Smile.

To just imagine what they are talking about in their own, secret language....

Thanks to a not-so-great deal

We did it. We ventured out and tried our first "kids night" for dinner. AND ... we survived. I'm impressed with us and suggest observing a moment of silence in honor of our achievement. Or, maybe just because this Mama needs a minute of silence.

Dennis purchased a "great deal" online for dinner at McCray's Tavern several weeks ago. It was marketed as "save $25 when you spend $50" so he scooped up the deal very quickly. Then we read the fine print. Alcohol not included. Two adult meals must be purchased for the certificate to be redeemed. It can't be used on Saturday nights. And you must be smoking crack if you think you can use the certificate on take-out.

We went to McCrays tonight, anyway. I mean, afterall, their Tuesday night Kids Night means movies on a big screen, Nickelodeon shows on alternate TV's, and a buffet filled with all types of goodies (pizza, chicken fingers, ice cream, veggies, french fries, hamburgers, etc.) for $1.50 for kids. Again, we were lured by the deal.

This time we weren't disappointed though. As we walked in to the designated 'kids area' in the back of the restaurant, all three of our jaws dropped to the floor. I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing that Dennis immediately recognized that Tangled was playing and then followed up with, "and it just came out today". Either way, we were all incredibly impressed with the set up.

I looked at Dennis as we pulled out the highchair for Connor and smiled. "This is the most awesome place. EVER." He agreed and smiled back at me. "We should come here every Tuesday."

Man-oh-man are things different than they were just a few years ago. Different, but better.

He's baaaccckkk...

Connor is back and in rare form. Healthy, smiling, and energetic.

Man I love this kid.

Prescriptions gone wild

It feels like the last few months have been spent quarantined in our house, the Kroger pharmacy, the pediatricians office, or the after-hours children's clinic. I am so excited for our little man to get better. For good.

Since October, he has battled with what seems like non-stop ear infections, bronchitis, colds, and all types of other fun germs. His physician said that he has "childhood asthma", which makes sense when you look back at his sickness history. He typically gets a cold, then develops a cough and bronchitis several days later. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing Connor cough and cough and COUGH and then take such deep breaths just to breathe normally. It's frustrating, sad and scary but it's also very treatable and he'll hopefully outgrow it.

We have become best friends with the nebulizer (as has he) and when we approach him with a syringe filled with medication, he squirms to get away from the "may may". Luckily, I can still catch him.

Right now he's on albuterol, budesonide, Singulair, Augmentin, and oral prednisone. I think we'll be able to stop the prednisone tomorrow. I hope. And after several unsuccessful attempts at getting Connor to swallow the Singulair pill, we've given in to dissolving it in his milk. Hopefully that still counts as ingesting his medication because we haven't been very successful in "just putting it in his cheek so it dissolves and he swallows it", as the physician suggested.

Connor always, ALWAYS smiles and his sick or sad day means many fewer smiles. That's one of the biggest reasons we are looking forward to him regaining his normal, healthy, spunk. We've grown accustomed to those smiles and can't make it through the day without seeing one (or thirty) on his sweet little face.

No more unicorns

Every Sunday morning, a special surprise awaits us on our driveway. It's not a COMPLETE SURPRISE since we know it'll be there but it's always fun to find it out there - - waiting for us rain or shine. While the AJC contains a lot of good information, there are two key parts that I try not to miss: (1) the ads (duh) and (2) the vent. Oh, and I also like the section that tells you the story of a particular couple, what they are looking for in an ideal house, and then gives you their final three options. It's fun to guess which one they picked, even though I'm usually wrong...

Anyway, there was a particularly good vent in this mornings paper. I posted it below.

Those folks making over 200K a year pay MORE in taxes and deserve any program offered to other citizens. Why do you feel entitled to the money of a financially responsible person? Wealth Envy is a horrible attitude.

This vent caught my attention because of my ever-growing frustration about how we don't "qualify" for this credit or that credit when we go to file our taxes because we apparently made too much money. And I heard Clark Howard talking about how there is a program called the "savers credit" that basically gives people $1,000-$2,000/year if they are simply contributing to a retirement savings plan. Of course, there are income requirements and we, apparently, made 'too much money' to qualify for this handout. What's unbelievably frustrating is realizing that my tax dollars are going to pay for someone else's retirement. I put money in my retirement account each month - - shouldn't I be able to get the $1,000-$2,000/year additional, as well? Yes, yes, I should.

And that's the long (or very short) of why I'm against the horrendous goverment takeover of healthcare. It's not that I'm this mean or heartless person that doesn't want everyone to have health insurance. And the best care available. No, it's not that at all - - because I would like to live in a world where that was possible. But, unfortunately, we don't live in a world filled with unicorns, skittles, and rainbows. Those things just. don't. exist. And the goverment has not done one program well in it's entire existance. Not one. Look at the postal service, for example - - it loses BILLIONS of dollars each year. But, it keeps going... nothing changes. It keeps adding to our deficit. What about social security? And for some reason people think that the goverment will do right by us this time? Sure, we were promised 'healthcare for all' but what we'll see is dimished care, higher costs, and much longer lines as healthcare is rationed. We're screwed all the way around.

I have struggled with why some people could want more goverment control and higher taxes and how those people could think so differently than I do. The conclusion that I've come to is that it simply boils down to being realistic and looking at history. It's not pretty and the hard, sad, truth is that we don't live in Utopia. Once people on the other side of the fence start to realize that, our strategies for reaching our shared goals will be much more in line. We both want the same result we just have different ideas of how to best get there.

Ok, there's MY vent. Off my soap box because I do feel better now. At least a little.