Secular Confessions

[missychrissy]

L, that is not a good tick story. though maybe there isn't such a thing as a good tick story. I grew up in southeast WI in a city type area. Ticks were not common at all and not something we looked for. Now I'm up in northwestern WI and ticks are a HUGE deal. I have already gotten four off the dogs or us in the past two weeks (and one of those I was out of town so it doesn't count). And that is from my freaking lawn....which is cut short and I don't really have any trees yet. Only one out front and it's not huge. And pretty much everyone local I know has either had Lyme or knows someone who has. I'm going to have such a hard time letting my child play outside up here in the summer. At least the dogs I can give them lyme vax and I do frontline.


I wish I had cousins my age. My cousins are 7 and 9 yrs old. LOL Really they should be MY kids based on age. But my mom had us young, and her sister is 7 yrs younger and didn't adopt the kids until she was in her early 40's.
Good news for me though is I'm waiting for my baby and I think that my sister and her gf are going to try to have a baby in the next year or two tops. So we should have cousins for our kids who are pretty close in age. Good since I see me only having one and I think my sister might have only one.

We've talked about this before, I know, but that's how it is in NY too. Almost everyone I know is related or very close to someone with Lyme disease. When we found a tic on Conner, we went to the walk-in to have it removed. They're all tested for Lyme as part of the process of removing them...not sure if that's true all over, but I remember being horrified when I read parents were removing tics from their kids themselves on here the first time. All my life it was something that required a trip to the dr.

While I did have cousins my age, my mom had cousins that were also closer to me in age than her...or right in the middle but she was 'old' for her age and so her cousins were closer to me. Last weekend when I went to my old friend's (the one I used to babysit for and her kids are now in their early 20's) is actually my mom's cousin. Bonnie was my bff in my mid-late teen years.

[girlwonder]

We used to just burn them off the dogs with a lighter. I remember coming back after camping trips and having to do a full body tick search. Found a couple along the underwear line and just pulled those off - it wasn't hard because they were small. But this was Texas and we didn't have any idea about Lyme disease. They are nasty little things.

Bridget - I know that low feeling you are talking about, like you are experiencing everything through a tunnel of unreality/upset/sadness. I hate that he said those things to you.

Amanda - bfp vibes to you.

Ash - cute about the cousins! I'm a little sad we don't have any geographically close.

[3andMe]

Bridget, I am so sad for you. I have been having the gaslighting sensation pretty frequently lately myself, although there have been no big explosions. I spent a lot of time at my conference on Saturday writing letters and poetry and then discarding the pieces of paper, while trying to ignore the old man smell coming from near me (it's mostly geared toward old doctors), and still trying to pay attention to the latest in gastroenterology. Actually some fascinating new things.

I have no cousins within 15 years or 1500 miles of me. My children will have no cousins, either. I am a little sad for them, too, because I have heard some great stories of close cousins, but I know it really depends on the cousin. Some cousins are great, like Ash's, and it really helps to grow up close and spend time together. Some are not great and you're forced into a lifetime of contact because of the ongoing relationship. At least you can choose your friends, you know? So it's not the worst thing in the world to not have cousins close in age, or none at all.

Lyme disease is not common here at all, so it is not usual to do any screening for ticks. I have a picture of it. I will just keep an eye out for a bulls-eye rash in the upcoming week and any flu-like symptoms or fever or lethargy in the next few weeks. I didn't realize until after we disposed of the tick that it is supposed to be preserved for identification. I was glad I documented it for the blog.

[AbbeysMom]

Erin, you are right that it's probably other worries that have him lashing out. When he was stressed about the big move from HI to WI he dealt with that by sleeping with other women. So we've established that he doesn't deal well with stress and/or change but I sure am tired of being the doormat.

Bridget. I wish I knew something to say to help, but I've got nothing.

Has anyone heard from Liz? Is she OK (or as OK as can be expected)?

I can't take the bug stories anymore.

Mandy, for you.

and where's Myles?

