tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37077732009-10-17T15:59:10.457-07:00I have things.TCihavethings@gmail.comBlogger589125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-71305516778619797532007-06-08T10:21:00.001-07:002007-06-11T09:14:51.993-07:00

About a year ago, I sold this blog to MTV/Nickelodeon, which owns ParentsConnect. They wanted a blogger to spotlight; I wanted to be spotlighted. It seemed like a win-win.There was a lot of rush to get the deal completed. I'll never forget getting an email that urged me to sign the letter of agreement quickly and get it back, because "MTV wants to make hay out of their great new blogger." I'll

TCihavethings@gmail.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-2409065725321937372007-06-07T20:59:00.000-07:002007-06-07T21:01:16.609-07:00

Em, who won't turn 10 until late August, just came out of her room, walked over to me, lifted her shirt up to under her (still only budding, thank goodness) breasts, and said:"Is it just me, or am I getting curves?"And the worst part?She totally is.

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-91785719022088863112007-06-06T07:49:00.000-07:002007-06-06T07:53:43.752-07:00

Because Jane yelled at me and made me cry...Actually, the restless legs were one of the symptoms I was having that made me decide to go off of Lexapro. In addition to the whole not-really-working thing. In addition to the COBRA-is-running-out-and-nobody-will-insure-me-when-I'm-taking-antidepressants thing.I had a better night last night. Not stellar, but better. Not that any of you yelling people

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-25136111122444095072007-06-05T19:32:00.000-07:002007-06-05T20:06:01.754-07:00

They were 'restless' all night, though I eventually got about five hours of sleep. They've been 'restless' all day, even though I took a nice long walk this afternoon, which *should* have helped. And if there's a psychosomatic component to this all, they're going to be even MORE restless tonight, since I'm already worried about another night like last night.Clearly, this is going to require a

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-12402155083388524772007-06-05T00:30:00.000-07:002007-06-05T00:52:24.248-07:00

My legs, I mean. Anyone out there dealing with restless leg syndrome who has words of wisdom (or, preferably, a really quick, easy fix)?It's been going on for a while now, but up until recently it was mere nuisance. I didn't quite get why or how it might be a big enough deal for someone to see a doctor about it, or take medications for it. I'd even thought that, since it hadn't really started

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-7959176506866103102007-06-01T08:33:00.000-07:002007-06-01T08:44:46.325-07:00

N showed up at the front door this morning, ready to go to school, with his backpack on and a baggie full of kumquats in his hand."Ms. F loves kumquats!" he announced when I asked why he was carrying them. "I picked these for her."We have a large kumquat bush...or maybe you'd call it a small kumquat tree...oh, let's just say we have lots of kumquats in our backyard. During Teacher Appreciation

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-82652385613474064862007-05-25T16:47:00.000-07:002007-05-25T16:58:23.936-07:00

My dad seems to be doing as well as can be expected. My dog is recuperating. My job takes up all my working hours, all my waking hours, and most of my sleeping hours, too. There are so many end-of-the-year wrap-up events going on right now that it makes my head hurt to think about them, but as long as I just keep track and show up where I'm supposed to, when I'm supposed to, all will be well.So,

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-60507158139553481742007-05-22T08:38:00.001-07:002007-05-22T08:46:15.358-07:00

...It has to be a withdrawal symptom from Lexapro. Or maybe a reaction to one of the new supplements I've started taking--a B-vitamin complex for stress, a GABA complex to try to minimize any anxiety symptoms I might have. Or a brain tumor.I can't just be annoyed at the kids' behavior because they are being truly difficult...It has to be manic irritability, a sign that the bipolar disorder I

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-31764369661304596042007-05-19T16:12:00.000-07:002007-05-19T16:47:54.863-07:00

This is what it's like in my head: We are driving home from Friday night services at our synagogue, and a song comes up on a CD we're playing. It sets off a series of memories of when Em was a baby. Baroy and I begin one of those games of "Oh, and remember when she used to..."? Em is eating it up."Oh," I say, as we pull into our driveway, and a memory hits me so hard I can almost taste it. "And

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-49862952316655610102007-05-17T23:56:00.000-07:002007-05-18T00:09:10.063-07:00

I was already in the car, running late to get to my Reintroduction to Judaism class this evening, when I heard the screen door slam, and saw N come running toward me. I noticed that he was crying...sobbing, actually.I rolled down the window."What's the matter, sweetie?""Open the door, please," he sobbed.I did, and he rushed over, and put his head in my lap."What's the matter?" I asked again."I

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-5390968918105808602007-05-16T09:04:00.000-07:002007-05-16T09:28:37.451-07:00

Here's the deal: I'm now in charge of gathering together literally hundreds of short (150-500 words) essays-that-aren't-really-essays for ParentsConnect*, which is a Nickelodeon/MTV/Viacom website for parents of children of all ages.Here's what you need to know: You do NOT need to be a 'writer' to get in on this. We're currently calling these essays-that-aren't-really-essays Blabs, because that's

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-78013230089402222182007-05-14T22:46:00.000-07:002007-05-14T23:28:25.361-07:00

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and concerns, both on and off this blog, about my decision to take myself off of Lexapro.It's hard to get all of the pros and cons, all of the thought processes that go on behind a decision, down on 'paper,' as it were. So it is with this process. And I can't even begin to try to rectify that. But I can share a little bit of what's been going on.When I first started

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-62502871015134997452007-05-11T20:16:00.000-07:002007-05-11T20:29:48.172-07:00

