at the sound of everyone’s screams in the living room, but would fall right back asleep as soon as he knew I was still holding him. 

It wasn’t until around midnight did he finally fall into a deep sleep.  By then, it was too late for me to enjoy the party.  The guests were starting to leave.  I guess that’s why Juicy Fruit was finally able to sleep.  The noise level came down dramatically.  No more sudden screams. 

Perhaps having a poker night wasn’t that great of an idea after all.  Not with Juicy Fruit around anyway.  Maybe I can try Mafia night next time instead.  At least that will be constant screaming instead of the sudden “Oh’s” and “Ah’s” from poker.

It seems as if many parents automatically think that their baby has a fever when his temperature runs at 99 Degrees. Although it is a good indicator that your baby is warm, it does not necessarily mean he has a fever. Furthermore, 98.6 Degrees is not necessarily the “normal” temperature either.

There are many things that can affect the body temperature. For instance, if your baby just had some water, his temperature may be a bit cooler. Or if he is wearing too much clothing, his temperature may be a few degrees higher as well.

The level of activity can also affect the body temperature. If your baby has been active, his body temperature will most likely be a bit higher than “normal.”

Another factor could be the type of thermometer you are using to measure your baby’s temperature.  There are three types of thermometers: rectal, oral/tympanic (ear), or under the arm.  Different parts of the body can exhibit different temperatures.  If you use a rectal thermometer, expect to see a higher temperature than if you were to use an under the arm kind.

So if there are many things that can affect the body temperature, then exactly what is considered a “normal” temperature?  And how can you tell if your baby has a fever?

Before you take the baby’s temperature, make sure your baby has not had anything to drink, eat, bathed, and limit his physical activity 15 minutes prior to taking his temperature.  Your child has a fever if his temperature exceeds:

• 100.4 Degrees if  using a rectal thermometer,
• 99.8 Degrees if using an oral or tympanic thermometer, or
• 99.0 Degrees if using an under the arm thermometer.

If your child’s temperature exceeds the above temperatures, take note of the time and day you measured the temperature and contact your pediatrician.