----
We bought a new car, a Honda Pilot... it has rear air-conditioning and a third row, so we are ready for some serious kid-hauling in the Texas heat. We sold my old car on craigslist too. It was a pretty successful weekend and now Abbey goes to Preschool "camp" and the Methodist church tomorrow and I am really, really nervous. I don't want her to go, I think. I know she might love playing with other kiddos and everything else, but in addition to all the normal school-starting jitters a first-time mom has I'm scared they'll try to indoctrinate her somehow. Please no one make fun of me.

[Gwenn]

I confess I applied for the school job in NY! Just one because the others in that area stated NYS certification was required.

I confess I just went to bed and found a spider on my pillow. Now, I'm afraid to go to sleep. Maybe I'll sleep on the couch.

I confess I have my doctor's appointment tomorrow am. I really, really, really don't want to go. But maybe she'll have me POAS? Still don't want to go.

Creepy..crawly...creepy...crawly...can't get that spider out of my head. Well, brain. Hopefully not head.

[AmeriBrit]

Mandy, you didn't kill the spider?! I think I'd sleep on the couch, too, if it was wondering around the bedroom.

On the cousins topic, I had loads of them growing up. My mom is 1 of 11 kids and my dad is 1 of 6. I have about 50 first cousins. The oldest is 45 and the youngest is 4. (My youngest cousin is also my nephew...I told y'all about my SIL having an affair with one of my uncles?) I loved having cousins my age growing up. We spent the summers together. I don't speak to them much these days. Distance I suppose has played its part. And just growing up and doing our own thing. I'm glad Travis and Cash have their cousins.

It's nearly 11 here and we're purposed to be going out to enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. It's been raining all this week. It rained all during the Queen's river boat tour. Everyone has today and tomorrow off to celebrate the jubilee.

Molly, I'm glad you got a new car! Don't worry too much about A at school. She'll be more influenced by you at home than people at school at that age.

[MashedUp]

Hi guys, sorry I've been MIA. I was on vacation most of last week and don't ever get on here when I'm at home. Bridget, I'm sorry DBF is being such a douchebag. No one deserves to be treated like that, especially someone as awesome as you!
Mandy, fingers crossed for you!
Erin, sounds like Ky will have an awesome summer!
L, Sorry you are dealing with ticks. They are rampant around here, it's not uncommon to pull 5-10 off after being in the woods.

I am hurting today. Yesterday, I did a 4 mile mud run/obstacle course with my coworkers. We've gotten 6 inches of rain since friday night and it poured all day yesterday. Parts of it that were supposed to be a walk through an ankle deep swamp were up to our chests, and part of the trail along the river was completely under flood water, so we had to actually swim in the flooded river. The water was over my head in places. There was ankle deep mud over pretty much the entire course. And, it was only about 50 degrees out so it was FREEZING. It took me all afternoon to get warm again. I finished, but it wasn't pretty.

I know Liz had the memorial/funeral service for her mom yesterday I think. She's been on FB a bit.

[missychrissy]

----
We bought a new car, a Honda Pilot... it has rear air-conditioning and a third row, so we are ready for some serious kid-hauling in the Texas heat. We sold my old car on craigslist too. It was a pretty successful weekend and now Abbey goes to Preschool "camp" and the Methodist church tomorrow and I am really, really nervous. I don't want her to go, I think. I know she might love playing with other kiddos and everything else, but in addition to all the normal school-starting jitters a first-time mom has I'm scared they'll try to indoctrinate her somehow. Please no one make fun of me.

Congrats on the new car & selling your old one!

No way would we make fun of you. It's not easy for Mama.

I confess I applied for the school job in NY! Just one because the others in that area stated NYS certification was required.

How exciting!!! I'm a little biased and really, really want you in NY.

On the cousins topic, I had loads of them growing up. My mom is 1 of 11 kids and my dad is 1 of 6. I have about 50 first cousins. The oldest is 45 and the youngest is 4. (My youngest cousin is also my nephew...I told y'all about my SIL having an affair with one of my uncles?) I loved having cousins my age growing up. We spent the summers together. I don't speak to them much these days. Distance I suppose has played its part. And just growing up and doing our own thing. I'm glad Travis and Cash have their cousins.

I don't know if you did...it sounds vaguely familiar...but still. I lol'd. That's so small-town USA.