N has been behaving abominably in kindergarten of late, losing his super star seven out of the past ten days. (The behavioral consequences in his classrom go like this: First offense, your name goes on the board; second offense, your name gets a W for warning; third offense and you lose your super star. A dozen super stars equal a trip to the gift box on Ms. F's desk.)It's not only that he's been

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-21940862503732441372007-05-09T10:07:00.000-07:002007-05-09T10:09:33.479-07:00

Snuggy-bug (yes, we call him that; yes, it's cloyingly annoying; no, I don't care that you're gagging now) came home yesterday evening from his tour of area veterinary hospitals. He's on antibiotcs and a high dose of steroids, and is still relatively low energy compared to pre-whatever-this-is Snug, but much better than two-days-ago Snug.Problem is, his platelet counts are still low, even after a

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-67834487260267195852007-05-07T21:01:00.000-07:002007-05-07T21:29:17.026-07:00

I really do need to come up with a better, more socially appropriate way to respond to people who politely ask about how my father is doing. I mean, my current response--"Well, he's dying, so it's only downhill from here"--isn't really what most people want to hear.I did hear from his girlfriend today, in between appointments at the VA medical center up where they live. Apparently, he was sick

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-46756490885031725312007-05-03T16:53:00.000-07:002007-05-03T17:04:47.524-07:00

Dad's dying. Work's a bitch. We're in debt up to our ears for some reason. (Could be the insane spending of money, I suppose.) N is acting out--at school, at home.So guess what I decided to do? Go off my antidepressants, of course!There are actual good reasons for it, number one being that Lexapro isn't doing much more for me than Celexa did, except to help me gain those last five pounds I needed

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-44634961417285918372007-05-02T22:09:00.000-07:002007-05-02T22:41:29.945-07:00

The plan: Fly into NY Tuesday, April 24; get up the next morning and go in to the city to meet with my new boss and *her* boss from 10 to noon.The reality: Wednesday's meeting stretched from 10 to almost 5. Thursday's hastily scheduled 1 pm meeting stretched from 1 to 4. Monday's hastily scheduled 9 am meeting stretched all the way until 6:30 that afternoon. And there was still so much that

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-80393625300221496902007-04-21T19:19:00.000-07:002007-04-21T19:46:50.603-07:00

I have overscheduled my daughter. I am now officially one of 'those' parents--the ones who the rest of you look at and laugh at in a condescending "what COULD she be thinking" kind of way. The one who the media write about. The one who is destroying childhood for children. It's me. I've done it.Let's review: Em is 9, in fourth grade. In addition to school from 8 until 2:30 daily, she has chorus

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-90639772011245121032007-04-18T23:08:00.000-07:002007-04-18T23:25:30.651-07:00

This is what happens when it's spring break, and you have--no kidding, no exaggerating--six conference calls and a lunch meeting to deal with, and your husband is busy working on a project and your daughter is out at a friend's house: Your son cuts his own hair. Again. And not even so ridiculously that it's cute, like last time. Just enough to totally screw up the haircut you paid for just two

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-34578244186644159042007-04-16T19:19:00.000-07:002007-04-16T19:27:47.951-07:00

We found out about my dad on Thursday; four days later (a week ago today), I found out that my boss at ParentsConnect had resigned. I'm going to be taking over for her for the interim, which is a lot of pressure at the same time as that of my dad's diagnosis. Worst of it is that the people in New York who run ParentsConnect want someone to replace her in New York. Which makes sense if you're not

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-30554712037977129332007-04-08T19:18:00.000-07:002007-04-08T19:45:37.634-07:00

They are 6 and 9. N has met my father a total of three times, the first of which was the day he was born and my father, more engaged in my life at the time than he had been in many years or would be for many years hence, had flown to LA from New York to try to be there for the birth. Em has seen him maybe a single handfull of times. Neither of them is likely to see him before this is all over.

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-22756612830381189632007-04-06T16:58:00.000-07:002007-04-06T17:21:35.934-07:00

For the last couple of months, my father's been convinced he's dying. His long-time girlfriend and I have been convinced he's insane. Since he's bipolar and medicated to his gills, it's not a real stretch to be convinced of the latter. And we are, of course, right.But so is he.Turns out that despite some negative enzyme test several weeks ago, he does indeed have the pancreatic cancer he has been

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-22499031573264333182007-04-04T23:53:00.000-07:002007-04-05T00:03:29.761-07:00

Two seders in two days. Total number of people fed with one 15-quart pot of matzoh ball soup: 25. And there are still leftovers. (My brisket--the best I've ever made by far--didn't fare as well; there were requests for more long after there was no more to be had.) But two picky little boys declared the meat delicious, a skinny-as-a-rail 10-year-old girl gushed over the matzoh balls, and my

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-84682662276046405652007-03-30T15:29:00.000-07:002007-03-30T15:35:13.802-07:00

I was just sitting here, typing away, when I realized I was already 15 minutes late to get Em from school.The kicker? I was writing a series of parenting tips for the not-so-soon-to-be-revamped ParentsConnect website.Tip #1: Don't forget to pick up your child at school, you moron!And what did my way-too-sarcastic-for-my-own-good 9-year-old have to say when I finally did arrive? "Oh, Mom. How nice

TCihavethings@gmail.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707773.post-13271467779313066302007-03-23T22:51:00.000-07:002007-03-23T23:09:02.661-07:00

Have any of you read Anne Tyler's newest, Digging to America? (Or have any of you, like me, listened to Digging to America?)Here's the thing: I really enjoyed it. And that was a huge surprise to me, since I haven't really enjoyed anything of hers since Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant which was, what, written in 1982, I think, and which I read soon thereafter. I'm not sure what I've objected to

TCihavethings@gmail.com0