I am hurting today. Yesterday, I did a 4 mile mud run/obstacle course with my coworkers. We've gotten 6 inches of rain since friday night and it poured all day yesterday. Parts of it that were supposed to be a walk through an ankle deep swamp were up to our chests, and part of the trail along the river was completely under flood water, so we had to actually swim in the flooded river. The water was over my head in places. There was ankle deep mud over pretty much the entire course. And, it was only about 50 degrees out so it was FREEZING. It took me all afternoon to get warm again. I finished, but it wasn't pretty.

Oh my goodness. I'm in awe.

[Luna]

Yikes on the contract! Yeah--you don't want to get stuck in that!

[dana_renay]

SCUBJIA

This is totally off topic, but i'm off to bed now but have just watched an episode of Father Ted. For those of y'all who have netflix, this is definitely one to watch if it's on there. It's the best British comedy ever. I love it so much. It's about 3 Irish priests and their housekeeper and the trouble they get in to. I'm sure some of y'all would like it.

Is Father Ted anything like the Vicar of Dibley? I loved that show.

I tried to watch that one but just couldn't get into it. Maybe I will have to try again. We just started the second season of Treme - such a great show. Makes me want to go to New Orleans again. And just finished the first season of United States of Tara. It's entertaining but I'm not sold on it. There's things they overplay when I am interested in the things they underplay. I'm off Weeds entirely. Tried to watch the last season, but it has completely jumped the shark. This is what I have been doing on my break between classes! Started back today - 6 hours of hard work on the first two assignments. My mac wifi upped and stopped working yesterday afternoon, so I had to relocate to the living room where I am sitting on an ottoman and have the computer on a tv tray. Not very comfortable, but I have to be close to the internet connection plug. I may work on the next week's assignment tomorrow afternoon so that when I bring my computer in I will have a week's leeway in case something terrible is wrong with it. Please keep your fingers crossed that it is an easy fix as I really can't afford anything major right now.

Katy - I've got to agree with you on US of Tara as far as overplaying some stuff while there's far more interesting stuff going on that never comes to the surface. Still, I stayed interested enough to stick with it and am sad that it's ended. I wanted to see them put the pieces together. I also agree that Weeds has jumped the shark, although I keep watching. For some reason, I seem to have trouble letting go of shows I once loved, even when they aren't good anymore. I guess I just keep hoping they'll get back on track? Have you watched Nurse Jackie? That's another good one.

[AbbeysMom]

Preschool was a huge fail. Huge. She was excited and looking forward to it but it was super chaotic when we went in: kids crying, teachers running around trying to fix things, a ton of noise. She's really sensitive to noise and kind of froze up. She said "I'm not scared, I'm a big girl." I told her even big girls and grown ups get scared, and it was OK if she was scared. Then she said she wanted to go with me, she didn't want to stay there. We tried settling in for another 10 minutes or so but the teachers were no help making her or I feel more at ease (they told me I should just 'sneak away' and tried to physically pull her off my leg when she was hugging me). So we left.

[missychrissy]

I know how hard it is, but I will say that with all mine they really did calm down once I left. Syd loved her classmates and her teacher but she cried and carried on every morning when I left her.

[Gwenn]

I know how hard it is, but I will say that with all mine they really did calm down once I left. Syd loved her classmates and her teacher but she cried and carried on every morning when I left her.

That's a pretty typical reaction, especially at first. I don't love the idea of the teachers trying to pull her off your leg, though. That would bother me.

[AbbeysMom]

You know, I think I'm part of the problem too. This is my last month with her as my only baby and I have no problem spending more time with her.

I should add that her personality is very calm and she is really good about communicating how she feels. She didn't tantrum or cry this morning, she just talked to me quietly about how she felt. I would hate for her to feel like I wasn't listening or respecting how she felt.

[Cosmosmom]

http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/index.html

Good tick info. Lyme isn't the only disease they transmit. I know one of my volunteers dogs had Ehrlichiosis. A few years ago my sister got some mystery illness and they thought for a while it was Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (not common here but she had been traveling before getting sick). Wasn't it after testing though.

[raspberry]

Lisa, good for you! That sounds brutal and I will admit I am way too much of a baby to even attempt something like that. My niece wanted me to run a marathon with her. Ha! have you seen me run? I am terrible at it, and plus I have hip pain issues.

Molly I am sorry preschool didn't go well. Poor Abbey and poor momma. I wouldn't have liked the teacher trying to pry her off your leg, or telling you to sneak away. That would make me feel uneasy.

My nieces and nephews had the best deal, they grew up together in the same town, they are all close in age. We had a family business with 5 acres for the kids to play on. They always had the best time together. And my mom and dad were wonderful grandparents-taking them camping, fishing, my mom baking cookies with them. It does give a huge lump in my throat that my son won't experience any of that. Of course I know that everyone's personal experience is going to be different. I think that is why I really try to make G's childhood fun for him. Well it helps that I really am big kid myself!!

[dana_renay]

Oh, ticks.. Yuck. We lived in the country when I was a kid and we just roamed the woods all the time. When I was 9 or 10ish, back before we worried about Lyme or anything else, I got a tick embedded between my shoulder blades. I remember applying fingernail polish to supposedly suffocate it, but that didn't work and my mom eventually dug it out with tweezers. Nasty!

[raspberry]

between the tick stories and the dangers of sun exposure, I fear I may never leave my home

[Cosmosmom]

between the tick stories and the dangers of sun exposure, I fear I may never leave my home

Why there is a part of me that doesn't mind some of the year being winter! I dislike driving in the snow BUT no worries about bug bites and since you bundle up, not much sun exposure. LOL

[dana_renay]

I live in the midwest. We have snow and ice and winter yucky, we have ticks and 'skeeters and sunburn and summer yucky. But spring and fall are nice!

[Ky'sMom]

We have ticks but no lime disease. We've pulled a coupe off the dogs but I never think about Lyme and reading about it after you ladies mentioned it makes me happy I don't have to.

So sorry that preschool didn't go well Molly. Maybe Abbey would do better in a smaller setting. Elle is also sensitive to noise, which is why I initially put her in the daycare she is in now. It is small, only 6 kids and they do have a preschool curriculum that they teach the children. Maybe if you want her to go to a more preschool environment you could find a daycare that does a curriculum but there are only a small amount of children. FWIW, Elle now is pretty loud herself at "daycare school" (she calls it that lol!). They thought she couldn't talk when she first went as she said next to nothing for nearly 6 months. It takes her a long time to warm up to places. She told me she wants to go to a "big preschool" next year so I am going to go and take her to visit two of them later this week. I decided against the seventh day adventist one that was first in the running due to some weird stuff I found out about them after researching their religious organization, plus the YMCA preschool and the other I am considering are two of the best places in town for affordable preschool, and they are both within a 1/2 mile of my job.

Erin

[AmeriBrit]

SCUBJIA


Is Father Ted anything like the Vicar of Dibley? I loved that show.

Oh, I think if you like the Vicar of Dibley, then Father Ted is definitely your kind of show! It's similar, but FT is much more....hmm, how do I say....Irish, I suppose! LOL. (I have always thought it was funny that they say the F word as 'feck' so it never sounds so harsh when they say it!)

Molly, sorry the first day of pre-school didn't go so well; I know all about those mixed emotions. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. (Hugs).

[Bridget]

Molly, I would have done the exact same thing in your shoes. Some kids just cannot handle that chaos. Savana tells me all the time that school is too loud and she often comes home and just shuts herself in her room for hours. It kills me because I miss her so much all day but I think she needs the solitude. When I check on her she is content and just looking at books or writing in a notebook. She loves to write now and keeps a journal of sorts. It's so cute. AND she stopped licking her hands! As far as I can tell she's not exhibiting any ocd behaviors right now! This is awful to say but I'm not sure when it stopped. Suddenly one day while we were reading a story I realized she wasn't doing it and I couldn't remember the last time I had reminded her to stop. I'm so happy but still wishing I could pinpoint the trigger.

All this talk of Lyme disease and I took Sawyer out of the tub today only to discover a bullseye rash on his back. NONONONONO! I swear it looks like ringworm but it's not scaly or bumpy like ringworm. I posted a pic in nmmig if anyone wants to venture over and tell me what you think. Between the scabies and now this, I seriously feel stressed to the max. Like, I don't remember being this on edge since my mom was dying. I have spent over $500 trying to clear the house of scabies (natural remedies, carpet cleaning, plastic for furniture, cleaning supplies/solutions, laundry soap, and I even bought a new vacuum since the one I have is really old and dirty and I just couldn't bring it back in the house after the initital cleaning) not to mention that my daycare is shut down for the second week in a row so I have no income. I had one mom who said she had no one else but as bad as I felt I need to not have kids here. I doubt I can legally be open anyway. I did call me licensing rep but he never calls me back.

So tomorrow I have to take Sawyer in to have that rash looked at.

Oh. And my dad went on a date sunday night. He has not told me yet. My brother told me. I am seriously happy if he is happy and he absolutely should be doing whatever he wants but it's still weird.

[missychrissy]

Yay for your dad Bridget! I can only imagine how strange it is though.

I hope the rash is nothing on Sawyer.

for Savanna though! oh my gosh that made my day! I was just wondering the other night how she was doing. Bless her little heart.

[Suja]

I don't even have an uneducated guess for the rash, Bridget, but don't freak about it. Even if it turns out to be lyme, you've caught it early, and it responds very well to antibiotics.

[AbbeysMom]

Bridget, I'm so happy to hear about Savana! Really hoping that she has just worked through that compulsion and it's gone for good. And thanks for making me feel like a normal momma with the preschool situation... I swear the teachers at the school made me feel like I was at best overprotective and at worst stunting her development somehow. DH agreed with me that it just wasn't the right fit/time for her, so that was good.

[missychrissy]

It does sound like they were a bit more out of control than normal and the teachers didn't know how to handle it.

[Bridget]

When I worked at a center in the preschool room we had 20 kids and two adults. For the most part, we each took our group of 10 and stayed separate but transition times were nuts. Nuts. We worked so hard to make these times smooth but it was just so hard with the large numbers. If just one child out of those 20 needed one on one attention, that left the one adult with the other 19 children.

[Smplyme89]

I’m behind…. Again. So cliff notes version of what I wanted to say.

Bridget, basically I agree with everything Chrissy has said. You are an amazing woman and mother and a phenomenal wife to have stood beside him through everything. IMO he should be kissing your feet everyday, for the entirety of your lives. Oh and I hope the rash on S is nothing!!!

Mandy

Molly I am sorry pre-school was a fail. I don’t like the image of the teacher trying to pry her off your leg either I think that you did the right thing, she should be able to tell you how she is feeling, and there is plenty of time to give pre-school a try again later.

I don’t know what Lyme disease is. I mean, I have heard of it, but I don’t have any experience with it. So I guess it’s not common here

Things have been a bit…. Stressful lately. Issues with my mom and work. This is not how I imagined my summer. DH actually kept me from going off and telling her to move out. There is just a whole bunch of drama surrounding her right now and she just keeps putting herself back in the situation and I don’t handle drama well. That’s why we keep to ourselves. DH and I like our boring, mundane, simplistic life we have. I’ll explain more later, but I’ve been so busy at work (and at home) that I haven’t had time to type it up.

[Cosmosmom]

Hugs Christina. I get that....I like our life to be simple and boring and calm. Lyme is a disease transmitted by tick bites. early on it's treated well with antibiotics...signs are often a bulls eye rash and flu like symptoms. Untreated it can lead to a lot of issues. It's really common on the east coast and Wisconsin.....especially the part of WI that I live in. I don't know about other areas. There is a vax for dogs and I get that for my girls but not for people.

B that is great news about the ocd.....and hoping that the rash is something minor.

So Cosmo started the squinting again last night but at least this time we are home and can take her to her own vet. She was still doing it this morning and not wanting to open her eye and her third eyelid was trying to cover some of the eye so she's got an appt this morning and I will go in late to work. I suspect a scratch but have to know for sure. With doing the prednisone drops, if there is a cut in her eye and we do them, it opens it up worse to worse infections.